Gimme Shelter – chpt 5

By: sifi.

OOooOO

"Dean..." Sam shook his head, his jaw laying deep against his chest glad the computer's player was on mute, "What the hell is going on here?"

The elder Winchester looked at his little brother and shook his head, his disgust clearly written on his features while the scene played out on the computer screen, "I think we got us a groupie... and not in a good way."

"What the hell kind of hunter VIDEO DOCUMENTS what they do?" Sam asked.

"Even bigger question... HOW does someone video document this kind of thing? I mean half the time our cells go dead until the deed's done and I still think the only thing that made the whole mass exorcism at the jail house work was because the electronics were in a whole other room and we were on generator power... and I STILL think it was just damned dumb luck it DID work y'know?" Dean sat back scrubbing his face as the restrained demon host on the screen screamed, its fully black eyes seething as they followed their tormentor.

"Yeah," Sam nodded, "Did you notice the focus on this? It's up tight enough to get a good hard look at the host from the waist up, but never once do we see any identifying characteristics of the assailant."

"Assailant?"

"Sorry," he grinned, "stuck in cop-speak mode."

"Work it baby," Dean clapped him on the shoulder and nodded, "I did notice that... even the clothes don't tell us anything."

"Stalkers are usually of the opposite gender right?" Sam asked.

"Let's hope so." Dean shuddered finally starting to shake off the haze of his hangover.

"We have to figure this out Dean..." Sam pointed at the computer, "Something like this, this is bragging... and not that we haven't done our fair share of demonic...questioning, we're aware enough to know we may be exchanging the hosts' life for whatever information we can get y'know? Does this person know that?" He scrubbed his face with his hands and shook his head glancing at the photo of him and Kitsune, "They've been following us for almost three months? I mean who does that?"

"And how'd they know what we do in the first place?" Dean asked as Sam nodded, "I called Bobby, he's going over his surveillance records from back then."

"With the wards we had around the place do you think he actually GOT anything?" Sam asked.

On the table Dean's cell began to ring. He reached for it, answering brusquely, "Hello?" to find a disconnected line.

Frowning he looked at the last incoming call and shook his head.

"Unavailable?" Sam asked.

"Yeah."

"Happened to me between the cell and the room phone, about 8 times this morning."

Their eyes flew to the door as a knock sounded followed by, "Housekeeping."

"Not today." Dean shouted.

"Sir there's an envelope out here for someone named Dean."

With a spocked eyebrow he glanced through the peep hole and opened the door sure to stay behind the salt line as the petite blonde high schooler smiled nervously at him, holding out the dirt smudged envelope.

"Where was it?" he asked taking it gingerly at the edges.

"Kinda under the mat sir."

Dean nodded, "You were working the desk the other night weren't you.." he glanced at her name tag, "Lucy?"

"Yes sir."

"Lemme ask you a question, as far as you recall was there anyone that checked in after us that might have asked about either of us?"

After a moment's thought she shook her head, "Not that I recall."

"How many people checked in after us but before sun rise?" Sam asked stepping to his brother's side and gingerly taking the envelope from him.

"Just one that I recall, a tall gentleman, very wiry looking... he looked like one of the Blues Brothers." She smiled.

"About how long after we got here did he show up?" Sam asked.

"Oh a few hours later, I remember cause my eyes were starting to close... they always do between 3:30 and 4:30 when I work nights at the desk, I was grateful for something to do to keep me awake."

"Is he still here?"

"No sir, he checked out this morning."

The brothers shared a look then nodded, "Thanks Lucy... can you do us a favor? If anyone comes around asking about us or sniffing around our door can you let us know?" Dean asked.

"Sure." She shrugged, "Sorry I couldn't be more helpful." And trundled her cart down the row to the next door where she knocked, "Housekeeping." Before Dean closed the motel room door.

"Doesn't prove anything." Dean sighed.

"Except that whoever's on our asses isn't necessarily staying here."

A moment later a startled yip and a wall jarring thud had the boys checking weapons and dashing over the sidewalk, down three rooms where they found Lucy sprawled against the door jamb a smear of blood on the wall from her head.

"Lucy?" Sam roused her, "Lucy what happened?"

Dean moved through the room, his gun drawn as he noted the bathroom curtains waving in the breeze. Turning quickly he raced outside and around the building toward the back trying to find hide or hair of anyone or anything.

A moment later he jogged back to the room where Sam was urging the teen to keep a cloth pressed to her scalp.

"What happened?" Dean asked.

"It was probably just a squatter... we get 'em sometimes. Folks jimmy the windows open and slide on inside for the night," she shook her head.

"Did you see if it was a man or a woman?" Sam asked.

"I'm not sure, whoever it was they were fast, I mean really fast."

"So what they knocked you down and headed out the window?" Dean asked setting a cup of water in front of her while from outside the kindness was caught on film.

Lucy shook her head and chuckled embarrassed, "No... the room was supposed to be empty, I opened the door, pushed the cart in and saw someone dash into the bathroom... when I turned to run out..." she swallowed and blushed deeply, "I tripped and hit my head."

