Brad was loving it. Rehearsing a musical was right up his alley, even if he did get teased by his bunkmates about it being gay to like it so much. He knew they were teasing. And the one that wasn't found out why no one else really messed with Brad Halloran or his little brother, no matter how geeky the kid was. He knew that the very idea of it all made his new best friend squirm. Dean was so uncomfortable with it that it almost made him laugh. Would have except that he figured that their friendship was a bit too new for that.
Only problem was, their Nathan Detroit was late to rehearsals, and it was the cheese cake scene. So Dean was having to stand in.
Mr O'Grady, the director and music teacher, called for places. And frowned when Dean came out. "Winchester, stop looking like you're on a death march!" He called out. "Nathan is nervous, not resigned to his fate!"
Dean rolled his eyes and chuckled. "Yeah well, he should be. He does end up married by the end of this." He said, and a couple of the other people laughed around him as he shook himself out and started with the scene. He had the script in hand, most of the others did as well (save Brad), but he hadn't spent too much time looking at it. He was busy researching other things to waste time on memorizing things he probably wouldn't need anyway.
Just as Skye (Brad) was betting Nathan(Dean) that he couldn't remember what color of tie he had on that day, there was a sickening thumping sound, and a lot of startled yells, as Cadet Captain David Graham dangled at stage left from a thick rope.
Brad didn't bother to think, feel or otherwise process the situation, he was on his feet and moving, neck and neck with Dean as they raced across the stage to their class mate.
Dean scaled a piece of scenery up onto the rafters and yelled down to Brad. "Boost him up!" He said. He needed slack on the rope. Short of a knife, which wasn't available (his father had the afternoon off and had confiscated all their knives for sharpening and cleaning, he was known to do that), he'd have to untie the rope. Everyone else was still in disarray, screaming, calling for someone to call the paramedics, the school nurse and (for some reason) the headmaster.
Brad grabbed David by the legs and lifted him upward, giving Dean the slack he needed. He looked upward watching his friend work to save the kid's life, then he frowned, seeing something that he knew
he couldn't possibly be seeing. "What the hell?" He said out loud seeing the girl, standing there, looking like an out take from an old movie. Then she flickered in and out of view, and he nearly stumbled back but stopped himself, knowing that if he reacted he could cost his classmate his life.
Dean looked over, seeing the flickering out of the corner of his eye. "No, no. This is bullshit!" He said as he struggled with the knot holding the rope to the rafter, until it finally gave and the rope flopped to the stage floor. He pointed at the spirit, getting a good look before it disappeared. "You, I am SO going to get you." He said to the spirit before carefully jumping down from the rafter. "How's he doing?" He said as he hunched down to stabilize David's neck.
"He's breathing." Brad said. "You saw her too?" He whispered quietly, looking up at the scaffolding. "Oh god." He breathed as she reappeared, and shivered at the the look she gave him.
"Brad?" It was Jimmy. His brother was coming across the stage, more to escape the chaos than anything else. "Is he going to be alright?" He asked.
The spirit blinked out but not before releasing a sand bag from above.
"No!" Brad yelled and dove at his brother, taking him to the floor just as the sand bag landed heavily where his little brother had been standing. It grazed his back as it came down. "That's gonna hurt in the morning." He grumbled, barely noticing really.
Dean watched as Brad dove across the stage. A familiar movement. He'd done it for Sam often enough that it was instinctual, subconscious, and natural. He never even thought about it anymore, and he had the scars to prove it too. And Brad didn't think about it either. Dean reached over and rubbed David's breastbone hard, seeing the young man flinch, and curl around even in his unconsciousness as the paramedics came in. "He's okay." He was breathing,and he'd just proved he could move his arms and legs a bit. Higher brain functions too. Amazing what you picked up in ERs and from Bobby and Pastor Jim over the years. "How's Jimmy? You two all right?" Avoiding the original question right now.
"Yeah." Brad said as he got up and stretched out the kinks in his back from the bag and reached out a hand to help his brother up and started to look him over.
"Brad, stop it I'm fine." He protested trying to shrug away.
"James... cut it out. Seriously, cut it out."
Dean backed away from David once the paramedics came. "Well, looks like I get out of rehearsal." He said with a dry chuckle as he watched the scene, eyes drifting up toward the rafters, though he didn't see anything anymore. "This is certainly a fucked up day."
"No doubt." Brad said once he was convinced his little brother was alright. He had endured a lot to keep that kid amongst the living, and he wasn't going to let him be taken away by some ... ghost... with an attitude. "Go back to your dorm room until they get around to asking questions. Nothing you can do here." He told the younger boy.
