A/N: This chapter includes content from Lazarus Rising and Are You There God? It's Me, Dean Winchester. Song is Shotgun Blues by Volbeat.
Chapter 20: Shotgun Blues
Living in darkness, became a burden in daylight
Carrying the souls of the dead and feeding them with life
Stop wearing me out, I present you the gate
I'm passing you over and leave you with faith
You're living a second life that don't belong to you
Step out of my body, I believe you like it too
Stop wearing me out, I present you the gate
I'm passing you over and leave you with faith
You're now leaving
I couldn't rule with you
One minute to sing the shotgun blues
How you feeling?
Do you love it too?
One minute to sing the shotgun blues
32 years have gone, you're now on the other side
Leaving with good energy, a blessing in disguise
Stop wearing me out, I present you the gate
I'm passing you over and leave you with faith
You're now leaving
I couldn't rule with you
One minute to sing the shotgun blues
How you feeling?
Do you love it too?
One minute to sing the shotgun blues
When Ty exited the bathroom, the tension in the room was still obvious. Glancing from one brother to the other, she frowned, wondering what new problem had been dumped on their plates.
"What?" she asked bluntly, too tired to beat around the bush, "What happened?"
Dean shook his head, "Lilith. She took out the station after we left."
"Shit." Ty said, dropping down to sit next to Dean on the bed.
"Yeah." Dean agreed.
They all fell silent again for a long moment before Sam finally turned to face Dean more directly, "Dean, how did this happen?"
Dean looked over at his brother and he could tell from the look on his face that he hadn't forgotten how this had started, the summoning ritual and the fake text. Dean couldn't bring himself to meet his brother's gaze as it really sank in that everyone at the station, Henriksen, Amici, Nancy, they were all dead because of him.
"Dean." Sam pressed when his brother didn't answer.
Dean stood up, feeling the need to put some distance between himself and the others before he answered. He kept his back to them both before he finally spoke, "I summoned Melchiresa."
"You did what?" Ty exclaimed, jumping to her feet.
"It was the only thing I could think to do." Dean continued, "To get the demons off our backs so we can figure the rest of this out, to get some answers. Should've known the bitch would double-cross me."
"Dean…" Ty began.
"But that doesn't make any sense." Sam protested at the same time.
Sam's comment actually had Dean turning around again, confused by his assessment. Sam read the look on his face and continued.
"She wants something from you. She even saved your life. Why would she hand you over to Lilith's bounty-hunters?"
Ty allowed herself to focus on Sam's words and push her other feelings over Dean's summoning of Melchiresa aside for the moment. She nodded in agreement with the younger Winchester's assessment, "He's right. Besides, even if she did decide she'd rather give you to Lilith, why wouldn't she just collect the bounty herself?"
Dean knew they were right. Thinking back over his interaction with the demon before the police swarmed the room, he shared some of her parting comments, "She said I wasn't ready yet. That once I really understood my situation, I'd be willing to talk."
"So she was betting on you making it out." Ty said.
"Probably why she tricked you into coming back in time to get busted with me." Dean agreed, looking over at Sam, "Figured if we made it out, I'd be all softened up to make a deal."
"But you can't." Ty insisted. She looked from Dean to Sam and back, "Look, I don't know when we started having demons on our team, but it's nuts. There has to be another way."
"Really?" Dean challenged, raising an eyebrow as he stepped closer to her, "And what would that be? I'm all ears."
Ty backed up a step in response. She felt cornered. She would give just about anything to protect Dean, to save him from this bounty, but this was the demon that had possessed her, killed Alex's parents, and that she knew in her gut was looking for a way to keep Dean all to herself. She didn't have any answers for Dean, but she refused to believe that dealing with Melchiresa was really an option.
"Damn it, I don't know!" Ty snapped back, "But you can't make a deal. Not with her."
"Okay, okay." Sam interjected before things could escalate any further, "It's been a long night. We all need some rest. Let's grab a few hours sleep and then we can figure out our next move."
Neither Ty nor Dean made a move from where they stood.
"Come on, guys." Sam pressed.
