Last night, Sam Winchester sat shirtless on my couch and I sat snuggled beside him, his thumb gently running over my knuckles and the other hand tangled in my hair. . .then I woke up, still Winchesterless.
.~o()o~.
Dean pulled up to the farm in the Impala, Luke sitting stunned in the passenger seat. In the ten minutes it had taken to reach the Duke farm, Dean had filled him in on the nature of their job and the story of the Yellow Eyed Demon. His world was effectively shattered.
They sat silently in the car outside as an old, white haired man ran out the door, yanked open the passenger door and pulled Luke out into his arms.
"Luke!" he shouted. "You're alright! Someone said there was an accident and I couldn't get ahold of you or your cousin. Thank heaven's you weren't hurt." He released Luke and peered into the back seat of the Impala. "Where's Bo? Is he waiting for Cooter at the accident? What'd you do? Blow another tire?"
"Uncle Jesse," Luke gently pulled the old man back toward the house. "Maybe you should come inside and sit down."
"Now don't you Uncle Jesse me. I know you ain't telling me everything and you had better fess up right now. Who is this feller and what does he have to do with Bo?"
"Please Uncle Jesse," Luke said softly.
Uncle Jesse nodded and Dean followed them inside. "Now will you please tell me what has happened to Bo?"
Luke closed his eyes and took a deep breath before speaking. "You already know there was an accident. What you don't know is that it was bad, real bad and Bo's been hurt."
"Well," Uncle Jesse quickly got to his feet. "Then we need to get over to Tri-County General as fast as we can!"
"He's not there. . .that is to say. . .someone's taken him. We don't know where he is."
"But you are fine!" Jesse whipped off his baseball cap and smacked Luke in the back of the head with it. "You musta been right there. How could you let someone take your injured cousin away when there is not a scratch on ya?"
"I wasn't there," Luke hung his head in shame. "I was with Dean on one side of town, Bo was with his brother Sam on the other. Sam is missing too. I know I shoulda been there. I'm sorry."
"Damn right you should have been there. How many times have I told you to keep him out of trouble. You know he doesn't think things through before he rushes in. Are you sure they are hurt? Maybe they had to run an errand suddenly and hitched a ride or got stranded somehow." Jesse's eyes slowly filled up with tears.
"We're sure. There were drag marks and blood. And we think Bo might have an open fracture. We. . .we found bone fragments."
Jesse dropped back into his armchair, misty eyes gazing out the window. "Luke, you had better get out there and get your cousin back or I will tan your hide."
"Uncle Jesse, we will get him back."
"Ok," Dean spoke for the first time since they got to the farm. "It will take too long to look in every place big enough or remote enough to hide two men, so we need to narrow things down. I am assuming you know a lot of the people around here."
"Basically everyone," Luke said.
"Good. Anyway, I suspect that since Bo is the target, it would pick someone close to you, either close friend or very involved enemy. Have any of these people had a sudden personality change, wardrobe change or any other kind of suspicious behaviour?"
"Old Mabel Breckinridge baked me a pie and she hasn't baked anything in twenty years. She came over all dolled up in her Sunday best and stinking of that perfume stuff," Uncle Jesse spoke up.
"That's not suspicious Uncle Jesse. Everyone knows she's sweet on you. She is just getting impatient and decided to step it up a notch."
"Durn fool woman," Uncle Jesse shuddered. "At least if we put her in jail, she couldn't watch me plow no more. I get the heebie-jeebies every time I see the flash of them binoculars."
"Right. Moving on," Dean said. "Is there anything else? I don't know how much time we have, but I shouldn't have to tell you that sooner is better."
"I don't know Dean," Luke put his head down on the table. "Its hard to think when you are worried."
Dean put his hand on Luke's shoulder and pulled him upright none too gently. "If you want to save Bo's life, you will," he spoke coldly.
At that moment, Daisy rushed in like a whirlwind, pouncing on Luke. "Enos told me what happened. I was so worried. Any word on Bo?"
"Not yet," Dean snapped. "And if you don't mind, we are trying out best to figure out who took him."
Daisy just looked at him, wounded. "You know I would do anything to get Bo back. And I hate to think of your handsome brother captured and hurt, so don't you dare yell at me!"
"Talk to Daisy like that again and you will be out on your ear. We can look for Bo ourselves if you won't be civil," Uncle Jesse scowled.
"Sorry," Dean muttered. "It's just. . .we need to find them soon. Just think harder, is there anyone who has been acting strangely?"
"Well Boss hasn't deducted anything from my tips in about three weeks, but everything else has been exactly the same," Daisy said, placing her hand gently on Dean's shoulder. He shrugged it away.
"Is that a big change on his part or is he another old Mabel, changing in the pursuit of unrequited love?" He scoffed.
"Boss lives for money. Everything he does is motivated by greed. I keep expecting him to tell me he is letting me keep my tips so he doesn't have to give me a pay check," Daisy spoke softly.
"But Boss wouldn't hurt Bo. Sure he would put him in jail and try to milk us for every cent we own, but he never would physically harm him," Jesse protested loudly. "I think he is a lot fonder of my boys than he pretends."
"That's something," Dean said. "But I am not sure if it is enough. Sam is the research guy. He always knows what questions to ask and what leads to follow. I am the one who charges in with guns blazing to save the day, but he starts us off."
"Well, we will just have to check it out and if we are wrong, we will start over."
"Don't you get it?" Dean shouted. "If we investigate and are wrong, it will be too late for Sam and Bo. There will be no starting over." He shoved himself away from the table and walked onto the porch, slamming the screen door behind him and breathing deeply. He couldn't let himself fall apart, not when his brother needed him.
At that moment, a hoarse voice crackled out of the CB. "Breaker, breaker, this is Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane. Bo? Luke? You out there?"
"Sheriff, this here's Luke. What do you need?" Luke snatched up the hand-held.
"I need help Luke. My little fat buddy's gone off his rocker and I think Bo's in danger," Rosco cried.
"That enough for you, Dean?" Luke asked grimly.
Dean nodded dangerously.
"Hold tight Rosco," Luke said. "We're coming to you."
.~o()o~.
After his initial, instinctive gasp, Sam had not made a sound, even though the sight that greeted his eyes was horribly gruesome. He ground his teeth together and willed back the nausea that threatened to overwhelm him.
Bo was not so fortunate. He had vomited down his front as the sight was revealed, and now hung dejectedly from the chains, not even trying to hold back the whimpers that erupted every time his injured leg brushed the ground.
Until then, Sam had thought the reek of blood came only from him and Bo, but the all-encompassing stench came from the newly illuminated half of the barn. It looked like a slaughterhouse, broad swathes of drying blood and bits of torn flesh littered the ground under rough wooden structures with no apparent purpose, but he gazed upon the death that lay before him, patterns began to emerge. The blood was not in random splatters or splashes. Dark symbols were painted there, the dismembered corpses of six different women scattered therein, completing the signs that made his blood run cold.
A low chuckle built to a maniacal laughter that echoed in the nearly empty barn. "I think Sam begins to see," Boss said between fits of giggles. "Don't worry Bo, it will all become clear."
.~o()o~.
Ok, I will just be sitting here, waiting patiently for more reviews. I can't wait to here what you think!