"No!" Jimmy insisted.
"That's an order, Cadet." Brad barked with a glare at his brother.
Dean chuckled. "I'll have to try that on Sam." He said as Jimmy stomped off. "Come on." He said to Brad. "It'll be about a half hour until the cops and social workers get here, and I need a soda." And some air. That was some freaky shit. Wasn't every day that he saw someone try to hang himself in the middle of rehearsal. But finally, as bad as it was to say, something concrete on why they were here.
"Yeah." Brad said. "Let's get the hell out of here." He was still shaken, and looking up at the rafters expecting to see the ghost again. It couldn't be a ghost, could it? Ghosts weren't real. But if he had been imagining it, then what had send that sand bag down at his brother?
"That's one." Dean said once they were in the empty hallway. Keeping his voice down. "I'd heard the rumors. Three suicides or attempts a year. One for drama, one for science, and one for the jocks. Did I hear right?"
Brad nodded. "You saw her too, didn't you?" He said. "And it didn't surprise you. What the hell is going on here?" He asked. "Is that thing causing all the suicides?"
Dean wasn't too good at plausible deniability yet. Eventually he'd be one of the best at it. And lying to friends, well, he'd never been in one place long enough to really practice, and his other friends were all hunters. So he sighed. "Dude, you really want to know? I mean, some people, most people, are better off just not knowing."
"Man, that thing just tried to kill my little brother. I want a piece of it. If there... are... pieces to be had. That is so not fair if they can't be touched but can manipulate levers." Brad was furious. He contained it well but he wanted blood.
Dean nodded. He'd feel the same way. Exactly the same way. "All right. It's a ghost. I'm not sure who yet, but once we figure out where the bitch is buried, we're going to torch her and that'll be that." He said. "Need to sit?"
"I need air, come on. I don't want to be anywhere near here when they start asking questions." Brad said as he took the lead. He led they out behind the buildings and down a slope to the place where the upper classmen tended to come to party. "Okay... so... fill me in."
Dean sighed and sat down on the ground. "What do you mean, fill you in?" He asked. He was treading dangerous territory now, the big family secret. The one that could get their father locked up in the looney bin, and him and Sam on the run from social services if it got out.
"You weren't surprised... you threatened it... you knew about the suicides and that wasn't just from tall tales around here. Did I fail to mention my father started out life as an MP?"
Dean shook his head. "Promise you won't think I'm crazy? Or worse, turn me in?"
"I wouldn't turn you in." Brad said. "Friends don't do that. I know we haven't know each other long but, man... seriously."
"All right. You asked for it. It's a ghost. Which is nothing more than the left over psychic remains of a human who can't move on. Maybe she didn't receive a proper burial. Maybe something traumatic and/or evil happened to her. Either way she's out for vengeance. And she's taking it out on random people, because the time has passed for actual revenge. But she's got a pattern. Drama club. Science club. Sports." Dean said, staring straight ahead. He knew, to normal people, he sounded completely psycho.
Delusional. Possibly dangerous. "She's not going to stop until someone stops her. I happen to know how. Sam and Dad too. So that's what we're going to do."
"Okay... so what do we do?" He asked as began to process it. He had seen the pattern. He had been at this school most of his life really. 10 out of 12 years of school. "And why didn't anyone else see her?"
"I don't know. I don't know if it's because no one else was looking for her. I mean, we noticed her and she quickly dropped a sandbag on your brother." Dean pointed out. But Brad would bear watching. Just in case. Dean was undecided if he'd tell his father he'd seen the spirit. It could go well, or it could go badly, John was unpredictable lately, another concern for Dean.
"Yeah... okay... so ... we have to figure out who she was and where the bits of her are hiding. " He was sure that he had just walked through the looking glass. "She didn't succeed today. No one died... is she going to move on, or is she going to try and kill David or Jimmy again?"
"I don't know. It's a break in pattern." Dean said. "David, probably not. He's off to a nice long stay in a nutward after all. Jimmy, he might be distraction. You're seriously not wigged out with this? I mean, I grew up with it. Takes a lot to wig me out."
"No... I'm wigged out. Very much wigged out. But I don't have time to really deal with it. That bitch tried to kill my little brother. I can deal with being freaked out after I make sure she can't hurt him. "
"All right." Dean said. "Then let's go see what we can find out. The spirit is a girl. Sam and I were working on a theory that it was someone reported missing a while back. And...even better...we know what she looks like." Not that records would be very good. And not like it would be easy to sort through any pictures they found due to what she looked like in death. "Let's go find Sam."
