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Chapter Summary: Dean and Tor go on a case, and they get some rather unpleasant news.

I do not own Supernatural, Sherlock Holmes, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, or any other books / movies / TV shows / and/or songs that may be referenced in this story.

Chapter 22

A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Guilt.

It's useless. It does absolutely no one any good. It's like rust, once a small spot begins to form, the whole thing is in danger of destruction.

Dean closed his laptop so loudly Sam jumped.

"I've got a case."

"Okay?"

"For me and Tor."

"Dean, I don't think now is the right time for her to be…"

Dean interrupted and sat across from Sam. "She hasn't left Elizabeth's side in days. Days, Sam. She looks like crap."

"Her sister is dying, Dean. Cas can't bring her back. We don't know how long she's got. So her behavior is understandable."

"Come on, you know the girl. This isn't her. Something is up with her. And since you haven't been able to figure it out, I guess I will."

"I have figured it out. Her sister is dying. She's bonding with both of them. She's basically going to have to be a mom, Dean."

Dean looked pensive for a moment, "Wait, does that mean you're gonna be a dad?"

Sam closed his eyes and rubbed his neck. "This child is going to be a powerhouse. Everything I've read says that he will be able to surpass the powers of his angelic parent. Besides Tor, who do you think would be up for that challenge?"

"Cas?"

Sam nodded. "Besides, according to Tor, the baby seems drawn to him."

"How does it feel about us?"

"Tor says she can feel him calm when I come in the room." Sam smiled. "She thinks I would be the best moral compass."

"And me?"

Sam shrugged. "She really hasn't said."

"Great."

Victoria came into the room looking exhausted. She poured herself a cup of coffee and sat next to Sam. Her normally bright eyes were dark, and tired.

"Hey."

She was becoming constantly more impressed with Sam's intuitiveness. "Hey."

"Where's Cas?"

Victoria looked at Dean. "He's with Lizzie and the baby. He's trying to see if he can be taught things about his nature before he's born."

"I found a case."

Sam glowered at his brother.

"Oh?"

Sam chuckled at Tor's response.

"I think you and I should take care of it."

"Why?"

"Because I think it would do you a hell of a lot of good to kill something."

Victoria couldn't fault that logic.

"My sister…"

"Will be fine with Cas, Sam, and Mom until we get back."

"I don't know."

"Come on Tor, Saving people, hunting things, the family business?"

Victoria slightly smiled.

"We kill it, we come back."

"Absolutely."

"Let's go kill something."

Victoria agreed to let Dean drive. She gave the keys to her 'Stang to Sam just in case they needed to drive somewhere. She missed her car.

"She wants his name to be Jack. He's fond of it."

"So, no worries about him being literally the Devil's spawn?"

Victoria understood where he was coming from.

"Dean, I know you've spent practically your whole life hunting monsters. I know that you've died protecting the world from the supernatural. I can assure you, Jack is not one of those things you have killed. He's good. I can feel it."

"Listen Tor, I've been thinking about that, are you sure that's not just because he's your family?"

"I know that you would always think the best of Sam, no matter what he did. You would always defend him, you would never give up on him. In regards to Sam, I admire that. As you know, I'm particularly fond of him. Unfortunately, I feel that I would also defend him in spite of anything. I'm not going to lie to you Dean, I would probably treat Jack in the same manner. Is that a good thing? No, of course it isn't. It goes against everything I was taught. My feelings and my education seem to be at war these days. Sometimes I think it would have been best if I had never met you or Sam at all."

"Tor, I…"

"No, really. I was a perfect textbook example of a Chosen One. I did my job, I helped people, feelings did not interfere. Now? Now I have to stop myself from ripping a woman's heart out just so I could feel her die. And why did I do that? Because of Sam. Because he had a superficial cut on his neck. Because he was hurt, I wanted to kill."