"Yeah, okay." Dean finally relented, turning and heading off into the bathroom. Ty watched him go and once the door closed behind him, collapsed back onto the bed with a sigh.
"He doesn't mean it, you know." Sam said quietly. Ty looked up at him questioningly, meeting his sad eyes, "Being a jerk. He's worried, scared."
Ty considered his words for a moment. Part of her could feel the truth of it, but another part of her, the insecure part that anything involving Melchiresa seemed to drag to the surface, refused to let her forget some of Dean's words, his dismissal.
"Whatever. I'm just the nutty sidekick anyway, right?" she mumbled bitterly, slipping under the covers and settling into her spot on the bed.
"Ty." Sam protested, "You know that's not true. He's an idiot, but he's crazy about you."
Ty just made a skeptical sound in response and closed her eyes, clearly signaling an end to the conversation. Sam shook his head and retreated to his side of the room to get some sleep, as well. He really just wanted Ty and his brother to be happy, but he had a feeling that they wouldn't be able to sort out their relationship with all this supernatural armageddon stuff hanging over them. He couldn't exactly blame them.
In the bathroom, Dean groaned and finally lifted his face from his hands. He'd overheard most of his brother and Ty's conversation. Nutty sidekick? Why the hell had he said that? He should have just been straight with Henriksen.
"Friggin' hindsight.' he thought bitterly to himself.
Of course, he had no idea what the hell he would have called her if he had been honest with Henriksen. It's not like they'd had the time to get into the complexities of his unlabeled relationship with Ty. God, what a mess. He didn't want to drive her away, but he just couldn't deal with this right now. Ugh, maybe Sam was right. Maybe he should just turn in for now, get some sleep.
When Dean left the bathroom, Ty and Sam had both already climbed into their respective beds and turned down the lights. Dean was willing to bet money that neither of them were asleep, but no one said anything and he played along, quietly shucking most of his clothes and climbing into bed, as well.
All three hunters laid there in silence for a while, frowning in the dark and lost in their own thoughts, before eventually the need for sleep managed to claim them all.
A few hours later, Dean groaned as something pulled him back out of sleep. He blindly reached out to the nightstand, feeling around until he found his watch, then blinked at it until his eyes focused enough to read the time. It had only been a few hours. Why was he even awake?
Distressed sounds from behind him and the feeling of Ty shifting on the mattress had him sitting up and turning to face her.
"Son of a…" Dean swore under his breath, now recognizing the signs of a vision. He slipped out of bed and rounded the mattress so he was standing between Ty and Sam. Looking at his brother, he saw his brother twitching and making the same sounds. In fact, Dean's brow furrowed as he glanced back and forth between the two hunters and realized that they were making the exact same movements and sounds, Ty just a fraction of a second behind Sam.
"Hey. Hey!" Dean called, shaking first one and then the other, "Come on, you two. Wake up!"
Neither of them seemed to hear him or respond to his shaking. Dean's mind raced, trying to think of what he could do, when Sam suddenly jerked upright, gasping his name. Dean whirled back around when Ty did the same a second later.
"What the hell?" Dean exclaimed. Sam and Ty were both still trying to catch their breaths, but Dean wasn't feeling especially patient, especially not with them both gasping his name as they came out of the vision. Still looking back and forth between them, he demanded, "One of you, start talking."
"It was the angel." Ty managed.
"Alleged angel. What about it?" Dean pressed.
"It was…it was like it was after you." Sam answered this time.
"Me? Why?" Dean asked, "Don't tell me there's some kinda freaking angel-monster bounty on me, too."
Ty shook her head, "No, I don't think it was like that. God, Sam, did that seem different to you? Like, more intense?"
Sam nodded absently. The visions did seem to be getting stronger. The first angelic vision he'd shared with Ty had been almost more of an impression. This had been more like it was happening right before his eyes. He wished Ty wasn't so receptive to the visions. It was making it harder to hide the truth about his powers.
"Well, that's swell." Dean snapped sarcastically, "Will you just tell me what you saw?"
