Dean was irritated. He hated it when law enforcement interfered with a case. And he hated being arrested even more than that.
He knew that Sam had gotten his message and was already gone, and hopefully had met up with Piper, but he still hated the waiting game. He was a man of action, dammit!
He watched as Detective Ballard came in. She seemed nervous, but he was just ticked off enough to not care. "Can we make this quick? I'm a little tired, it's been a long day, you know, with your partner assaulting me and all." He pointed to his face.
Ballard seemed to gather her nerve. "I want to know more about that stuff you were talking about earlier," she blurted.
Dean rolled his eyes. "Time Life. Mysteries of the Unknown. Look it up."
She glared at him "Let's pretend for the moment you're not entirely insane."
"Mmm."
Ballard maintained eye contact. "What would one of these things be doing here?"
Dean's eyebrows rose. "A vengeful spirit? Well, they're created by violent deaths. And then they come back for a reason, usually a nasty one. Like revenge on the people that hurt 'em."
She nodded slowly. "And uh, these, they're capable of killing people?" She rubbed her neck as she tried to absorb the information, and Dean saw the livid bruising on her wrist.
He pointed to it. "Where did you get that?"
She looked at him for a long moment, then pulled her sleeves up to present both wrists to him. "I don't know. It, it wasn't there before."
Dean studied her. "You've seen it, haven't you? The spirit?"
"How did you know?"
"Because Karen had the same bruises on her wrists. And I'm willing to bet that if you look at Giles' autopsy photos he's got 'em, too, it's got something to do with this spirit, I... I don't know what." He watched as she turned to the mirror to study her own reflection. "I know. You think you're going crazy. But let's skip that part, shall we? Because the last two people who saw this thing? Died, pretty soon after. You hear me?"
She didn't turn. "You think I'm going to die."
Dean shook his head. "You need to go to Sam. He'll help."
She did turn now, surprised. "You're giving your brother up."
Dean nodded. "Go to the first motel listed in the yellow pages. Look for Jim Rockford. It's how we find each other when we're separated. Now you can arrest him if you want. Or you can let him save your life."
xxxxx
Piper was pacing in the motel room, registered under Jim Rockford, and waited for Sam to show up. She had no idea what was happening, and she was irritated. The first case she was back, the two idiots got themselves arrested, first thing. Sam had called from a gas station phone to let her know he was on his way.
There was a hesitant knock at the door. Piper whipped around, grabbed a gun, and held it down next to her thigh as she slowly opened the door, leaving the chain latched. A pretty, older blonde stood at the door, frowning.
"How can I help you?" Piper asked politely.
The woman searched her face. "I'm here for Sam."
Piper blinked, then looked closer at the woman. "Are you a cop?"
The woman nodded. "Detective Ballard."
"How did you find me?"
"I don't even know who you are."
"I know," Piper said dryly. "Humor me. How?"
"Dean said to look for the first motel in the phone book, and look for the name 'Jim Rockford.'"
Piper nodded, closed the door, and unlatched the chain. She then opened it wide and waved the woman in. "How are the guys?"
Ballard scoffed and looked around the room. "Too used to be interrogated, quite frankly."
Piper grinned, but did not relax the hold she had on her gun. "Yeah. It kind of comes with the territory."
The doorknob rattled. Piper pointed her weapon at it. "Detective, get behind me," she said quietly.
She opened the door without opening the chain. She saw Sam peeking through and sighed in relief. "About time, Winchester," she said cheerfully as she opened the door.
Sam saw the detective. "Piper?" he asked.
"Dean sent her. She's seen the spirit."
Ballard showed Sam her wrists. "These showed up after you saw it?" He asked.
Ballard nodded. "Yeah, I guess."
"All right. You're going to have to tell me exactly what you saw."
Ballard shook her head. "You know, I must be losing my mind. You're a fugitive. I should be arresting you."
Piper tensed, but Sam just shrugged. "All right. Well, you know what? You can arrest me later, all right? After you live through this. But right now you've gotta talk to me. Okay?" Ballard nodded.
"Okay, great. Now, this spirit. What did it look like?"
Ballard swallowed. "She was, um, really pale, and her throat was cut, and her eyes, they were like, this deep dark red? It appeared like she was trying to talk to me. But she couldn't. It was just... A lot of blood."
Piper lead them over to a table that was covered in crime scene photos. "You know what? Here. I've been researching every girl that's ever died or gone missing from Ashland Street."
The detective frowned. "How'd you get those? Those are from crime scenes, and booking photos."
Piper smiled. "You have your job, I have mine. Here. I need you to look through these, tell me if you recognize anyone."
She flipped through a couple of photos, settling on the third. "This is her. I'm sure of it."
Sam examined the information. "Claire Becker? Twenty eight years old, disappeared about eight or nine months ago."
"But I don't even know her. I mean, why would she come after me?"
Sam looked at the paper again. "Well, before her death, she was arrested twice. For dealing heroin. You ever work narcotics?"
Ballard nodded. "Yeah, Pete and I did. Before Homicide."
"You ever bust her?"
"Not that I remember."
