Chapter 7: Common Ground.
Chris ran until he felt his lungs would explode. Stopping to catch his breath he vomited against the side of a building and sank against the wall, his body shaking.
"Yes, we had my husband cremated." Marybeth's words kept echoing in his head.
"Oh Marybeth, what did you do to me?" he said slowly getting up. Looking around he discovered he was about 15 blocks from his house. The neon lights from a neighborhood bar flickered and caught his eye from across the street. Ignoring the approaching car, he walked into the street almost getting hit, the angry driver honking as he continued on.
The bar was dark as he entered, and not very crowded. He knew the bartender, having been in there a time or two before, and knew he could run a tab. The bartender eyed him cautiously but allowed the tab to the 'stranger' when Chris explained he had just come from a funeral. If he had been here with Marybeth, a plain old beer would have done the trick. Instead Chris ordered a shot of whiskey with a beer chaser and moved down to the end of the bar where he could be alone. A few more shots and a few more chasers and Chris was plenty numb two hours later when he heard the phone ring in his pocket. Pulling it out, he stared at the Caller ID until it went to voice mail and tossed it on the bar. The bartender who was standing nearby looked at Chris curiously.
"It's probably the old ball and chain trying to get me to come home." Chris said slightly slurring his words as he lied to the bartender. The phone started to ring again and this time the bartender picked it up.
"Hey what the hell are you doing?" Chris asked panicking, trying to reach for the phone.
"Shut up, he's saving your ass."
"Buddy I'm cutting you off and I'm telling who ever this is to come and get your drunken ass." The bartender said as he flipped the phone open and answered it. A minute later the bartender handed the phone back to Chris after speaking to Sam briefly.
"Your brother says to hold tight and he'll be right here to get you."
"You're lucky it's Sam coming and not Dad."
"My brother is dead….." Chris said as he pocketed the phone again, his face filled with pain. The bartender gave him a sympathetic look thinking it was his brother's funeral Chris had been coming from.
"I'm sorry dude, well who ever it was will be here in about 5 minutes."
Chris nodded and stared at the bar until he felt Sam's hand on his shoulder a few minutes later. Turning around too fast, he almost fell off the bar stool. He would have hit the floor for sure if it hadn't been for Sam grabbing his arm.
He looked up at Sam, gave him a sad smile, and almost dropped to the floor again. This time John was at his side and helped Sam scoop him up. They half carried, half dragged the inebriated man out to the truck, all the while Chris kept calling for Marybeth. Once they got him inside and belted in, they took off back to the motel in silence. Chris slumped against Sam, earning a glare from John. Sam dodged his father's wrath and quickly looked the other way. Sam knew his father was angry and maybe rightfully so. This whole night would have gone a lot smoother if Chris had just stayed out in the truck. Sam knew it had to be a shock for Chris to find himself talking to his wife. What he didn't know was the reason Chris fled wasn't because he had talked to Marybeth but what she had told him.
Chris was starting to sober up a bit by the time they got pulled up in front of their motel rooms. John came around to the passenger side and helped Sam carry Chris into their room and let him flop down on the bed.
"She burnt me up…." Chris said slightly slurring his words. "Marybeth knew I didn't want to be cremated." He started to lean up on his elbows but then fell back flat on the bed again this time with tears streaming down his face as the room spun around on him.
"I hate fire…..she knows that…..we're all burnt up now, me, my Mom and Dad, Jerry, Stacey, all of us all burnt up. I told her what it felt like to be on fire…..why'd she do it John…..why'd she burn me up…I wouldn't even live in a house with a gas stove, or a fire place, did you know that John? She did…" Chris drunkenly ran on with his tirade. Even Dean stayed quite as he watched Chris struggle with his pain. Falling silent, he finally passed out again. Sam looked up at John stricken knowing even his father could sympathize Chris's fear of fire.
Over the next few hours they took turns holding the waste basket near Chris, as he would come around, throw up, and fall back asleep again. Convinced that he was finally down for the night, John returned to his room and left Sam watching over Chris. Finally around noon, Sam woke up to find Chris struggling to make it to the bathroom.
"Whoa, whoa there Chris." Sam said leaping off his bed, running to his side.
