The eulogies over, the massive crowd began the slow process toward the front of the funeral home to pay their respects. Dean's eyes never left Rose as they joined the procession, but she was intent on the gray-haired woman, only occasionally glancing up at well-wishers passing by her. The brothers were slowly making their way toward the woman who'd stolen his car the day before. Revenge was on his mind, but he knew this was not the time or the place. Especially not in a funeral home filled with guns on every side of him.
Sam strained to listen to the hushed conversations around them. "Giant of a man," he heard, and, "Pillar of the community." Every so often he thought he heard murmurings of, "Poor Rose," only to realize they were speaking of the older woman Rose had escorted in. That's right, he remembered. Foster's wife's name is Rose. No one said a word about the young woman sitting next to her.
Just before they reached the family, Sam saw Rose's hand go to her chest then look around frantically, her eyes finally falling on them. She whispered something into the woman's ear next to her and turned to the other elderly woman, motioning for her to follow Rose to the corner of the room. The two stood and walked over to the corner, with Rose facing the brothers, watching them out of the corner of her eye, keeping the elderly woman's back to them.
Sam and Dean reached the family pew and Sam leaned down to pay his respects to the frail woman left sitting there. The old woman looked up at them sadly. "We're so sorry for your loss," he said to her, his eyes darting over at Rose.
"Thank you, thank you," the older Rose was saying. "How did you know my Slim?"
"A friend of our father's," Sam was quick to reply.
"Dad always spoke highly of him," Dean added.
"Oh, I see, I see," the old woman replied, satisfied with the answer, her voice trailing off. They were near the end of the procession, but the crowd still pressed them to move on. One of the nearby agents noticed how long they were taking and started to take a step forward. Sam pushed at Dean to move away so the line could continue. They stepped toward the casket, Dean never taking his eyes off Rose. As she and the elderly woman returned to the family pew she looked back at him, locking eyes with him in a steely gaze. I'm not leaving her, her bloodshot eyes said to him. She looked tired, like she hadn't slept since she took off with the Impala, and she had no makeup on.
Sam looked down into the open casket, surprised at the huge size of the man inside. "Giant of a man," he'd heard people say. Giant? This man was huge, larger than any man he'd ever seen. Even the term Giant seemed an understatement. He had an unnatural look to him too, with too much makeup on. His arms were crossed in front of him, right hand over left. Sam could see the gold band on his left hand and realized that three of his fingers were missing on his right hand. There was just a small stub where two of the fingers had been and his pinky finger was gone entirely.
Dean glanced into the casket too, and he, too, saw the unusual size of the man, and noticed the missing fingers. He didn't, however, want to lose sight of Rose. The line of people and a funeral director at the nearby door forced them to step outside into the bright Texas sun.
"Don't worry, Dean, she's not going anywhere yet. Besides, the Impala's not even here, man!" Sam tried to calm his brother's nerves.
As they waited outside the funeral home for Rose and the family to come out, Sam decided to ask some of the locals about the man. He asked as many questions as he could without getting too specific. One overtly sized woman in a blue flowered cotton dress was more than happy to tell the brothers all about the family. It seemed they had come across the town gossip. She told them all about "Uncle Slim" and what a great man he was, most of her story matching what Sam had read online. Dean and Sam looked at each other in surprise as she called him "uncle."
"Uncle?" Dean asked.
"Oh, we all call him 'Uncle Slim' even though we're not really related to him. Everyone in town just loved him so much!" she rambled.
"Everyone that had a job," her husband muttered under his breath next to her.
"Oh, Lloyd, don't be bitter!" she chided him. "Lloyd used to work for Uncle Slim when he was younger, but Uncle Slim, he didn't put up with certain types of behavior. And Lloyd here was a bit of a rebel."
The woman, Rebecca, kept on talking, but nothing that would indicate the reason for secret service agents or FBI or whoever the men were. They did find out the two older women were Slim's wife, Rose, and his sister, Minnie. Rebecca called her 'Minnie Lee.'
"Umm, who is the young girl with them?" Sam asked.
"The girl?" Rebecca's mind seemed to wander as much as her chatter. "Oh! You must mean Katy. That's Minnie Lee's granddaughter. Tragic, just tragic, everything that family's been through!"
