UNDER THE GUISE
Crossover: Supernatural and White Collar
"Seriously, Halden?!" Dean said as he and Sam came upon the scene.
Neal's head snapped up at the use of his alias Nick Halden. He and Mozzie had just started looking at the wreckage of the plane.
"You're in our territory again, Halden. This is ours!" Dean said as they postured with Neal and Mozzie, who were also posing as FBI agents.
"Sambora. MacDonald." Neal said using the first two names he knew the Winchesters had used as aliases. "FYI…this belongs to us." He snapped back, catching onto the game Dean and Sam wanted to play.
Neal and Dean would distract the local LEOs as Sam and Mozzie looked for the object or objects that they each needed. They were not, at this point, sure that they were not, in fact, looking for the same object.
"Do you remember Jersey, Man?" Dean retorted. "We are not having a repeat of Jersey."
Neal shot back. "Jersey was NOT our fault. Don't go there!" He paused. "Besides, Jersey's in the past. And, you are out of your jurisdiction!"
"You really don't want to get into a pissing match with me over this, Halden." Dean said. He looked in Sam's direction to see if he had anything.
Sam answered with a barely perceptible nod and Dean nodded back.
Dean looked back at Neal. "You know what, we don't need the hassle. Take it, Man. We got other places we need to be."
Neal looked to see what progress Mozzie was making. He then looked back at Dean. "Yeah, yeah, whatever, Sambora. We have work to do!" He said as Mozzie shook his head.
Neal watched for a moment as the Winchesters drove away. He still didn't know what Sam and Dean had needed from the wreckage. And he had not seen Sam pocket anything. But, he felt they must have gotten what they needed for Dean to cut off the verbal sparring the way he had. He still didn't know what the item or items were and it made the knot of fear in his stomach grow. He didn't like being anywhere near the Winchester's line of work. Caffrey wanted, passionately, to still believe that things of nightmares were just that. But, thanks to Sam and Dean, Neal had discovered that there were things that really, really do go bump in the dark. And, those things are as badass and as scary as hell.
Dean had not been able to give Neal any clues during their 'argument.' But, Sam had told Mozzie that they were looking for the cockpit voice recorder.
As it turns out, Sam and Dean, after interviewing survivors, fount out about passengers were behaving erratically. Some survivors had even mentioned hallucinating, thinking that a few of their fellow passengers' eyes had gone from normal to solid black and then back, in seconds. Sam and Dean needed the recorder to see who had caused the crash, maybe the pilot or the co-pilot had been possessed. Maybe a passenger rushed the cockpit. The passengers interviewed were too busy being thrown around to really see what was going on around them. And , the smell of burnt engine parts and jet fuel was doing a great job of masking any possible scent of sulfur.
There had been no engine trouble. The FFA had ruled that out. But, there had to be some reason as to why the plane went down. They put aside mechanical malfunction. That left pilot error or terror attack. The plane did have, as a part of its cargo, priceless gems. The gems, and their human escort, were aboard secretly. No one was supposed to know about the shipment, not even airport security. And no one would have, had a representative of a Scottish noble family not put in an inquiry as to the whereabout of a certain jet scheduled to leave Edinburgh and arrive in New York City at 3:27 p.m. EST, on Tuesday, October 7th.
Further inquires revealed that jewels were on board the flight. It was also found that the representative did not survive the crash. The jewels had not been found. The family member who had made the inquiry told the airport officials that the jewels had been on loan to the U.S. They were supposed to be in the U.S. for a month-long exhibition. The family shared its family history, the folklore, and the superstition surrounding the jewels. It was long, impressive, and downright scary. Plus, it made the exhibition interesting and entertaining.
Neal and Mozzie had been shaken by the Winchester's arrival. As much as Moz reveled in weird, he hated scary weird. And Sam and Dean Winchester reeked of scary weird. The little bald man wanted no part of that.
"Look Neal, I like Sam and Dean." Mozzie explained as he sipped his wince and enjoyed the view from Neal's apartment. "But, it's just…."
