A/N: Hey, everyone! I know I made you wait over a week for this one, but I made it extra long to compensate! As always, I do not own Supernatural, only MJ. Enjoy and please review!
Dean and MJ sat in the motel after picking up Sammy from Sabrina's house. Sammy was making use of the motel laundry facilities. Apparently Sabrina's aunt had multiple dogs that were very fond of slobbering all over Sam and his freshly laundered, cheap suit. Sam had filled his brother and siser in on the drive back, letting them know he hadn't really found anything unusual there. The aunt confirmed what was in Sabrina's file and what Sabrina herself had told MJ.
"Well, just because he didn't find anything doesn't mean she's not our guy…or girl." Dean said, sensing MJ's uneasiness with the situation. She was more than a little uncertain about Sabrina being their gypsy. She hated the thought of confronting her to begin with, but without solid proof MJ was positively dreading it.
Dean's cell rang and he pulled it from his pocket. MJ grinned wickedly at the look of relief on Dean's face when Bad Company played rather than some ungodly love song. It was so much more fun to play this game with Dean when he had no clue how to check what his ringtone was set to.
"Yeah?" Dean answered the phone and quickly made his way out front, closing the door behind him. "Jenna. How's it going?"
"You tell me, Dean. I haven't heard from you in a while. I assumed no news is good news, right? Then I get this fax from a high school in Ohio telling me that MJ has been enrolled as a student. That the kind of thing that maybe you'd want to let me know about?" She asked, clearly more than a little annoyed.
Dean ran a hand through his hair, pacing back and forth in front of the motel room door. "Yeah, I meant to call you, things just got kind of crazy, you know?"
"Are you planning to stay there for long?" Jenna asked.
"Um, we're really not sure yet. Sam found a job and uh we thought MJ could go to school as long as we're here."
"What kind of work? And before you lie, I already checked and there are no nuclear power plants within a 100 mile radius of Farmersville, so I know you guys aren't working an outage." Dean sighed. That had been his reasoning for moving around so much when he first picked up MJ. He had told Jenna that he and Sam worked the month long stretches at nuclear power plants, when they shut down production to clean and do maintenance work.
"Sammy picked up this adjunct teaching gig at the local community college. It's for the summer semester so we're here at least until mid-August." Just keep digging yourself deeper, Dean, he thought, teeth clenched. "We figured MJ could finish out the last month of the school year here."
"Mm-hm," Jenna said, not sounding at all convinced. "I think it's time we have another face to face meeting. MJ's last day of school is next Wednesday. Could you be in Chicago by next Friday?" It was really more of a directive than a question.
"Yeah, I think we could swing that. No problem." Dean said, desperate to get back on good terms with Jenna.
"Okay. I'll see you guys at my office Friday at 1 o'clock."
"Yes, ma'am," Dean answered.
"And, Dean, you have to let me know when you make big decisions like this. Before I find out from a fax."
"You got it."
"Thanks. I'll see you Friday." She disconnected, but Dean didn't lower the phone from his ear. He stood there a moment, playing their short conversation over in his head. What if he'd hurt his chances of keeping MJ? He hadn't even thought about calling Jenna when they enrolled MJ in school. Man that woman didn't miss a trick.
"What's up?" Sam asked coming up behind Dean, damp suit folded over his arm.
Dean snapped the phone shut. "That was Jenna. She's pissed that I didn't let her know that I enrolled MJ in school and that we're planning to stay in Farmersville for the summer."
Sam looked at his brother, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "But we're not staying for the summer."
"Well, that's what I told her." Dean said throwing his hands in the air. "I was so nervous, trying to cover and come up with a believable story I actually managed to make it worse! Now when we leave here, hopefully in the next day or two, I have to spin another bull shit tale as to why our plans changed." Dean resumed his pacing. "This chick is quick, man. I mean, we lie to people pretty much every time we open our mouths. She questions me and I just freeze up." Dean shook his head, disgusted with himself.
"Dude, calm down. I'm sure it's not that bad."
"Not that bad? She wants us in Chicago next Friday!" Dean practically shouted.
"Dean, it's probably just to check in. Besides, everything's going fine. I mean, you enrolled her in school, that's a good thing, right? I really don't think she's asking you to come to Chicago so she can take MJ away."
Dean gave Sam a long look that said he was worried about exactly that happening.
"Really, Dean. I don't think we've got anything to worry about." Sam assured him.
Dean stopped pacing, his hand on the doorknob. "Look," he turned to his brother, "Don't say anything to MJ about any of this, okay? Let's just wrap up this case and get the hell out of here." He turned the knob and pushed, meeting resistance. He gave Sam a questioning look as he put his shoulder into the door and pushed harder. The door flew open and MJ fell back, landing sprawled out on the floor. She looked up at her brothers, knowing she was busted, but not caring.
"Are we in trouble?" She asked, unable to keep the fear from creeping into her voice.
"You were eaves dropping?' Dean asked. He and Sam stood in front of the door, looking down at their sister sprawled out on the floor.
She scoffed, lifting herself up on her elbows. "You really have no concept of how loud you truly are, do you?" She asked.
Dean took a step forward and extended his hand to her. She took it and was hauled to her feet.
