A/N – Early update! Normally I try to stay on schedule, every Friday, but I probably won't be around tomorrow, so you guys luck out! Do we think Dean is here on official hunter business, or does he have other reasons?
Chapter song: Get Off of My Back – Bryan Adams
Get out of my way and out of my brain. Get outta my face or give it your best shot. I think it's time you better face the fact. Get off my back.
Chapter 5
Bella pushed her fists into her hips and glared at Dean as he rounded the front of the car and came over to her.
"What the hell are you doing here?" he spat. Sam came up to Dean's side, a curious look on his face.
"I was going to ask you the same thing." With a tip of her chin, Bella shifted her eyes to the police cruiser and then looked back at Dean. "I have a reason to be here. What's yours?"
"We heard it on the police scan—"
Dean elbowed Sam in the stomach and forced a smile. "I was thirsty."
Bella's mouth twisted to the side and she let out a snicker. "Drinks aren't that great here. Hope you brought your own glass." She spun around on her heels and started for the cruiser but paused, turning her head over her shoulder. "And just so you know, it's illegal to use the information you hear on a police scanner to interfere with a police investigation." She turned back around and walked back over to the deputy.
She shook his hand, found out his name was Andy, and proceeded to relay the events. A cocky smirk found its way to her lips as she pointed at Dean and Sam. Deputy Andy began taking down notes, lifting his eyes every so often and being met with a cold glare from Dean.
Spitting at his feet, Dean narrowed his eyes and pursed his lips at Bella. "I really hate her."
Sam brought a fist to his mouth to smother his laughter. "Sure you do."
Dean turned around, purposely and forcefully bumping his shoulder into Sam as he made his way toward the bar. He pushed open the door and scanned the room. It was definitely a den of sin, but whether or not this was actually a case for them like Bobby suggested was yet to be determined. In all honesty, when Bobby implicated the bar in some type of supernatural activity, Dean jumped at the chance. He could use a drink, and he certainly didn't want to sit around and catch up with Charlie.
It wasn't that Dean disliked Charlie by any means. It was actually quite the contrary. Back when Charlie and John used to hunt together, Charlie was a bit of a role model for Dean. Where John was guided by vengeance, Charlie seemed to have a greater calling. Deep down the guy just wanted to do the right thing, and for a while that included hunting things and saving people. Dean always admired Charlie for what he was able to do: keep his daughter safe. Seeing him give in so easily, telling Bella the truth... He couldn't stick around without wanting to punch the guy in the face. So Dean left and planned to take out his anger on some supernatural scum and maybe a bottle of Jack Daniels.
Walking over to the bar, noticing the man in hand cuffs, Dean faked a fall. Effectively tripping and spilling holy water from his flask on the man.
The man spun his head around and scowled. "What the hell!"
Dean smiled sheepishly and sat down on the barstool next to him. "Sorry, buddy." He made himself comfortable and grinned at his drinking companion. "Rough night?"
The guy glared at him before turning his back on Dean. Casey, the girl in the red shirt, appeared before him. "What can I get ya, handsome?" she purred.
Dean took in her curves and wet his lips. "What's your specialty?"
Casey smiled. "I can make a mean hurricane."
Pursing his lips, he said, "I guess we'll see about that."
He stared at her ass while she mixed the drink. "So what happened here tonight?" he asked.
She nodded toward the man sitting next to Dean. "Reggie here had a little too much to drink. His emotions got the better of him. Good thing that detective was on her toes, drunk or not, she lunged at him before he even had a chance to fire his gun off." Casey placed the drink in front him and leaned over the bar, the neckline of her shirt dipping dangerously low. She breathed hot air by Dean's ear and spoke slowly. "Honestly, I think she was just trying to impress me...she and I...we had a moment." Casey pulled away, laughing and smiling wickedly.
Dean brought the drink to his lips and swallowed thickly. He finished almost half of it in one sip when Sam came up behind him.
"You drink hurricanes?" Sam asked, his eyes wide.
"I do now."
Sam sat down on the other side of him. "You find anything out?"
Shaking his head and taking another sip, he said, "The only thing possessing the gunman was a sixer of Pabst. Poor bastard."
Sam looked around and noticed the bar buzzing with activity. Girls in scantily clad clothes were dancing in the middle of the floor, a scene that looked like it came out of one of Dean's pornos. Some of the men near the dart board were getting rowdy, slamming mugs of beer down and yelling loudly. Nothing looked out of the ordinary. It was typical bar behavior, maybe just up a notch or two.
