Disclaimer: I do not own anything recognizable in the following story. The characters that you don't recognize are figments of my imagination and still I claim no ownership. Supernatural belongs to the WB, the CW and all. I haven't made a profit on this story so please don't sue. I don't own anything anyway so there's nothing to gain from it.
Woohoo! Chapter 7 is here and so are the boys. References are made to Asylum and Scarcrow. Enjoy.
Chapter 7
Matt wearily entered the white tent and took a seat in the back row. This was his fourth and final tent church that he had to investigate. In fact it was the last so called healer on the list. Who knew that one small town could have so many charlatans.
He was tired from being on the road for over a month now. If this didn't work out he'd considered several satisfying ways to kill both of his informants that lead him here. Several slow, painful ways to kill the devious little shifter and the two-faced faerie.
He sighed slightly as he looked around at the other people seated around him. They were frail and infirm. Crutches and walkers were prevalent as were oxygen tanks. Some did not even look ill, but Matt knew that meant nothing. The body could hide that it was hurting very well until the end.
Some non descript organ music was playing in the background and people were talking softly to each other or praying before the service started.
His pocket vibrated and he pulled out his cell. A picture of his granddaughter was on the screen. His pride and joy that he missed and hoped she was staying out of trouble. Knowing he should answer her call he turned off the phone instead and put it back into his pocket. He'd call her after the service.
The murmuring died down as a man with dark sunglasses was lead up onto the stage by a young man in a suit and a woman in a nice two piece dress. The man's jacket was removed and he turned and faced the crowd resting his hands on his pulpit.
"Good morning. We are so glad you could join us this morning," the blind man said.
A deep hacking sound came from near the front of the church.
"Friends we all know suffering. Some suffering is physical and some suffering is emotional. Today maybe we can help a little with both. Let us pray," the reverend said.
Matt lowered his head slightly but kept it up high enough to keep everyone in his line of sight. He turned to get a closer look at the people around him. They all looked like normal people and none of them looked suspicious to him. Nothing screamed out possession or supernatural at him. He clamped down on a sigh. This looked like it was going to be another waste of time. After the service was over he was going to get some sleep then hunt down the freak shows that gave him the wrong information.
"Amen," the preacher said and the people lifted their eyes back up to the front.
"Dennis McQuaid. Why don't you join us up here son?" he said.
The woman stood up as did the young man who had helped the reverend up to the stage.
The crowd clapped as a man struggling with crutches slowly made his way to the front. Taking a step at a time he eventually made it up to the stage and stood beside the reverend.
Le Grange stepped over to the man. "Are you ready for this son?"
"I hope so sir," Dennis replied.
Le Grange smiled and put his hand on the man's shoulder to figure out how close he was standing to him. He raised his other hand. "Pray with me friends."
Le Grange lifted his other hand up as if he was reaching out to feel the lord's power to help him in his next miracle.
"All right now," he said and paused for a beat. "All right now."
The hand on Dennis' shoulder moved upwards until it rested on his head.
"All right now," Le Grange repeated for the third time.
Dennis began to feel light headed and fell to his knees. Pain shot through his upper leg before he passed out and fell to the stage floor. A moment later he opened his eyes and blinked a few times. Getting to his feet he was astonished to see that he could walk around without the help of his crutches and was pain free for the first time in years. He smiled at the crowd in front of him and the crowd erupted in cheers, praise be and hallelujah's.
Matt's jaw hit the ground as he tried to figure out the so called miracle that happened in front of him. He sat through the rest of the service in disbelief and when the service was over he followed the young man that had been healed out of the tent. There was an explanation and he would find it if it took him another month. This Dennis McQuaid was going to give him some answers.
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An hour after the service Matt was sitting outside a comfort lodge. It was the type of motel that he wouldn't have stayed in if it was the last room available for the next five hundred miles. His car was safer, cleaner and he knew where the blankets had been.
He sat there for a few more minutes staring at the door the young man had gone into. Pulling out his phone he went to go into his favourites but realized that at some point his battery had died. He pulled the charger out of the glove compartment and plugged it into the cigarette lighter. Serena was going to lose it on him when he called and he would let her.
Movement at the door pulled him out of his musings and Matt realized that the man was leaving the motel. He quickly got out of the car and walked up to the man who was loading up the trunk of his beat up car.
"Excuse me," Matt said.
"Yeah?" Dennis said.
"Listen I was at the service and I saw what the reverend did to you," Matt started.
"It was amazing wasn't it," Dennis said. "I've never felt so good in my entire life."
Matt nodded once. "Yeah. Right. So what's the deal. You get like twenty five percent of his take at the service?"
"What? Oh no. No. It was nothing like that," Dennis said shaking his head.
"Thirty five?" Matt pressed.
"Buddy I don't know what you've heard but Reverend LeGrange is the real deal. Honest. Look I've been sick my entire life. Doctors have all but given up on ever getting me a normal life. They say they could give me a comfortable life with the right meds. But I wanted normal and I heard about this man. So I came to check it out," Dennis said.
"Right. So you just show up to a service and he healed you?" Matt said.
"Yeah that's right," Dennis said and closed the trunk. "Look I don't care if you believe me or not but for the first time I feel incredible as if I could do anything. Nothing hurts. It doesn't take me forever to walk from the bed to the bathroom. I can do things without worrying about falling or getting stuck somewhere."
"So you really think that this reverend healed you?" Matt said as he couldn't believe the sincerity coming out of this man.
"Yeah I do. Hey maybe it's a mind over matter kinda thing but I don't think it is. But even if it is I'll take the reprieve," Dennis said. "The man upstairs is looking out for us and he heals through LeGrange. I don't know how it works but I just am living proof that he does. A little faith can take you a long way mister."