Neal nodded. He had introduced the hunters to Mozzie a little over a year ago. The conman had revealed only a little of what Sam and Dean did for a living. He had just said that they travelled the country helping people. Neal knew something had to be horribly wrong for the Winchesters to be involved.
Neal nodded absently as Mozzie continued. He was so lost in thoughts of what the Winchesters could possibly want from the plane's wreckage.
"Yeah, I know, Moz…." Neal admitted. "The stuff that they deal with. It…."
"I get that they're into some weird stuff, Neal. But, what are they doing at the wreckage?"
Neal shook his head. But, then he remembered. Sometimes he'd research the pieces he wanted to steal. Just in the hopes of finding a tidbit of info that would make them be even more valuable. But, when he researched these items, he didn't' know a great deal about the family. He found a lot out. There was a lot of bad stuff, and he had discounted it. That was, until the Winchesters showed up.
Nel quickly made his decision. "We need to leave this one alone, Moz." He said as he finished his wine and poured himself another glass.
Neal and Mozzie didn't need that trouble. And they definitely didn't want any bad luck to be visited on June or the Burkes.
"Why, Neal?" The little bald man asked, jumping up from his chair. "One item is worth a couple million. The whole set…? Neal, the whole set…!"
"I know what you're saying. I know what we're passing up here. But…" Neal paused. "But, we don't need what comes with it."
"What comes with it? What does that mean, Neal?" Mozzie asked, puzzled. "We don't need money? That's not true, and you know it. We can always use money."
"The Winchesters deal with things that…." The conman paused. "Besides, do you really think we could sell that stuff, even a piece of that?" Neal implored. "The Scotts have pictures, Mozzie, probably many pictures, of each and every jewel."
"Fences, the good ones, like the ones we know will take any and everything. Not matter how sizzling hot it is, Neal. You know that."
Neal shook his head. "We didn't find anything anyway, Mozzie. And, we were there a couple hours after the Winchesters left. I take that as a sign that we were not supposed to have that stuff."
Mozzie shook his head. "That doesn't…."
"What, the world's biggest conspiracy theorist doesn't believe in curses?" The conman asked.
"Curses! What do you…?"
"Secretive actions carried out by one party in response to another's actions, without evidence or proof." The young conman paused. " Well, curses have more to do with the response to another's actions. But still, it fits."
Meanwhile, Across Town:
Sam and Dean checked into a motel room. They chose a room around the back of the establishment. They had decided not to stay at Neal's this time. They knew that they would be in and out and wouldn't really have a lot of time to visit. They didn't want to treat June's house like a hotel room. They loved visiting with June. But, they stayed there when they actually had the time. So, Dean parked the Impala around the back of the establishment. They hurried into their room. Sam had managed to find a couple of small black boxes. None of them looked like they would be a part of the plane. And since they were black, the young Winchester hadn't been able to tell which one was 'the' black box. Actually, he didn't know if he even had the black box. He had heard that they were just called black boxes. This meant that they were not necessarily painted black. They were called that because of the important information theses boxes contained, like the evidence of how and/or why a plane had crashed.
"Like I was telling you in the car, Dean." Sam said as he unburdened himself. He put his bag and the boxes they had taken on his bed. He tossed Dean's bag onto the other bed and then he sat down and started to look at the things they had taken. "I'm not even sure any of these are 'the' black box. He got up off the bed and went into the bathroom and got a couple towels. He then spread one out on the bed and used the other one to clean the boxes off. Most of the soot came off, revealing only one box that was actually painted black.
Dean, meanwhile, had grabbed Sam's laptop. He needed to clear off his last Internet activities before Sam used it again. He didn't want to hear it from Sam about his questionable web activity.
"Sam!"
"Dean, I really don't need to see the latest Asian Beauty."
Dean shot him a look. "That's not. Come here a minute."
Sam sighed and relented. "What is it?" Coming over and standing behind Dean so that he can see the screen.
