Five
Dean awoke to the smell of a damn good breakfast being cooked and he sat up on the couch, rubbing his eyes and looking over at the kitchen. There was a short female who wasn't Delilah and at first Dean thought he was dreaming still, but then again he'd hoped Castiel had been a dream and that had certainly happened. Dean groaned and stretched, popping the stiff muscles in his back and trying to remember what the angel had said to him last night. Castiel had mentioned something about Lilith and the seals and Dean swallowed the sour taste in his mouth. He'd hoped that this case could've been just a normal one, but nothing was ever normal for the Winchesters.
"You hungry sugar?" the woman said, breaking Dean from his trance. Her voice was smooth like silky honey and it felt immediately calming.
"Yeah," Dean nodded and got up, treading to the kitchen in bare feet. He looked down at where he'd sworn he'd seen LeSalle crawling out of his floor, but saw no indication of a handle or anything that could lead to any way of him doing so. Dean was thoroughly convinced now that Sam wasn't the only one going crazy. "I could use some food."
"I'm always up before everyone else anyway," the woman chuckled and motioned for Dean to sit at the kitchen table. He obliged and she poured him a steaming hot cup of coffee. "It only makes sense to head over here before this motley crew is up and about."
"I don't believe we've met yet." Dean smiled; she reminded him of so many people who'd doted over him like they were his mother. He couldn't compare it to anything else.
"I don't believe so either," the woman reached out her hand and shook Dean's. "I'm Loretta May Riggs. I'm in charge of making sure LeSalle and his little family doesn't hurt themselves too badly."
"So you're sort of a live in nanny for adults?" Dean asked.
"You could call it that," Loretta replied. "Except I don't live here, I live in a house about three miles from here in the city itself. I used to live with him though and his family."
"So you've known him awhile?"
"I've known that boy since he was only up to my knee," Loretta smiled fondly at the memory and then turned her attention back to the bacon she was frying. She took two slices of bread and put it in the pan to soak up the grease. "Hard to believe I've been with him that long sometimes. Seems like just yesterday I was rocking him to sleep and now I'm making sure he doesn't leave home without a knife."
"It must be strange," Dean took a sip of his coffee and it slid down his throat so smoothly it was like it wasn't even coffee at all. "Seeing him hunting monsters?"
"It is certainly one of the stranger aspects of my job," Loretta nodded and placed the finished bacon on a plate near the stove. "I take pride in being able to still call him my little boy though even though I'm not his mama."
Dean could relate to LeSalle in that way, both of their mothers had died when they were young. He hadn't even had to ask that to know. LeSalle carried the same look in his eyes that Dean had for years after the fire, the look of young loss. Hearing what Loretta had just told him had only confirmed his theory. He wanted to ask more, mainly to prove he wasn't going utterly insane from last night, but before he could open his mouth other sleep laden voices rang out and he turned his head to see Drew and LeSalle entering the kitchen.
"Aw Loretta you shouldn't have," LeSalle smiled and kissed her cheek. "I was gonna make my own cup a' coffee."
"Deal with it," Loretta laughed and handed him a pastel yellow mug from the cabinet above her head. "Besides you know I make better coffee than your instant coffee any day."
LeSalle chuckled and grabbed another mug for Drew before going over to the coffee machine and pouring some into both cups. Dean studied the man's movements. They were too fluid for someone who'd just woken up and Dean's suspicions arose that LeSalle had in fact, not slept at all. Yet he looked so awake and chipper. Dean had heard of insomniacs, but none that looked like they were ready to horse race up a jagged mountain the next day.
"Dean," LeSalle smiled at the hunter. "I take it that couch wasn't too uncomfortable?"
"Slept like a drunken baby." Dean lied.
"Same for me," LeSalle pulled up a chair next to Drew. "How'd you sleep Drewby?"
Drew groaned in response to the nickname instead of his usual flirty yet embarrassed smile and LeSalle carefully rubbed the small of his back. His cheeks looked ashen, making his freckles stand out even more, and his eyes looked as though they'd sunk into his head. He was also rocking a serious bed head.
"You mean after seven am when I woke up puking my damn guts up or before?" Drew asked his partner and LeSalle chuckled ever so slightly, but kept his voice down.