"Family isn't rational. I mean we do things that put ourselves and others in danger because we want our family no matter what. We stick together, we do whatever we have to to stay together. You're family Tor. You, me, Sam, Cas, and Mom, we're a family. And dammit I'm not sorry we met you. It scared me a little when you jumped on that crazy bitch, yeah, but it was for Sammy. I've seen him tortured, abused, used as the Devil's plaything, and he's the strongest man I know. He's been through all that crap and he's still kind. He still sees the best in people. You need Sam as much as I do. And he needs you. He needs us. And yeah, your feelings get in the way. But you're human. Hell, even Cas's feelings get in the way and he's an Angel."

"He's your angel, Dean, that's why."

"What the hell's that supposed to mean?"

"That right there. Why do you get angry when I say your angel? He's so obviously your angel. I want you to understand this Dean Winchester: Angels don't feel. It's not in their genetic make-up. It's not built into them. He lived for millennia and did not feel anything until he met you. Now he feels everything. Love, selflessness, guilt, pride, anger, hurt, resentment, joy, peace, every human emotion because of you. He saved you from hell and you saved him from an existence without emotion. His loyalty is unsurpassed, it's unbridled, and overwhelming. You and Sam, being the men you are, created that in him. So, no matter what you may say to the contrary, he's your angel."

"Sorry Tor, I thought you meant, well, uh, never mind."

Victoria paused for a second before the realization hit her.

"Oh."

"No, forget it."

Victoria chuckled at Dean's obvious embarrassment.

"Shut up Tor."

"There's no need to be embarrassed. Castiel is your Angel just like I'm Sam's Chosen One. Neither one of us is ever going to leave either one of you. So no matter what you call it: love, loyalty, family, or friendship, we're together. No matter what."

"You still wish you hadn't met us?"

"Sometimes, yes. But that doesn't mean I don't appreciate the fact y'all have made me more human."

"And Jack is our what?"

"Our child."

"Four parents?"

"Five, counting your Mother. Considering he is likely to be the strongest being in all of Creation, I don't think five is overdoing it."

"Please tell me why you didn't want me to contact the authorities again?"

Victoria was less than impressed with the quality of the motel room Dean picked out.

"I wanted you to experience this like a true hunter."

"I think one of the 'designs' on the comforter just moved."

"It's not that bad Tor. Man up."

"I'm a woman Dean. So I can't 'man up.' I am also disturbed by the fact the owner of this establishment asked if we wanted the hourly or nightly rate."

Dean snickered.

"Then he glared at us when you said nightly and he noticed we didn't have wedding rings. And Mr. and Mrs. Smith, really?"

Dean didn't care to admit he just watched that movie again.

Victoria felt her phone vibrate in her back pocket and was happy to see it was a FaceTime from Sam.

"Hey Tor, how's it going?"

"Your brother decided we should stay in a roach motel."

"Hiya Sammy!"

"Hey Dean. Yeah, he likes those. Does it have one of those fake screen things and a TV from 1992?"

Victoria looked around. "Complete with both."

Sam smiled. "We kinda miss you."

Victoria sat down in the chair next to Dean after inspecting it. "Is everyone okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, we're fine, it's just, different."

Dean realized just how much that girl meant to his brother in that moment. He knew right then he would do everything in his power to keep things as close to the way they were as possible.

"I'm gonna go see if the owner has noticed anything creepy going on around here."

Victoria looked up from the phone. "Besides himself?"

"Yeah, besides that."

Dean left and Victoria looked back at her phone.

"Being on a hunt is different without you. I'm not particularly fond of it."

"Dean's a good partner though, you'll find this thing in no time."

"Then come home."

"Yeah, then come home."

"We probably need to head to the bunker soon Sam, I'm getting worried, Lizzie seems really pregnant."

"Do you want me to get everyone ready so that when you and Dean get back we can go?"

Victoria appreciated almost everything about Sam Winchester. He was almost perfect.

"That would be wonderful."

"So, um, I'll talk to you later?"

Victoria smiled. "You better. Monsters I can handle, bugs I cannot. Your reassurance will help me sleep."

Sam laughed. "Bye Tor."

"Bye Sam."

"You brought me on a case where the 'events' are a man dying of a heart attack after noticing his house had been cleaned and some of his food was missing?"

"Right."

"To quote you, 'what the hell'?"

"Tor, it's weird. We've built cases on less. The man's house didn't clean itself. And the food didn't just disappear. Then, he died of a heart attack? I don't think that's coincidence."

