Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural or anything you recognize from it.
I just wanted to give a huge thank-you to the reviewers, I got some hilarious reviews pertaining to the last chapter and they really made my day with your guys' reactions, so thanks :D
And did any of you catch tonight's episode? Man alive! It's so great to have Sera Gamble back as the writer, I'm not saying I didn't enjoy the other episodes but Sera brings a certain angst/emotions to the table that I've come to love and expect. And let me just say, the angels and the new demon kick ass! And I still hate Ruby. Now more than ever but that's just the envy speaking.
Thanks again to the lovely reviewers. Please enjoy and Please Review!
Chapter Thirty-Six
Nightshifter Part One
"So any news?" Sam asked as Tony flipped her phone shut.
"No, Ash is keeping a vigilant eye on his activity. He is moving around more than usual and Ash said there were…odd occurrences happening around my dad's locations so I was just wondering—"
"That we can go and check up on him?" Dean asked tenderly.
Tony nodded before allowing her self to be engulfed by Sam's arms, "After this quick hunt. It's just…even if I can see him from the distance I'll be fine."
"Sure no problem, you'll sure you want to tag along for this hunt though? You can always take a rain-check." Sam murmured.
"Hells yes; it's a jewelry store, the woman robbed it then committed suicide…I'm so jealous, I never get to work the weird cases." Tony commented to herself.
Sam glanced at her sideways, "Tony, our whole lives are a weird case."
"No, cause then it would be like X-Files, and that's actually cool. We live in rundown motels, eat doughnuts from gas stations that are probably made from leftover rat poison and burgers made out of god knows what. How is any of that cool?" Tony asked snootily.
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Tony tugged once more on her blazer jacket smiling apologetically at the manager of the jewelry store, "Could you please explain to us once more who Helena was?" She asked motioning to Sam; also dressed in a suit with slicked back hair.
"Helena was our head buyer. She…she was family, you know? She said it herself, every year at the Christmas party. She said we were the only family she had." The manager stammered.
"So there were never any signs that she'd do something like this?" Sam asked as Tony glanced over her shoulder across the jewelry store where Dean was leaning against the glass counter working his magic with the woman behind the counter.
Rolling her eyes Tony turned her attention back to the conversation at hand, "No. Still can't believe it, even now. That night, Helena came back to the store after closing. Cleaned out all the display cases, and the safe. Edgar, our night watchman, he caught her in the act. He didn't know what to do; he'd known her for years. He called me at home." She heard the manager explain.
"And that's when she took his gun?" Tony asked.
"She shot him in the face. I heard him die. Over the phone."
Tony suppressed an urge to shift her feet, "Any idea what her motive could have been?"
"What motive? It makes no sense. Why steal all those diamonds, all that jewelry, and then what? Just dump it somewhere, hide it, and then go home." The manager shrugged.
"So you never saw the security camera footage yourself, then?"
The manager glanced at Sam, "No. The police, they took all the tapes, first thing."
"I bet." Tony muttered as she heard Dean's voice approaching.
"I'm sure they did." Dean said flashing Tony and Sam a small paper. Tony rolled her eyes biting back a remark when she realized it was the woman's number.
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Tony sighed as she stared ahead at the rain drenched darkened road, "Dude, why the hell would you want her number anyway?"
"Olga, she was hot. What more is there?"
"Brains, personality—"
"Not now Sam, I'm having a discussion with Dilbert." Tony said waving towards Sam who nudged her thigh in response. "I bet she had…like…syphilis or something."
Dean snorted, "Didn't look the type."
"There's a type?" Sam asked slightly weary of the response.
"Yeah, you know…the ones who go out with Dill." Tony shrugged, laughing when Dean flicked her ear with his finger, "Dude, her name was Frannie. I mean…ew, seriously, what kind of name is that? And you know what Frannie rhymes with…" Tony waited a beat, "Fannie! Which is such a horrible word." Tony finished in a shudder.
Dean barked out a laugh hitting the steering wheel in response, "God, you're a winner."
Tony flashed him a smile before glancing out of the window, "Five, this is it."
Both brothers wiped their smirks as Dean slowed the Impala into a park in front of a small house, "Fucking cops."
Tony whipped her attention around the streets and houses before realizing Dean was being reflective, "They're just doing they're job." Tony heard Sam pacify as they all got out of the Impala.
"No, they're doing our job, only they don't know it, so they suck at it. Talk to me about this bank." Dean said as they slowly made their way to the house.
"Uh, Milwaukee National Trust, it was hit about a month ago." Sam answered grabbing Tony's elbow when she almost stumbled over a rock.
"Fucking high heals." Tony muttered to herself.
"Same M.O. as the jewelry store?" Dean asked glancing towards her to make sure she was fine.
"Yeah, inside job, longtime employee, the never-in-a-million-years type. Dude robs the bank, then goes home and supposedly commits suicide." Tony finished rubbing her skirt down as the trio climbed up the steps leading to the door of the house.