Sam looked over at Dean and then back at Rebecca. "Tragic?"
"Katy was raised by Slim and Rose. We all wondered what happened to her – she just took off one day. Her mother died when she was a baby and then her father died too. Murdered, they said, but they never caught the man. Which was a little surprising someone could get away with…" For the first time, Rebecca stopped chatting and looked around nervously, quickly changing the subject. "Poor Minnie Lee's been through so much! All of her children and grandchildren dying tragically! Young Katy's all she has left now. It's so good to see that she's back with the family!"
Dean kept watching the funeral home and the limo waiting outside the doors, waiting for Rose and the two women to come out. They finally did, the older woman leaning all her weight on Rose, who never let go of her arm. Six fairly large-sized men carried the casket out in front of them, straining under the weight. Satisfied that Rose was getting into the limo, Dean turned to Rebecca. "Is there going to be a graveside service?" he asked.
Rebecca turned to see the family coming out too. "Oh, but, yes, of course. Lloyd, we'd better go get in the car and get in line. Oh, did you boys need a ride to the cemetery?" she asked them.
Dean pulled the rental keys out of his pocket, "No, thanks," he answered as nicely as he could. He turned and he and Sam quickly walked back to the compact Hyundai.
Dean pulled the car into the long line of cars following the limo that carried Rose and the family. Watching out the window, Dean saw that every business they passed had people standing outside to watch the processional go by. Everyone in town hadn't been at the funeral after all, but they all wanted to show their respects to this "giant of a man." Every street they passed was lined with people watching them, men holding their hats in their hands, some of them hanging their heads. Dean had to say he was impressed, whoever the man was.
As they pulled out of town, up onto the highway, the brothers realized the cemetery was several miles out of town. Turning under the bricked archway into the Abilene cemetery, they saw the tent with a few chairs underneath and the open grave. Another service was about to start. God, this was turning into a long day!
The graveside service was thankfully short. Dean saw Rose finally detach herself from the old woman after the coffin was lowered into the ground and stepped towards them walking on her toes so her heels wouldn't sink into the grass. He could see she was tired and distraught but he didn't care.
Putting her hands up in a defensive stance, she said to him, "Don't worry, your car's fine. It's back at the house." She eyed him cautiously when he didn't respond. "So, what? Are you gonna punch me out again right here in front of all these people? I wouldn't recommend it." She turned and looked, not at the agents in dark suits, but at a group of middle aged men standing together, every one of them with a bulge in his jacket, his back or his pants leg. "I've got to ride back with Aunt Rose," she said. "But I'll meet you back at the funeral home. Where are you staying?"
"Oh, I don't think so," Dean snapped at her. "We're not letting you out of our sight again!" He grabbed her roughly by the elbow, catching the attention of nearby mourners with his movement. He grinned back at them, "She's okay. Just a little faint, is all." They nodded in agreement as he led her back to Aunt Rose. The other woman's attention was turned to the preacher opposite the open grave and she didn't see them walk up to the elderly Rose.
"I'm sorry to bother you, Aunt Rose," Dean said. "But it's been so long since we've seen Ro.."
Rose stomped his foot. "Katy!" she hissed into his ear. He looked at her, surprised and then remembered Rebecca calling her 'Katy.'
"... since we've seen Katy here, that we were wondering if she could ride back to town with us."
"Oh, but of course," the older Rose said. "You young people should ride together. It's silly of an old woman to keep Katy all to herself. You go with your friends, dear," she grasped Katy's hand with such fierceness the younger woman thought she would leave a mark.
The brothers led her back to their rental car and Sam turned to Rose for the first time since the service. "Okay, so the car's 'back at the house' you said. So where's this house?"
Rose pulled the black scarf from her hair, letting the red locks cascade down her back. "Just down the road," she said, motioning for Dean to turn the car left out of the cemetery and pulling the lace gloves off her hands, her silver rings barely shining through them. "Turn right at the next stop sign, then left."
After driving for only 10 minutes, Rose pointed to a house at the end of the road. It appeared to be abandoned. The paint was peeling, the yard was overgrown with grass and weeds and the back gate stood askance, having fallen from one of its hinges. A corner of a detached garage could be seen through the gate. Dean spotted the Impala in front of the garage, sitting at an angle so it couldn't be easily seen from the road. He pulled into the driveway and they got out of the rental car.