Victoria rubbed her temple as she stared at Dean. They were in a small diner, surrounded by locals. Apparently everyone ate supper at 4:00 there. Victoria sipped her coffee as Dean thoroughly enjoyed his hamburger.

"You sure you don't want a bite?"

Victoria grimaced. Unlike Dean, she was not over the 'incident'. "No."

Dean shrugged and continued eating.

A teenage girl came bursting through the front door of the diner. "Mama, mama!"

A waitress ran to the girl. "What is it baby?"

"Mama, I went home to get my phone charger and a lion was on top of Daddy. Mama, it was eating him!" The girl sobbed into her mom's apron. The woman rubbed the girl's back.

She yelled to the manager. "Call Earl and get him and the boys to my place quick." She kissed the top of the girl's head. "It's all right baby."

Dean looked at Victoria. "Still think we don't have a case?"

Dean decided that working with the local authorities was probably a good idea. He and Victoria stared at what was left of the victim.

"Definitely looks like an animal attack." Earl ran his fingers through his beard. "If it's all right with you Miss Doyle, I'm gonna have the boys bag the body up and take it to the morgue."

Victoria nodded as she looked around the house.

"Dean?"

"Hum?"

"This place is impeccably clean isn't it?"

Dean looked around. "Yeah, besides the murder mess, it's spotless."

Dean walked into the kitchen, Victoria followed. He opened the fridge. Little bites had been taken out of a hunk of cheese. Little bites had also been taken from an apple, a piece of chocolate cake, and a stick of butter. "What the hell?"

Dean shut the fridge and looked at Victoria. "Can you hear anything weird?"

"No. However, if I'm not familiar with a particular creature that's not unusual."

"So you have to know what it is to hear it?"

"Know of it usually."

"So this is a brand new ball game."

"Appears so."

"Great."

Dean rolled his eyes as Victoria went around the motel room with disinfectant wipes.

"Tor, little help here?"

"Dean, you are just as apt at Google as I am. You find it, I'll smite it, and we will go home. Meanwhile, on the off chance we can't find it, I refuse to die via a preventable disease."

"Okay, so this thing seems to target men who are either stay at home dads or have been recently laid off. It's small, has humanish teeth, and it likes food. Probably also shapeshifts."

"Probably."

"And it cleans." Dean looked at Victoria. She was spraying the comforters with Lysol.

"Obviously it has not been here."

"So, we ask the locals who has been laid off or who stays at home?"

"Or Earl. I'll text him rather. He seems talkative and I do not feel like 'talkative' right now."

Victoria sat across from Dean at the small table. "Earl says he is 'on it'. For however much confidence that inspires." Victoria leaned her head back and closed her eyes. "So, what is it?"

Dean looked back at his computer. "Only thing I can come up with is a hobgoblin."

"Like Puck?"

"Yep."

"Hum. I thought they were myths." Victoria laughed in spite of herself.

Dean gave her a look. "They normally aren't dangerous, but they have been known to go a little cuckoo."

"I guess that's what our Puck did."

"Guess so. Maybe the food sucked."

"Understandable." Victoria opened her eyes and looked at Dean. "I'm hungry."

Dean closed his laptop, grabbed Victoria's coat and held it so she could slip it on. "Come on, while Earl's locating the guy whose ass we're gonna save, I'll buy you a salad."

Victoria was just finishing up her supper when her phone buzzed.

"That Earl?"

She nodded.

Dean laid a twenty-dollar bill on the table and they left.

The house whose front door they stood in front of was modest and homey. Victoria imagined it was the type of home she would have liked growing up in. She thought about Jack, and how he would have to grow up. Was a bunker a home?

A fifty-ish man opened the door.

"Can I help y'all?"

"I'm Dean, this is Victoria, Earl was supposed to tell you we'd be here."

The man wiped his palms on his jeans before offering to shake Dean's hand. "Yeah, right, he did. I'm Bill Werthers. Nice to meet you Dean, Victoria."

Victoria nodded.

"Y'all can come on it, I was just cleaning before the wife gets home."

