Heroes and Villains Part 1

Lacey trotted behind Dean, trying to keep up with him as she stifled a yawn. They had gotten a call in the middle of the night saying Sam had been in a car crash. When they arrived at the hospital the receptionist had told them they needed to speak to a Dr Kadinsky. Dean barged through the door and came face to face with a startled nurse.

"Okay, sir? You can't just barge in here without an appointment!"

"They said, "Talk to Kadinsky." You Kadinsky?" Dean asked, gruffly.

"You need to be scheduled!"

"Well, then, schedule me! He was in a car crash. Why the hell can't I see him?" Dean was pretty worked up by this point.

"You're Sam Smith's brother." An older man with grey hair came out of one of the offices.

"Yeah, what's going on?"

"It – it's fine. Thank you. Really." The Doctor told the nurse, leading them into the office and indicating they should take a seat. "And you are?" He asked, looking over the top of his glasses at Lacey.
"She's my girlfriend. She's family." Dean told him. The Doctor nodded.

"Sam was admitted. He was treated for a broken rib and lacerations."

"Okay. That's not too bad. And?" Dean dismissed.

"And... he's on our locked psychiatric floor." Lacey blinked and Dean stared back in surprise.

"I mean, he's had some trouble..." Dean started.

"So you're aware that Sam is experiencing a full-blown psychotic episode?" The Doctor asked.

"Psychotic? Come on. I mean, the guy's... It's not like the guy's freakin' Norman Bates." Dean scoffed.

"No, I'm sure he isn't. We need to determine whether his state was brought on by the insomnia or whether the insomnia is a symptom of his condition. Do you understand? So that we can figure out how to treat him."

"Well, all I can say is that the sleep thing is… kind of new."

"Right. Well... we've pumped him about as full of sedatives as we safely can. So far, he won't go under. I've never seen anything like it." He got to his feet and the two of them followed him out into the corridor and down the hall to the ward. The Doctor pressed a button to let them in and led them to the room where they were keeping Sam. Dean and Lacey looked through the small window in the door and were shocked by Sam's appearance. He looked pale and drawn, his hair, dull and lank, falling across his face, almost hiding his bloodshot eyes. The Doctor opened the door and they stepped inside.

"How are you feeling?" Dean asked as the two of them came to stand beside the bed.

"Maybe you should cancel my UFC fight." Sam joked, although the laughter seemed to pain him.

"Sam, I'm gonna find you help." Dean told him gently.

"I don't think it's out there, Dean." Sam sounded defeated.

"We don't know that."

"We know better than most. It's all snake oil. Last faith healer we hooked up with had a reaper on a leash. Remember?" Dean clenched his fists.

"Yeah, Sam, I remember."

"I'm just saying..."

"What? That you don't want my help?" Dean snapped.

"No, I'm just saying… don't do this to yourself."

"Sam, if I don't find something…"

"Then I'll die." Sam admitted. "Dean, we knew this was coming."

"No." Dean told him stubbornly.

"When you put my soul back..." Sam started.

"No."

"...Cas warned you about all the crap it would…"

"Screw Cas! Quit being Dalai frickin' Yoda about this, okay? Get pissed!" Dean growled, angrily. Lacey put a hand on his arm to calm him down.

"I'm too tired. This is what happens when you throw a soul into Lucifer's dog bowl. And you think there's just gonna be some cure out there?" Dean stared at him for a moment before heading for the door. Lacey gave Sam a sad smile. She put her hand out and squeezed his shoulder. "We'll be back later." She reassured him.
"Thanks, Lace." Sam nodded tiredly as she headed for the door.

"It didn't work." Lacey said as she ported the two of them back to their motel room. "I'm sorry, Dean. You know my powers are more for healing physical wounds." Lacey sighed as she slumped onto the bed.
"It's ok, you tried." Dean said sitting down beside her and grabbing his bag from the floor.
"What do we do now?" Dean pulled the journal out of his bag and grabbed his phone.
"I start calling everyone I know."
"We. Give me some numbers." Lacey said pulling her own phone from her bag. Dean gave her a grateful smile and pointed out which page to start on. He dialled one of the numbers himself.
"I'm a friend of Bobby Singer's. I'm looking for some info. If you could, uh, call me back. 785-555-0128. Thanks." He left a message and crossed the name off the list as Lacey did the same.