Sam and Ty exchanged a look before the younger Winchester gestured for her to go ahead, "Okay, well, I saw you at some gas station somewhere. Place seemed empty except for you. The TV started flickering static and then that sound started, the same one as before. It got so loud. You were on the ground, covering your ears, and the windows started to explode. When the sound finally stopped and you stood up, it looked like every piece of glass in the place had shattered. Then, everything changed and it was you alone in a motel room somewhere. The TV flickered again, the same way with the static, and the radio turned itself on and started whining. You grabbed a shotgun, but when the noise hit again, you had to cover your ears again. For some reason the place had a mirror on the ceiling and it shattered, just like at the gas station. You started screaming and your ears were bleeding as the glass hit you."
"That's when we woke up." Sam finished for her.
"Jesus." Dean muttered, having a seat on the edge of the bed next to Ty, "But you don't think the thing was trying to take me out?"
Ty shook her head, "Between these visions and whatever the hell that scene was that Bobby found, I get the feeling that if this thing really wanted to hurt you, it would do more than burst your eardrums."
"But it definitely wants something from Dean, specifically." Sam argued. He shifted his gaze to Dean, "Both times it came when you were alone."
"Don't you start on your babysitting me crap again." Dean warned.
"Dean…" Sam began to protest.
"No. End of discussion." Dean said firmly, climbing back to his feet, "Alright, we're all up anyway. Might as well get moving."
Sam shot Ty a look behind his brother's back, expressing his concern. He could tell she shared it, but she shook her head and shrugged slightly. She didn't know what to do either. Sighing, Sam got up, grabbed his bag and headed into the bathroom to change. He knew Dean still didn't really believe they were dealing with an angel. He'd made his opinion on the subject abundantly clear back when they'd been dealing with the ghost of that Catholic priest inspiring people to take out sinners by impersonating an angel. And despite the fact that it had turned out that Dean was right that time, that it was a ghost behind everything, Sam had still hung onto his belief that angels existed. Now, it seemed like he had proof, but it wasn't at all like he'd thought it would be. Why would an angel hurt his brother like he'd seen in his vision? It just didn't make sense. There had to be something he was missing. He would have liked to talk it out, at least with Ty since she seemed to believe it was an angel, too, but he knew it would just lead to a fight with his brother if he brought it up again anytime soon. He'd just have to keep his thoughts to himself until they got back to Bobby's.
The rest of the drive back to Bobby's house was fairly quiet, each hunter mostly keeping to themselves. Ty wanted to talk to Dean, say something to defuse the tension that had been between them since she'd discovered he's summoned Melchiresa. She must have opened her mouth to say something half a dozen times, but just like the night before, she found herself just sitting in silence. She didn't want to fight about it again and she couldn't think of anything that she could say that wouldn't lead to just that result. Even the momentary distraction provided by the vision she'd shared with Sam didn't seem to help since Dean appeared to be pretty on edge about that, too. She didn't really blame him. It seemed like everything was suddenly focused on him for some reason and she could only imagine how that must be making him feel.
God, she needed to clear her head. Frowning, she made an impulsive decision and started quickly rolling down her window.
"What are you doing?" Dean asked as the wind and the noise of the road filled the car.
Ty didn't answer him. Instead, she grabbed his box of cassettes from under the seat, glad that she'd taken the front passenger spot. Selecting a tape, she popped it in the stereo and turned up the volume.
"Ty!" Sam yelled in protest over the suddenly extremely loud noise in the car.
Both brothers were now looking at her in consternation. Ty flashed them both a grin, already feeling better with the wind whipping her hair around and a rock beat rumbling through her chest. She took a deep breath, then started singing along with the music as loud as she could, "Some folks are born made to wave the flag/ They're red, white and blue/ And when the band plays Hail to the Chief/ They point the cannon at you, Lord/ It ain't me, it ain't me, I ain't no senator's son, son/ It ain't me, it ain't me, I ain't no fortunate one."
When she looked back at Dean, a smile was tugging at his lips. On the next verse, she was thrilled when he joined her in belting out the lyrics. After the chorus, she twisted in her seat to look back at Sam.
"Come on, Sam!" she yelled, "Don't pretend you don't know the words!"