Victoria closed the door behind her. She noticed how half the house was sparkling clean, and how the other half was a disaster. She also noticed the several days' worth of scruff on Mr. Werthers' neck. She also noticed his nervous demeanor. She tuned out Dean's investigation of the man as she listened for a hobgoblin.

I hope they leave soon. Meddling hunters. All I want is a nice, quiet set up where I clean, and then get my payment. It's not my fault the others' pay was not acceptable. Oooohhhh, but it was ever so fun seeing their faces when I scared them. Haha! Oh that last one! Oh, that was exciting. Well, maybe, if I'm being honest with myself, quiet may not be my thing. I like scaring! It's so fun and I get to attack things! I wonder what this guy's face will look like when I change into a, oh, what should I change into?

Victoria could follow the thoughts, and knew they were coming from the hall closet. So the hobgoblin wasn't exactly evil per se, but he seemed to enjoy killing, and he had to be ganked.

Victoria made her way to the closet. Mr. Werthers tried to stop her, but Dean grabbed him.

When Victoria opened the door, what looked like a small, hairy man ran in between her legs and tried to get out the door.

Dean let go of Mr. Werthers and lunged at the hobgoblin. Dean caught him, squealed when the hobgoblin turned into a humongous spider, and dropped him again. The hobgoblin returned to his original form and made for the door once more.

Victoria rolled her eyes and pointed her hand toward the creature, making him stop in his tracks. He couldn't move, it was as if he was glued to the floor.

"What did you do to me? Let me go! Let me go! Let me go!"

Victoria put her finger to her lips, making the creature unable to speak as well. She looked at Dean and shrugged accusingly.

"Don't look at me like that Tor, okay? He changed into a spider. That's creepy. I don't want to be holding a spider."

"You squealed, Dean."

"Don't tell Sam. Or Cas."

Victoria rolled her eyes as she walked over to the hobgoblin. She could see the fear in his eyes and that pained her. She knew he had enjoyed killing humans, and that he would continue if given the chance. Those two men were fathers. Their lives shouldn't have been over so soon. Still, she felt a pang of sympathy for this pathetic creature whose life she was about to end.

"This won't hurt, I promise."

Before she placed her palm on his forehead to smite him, she placed two fingers on his temple to make him have a good dream, that way he would die happy instead of in fear.

Victoria set the body on fire after it had fallen over. Castiel taught her how to control the flames so that nothing around it would be touched. Once there was nothing but ashes, she looked at Mr. Werthers.

"I suggest you do your own housework in the future Sir."

Dean followed her out the front door.

Victoria was by herself in the motel room. Dean went next door to the bar and seemed let down Victoria declined to go. She kept checking her phone waiting for Sam to call. He always called. Was he waiting for her to call? That seemed silly. Sam didn't play games.

Dean was talking with a very attractive waitress when he felt his phone buzz in his back pocket. He ignored it the first time but decided it might be important on the second. The woman rolled her eyes and walked away.

"Cas – can this…"

"Dean."

Dean knew by his best friend's voice that this was serious. He put money on the counter for his drinks and went outside.

"What is it Cas?"

"Somehow, someone knew Victoria wasn't here. There were dozens of demons, Dean. I was able to get Elizabeth and Mary to the bunker. When I got back, I killed most of the demons, but Dean, they took Sam."

Dean turned around and hit the brick wall with his fist.

"Dean?"

"I'm here Cas."

"I'm so sorry."

"No, you, you did good Cas. You got mom and Elizabeth outta there. You get back to the bunker and protect them. Tor and I will find Sam."

"Of course. And Dean?"

"Yeah?"

"They killed Mrs. Turner."

Victoria was about to Facetime Sam when Dean walked through the door of their motel room. She saw Dean's hand and wondered if he got into a fight. Then she saw his face and knew it was much more serious.

She put her phone down, walked over to him, and grabbed his hand. It was healed instantly.

"Tor…"

"Who?"

"Mrs. Turner."

Victoria felt a bubble in her throat. Her eyes burned with tears.

"And they kidnapped Sam."

Victoria looked at Dean and her eyes burned for an entirely different reason.