"So what's the deal?" he asked, turning back to face Dean. "People in this town getting possessed or not?"
Dean sucked down the rest of his drink, making an obnoxious slurping sound with the straw. Sam rolled his eyes. "I don't know. Maybe it is just what it is—town full of scumbags."
No sooner had Dean finished his statement when he felt a tiny but firm hand grip his shoulder. Bella had her hands on both of the men, causing them to turn around.
"A word, boys?" Bella quirked her eyebrow.
Dean and Sam got off the barstools and shuffled toward the corner of the room where Bella was already waiting. "Why are you here?"
"I told you. I was thirsty." Dean's jaw was tight, his posture rigid.
Bella's lips pressed into a thin line. "See, I'm not buying that. I may..." she lowered her voice "...believe in a lot of things, but I don't believe in coincidences. Are you following me? Did Charlie send you after me?"
Dean let out a resentful laugh. "Don't flatter yourself, sweetheart, we're on a case."
Now it was Bella's turn to laugh. "So along with hunting the supernatural you also keep the town drunks in check?"
"Bobby thinks people in town are being possessed. They're not acting like themselves," Sam offered.
"No offense, Sam, but this is a bar." Bella motioned to the people around her with her hands. "They're acting exactly the way they should."
"You're new here. Sioux Falls is one layoff away from being a boarded up factory town. This bar..." Sam looked around, shaking his head "...is always dead."
Bella let out a huff and nodded. "That's what Casey said."
Dean narrowed his eyes, his voice gruff. "Who's Casey?"
Bella tilted her chin toward the bar. "She said business started picking up when she took the job."
Sam leaned into Dean's side and lowered his voice. "I thought you said you didn't find anything out."
Shrugging, Dean said, "I didn't get a chance to talk to the bartender..."
"Because you were too busy staring at her ass." Sam's tone was sharp.
Bella cleared her throat, bringing their attention back to the matter at hand. "She obviously knows something. I'll go talk to her."
Dean put out his arm in front of her. "Hold up. You think just because you two had a moment..." he smirked, letting out a snicker "...you think you can take over the case?"
"Dean," Sam warned, his head cocked to the side, his voice soothing and placating, "we don't even know if this is our type of case."
"Well, I'm going to go find out." Dean puffed out his chest and took a fast paced stride toward the bar.
Throwing her hands up in the air, Bella said, "You know what? It's all yours. Knock yourself out."
Bella walked over to Reggie, the man in handcuffs, and pulled him down off the barstool. Dean was already flirting and engaging Casey in conversation. Bella scowled as she walked past him. Sam stood there somewhat dumbfounded, his eyebrows knitting together as he looked back and forth between his brother and Bella.
Dean sat back down at the bar and chatted with Casey, putting on that Winchester charm. Casey flirted back, smiling and laughing at the stupid things Dean said. Sam sat in the stool next to him, nervously rubbing the back of his neck, looking down at the mention of going back to Casey's place. Casey scurried off to go help a customer.
"Dean, you're supposed to be getting information out of her, not getting into her pants."
Dean turned to Sam, wrapping his arm around him, grinning. "Come on, Sammy. Look at her! You could fit that ass on a nickle." Dean groaned. "I've got a lot to do before I check out of this joint...and Casey is one of them. Why don't you look into the owner of the bar. That Trotter guy..."
Sam let out a sigh. "What about Bella?"
"What about her?" Dean narrowed his eyes. "She's going to be nursing quite the hangover tomorrow. She won't be bothering us anytime soon."
Sam shook his head silently, leaving Dean to his business with Casey. Casey came back over to the bar and pouted slightly.
"Your brother left? I thought maybe he'd join us." She put her finger tip in her mouth, pulling down her lower lip slightly.
Dean gave Casey his best smile when she walked back over to him. "What do you say you and me grab a drink after your shift?"
Dean laughed nervously. "Nah, we're close, but we're not that close." He scrubbed a hand across his face.
Casey smirked, her eyes turning dark with desire. "I say...why wait? We can go to my place right now."
~o~
Bella wasn't just going to let Dean win. She may have told him to knock himself out, but secretly she wanted to be the one to knock him out. She couldn't very well give him a right hook, no matter how badly she wanted to hit him and wipe that cockiness right off his face. If she could get to the bottom of this case, which she didn't even think was really a case, then she'd be able to knock him out figuratively.