"He's involved in this ghost hunting too? I think I would be bald or prematurely white headed if Jimmy had any idea this even existed much less got involved."
"It's a family business." Dean said, content to let Brad think it was just ghost. Some people didn't need to know that there were werewolves, fairies, vampires, demons...they just didn't need to know. "I don't know, unavoidable. We tried though." Until Sam found Dad's journal. And Dean still wasn't convinced that it had been left behind accidentally.
"Wow..." he said, shaking his head. "And I thought growing up with a military family was wild. Okay... Lead on. I'm in for the long haul on this one. They'll be looking for us about now anyway. Wanting to ask us all sorts of questions."
"The answers are easy. He jumped, we got him down. Probably when I was untying him I disturbed a sandbag or something. Believe me, they're not ready to hear about ghosts and spirits. You tell them what you saw, you're going to be David's roommate." Dean said as he got up and they headed back to the theater.
"Good point. I 'have said anything to you except you seemed to see her too." He said. "Thought I was hallucinating until I saw her move the lever. "
"Well, you weren't." He said as they went back to the theater and answered the normal questions. Wasn't like they were suspects, and no one had seen any suicidal behavior in David at all. "Let's get Sam."
"Yeah... you find Sam, I'm gonna check on Jimmy. I'll meet you at the library." It was easy to come up with excuses to meet there. No one questioned kids going to the library. Usually they were afraid it would scare them off.
"I'll be there." Dean said. And Sam was in the library anyway. He sat down next to Sam at the table, luckily he was alone. "I saw her." He said softly as he opened up a random book.
Sam looked up. "Are you alright?" He asked. He had heard about the commotion in the auditorium but knew that he needed to stay put and wait for Dean to come to him.
"Kid tried to hang himself. But he'll be all right, he gets some time in the hospital, then a rubber room after, but he'll be all right." Dean said. "I'm fine. Had to dig out a big ass splinter though." He said with a grin, from scaling scenery and a backdrop. "You're right. Female, probably around my age at one point. Long hair. Then the rest was your normal shivering quivering static-y ghost."
"Well it's a start.Think you could recognize her picture if we found it somewhere?" He asked. "Bet we could find old year books from the girls school somewhere."
Dean grinned. "That requires a field trip." He said. "I bet I can get us in and we'll look around their archives." There would be more yearbooks there than in the boys school.
"You already have a girl at the school willing to risk getting in trouble for letting boys in? Dude, that is amazing." Sam said, then looked up. "Brad's coming over. Subject change."
Brad sat down across from Sam. "Don't bother." He said with a wave of his hand. "I was there, and I know what I saw. Seems to me you guys could use someone who's been around here a bit more than you, right? Besides, the bitch attacked my brother, I get a piece of her too."
Sam simply nodded, accepting that this was the attitude of a good big brother. After all his was the best, so anyone that had similar attitudes had to be a good big brother. "Yeah well... so long as Dad doesn't find out, it's all good."
"We won't tell Dad." Dean said. "Anymore than we're telling him we're following your theory." He pointed out. "So, Brad, up to a field trip to the girls' school? I want to torch this thing before she drives another kid to suicide."
Brad was confused by the family dynamics but he wasn't about to say anything. Right then, he had too much invested in being a part of this. Including a long scraping bruise forming down his back. That was going to be annoying in the showers.
Dean flipped through some of the handwritten pages Sam had. "Okay. I'm going to go check on Dad, you guys meet me at the car, okay?"
"Right." Sam said. "Come on. He won't be long." He gathered his stuff and got up heading for the library door, with Brad right on his heels. "How's your brother?" Sam asked. He had said the kid was attacked. "Did he see her too?"
"He's alright. Pissed at me, but alright. And no ... he didn't see her. I was too busy knocking him to the ground for him to get a clear look."
Dean knocked on his dad's door and came in. "Dad?" He said. "Nearly a suicide during rehearsal today. That's one."
John looked up from his journal, tucking something into place before closing it. "Nearly? What happened?" He asked looking at his son with tired eyes.
"I cut him down." Dean said and carefully sat across from his father. "Actually I untied him, seeing as I didn't have my knife. It's all sharpened now?"
"Yeah." John said. "Bad timing I guess." He said and handed Dean his blade. "Did you see or hear anything to help us out?" He asked.
"Oh yeah." Dean said. "Saw the spirit myself. Female. Young. Long hair. Dated clothes. Definitely dead. Definitely mean."
"She didn't hurt you, did she? Is the boy going to be alright?" He asked, wondering if this would count as one down or if she would still have to make an actual kill to fulfill what ever drove her to make the kills how and where she did.