Dean pointed to a picture of himself, Sam, Neal and Mozzie at the wreckage. Thankfully the picture was taken from a distance and the quality was poor. There was no way anyone would be recognized by the photo.
"Wow! Well, at least we won't be recognized." Sam stated.
Dean nodded. "Read the article."
Sam read about the jewels and the fact that the black box had not been found. The article said that they feared it was lost at sea."
"That takes the pressure off us." Dean said. "We'll have time to see what is on this thing."
"But, it doesn't tell us why the demons were on board. Why this plane? The obvious answer is the jewels. But, why…." Sam asked, thinking out loud.
"Demons don't need money, jewels…." Dean shrugged. "Maybe Crowley is a history buff. I mean they do have their very own nasty history. If even half of what this article says is true, these things carry around some bad juju."
"I think you have something that belongs to me." Crowley said appearing before them.
"What are you talking about?" Dean asked. He had not been too alarmed by Crowley's appearance, unfortunately, the king of hell did this type stuff all the time.
"The family jewels, as it were." Crowley stated.
"We don't know what we have yet, Crowley." Sam admitted.
"That's okay. You don't need to know. I know." The King of Hell stated.
Dean started to stand and move toward the boxes on the bed.
Crowley extended his arm and sent the brothers flying across the room. He then went over to the bed and took all but the but the box that was painted black.
"The jewels are mine. Those Scotts took them away from me, my family ,years ago. Glad to see my father's curse is still alive and well." Crowley stated.
"The curse took down the plane?" Sam asked as he struggled against Crowley's power.
"No, the demons who I sent to get the jewels took down the plane. The curse turned, who possessed the jewels and was not in the family bloodline, insane."
Dean was struggling, too. "You killed all those people for some jewels?"
"I asked my demons to accomplish a goal. Their methods don't concern me." Crowley replied.
"You're an ass!" Dean growled.
Crowley chuckled. "Tell me something I don't know."
"So, Crowley, your mom is a witch, and she's tried to kill you…many times. And you grew up to be the King of Hell." Sam summarized.
"Dude, I think the curse backfired." Dean added.
Crowley seemed to be considering what they said. "Boys, Boys, Boys…I have to run. Thanks for doing the heavy labor." He then vanished from the room.
"Damnet! Crowley!" Dean yelled after him as he picked himself up off the floor. "Douche bag!" He skulked over to the bed and picked up the box that Crowley left.
"What the hell is this, then?" Dean asked as he tossed it back onto the bed.
Sam went over to the bed. He sat down and picked up the box. "The actual black box?" He said as he inspected the box's exterior.
"Do we really want to know what the last few minutes of these people's lives was like?" Dean asked grimacing.
Sam found a USB port on the side. He rummaged through his computer bag and found a cord. Then he plugged the box into his laptop.
"It's an audio file?" Dean asked. He hadn't wanted to see what was happening to these people. But, he had thought that, over the years, the cockpit recorder world would have advanced itself a bit more.
The brothers listened closely. Had they not known that demons had been on the plane. The recording would not have been very remarkable. They heard a couple of growls, and things that sounded like deep demonic voices. But the sounds could also possibly be explained by the hollow kind of sound large pieces of metal make when they become horrible, twisted wreckage.
Sam shook his head. "We have to warn Neal and Mozzie to leave this alone."
Dean nodded. "I don't think Neal will be a problem. What we do scares him. But, the little bald man, yeah, he might."
"Crowley took the treasure, the jewels, how…?" Sam asked.
"Mozzie will think that we fenced them ourselves. He may believe we didn't get them all." Dean said, thinking out loud.
"It's not like Neal can contact us and find out what we found. And we can't contact him, not on his phones anyway.
"We can go to the FBI." Sam stated.
Dean looked at his brother for just a second. He was not sure he had heard the younger Winchester correctly.
"We do like we usually do and go to Junes." Dean said, wondering why Sam was making this so hard when that was their easy solution.
"Before I tossed that last burner phone, I called June, remember?" Sam reminded him.