They spent most of the day calling people and waiting for them to call back. As afternoon slipped into evening Lacey pulled off her boots and curled her legs under her on the bed. Dean left a final message and hung up, crossing the last name off the list.
"That's it, we've called everyone." Dean sighed. He closed Bobby's journal and tossed it onto the table. It bounced off the edge and fell to the floor. As Dean leant forward to pick it up a business card fell out.
"Hmmm." Dean picked it up and examined it. It was for Mackey's Taxidermy, a phone number scrawled on the back in Bobby's handwriting.
"What is it?" Lacey asked, yawning. Dean held up the card.
"Worth a try." He dialled the number. "Yeah, hi. Uh... my name's Dean. I'm a friend of Bobby Singer's. I'm, uh, looking for some info. If you could call me back at 785-555-0128. Thanks." He hung up the phone. "Why don't you get some rest sweetheart, I'm gonna keep checking online, see if anything comes up." Dean said as he grabbed Sam's laptop from the bed.
"It's fine, I can keep looking too." Lacey said, rubbing her eyes. Dean gently took the book from her hands and sat down beside her on the bed.
"You need to rest, Lace."
"So do you." She fired back.
"I will, in a bit, ok?" He pulled the blanket up around her.
"Promise?" She said, stifling another yawn.
"I promise." Dean gave her a small smile.
"Ok." Lacey sighed and snuggled down under the covers. "But just for a couple hours. Wake me up before you go to sleep."
"I will." Dean went back over to the table and began to do research as Lacey drifted off.

A couple of hours later, Dean is still doing research when his phone goes off. Lacey woke up with a start at the loud noise.
"What? What is it?" She asked.
"Just a sec." Dean grabbed the phone and put it on speaker. "This is Dean." Lacey got up and came to sit beside him at the table.

"Mackey. Calling you back. Hey. Real sorry about Bobby."

"Yeah, me too."

"Look, what you called about – I might have something for you. There's this guy. He goes by "Emmanuel." He kind of roams. First started hearing about him a couple of months back. How he was healing the sick, curing the crazy."

"Uh-huh." Dean replied, encouragingly.

"Naturally, I think something in the milk ain't clean. Find this sucker, punch his clock. Right?"

"Right."

"Heard the best way to get to him is through his wife, Daphne, out in Colorado? So, I go. Tell her I'm going blind. It's true. My right eye's burnt out. She says, "Go home. He'll come." So, I go. I set every trap, every test in the book."

"That's what I would have done." Dean agreed.

"Emmanuel shows. He passes every one. There ain't nothing weird about this guy. Except... he's the real deal."

"What do you mean?"

"He touched me, and my eye was fixed. Look – I don't believe in much that don't suck your blood. But I wouldn't call you on a maybe." He gave Dean the address for Daphne before hanging up.
"That sounds…. Promising?" Lacey said, watching Dean for a reaction.
"It's all we got." Dean got to his feet and started to pack up his stuff. Lacey grabbed some fresh clothes from her bag and changed before grabbing the rest of her stuff and following Dean to the car.

They drove a couple of hours out to Daphne's house. Dean parked the car and they both got out. As they walked toward the house, Lacey took hold of Dean's hand and squeezed it. As they walked up the porch steps, a man came out of the front door.
"Hi. Uh, is this Daphne Allen's house? We're looking for Emmanuel." Dean explained.

"Well, you found him. Daphne's resting. If you don't mind." He shut the door behind him.

"Oh, yeah, sure. Um… So, I was hoping, uh…" Dean's eyes flickered to the side window, on the other side he could see a woman tied to a chair. As he looked back, Emmanuel's eyes turned black.

"You were saying, Dean?"

"You know, I'd think twice. Or don't you know that your boss issued a hands-off memo?"

