Remember when you hit the brakes too soon?
Twenty stitches in the hospital room
When you started cryin', baby, I did, too
But when the sun came up, I was lookin' at you
Remember when we couldn't take the heat
I walked out and said, "I'm settin' you free,"
But the monsters turned out to be just trees
And when the sun came up, you were lookin' at me
You were lookin' at me
You were lookin' at me,
I remember, oh, I remember
Are we out of the woods yet?
Are we out of the woods yet?
Are we out of the woods yet?
Are we out of the woods?
Are we in the clear yet?
Are we in the clear yet?
Are we in the clear yet?
In the clear yet?
NO GOOD DEED GOES UNPUNISHED
8.5 years ago
Oak Park, IL
Beth's POV
The hot water pouring down my face was divine. A cold shower might have been a little more appropriate given the last few nights' activities, but all in all they seemed to be affecting Dean a little more than they were me. I was still incredibly nervous, even with how wonderful the last month had been, to get completely close to Dean. A part of me ached for him, another part was turning out to be a little shy.
The creaking of the bathroom door alerted me to the presence of someone and I turned, instantly ready for whatever came. I wasn't surprised to find candy apple green eyes smiling back at me, a goofy smile plastered to Dean's face as he pulled aside the shower curtain, blasting me with a rush of cold air.
"Geez Dean! I was enjoying that hot water!" I complained, but I smiled at him nonetheless.
"Mmm? Really?" Dean asked, sliding out of his boxers. "I bet you'll like this more."
He slid in behind me, his hands trailing up along my stomach sending butterflies flipping and dancing inside of me.
"Where's Dad?" I asked, drawing our attention to the drunk who had ruined our one-month anniversary the night before.
"Eh, drugstore… something about getting something for his pounding head…" Dean murmured, his lips nipping and licking along my shoulder.
I sighed and relaxed back into his warmth, letting the water wash over the pair of us as his hands grasped my breasts, kneading them slowly, deliberately. I groaned, feeling my self-control start to waver.
Dean's right hand slipped lower, finding its way between my legs where he expertly danced his fingers across my clit. I gasped, rocking into his hand, following it with a moan. I pulled away, turning to face him and his hands slid along my slick, wet skin to grasp my face. His lips traced along mine as his pressing need rubbed against my thigh.
"You're so beautiful, you're amazing," he whispered between kisses. "Oh god I want you so bad."
He fell to his knees, kissing his way along my stomach, daring to go just a little lower as the phone on the sink started to ring.
"Ignore it," he said, eyes turning upwards and watching me glance over at the phone.
"Dean… it could be important."
"This is important," he answered.
"It could be Dad," I replied, feeling a little nervous, particularly after he'd come back to the motel unexpectedly last night, drunk and crying about Sammy going off to college.
"Beth…." He growled, the tone in his voice plain as could be. He was tired of these little interruptions.
I bit my lip, torn between the phone, my duty, and this small snippet of time stolen with Dean. It was all so new, and he knew I wanted him, I was aching as much as he was after last night and Dad coming home unexpectedly. But… the job. The job won out in the end and he must have seen it in my eyes.
Dean sighed, throwing his hands out to the side a little. "Okay."
The phone had gone to voicemail, but the silence stood between us.
"Hey," I said, pulling him to his feet and kissing him deeply, wrapping my arms around his neck. I explored his mouth slowly, tantalising with my tongue as I darted it in to brush along his, drawing a moan from the back of his throat. I felt the tension start to melt from him as seconds drew out into minutes, and the hot water pounded down over our heads.
The kiss naturally tapered off until we were standing, arms wrapped around each other, noses bumping as our foreheads pressed together. Dean's eyes were closed and he sucked in a long, slow breath.
"I'm good," I said into the silence. "I'm really, really good… you have no idea how long I've wanted to do… any of this with you." My lips turned up with shy smile. "We don't have to rush things."
Dean's face softened a little and he kissed my nose. "Okay sugarpie, whatever you want."
"I just want you," I answered seriously.
"And you've got me," he replied, kissing me again.
Beth's POV
Dean flashed his badge quickly at the morgue attendant and nodded toward the body on the slab.
"So, what's the story with this one?" He said in his best authoritative voice, trying to mask the fact that he was a little nervous. Here we were, trying to pass a couple of kids who barely looked out of the Academy, off as Federal Agents. Fortunately the attendant was just as young and inexperienced as us, and in the presence of our fake FBI badges, he started to sweat, wiping his brow with a handkerchief.
"Well…well sir, we… we think it's an animal attack." Peter, according to his nametag, stated. His face started to turn as red as his hair, and another drop of perspiration plopped on to his nose from his forehead.
"Animal attack?" I asked, looking down at the body, which looked a little too shredded for any animal in the Illinois area. I could feel my stomach turning just at the thought of having this happen, and I was starting to regret that double latte and donut for breakfast.
"Yes ma'am. She was just jogging through the park when clearly a.. bobcat…or something jumped her. I mean, her chest is a mess."
"A bobcat?" Dean asked skeptically, to which the attendant nodded. "Is that what the official cause of death states?"
"Uh…" Peter hesitated and glanced around the room. "Well, no sir."
"Well, what's the official COD?" Dean pressed and the young man threw his hands up in the air.
"We don't know," he confessed.
"You don't know?" I asked.
"No… it's just…we've never seen anything like it…" He pushed open the inner doors into the autopsy room, moving toward one of the refrigerator doors. With a shrug, he opened a drawer, and pulled on the tray, revealing a body under a sheet.
"But you think it was a bobcat?" Dean asked as Peter pulled back the sheet. I fought the temptation to actually gag this time, when I saw what was left of the body.
It was a mess, and looked more like a werewolf had gotten to her. Except the attack had happened in broad daylight, during a new moon, and the heart was still present, barely, it sort of looked like spaghetti bolognese sauce, and that wasn't a good thing.
"Well sir, I don't know what else in Illinois could do that." Peter replied. "And she's not the only one this week."
Beth's POV
Dean was attempting to shove an entire burger into his mouth in one go as we walked briskly along the sidewalk toward our next appointment. It was like watching a car wreck, you couldn't quite stop yourself from looking.
