Author's Note: Hey guys! SO I've been working a lot of over time and it put me behind on my story, another week or so and I should be able to update more often! I love this episode, and was excited about getting to write this chapter! Thanks to Ladysunshine6 for her great ideas on this chapter and for always being so encouraging! Hope you all enjoy! Please READ and REVIEW! I love to hear what you guys think! Love you al!
"Dean! Please stop… it's not funny anymore!"
"Oh it is. Trust me." Sam chuckled.
"You're not helping Sam! You're making it worse, and I swear to you I will steal a car and we will take off and do this hunt on our own if you don't stop!"
"Aw, come on kiddo!"
"No. It's not funny Dean. It's embarrassing. Why can't you two just stop bringing it up… please." I whimpered with a tear in my eye.
"Em. It happens to people all the time. Sometimes you just can't help it."
My face burned and I had the urge to bury myself in the sand. Yesterday, while sitting in Judson's lap he tickled me and well… I peed.
On Judson.
I was obviously mortified, Judson laughed it off and never spoke of it again… but Sam and Dean have tortured me ever since.
"We have a fucking job to do and you two need to focus on that and stop talking about me!" I said storming out of the motel room door, slamming it behind me.
I leaned back against it and huffed.
"Babe?"
I had no idea Judson was sitting outside, but now that I turn to meet his curious and slightly amused eyes I'm realizing that he's probably heard the entire argument from outside the thin walls.
"Um… Hi." I smiled.
"Are you still worried about that? Really?" He asked with his arms crossed.
"It's so embarrassing!" I said hiding my face in my hands. "And they won't stop teasing me."
"Sweetheart come here." He sighed. I listened and climbed onto his lap, hiding my face in his neck, letting him whisper in my ear.
"I've put my hands, my mouth… my. Other things. All over your body. It's gonna take a little bit more than that to turn me off." He whispered seductively. Heat pooled between my legs and I moved to readjust. We left the beach almost two weeks ago and we've taken every chance we could to be alone… EVERY chance.
"Really?"
"Of course." He growled as his hands wound around my hips.
"Maybe we should go in the room… they shouldn't come looking for at least another ten minutes."
"Ten minutes huh, I think I can work with that." He smiled picking me up, I wrapped my legs around his waist and let him push me through the door.
…..
"Agent Tyler, Agent Perry... interns. Meet Frank O' Brien."
"He died of a heart attack, right?" Sam asked.
"Three days ago."
"But O'Brien was 44 years old and, according to this a marathon runner." I said skimming the case file, not that I needed to. We were all aware of this information anyways.
"Everybody drops dead sooner or later. It's why I got job security."
"Yeah, but Frank kicked it here. Now, just yesterday, two perfectly healthy men bit it in Maumee. All heart attacks, you don't think that's strange?" Dean asked him.
"Sounds like Maumee's problem to me. Why's the FBI give a damn, anyway?"
"They think its good training for the newbies. Really we just want to see the results of Frank's autopsy."
"What autopsy?"
"The one you're gonna do."
The coroner shrugs but turns to a table fool of tools and prepares to cut the man open. I swallowed loudly with nerves. Judson gently slid a hand on my back where no one would notice. The coroner's eyes shot over to me.
"First dead body?"
"Far from it. Just not my favorite part." I smiled shyly.
"Well then I should warn you. Because these suckers can get pretty ripe. Hey, hand me those rib cutters, would you?" He asked pointing behind Judson. Judson reached back and handed the cutters to the man. He casually cut down the man's chest with a scalpel and peeled back the flesh, then he began cutting open the ribs. Sam squirmed, and I held my breath until the sound stopped.
"Do we need to leave?" Judson whispered in my ear. I gently shook my head 'no'.
"Is that from a wedding ring? I didn't think Frank was married." Dean leaned in and asked as he held up the man's left hand with a tan line on the fourth finger.
"Ain't my department."
"Any idea how he got these?" Sam asked noting the scratches on his arms.
"You know what? When you drop dead, you actually tend to drop. Body probably got scraped up when it hit the ground…. Hmmm."
"What?"
"I-I can't find any blockages in any of the major arteries." The coroner said ripping the heart out and breaking off whatever held it in place. My stomach rolled and I leaned forward with my hands on my knees. "Heart looks pretty damn healthy."
"You alright back there newbie?" Dean called to me.
"Yup." I sighed straightening back up and taking a deep breath.
"Hold that a second, would you?" The coroner asked handing the heart to Dean since he had gloves on. Then he continued to cut into the body. I stared at the heart in Dean's hand. Unable to tear my gaze away.
But then the sound of ripping and cutting continued, and I began to feel myself turn green. Something from the body squirts out and hits Sam right in the face. He has a panicked look painted on but remains still.
"Oops. Sorry agent, got a little spleen juice there."
"Oh that's it… I can't." I said rushing out with my hand over my mouth.
Judson followed behind me while I heard Dean and the coroner chuckling behind us. Once outside the building and in the fresh air I sat on the edge of the steps, taking deep breaths.
"You good Em?" Judson laughed.
"Remember how you cleaned my puke?"
"Yeah…"
"You might have to do it a second time."
"Babe, next time we'll just let your brother's scope out the morgue. Okay?" He offered politely.
"Sounds good." I nodded.
"C'mon. Let's get something cold against your neck, it might help."
"I don't wanna move yet."
"Okay, I'll be right back then." He said as he jogged back up the steps. I sat taking in deep breaths of fresh brisk morning air.
"Emily?" A voice called out. I opened my eyes and they landed on a blue eyed angel.