Bella found herself scoping out Casey's house. How could a bartender afford something like this? It was a large, older farm house with a field stone foundation and lots of land. Bella looked for a point of entry but all the windows had rod iron grates on them. The front door was massive, made of solid oak. Not even a battering ram could take it down. She noticed a small window in the foundation. Luckily Bella was tiny enough to fit through.
She lay on her back and gave a firm kick and the window pane fell to the basement floor and shattered. Bella winced at the sound, feeling momentarily remorseful. She'd pay Casey to have it fixed once this thing turned out to be nothing, which she was sure it would. The only reason she was even checking it out was because she wanted to throw it in Dean's face. Dean Winchester may have been able to throw around his alpha male attitude and make people go along with him through intimidation, but that wouldn't work for her. She needed cold, hard evidence...actual proof.
Bella carefully shimmied her body through the tiny space, slid through the hole, and landed on her feet. A chill set in her spine as she took in her surroundings. Hanging from the ceiling were iron shackles. Bella's eyes widened when she noticed a table off to the side filled with knives and other types of torture devices. What was this place? She was walking around the empty space when she heard a door open and soft talking above her. Quickly, she scurried underneath the stairwell. She watched through the slats as a pair of booted feet and high heels descended the stairs.
"Well, this is charming." Dean stepped down and circled the room. Nodding toward the shackles, he said, "Kinky."
Casey pushed her chest into his back, guiding him toward the iron binds. Her hot breath blew down his neck. "You have no idea, baby."
She positioned him in front of her, starting to unbutton his shirt. It fell open and she tugged it off, dropping it to the floor. She slowly ran her fingertips up and down his bare arm, grasping his wrist and bringing it up and over his head, securing the cuff. Dean offered her a half-grin as she repeated the motion with the other arm. Casey knelt to the ground, making quick work of Dean's belt, and began to undo his pants.
"Go easy on me."
Casey looked up, her eyes turning black. "Like you and your brother went easy on my sister?"
~o~
Bella's mouth hung open as she saw Dean struggle against his binds. She never doubted that demons existed...she just never thought she'd be up close and personal with one.
Dean started to recite something that sounded a lot like Latin.
Casey laughed and circled him. She stopped in front of Dean and smiled sweetly. "Having a little trouble there, Sport?"
Dean's nostrils flared and he narrowed his eyes. "Spiritus in mundus un glorum suarum umitite palatum..."
Casey laughed. "Nice try, but I think you just ordered a pizza. I guess you should have paid more attention in Latin class." She walked over to the table and delicately ran her finger across the torturing devices, hovering over a knife that looked like a mini version of the Grimm Reaper scythe.
Picking it up, she gently touched it to Dean's chest, running it down the length of his torso, ripping open his T-shirt.
"If you wanted to see me naked, all you had to do was ask."
How can he be such a smart ass when psycho bitch is about to cut him up into tiny little pieces? Bella thought.
Bella decided it was time to make her move while Casey was otherwise occupied. She noticed a large candelabra lying on the floor underneath the stairs. She picked it up and slowly approached Casey. Just as she was about to swing, Casey spun around and sent Bella flying through the air with a wave of her hand. Bella crashed hard against the wall and slumped onto the floor, unconscious.
Casey stalked over to her and looked down at Bella. "I'm so happy you made it, Bella." Casey's tone was so sickeningly sweet that Bella thought she'd gag just from the sound of it. She bent down and got in Bella's face, her lips brushing against Bella's as she spoke. "We had a moment back there..."
"Leave her alone," Dean shouted, his voice gruff and straining.
Casey looked over her shoulder and grinned at Dean. "Don't worry, baby, I like to share."
Grabbing Bella by the collar of her jacket, Casey yanked her up and dragged her over to Dean, laying Bella's body at his feet.
"You know, Dean, I'm kind of disappointed in you. You're not on your game. The Dean Winchester I know never would have let a demon get the jump on him. So what is it? The one-way ticket downstairs causing you to be rash and make bad decisions or is it something else..." Casey looked down at Bella's lifeless body "...like a swan perhaps?"
Casey walked over to the table and picked up a sterling silver dagger with intricate metal work along the handle. She knelt down to Bella and gently scraped the tip of the knife across her cheek, drawing the faintest ruby droplets. Casey quickly flicked the tip of her tongue along the side of Bella's face and looked up at Dean, blood on her teeth.