"Dean, we could stop for lunch…" I commented, taking a more demure bite out of my own burger.
"No time…" Dean muffled around his mouthful of food, his eyes glinting at me with mischief.
"They're already dead," I commented with a shake of my head. "Another ten minutes won't matter, and might save you from a heart attack yourself."
"Sugarpie, I am fine!" Dean spluttered, finally managing to swallow the huge chunk of food, washing it down with a guzzling of water from the bottle he was carrying.
"Uh huh…" I said with a raised eyebrow.
Dean stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, his eyes darkening to a deep hazel. "I know what we could stop for…" he grinned, pulling me up against his chest, wrapping his arms tightly around me.
"Oh?" I asked with an innocent look. "Pie?"
"Pffft pie…" he said, claiming my lips with a lingering kiss, his tongue darting out to part my lips as I sighed, leaning into the embrace. Kissing Dean was always a dream, I could lose myself in him after just a moment. I felt my stomach tense, his hand sliding under my shirt to brush along my lower back, caressing my skin.
"Mmmm Dean…" I murmured, kissing him back, my hands snaking up around his neck.
"Mhmmm?" He questioned, his lips working their way along my jawline where he sucked my earlobe into his mouth, gently nibbling on it and drawing a gasping moan from me.
"The appointment?" I asked, suddenly aware that we were clinging to each other in broad daylight, in the middle of a busy street, people walking around us and giggling at the young couple lost to each other.
"Beth, you started this," Dean claimed, his fingers starting to knead the top of my behind under my jeans, and I could swear I felt a hardening presence between us, pressed up against my stomach.
"Did not…" I groaned into his neck, licking and kissing the hot skin I found there.
"Did so…"
"Mommy… what is that man doing to that woman?" A shy voice sounded behind us and we froze, foreheads pressed together as we tried not to laugh at the sound of disapproval emitted from the mother of a little girl staring straight at us.
"Nothing," the mother answered, pulling on the girl's arm. "Come away."
Dean laughed, his sound falling easily and happily from his lips, a delight to my ears. He kissed my nose and pulled away, adjusting his jeans a little to accommodate for his obvious arousal.
"Come on beautiful," he said softly, wrapping his arm around my waist and starting to guide me in the other direction toward the police station. "Another time…"
"Yeah…" I sighed in resignation. There was always another time, the job came first. Always.
Dean's POV
She didn't see me watching her, but I had been. Non-stop for a long time. She was the sunshine of my day and that smile lit up my life. Beth was laughing with the female detective, the only other woman in the office. They were sharing some inside joke at the expense of me. I knew Beth didn't really mean it, but it was getting the fuzz on side with us, and that was what mattered.
"Yeah, okay okay ladies, laugh it up…" I muttered, feigning hurt at their words.
"Awww, sorry Agent," said Detective Laura Bennett, "no offense intended."
"None taken," I said with a short nod, winking at Beth when Laura turned away. "Perhaps we could…"
"Get back to the task at hand," Beth interjected, "yes, a very good idea. You were saying there have been three deaths?"
"Yes, the woman you saw at the morgue, a young girl, and a father of two. There seems to be no connection between any of them other than the manner of their deaths."
"Bloody and gross…" I murmured quietly, moving to look at the pictures that had been pinned to a board.
"Yes," Laura said with a nod of her head.
Beth was flipping through the files on the desk as I frowned, looking at the pictures. There was a sharp sound behind us, and a familiar laugh as a cop rounded the corner with none other than Dad in their company.
"Really Roger, you should consider getting that looked at!" Dad laughed, clapping the officer with him on the back. "Ah, here they are!" He said, seeing us at the desk. "My young protégés."
"Two of them Morrison? The Agency not trusting you to keep one of them alive?" Roger laughed and Beth raised an eyebrow at me, shaking her head with a slight smile as she flipped through the third file in her hand.
"Haaaaaa…. Funny," I managed to get out, his words sinking home a little more than perhaps they should have. Since Beth and I had finally been able to get closer, and she'd given in to her feelings, I was noticing the punch a little more these days. The risks. Every time I came close to losing her, it was too close for comfort, and Dad didn't seem to care at all. The job came first, even at the cost of losing us.
"What have you got?" Dad asked, his smiling eyes turning stern as he caught my gaze.
"Three dead, no connection," I said, gesturing to the photos. "Different locations, different ethnicities, different economic status…"
"There has to be a connection," Dad cut in, and I fought back a sharp comment. He was usually right about this. We were overlooking something.
Dad moved to stand with Beth, picking up one of her discarded files and opening it.
"We just have to look harder," he said, smiling at Beth. "Right Bethie?"
"Yes, sir," she said with a smile, glancing up at me. I rolled my eyes and moved over to the board again, looking over the photos of the dead.
"What's your secret?" I muttered under my breath.
"Let me see that file Beth," Dad said after a few moments and she passed him the requested file. There was something about the way he said it that made me realise he was on to something. The son of a bitch had done it again.
"What is it?" I asked, looking over.
"Here," Dad said, pointing to some information in the file Beth had just handed him. "Check the other one Beth."
Beth was already nodding, flipping to a back page of the third file, coming to a stop at one of the last sheets of paper.
"There," she said, nodding.
"What?" I asked, looking over her shoulder, taking the opportunity to move in closer to her, resting my hand on her hip.
She smiled, leaning back into me slightly, so subtle that it wouldn't be noticed by anyone else.
"They're all organ recipients," she said, turning her face to mine.
"That's right," Dad said with a nod, looking up at his police friend. "Roger, how do we find out where those organs came from?"
"Why would it matter?" Roger asked with a frown, shrugging.
"Oh it matters," Dad replied. "I think you're gonna find they come from the same person…"
Beth's POV
"How many other donor recipients were there?" John asked, taking a seat next to me on the couch. We were back in the motel room, the light fading fast outside, and I was looking through the files in front of me. Dean had managed to sweet talk the Administration assistant out of them, throwing in a bit of Fox Mulder for her FBI fan benefit. Poor girl had never known what hit her.