"Castiel? What are you doing here?"
"I was doing a routine check in on the Winchester children and you appeared to be in some sort of distress, do you need assistance?"
"Um.. if you could make the feeling in my stomach go away that'd be great."
Castiel nodded briefly and stepped forward, placing two fingers against my forehead. Instantly the nausea was gone and I felt much better.
"Oh thank you… thank you thank you thank you." I said standing.
"You are welcome, do you need anything else?"
"No… did you say you were doing a check up on us?"
"Yes. It is part of my job. To monitor the three of you."
"And exactly how often do you do that?"
"Time is different in heaven then it is on earth, you just know that we are monitoring you closely."
"Right." I nodded confused and slightly weirded out.
"Castiel, can I ask you a question?"
"Yes."
"Am… am I supposed to turn evil or something? I mean. The devil's blood is in me. That's kind of some heavy shit to just accept. Is there anything you can tell me?"
"Heaven was unaware of the existence of this situation up until the moment Sam died. Azazel did very heavy spell work to keep his actions hidden from us. We are unsure of his purpose for you, and I believe he himself was not sure of the purpose. Keep in mind that Lucifer was and still technically is an Angel. How Azazel was able to extract blood form an angel I am unsure, but the origin of whatever power you possess was created by God, then taken over with evil intent. It was not evil in the beginning."
"Um… thanks. I think."
"You are welcome."
"Castiel… what about Sam."
Castiel got this odd look on his face, a look of 'business' he stared at me and blinked a few times.
"Sam is being monitored for now."
"For now? What does that me-"
"Em? Who you talking to?" Judson's voice caused me to turn and face him, when I looked back to where Castiel stood before me. He was gone.
"Myself I guess." I sighed.
"Here babe. Your brothers are almost done."
"Thanks. I already feel better." I said leaning in to kiss him.
…
"So what did you find out in there?" I asked as Sam and Dean left the sheriff's office. It's easy to get away with 4 people at a morgue, not quite as easy when interviewing actual law enforcement. So Judson and I agreed to hang outside and wait for Sam and Dean to return.
"No way that was a heart attack." Dean sighed as we all walked.
"Definitely no way. Three victims, all with those same red scratches. All went from jittery to terrified to dead within 48 hours." Sam agreed.
"Something scared them to death?" I asked.
"Looks like it, so what can do that?" Sam asked.
"What can't? Ghosts, vampires, chupacabra? It could be a hundred things." I shrugged.
"Yeah. So, we make a list and start crossing things off."
"Alright, who's the last person to see Frank O'Brien alive?" Judson asked.
"Uh, his neighbour, Mark Hutchins."
Just as Judson went to talk Dean stopped us all.
"Hang on, hang on." He mumbled looking ahead.
"What?"
"I don't like the looks of those teenagers down there."
I followed his eyes and they landed on the group of kids standing close to the impala… They seemed harmless, and even if they weren't they were certainly no match for Dean, let alone the four of us together. Sam and I gave each other a curious glance.
"Let's walk this way." Dean insisted as he crossed the street. I followed but watched Dean carefully, he seemed more on alert than he had been earlier in the day. I wasn't sure what he was picking up on, but it made me nervous myself.
"So to Mark Hutchins?" I asked as we all got in.
"Yeah. Sounds like a plan." Sam nodded. I watched Dean as he looked 4 times before pulling out onto the road. It was odd. Something was up.
"I'll let you three take this one. Drop me at the county clerks office and I'll see what I can find." Judson said sliding down in the seat beside me and resting his head on my lap. I grinned and gently pulled my fingers through his hair. Then went back to watching my brothers.
…..
"Tyler and Perry. Just like Aerosmith." Hutchins grinned. Then he looked at me. "What's your name?"
"Mrs. Hamilton." I said with a sly grin. "I'm currently doing my internship with agents Tyler and Perry.
He nodded and opened the door to let us in. Dean winks at me as we walk in and I took a long look around the room as we sat down. This guy must be a reptile fanatic. There were dozens of terrariums and animals.
Dean is looking around the room.
"So, the last time you saw Frank O'Brien?" Sam asked as Dean's eyes went wide landing on the lizard not far from us that seemed to be staring at him
"Monday, he was watching me from his window. I waved at him, but he just closed the curtains."
"Hmm. did you speak to him recently? Did he seem different? Uh, scared?"
"Oh, totally. He was freaking out."
He wasn't the only one freaking out. Dean was a complete sweaty mess. His eyes traveled the various creatures around us and I could swear I heard his heart beating from here.
"Do you know, uh..do you know what scared him?" I asked trying to focus on Mr. Hutchins.
"Well, yeah, witches."
We all looked up at him and I swallowed loudly.
"Witches?" I mumbled. "Like...?"
"Well, "Wizard of Oz" was on tv the other night, right? And he said that green bitch was totally out to get him."
I let a small breath of relief but Dean beside me still seemed to be on the edge of a full blown meltdown.
"Anything else scare him?" Sam asked.
"Everything else scared him. Al-Qaeda, ferrets, artificial sweetener. Those pez dispensers with their dead little eyes. Lots of stuff."
"So, tell me. What was Frank like?" I asked leaning forward.
"I mean, he's dead, you know? I-I don't want to hammer him but, he got better."
"He got better?"
"Well, in high school he was, he was a dick."
"A dick?" Sam pressed.
"Like a bully. I mean, he probably taped half the town's butt cheeks together."
Dean snickered and I elbowed him.
"Mine included." He mumbled.
"So he pissed a lot of people off. You think anyone would have wanted to get revenge?" Dean asked finally seeming to calm down some.