Piper was grabbing her coat and duffel. "It says that she was last seen entering 2911 Ashland Street. Police searched the place, didn't find anything. Guess we gotta check it out ourselves. See if we can find her body."
The detective eyes widened. "What?"
Sam smiled. "Well, we gotta salt and burn her bones. It's the only way to put her spirit to rest."
Ballard sighed. "Of course it is."
xxxxx
They entered the building quietly, Ballard pursing her lips as Sam unlocked the door.
"So what exactly are we looking for?" she asked.
"I'll let you know when we find it." Sam replied.
Piper took an iron pipe out of her bag, then another and handed it to Sam. She looked at the detective, giving her a third. "Spirits are weak to iron. If you see her, start swinging."
The detective swallowed nervously, but accepted the pipe.
They split up. Sam went up a flight of stairs, while Piper and Ballard went down to the lower level.
They were in a basement. Piper was looking around, turning to examine a shelf stacked with dry goods.
Ballard gasped. "Piper?"
Piper turned to see a young woman with red eyes in a white dress moving toward Ballard. She moved in between them and swung, the spirit disappearing as soon as the iron touched her.
"Sam!"
Sam ran down the stairs. "Hey! Hey, I'm here, what is it? What happened?"
Ballard eyes were wide as saucers. "Claire…"
Sam looked around. "Where?"
She pointed. "She, she was here."
Piper had gone back to looking around, still on high alert. "Sam, she didn't attack her. She was just, like, reaching out." She looked back at him. "I don't think she's vengeful spirit. Here, help me move this."
Sam moved to help her move a shelving unit that was placed in front of the window. Once it had been moved, it revealed the lettering on the outside: ASHLAND SUPPLIES.
Ballard looked spooked. "Our little mystery word."
They turned to see a shadow on the opposite wall, casting the words into clear shadow.
Sam nodded. "Now the extra letters make sense."
Sam pulled out his EMF reader and moved it along the wall opposite of the window.
"What is that?"
Piper answered. "Spirits and certain remains give off electromagnetic frequencies. So if Claire's body was here, that should indicate that."
Sam nodded without looking at them. "Yeah. Well, that's the theory."
The reader started whining as Sam moved it over the brick wall. He put it in his back pocket. He then went to his bag and pulled out a sledgehammer and started breaking through the crumbling wall.
Piper stood next to him, and once he had a decent hole, she shone her flashlight inside.
He nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, there's definitely something in there." He started pulling bricks and plaster away with hands and elbows.
Piper took his cue and helped. "You know? This is bothering me."
"Well, you are digging up a corpse." Ballard pointed out helpfully.
Piper shook her head. "No, not that."
Sam chuckled as he started to break a sweat. "That's, uh, that's pretty par for the course, actually."
Ballard sighed. "Then what?"
Sam and Piper were almost done. "No vengeful spirit I've ever dealt with wanted to be wasted, so why the hell would Claire lead us to her remains?"
Together, Sam and Piper pulled out a shroud-wrapped body and placed it on the ground. Sam pulled a knife out of his pocket and started cutting the ropes holding the shroud.
Ballard held out her wrists.
Sam nodded. "Her wrists. Yeah, they'd be bruised just like yours."
Sam pulled the shroud open to reveal the desiccated corpse of a woman whose wrists were bound.
The detective's breath caught, and she leaned forward to touch a necklace the corpse was wearing.
Piper looked at her. "That necklace mean something to you?"
She nodded, and reached into her shirt. "I've seen it before. It's rare. It was custom made over on Carson street." She pulled out a necklace identical to the one on the dead woman's neck. "I have one just like it. Pete gave it to me."
Piper frowned. "Who is Pete?" she asked gently.
"My partner."
Piper snapped her fingers. "Death omen."
Ballard looked at her. "Excuse me?"
Sam looked impressed, and nodded. "Claire's not killing anyone. She's trying to warn them. You see, sometimes spirits, they don't want vengeance, they want justice. Which is why she led us here in the first place. She wants us to know who her killer is."
The hair on the back of Piper's neck stood up. "Detective, how much do you know about your partner?"
xxxxx
Piper was tense, trying not to give in to panic, as she listened to Detective Ballard finish her phone call.
"All right. Thanks."
Sam was also tense. "What is it?"
"Pete just left the precinct. With Dean."
Piper's stomach dropped. "What?"
Ballard met their eyes. "He said the prisoner had to be transferred, and he just took him. Dispatch has been calling but he won't answer the radio."
"Radio? He took a county vehicle?"
Ballard nodded.
Piper sat up, a plan forming in her mind. "Well, then they should have a lo-jack, you've just gotta get it turned on."
xxxxx
Dean was in the back of an armored vehicle, trying figure out how he was going to get out of the situation he was in, when he felt the car slow.
"Pee break? So soon? You might want to get your prostate checked." The detective who had taken him got out and walked around to the back. "Son of a bitch," he muttered, then the door opened. "Hey, I'm cool in the van, you go do what you gotta do."
Sheridan hauled Dean out of the van and threw him to the ground. "You're a cocky son of a bitch. You think those people in St. Louis are gonna buy that crap you're peddling? Here's the thing. You're not gonna make it to St. Louis. You're gonna die trying to escape."