"Three," I said. "Lungs, kidneys... and the liver."
"What are the others?" Dean asked, cracking open a beer and taking a long drink from it. I glanced over at him as he swallowed, the liquid amber of beer being guzzled away. I thought about his tongue on my neck and his lips caressing me and almost forgot what I had been asked.
"Beth?" John asked, glancing at the file.
"Uh, eye corneas, heart and ewww…. Skin." I said with a grimace. Dean shuddered, sputtering a little on his drink.
"Gross," he said with a shake of his head. "If you ever donate my body to science, please make a note that I want my skin left intact…"
I chuckled, shaking my head at him. "Duly noted hero," I commented and John snorted next to me.
"Like there's going to be anything left of you by the time whatever monster gets a hold of you is done," he said, and the reality of what he said started to sink in. My eyes met Dean's and I'm sure I couldn't hide the consternation at that thought out of it.
John continued with his reading, completely oblivious to the silence that had befallen the room. His phone started to chirp and he looked at the screen, frowning.
"Who is it?" I asked, curious as to whether there'd been another attack yet. "Is it Laura?"
John stared at the phone until it went to voicemail.
"Dad?" Dean asked.
John shook his head slightly as if he'd been in a daze. "Uh, no one important. It's fine," he said, standing up. "I'm gonna get some fresh air, you guys want anything while I'm out?"
"Burgers," we both said at the same time and he chuckled.
"Two burgers, coming right up," he said, walking out the door and closing it behind him.
"What was that about?" Dean asked, frowning.
"I don't know," I said, but I had my suspicions. A certain blonde came to mind, though I wasn't going to get into that with Dean right now. I glanced down at the photos of the most recent attacks and my mind got sidetracked. All I could see was Dean, covered in blood, his lifeless eyes staring up at me as I sobbed, kneeling next to him, unable to save him from whatever had befallen him.
"Beth?" At Dean's voice, I gasped, sucking in a breath that I had been holding. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah… uh…yeah of course I am," I said, running my hands through my hair and pushing it back over my shoulders.
Dean snorted, taking another drink from his beer. "Yeah right," he added with a knowing look.
"I said I'm fine," I insisted. We didn't talk about this. This was the forbidden area. If we started thinking about this, we would start to make mistakes. Mistakes like Cole had made when Sam was ripped open by a chupacabra. Mistakes got people we loved killed. "Let's watch some TV, I bet our show is on."
Dean's hand intercepted mine as I reached for the remote on the coffee table. "Beth." His tone was stern and I knew he wanted answers.
"Okay," I said, letting out a breath. "No I'm not alright, actually. Dean, what if Dad is right?" I asked, looking up at him, starting to feel a little nervous about what our futures held. Not a month earlier I'd been propelled out a window of a second storey house and nearly died, I was still suffering the effects of it. Dean had been quiet about what he'd experienced during those moments, but I knew it still haunted his dreams at night.
His mind must have been right there with me, still contemplating the possibilities.
"Nothing is going to happen to me Beth," he said, sitting next to me on the couch and brushing a lock of hair out of my face.
"How do you know that?" I whispered. "You heard what he said, it's only a matter of time before some monster gets one of us when we have our guard down."
"Beth, I have waited years to be with you, you think I'm going to let some monster stop us now that we're finally happy together?" Dean asked, his eyes turning serious as he placed a hand on my shoulder, squeezing it. "I swear, nothing is going to happen."
I wasn't convinced, but I mustered up a smile for him. "I love you," I said, leaning in to kiss him.
"Ditto," he said just as my lips reached his. Rolling my eyes I shook my head.
"Really?" I asked, sitting back.
"What?"
"Really? You're going to Patrick Swayze me with that line?" I said with a laugh, shoving him in the shoulder.
"Hey!" He laughed back. "Swayze always gets a pass."
"Not when he's a ghost!" I snapped, getting up from the couch.
"Hey, Beth, come on, I was kidding…" Dean said, jumping to his feet and following me across the floor. "Come on, I was kidding, I know you're worried."
"I don't know what I'd do without you Dean," I said, turning to face him, suddenly feeling even more serious.
"And you'll never have to find out," he promised, lifting my chin. "Even if I was dead, I'd so do a Swayze on you and haunt you forever. I will always come for you Beth, no matter what."
"Promise?" I asked, wrapping my arms around his waist, taking comfort in his warmth.
"Promise," he said, his lips catching mine as he pulled me close.
Dean's POV
I sat in the darkened room, the stillness around me settling deep into my body. The only sound was that of Beth's even breathing as she napped on the bed, and the tapping of my pen as I looked over the papers on the table. My journal lay open beside me as I took notes, trying to piece together what we were dealing with. It wasn't a werewolf, that much was clear. What was this about?
Beth shifted, reaching out for me in her sleep, her arm finally settling on my pillow as she pulled it into her body. I thought about all the nights where we'd slept in the same bed, afraid to even touch each other because maybe Dad would find out we had feelings for each other. It was beyond my wildest dreams that we could be together openly, with his blessing no less.
I looked back at my journal and thoughts of our earlier conversation came flooding back to me. Beth, afraid that a monster was going to get me and leave her here on her own. It sucked because it was true, she had every reason to be afraid, but we couldn't start thinking like that. It would be the end of it. Every part of me wanted to take us away from this life, to get out, and keep us safe. But Dad needed us, and even though she didn't want to admit it. Beth needed this life too, she needed to feel like she was avenging something, atoning for her father's death.
I'd never been one to write about my feelings in my journal. Strictly business. But tonight I was feeling a bit sentimental. That had always been Beth and Sammy, talking about how they felt about a kill, an experience, a person. Truth was, I didn't feel anything when I killed the monsters, just relief. Relief that there was one less monster out there who could ruin someone's life like mine had been.
Feeling bad about it was pointless. They didn't have souls, they didn't have feelings, they were killers and they fed, end of story. I couldn't afford to compromise on that. Compromise would give rise to doubt, and doubt would get me killed. Dead was not an option. I reached over to my journal and smiled a little, glancing back at Beth.