"This guy Resnick, he was the security guard on duty?" Dean asked.
"Yeah. He was actually beaten unconscious by the teller who heisted the place." Sam commented hand poised on the clear screen door to knock.
"God." Dean muttered.
"Yeah." Sam nodded in agreement before knocking firmly, "Mr. Resnick? Ronald Resnick?"
Overhead lights flashed blinded the three as Tony tried to look up to the source by the door before thinking better of it, "I swear if I had my gun right now—"
"You have your gun." Dean muttered before a suspicious large man with wavy hair appeared before the screen door.
"FIB, Mr. Resnick." Sam stated firmly.
Ronald approached closer to the screen, "Let me see the badge."
Tony gave a mental eye roll before pressing her badge to the screen as the brothers followed, "I already gave my statement to the police." Ron commented squinting at the badges.
"Yeah, listen Ronald, uh…just some things about your statement we wanted to get some clarification on." Dean stated.
"You read it?" He asked uncertain.
"Sure did." Tony commented pleasantly, she had to admit; he reminded her of a big squishy teddy bear, slightly psychotic but adorable.
"And you want to listen to what I've got to say?"
"Well, that's why we're here." Tony answered smiling brightly to him.
He returned a gentle smile before opening the screen door, "Well, come on it." He said over his shoulder as he went into his den.
"Wow, try to control your urges." Dean mumbled ignoring the flashing glare from Sam.
Tony rolled her eyes, "I like him. Not the way I like Sam, but a part of me wants to hug him and the other part wants me to ask if I can keep him." Tony muttered out of the corner of her mouth.
Dean coughed suppressing a bark of laughter as they went into the den where Ron was waiting. Tony ignored Sam's tense posture as she glanced around the walls of his living room; where they were covered with alien photos and conspiracy theory paraphernalia.
"None of the cops ever called me back. Not after I told them what was really going on. Uh, they all thought I was crazy. First off, Juan Morales never robbed the Milwaukee National Trust, okay? That I guarantee. See, me and Juan were friends, he used to come back to the bank on my night shifts and we'd play cards." Ron explained stammering with nerves.
"So you let him into the bank that night, after hours." Sam stated ignoring the look of displeasure from Tony.
I know it's his job and all but does he have to be such a jerk about it? Tony fumed before planting a small reassuring smile on her face for Ron to continue.
"The thing I let into the bank…wasn't Juan. I mean, it had his face, but it wasn't his face. Uh, every detail was perfect, but too perfect, like, you know, like if a doll maker made it, like I was talking to a big…Juan-doll."
Tony raised an eyebrow amused, "Nice." She mumbled unheard by anyone else.
"A Juan-doll?" Sam asked unimpressed.
"Look. This wasn't the only time this happened. Okay?" Ron said grabbing a folder and handing it to Sam, "There was this jewelry store, too. And the cops, and you guys, you just won't see it! Both crimes were pulled by the same thing."
Tony grabbed the file from Sam's hands and gazed inside, tightening her jaw from dropping open as she glanced up at Ron, "Nice file."
Sam nudged her with his elbow cutting her enthusiasm off, "What thing, Mr. Resnick?"
Tony smiled trying to ignore Sam's deplore; Ron exchanged a brief smile before turning to the table by his side and grabbing a magazine showing them the cover as he held it close to his chest. Tony studied the cover before her eyes widened at the sight of a cyber-man.
"Chinese have been working on 'em for years and the Russians before that. Part man, part machine. Like the Terminator, but the kind that can change itself, make itself look like other people." He explained hurriedly.
"Like the one from T2." Dean smirked joined by Tony.
"Exactly! See, so not just a robot, more of a, uh, a Man-droid." Ron exclaimed.
"A Man-droid?" Sam asked becoming wearier of Ron and Tony's enthusiasm over him.
"And what makes you so sure about this, Ronald?" Dean asked politely.
Ronald glanced at them before smiling wildly and waving his finger for a second before he bent down below the television stand behind him to grab a VHS with a label reading "M.N.T. Camera 4 - Juan" before he shoved it into the VCR.
Tony raised her eyebrow and smirked up at him, "Is that a copy of a security tape Ronald?"
He shrugged in response, "See, I made copies of all the security tapes. I knew once the cops got them they'd be buried. Here." He finished pressing play. The screen flashed on before Ron fast-forwarded the tape waiting for the perfect moment to show them what he meant.
"Now watch. Watch. Watch him…watch! See, look! There it is!" Ron exclaimed pressing pause and pointing vehemently at Juan on the screen as he looked up at the security camera. "You see? He's got the laser eyes." He pointed once more to Juan's silver eyes.
Tony leaned further missing the look Dean and Sam shared about Juan's eyes, "Cops said it was some kind of reflected light. Some kind of camera flare. Okay? Ain't any damn camera flare. They say I'm a post-trauma case. So what? Bank goes and fires me, it don't matter!" Ron explained.
