Carpe Diem, Baby

Chapter 4

After consulting with the forensics people and an extremely cooperative Det. Gamble, Sam had come to the conclusion that this was one of those police investigations that would go into the 'unsolved' file. He'd also concluded that it was probably the Winchesters kind of gig.

They said their goodbyes, promising to contact the detective if they turned up anything – a promise they would never fulfill – and turned back toward the Impala.

"That was a waste of time," he muttered under his breath as they approached the edge of the clearing and the young officer on duty.

"Oh, I wouldn't say that," Dean grinned and held up a card. "Got the lovely detective's number."

Sam rolled his eyes. "Dean, she just wanted to give you a way to contact her if we could help her investigation. Strictly professional." Sometimes his brother's ego needed to be checked.

"Strictly professional, huh?" Dean just smirked and flipped the card over. "I'm sure that's why she wrote her home number on the back."

Sam's eyes widened in surprise, but he couldn't help but be impressed with his brother's prowess. He stole a quick look back at the detective who, it seemed, was watching them leave – or rather watching Dean leave – with a slight smile on her face. "Dude," he whispered, turning back to his brother. "She's old enough to be –"

"Experienced and interesting," Dean finished for him. He didn't bother to look back, but pocketed the business card. "There is something to be said for older women, Sammy."

Sam could only shake his head. "Whatever." He took a deep breath, frowning as a familiar odor caught his attention.

It took Dean a few seconds to realize his brother was no longer moving and he turned to face his sibling, his eyebrows raised in question.

"Do you smell that?" Sam turned back toward the tree line, his eyes searching the distance as he sniffed the air.

Dean frowned as he, too, tentatively sniffed the breeze. "Sulphur."

"That's just the sewer."

The brothers turned to see the young patrol officer a few feet away.

"The sewer?" Sam responded as if he agreed.

"Yeah," the officer continued. "Happens sometimes out here. The park runs pretty close to the main line, so sometimes you get that rotten egg smell. It's nothing to worry about, though. We're perfectly safe." The officer flashed a grin, obviously happy to be of help to the two federal agents..

"The sewer." Dean nodded, giving his brother a look of amusement. "Of course." He turned to the officer and gave him a quick salute as they resumed their trek back to the car. "Thanks, Officer. Keep up the good work."

The young patrolman beamed. "Yes, sir! Thank you, sir."

Johnson Ave., Sattler Residence

The Winchesters shifted uncomfortably on the leather couch as Daniel Sattler paced near the doorway of the living room. The parents of the dean boy had seemed reluctant to talk to them until Dean had explained that they had just spoken to the detective in charge of their son's case and they really would like to speak with Tommy to get a first hand assessment of the younger boys experience.

Hoping that the new agents could give them answers the local cops hadn't been able to, they had finally agreed to let them talk to Tommy, although warning them that the boy was very upset and hadn't really been able to speak to anyone about his brother since that first night.

Sam and Dean stood as Erin Sattler descended the stairs, her arms around the shoulder of a young boy with curly blonde hair and freckles. She slowly led him into the living room and stood behind him, both hands on his shoulders in a reassuring gesture of support.

"Tommy," Dan Sattler kneeled down next to his son and motioned toward the two strange men in the room. "These two men are with the FBI. They wanted to talk to you about Zach."

Tommy raised his eyes to look at the two men before him. He seemed to assess them before shaking his head and turning back toward his mother. "They won't believe me."

Dean glanced at his brother before taking a few steps towards the grieving family and kneeling down next to Dan. "Hey, Tommy. My name is Dean." When the boy didn't move, he cleared his throat and continued. "Look, buddy, I know this has all pretty much sucked." He glanced up as Erin made a noise of disapproval at his language. "And I can't promise that I'll be able to make anything better. But I can promise to listen. To whatever you want to tell me, okay?" Dean paused as the young boy peeked out at him and he gave him a warm grin. "What do ya say, huh?"

"You won't make fun of me?"

Dean swallowed the lump in his throat. "Nah. Cross my heart."

Tommy took a few moments before slowly nodding his head and allowing Dean to lead him back to the couch.