"He's going to be fine." Dean said, not mentioning the splinter he'd had to pull out. Wasn't important. "Course, I was his understudy, so we'll see how that goes." That was the most terrifying aspect. Not the ghost, or her murderous intentions. But what would happen if the show did, indeed, go on. "Just saying that Sam's theory is starting to make sense now, don't you think?"
"That it was a teenaged girl, possibly since you saw her, but that doesn't mean anything happened here during the time I went to school. I would have known if a girl had disappeared. It would be all over the news."
"You watched a lot of news then?" Dean asked, and fell silent at his father's glare. "We'll trace it back further then. You sure you're okay?" Dad was...more tired looking than Dean had ever seen him. Including the three day battle with a poltergeist.
"Yeah. Just haven't been sleeping well. Might crash early tonight. You boys gonna be alright with out the old man breathing down your necks for an evening? Still get the homework done and everything?"
"Dad, even when you're breathing down my neck, I still don't get my homework done." Dean said with a grin as he stood up. "However, I'll make sure Sam does his. Good enough?"
"Probably as good as I am going to get." John said with a chuckle. "Good... I'll see you boys in the morning. It's Saturday. Go ahead and sleep in. Maybe we'll go into town for chow."
"Okay, sounds good." Dean said. "See you later." Something was off. He couldn't put his finger on it, not yet. It wasn't that his dad was mean. It was just that he wasn't borderline cuddly. Ever. Until about now. Weird.
"Yeah... Okay. see you in the morning, music man." John attempted to tease his oldest boy.
Dean winced good naturedly at that. "See you." He said as he headed back out to the car, and wiped the concerned look off his face as best he could. "Okay, now we get to go to the girls' school. Perfect way to end what so far has been a shitty day."
Sam rolled his eyes. "You're obsessed with girls."
"Just wait...the bug will bite you too. Does everyone." Brad pointed out. "Until then you get to deal with rest of us that have got it bad."
"Could be worse. I could be obsessed with death emo rock." Dean said with a laugh as he unlocked the car. "And shit like that. Girls is normal. I just happen to feel I have to make up for all the others who aren't obsessed. Philanthropy and all."
"I could deal with death rock emo. At least then there would be a break from Dad's mullet rock." He said in exasperation as he got into the car.
"Dude, there will never be a break from mullet rock." Dean said with a smirk.
"I don't know, might want to slip a little Guys and Dolls in there now. Looks like you're the Nathan Detroit now, since I doubt the funny farm will furlough David out for a few days."
Sam laughed. "Guess when we are done at the girls' school we go back to the library and watch it again, huh?" He teased. "You're in a musical. Thinking I am gonna like this place after all."
"Dude, shut your mouth." Dean said with a scowl. The last thing he wanted to be reminded of as he slipped mullet rock into the tape player and started heading toward the girls' school. "So I know a girl there, Anna, who does work study in the library. She'll get us in."
"Does Anna know you're singing in a musical?" Sam asked, unable to resist the pull of the taunt. It was in the little brother genetic code to harrass his brother. He was sure it was a physiological imperative.
"Dude, tell her and I swear I'm going to do something to do." Dean said as he pulled into the parkinglot. "We're just here to do a project. I don't know, we're on the year book committee and we want to go all retro or something."
"What? You gonna put nair in my shampoo again? Dude, they already took all my hair. Not much left you can do to me." Sam said, not that he would say anything to the girl. It was one thing to harrass his brother, it was another to actually humiliate him. "And if you are going for the geek approach... might want to let me do the talking. It's unfamiliar territory for you."
Dean laughed. "All right. You're on point." Dean said as he pulled into the parking lot by the library. "He's a much better geek than me." He said to Brad.
"And strangely doesn't seem worried about it." Brad said, not getting the geek crowd. They didnt make sense to him, but that's okay. it wasn't his little brother.
"You get the introductions though. I don't know the girl...and I'm lousy with girls."
Dean laughed. "All right, I'll get the introductions." He said as he led them into the library. "Hey." He said, leaning against the counter where a slim red head was scanning returned books. "I have a big favor to ask. For a perfectly good cause." He said with a grin.
"Why do I doubt that, Dean?" She said with a big smile. "Whats the favor?" She asked.
Brad shook his head as Dean shmoozed the librarian. The boy had a gift with the girls, that was for certain.
"It's a good cause. My little brother is doing something with year books, and we wondered if we could have a look at your school's archive. See? Perfectly good cause." Dean said.
"Yeah, I'm on the yearbook committee this year and we have been talking about going retro with the year book but all of our old ones are seriously boring. Was wondering if you had some here we could look at."