"Leave me alone, I can go to the bathroom by myself." He said protecting his eyes from the glare of the sun coming through the window. Shaking Sam off, he staggered until he was inside the bathroom, slamming the door shut, cursing the loud noise it made. Sam stood outside the door ready to break in if he heard the older man fall. Instead he heard the sound of water running as Chris turned on the shower. A half hour later, Sam knocked on the door certain that Chris had drowned.
"Hey Chris are you okay in there?" Sam asked concerned. Silence. "Chris, man, open the door."
More silence.
"Chris if you don't open the door I'm gonna break it down." Sam yelled, starting to be afraid. Finally he heard the water shut off.
"Um Sam, I'm gonna need you to get me some dry clothes." He heard Chris ask from behind the door.
"Why the hell do you need dry clothes?" Sam asked assuming there had to be towel or two that Chris could use.
"Cuz the idiot took a shower in my favorite t-shirt. If you ruined it….."
"Open the door and find out." Sam slowly opened the door and almost started to laugh. Sitting soaking wet in the tub, fully clothed, was Chris.
"I took a shower." He looked up at Sam with a sheepish grin.
"I can see that. Most people take off their clothes first." Sam said grabbing and towel and handing it to Chris trying not to laugh.
"Sure, sure now you tell me." Chris joked as he climbed out of the tub and started to towel off his wet hair. Seeing how pathetic Chris looked, Sam started to giggle as he turned around and walked back to the bedroom to get Chris some clean clothes. He was still giggling moments later when he returned to find Chris half undressed, looking at his new 'body' in the mirror.
"Hey, you're looking at perfection here dude."
"Your brother, how did he get so many scars on his body?" Chris asked examining his shoulders and chest.
"What's the matter, chicks dig scars."
"Kinda comes with the territory. We don't exactly have 9-5 jobs." Sam answered handing over the clothes and turning around to stand back outside the bathroom.
"I sort of gathered that. So what exactly do you and your father do? He mentioned something about hunting yesterday. Is that what you guys do, are you bounty hunters?" Chris asked as he changed into the dry clothes. Sam chuckled as he envisioned himself as a bounty hunter.
"Not quite Chris." Sam answered knowing he couldn't tell Chris the truth. "I wish I could tell you but Dad always had one strict rule and that was 'we do what we do and we shut up about it.'."
"So you don't think I could handle it?" Chris asked coming out of the bathroom.
"It's out of my hands, man. I'll ask Dad and see what he says but I can't guarantee he'll agree." Sam asked moving over to the kitchen table and sitting down.
"This has something to do with that 'thing' back at the museum doesn't it?" Chris asked following Sam into the kitchen. "Sam that thing killed me, or at least my body. Don't you think I deserve to know how I died?"
Sam looked away, as Chris stared at him, his eyes pleading for information. When Sam didn't answer, Chris frustrated, turned around, and started rifling through the cupboards looking for something. After slamming a few cupboard doors, Chris returned to the bathroom and Sam could hear him going through the medicine cabinet.
"What the hell does a person have to do to get some aspirin around here?" Chris yelled from the bathroom. Sam walked over to his duffle bag and pulled out a bottle of ibuprofen. Chris came out of the bathroom in time to find Sam heading his way with the bottle.
"Here." Sam offered the tablets to Chris. Chris nodded his thanks and headed back to the kitchen to get a glass of water. After downing the pills Chris stood against the counter and rubbed his temples waiting for ibuprofen to kick in.
"How bad is it?" Sam ask sympathetically
'Marching bands, herds of elephants, jackhammers, and every other cliché you can think of" Chris winced as he answered. "I think I know why I never became a big drinker. I can't hold the stuff worth crap. Just how pathetic did I get last night?"
"On a scale of 1-10?" Sam asked amused at Chris's question.
"Yeah."
"About a 50, no make that a 60. Bad Chris really bad."
"About a 6, but you had a really good reason Chris, don't feel bad about it." Sam shot Chris a sad smile which Chris returned.
"Yeah I just wasn't prepared, you know, to see her. And she touched me. If it hadn't been for your father glaring at me from across the room I probably would've have blurted out who I really was right then and there. Of course then she probably would have called the cops thinking I was a nut case. Who knows, maybe I am. What am I going to do Sam?" Chris sat down at the table and looked up at Sam.