Sam intercepted the boy's parents, expertly herding them into the adjoining dining room so that his brother could try to get the boy to tell him the truth about what happened the night his brother was killed without the well intentioned interference from the protective adults. They would still be close enough to help their son if things went south, but they were far enough away to give the boy some space to open up to Dean.

Sam had been pretty surprised the first time his brother had shown how easily he related to children, easily being able to get Lucas Barnes to trust him, even though the traumatized kid hadn't been able to open up to anyone since his father's death.

Of course, the more Sam had thought about it, he more it made sense that Dean would be the one that could actually talk to kids. After all, Dean had had plenty of practice his whole life while raising Sam. He knew his brother had layers that they had barely begun to peel away, and he watched with pride as Tommy started his story, trusting that this man would listen as promised.

"So, Tommy," Dean began, his voice soft. "Why were you and your brother at the park that night?"

"Zach and Casey were meeting some girls." There was just enough disgust in the boys voice to make Dean grin.

"Not into chicks, yet, huh?"

Tommy shook his head, but a return grin played on his lips. "But Laura is kinda nice."

"Nice is good."

Tommy nodded in agreement.

"So, Zach let you tag along. He must've been an awesome big brother."

Tommy's smile lit up his face as he remembered his brother. "Zach's the best big brother in the whole world. He never told me to get lost or that I was too little. He always lets me go with him. He says we're best buds."

"He sounds great," Dean snuck a glance at Sam, who was leaning against the open doorway. The younger man grinned shyly and dropped his gaze to the floor as soon as he saw his brother glance his way.

Dean shook his head fondly and turned his attention back to Tommy. "What do you remember at the park, Tommy? Did you see anything or anyone?."

Tommy's smile faded and he looked down at his shoes. "I don't know."

Dean took a deep breath, knowing first hand how hard this had to be for the boy. "You told the police that you saw someone. Can you describe him to me?"

Tommy wiped a tear from his cheek and shook his head. "They didn't believe me." His voice was barely a whisper and Dean leaned forward, his voice lowered to match the kid's.

"I promised to listen. Remember?"

Tommy stared at him for a moment, assessing. Finally, after few moments, he nodded and took a deep breath. "It was dark. We heard these dogs. Lots of them. It was like they were running right toward us, but we didn't see anything." He stopped a moment and glanced toward his parents before continuing. "There was this… black clown."

Dean raised his eyebrows. "Black clown?"

"Yeah," Tommy nodded, his voice gaining confidence now that he had someone who was listening to him. "It was really creepy. It was dressed in this clown suit, but its face was all black. The only reason we could actually see it at all was cause of its eyes."

"Its eyes?" Dean narrowed his own. "What about its eyes?"

Tommy swallowed, his fear at the memory apparent. "They glowed red."

Dean's eyes shot to his brother whose casual stance against the doorway tensed.

"Are you sure?"

Tommy nodded, his eyes watering as he looked at the older man. "It killed Zach, didn't it? Whatever it was, it killed my brother and I couldn't help him."

Dean nodded slightly and swallowed the lump that suddenly appeared in his throat. "I know how you feel, kid."

Tommy shook his head. "No you don't. Nobody does. Grownups keep saying that, but they don't mean it." He wiped his face with the back of his hand and glared at Dean. "They're all lying. Nobody knows how I feel."

"I lost my brother, too." Dean's voice was low as his mind was flooded with the memories of Cold Oak. "He died in my arms." The emotions that surfaced at the thought of feeling the life drain from his brother were not ones he wanted to revisit. Unfortunately, the events were never far from his thoughts, and always flashed through his mind when he closed his eyes.

Tommy sniffled, and stared up at Dean. The boy's expression softened as he read the very real pain in the older man's eyes. "Yeah?"

Dean nodded. His gaze flicked over to Sam, who now stood rigid, his face a mask of concern. "Yeah. I was supposed to watch out for him. I was supposed to protect him."

"Zach always watched out for me." Tommy took a shuddering breath and gave Dean a sad smile. "What did you do about your brother?"

"I found the son of a bitch responsible and I made sure he payed."

Tommy nodded and looked down at his hands for a moment before returning his gaze to the man seated beside him. "Can you do that for Zach?"

Dean saw the hope in the boy's eyes and found himself nodding before he even realized he was doing it. "Yeah, Tommy. I can. But I'm gonna need your help"

TBC