I love you Beth. Death is not an option. I wrote in simple letters, neatly circling it in a box before going on to the rest of my notes.
The door to the motel room slammed open and Dad came in bearing some fast food bags which he unceremoniously dropped on the table in the room, before glancing over at us. Beth was sitting up, rubbing her eyes sleepily, clearly startled by the sudden noise.
"Where have you been?" I asked, frowning at what was likely cold burgers in those bags. I was surprised he'd remembered at all.
"The hospital, reading files," he muttered, tossing a couple on the bed beside Beth.
"Did you find the link?" She asked, not batting an eyelid and flipping the first file open.
"Yes," Dad said, still looking at the files he was now spreading on the coffee table in front of the couch.
"Well?" I asked, sitting forward with a renewed energy.
"They are indeed all organ recipients," Dad said with a frown. "The donor is the same person."
"Who?" I asked, the suspense starting to get to me.
"Cooper Blake," he said, looking up at us.
"Blake, Blake… why does that name sound familiar?" I asked.
"Because he died," Beth said, feeling the blood drain from my face. "In a prison brawl, a few months back." It was starting to come back to me, there had been a major news event about the whole thing.
"Yeah, yeah that's right… the serial killer… there was a big thing about it," I said, the excitement creeping into my voice. "They made a big deal about how they were going to donate…" my voice trailed off, the reality hitting home.
"They were going to donate his organs to help people, given he'd taken so much life," Dad finished with a sigh.
"Oh … my … God," Beth whispered, shaking her head. "He's killing from beyond the grave too."
Beth's POV
The glaring light of the day bit painfully into my head as I walked up the small stone pathway to the home of Jenny Hill. It was a basic, simple little home, much like any of the others we'd ever seen when hunting monsters. Suburbia it seemed was always a prime target for the hungry. Then again, there were far scarier hunters who worked the cities as we'd once discovered during a hunt in New York a few years back.
Dean stepped up to the red door and knocked three times, running a hand across his eyes as he waited for John and me to join him on the porch. He looked exhausted, he hadn't been sleeping well the last week or so, but talking about it was also the last thing on his agenda.
The woman who answered the door was healthy looking, blonde and blue-eyed, a bright smile on her face.
"Yes?" She asked curiously, looking at the three of us on her doorstep. "Can I help you?"
"Ma'am," John said, flashing his fake badge at her. "I'm Agent Morrison, these are Agents Smith and Jones. We're with the FBI. We'd like to ask you a few questions if you don't mind."
She frowned slightly at the FBI comment, but stepped back, waving us inside. "Sure, come on in. What's this all about?"
We entered the house, it was as Martha Stewart styled on the inside as it was on the out. Not a thing out of place, the house was clean and well lit, inviting to the last inch. Jenny led the way into the living room which featured a beautiful large bay window overlooking a magnolia tree in the garden. She took a seat nearby on a Queen Anne style couch, waving us all to follow suit. I scurried past Dean to claim the bay window seat, grinning as he shook his head at my obvious delight. He took a seat with John on the couch opposite Jenny, tugging at the tie around his neck and clearing his throat.
"Ma'am," John continued.
"Please, call me Jenny," she interrupted.
"Jenny," John said with a nod. "Were you the recipient of a heart transplant recently?"
Jenny swallowed and she visibly paled at the mention of the operation.
"Yes, why do you ask?" She said, her hands starting to twist in her lap.
"How long ago was it?" Dean asked.
"Uh, about a year ago," she said, frowning in concentration. "What's this about?"
"We're investigating some … attacks…on people in the area," John said, stroking his chin thoughtfully.
"What does that have to do with me?" Jenny asked.
"Well, we've discovered a strange coincidence," John continued, leaning forward. "All the people who have been attacked received organs from the same donor. The same donor that you received yours from."
Jenny swallowed visibly. "I thought that kind of information was private, how would you know that? Are you saying there's a killer out there targeting…. Targeting organ recipients?" Jenny asked, she looked shocked and worried, and genuinely uncertain about what was happening.
"We don't know exactly, but we are looking into the other recipients. Have you noticed anything… strange around here recently?" John said. "Anything at all?"
"Um, no… everything has been fine," Jenny said with a frown.
"No strange noises? Cold spots in the house? What about strange little pouches of weird objects?" Dean asked, leaning forward.
"What? No! What are you talking about?" Jenny asked, looking incredulously at Dean. "I live a perfectly normal life… Agent Smith. I don't know … what would a cold house have to do with a serial killer?"
"Who said it was a serial killer?" Dean started but John held out his hand.
"Nothing," John said, interrupting. "We just have to look at all the angles."
"Do you think I'm in some kind of danger?" Jenny asked after a few more questions.
"Ms Hill," I said, turning to face her. "Do you know who your heart donor was?"
Jenny looked up at me like a startled rabbit, clearly not having expected the question.
"Ummm," she hesitated, and I saw John frown. It wasn't common knowledge for a recipient to get information on their donors, Jenny had been right about that.
"How long have you known?" I pressed, looking at her.
"We're not supposed to know … but it was all over the news after I got out of surgery… I'd gotten the call right after he was stabbed in that prison brawl. It wasn't hard to make the connection," she said to me. "Like a miracle I was given another chance…only to find out I have the heart of a serial killer inside of me..." She burst into tears, her shoulders dropping down as she covered her face with her hands.
Dean's POV
"So let me get this straight…" I said as we walked into the motel room, flipping the light switch as I moved. "Serial killer is in prison, lands himself in a fight and gets himself shafted, and then as a final stuff you world, starts killing the people his organs are donated to?" There was just something a little messed up in that one, even with everything we'd seen.
"Yep," Beth said, flopping down on the bed, her top riding up over her bare stomach. I glanced around to see that Dad had taken a phone call and walked off to the other end of the motel, not even following us. What better opportunity to get in a few caresses?
The sound of Beth's breath catching in her throat as I swooped down on her stomach, trailing my tongue along her skin was a delight to my ears. She barely moved except to clasp my hair in her fingers, holding my head and arching slightly into my lips.