Dean sat back, "You didn't happen to just loose a cursed rabbits' foot or something did you?"

"Dude!"

"What? I'm just askin! There could be more than one!"

She looked between the two men unsure what to make of the question, "Uhm not that I know of."

Dean shook his head and smiled gently while Sam explained, "It's an inside story. Did you see anything that could tell us anything about the man or woman?" he asked.

His eyes popped wide just then as the elder brother dashed quickly to the bathroom and reached into the garbage can sandwiched between the sink and the toilet. "Lucy when was the last time the trash was taken out in here?"

"Yesterday," she peeped from the main room.

Dean returned to the living area with a smirk on his face and an empty box in his hand, "We're looking for a red head."

"Are you guys cops?" the young girl asked.

"More like private investigators," Sam smiled gently then checked the bleeding under the facecloth, "Are you sure you don't want to go to a doctor? Get that checked out?"

She shook her head smiling sheepishly as she wrung the cloth between her hands, "No... it's embarrassing enough I got spooked and tripped over my own two feet..."

"Head wounds bleed like crazy... you should take it easy today anyway okay?" Sam urged as she nodded and rose to her feet.

"And if you remember anything... y'know... sometimes it comes back to you in a flash, please let us know okay?"

"I will." She nodded, watching them return to their room.

OOooOO

Back in their room Sam stood before the computer and huffed, "Dean."

"Poor kid," Dean returned from a quick check of the bathroom, "What?"

Sam held up a piece of notepaper from the room pad, "How do you like my handiwork?" he read.

"Are you shittin' me?" the elder hunter dashed forward snatching the piece of paper from Sam's grip, again it was written in strong block letters, nothing to indicate gender. "Sam we gotta get the hell out of here."

"And go WHERE Dean?" Sam snapped.

"I don't know! Find a vacant house to squat in... somewhere no one else can be drawn into this freak's game!"

Sam nodded relieved. He couldn't say why but the thought of Dean getting spooked enough to want to 'run away' from whatever was going on rattled him deep inside.

"Yeah... that's a good idea, I mean if we can't shake this... person the least we can do is make sure no one else gets hurt."

The blaring strains of AC/DC rocked out of Dean's jacket pocket, startling both men and leaving them staring at the phone for several tense seconds until the incoming call registered.

"Laura, hey." Dean greeted stiffly and headed toward the bathroom while Sam sat down at the computer and used his pocket knife to slice open the dirt smudged envelope Lucy had given them earlier.

OOooOO

"Lucy! C'mon klutzo the movie's starting! Or did you fall and hit your head again?" her little brother's voice carried through the bedroom door.

"Good one dork!" she called with a sheepish smile, "Go ahead and start the popcorn I'll be right down... I've got like two more problems to finish." Then rubbed the band aid over the knot in her forehead.

Behind her, where the wall met the ceiling a band of smoky gray seemed to hang in the corner, and when she finished her last two problems, closed her books and left the bedroom to meet her little brother downstairs, it followed.

OOooOO

"What'd she say?" Sam asked after Dean was through with his call.

The older man shook his head, "We have to talk."

"Is she comin'?" Sam asked, "She could be helpful here, I mean as a nurse she would have a background in psych y'know?"

Dean shook his head, "I don't want her anywhere near this, I mean I do watch Unsolved Mysteries y'know... shit with stalkers doesn't usually go well you know what I mean?"

Sam nodded, visibly weighing whether or not to speak what wanted to come out.

"She'll be here before midnight," Dean sighed watching his little brother's conflict, "Just spit it out Sam." He urged expectantly but the younger man shook his head. His gaze fell on the paused image of the demon host in the chair, tributaries of blood frozen in a race toward his lap. His mind went back almost a full year now, to the night they found the crossroad host in that abandoned tool and die shop, the skin flayed from the body in way too many places, her bones ground to gravelly fragments within the muscle, a binding link torn into the skin of her chest, an eye missing and an instinctive knowledge that the demon who'd been trapped in the flesh had been served up to a passel of starving igigi courtesy of one very pissed off emissary of Cernunnos. None of them ever talked about it, Sam had never confirmed or confronted Laura about it. But he knew. Only someone who was on the verge of losing everything could muster that level of pure rage. He also knew that only someone who was that deeply in love would do, face and survive everything she had so far... for them, and he wondered what would happen if it turned out that it had all been in vain.

"What Sam?" Dean asked sitting across from the younger man, genuinely curious about what had put that precise look on his face, it lingered between distaste and admiration, an odd combination to say the least.

Slowly the young hunter drew a breath and looked his brother in the eyes, "Do you really love her?"

OOooOO

A/N - uh... just out of curiosity... if you're still following this please let me know cause this one is gonna segue into a Criminal Minds crossover... if it's a matter that I'm not hitting the right notes here... let me know please.

Till then... thank you for reading and I do sincerely hope you are enjoying. (cause there IS an endgame coming... I mean Sammy does have to face off with Lilith right?)

Tbc.

Please R&R.

Thanks

Sifi.