"Please. What have you done for him lately? Roman's head on a plate? No? Whatever Emmanuel is, Crowley's gonna want him – a lot more than he wants you these days. So..." He tried to take a step forward but Lacey put up her hand and stopped him from moving as Dean grabbed the demon knife from his jacket and stabbed the demon. As Dean pulled the knife back, Lacey lowered her hand and the body fell to the ground, crashing down the porch steps. As they turned they noticed someone at the bottom of the steps. Lacey let out a gasp and put her hand to her mouth. Cas was standing there, looking up at them.

"What was that?" He asked.

Cas or Emmanuel let them into the house and went to untie Daphne.

"That creature hurt you." He said as he helped her to her feet.

"I'm okay. But, Emmanuel... They were looking for you." She told him, worriedly.

"It's okay." He hugged her before turning to Dean and Lacey. "I'm Emmanuel." He held out his hand to shake theirs. Lacey blinked for a second before Dean took it first.

"Dean. I'm...Dean."
"Lacey." She said, giving him a small smile as she shook his hand.

"Thank you for protecting my wife." That was one of the weirdest thing's Lacey had ever heard Cas say, and that was saying something.

"Your wife. Right." Dean nodded, clearly thinking the same as Lacey.

"I saw his face. His real face." Emmanuel shuddered.

"He was a demon." Dean nodded.

"A demon walked the Earth." Emmanuel sounded surprised.

"Demons. Whackloads of them. You don't know about...?"

"You saw the demon's true face." Daphne frowned. "Emmanuel has very special gifts." She explained.

"Yeah. I-I've heard that about... Emmanuel. That you can heal people up."

"I seem to be able to help to a certain degree." Emmanuel nodded. "What's your issue?"
"My brother."

Emmanuel agreed to come with them and try to help Sam. An hour later, as the sun was setting, they were back on the road, Emmanuel in the front with Dean and Lacey in the back.
"So, Daphne – is, uh, your wife?" Dean started the conversation.

"She found me and cared for me." Emmanuel told him.

"Meaning?"

"Oh, it's a...strange story. You may not like it."

"Believe me, I will." Dean smiled.

"A few months ago, she was hiking by the river, and I wandered into her path, drenched and confused, and... unclothed. I had no memory. She said... God wanted her to find me."

"So who named you Emmanuel?" Dean asked, frowning.

" ." Lacey stifled a laugh.

"Well, it's working for you. Must be weird not knowing who you are."

"Well, it's my life. And it's a good life." Emmanuel shrugged.

"Yeah, well, what if you were some kind of... I don't know...bad guy?" Lacey frowned in the rear view mirror at Dean. This line of questioning was not going to help anyone. Cas had hurt her more than anyone but she still wanted him to come back to them and be the friend they had known. He had made some misguided choices but he was still Cas.

"Oh, I... don't feel like a bad person." Emmanuel said, thoughfully. "So, your brother..." He asked, changing the subject.

"Sam." Dean filled in.

"Sam. What's his diagnosis?"

"Well, it's not exactly medical." Dean admitted.

"That should be fine. I can cure illness of a spiritual origin."

"Spiritual? Okay. Someone did this to him." Dean tried a different tack.

"You're angry." Emmanuel guessed as Dean gripped the steering wheel tighter.

"Well, yeah. Dude broke my brother's head." Dean explained.

"He betrayed you, this dude. He was your friend?"

"Yeah, well, he's gone."

"Did you kill him? I sense that you kill a lot of people." Lacey couldn't help laughing this time.
"We kill a lot of bad people, like the creature back at your house." She explained. "We're the good guys… I guess."

"Honestly, I don't know if he is dead. I just know that this... whole thing couldn't be messier. You know, I used to be able to just shake this stuff off. You know, whatever it was. It might take me some time, but... I always could. What Cas did... I just can't – I don't know why."

"Well, it doesn't matter why."

"Of course it matters." Dean frowned.

"No. You're not a machine, Dean. You're human. Your friend's name was Cas? That's an odd name." Lacey smiled to herself in the back seat.
"You have no idea." She whispered.