Anna looked for the head librarian and didn't see her as she grabbed the keys to the vault. "All right." She said with a grin. "Don't mark them up or anything, because I'll get in trouble."
"Would I get you in trouble?" Dean asked Anna with a laugh.
"Hopefully not over year books and hopefully this weekend." She said with a wider grin as she unlocked the room.
Sam rolled his eyes as he went into the room. "Thanks." He said. "I won't mark anything. Is there a xerox I can use for the really good pages?"
"Sure, off in the corner. It's the spare one. It's old, and slow, but it's all ready to go." Anna said as Brad and Dean followed Sam in and closed the door behind them.
"See? Told you. Easy." Dean said.
"Like her?" Brad said with a laugh.
"I'll let you know on Monday." Dean said with a smirk.
"Dude that is so wrong." Sam said shaking his head as he went through the shelf of year books, looking for the years their father was attending. "Okay, I figure it's one of these, so you two look through there and tell me if anyone in there is our ghost."
Dean sat down at a small table with his share of the books and flipped through one. "Ever notice in black and white, with the same hair style, they all kinda look alike?" He said.
"That ... isn't helpful." Sam said with a sigh. "But yeah. This may not be as easy as we thought. "
"Oh hey, swim team!" Dean said with a grin as he flipped to the activities section, which made Brad laugh.
"They might as well have been swimming in mumus." Brad said with a chuckle. "Check out the swim caps." They were bantering, but they were looking as Brad flipped through his yearbook. "Hey, I think this is her." He said, laying the book on the table and pointing out a picture in the candid section.
Dean looked over. "Yeah, looks like her." He said. "She was kinda cute."
"No captions." Brad grumbled. "Don't have a name."
Sam went to get another copy of the same year. "Okay keep that one open and we compare all the girls till we figure it out."
Brad laid it out flat as they looked at another copy. "I don't see her." He said.
"Me either." Dean said. "It's in the candid part. Who says she even went to this school?"
"Or wasn't one of the fifty girls listed in the 'not pictured' part." Brad said, rubbing his eyes. "My head hurts." For Sam and Dean, this might be another day in the life. For Brad, this was one helluva weird, long day.
"Okay so maybe she started school late that year... missed picture day. We do all the time." He said and went to the next year book. He was determined to prove his theory right. Have hard core evidence to show his father.
"We'll find her." Dean said, writing down some of the names. "They keep track of alumni, right? Most of the time? We could go ask some of these people if they remember someone going missing or something."
Sam nodded and went to photo copy the image they had found. It at least gave them something to go on. Something they could show their dad at least so that he would know what to look for. "Yeah okay. I remember Dad said the librarian at our school has been there since he was in school, maybe she remembers."
"We'll check that out. Or more to the point, Sam'll check that out. Librarians like him. Now library assistants...they like me." Dean said with a smirk.
Brad chuckled. "You two are unbelievable. You're so calm, like this is every day. And I guess, for you, it is."
"Dude, that's because you are always distracting the library assistants." Sam pointed out to his brother. "And yeah... I guess it is every day for us. I mean we don't deal with them every day but we've always known about that sort of thing."
"It's not a big deal." Dean said. "I mean, there's a lot of stuff out there, but most everyone else doesn't enounter it. It's sporadic enough that we move all over because of it."
"You move all over the place hunting down ghosts... that's wild. No wonder your dad is different than the other instructors here. It's kinda cool though. Be cooler if the damned ghost hadn't tried to kill my brother, but what the hell."
Dean laughed. "You're taking the existence of murderous spirits kinda well." Dean said. "Do we need to have you drug tested?" He was only half joking.
"I'm an actor, remember?" He said with a nervous laugh. "Bad combination, actor and military training. Hide behind a mask while doing what needs to be done. Once it's over, and I am sure she isn't going after Jimmy... then I can deal. Right now... no time."
"That's basically our lives." Dean said with a chuckle as they gathered up the copies they'd made. "Okay, so let's get back to the school before curfew. Though I wouldn't mind being locked in the library with Anna, not quite the same if you two are with me."
Sam shook his head and rolled his eyes. "Yeah yeah, let's go. You two have to get your beauty sleep anyway. " Sam pointed out. "Lines to rehearse, songs to sing."
"Dude, my memory is very long." Dean said. "Might want to watch out for payback down the road. Like once your hair finally grows back and all."
"You do and I'll tell them all about you singing and dancing on stage." Sam said. "Who knows... might even take pictures... news paper clippings... keep the play bill."
"Now, see, if you hadn't made such a fuss, it wouldn't be good blackmail." Brad said with a laugh. "It's not blackmail for me afterall. I'll be giving out autographs."