"Well, I don't...Frank had a heart attack, right?"
"Just answer the question, sir."
"No, I don't think so. Like I said, he got better. And after what happened to his wife."
"His wife? So he was married."
"She died about 20 years ago. Frank was really broken up about it."
Dean opened his mouth to reply but it closed slowly as his eyes fell on the snake wrapping around Mark's neck. Mark begins to pet it and notice's Dean's stare.
"Don't be scared of Donny. He's a sweetheart. It's Marie you got to look out for. She smells fear."
At that moment a VERY large albino snake climbed over the back of the couch and slid between Dean and I before slithering right into his lap. He hasped and then held his breath.
"Um. Mr. Hutchins I think we're done for now. Could you please um. Gather… Or remove. Marie from our partner's lap."
"Oh. Sure, yeah… she's a real wild one." He grinned as he stood and helped Dean stand without angering the large snake. Dean finally breathed as his body lifted off the couch. He ran for the door and after a quick goodbye we followed.
"De, you good?" I asked him as we walked out to the car. I put my hand around his arm.
"Yeah. Yeah… I'm good."
"You sure?" I asked again. He nodded briskly and seemed to shrug off whatever was bothering him.
"Hey. Any luck at the county clerk's office?" Sam asked as Judson slid into the car.
"I'm not sure I'd call it luck. I looked into Frank's wife, Jessie, after you guys called. She was a manic-depressive. She went off her meds back in '88 and vanished. They found her two weeks later, three towns over. Strung up in her motel room, suicide."
"Poor girl… That's terrible." I sulked.
"Any chance Frank helped her along to the other side?" Dean asked.
"No, Frank was working the swing shift when she disappeared. Airtight alibi. How was Frank's pad?"
"We walked over after leaving Hutchins' place and it was clean top to bottom. No EMF. No hex bags. No Sulphur." I sighed.
"So probably no ghosts, no witches, no demons." Dean mumbled from the front seat as he drove.
"3 down and 97 to go." I sighed.
"Yeah." Sam agreed before leaning towards Dean. "Dude, you're going 20."
"And?"
"That's the speed limit."
"What? Safety's a crime now?"
Sam and I exchanged confused looks and I leaned forward a little. Dean drove through and intersection and passed our hotel.
"Dean, where are you going? That was our hotel." I asked.
"Em, I'm not gonna make a left-hand turn into oncoming traffic. I'm not suicidal." He paused then looked at me. "Did I just say that? That was kind of weird."
"Yeah…" I sighed sitting back.
"Hey. Do you guys hear something?" Judson asked as he leaned down in the seat.
"What is that?" Sam asked turning around. Judson lifted a bag and handed it to Sam. The noise seemed to be coming from inside it. It was the EMF meter. The closer Sam moved it to Dean the more it went off.
"Am I haunted? Am I haunted?!" Dean began to panic as he pulled into the hotel.
"Dean calm down!" I said jumping out of the car after him.
"Calm down?! Are you kidding me! I'm haunted!"
"De, please… deep breaths. Deep slow breaths." I said putting my hands on his face. He closed his eyes and began deep breathing, Sam and I stared at each other concerned.
"Sam. Call Bobby." I mumbled
We managed to calm Dean down and get him inside the motel room.
"Bobby didn't answer, I'll try again in the morning. I think he's asleep." Sam said coming back in.
"So what do we do till then?"
"Sleep I guess, Em. I don't know… Keep an eye on Dean."
"Sam this is weird. Really weird."
"I know kiddo. Where is he now?"
"The shower."
"Good… maybe he'll relax a little bit."
"Yeah." I sighed. "Sam… do you think this has to do with the case?"
"I don't know Em. We'll dig around more tomorrow. Okay? Till then let's just hang low and wait to hear from Bobby. You okay?"
"Yeah. Just worried about chicken shit in there."
"Why don't you go next door, hang with Judson. I'll keep an eye on him for a while."
"I don't wanna leave him right now."
"Em. Seriously… We're just next door. You need to keep your head on straight right now. You can't do that if you worry yourself to death over him. Okay? I promise I've got him, and you can come back in like an hour."
"…Okay. I guess." I stood, Sam hugged me and kissed the top of my head before I left the room.
I stepped next door and knocked, he opened the door and I stepped in with a small smile.
"Hey babe, how's Dean?"
"He's okay."
"… Emily. Get out of your head."
"What?"
He took my face in his hands and put it so close to his that our noses touched.
"Get out… of your head."
"I'm trying." I mumbled.
"Dean's gonna be fine. What did Bobby say?"
"Didn't answer, its kinda late so we're gonna try again in the morning."
"Okay, well he's fine for now, he's just acting funny. Nothing serious yet so we'll just jump in front of this whole thing and figure out how to fix it."
"Yeah." I sighed as Judson sat down on the bed. He pulled me towards him by the hips, then he started to kiss my stomach through my shirt.
I smiled and rolled my eyes playfully.
"Jud… stop."
"Oh c'mon. Sam and Dean are thoroughly distracted. You and I. All alone… with this big comfy bed."
I giggled as I sat and straddled him. His lips molded against mine and I pulled my hands through his hair while his slid around and dipped into my jeans. I moaned softly but pulled back.
"Sorry." I sighed. "I'm just distracted."
"I can tell." He sighed softly. "You wanna go for a drive? Clear your head some."
"No. I don't want to go far."
"Well baby." He said leaning back on his hands. "I'm yours for the next hour or so… what do you want?"
"… Castiel came to see me yesterday."