My ribs felt like they were on fire, still mending from the pounding that Cole had given them just over a week ago when she'd saved my life from drowning after a water spirit dragged me under. I had been hurting all week, but putting on a brave face for Beth. She was worried sick enough as it was without letting her see how fragile I felt right now.
It had put a dampener on things though. A few nights ago we'd nearly managed to get enough time to actually be together, the way I'd been wanting to be with her for so long, but Dad had gone and ruined that on us, stumbling in drunk and blabbering about Sammy. I wasn't ready to push our luck on his blessing enough to get us a room alone yet, but I knew it was going to have to happen sometime soon or I might explode from the anticipation. The thought of being with Beth, in every way, taking her as my own, and giving her all of me was driving me insane.
I couldn't imagine being without her. I started to think about that stupid Swayze movie Beth had been going on about earlier and saw my mind take a dark dive. I would gladly die for Beth, but not before doing everything else in my power to fix the situation first. After all, the one thing worse than not being able to talk to her… to touch her… ever again would be knowing that she was the one who was going to have to live with that decision. I'd be dead, and dead was dead – nothing more. But Beth… she'd have to go on living, and in agony. I wasn't sure what was worse.
"Hey…" Beth's voice startled me back to the moment and I looked up at her. "You okay?"
"Yeah," I answered quickly, swallowing on a suddenly dry mouth. "Yeah, I'm great… you're here, I'm here, we're together…" She smiled and sat up, a sharp breath escaping her mouth as she leaned on her arm.
"Ah, man… we are in worse shape than Dad after a Miller session," I groaned, pulling myself up on the bed and lying beside her, my hand softly trailing where my lips had just been.
"Yeah," Beth said, rolling to her side and kissing me. "We must be getting old."
"I don't know how he does it," I said with a yawn. I was exhausted.
"Sheer stubborn Winchester pride," Beth said with a giggle, nuzzling her nose into the side of my neck. "Just like his son."
"Hey now!" I said, pulling back and feigning offense. "I don't think it's fair to pick on Sammy when he's not here to defend himself."
Beth laughed and kissed my nose. "Who said I was talking about Sammy?"
"Well, he's the only other stubborn Winchester around here," I said with a raised eyebrow, my mouth twitching in amusement.
"Uh huh," she said in almost exactly the same amused tone. I loved her in that moment, her big brown eyes twinkling with humour, her hand holding onto my hip possessively, her lips not inches away from my own.
"Well.. maybe I'm a little stubborn," I conceded with a smile.
"Maybe a little," she agreed with a slight nod.
"But not nearly as stubborn as those damn O'Malleys!" I got in, rolling onto my back and throwing my arms up in the air.
"Hey!" Beth protested. "How do you figure?"
"Five years… five years Beth! Girl you have got some freaking stamina when it comes to being stubborn!" I grinned, intending it as a joke. But Beth was feeling a little sensitive on the subject still obviously as her smile dropped and she sat up on the bed, chewing on her lower lip.
"Wait… no, I didn't…" I sat up next to her, taking her chin in my hand and moving her head to face me. "Too soon?"
She smirked, the mischief returning to her eyes. "Got ya," she said with a grin and I felt my mouth drop open.
"Damn girl where did you learn to act?" I said, chuckling softly.
"Hmmm, here and there… I had some good teachers," she said as she brushed her hand along my cheek. "I'm sorry Dean."
"Don't be sorry, I'm just happy you finally came around," I said honestly, the relief in my chest was immense.
The door to the motel room opened and once again Dad walked in briskly, tossing his jacket on the bed next to ours.
"So, have we figured out how we contain this ghost?" He asked, either oblivious to or ignoring the semi-intimate moment we'd been having.
"Well…" Beth said, rolling into a seated position and crossing her legs. "No, not really. Obviously burning the remains is out of the question."
"Yes, so we need ideas," Dad said with a short nod.
"That poor girl...what was that prison thinking?" Beth said, and I raised my eyebrow.
"Huh?"
"Well, I know the world could use more donors, Dean, but think about it - serial killer organs? Now Jenny has to live, with his heart inside of her, knowing that he killed dozens of people. How would you feel?" Beth countered and I sucked in a breath. She was right. But if the alternative was death - and someone had come to me saying I could save Beth's life, if I just accepted a serial killer's organ… I'd have considered that option if given nothing else.
"Well, at least she is alive, she can go on and have a full life," I said, not really knowing where I was going with the argument.
"Yeah, but still! It's messed up Dean. I would rather die."
"Don't say that, don't ever say that! If I had the choice, I would put one of those organs inside of you if it meant saving your life."
"Well that's just selfish, Dean!" Beth countered.
"It's not selfish! I'd be doing it for you!" I argued, frowning at her.
"You'd be doing it for you! " Beth was starting to look annoyed, crossing her arms in front of her. "So you wouldn't have to go on…"
"That's enough," Dad said, interrupting. "What the hell is wrong with you two? Pull yourselves together. This isn't a debate, it's a case. It doesn't matter why it happened - or what you'd do in the same situation given the choice; what matters is that we have a homicidal spirit on our hands, and at least three more potential vics."
Beth and I fell silent, appropriately reprimanded.
"Yes sir," Beth said quietly. "What is our next move?"
"We talk to the other two donor recipients, find out if there's been any strange activity around them. And then we figure out a way to get rid of this spirit. One that doesn't involve burning all the remaining pieces of Cooper Blake." Dad answered, opening a bottle of beer he'd gotten out of the mini bar.
"Yeah, like that'll be easy," I snorted, standing up and making my way toward the bathroom. Even as I said it, something flashed into my mind… the time when Beth and I had been sent to Philadelphia and joined Jefferson for a hunt. Almost two years ago now. I'd nearly lost her… I looked back at her and she was staring at me as if she'd seen a ghost.
"You thinking what I'm thinking?" I asked her, and she bit her lower lip.
"Yeah… but who is the bait?" She asked, glancing over at the files on the table. "Jenny, or the others?"
Beth's POV
The family sitting down to dinner was a simple, friendly scene before my eyes as I watched from the car that I had stolen half an hour earlier. I twisted in my seat to get a better view through the open curtains, and sighed. It was dead here. As if reading my mind, my phone started to ring and I knew instantly who it had to be.