"No." Dean said, shaking his head.
Sam looked at him for a second, then nodded. He was going to tell Dean about the conversation he had had with June.. But, then they had been surprised to see Neal and Mozzie.
"Well, I asked her if Neal was home, it was the middle of the day. She told me not to come to the mansion. She said every evening, for the past week, when she had gone out to walk the dog the FBI van had been parked down the street. She said she didn't know what Neal and Mozzie were up to. She told me it might be best we don't stay at the manse this trip.
Dean nodded. "Yeah, we don't need Peter looking over our shoulders, too." He sighed. "Time for you to do some more research.
"Me? You know your way around a computer keyboard." Sam replied.
"You don't like me using your computer."
"No, Dean, what I don't like is you downloading porn and slowing down my Internet speed." Sam corrected him.
"Busty Asian Beauties are a sight to behold, Sammy." Dean said as he eyes glazed over.
Sam glared at his brother and shook his head. "Whatever…Jerk!"
"Bitch!"
Sam looked at his brother before heading to the bathroom. "Research…NOT porn! I'm going to take a shower." He shook his head and he headed off to the bathroom. He knew his brother well enough to know that he would probably put his love of Asian porn over and above any research.
Sam could hear the music through the closed bathroom door. "Dean! You better delete that shit before I get out of here!"
Dean grinned and he cleared the history and fragmented Sam's laptop. He had found the mother-load by the time Sam emerged from the bathroom, fully dressed.
Dean looked up. "Sammy! Turns out that that shit was believed to be heavily cursed by the family. They were so afraid of it, none of them would even touch it. It was kept in a part of the castle the family didn't use, locked in a vault. They even added the precaution of locking it in warded glass cases. It seems that their mire close proximity to the jewels spelled bad luck. When the jewels traveled. They were always accompanied by a trusted family friend. Family members did check to make sure everything was accounted for whenever the jewels came back to the castle. But, it was only by looked through the locked, warded glass case.
"If they belonged to Crowley…the McCloud family than how did this family get them?"
The Hennessey family won them in a poker game." Dean replied.
Sam opened and closed his mouth a couple of times, too shocked to speak.
Dean continued, very amused by the information he had found. "It appears Angus McCloud was a bit of a braggart, a drunk, and a gambler.
Sam chuckled. "Crowley never mentioned that."
Dean shook his head. "Nope. Apparently Rowena was furious when she found out. She disowned him and kicked him."
"Kicked him out? How old was he?" Sam asked, something about that just sounded odd to him.
Dean looked at the screen. "Subtracting the dates, probably around 25."
Sam and Dean looked at one another for a moment. "Mama's Boy!" They said, simultaneously.
The Winchesters got the impression they were not alone. They turned to greet their visitor.
"I was not a Mama's boy!" The King of Hell retorted. "It was just difficult for a person of my…advanced age to find employment, when I had no…discernible skills."
The brothers looked at one another, again.
Dean laughed. "So, you were a lazy-ass Mam's boy."
Crowley glared at the elder Winchester, for a moment, before he spoke. "Rowena was a truly horrible mother. But, she was an excellent cook." He paused and ducked his head. "And…until that day, she had never told me I had to leave."
Sam sighed. "YOU are a mama's boy, Crowley."
Dean was laughing again. "So, let me get this straight…you got stupid drunk one day and gambled away the family jewels?"
"It's more…it's not quite that simple."
"Sounds pretty simple to me." Sam stated.
"Pretty freakin' simple to me, too." Dean replied.
Crowley's temper flared. "What the bloody hell do you know?" Then he was gone.
TBC
END NOTES: I am not sure the origin of the name Hennessey. But, it seemed to work well and fit the story. Plus, I like the name. Also, FYI: a braggart is just a person who likes to brag. I just thought that the term fit the era when Crowley would have been young. Thanks, as always for the alerts, reviews, comments and kudos. And, to my grammar police…thanks, in advance, for your help. Hope you enjoyed this little tasty tidbit. More to come! JL