They strode up to the house and she pulled a key from her pocket with one hand, holding her gloves in the other. Sam noticed she wasn't carrying a purse. She's unarmed, he thought to himself, checking her too-tight outfit for any tell-tale bulges. There were none. Unlocking the front door, she pushed it open, indicating for the brothers to follow her. They dropped their bags on the floor and a cloud of dust rose from each thud. The house smelled musty, like it hadn't been opened up in a very long time, but it also smelled of mint and honeysuckle. Sam realized she had spent the night here while they were on the road the night before. Much of the furniture was covered in draped sheets, with the sheets pulled back from the couch, one of the chairs and a dining table in the corner. A silver sword hung on the wall over the couch and a mirror across from it, making it appear there were two swords hanging in the room.
Rose disappeared into the next room, with Dean hot on her heels, then turned and came back just as quickly, bumping into his chest. "Here," she said to him, dropping the Impala's keys into his hand. She brushed past him toward the front door, grabbing something off the table as she went. "You can stay for a while if you like. It's safe here," she opened the door again and stepped out onto the front porch.
Dean sprinted for the back door, seeing the Impala through the kitchen window. Not knowing whether to follow Dean or Rose, Sam sighed and turned to go after Rose. He found her standing on the front porch, lighting a cigarette. "What?" she snapped at him seeing his disapproving look.
"You don't smo... oh, never mind!" Sam snapped back. "Look, you have no idea what you've just cost us! We need that car!" Sam's patience had finally run too thin, worried about his brother, about the demons that had gotten loose at Hell's Gate, about the whole future for the Winchester family. It all came crashing down on him and he lashed out at Rose with it. "I don't know who you are and, frankly, I don't care! I was grateful for the help you gave us on that last job, I really was, but so far that hasn't gotten us anywhere! Dean's -- we're -- running out of time! I've got to figure out a way to save my brother and taking time off to go chasing you all over the country is not what I need right now!" His voice trailed off, holding back tears of anger. Rose looked at him in surprise. She expected an angry reaction from Dean but not from Sam. Before she could respond to his outburst, Dean's head popped out the door.
"Uh, Sammy, could you come in here for a sec?"
Stepping back into the house, Sam looked at Dean, inquisitively. Dean put a finger to his mouth, for him to be quiet as he slowly closed the door behind Sam, leaving Rose out on the porch. She looked after them for a second, but too tired to care what was going on, she leaned on the trellis and took another drag from her cigarette. It had been a long two days.
Sam followed Dean into the room, noticing he held the EMF meter in his hand. "Is it the car?" he started to say, then noticed the loud beeping coming from the meter. It didn't matter which way Dean turned it, the needle jumped frantically back and forth, the red lights flashing, the beeping growing louder with every step.
"It's safe here?" Dean asked his brother, his eyes wide, looking around the dust-filled room.
Dean popped his head out the door again. "Uh, Rose? Would you mind coming into the house for just a minute?" he said in a sing-song voice.
After Sam's outburst, and now the nice tone in Dean's voice, Rose was hesitant but obedient. She dropped the cigarette butt and ground it into the concrete porch with the toe of her shoe. Following Dean into the house, he turned and indicated she was to sit on the couch in front of him. She sat.
The brothers stood in front of her, arms crossed. Both now held guns in their hands, but neither were pointed at her. It was Sam who spoke first.
"Who the hell are you?" he asked. "No more games, no aliases, no beating around the bush. Where does all that money come from? What the hell is going on here?"
She nervously turned the ring on her thumb. He noticed the movement of her fingers and she stopped abruptly.
Dean just stood there, arms crossed, the EMF meter still in his left hand, beeping away, his pistol in his right hand. She looked at Sam, over at Dean, then looked away. She didn't like Dean being all quiet like this, Sam taking charge of dealing with her. She didn't like that they were holding guns on her, even if they weren't threatening her with them. It made her even more nervous. For several minutes, no one spoke.