"Get your filthy demonic mitts off of her."
With her hands on her knees, Casey pushed up off the floor and stood in front of Dean. "You're so angry, Dean. I think that deal you made to save Sam is finally catching up with you. I think you don't want to die...I think you're scared of all the demons you're gonna have to face down there...the ones you sent back."
"You don't know what you're talking about. It's been kind of liberating, actually. Y'know what's the point in worrying about the future when you don't have one?"
"And her?" Casey raised an eyebrow as she looked at Bella's body. "What about her future?"
Casey started walking around the basement, lighting candles that had been strategically placed in the corners of the room long before Bella and Dean ever showed up. She was in the northwest corner and leaned over the large, white, waxy pillar, breathing out slowly, causing the wick to ignite.
She made her way back to Bella and kicked her body out of the way. Reaching in her back pocket she pulled out a tube of red lipstick and started drawing a demonic symbol on the floor.
Dean violently thrashed against the chains. "She's not a part of this. You leave her alone!"
Casey stood up and took a step closer to Dean, her face so close to his their noses almost touching. "That's where you're wrong, Dean. She is a part of this. Charlie killed my father..."
In a swift move, Dean thrust his head forward and smashed Casey right in the bridge of her nose. Blood started to pour from her nostrils.
Casey wiped at her face and shook her head in disgust. "I really wanted to keep this body intact. Oh well." She shrugged. "It's your lucky day, Dean. You get to cash in that ticket right now, and since I'm so nice, your girlfriend can tag along too. Think of all the demons down there that would love to get their hands on Charlie Swan's daughter!"
Casey lowered her head, ancient Latin spilling from her lips. The walls around them began to shake and the stones started falling. The ground split open where she had drawn the symbol, a large crack forming in the center. Looking down, Dean could see the darkness threatening to swallow him.
Smirking, Casey said, "You're not gonna like it, Dean. And, um, judging from all the trouble you've caused, I don't think you'll be getting the presidential suite. I think it's kind of poetic. The son and daughter of two of the most notorious hunters, side-by-side, tortured on the rack."
"DEAN!" Sam called out frantically.
Casey turned her head in the direction of the sound. "Looks like Sammy's a little late."
"Sammy, down here! The basement caved in!"
"Dean, hey, hold on. We're coming!"
Dean hesitated. He could hear someone else struggling to move the stones with Sam. "Who's we?" Casey smirked.
"I'm here with Charlie."
"Crap."
Casey clapped her hands and started cackling. "Perfect family reunion! Two Swans and two Winchesters! It's going to be a full flight tonight, kiddos!"
Dean could hear them making their way through the rubble. Charlie was about to see his daughter half dead and possibly headed for hell. A part of Dean thought maybe that was what Charlie needed to see...Bella in danger because of this life. Once he saw that, Charlie would do everything in his power to keep her away from it. Another part, the part that had been over powering Dean since he ran into Bella back in Forks, felt like it was his job to keep her safe. If Charlie came down there, Casey would not only get who she really wanted—Charlie—but she'd take her time in making it as painful as possible, and Dean was positive that would include torturing Bella. That was just something Dean couldn't stomach.
"Don't," Dean cried out, his jaw tense, the muscles in his forearms straining and twisting as he struggled against the chains. "Just turn around and go back to Bobby's. I'll find a way out. Just..."
When Charlie's eyes swept the room, he noticed Bella lying on the floor. "Bella!" Charlie charged forward and skidded to a stop when he saw the gaping hole in the floor.
Casey wagged her finger at him. "Tsk, tsk, Charlie. You don't want to go to hell earlier than your expected arrival, do you?"
"You let my baby go, or I'll..."
Casey raised her eyebrows at Charlie, her lips pursing. "You'll do what? Kind of hard to get to me without falling into the pit."
Suddenly, Sam appeared at Charlie's side. He calmly raised his hand from his side, holding the Colt steady, and aimed directly at Casey's head.
Casey cocked her head to the side. "Whatcha got there, Sammy?"
Without even answering her question, Sam squeezed the trigger.
E/N – Who saw that coming? If you're familiar with the episode that this chapter was based on, then you probably weren't too surprised. I will say that the major storyline of Hell's Bells deals with Bella and Dean, but that's not to say I won't throw in some other excitement. What's up with Sammy?