Sam looked bemused but he joined them for the last part of the song. When the song ended, Dean leaned forward and turned the music down, but the atmosphere in the car had completely changed. He glanced over at Ty with a raised eyebrow.
"What was that all about?" he asked.
Ty shrugged, still smiling and now relaxed in her seat. She stretched her arm out the open window to feel the wind before she answered, "I don't know. Felt like I needed it. Thought maybe you guys did, too."
"Nutcase." Dean said, but he was still smiling, too.
"Thanks, Ty." Sam added.
Ty nodded in acknowledgement of both their comments. They lapsed back into silence again after that, but now it wasn't so stifling.
Just as the trio was closing in on Bobby's house, Ty's phone rang. Glancing down, she saw it was Bobby himself calling her.
"Bobby? We're almost there." she said as she answered.
"Keep the engine running." Bobby replied.
"What? Why?" Ty asked, frowning and sitting up straighter in her seat, "What's going on?"
"Ellen and I are already on the road. I got a friend one state over, Olivia Lowry. I've been trying to reach her for three days. It's not like her to ignore this many calls." Bobby explained.
"So this friend is another hunter?"
"Yeah. I tried calling some other hunters in the area to see if one of them could check on her. None of them picked up either. Ellen and I are on our way to her place, but something's up."
"What do you need from us?" Ty asked immediately. She could feel Sam and Dean glancing at her curiously, but she just shot them both a look back to wait a moment.
"I left Alex and Jo with my list of contacts. Check in with them if you're close to the house, see if they've been able to reach anyone. But if they haven't, I'm hoping you kids can drop in and check on some of them." Bobby requested.
"Yeah, Bobby." Ty nodded, "Whatever you need. Let me know what you find at this Olivia's place."
"Call you soon." Bobby agreed before disconnecting.
"So?" Dean asked impatiently as soon as Ty dropped her phone from her ear.
Ty shook her head, "Well, because we have the worst luck possible, something else seems to be up. Bobby said he's not getting through to any local hunters. He and Ellen are on their way to check on one now. He said to check in with Alex and Jo, see if they were able to get ahold of anyone, but if not he wanted us to check on some, too."
Dean frowned and pressed down harder on the gas. They covered the remaining distance to Bobby's place in no time, but Sam still spent that time trying to call up some of their contacts, too. Just like Bobby had told Ty, no one was picking up and he had a bad feeling about it. As soon as Dean killed the engine, they all quickly climbed out, eager to see if Alex or Jo had had any better luck.
Inside the house, they found Alex with his phone plastered to his ear, pacing the length and breadth of the living room. When he saw them walk in, he tossed his phone down on the couch in frustration and shook his head.
"Not a single hunter in a 500-mile radius is picking up their phone." he growled in frustration.
"Where's Jo?" Sam asked, hoping maybe she'd gotten through to someone.
"Kitchen." Alex said, nodding his head in that direction.
Sam stepped past him, but paused when he saw the way she was twirling a knife and the angry, frustrated, and worried look on her face. He backed away from the entryway to the kitchen and turned back to the others, "Yeah, I don't think she's gotten through to anybody either."
"What the hell is going on?" Alex demanded, looking from Ty to either Winchester as if they might be able to shed some light on the situation.
"No clue." Dean said, "But I'm guessing nothing good. Who's the closest hunter on Bobby's list?"
Alex moved over to a cluttered desk nearby, looking down at Bobby's list, "Well, looks like there's a hunter named Jed Turner in a town called Jackson in Nebraska. Can't be more than 2 or 3 hours from here."
Dean nodded quickly, already turning back towards the door, "Alright. Sam, Ty, let's roll."
Sam immediately made to follow Dean out the door, but Ty hesitated. After everything at the police station and that fight about Melchiresa, she couldn't help but think she could use a little space. Clearly, now, in the middle of whatever this was, was not the best time for her to let her own issues cloud her judgment, but still. However, before she could make a decision or either Winchester could notice her hesitation, a scream came from the kitchen that had them all bolting back in that direction.
In the kitchen they found Jo standing with her back pressed against the counter, her knife clutched tightly in one hand, staring wide-eyed at her phone that was sitting on the table.