Judson sat up and put his arms around me to keep me steady as he moved.
"What did he say?" He asked casually.
"He said he was checking on us and noticed I wasn't feeling well. So he dropped by."
"When?"
"When you ran in to get me a wet rag at the morgue."
"So…"
"So. He just. Was checking in. Kinda strange to know that he's watching us though ya know? I asked him about my abilities… if they were evil or not."
"What'd he say?"
"Basically that they weren't sure yet."
"Well. That's not bad news."
"No. I guess not… Maybe he can help Dean."
"Sweetheart, we don't even know if anything is wrong with Dean. It may be a fluke thing."
"Something IS wrong, Judson. I can tell. He's not being Dean. He's being… different."
"Maybe it's a hell thing, I mean can you imagine what he went through?"
"He's been hiding all that ever since he came back. I don't see him cracking now for no good reason."
"Patience Em. We'll work this out tomorrow. What else did Castiel say?"
"Nothing. I was going to ask him about Sam but he took off when you came back out."
"Oh, well I'm so sorry I ruined your fun." He teased.
"I never have fun with anyone but you." I said playfully as I kissed him.
"… So does this mean we can?"
"No. Not tonight." I said patting his cheek and climbing off his lap, he fell back on the bed with a sigh.
….
"Dean stop it! You're gonna make it worse." I said as I slapped his hand.
"Dude. Look at this." He said lifting up his arm to Sam as he came back towards us. It was covered in scratches where he had been itching at it since last night.
"I just talked to Bobby." Sam said looking between the two of us with a nervous face. He handed a box of donuts to Dean, who smelt them and then threw them into the car.
"And?" I asked impatiently.
"Um, well, you're not gonna like it."
"What?" Dean asked.
"It's ghost sickness."
"Ghost sickness?" Judson asked with his eyebrows raised.
"Yeah."
"God, no." Dean trembled, then his face went flat. "I don't even know what that is."
"Yeah me neither." Judson shrugged.
"Okay. Some cultures believe that certain spirits can infect the living with a disease, which is why they stopped displaying bodies in houses and started taking them off to funeral homes."
"Okay, get to the good stuff." I pushed.
"Symptoms are you get anxious... Then scared, then really scared, then your heart gives out. Sound familiar?"
"Yeah, but Sam, we haven't seen a ghost in weeks." Dean argued.
"Well, I doubt you caught it from a ghost. Look, once a spirit infects that first person, Ghost sickness can spread like any sickness through a cough, a handshake, whatever. It's like the flu. Now, Frank O'Brien was the first to die, which means he was probably the first infected. Patient zero."
"Our very own outbreak monkey."
"Right. Get this, Frank was in Maumee over the weekend. Softball tournament. Which is where he must have infected the other two victims."
"Great." I sighed. "So, ghosts infected Frank. He passed it on to the other guys and Dean got it from his corpse?"
"Right."
"So now what, I have 48 hours before I go insane and my heart stops?" Dean asked.
"More like 24."
"What?! Well what to do we do?! I mean there has to be a cure of somekind! Right, I mean what did Bobby say?" I began to ramble nervously.
"Em chill." Judson whispered as he reached up and grabbed my arm. I pulled it away from him and moved to stand closer to Dean.
"Well, why me? Why not any of you? I mean, you got hit with the spleen juice!" Dean said.
"Yeah, um, you see Bobby and I have a theory about that too. Turns out all three victims shared a certain, uh, personality type. Frank was a bully. The other two victims, one was a vice principal, the other was a bouncer."
"Okay?"
"Basically, they were all dicks."
"So you're saying I'm a dick?"
"No, no, no. It's not just that. All three victims used fear as a weapon, and now this disease is just returning the favor."
"I don't scare people."
"Dean, all we do is scare people." I sighed and leaned against him. He put his arm over my shoulder.
"Okay, well then, you're a dick too." He said to Sam as he hugged me slightly.
"Apparently, I'm not." Sam shrugged.
"Me neither." Judson added. I shot him a sharp glare.
"Whatever. How do we stop it?" I then asked.
"We gank the ghost that started all this. We do that, the disease should clear up."
"Should?" I asked hesitantly.
"Em. It's the only thing we got to go on right now."
"So we just throw all our chips in and hope for the best?! Sam there has to be more to this, I… I can't do this again."
"I know, kiddo… have a little faith okay. We're gonna do everything we can."
"So this ghost. You thinking Frank's wife?" Judson asked as I put my other arm around Dean's waist and hid in chest.
"Who knows…"
"So can we eat?" Dean asked randomly.
"Yeah, I'll grab some food and we'll go back to the room and see what we can dig up."
"I'll come with. I wanna make sure its safe to eat." Dean insisted.
"I'll take Em back to the room." Judson said reaching out for me when I went to follow my brothers.
"Sounds good." They nodded, I turned and shot him a glare, then stomped off in the direction of the motel.
"Emily. Talk to me."
"… Why the hell did you do that?"
"Because you're freaking out. And you need to chill."
"We just got him back Judson! And now we have like 12 hours to save his ass? Are you fucking kidding me right now?"
"Em, we'll figure it out." He said pulling on my arm.
"Stop! Let me go."
"No, you're acting ridiculous!"
"You don't get it!"
"Oh I get it just fine, in case you forgot I was there when he died. I was there those four months, and I'm still around… So yeah I get it. You're flipping your lid that this was all just some dream and you're gonna wake up tomorrow and he'll be dead again. That this is some torturous trick from the trickster.. Huh? Thinking that you're so fucked up that you've made up these last few weeks in your head?"