"I wish I could tell you." Sam answered.
"Aww gees man, buck it up. Quit being such a wimp." Chris started laughing when he heard Dean's remark in his head. Sam glanced at him giving him a strange look.
"Dean thinks I'm a wimp," Chris explained pointing up to his head.
"You really can hear him?" Sam asked with hope in his voice again.
"Yep loud and clear. I'm sorry I know he's your brother and all, but ….." Chris stopped not wanting to insult Dean even if he was being a pain.
"Hey I'm just telling it like it is."
"Leave it to my brother to find a way to be a pain in the ass even when he's dead." Sammy sadly laughed. Chris gave Sam a sad smile in return.
"Et tu Sammy?"
The two of them sat there lost in thought for a moment when John opened the door and strolled in. Chris immediately stiffened at the sight of the elder Winchester, knowing he was going to have to face recriminations for the night before.
"Listen John about last night." Chris jumped up trying to stave off what could only lead to a blow out. John waved him off but eyed him angrily, before he sat down at the table across from Sam.
"You look like hell Chris." He said looking over at Chris.
"Yeah look what he did to my body."
"I have to say I feel like it too. John, seriously, about last night. I really want to apologize. I never intended to go inside once I saw everyone there. It's just when I saw her…I just had to see…I had to make sure she was ok. Her cousin came out, next thing I know I'm standing in the hallway and Marybeth is heading over to me, I just froze. And then when she told me about how she had me cremated. I don't know I just lost it." Chris started to apologize. John nodded grimly and looked over at Sam.
"I think Sam and I can relate to wanting to see someone so badly we would do almost anything to see them again. I've spent the last 20 plus years wishing I could see my wife again, she died when Sam was just a baby. Sammy here just lost his girlfriend only last year. It's a pain you never get over….."
"Looks like we all lost someone we loved, only I'm coming at it from a different angle." Chris said as he joined them back at the table. John and Sam both looked at him puzzled.
"I'm the one that's dead." He explained further.
"Yeah but not dead enough, dude."
"And you really didn't want to be cremated Chris?" Sam asked knowing when he died that was the only way he was going. In their line of business it was a necessity.
"Sam, you can't imagine what it's like to be on fire, I do. I know being dead, I wouldn't have felt the flames but …I just never wanted my body to be…totally turned to ashes. Just the thought of my body being on fire. It's too much like how I imagined my family died. My parents, my sister. No one ever told me if they died on impact, I can only pray they did. I don't want to know if they felt the fire, if they felt the fear and the agony. My brother Jerry, he suffered for days until he died…..I know that sounds irrational…" Chris continued but was interrupted when Sam suddenly got up and walked across the room, his eyes filled with tears. Chris looked over at John and saw the same pain on his face. "I'm sorry was it something I said?"
"Damn it Chris I wish you hadn't gone there."
"You had no way of knowing son. My wife and his girlfriend Jess, they both died as a result of a fire." John explained without going into all the horrific details. Chris didn't need to know about demons, not yet.
"Oh my god" Chris exclaimed horrified. "Why didn't you stop me? Sam I'm so sorry. Oh god I just keep making this worse and worse."
"Chris, Dad's right, you had no way of knowing." Sam said coming back to the table. His eyes red but dry now. Chris was about to apologize again when John interrupted him.
"Listen, there's another reason why I came over here today." He said changing the subject. "There's something we need to check out."
"What's that Dad?" Sam asked not sure where his father was leading
"All right, Dad's got a plan."
"Chris here says he knows how to shoot a rifle. I say lets head out to the country and see how good he is. I hate to say this but we might need him as back up and I want to make sure he can handle himself if it starts to blow up in our face," John explained to a shocked Sam and a confused Chris.
"Dad you're not suggesting what I think you're suggesting are you?" Sam asked wide eyed.
"Yep. We still have unfinished business that we need to take care of. Like it or not we're going to have to get it done."
"Well it's about time."
What, what are you two talking about?" Chris asked concerned when he saw Sam's reaction. John looked over at Chris with determined eyes.
"We need to get back inside the museum. We need to get rid of the ghost that started this whole Damn mess, and you're gonna help us."
Tbc