"Jo?" Alex asked in concern, glancing between her and the phone.
"What happened?" Dean demanded.
Jo's eyes flicked towards the gathered hunters, but swiftly returned to her phone like she was afraid to take her eyes off of it. She shook her head, like she couldn't believe it, but she still looked panicked as she forced words out of her mouth, "I…I thought I heard…"
She stopped, taking a ragged breath.
"What did you hear, Jo?" Sam pressed gently.
Jo looked over slowly. She looked like she was barely holding it together, but she managed to answer, "Babies crying."
"Shit." Alex swore under his breath, moving closer. Ty wasn't sure it was the smartest move to approach Jo when she was holding her knife like that, but Alex seemed undaunted as he pulled her into a hug, "It's okay, Jo. It's okay."
Sam, Dean, and Ty all shared a surprised and awkward look between them. By unspoken agreement, they backed slowly away from the kitchen, leaving Alex to comfort Jo.
"How long has that been going on?" Dean asked in a whisper, raising an eyebrow.
"More importantly," Ty said pointedly, "you think this has something to do with whatever's going on with all the hunters or…"
She didn't want to say that maybe Jo was suffering from some kind of PTSD after that last job with the Seal, but the idea hung in the air anyway and she could see that the Winchesters were thinking it, too. They all silently looked back in the direction of the kitchen, none of them happy with either option.
"Look," Sam finally said, "we need to figure out what is going on and I think our best bet is to go check on that hunter in Jackson. See what's up. But if whatever this is is starting to happen to Jo, maybe one of us should stay here and help Alex keep an eye on her."
Ty nodded in agreement. She felt a pang of guilt that this was playing into her earlier thoughts about wanting some space, but she shoved that aside. This was about something more important, now.
"I'll stay." she said quickly, "You two should get going."
Dean's jaw clenched a little at the thought of leaving Ty behind if something was going after hunters, but he knew the plan made sense and they didn't have time for an argument. Still, he paused before he followed Sam out the door, turning back to her, "Hey, you better answer your phone if we call."
"Back at you, Winchester." Ty replied immediately.
Dean gave her a quick nod, then left. Ty stayed where she was, staring at the closed front door until she heard the Impala's engine start up and them drive off. With a sigh, she turned around and started back towards the kitchen to let Alex and Jo know their plan of action.
She hadn't made it far when she felt the temperature in the room drop, like she'd walked into a cold spot. Her breath plumed in front of her face and she immediately tensed. She was only a couple steps from the threshold into the kitchen so she moved quickly forward.
"Alex…" she began, but stopped when she saw what was happening.
Jo was struggling to free herself from Alex's grip, her eyes tracking frantically around the room.
"Can't you hear it?" she demanded.
"Jo, stop." Alex protested, but Jo was determined. She twisted free from his grasp, shoving him back into the counter, then sprinting quickly out the back door, "Jo!"
"Alex, wait." Ty called quickly before he could chase after her. When he turned quickly to face her, shooting her a questioning look, she gestured vaguely around her, "Do you feel that? It's freezing in here."
Although, even as she said it she could feel that the temperature was returning to normal. Shaking her head in frustration, she corrected herself.
"Well, it was. I think…I think maybe something's haunting Jo."
Alex stared at her silently for a second as he absorbed her words before he whirled back towards the door, "Then, we gotta find her."
Ty followed on his heels, but her mind was racing. If Jo was being haunted and she was hearing crying babies…was she being haunted by the kids they couldn't save? And if so, what were they going to do about it? Were they going to have to drive back out there, find the babies' remains, and salt and burn them? That would go over real well, she was sure. And how was this connected to whatever was keeping all the other hunters from picking up their phones?
Unfortunately, Bobby's scrapyard was like a labyrinth. Alex slid to a stop as he reached a crossroads between rows of junker cars with no sign of which way Jo might have gone. Glancing over at Ty, he gestured silently for her to take one way while he took the other. Ty nodded quickly in agreement and they split up.