I pulled my arm from his grip and ascended the stairs up to the room.
Is he right? Yes.
Will I admit that? No.
… I can't let the thoughts get ahold of me. I have to hold onto the here and now. I have to hold onto Dean. If I just hold onto him then he can't go anywhere… I'll just hold onto Dean.
"Emily!" Judson yelled from behind me.
Right as I reached the door and went to slip in the key he grabbed me and gently pushed my back against the wall, a hand on either arm.
"Stop. Breathe."
It wasn't until he said the word that I realized I had been holding my breath. I parted my lips and gently took in a breath, my eyes lost in the green orbs in front of me.
"It's gonna be okay. We'll figure this out. Okay? You with me?"
I nodded slowly. He leaned forward and pressed his lips to mine… slowly, deeply, intimately. His hands released my arms and moved down my waist and around to the back, dipping into the rim of my jeans.
"This… this was all real. Don't think for one second this isn't real." He said as he squeezed my ass and began to bite down against my neck. I gasped with pleasure and my body became pliant. I ran my fingers through his hair, then down his body, and pulled his shirt off in one swift pull. He pulled me back towards his door and opened it without pulling his mouth from my neck.
Once inside I kicked the door closed and we began undressing one another as quickly as our hands would allow.
This.
This is real.
Nothing has ever felt more real than this right here.
….
Judson and I walked next door once Sam began calling saying they were back in the room and that Dean was asking where we were, I opened it and found a shattered clock on the wall.
"Everything all right?" I asked taking in his panicked posture.
"Oh,yeah. Just peachy. Find anything yet Sam?" Dean asked as he went back to picking at his arm.
"Yeah, Jessie O'Brien's body was cremated, so I'm pretty sure she is not our ghost. Hey, quit picking at that." Sam corrected him.
"How are you feeling?" I asked sitting next to him and leaning against his side.
"Awesome. It's nice to have my head on the chopping block again. I almost forgot what that feels like."
"Yeah." I mumbled.
"It's freaking delightful."
"We'll keep looking." Sam encouraged, just then Dean began to cough violently.
"Dean? You okay? Dean!"
I looked up to Sam panicked and he rushed over helping Dean stand as he began to make choking noises.
"Oh my god… Dean!"
Sam rushes Dean over to the sink where he begins gagging. Judson swung his arm around me and held me back as Sam patted his back as he attempted to spit something out… eventually a bloody wood chip fell into the bottom of the sink and Dean began gasping for air.
"We've been completely ignoring the biggest clue we have, you." Sam said picking up the chip and looking at Dean.
"I don't want to be a clue." Dean whined.
"The abrasions, this, the disease, it's trying to tell us something."
"Tell us what, wood chips?"
"Exactly." Sam nodded. I broke free of Judson and ran to Dean's side, holding him as tightly as I possibly could. He held me as he began to reclaim his breath, slow and even.
"I'm gonna go get some things together, give me a hand man." Sam said leading Judson outside.
Dean and I stayed standing near the sink.
"De… are you okay?"
"I don't know Em. I don't know."
"… I'm scared."
"Me too kiddo. Really scared."
"I won't let them get you again… I promise."
"I know. I know you won't.
"I… I can't lose you again." I sniffled.
"You won't babygirl. You won't. Sam's on top of this."
"Yeah." I sighed.
"Hey. Look at me…" He said as he lifted my chin. "I'm not going anywhere."
"Promise?"
"… Em."
"No. You said we're starting fresh. This is fresh. Everything's in the past. Promises matter again."
"Promises matter again." He nodded. "I promise."
…
"I'm not going in there." Dean shook his head as we stood in front of the old Mill.
"You're a clue. You're going in, Dean."
Dean nodded reluctantly and threw back of a shot of whiskey before speaking.
"Let's do this. It is a little spooky, isn't it?" Sam rolled his eyes and handed Dean a gun. "Oh, I'm not carrying that. It could go off. I'll man the flashlight."
"You do that." Sam said suspiciously as he handed me the gun instead. I looked at Judson concerned and he gave me an encouraging half smile.
Once inside I pulled the EMF meter and it instantly began going off. I moved in all directions and it never wavered, then I turned to look at Dean.
"EMF's not gonna work with me around, is it?"
"You don't say. Come on." I nodded, catching us up with Sam and Judson. Sam was picking something up off the floor.
"To Frank. Love, Jessie." Sam read outloud as he picked up Frank O'Brien's ring.
"What the hell was Frank doing here?" I asked.
"No idea." He answered walking forward, there was a rustling sound in the lockers in the room next to us. Sam motioned for me to follow. Dean and Judson followed behind us. Sam moved forward to open the locker and a cat jumped out, which wouldn't have made me jump out of my skin if Dean hadn't let out a shriek like a fucking five year old girl as it ran by him.
"That was scary!" He shouted. I threw the EMF meter at him and stormed out, Sam behind me. "Wait. Don't leave me!" Dean said running after us. Judson followed him out shaking his head.
I came across a desk with an ID card on it.
"Sam… look at this. Luther Garland".
"Hey, this is frank's wife." Judson said lifting one of the many pictures drawn and taped to the wall, and hidden in the drawer.
"Plot thickens." I said to him with pointed eyes.
"Yeah, but into what?" Sam asked ripping a drawing off the wall. Suddenly a machine starts running and we all turned, just in time to see Dean's flashlight on the ground and his ass flying out of the building at full speed.
"Hey! Dean!" Sam yelled.
"Well I guess we got the right place." I sighed.
"Yeah. I'd say so…" Sam sighed.
"Sammy, he's getting worse."