"Hey you," I said with a smile, listening to Dean's bored groan come over the line.
"This sucks..." He complained, and I had a visual of him sitting in his own stolen car, John having taken the Impala. "The seats are all wrong, the windows are just… ridiculous… how am I supposed to stake-out in a freaking minivan?"
"You'll live," I said with a chuckle. "Any movement on your end?"
Dean had gotten the burn victim, a 23yo woman named Katie Jennings, who had been caught up in a car accident. She had been through a lot since receiving the skin graft from Cooper Blake, three more surgeries to be exact, and she was at home this evening recovering from one of them.
My charge was ten-year-old Simon Walker who had received the eye corneas. He was clearly a bright, bubbly boy with a new lease on life judging from the half hour I'd been watching him.
John had taken the lead with Jenny Hill.
"Nothing," Dean replied with a sigh. "It's as dead as a graveyard around here."
"Well don't say that, graveyards have dead people," I reminded him. "Our goal is to keep them alive."
"Haha… yeah yeah. You know what I mean Miss Smartypants. We should be working out how we're going to trap this damn thing. You got any ideas?"
"I was thinking we need to find some out of the way cellar or something," I murmured, looking down at some maps I'd collected earlier. "There's an old abandoned winery not far from here. They're bound to have some underground hidey-holes that we can get this guy into."
"Hmmmm that's not a bad idea," Dean said, starting to sound a little more enthusiastic.
"Well I'm just full of bright ideas," I said with a chuckle, looking back at the house. The family had disappeared from the window and I sighed. "Time to take a walk and check the perimeter of this place, family is done with dinner."
"Okay, call me if you need anything." Dean said and he hung up.
I put the phone back in my pocket and exited the vehicle, taking a stroll along the pathway near the house and down the alley at the side of the house. It was dead quiet and I was ready for bed, but the job came first, chances were we were going to be at this all night. My mind went back to the hunt in Philadelphia, when a homicidal spirit had taken me when I'd been investigating the inner walls and hidden passageways inside an apartment complex. I'd thought I was going to die. Even today, two years later, I had nightmares about what it had been like to find myself locked up in that small cell he'd kept me in.
The weight of the iron bar I'd been carrying about felt comfortable in my hand as I hit the end of the alley, finding a brick wall. I turned around only to find myself face to face with Mr Walker, Simon's father.
"Who are you? Why are you watching my house?" He asked aggressively, and I moved the bar behind my leg.
"Mr Walker, just take it easy," I said carefully, mentally cursing myself for having been distracted thinking about Philadelphia.
"What do you want with my family?"
"Mr Walker, I'm with the FBI," I said, reaching a hand slowly inside my leather jacket for my badge.
"Don't move!" He yelled, and I saw a glint of silver in the streetlight. He had a gun.
"Woah…. I'm just reaching for my badge… you need to calm down…" I was interrupted by a scream coming from inside the house, and then the lights started to flicker outside and in the windows.
"David!" Mrs Walker was shouting for her husband who was now looking panicked.
"Let's go!" I shouted, forgetting the badge and running for the gate in the side of the fence. Now I could see how he'd managed to get the drop on me. I bolted through the gate and down the side of the house until I reached a doorway into the laundry.
Another scream and there was the sound of glass shattering in the living room. David Walker was hot on my heels, and he swung his arm around, gun in front of him as he overtook me, moving into the living room.
"Put the gun down!" I shouted, promptly being ignored. It sure isn't going to help in this case.
"Annie!" David yelled, and we both moved through the living room into the kitchen where glass was scattered across the benches and floor.
"It's Simon! Help me!" Annie yelled, and I rushed forward to see the boy bleeding from his eyes and screaming. "What's going on?!"
The air in front of my mouth suddenly fogged and a figure of a dark haired man appeared in front of me. David and Annie gasped at the sight and I swung my arm around with the iron bar, hitting nothing but feeling like it was easier to breathe – Thomas Cade disappeared. Simon fell to his knees coughing in front of me, but the bleeding had stopped, and he still had his eyes. I didn't fancy his chances if that spirit came back.
I grabbed my phone and hit speed dial.
"Kinda busy!" Dean yelled as the call connected and I could hear someone screaming in the background.
"Is it there?" I asked hurriedly, running to the cupboards and starting to look through them.
"Yeah! Call you back Beth!" Dean said, hanging up. I frowned, still rummaging through the cupboards and looking over at Annie.
"Salt, now!" I said, and she looked at me confused.
"Who is she?" Annie asked her husband.
"FBI, or so she says," David said.
"Something like that," I said hurriedly. "If you want your son to live, you're going to have to trust me, now. Salt, where is it? I need as much as you can find!"
Annie went to the pantry and pulled out a small container of Morton's Salt, I looked at it.
"This isn't' going to be enough," I said, biting my lip.
"I have sidewalk salt in the garage," David said and I nodded.
"Get it, quickly."
I took the proffered salt from Annie and stepped up to Simon, starting to pour a circle around him. There would be just enough to keep him safe.
"Simon, listen to me. Whatever you do, don't step out of this circle of salt, okay?" I said. "I'm here to help you, but you have to do what I say."
Simon nodded, the blood already starting to dry on his cheeks; at least it had stopped.
"It was just here, how can it jump over a mile away in a heartbeat?" I muttered to myself, standing up. I paced, waiting for David to get back and looking for signs of the spirit returning. Pulling out my phone I called John.
"Yeah?"
"Dad, the spirit, it's been here, and Dean was…"
"I know, it's been here too. I just checked in with Dean, he's fine. But these lines of salt aren't going to protect these people forever. We need a Plan B." John said. "Did you find what I asked you to look for?"
"Yeah," I said, nodding to no one in particular. "Blackwood Winery is just on the outskirts of town."
"Good," John's voice said over the line. "I'm staying here with Jenny. How are your salt supplies?"
"Good, I should be able to do a room with them," I said as David returned from the garage carrying two bags of salt.