Ty moved quickly, but tried to be thorough as she searched through the scrapyard. However, it was a sound that ultimately led her to check behind a rusted-out SUV where she found Jo sitting on the ground with her knees pulled in tight to her chest. Crouching down next to her, Ty was a little relieved to see that Jo looked freaked out, but she wasn't crying or hysterical.
"Hey." Ty said softly, "Still hear it?"
Jo shook her head, "Not right now. But I swear I could hear it. Like it was coming from everywhere even when I left the house."
She looked desperate for Ty to believe her, so Ty quickly nodded, "I believe you. I felt the cold spot even if I couldn't hear it."
Jo sagged a little in relief at Ty's words. While the two women were now on good terms, they had never gotten really close. However, Ty felt for her. She remembered how destroyed by guilt she'd felt on that job with the carnival gypsies when she hadn't been able to save a young girl named Liz. Liz had then haunted Ty until her death had been avenged and even though Liz had been clear that she didn't blame Ty for her death, seeing her as a ghost had felt like a blow to the gut. She could only imagine how much worse this must be; being haunted just by the distraught cries of infants who couldn't tell her that she'd done everything she could.
Ty offered Jo a hand and pulled her back to her feet, "Come on. Let's go find Alex and figure out what we need to do."
The two girls tracked back towards Bobby's house, with Ty periodically calling out for Alex. He never replied, but when they turned a corner, Ty spotted him in the distance.
"Alex!" she called, annoyed that he hadn't answered her, but then she noticed his tense posture and the way he was focused on something out of her line of sight, "Alex?"
Ty exchanged a quick look with Jo, then both of them started running towards Alex. Ty's eyes narrowed when she caught sight of another figure standing across from him. But just as Ty and Jo reached him, the figure vanished.
"Alex?" Ty asked quickly as she scanned their surroundings for any sign of whoever or whatever that figure was. When she was sure that it was gone, she turned back to face her partner to find he looked unnaturally pale, "Alex, are you okay?"
Jo was frowning at him with concern and hesitantly placed a hand on his arm. The contact seemed to finally get through to him, because he finally seemed to notice that the two of them were present.
"Was that…?" Jo began.
She trailed off, but it was clear to Ty that whoever that figure had been, both Alex and Jo recognized them. And it was also clear that this was nothing good.
"Um…yeah…" Alex said, before pausing, taking a deep breath and swallowing hard. He looked from Jo over to Ty, "That was…my dad. He was asking about you."
About an hour later, Bobby took the lead into Olivia Lowry's house after receiving no answer to his knocks on the door. He swept the entry with his pistol before moving inside. Ellen followed after him, shotgun in hand.
"Olivia?" Bobby called as he cautiously moved through the house.
There was no response and it was swiftly apparent why. Olivia's bloody corpse lay just off the living room. Her chest was torn open, broken ribs jutting through the carnage of her skin. Bobby turned swiftly away, moving back out of the room.
"Bobby?" Ellen asked with concern before she turned to see what had upset him and spotted the body, "Jesus."
Ellen shifted her gaze away from the body and her eyes narrowed as she noticed a broken salt line by Olivia's feet and an EMF meter lying on the floor like she'd dropped it. Hearing Bobby returning, she turned to face him.
"I've never heard of a ghost doing something like this before." she said with a frown.
"Me either." Bobby said, already holding his phone up to his ear, "Sam? Yeah. It ain't good."
"Your dad?" Ty asked in surprise, "But…"
She stopped herself before she could finish that sentence. No one needed to be reminded that Alex's parents were brutally murdered by Melchiresa. So, if that had been Alex's dad, then Jo wasn't the only one around here being haunted. And, apparently, this ghost was interested in her for some reason.
"Alex, how long…?" Jo began to ask, but Alex cut her off abruptly.
"No, no. I've never seen him before. Him or Mom."
"So…why?" Jo asked. Being haunted by the babies they had failed to save in their last hunt made sense to her, but why would Alex's father show up after all this time?
Alex's gaze shot over towards Ty again, then quickly cut away before he replied, "He…uh…he said…he was mad because…it was about Melchiresa."