"I know kiddo. I know.
….
"This is the Garland file." Deputy Linus smiled as he handed it to us.
"Deputy, according to this, Luther Garland's cause of death was physical trauma. What does that mean?" Sam said opening the file and asking after a quick skim.
"The guy died 20 years ago, before my time. Sorry."
"Then can we talk to the sheriff?" I asked.
"Um, he's out sick today."
"Well, if you see him, will you have him call us? We're staying at the Bluebird. Mind if I take this?" Sam asked lifting the file, the Deputy nodded and walked away.
"So… where to now?"
"Looks like Luther has a brother. We should go see him."
"Think Dean can handle that?" Judson asked.
"I don't know… but we shouldn't leave him alone."
"Agreed." I nodded.
"I'll watch him in the car while you two tackle the brother." Judson offered.
"Thanks babe." I said kissing his cheek as we walked back to the impala where Dean was currently scratching his arm.
"Mr. Garland. Hi uh, I'm Agent Tyler. This is Agent Hamilton, FBI. We'd like to ask you a few questions about your brother Luther."
"What do you want to know?"
"Uh, well...according to this, your brother Luther died of physical trauma."
Mr. Garland scoffed loudly
"You don't agree?" I asked.
"No, I don't."
"Well, then, what would you call it?"
"Don't matter what an old man thinks."
"Mr. Garland. We're just trying to get the truth on your brother. Please." I asked sincerely.
"Everybody was scared of Luther. They called him a monster. He was too big, too mean-looking. Just too different. Didn't matter he was the kindest man I ever knew. Didn't matter he'd never hurt no one. A lot of people failed Luther. I was one of them. I was a widower with three young 'uns. And I told myself there was nothing I could do."
"Mr. Garland, um...do you recognize this woman?" Sam asked showing him the portrait of Frank's wife.
"It's Jessie O'Brien. Her man, Frank, killed Luther."
"How do you know that?" Sam and I exchanged a shocked look.
"Everybody knows. They just don't talk about it. Jessie was a receptionist at the mill. She was always real nice to Luther, and he had a crush on her. But Frank didn't like it. And when Jessie went missing, Frank was sure that Luther had done something to her. Turns out the old gal killed herself, but Frank didn't know that. They found Luther with a chain wrapped around his neck. He was dragged up and down the stretch outside that plant till he was past dead."
"That is horrible." I said, feeling sick to my stomach at the thought… Poor Luther.
"And O'Brien was never arrested?" Sam asked.
"I screamed to every cop in town. They didn't want to look into Frank. He was a pillar of the community. My brother was just the town freak."
"You must have hated Frank O'Brien."
"I did for a long time, but life's too short for hate, son. And frank wasn't thinking straight. His wife had vanished, he was terrified. A damn shame he had to put Luther through the same, but...that's fear. It spreads and spreads."
Sam and I finished our discussion and walked through the halls back towards the door.
"Now we know what the scratches are, road rash. And I'm guessing Luther swallowed some wood chips when he was being dragged down that road." I sighed as we walked.
"Makes sense. Deans experiencing his death in slow motion."
"Yeah well, not slow enough, huh? Say we burn some bones and get him healthy."
"Em, it won't be that easy."
"No, no, it'll be that easy. Why wouldn't it be that easy?"
"Luther was road-hauled. His body was ripped to pieces. He was probably scattered all over that road. There's no way we're gonna find all the remains."
"You're kidding me."
"Look, we'll just have to figure something else out."
"You get to tell Dean…"
Once we hit the parking lot Judson and Dean were standing by the car. Sam moved towards Dean and pulled him to the side. I wrapped my arms around Judson's neck and he held me tightly.
"How bad is it?"
"… It's bad." I whispered. He held me even tighter and lifted me up so that I could sit on the trunk.
"You okay baby?"
"Jud, they were so mean to him. Luther. It's not his fault, none of it… he's the victim in all of this."
"People are cruel sweetheart, nothing you can do to fix that." He sighed reaching up and pinning my hair behind my ear.
"You know what? Screw this!" Dean yelled. I jumped down and walked over to them.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Dean." I said reaching out to him.
"Come on. No, I mean, come on! What are we doing?!"
"We're hunting a ghost." Sam told him calmly.
"A ghost, exactly! Who does that?"
"Us?"
"Us? Right. And that Sam, that is exactly why our lives suck. I mean, come on, we hunt monsters! What the hell?! I mean, normal people, they see a monster, and they run. But not us, no, no, no, we - we search out things that want to kill us. Yeah? Huh? Or eat us! You know who does that? Crazy people! We...are insane! You know, and then there's the bad diner food and then the skeevy motel rooms and then the truck-stop waitress with the bizarre rash. I mean, who wants this life? Huh? Seriously? Do you guys actually like being stuck in a car with me eight hours a day, every single day? I don't think so! I mean, I drive too fast. And I listen to the same five albums over and over and over again, a-and I sing along. I'm annoying, I know that. And you Sam -you're gassy! You eat half a burrito, and you get toxic! Emily is constantly whining about something! And this kid just wants to screw around with her! I mean, you know what?" He paused, tossing the keys to Sam. "You can forget it."
"Whoa, Dean. where are you going?" Sam called out as he walked away. I watched in shock from his sudden ramble.
"Stay away from me Sam, okay? Cause I am done with it. I'm done with the monsters and - and - and the hellhounds and the ghost sickness and the damn apocalypse. I'm out. I'm done. Quit." Then Dean broke into a full sprint.
"… We should go after him." I mumbled to Sam, still processing his outburst.
"Yeah. Let's go."