"Do it, and then go help Dean, you know what to do."
"Yes sir," I said.
"And Beth?" John said, waiting for me to acknowledge him. "Put the damn fear of God into those people, huh? Make sure they stay put."
Dean's POV
Blackwood Farm. Long abandoned by the owners as a viable and working farm after a disease took to the vines and destroyed them. It would have meant a complete overhaul of the plants, regrowing that would take years before you got even a half-decent crop. The owners had apparently taken the very lucrative payout from insurance, and run.
That was one thing we had going for us.
The second was that there was an out-of-the-way cellar at the back of the winery, near the vats and barrels, which hadn't been used even when the farm was in commission. That was where we were going to set our trap.
Beth was in the process of lugging sacks of salt over to the entrance, which was a couple of doors built over stairs that led into the ground. She stopped to look down the dark stairway before glancing over at me.
"One way in, one way out…" she commented.
"Yeah, not quite like last time," I said with a grimace, thinking about our time in the sewers of Philadelphia.
"I'm not the bait this time," Beth reminded me.
"Don't mean you can't get hurt," I muttered, tossing a couple of the sacks of salt down the steps. "Kittaning showed us that."
"Yeah, and the lake showed us that you can get hurt too… what are we supposed to do Dean? Wrap ourselves in cotton wool? Leave this all to Dad?" She was biting her lip, which told me these were all things she'd been contemplating lately.
"Run away with me," I spat out, and I couldn't believe it had even come out.
"What?"
"You heard me, let's just pack it in and go. We can find a little place somewhere, settle down, kids, you name it," I was insanely running off at the mouth, and she knew it.
"Dean, you're insane. You want to go off and get married?" Beth asked, crossing her arms in front of her chest, a look of incredulity on her face.
"Married?! Uh, yeah, sure, if that's what you want," I said with a nod.
"You call that a marriage proposal?" She smirked.
"I guess, yes? I just want to keep you safe, Beth."
"You do keep me safe," she said, bending down to toss another bag of salt down the hole beside us. "And you don't really mean it Dean."
"Yes I do."
"No, you don't. You're scared. We have what we've wanted for a long time and now you're afraid we're going to lose it. But nothing has changed," she stepped up and placed a hand on my arms, which were now crossed. I frowned back at her.
"Nothing has changed, Dean, we're still the same people, in the same job, doing the same things - we just feel like we have more to lose, but it's just the same as it's always been." I listened to her words and I knew she was right. I let out a hot breath, and nodded.
"Okay, yeah, you're right. I know you're right," I said, leaning forward and kissing her quickly.
"Let's just focus on the job, huh?" She said with a smile that instantly melted my heart. "Dad will be ringing wondering what's taking so long."
Beth's POV
The scene was set, and it really had no bearing on what we'd been through a few years ago. The salt was lined up around the edge of the cellar, in large piles of white powder, all except for the entrance near the door. The rest of the room was empty, lit by a single lantern in the centre of the hard, compact clay floor. We'd definitely have to look at cementing this in or the salt line wasn't going to hold with a decent rainfall.
John arrived in the Impala, and he had Jenny with us who was looking pale and frightened - and well she should. She didn't really know what was going on, but she'd seen enough to know that we needed to use her to stop the attacks.
It never failed to amaze me how people could turn from complete skeptics to believers inside of a few hours - all it took was something they couldn't explain, and a hunter arriving in time to give them the explanation that they needed.
Almost like clockwork the lights in the winery flickered on, even though we'd left them off. The streetlight across the road shattered, sizzling out, and a wind picked up that had been non-existent.
"He's here," I muttered, glancing at Dean who was pushing the doors to the cellar back to allow John and Jenny down into the depths.
"Get those crowbars and keep them handy," John ordered us as he escorted her below the surface.
"This is a bad idea," Dean grimaced, looking down at the hole in the ground. "We needed more exits."
"Too late for that now," I said, feeling the pressure building around us. "Come on."
We stumbled below into the dark cellar, taking up position near the door. It was one way in, and one way out for all of us. No exit at all for one serial killer tonight.
Jenny was sobbing, looking around the room, jumping at every shadow.
"C'mon," Dean whispered, his voice barely audible. "Take the bait."
As if on cue, I watched as he was suddenly propelled backwards, lifted clean off his feet, before hitting the wall several yards away.
"Dean!" John yelled, and I was moving before I could think. The shade of Cooper Blake had appeared and I swung at it with the crowbar, seeing it disintegrate before me. I moved for Dean but then heard John's voice bellow.
"Beth! Get the salt!"
It was training, nothing else, that made me move contrary to what I wanted most to do. I turned on my heel, running for the salt bag that was open by the door. I heard another grunt as it was John's turn to hit the wall, and then Dean stirred, crawling toward his dropped crowbar. I sealed the circle of salt, and felt the pressure double inside the room.
The ghost couldn't cross the line, but we could. We just had to get through him first.
Jenny's scream alerted us to the fact that he'd reached her, and I squinted, seeing their outlines in the dark. She was lifted off the ground, his hard buried into her chest and I could see the pain rippling through the girl, and her eyes roll back into her head.
Dean yelled a mighty roar and ran at the ghost, swinging with the crowbar, the iron dematerialising the ghost once again as Jenny fell to the floor, convulsing. John moved back, lifting her into his arms, as I reached Dean's side.
"Go!" Dean said to us both.
"Not without you," I said, gripping my crowbar tight and looking around, waiting for the ghost to reappear, which he did, right in front of the door of course.
"Son of a bitch!" Dean cursed. "He doesn't miss a trick."
"She is mine!" Cooper spat at us.
"Yeah? I don't think so pal," John smirked, hoisting Jenny higher into his arms. She was sobbing, but she was alive at least.
The next few moments were like a whirlwind. The ghost knocking us to and fro, from one side of the room to the next as John struggled to get Jenny closer to the door. I felt the hard, bruising wall of the cellar hit my shoulder and I groaned, rolling as we'd been taught to mitigate the pain.
Dean's hand grabbed me, lifting me to my feet and placing his crowbar in my hands.
"Come on, we're not done with yet," he said with a grin.