"Nair. Itching powder. Shortsheeting." Dean mumbled.
"I wonder if the next school we go to has one of those news papers where they do articles on new kids. Bet they would love that." Sam wouldn't humiliate his brother like that really... at least so long as the nair and itching powder stayed far away.
"Still say we should trade little brothers." Dean said to Brad, only joking of couse.
Brad laughed. "Sure, they can suck the marrow out of your bones if he gets sick again. I'll trade ya." Not that he would of course but he knew that Dean wasn't serious either.
"Okay, Sam, looks like I'm going to keep you after all." Dean said with a laugh. Not that he wouldn't do it for Sam, he would. In a heart beat, the same way Brad did for his brother.
"Yeah, like you would get rid of me." Sam said. "Who else would give you a run for your money?" Sam sometimes had normal insecurity issues, but never doubted his brother's love. Not even for a heart beat.
"Yup, I'm stuck with him." He said with a laugh. Then Dean turned to Brad as he drove. "Seriously, dude, you can't tell anyone. First off, they'll think you're crazy. Then they'll come after us, and that would be a bad scene."
"Don't worry. I'm not going to out you." Brad said. "Don't worry about that. Besides I'm not into hospital stays and you know they would figure I had cracked from one too many suicides going on or something. "
"Sounds plausible." Dean said. "But since you'll be labeled as nutso too, guess we're safe. Welcome to the club."
Brad laughed. "So what do we do now?" He had no idea how to follow up on this. "I mean we have a face and no name, no way of knowing how to find the body to deal with it or what ever is required to make her stop killing."
"Good old fashioned investigating." Dean said. "We ask around. See if we can piece it together."
"Okay. well... let me know what to do and how to go about it. " He had a vested interest in getting rid of this bitch. He had gone through a lot to keep his little brother alive. A lot of pain and recovery of his own. It was worth it, he would do it again if it came to it. But he would be damned if he would let some dead and rotting spoiled bitch of a ghost undo what he had gone through.
"Don't worry, figure we'll need all the inside help we can get." Dean said. "Besides, for once, gotta admit, it's...relieving to not have to lie all the time to at least one person."
"This means you guys aren't going to be around all year doesn't it... always traveling and looking for ghosties and ghoulies? You know you have to keep in touch some how right?"
Dean grinned. "I don't know. Might push the issue. It's my senior year after all." Dean said. "But thanks." Usually they just...disappeared.
"You know... I would... want to hear what you were up to and all." He said, but truth be known he would be wondering if his friend were alive or dead.
"Don't worry, I'll figure it out." Dean said with a shrug. It was a new concept to him, but one that he didn't mind, strangely enough. He'd gotten used to the con, the isolation.
Sam envied his brother a little. A friend that he could keep. But what the hell. Dean deserved it. He had given up most of his chances of having real friends when they were kids hanging out with him instead. So even though it sucked to know he wouldn't have his brother all to himself anymore. It was okay.
Dean grinned at his brother in the rear view mirror. It was interesting having someone that knew, that was for sure. And it was something to keep from Dad, definitely. It was the 'big family secret' after all. "Okay, so we'll head back and see how everyonen else is doing."
"Yeah they are probably looking for us anyway." Brad said. "Making sure we aren't cracked in the head or something cause we saved a life. " He grinned then. "Dude, we saved someone's life today." As though it were just then starting to sink in the magnitude of what he and Dean had done.
Dean returned the grin. "We did, didn't we?" He said. It was an amazing thing. And it rarely got old, especially since it was rarely done as openly as earlier in the theater.
"Yeah... word will get around and you won't be able to go out in public without girls swarming you." He said. Brad figured one would be enough to satisfy himself, and he already had a date with her to begin with. Dean however, he figured thrived on female attention.
"Dude, I'm a total stud." Dean said with a laugh. "This hero thing has some side benefits, doesn't it? Now take notes, Sammy, your day will come."
"The word is slut." Sam said from the back seat rolling his eyes. "You do know in most states it's illegal for girls under 18 to have sex… even with boys under 18."
"Ah, but this beautiful state, the age of consent for both sexes is 16, as long as the partner isn't any older than two years more than them." Dean said. "Just don't ask why I felt the need to look that up." It was actually in his civics class, but whatever.
"I don't have to ask why you felt the need to look that up. As I said before, the word is slut." Sam teased. He figured it was natural enough for his brother. Hell it wasn't like he didn't think about it… a lot… most of the time in fact. But he just didn't think he had a snowball's chance in hell of actually succeeding at this point. So it was great fun to tease his brother.