Matt stared at the man unsure whether or not to believe him. "Yeah but come on."
Dennis shook his head. "Look he was my last stop on the road of healers and I've seen a boat load of them. I've lost almost everything in the pursuit of a healthy body but I stand before you a healed man. Believe me or don't believe me I couldn't care less either way. But if you don't believe go back to the service. Check out some of his other followers that he healed and you'll find they are the real deal. Now I have a family that I need to return to."
Matt nodded knowing that he wouldn't get any other story out of the man. "Ok. Thanks for your time."
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The young hunter sat staring at the laptop screen without really seeing it. He was too wrapped up in the memory of the last two cases they'd been on. Shaking his head Sam rubbed at his face. How could he have shot his brother? How could he just abandon Dean? He'd left him to try and find his dad and he wasn't even sure if he'd be welcome in the older man's presence.
He looked over at Dean, blissfully unaware of the thoughts running through his little brother's head while he slept. How could Dean continue to trust him, he certainly hadn't earned it, and he definitely didn't deserve it. He'd shot him, thankfully the gun wasn't loaded, but he'd pulled the trigger. Several times over. By all rights his older brother, the man who had basically raised him, protected him, and put him before anything else, should be dead by his own hand.
Sam sighed heavily. They'd driven out of town after dropping Emily off at the bus station and checked into a motel for the night. Surprisingly he'd slept through the night without any nightmares, a first in several weeks. But for some reason he'd been wide awake with the dawn and knew he wouldn't get back to sleep. So now he sat here staring blankly at the laptop screen in front of him. Quietly wishing that he hadn't found this bit of information on the internet.
Kids. Why did it have to be kids? Like Dean hadn't been through enough grief in the last little while.
A couple of hours away children had been reported missing. There were tell tale signs that it was a raw head doing the taking. He hated these things. They were big, strong, and enjoyed tormenting children. The only way to take them down was a lightening strike, highly unlikely, or an electrical shock. A shock so strong it would easily kill anything in it's path.
He looked back at his brother's form huddled under the blankets as Dean shifted slightly. Cases involving children were always harder but they seemed even more so to Dean. Almost like he took it personally that something would dare to hurt a child.
"What time is it?" came a mumble from under the blankets.
"It's early. Go back to sleep Dean," Sam said softly.
"You ok? Nightmare?" Dean asked.
"I'm fine. No nightmares I'm just awake. Go back to sleep. Everything's ok," Sam said quietly.
"Kay," came the sleep filled response.
Sam looked over at the clock. Five was early but not so early that the coffee shop down the block wouldn't be open.
He scribbled out a quick note to Dean just in case his brother woke up while he was gone. As quietly as he could Sam pulled on his runners, grabbed the room key and his jacket. He left the motel room closing the door as quietly as possible on his way out.
When he returned to the motel room he opened the door as quietly as he could just in case Dean was still sleeping. He needn't have bothered. All the lights were on and the bathroom door was closed.
Putting the hot coffee and breakfast down he sat at the table. He shifted the laptop on the table so he could see it better.
The bathroom door opened and Dean walked out with a pair of jeans on. He was still slightly damp from the shower and was rubbing a towel over his wet hair.
"Coffee delivery," Sam said as he sat hunched over his laptop.
"Great," Dean said as he picked up his coffee and took a sip of the potent brew. "So how long did it take you to find the raw head?"
"Couple of hours," Sam said.
"Ok. Figure out the best way to get there," Dean said giving him a long measuring look. "Did you sleep at all?"
"Yeah, some," Sam said vaguely still not looking at his brother.
Dean nodded and took another sip. "What's going on with you Sam? I thought we had the no sleeping thing kicked."
Sam shrugged. "Yeah, me too."
"So what is it?" Dean asked.
"I don't know," Sam said his hands stilling over the keys.
"Sam," Dean growled not having the patience to go around and around in circles before getting the answer he wanted.
"I just… How could I just abandon you like that? Before that I could've killed you at the asylum. I," Sam paused taking a shaky breath. "I don't know why you don't just dump my sorry butt somewhere and go on your way. How can you even trust me?"
Dean smiled slightly. "Sam I'd never abandon you, anywhere, anytime, ever. Got it? Besides I need you to watch my back. Gig pays nothing so if I'm going to do this I'd rather have someone around that I trust. That would be you kiddo. It's like I told you on the phone. You've always known what you want and you go for it. Including standing up to Dad. You'll have to teach me how to do that one day.
"As for the Asylum thing, I told you not to worry about it. It's over, done, in the past. You saved me from that fugly scarecrow thing," Dean said and paused not liking how Sam hadn't looked at him through the entire conversation. "Sammy do you want to kill me?"
Sam head shot up with a mixture of surprise and horror at the thought and implication of the question. "God no!"
"Didn't think so. Look I know I've pissed you off in the past. Gotta tell ya little brother I thoroughly enjoyed some of those moments," Dean said and smiled slightly remembering some of his finer moments of Sammy torture. "Sam I'd be worried if everything was candy and roses between us dude cause that's just not healthy. I will protect you from anything and everything evil and otherwise. But it's my duty as your older brother to piss you off and give you a hard time about things now and then. So I kinda gave doctor evil lots of material to work with."
Sam closed his eyes and shook his head. "What, that's it?"
"Yeah that's it. And so help me dude if you take this any further into a chick flick moment," Dean threatened good naturedly.
"Ok, ok," Sam said holding his hands up in mock surrender and decided to refocus them back to their next job. "So this raw head…"
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Next chapter tomorrow.