"He's got the exits covered," I groaned, watching as John retreated further back into the room.
"Well, then we just have to get creative," he muttered. "Dad! On three, you go!" The older man nodded, and I could see him mentally preparing for whatever plan Dean was concocting.
"You know," Dean said, pausing for a moment. "I totally would run away with you." His smile caught me unprepared and I found myself blushing.
"Dean!" John's voice stilled the blood in both our veins. I glanced over to see an unamused look on his face, as he inclined his head toward the door. "Focus!"
"Yes, sir," Dean said, going into soldier mode. He reached down to a pile of salt, grabbing a handful and then turning back to the spirit who was making its way toward Jenny.
"Hey twinkletoes! Batter up!" He yelled, and he tossed the salt at the spirit who roared and vanished for a moment, reappearing a second later. Dean followed the reappearance with another handful of salt, and another.
It was enough to get to his attention back onto us.
"Three, go!" Dean yelled, reaching the discarded crowbar that had been mine. He picked it up and swung at the shade when it materialised, and I waited, seeing it reappear behind Dean. This time I swung, and with a scream of frustration it went up in a puff of smoke once more. Over and over, taking it in turns, hitting the spirit before it even got back into form, as John scrambled to get Jenny to the door.
"We're not going to get out of this!" I called out, feeling the weight of the crowbar starting to weigh on my arms.
"Yes, we are! Like Hell I'm going to die down here, like this, when we haven't even had sex yet," Dean grinned at me and I felt my cheeks burn and mouth drop open.
"Dean!" John's voice sounded again, and we both looked over to see a slightly stunned look on the man's face.
"Oops," Dean muttered. The distraction was enough, the spirit lashed at me and I hit the wall again.
"I said FOCUS!" John yelled, and I looked up in time to see him send Jenny across the salt line and up the steps. He grabbed a third crowbar by the door and came back into the room with a determined look this time.
He smashed it through the spirit as Dean scrambled to help me up. We watched John single handedly fight this ghost, a strength and anger seeping through every pore as he would attack from one angle, pivoting to swing back in the other direction as the spirit rematerialised. Dean pulled me to my feet and we moved toward John, taking a defensive formation back to back - the three of us inching to the door as the Spirit pelted us with its anger.
Finally, we stepped over the salt and Dean pumped his fist in the air with a laugh.
"Take that fuzzball!"
John reached out, cuffing Dean upside the head with a swipe of his hand and Dean growled.
"What?"
"That's for getting distracted," he said with a frown, but he was already moving on to Jenny who was sitting by the side of a barrel in the winery, crying.
"Man, he's rough," Dean said, rubbing his head thoughtfully.
"My hero," I said with a grin, wrapping my arms around his waist.
"You better believe it sugarpie," he grinned back at me, and then he kissed me. Hard, fast, urgent, all the things we seemed to feel for each other on an hourly basis. "Are you okay?" He asked in between flicks of his tongue and bites to my lip. I nodded, my nose hitting his.
"Yeah."
"Good," he said. "I don't ever want to lose you."
And I knew that I felt the same way. Losing him would mean losing myself.
Dean glanced back at John who was comforting Jenny. "Grumpy bugger," he muttered. "He never seems to have any fun."
"Am I the only one that's noticed he actually seems to be more fun and easy going when Cole's around?" I hinted, knowing full well why that was.
"Huh, maybe... " Dean said thoughtfully. "God knows why, those two fight like cat and dog. Maybe we should get her around to distract him with some fist fights, then we could get some actual time alone."
"I heard that," John said, an amused look crossing his face. "Maybe I ought to get her down here to whip you guys into shape?"
"No, no!" Dean said, shaking his head. "That's quite alright, I've had enough of Cole's training to last me at least another year."
John smirked and shook his head, but I'm sure I noticed a smile under it all.
I grimaced, the pain of what I'd just been through starting to seep into me. I'd been on the mend for a few weeks now, but hitting the wall - literally - over and over had taken its toll.
"You okay?" Dean asked, concerned evident in his eyes.
"Yeah… I just need a good long soak in a tub. And to sleep for a week," I muttered, shaking my head.
"A couple of days I can give you, we have a job in Kentucky in four," John said, and Dean groaned.
He waited as John escorted Jenny back to the Impala, his arm wrapped tightly around my waist and holding me close.
"I swear he's doing it deliberately," he said.
"Doing what?"
"Keeping us so busy we have no alone time…" he replied, raising his eyebrow.
"Well, we're hardly in the best of shape anyway…" I smirked.
"Yeah, but we're not going to get better if he keeps throwing us into situations like this, are we? And I thought you were his baby," his response made me giggle.
"Apparently not anymore. Let's go, I'm sure we'll manage to … well… you know… before we die." Talking about this was starting to make me nervous.
"Good god I hope so," Dean muttered as we wandered off to the Impala.
AUTHOR'S NOTES
This flashback is set just after Dean and Beth receive John's blessing to be together in Resolution: Dead in the Water Part 3 [Hell To Pay] s/9746859/12/Hell-To-Pay
A couple of other little snippets you might enjoy after Resolution are:
Spinning in Circles: Dean and Beth's first date, set right before this story on the timeline: s/10021886/15/To-Hell-And-Back
&
Stolen Moments: A sexy little moment between Dean and Beth set right direction after Spinning in Circles and before this story. s/9526963/3/Highway-to-Hell
The song for this chapter is "Out of the Woods" by Taylor Swift.
Sorry it's taken so long for an update! You can all go thank EarthhAngel for nagging me back to finishing this :) While you're at it, go check out her new chapter over at s/9661661/17/How-To-Save-A-Life
I have another original that is nearly finished, this flashback was supposed to be a part of it, but took on a life of its own hence why it has its own chapter now. Then, we'll be back on track with the regular Canon series rewrite!
I appreciate everyone's patience with my hiatus, it's really been a bit of Heaven and Hell for me the last year or so, and while I didn't intend to be gone this long, time just got away on me. I have no intention of abandoning this FanFic, I'd just needed to get inspired to start writing again.
Hope you enjoyed this!