Ty felt her heart sink and a tide of guilt rise instead. If Alex's father had come back as a ghost and he was mad and asking about her and Melchiresa, it could only mean one thing. Alex's father had returned as a ghost because she'd screwed things up.
"Alex, I…" Ty started, but she had no words.
"You what?" a gruff, unfamiliar voice growled from behind her.
Ty spun around to find that the ghost had returned. It felt like she couldn't breathe as she looked at him. Erik Flynn looked like his son. The same dark hair only with some grays coming in around his temples, the same square jaw although where Alex was clean-shaven, his father sported a short beard, but most strikingly, the same dark eyes. Only these eyes were furious as they bored into hers.
"What excuse do you have for ruining my son's chance to avenge his parents not once, but twice?" he growled at her.
"Dad." Alex protested.
"No." Ty said, holding a hand up to stop Alex from saying anything else, "No, he's right. It's my fault. I'm so, so sorry."
"Sorry?" Alex's father asked incredulously, "You're sorry? You drag my son into danger all over the damn country, but when it comes to the one thing that would give him any peace, let him move on from this life, you let that demon bitch walk right out the door!"
Ty just cringed in the face of his accusation, wincing like he'd physically struck her.
Alex, however, couldn't take any more of this. He moved in front of his partner, placing himself between her and his father's ghost.
"Dad, it wasn't like that!"
"And you!" his father turned his furious gaze on his son, "What was the one thing your mother and I asked of you? Do we mean so little to you?"
"You know that's not true, Dad." Alex said, but he couldn't help but drop his gaze guiltily.
"Do you know what it feels like for your only son to spit on your wishes for him after all the sacrifices you made to keep him safe? And then letting some selfish hunter bitch keep you from the one hunt that actually matters?" the ghost suddenly surged forward, his hand plunging towards Alex's chest, "It feels like having your heart ripped out of your chest."
Alex gasped in pain but a moment later there was a loud bang and the ghost vanished. Alex and Ty both turned wide eyes on Jo, who was standing there with a gun in her hand.
"I'm sorry, Alex." she said quickly, "I had to. He was…"
Jo abruptly cut off again and this time both Ty and Alex could hear what drew her attention. Clear as a bell and echoing off the vehicles in the salvage yard were the desperate cries of a baby.
"No." Jo said, her hands tightening around the gun as she whirled around to try and figure out the source of the sound. But there was nothing to be seen and the cries seemed to be getting even louder. And even if she had seen the ghosts making the sounds, she would never be able to bring herself to take that shot. How could she? So, she did the only thing that made any sense. Once again, she ran.
"Jo!" Ty called after her, torn between following her and staying with Alex who had yet to move a muscle or say a word, "Alex? Alex, are you okay?"
Alex shook his head, but all he said was, "We need to go after Jo. Come on."
Ty nodded and they both ran after her again. Unfortunately, this time Jo had run back towards the house and by the time they reached her, she was behind the wheel of her mother's truck and speeding away from them.
"Shit." Ty said. She quickly exchanged a look with Alex, both acknowledging that they had no choice. They couldn't leave her alone. Without having to say anything, they both quickly jumped into Alex's truck and drove after her.
A couple hours and many miles away, Dean and Sam were already leaving Jed Turner's house. It had been immediately apparent that they were much too late to help him. And while it was clear from the scene that they were dealing with spirit activity, the level of violence was on a scale neither hunter had seen before, just like Bobby had described at Olivia's place. Dean was already on his phone to give Bobby the news and see if he had anymore info, "We're in Jackson. It's not pretty. What about you?"
Dean could hear the rumble of Bobby's Chevelle in the background and figured he was already on the road again.
"Ellen and I just checked on Carl Bates and R.C. Adams. They've redecorated...in red." Bobby answered grimly.
"What the hell is going on here, Bobby? Why would a bunch of ghosts suddenly want to gank off-duty hunters?" Dean asked.
"I don't know, but until we find out, you guys better get your asses back to my place."
"We're on our way." Dean confirmed before hanging up and climbing into the Impala.