"Ain't my fault ya can't handle your liquor." LeSalle kissed his cheek and then started to drink his own coffee. Observing them was like looking at on married couple and Dean couldn't help, but find that it was sort of cute. LeSalle showed obvious doting affection for Drew and Drew was the doting bubbly partner who kept LeSalle going. The night before Drew had been hung over he could just see the love bleeding from their eyes.
"Ah shut it." Drew all but gulped his coffee down, hoping to mend the migraine that was forming.
"Here," Delilah stumbled out, not hung over, but clearly tired and threw a bottle of Aleve at Drew. "Take two it'll help."
"Well sleeping beauty emerges," Dean smiled. "Good morning."
"The only thing good about the morning is when it's over." Delilah grumbled, she clearly wasn't a morning person, and reached for a mug and coffee.
The chatter in the kitchen grew and Sam debated joining it, but the younger Winchester's head was spinning from what he wished was the alcohol he'd drank the night before. He was craving blood again and he barely had enough in his flask to suffice for the amount of time they'd be in New Orleans. He was desperate for a hit, but he had to keep to a minimum so Dean wouldn't take notice. Sam's brother didn't know about his escapades with the demon Ruby and Sam was hoping Dean would never find out, but as usual if he wasn't careful things would get bloody real fast, bloodier than before Dean had gone to Hell. Sam took a few small drinks and put the flask away, washing the blood down with water he'd taken to bed with him last night in case of a hangover and he cracked his door open and walked off to join the others for breakfast.
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The television report of another death near the bayou had piqued LeSalle's interest and he'd told everyone they were going immediately. Dean and Sam agreed to go with LeSalle to the crime scene and Delilah had suggested she and Drew stay behind. She thought if too many people went it would tip the cops off that something was up and since the three of them had managed to stay under the cop's radar for so long LeSalle agreed. He didn't need the police on their tail anyway. Dean occupied the bathroom to change and shower and Sam used his room. Both Winchesters made sure they looked FBI level presentable before meeting LeSalle in the front room. LeSalle was dressed in a perfectly tailored suit that looked almost illegal on him and shoes that would've been perfect for a best man in a wedding. He had a fake silver badge on his waist and Delilah was straightening his tie for him when the brothers walked out.
"I swear you'd die without me," Delilah rolled her eyes and made sure the tie was completely straight. "You can't even make your tie straight?"
"Lila I can't even make myself straight," LeSalle smirked and laughed. "What makes you think my tie will go on straight either?"
LeSalle looked up to see Sam and Dean, armed with their fake IDs and badges and the Impala's keys jingling in Dean's pocket.
"We ready to go boys?" LeSalle asked and the brothers nodded before following out front into the muggy morning air and to their cars. LeSalle fired up the engine on his Fastback and pulled out of the driveway, he idled for a moment waiting for Dean to follow him. Dean started up the Impala and turned the radio up a little before following LeSalle down the road and into town.
"Man that Delilah chick is feisty in the morning," Dean commented. "They say the best are though."
"For once Dean can you think with your upstairs brain?" Sam sighed. "We're on a case, not hitting it and quitting it to satisfy your libido."
"She likes me," Dean smirked. "She just doesn't want to admit it."
"If you enjoy getting castrated by her overprotective best friend and basically brother," Sam chuckled in disbelief. "Feel free to cross LeSalle by all means, he's a seasoned hunter and I'm sure he knows what he's doing with a knife."
Dean swallowed hard and let the subject drop for the moment. Sam laughed as they passed the mile marker sign leading to the city.
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Passing through the heart of New Orleans was like passing through a carnival house and somehow Dean and Sam could feel the energy even within the confines of their car. They smelled fresh pastries and simmering gumbo for various dinners even through the air conditioning vents and they heard music even at that obscure hour of the morning. The brothers couldn't understand why LeSalle hadn't told them more about the city they were staying in for the time being. There was clearly life that the Winchesters couldn't have even imagined and it felt as though they were passing through a fairy tale and weren't able to stop and smell the flowers. The hunt came first though and Dean grimly realized that after they passed out of the brightly colored buildings and to the gritty looking docks on the river.
LeSalle threw his car into park and Dean pulled the Impala up beside him and they all got out. The smell of rotting fish guts lingered in the air and it almost made Dean want to throw up his breakfast, but LeSalle seemed unfazed as he made his way over to the taped off crime scene. Sam and Dean followed close behind him and tried not to breathe in.
"You think the fish is bad try smelling this boat," one of the police officers took notice of Sam and Dean's faces. "You two are either new to this job or haven't been here before. But you, you seem like a seasoned veteran?"