…
"We looked everywhere for you, Dean. How the hell did you get here?" I yelled as we bursted into the motel room and Dean was sitting on the bed panting.
"Ran. What do we do now? I got less than four hours on the clock. I'm gonna die."
"No… Dean." Sam sighed, getting closer to him, but this panicked look crossed his face.
"We're gonna be okay De." I said, but he looked up at me like I'd cursed him instead. "Dean?"
Dean jumped up and pushed Sam against the wall.
"Get out of my brother!" He yelled as he slammed him.
"Dean! Let him go!" I said yanking on his arm, he elbowed me in the chest and knocked me down.
"Em!" Judson said pulling me away.
"Hey, hey, hey, Dean. Hey, Dean. Dean. Dean." Sam repeated until Dean began to calm down. Finally looking us in the eye.
"Dean you good?" Sam asked him.
He let Sam go and backed up, looking over at me.
"Emily… I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry." He mumbled as he pulled me from Judson.
"It's okay De… I'm fine. I promise."
Judson met my eyes cautiously, I could already see his wheels spinning.
….
"I'm gonna stay."
"What?"
"You two go meet with Bobby… I'm gonna stay. I have to. I can't leave him alone like this." I said crossing my arms.
"Emily can I talk to you?" Judson growled.
"Why?"
"Please." He said pulling me away from the back of the impala where he and Sam were packing things.
"What?!" I asked annoyed as finally released me.
"You can't stay here, it's dangerous. Dean doesn't know up from down and he's already attacked Sam. The worse this gets the worse he gets."
"Dangerous?" I scoffed. "It's Dean!"
"The same Dean who just sent a full force elbow into your chest… I can already see the bruise."
"Oh shut up! It's Dean! I'm not leaving him alone right now! He needs me…"
"Emily I'm serious! I don't like it… you go with Sam and I'll stay if you're that worried about it."
"No way, I said I'm staying. You're not my boss." I said moving to walk off.
"Emily!"
"No! I'm not doing this with you right now!"
I stomped off and went inside, closing, locking, and salting the door behind me. Then I turned to face Dean, who was shifting side to side and flipping through channels on the TV.
"Hey… what are we watching?"
"Uh. Gumby." He mumbled. I looked up to see Pokey being lassoed and dragged through the desert. Dean's eyes went wide and I quickly snatched the remote.
"Okay, this isn't helping." I said turning off the TV. "How about we uh, clean weapons?"
"Accidental discharge?"
"Right… Um. You hungry?"
"Food poisoning."
"I'll take that as a no."
About twenty minutes or so later the phone finally rings. I rushed to pick it up.
"Hey. What's up?" I asked seeing Sam's name flash across the screen.
"Hey! So, uh, just have Dean ride out the trip, okay? He – he's gonna be fine. We got a plan."
"What's the plan?"
"Uh, just a good plan, all right? Hang in there." Sam said before hanging up. I sighed.
"Was that Sam?"
"Yeah. It was... Says he's gotta plan. Just hang in tight, okay?" I asked. Dean turned the TV back on and took a long deep breath. I turned to look out the window, trying to keep my panic to myself. Dean would only freak out more.
I watched as the cars drove by, I watched people waking up and walking out to the parking lot, the motel janitor emptying trashcans… anything to keep my mind off of what was going on right now. Off of the clock. Dean had shattered the room clock but it was tempting to stare at the screen on my phone as the minutes ticked by.
I sighed deeply and turned around, when I did Dean was no longer on the couch.
"Dean?" I asked cautiously walking away from the window. Suddenly an arm was around my throat, choking me.
"You can't do this! I can't go back!" Dean yelled into my ear. I fought to be released and finally he threw me down and against the bedside table, hitting my head on the corner.
"Dean! Stop!" I begged as he bent down and picked me up, throwing me against the wall.
"I won't go back there again! You… you can't make me do it anymore!"
"Dean! Please!"
"No! I'm not your slave! I won't hurt them!" He yelled against my face. I reached up and kneed him in the gut, taking my chance to run. I ran into the bathroom and slammed the door shut behind me.
Dean pounded against it, then the sound of someone falling to the floor…
"Dean?" I called out. No reply. Part of me was terrified to open the door. The other part was terrified he was in serious trouble. The latter won out and I ripped the door open. Dean was sprawled out on the floor, choking.
"Dean! Dean! Breathe! Please…" I cried as I moved to put his head in my lap. "Dean come on, breathe! Breathe dammit!" I said as I leaned his head over to the side, hoping that he would begin to cough up wood chips or something and start breathing again.
"Dean!" I cried, panicked that he would die in my arms for the second time. That my worst fears were true and all of this had been a lie. A trick… that Dean would be back in hell. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't move. I just held him.
I could feel his heart beating damn near out of this chest… I put my hand over it and then it stopped.
"DEAN!"
He finally sat up and began gasping for air. Relief washed over me… I let him go and cradled my knees, rocking back and forth as he started to catch his breath.
"… Em… Emily." He coughed. "I… I'm."
"You remember it… all of it. Don't you." I accused. His face was still. His eyes wide. "Answer me!"
"I… I can't. I can't remember." He lied pulling his eyes to the ground like the carpet suddenly became interesting.
"You're lying!"
"No!" He yelled. Putting his head in his hands. Then he pushed himself up off the floor and went into the bathroom. Slamming the door shut behind him.
I moved to push my hair away from my face and felt something warm and sticky… my head. I moved to the sink and began to wash the blood out of my hair, and off my forehead. I applied pressure. Hoping to stop the bleeding before Judson or Sam returned.