Dean laughed. "Hey, you know what else I learned in the theater? You have to listen to me." Dean said with a grin. "Seriously, Brad commanded his brother to go to his room, and he had to listen once he threw that rank thing in there."
"You start throwing rank at me and I'll seriously just stand there." Sam said. "I can out stubborn Dad… you don't stand a chance." Although that wasn't entirely true. He was more likely to listen to his brother than his father any day.
"No respect." Dean said with a laugh.
"It took many years to get that concept into Jimmy." Brad said. "You're starting way too late with Sam, he's far past the trainable stage."
"I was past the trainable stage at 6." Sam pointed out. "Trust me … he's tried." And succeeded where their father had failed. He loved them both dearly. But it just seemed the more he tried to connect with his father, the harder it was to be in the same room with him.
Dean laughed. "Yeah, you were." He said. "But at least he's not really a girl." He said to Brad. "Else I'd be totally lost."
"I'm not even close to being a girl." He said frowning into the rear view mirror. "You look more like a girl than I do, even if I still had long hair. Seriously … you have a girly face. I just had girly hair."
"I do not have a girly face." Dean said with a scowl. It was an old argument, and Brad could tell that as he chuckled while Dean found a parking spot at the school.
"Yes you do. Come on… look in the mirror sometime when you aren't trying on Dad's expressions. You'll see it. Trust me… you look like a girl."
"I do not look like a girl." Dean said. "And do not make me pull this car over and give you a beat down." Mimicing one of their father's expressions without even trying, the one where he was torn between laughing and scowling.
Sam's eyes danced as he continued to tease his brother. "Hey I have pictures of you still that are full on girly faced. All pouty faced and big eye lashes. "
Dean shook his head. "Dude, so not the brotherly way." He said as he pulled into the school parking lot. "Come on, let's go tell Dad what we found." Full on intending on leaving Brad out of that part, that was an explosion waiting to happen.
"I gotta go check on Jimmy anyway. See if he's forgiven me yet."
"He has " Sam said, knowing a thing or two about being an upset little brother. "Not that he's gonna tell you that." Sam got out of the car. It was less dangerous but that was the only difference. What it came down to, was that Brad and Jimmy really only had each other. Forgiveness wasn't a question then.
Brad smiled, he knew that himself. But it was good to see others that knew it too. Circumstances were way different, but the Halloran brothers weren't all that different from the Winchester brothers, he figured. "See you guys later."
"See you." Dean said. "Now let's go face the dragon."
"Dragon huh… yeah I guess that fits." Sam said with a faint smile. There was no telling how their father would react to it all. Usually they could predict John Winchester down to the facial expression. Right now, though, he was a mystery even to them. "Don't think this place is good for him." Sam said bluntly. "I don't think he likes remembering being normal."
"Sometimes I don't like remembering being normal. And I only had four years of normal." Dean said. "I don't know, maybe he really misses the military or something too. I can't tell with Dad. Not now." Was his father going through a mid life crisis? Did his mid life crisis and the onset of Sam's puberty really have to coincide?
"I'd like a chance to find out what it's like." Sam said. "Guess this is kinda close. I mean… boarding schools are normal right?" He really wasn't thinking about that though. "I don't know… he's kinda freaking me out. Maybe it's just wanderlust."
Dean's brow furrowed as they made their way to the instructor barracks. "Yeah, I guess boarding schools are normal. Better than the reform school last year's principal swore I'd graduate from. Then again, it's only October, nearly November, there's still lots of time."
"Na… you won't get into a reform school. We'd bust you out. You know Dad wouldn't let you have that long a vacation from hunting." Sam teased.
Dean laughed. "Yeah, you're right." Dean said as he knocked on the door. "Dad?" He said. "Dude, don't forget to get your knives back, you know if you forget to grab them, Dad will have your ass."
"Yeah I know." Sam said
"Yeah, come on in." John said from inside, as he put away the bottle he had been drinking from. His stomach was killing him. He wasn't used to hitting the booze as hard as he had been lately and it was taking a toll on his system. He knew it. He knew he should stop, go back to drinking coffee and beer. Didn't mean he was going to. He wasn't sure he entirely cared.
His father looked like hell, Dean thought as they came in. And he wondered if he could beat up the adult who brought his dad to the liquor store to restock. "Went to the library." Dean said as he took out their research, and all the photos Sam had photocopied from the year book. He handed his father the candid shot. "That's her. It's from the yearbook at the girls' school."
"We couldn't find her name listed anywhere in the book, and just this one photo." Sam said.