"Damn right," LeSalle smiled and flashed his fake badge. "Born and raised here, left for the job. I'm Agent Redley mind if me and my associates Agents Hanson and Langley take a look inside? We were called in after the third death and this here would be the fourth correct?"
"Correct," the officer nodded and motioned the brothers and LeSalle inside. "Damn shame too this fella lived a normal life ya know. I knew him well. His name was Jimmy Keats and he basically kept to himself. I don't think he had any enemies."
"Sometimes ya just never know," LeSalle ducked under the doorway of the boat and Sam and Dean followed him. The air reeked of decaying flesh and something else the brothers couldn't quite identify, but that LeSalle knew all too well. He kept it to himself though. "Any evidence pointing towards a suspect yet?"
"None yet," the officer pulled back a curtain to show them where the body had been. "M.E. just took him up now. She took one look at him though and she shivered like a cat in water. She said he looked like he'd seen a bat outta Hell."
Dean swallowed hard. What did this guy know about Hell?
"Well whatever he saw," LeSalle stopped in front of the chair Jimmy had been in. "We'll surely help you find it. Is there any evidence that seems compelling enough to maybe give ya'll a clue?"
"Besides this guy's extensive porn collection," the officer shook his head. "Nothing, of course if anything changes..."
"Call me." LeSalle handed the officer his fake business card and the policeman nodded and left them to their investigating. Dean immediately started to scour the area around the chair where the body had been as Sam went around to the front of the boat looking for monstrous DNA of any kind. LeSalle stood and stared at the chair, ignoring where Dean was and watching the scene play out in front of him in his head. He saw a slight struggle and the ghost responsible reaching into the man's chest and pulling out his heart in a single clean swipe. That was what the blood was from. This was the second instance of a ghost becoming powerful enough to physically hurt a human. That was unheard of, even in New Orleans.
"Salle," Dean broke him out his trance. Dean's breath had gotten stuck in his throat and for a moment he could've sworn he'd seen LeSalle's eyes change to a purple-ish color. He played it off as a trick of the light though and called out his name. "You good?"
"What," LeSalle looked over at a confused Dean who he wasn't ready to explain his little mental black out to. "Yeah I'm good. I was just observing."
Dean didn't buy it at first, but when he came up with no other logical explanation for what he'd supposedly seen he accepted the answer and nodded before pushing past LeSalle to where Sam was. Sam shook his head in disappointment at finding nothing and Dean sighed in frustration. LeSalle met the two out on the dock near the boat and all of them were grateful for the fresh fishy air. They'd take it any day over musty stale dead man stench.
"What if we're not looking for something physical," LeSalle kept his words very coded lest the police overheard him. "But more invisible to the naked eye."
Dean and Sam waved thanks to the policemen and started off towards their vehicles.
"You mean like a spirit?" Dean asked.
"Precisely," LeSalle said. "I know what you boys are thinking, that something like that couldn't hurt a person, but something strange is going on around here even for New Orleans and we gotta figure out what's hurting my town before it gets worse."
"I agree," Sam nodded. "If we're dealing with ghosts I'm gonna need records of the deaths in this city."
"You sure you're up for that kinda headache?" LeSalle asked. "That'll go back years, centuries even."
"Well if we can try to find a connection it might not," Sam explained. "One between the places, the victims, I don't know something like that."
"Sounds good," LeSalle said. "The local library is two blocks over you can't miss it. I have some things I have to do in town today. Hope ya don't mind meeting me back at the house later on?"
"Not at all," Sam answered. "C'mon Dean."
Dean watched LeSalle as he got into his car and started it up, driving away from the docks and down the street before disappearing to the right. Something about the amount of running around alone he was doing didn't sit right with Dean, but who was he to judge? The guy had a life other than hunting and he was probably a little busy now and again during jobs. Dean started up the Impala and drove off the other way towards the library.
Deacon Barnes sat in his pickup truck near the row of boats dragged up on land and dry docked. His eyes had followed LeSalle first and then Sam and Dean's Impala as he debated which of them to follow. He started up his truck and inconspicuously rolled down the street following after LeSalle's Mustang.
Reviews are appreciated!
Lots of potential questions here? Dean and Delilah potential hook up? Will Dean figure out LeSalle's secret before anyone else? The real reason behind the hunt? Will anyone get answers?
More to come soon to answer these questions as we go!