"The Man-droid is…is still out there. The law won't hunt this thing down; I'll do it myself. You see, this thing, it, it kills the real person, makes it look like a suicide, then it sort of like, morphs into that person. Cases the job for a while until it knows the take is fat, and then it finds its opening. Now, these robberies, they're grouped together." Ron said.
Tony's eyes widened before she had the chance to blank her face, seeing her expression Ron smiled taking it as encouragement, "So I figure the Man-droid is holed up somewhere in the middle, underground, maybe. I don't know, maybe that's where it recharges its, uh, Man-droid batteries."
She nodded with Dean, both impressed by Ron; Sam nudged her thigh signaling them all to stand. She suppressed a sigh as she followed the brothers smoothing a quick hand over her skirt in the process.
"Okay. I want you to listen very carefully. Because I'm about to tell you the God's honest truth about all of this, there's no such thing as Man-droids. There's nothing evil or inhuman going on out there. Just people. Nothing else, you understand?" Sam finished harshly.
Tony could tell by Dean's sudden tense posture that he didn't agree either with Sam's handle of the situation; trying to keep a straight face she cleared her throat pointedly.
"The laser eyes." Ron tried again, desperately glancing at Tony for help.
She nodded and opened her mouth ready to defend the poor guy before she was caught off again by Sam; "Just a camera flare, Mr. Resnick. Look, I know you don't want to believe this. But your friend Juan robbed the bank and that's it."
"Get out of my house! Now!" Ron bellowed.
"Sure. First things first." Sam said calmly.
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"Man, that has got to be the kicker, straight up. I mean, you tell that poor son of a bitch that, what did you say, remand the tapes that he copied? Classified evidence of an ongoing investigation?" Dean bit out trying to hide his vitriol.
Tony glanced up from toweling her hair, leaning against the bathroom door-jam to study the brothers; Sam sitting down at the edge of his bed to review over the tapes he snaked from Ron and Dean perched on the edge of his bed rubbing his neck.
"What are you, pissed at me or something?" Sam asked incredulously barely glancing Dean's way.
"No, I just think it's a little creepy how good of a Fed you are. I mean, come on, we could have at least thrown the guy a bone. He did some pretty good legwork here." Dean admitted whilst Tony nodded in agreement.
"Man-droid?" Sam asked dubiously.
"Except for the man-droid part. I liked him. He's not that different from you, Tony, or me…people think we're crazy." Dean explained.
"Yeah, except he's not a hunter, Dean. He's just a guy who stumbled onto something real. If he were to go up against this thing he'd get torn apart. Better to stay in the dark, and stay alive." Sam snapped.
Tony folded her towel ignoring the cold against her bare skin before walking naked into the room joining the brothers, "Whatever. I bet there was a time in your hunting life when you met a girl who was reminiscent of Ronald and you probably wouldn't have minded her becoming a hunter."
Sam paused the tape to glance up at her; "Put clothes on then I'll have this discussion with you."
Tony rolled her eyes and shrugged on the shirt Dean threw her way, "All I'm saying is that he could be like Ash. Hell, I remember you were the nice one to Ash when you both first met. Now what happened?"
Dean's eyes widened slightly, "Dangerous territory Tin-tin."
Tony stared back at Sam ignoring the way his eyes bored into her, "Fine. Be that way Samuel. But I'm going on the record for saying I like him and I think he would be helpful…in a…non-helpful way." Tony conceded slightly before stepping into boxers Dean passed her.
"Are we done talking about this now?" Sam asked impatiently.
Tony rolled her eyes, ignoring the snort from Dean, "A great converser. And people say you talk too much."
Dean grunted going back to his map with a red marker, "Shape shifter. Just like back in St. Louis; same retinal reaction to video." Sam said finally moving his attention back to the screen where the shifter was paused, eyes blaring at the camera.
"Eyes flare at the camera. I hate those fucking things." Dean bit out.
"You think I don't?" Sam asked glancing over to Dean. Tony's eyes flickered over the brothers watching their exchange.
"Yeah, well, one didn't turn into you and frame you for murder." Dean replied.
Tony barely managed to stifle a snort, "Someday that will make a great story to tell your kids Winchester."
"And you can tell yours about the time you got hit by a parked car. Or hmm, the time you choked on a marshmallow or the time you got a fucking fork stuck in my leg. Or how about; my personal favorite—"
"Enough." Sam snapped glaring between the two, "If this shifter's anything like the one we killed in Missouri—"
"Then Ronald was right—" Dean began.
"Snap." Tony muttered under her breath.
Dean spared a side-glance her way before continuing, "Thank you for the commentary. All right, they like to layer up underground, preferably the sewer. And all the robberies have been connected so far, right?"
"Yeah." Sam nodded.
"With the uh, sewer main layout. There's one more bank lined up on that same sewer main." Dean finished.
"Well, Son of a bitch."
"My thoughts exactly Olga."