"Back then, children of the staff, not the teachers of course, but the cooks and janitors and such, they got to take advantage of the education, but not really be part of the school. It was a social class thing." He said. "It's possible she was one of those kids, just got caught on film accidentally. You're sure about this being the face you saw?"
"Why would they do that? That makes no sense." Sam said with a frown.
"Different times, son. This is a military school, here if you have the tuition and a couple of good recommendations you could get in. The girls' school… well that was a bit more high society. People with enough money to give their children away didn't want their daughters hob knobbing with those that didn't. "
"That's definitely the face I saw." Dean said. "And if she disappeared close enough to either school grounds, is it possible that some money was paid and no fuss was ever stirred up? I mean, you said it. Different times."
"It's likely over at the girls school… Not sure about here. But you never know with people. " John said, for the first time admitting that what Sam had proposed might be true. But that was because Dean had seen the girl. "Of course for all we know this image here… she could have been a ghost then. Sometimes they show up on film like the living. Could explain why she isn't named… but then why isn't she killing over there too?"
Dean took the picture. "No, she's definitely there. She has a shadow, and the girl next to her is playing with her hair. Do you recognize anyone else in the picture? This is from your years at this school after all." He said. "Maybe we can go see if any of these people, if they're around here, would know who she is, and start from there. She's targeting the boys school, so, I don't know, maybe someone here did something to her."
"It's possible." John said as he looked over the picture. He did recognize someone. A painful blast from the past. "That is Claire Montgomery. No idea what her name is now. She ahm… was one of your mother's friends at the school." He said and handed the photo back to the boys.
Both Dean and Sam looked at John at that. Faces nearly hopeful. Someone that knew their mother back when when she was their age. Dean had their mother on a pedastal, but for Sam, Mary was nearly a mythical creature, like a unicorn. "Well, we'll track her down then." Dean said.
John nodded. "Thank you." He told them. "Her family was local. She was a day student. Probably why she was willing to associate with the girl in the picture if she is what I think she is. She didn't need to set up her social standing, it was already well sustained."
"All right then." Dean said with a nod. "We'll get on that in the morning." Because it would involve phone calls, or leaving campus, and it was getting too late to get away with all that and be credible.
"You two need to get some rest. Day starts early tomorrow." He said. "Homework done?" John asked, he wanted so much to slide back into the role of good father. To be the man he had once been before the darkness had settled in his heart.
"Tomorrow's Saturday." Dean said. "No homework, and it's sleep in day." He reminded his father. Looking worriedly at him.
"Oh… so it is. " John said.- "Alright then. But you still need your rest. You should go on to bed. Apparently there is work to do tomorrow."
"There's always work." Dean said with a grin. "C'mon Sam." He said as he led his brother back out of the room after Sam gathered his knives. "Well, that went...better than expected. Which is bad."
"Which is very bad…you know… I am really worried about him. This is like the longest November 2nd in history." Sam said with a sigh. "And I don't know what to do about it."
"I don't know that we can do anything about it." Dean said with a sigh. "Other than watch him and hope he doesn't do something stupid to get us all thrown out of here."
"You know a few days ago I would have been hoping for that… getting tossed out of here. Right now I am worried about Dad beating the ghost too it as far as the whole Gym teacher thing goes."
"Like I said, we'll watch him." Dean said as they headed back to their room. "Tomorrow we'll start ringing up the phone lines, hit up the alumni committee. Two teenage kids looking for people that knew their mom." And it wasn't exploiting their mother's memory, Dean had every intention, after business was taken care of, of pumping the woman for everything she could remember about their mom.
"Wow… people that might not be afraid to talk about Mom…" he said with a smile. "We might be able to find out little things about her… you know…what she liked… what she wanted…"
"I know, talk about luck." Dean said. "We could get a good lead in this case, and a good lead on Mom at the same time." Their dad didn't really talk about her. And all of Dean's memories were from a four year old's perspective, hardly helpful to Sam who had no memories at all of her.
"Yeah, might make the hair cut worth it after all." Sam said with a grin. "About the only thing that would make it worth it."
"You getting a hair cut was definitely worth me getting a hair cut." Dean teased. "Considering you threw a bigger fit than I did." He was still recovering from being in an all boys' school to really deal with getting his head shaved at the same time.
"That's because I'm the problem child, remember?" Sam pointed out. "That and I have bigger ears."
"You'll grow into them. I think." Dean said with a laugh. "Come on, let's get some sleep so we can get started early tomorrow."
Sam nodded and was soon climbing into his bunk, his mind still going a thousand miles an hour, as he went over all the questions he had about their mother, wondering if may be they would finally be answered.