He drew his service pistol and pointed it at Dean.
Dean felt the blood drain from his face. "Wait! Wait. Let's, let's talk about this. I mean, you don't want to do something that you're gonna regret later." Sheridan's cocked the gun. "Or maybe you do." Dean closed his eyes and waited for the shot.
A voice rang out. "Pete! Put the gun down."
Dean opened his eyes to find Ballard, Sam, and Piper coming out of the woods.
"Diana? How'd you find me?" Sheridan asked, not lowering his gun.
She ignored the question. "I know about Claire."
Sheridan shook his head. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Put the gun down!" she shouted, pointing her own gun at him.
Sheridan shook his head and kept his weapon where it was. "Oh, I don't think so. You're fast. I'm pretty sure I'm faster." He smirked.
"Not as fast as I am." Piper's voice rang through the clearing, followed by a gunshot.
Dean scooted back as Sheridan fell, clutching his shoulder and shouting, "You bitch!"
Ballard came forward and kicked his gun away.
"Why would you do this?" she asked softly, gun still trained on him.
He put on a pleading face. "I didn't do anything, Diana."
"It's a little late for that."
"It wasn't my fault. Claire was trying to turn me in, I had no choice."
Tears welled up in Ballard's eyes. "And Tony? Karen?"
Piper came around to Dean, gun still pointing at the man on the ground. She helped him to his feet, although he was still handcuffed.
Sheridan was shouting. "Same thing! Tony scrubbed the money, he got skittish, and then he wanted to come clean. I'm sure he told Karen everything."
Sam came over to Piper and Dean, and Dean felt his brother start to pick the handcuffs open.
"It was a mess. I had to clean it up. I just panicked."
Ballard asked softly, "How many more people are gonna die over this, Pete?"
Sheridan got up in his knees and held his good hand out to her. Dean felt fierce pride at Piper's shot. "There's a way out. These kids are a friggin' gift. We could pin the whole thing on them. Right? No trial, nothing. Just, just a few more dead scumbags."
"Rude," Piper scoffed.
Sheridan glared at her, then turned back to his partner. Ballard had stepped close, too close. "Please, no one will question it. Diana, please. I still love you." She lowered the gun. "Thank you. Thank you."
Diana lowered her gun and punched him across the face. "Then why don't you buy me another necklace, you ass?
Sheridan lunged and tackled her, knocking her gun out of her hand. Piper raised her gun, but there was no clean shot.
Sam dove for the gun on the ground, but Sheridan got there first. As he raised it toward Ballard, his eyes flicked up to look behind her. His face paled. "No, don't! Don't do it!"
Claire stood behind Ballard. She smiled, and then another gunshot sounded. Blood started to spread over the spot Sheridan's heart. He fell quietly and undramatically.
xxxxx
Piper watched sympathetically as Ballard knelt next to Sheridan's body. "You okay?" she asked the older woman softly.
The detective shook her head. "Not really. The death omen Claire. What happens to her now?"
"Should be over. She should be at rest." Sam said.
Dean coughed. "So, uh. What now, officer?"
She stood. "Pete did confess to me. He screwed up both your cases royally. I'd say that there's a good chance that we could get your cases dismissed."
Piper was surprised. "You'd take care of that for us?"
"I hope so. But the St. Louis murder charges? That's another story. I can't help you. Unless... I just happened to turn my back, and you walked away. I could just tell them that the suspects escaped."
Sam frowned. "Wait, are you sure? I mean, you could lose your job over something like that."
Ballard let out a deep breath. "Look, I just want you guys out there doing what you do best. Trust me, I'll sleep better at night." She turned her back. "Listen, you need to watch your back. They're gonna be looking for all of you right now. Get out of here. I gotta radio this in."
Dean paused. "Hey, uh, you wouldn't happen to know where my car is, by chance?"
Ballard turned back to look at them. "It's at the impound yard down on Robertson. Don't," she pointed at Dean. "Even think about it."
Piper elbowed him. "It's okay, it's alright, don't worry. We'll, uh, we'll just improvise. I mean, we're pretty good at that."
"Yeah. I've noticed." Detective Ballard said dryly, then turned away and pulled out her phone.
xxxxx
They walked side by side down the road, on the way back to the impound lot to get Baby.
"Dean, I meant to ask, what happened to your face?" Piper inquired.
"That dick bag cop assaulted me, that's what."
Piper raised an eyebrow. "Did you deserve it?"
"Deserve it? Piper, he was a murderer! He was a psycho! He tried to shoot me!" Dean sputtered.
Sam was laughing as Piper replied, "Well, yes, but before we knew all of that. What did you do?"
"Nothing!"
Piper and Sam shared a look. "You definitely deserved it."
Their laughter rang out into the woods as Dean huffed.
xxxxx
A/N: Hi, everyone! Here's my notes:
I own only Piper Finley, the original character. I don't own Supernatural, or the characters (heartbroken).
Reviews and comments give me the warm fuzzies and keep me going.
If there are any mistakes in continuity, canon, or geography, blame me.