"My full name is Katrina Rose Foster McClure," she finally said. "Katy. Uncle Slim was my uncle -- my dad's uncle, actually. Aunt Rose and Grams are the only family I have, but they don't acknowledge me anymore. Grams only let me come to the funeral 'cause Aunt Rose insisted. I haven't seen any of them in years, but I know Uncle Slim always had people following me, watching my back. Hector... Hector was one of his men. He got too close and he got killed. It was my fault..." her voice trailed off, but the brothers didn't let her off that easy.
"Where did you get all that money, Rose?" Sam asked.
She looked at him as if he should know by now. "The family business, you mean? Look, I don't know where it all comes from and I don't ask, okay?" she said to him. Seeing that her response wasn't good enough, she added, "I know a little about the family business, but not much. Men like Hector, the biker gang, even Rick's old gang all worked for them at one point or another. Uncle Slim only ever trusted his own men to look after me, so that's how I was raised."
"What about your parents?" Sam continued to grill her about her family.
"Dead." She said flatly. Looking at them standing over her, she added, "Mom died when I was a baby. I never knew her. And my Dad…" she looked at Dean accusingly, "My dad was killed when I was a teenager. After that Uncle Slim and Aunt Rose raised me. If you could call it that. They were never around. They just always had men watching me. It was more like prison than anything. I got out as soon as I could."
"What about the ring." Sam's words were more of a statement than a question.
"And this?" Dean added, holding up the EMF meter, still beeping incessantly.
She looked at the odd looking walkman in Dean's hands, realizing what it was, and what it was doing. The thought didn't startle or surprise her. "Growing up, there was this man. This evil, evil man," her voice grew harsh with the words. "He's been following us, killing off my family, one by one, and..."
Sam and Dean exchanged glances. "No, no, no," Sam protested. "We... Dean... He's dead. He can't come after you anymore," Sam tried to reassure her.
She looked at Sam and then at pointedly at Dean, "I know he's dead. But his..." she stopped herself from saying what she was about to say next. Changing the subject, she told them of her family.
"This is the old family house," she finally said. "But no one comes here anymore. Too many painful memories. I had another uncle once, Uncle James. No one talks about it and I'm not supposed to know, but…." she dropped her head to her chest, not wanting to let their family secret out.
"But?" Dean asked, eyebrows raised, waving his gun in her direction to convince her to continue. She eyed the gun cautiously.
"There was a fight over the ring. My great-grandmother was killed – in this house because of it. They said it was Uncle James who did it. But I know better – it was the demon…" she said quietly.
"You mean to tell me there's a malevolent spirit here?" Dean asked, letting his guard down from Rose and going for his bag for his shotgun loaded with rock salt.
"No!" Rose jumped to her feet to stand in front of him, blocking his way to his bag. "It's not malevolent!" she insisted.
Sam had reached into his bag too and had his own shotgun out now. "Rose, you don't know that," he said. His shotgun flew out of his hand, hitting the far wall and he and Dean were thrown onto the couch, Dean's gun flying out of his hand. Pinned to the couch, Sam screamed, "Rose!"
She stood before them in the middle of the room, five white shapes surrounding her, protecting her from them.
"I do know it, Sam," Rose said from behind the curtain of white between her and the brothers. "I know it because they protect me. They're afraid you're going to hurt me."
"We're not…" Dean said, the pressure of something pushing into his chest causing his breathing to become labored.
"We wouldn't…" Sam said at the same time, feeling the same pressure on his chest as Dean.
Rose nodded, "I know you wouldn't hurt me, but they don't," she said. She waved her hand at the figures around her and they disappeared from view. The force holding the brothers down released its hold on them. They jumped up and jumped to her side, unarmed and unable to defend her or themselves.
"Where'd they go?" Sam asked apprehensively looking around the room.
Standing between them, looking small even in heels, Rose touched each brother on the shoulder and guided them to sit with her on the couch with her in the middle. "They're gone," she said. "For now. I sent them away."
As they sat down, Dean banged on the EMF meter in his hand. He held it up and looked at Sam. It had gone silent. Both brothers sat on the edge of the couch, tensed and anxious. Rose leaned back between them, her eyes half closed, exhaustion setting in. Dean looked down at her, more questions in his eyes. She opened her eyes and met his gaze.
"I don't hunt demons," she said in a tired voice. "They hunt me."