Judson would only be angry. Blab about how he was right… Sam would ask questions. Questions I don't want to answer. When Dean fully comes to… he'll look at them and remember what he did. So patched it up as well as I could and pulled my hair over my face to cover it up.
Then I moved to change into a long sleeve shirt, to hide the bruising on my arms where he grabbed me.
So that he couldn't see them.
So that I couldn't' see them.
Dean finally came out of the bathroom as I finished pulling the shirt down over my stomach.
"Emily, are you okay?" He asked walking towards me.
"I'm fine." I said moving away from him and pretending to dig in my bag for something.
"I. I didn't hurt you did I?" He asked, his voice so weak.
"No. I'm fine De." I said with a calm tone. "… Are you going to tell me about it."
"About what?"
"About what you saw… about hell." He was silent. He didn't sigh, he didn't groan, I don't even know if he was breathing once the words left my mouth. "I'll take that as a no."
"I don't remember." He said flatly. We both knew it was a bold faced lie, and a poor one at that. But that was his story and he was sticking to it.
"Yeah. Okay." I nodded. "I'm going for a walk."
"Em, please don't leave."
"I'm pretty sure the sickness is gone, so you should be fine till they get back." I mumbled before closing the door behind me.
….
"So you guys road-hauled a ghost with a chain?" Dean asked as we all stood on the deserted road. I stood close to Uncle Bobby. Leaning against him and avoiding the eyes of the other 3 men. Dean had tried to talk to me a hundred times. Judson won't quit staring at me, and Sam keeps sending me the 'what's wrong' loo.
"Iron chain etched with spell work." Bobby corrected.
"Hmm, that's a new one."
"It was what he was most afraid of. It was pretty brutal, though." Sam said sadly.
Just the thought of poor Luther going through that again made my stomach flip. Poor guy.
"On the upside, I'm still alive, so uh, go team!" Dean smiled.
"Yeah. How you feeling, by the way?" Sam asked him.
"Fine."
"You sure, Dean? 'Cause this line of work can get awful scary." Bobby teased him, getting a chuckle out of all of us.
"I'm fine. You want to go hunting? I'll hunt. I'll kill anything." Dean said puffing out his chest.
"Awwww, he's adorable." Bobby grinned as he leaned down and said it softly. I half smiled, he gave me a worried look and squeezed his arm over my shoulder.
"I got to get out of here. You kids drive safe."
"You too, Bobby. Hey, thanks for all this." Sam said shaking his hand. I walked with Bobby over to his car.
"You okay darlin?"
"… Not really."
"What's bothering you Em?"
"I don't even know where to start Uncle Bobby."
"You need a get away?"
"No… You and I both know they'll be lost without me." I half smiled.
He chuckled.
"Well darlin, you call when you figure out where to start, okay?"
"Thanks Uncle Bobby. I love you."
I hugged him and he kissed the top of my head before climbing into the car and driving away. I walked back towards the boys.
"You good Em?" Sam asked.
"Yeah. I'm fine." I half smiled, moving to Judson. I put my face in the crook of his neck and he put his arms around me, using his fingertips to trace my spine. At least here he can't stare at me. And my brothers wouldn't bug me with anymore questions.
"So uh...so, what did you see? Near the end, I mean." Sam asked. My body went rigid. I heard Dean sigh.
"Howler monkeys. Whole roomful of them. Those things creep the hell out of me."
"Right." Sam laughed.
"No, just the usual stuff, Sammy. Nothing I can't handle."
I pulled back from Judson slightly, and my eyes met Deans. He stared at me with guilt. I knew he wanted to talk, but I also knew I wasn't ready for that. I didn't want to be lied to again… and again.
"Well let's get out of here." Sam sighed as we all moved to get in the car. Judson squeezed me and ran his hands up and down my arms. I flinched when he hit a tender spot. He stopped and pulled be away form him. I pushed my eyes to the ground.
"Em?"
"What?"
He didn't answer, but instead squeezed my arm where he had rubbed against it. I tried not to flinch again, but he pressed harder and I couldn't help it.
"Emily." He said flatly.
"We need to go, they're waiting for us."
"Emily. Roll up your sleeve."
"Jud, come on! Let's just go."
He grabbed me by the wrist and pushed my sleeve up, showing the hand print shaped bruise on my upper arm. I could feel his eyes boring through my face, but I refused to look at him.
"Is there more?" He asked, nearly growling. I didn't answer. He proceeded to pull up my other sleeve, unsatisfied when he found it bruise free. He looked at my neck, then moved to push my hair away from my face.
"Will you stop!" I finally said.
"… Show me."
"Show you what!"
"Emily don't play games with me."
"Judson just drop it."
He reached up and held my head in place with one hand and pushed my hair back with the other, exposing the small cut and bruise on my hairline that I had carefully hidden. His eyes landed on it and he grazed it with his fingers.
"I can't believe you tried to hide this shit from me!"
I didn't answer him.
"Emily talk to me!"
"I just want to get in the car… and drive." I finally mumbled, my eyes blurring with the emotion I was trying to hold back. He shook his head and grinded his teeth with anger. Then he opened the car door and stood there, waiting for me to get in. I slid into the seat and sighed, Dean stared at me through the rear view mirror. I turned my attention out the window as Judson got in and shut the door.
Dean turned the key and we were moving again.
I waited a few moments and reached over, trying to hold hands with Judson, but he pulled away.
I sighed and reached into the floorboard for my ipod, popping in the ear buds and closing my eyes, hoping that by the time we get to wherever the hell we're going Judson will be cooled off.