He planned to make the trip back as quickly as possible, so after a couple hours he switched out with Sam so he could grab a little shut eye before they arrived back at the house. Dean hadn't been out for very long when Sam pulled off to refuel. He left Dean sleeping in the passenger seat and the gas pumping while he went to use the restroom. The station itself was closed for the night, but luckily they had an open restroom around the back. He had just finished doing his business and was washing his hands, when a chill filled the room. Sam could see his breath and the bathroom mirror suddenly seemed to freeze over. Sam swiped his hand across the glass to clear it and was startled to see Agent Henriksen's reflection.
"Hi, Sam. It's been a while." Henriksen greeted him.
Sam spun around, "Henriksen. Are you…? Did you…?"
Henriksen's form flickered in and out of existence briefly before he answered, "I didn't survive...if that's what you're asking."
"I'm sorry."
"I know you are."
"Look, if we'd known Lilith was coming…" Sam began.
"You wouldn't have left half a dozen innocent people in that police station to die in your place? You Winchesters did this to me. It's your fault. She was after you, you and Dean, and I paid the price. You left us there to die!" Henriksen snapped angrily.
He suddenly sprang forward, grabbing Sam and throwing him hard against the bathroom wall, then back into the mirror. Henriksen then smashed Sam's head into the sink. Sam fell to the ground, dazed and reeling. Luckily, Dean entered at that exact moment and didn't hesitate to fire a rock salt round. It passed through Henriksen and his ghost disappeared.
Dean found himself staring at the spot where Henriksen's ghost had been. Was Henriksen a vengeful spirit? If so, why had he gone after Sam? It was his fault that the agent had died, not his brother's.
Before Dean could consider it any further, a groan from Sam snapped him out of his thoughts. He turned quickly back to his brother and helped him up off the ground. He must have taken quite a beating because he was leaning pretty heavily on him as they moved back towards the car. Dean quickly wrenched the passenger door open and eased him down on the seat. Even in the dim light of the car's interior, he could see that Sam's pupils were blown wide with a concussion.
"Don't move." he ordered, "I'm gonna grab a couple things from the station."
At the very least, he wanted to grab Sam some water and some aspirin. With all the crap they'd been through recently, they'd used up the stuff he kept in the car and they hadn't gotten a chance to restock. Maybe he could snag the kid some ice or something, too.
The station was locked up tight for the night, the closed sign hanging in the window. Dean didn't hesitate, but removed his overshirt and wrapped it around his hand before breaking the glass on the door. Once he had a large enough space cleared to reach his hand through, he unlocked it and entered. He hurried over to a cooler along the wall and grabbed a water bottle from inside before turning to start hunting through the aisles for some medical supplies. Before he could locate what he was looking for, the TV monitor behind the register flickered on, showing static. Dean's head snapped up and he took a step towards the counter, instinctively starting to investigate, when the radio sitting by the register turned on, too. It whined the unpleasant white noise heard in between stations.
Immediately thinking that maybe Henricksen's ghost was coming back, Dean turned back to the aisle he'd just left and grabbed a container of salt. He moved to the window to start pouring a line across the sill when a high-pitched tone started sounding. Dean clutched one ear in pain with his free hand. Realizing this was no ghost, but had to be the thing from Sam and Ty's vision, he dropped the salt and covered his other ear, too. He knew he should try to run before anything else happened, but the high-pitched ringing was killing him. Ty had definitely undersold how bad it was. Before he could do more than crouch low to the floor, the window above his head exploded, followed quickly by the others and everything else made of glass in the station.
Then, as abruptly as it had started, the noise vanished. Dean cautiously lowered his hands and straightened. His ears were still ringing but at least he didn't feel like his head was about to burst anymore. He scanned the area for any sign of the supposed angel that had done this, but there was nothing to see besides a sea of broken glass. Crunching across it, Dean grabbed the water bottle he had dropped and a bottle of aspirin before he hurried back to the car. He popped a few himself before handing the rest to Sam. Luckily, his brother appeared out of it enough that Dean didn't think he'd noticed the fiasco in the gas station. Poor guy probably thought any ringing he heard was from getting his bell rung by Henriksen's ghost. Dean resisted the impulse to sigh in frustration. This night was just getting better and better.