"Jenna just wants to see us next week. Just to check in." he said moving toward the table and packing the newly cleaned guns back in the duffel bag. "Nothing to worry about." He added, not looking up.
MJ crossed her arms, staring at her brother. "Gee, that was convincing." She said, clearly perturbed with Dean's pathetic explanation. When Dean made no response, she walked toward him. "She's pissed, isn't she?" She demanded.
"Don't worry about it." He said, swinging the now full bag over his shoulder and walking to the door. "I'm taking these to the car."
MJ sat down at the table, staring down at her hands. Dean was worried, she could tell. Whatever Jenna had said obviously had Dean thinking that Jenna was having second thoughts about naming him MJ's guardian. If that was true, then she could kiss this life goodbye. Her stomach turned at the thought of going back to a foster home. She had only spent that one night in foster care, when they found out Wendy was missing. She made it through that night by focusing on Dean's promise that he would be there the very next morning to get her. The home itself was fine. The couple that took her in was nice enough. But it wasn't home. And she knew that she simply would not survive the next three years living with strangers.
While her certainty that she could not manage living her remaining teenage years in foster care was just as strong now as it was that horrific night, her reasons for dreading it were very different. Six months ago she was dead set on being left alone. She took care of herself. Sure, she had missed her mother and worried about her, but she also had hope that she would come back. She had bode her time, and realized after the first few weeks that she could get by on her own until her mother was able to come home to her.
Now, after traveling with Dean and Sam for half a year, she couldn't imagine going back to that life, whether Wendy returned or not. Her brothers were home to her, and the thought of being forced to leave them was more than she could bear. In fact, nothing frightened her more.
She didn't even realize she was crying until a tear splashed onto her hand. She quickly wiped her eyes and looked up to see Sam watching her intently.
She stood, walking to the bed and grabbing her bag. "I should get ready. We've got work to do." She said. As she made to walk past Sam toward the bathroom he grabbed her arm gently to stop her progress.
She looked up at him. "What?"
"Listen. You aren't going back there. Dean would never let that happen. And neither would I." He said sincerely.
MJ looked down and nodded, wriggling from his grip and escaping into the bathroom. She blew out a breath, leaning back against the closed door, before the tears started coming again. She didn't even try to stop them this time.
SPNSPNSPNSPNSPNSPNSPNSPN
"Okay, so what's the plan?" Dean asked, returning to the motel room. Sam was seated on the edge of the bed, flipping through Sabrina's file for the hundredth time.
Sam didn't look up. He shrugged. "You tell me," He answered shortly.
Dean gave Sam a quizzical look. "Well, the dance is tonight. We could try to confront her there."
Sam shook his head. "She's not going to the dance, Dean. MJ told us that earlier." He said, a definite note of agitation in his voice.
"What's with the attitude? Are you PMSing or something?"
Sam finally looked up, fixing his older brother with a glare. "Could you have run out of here any faster?" He asked.
"What the hell are you talking about?" He jerked his thumb over his shoulder. "I was loading the car."
Sam stood, taking a step toward Dean. "You were avoiding MJ's questions. You knew she was upset and you didn't want to deal with it so you bolted." He accused.
Dean just stared back at Sam for a moment. "I told her not to worry. What else do you want me to say?" He asked, running a hand over his face in frustration. "You want me to tell her that everything is going to be fine? I can't do that, Sammy, 'cause I don't know if it is!"
"You can't just run away, Dean. You want her to trust you and talk to you. It works both ways."
Dean took a step toward Sam, jaw clenched, hands in fists at his sides. "What the fuck does that mean?"
"It means if you put up a wall and keep everything bottled up inside, she's going to follow suit."
"Oh, you want me to dump all my crap on her. Yeah, that won't send her running out the fucking door!" Dean shouted, letting out a humorless laugh.
"That's not what I meant. "
"Then what did you mean, Sammy?" Dean yelled, now practically toe to toe with Sam.
"You could see that she was nervous. Upset. You should have comforted her, reassured her that she isn't going anywhere."
"First of all, I've tried that shit and she still won't tell me what's going on in that head of hers! Second of all, I'm not going to make her promises I can't keep!" Dean said, jabbing a finger into Sam's chest.
Sam momentarily forgot his anger toward Dean, surprised by Dean's response. "What do you mean 'promises you can't keep'?"
"I have no idea what Jenna or the Judge or whoever gets the final say is gonna decide. I can't control that."
Sam could hear the anguish and helplessness plainly in Dean's words.
"Dean, if we went to Chicago next week and Jenna said MJ couldn't stay with us, what would you do?"
"I'd run with her." Dean answered without missing a beat.
"Is there any set of circumstances where you would allow her to be taken from us and sent to a foster home or back to Wendy?"
Dean shook his head, sitting down on the edge of the bed, eyes on the floor. "They'd have to kill me first." He said quietly but with conviction.
Sam took a seat on the other bed, across from Dean. "That doesn't sound like she's going anywhere to me." Sam said.
Dean looked up at his younger brother, but didn't respond.
"That's all you need to say to her, Dean." Sam gave his brother a small smile.
Dean shook his head and sighed heavily. "Man, I wish Dad were here."
SPNSPNSPNSPNSPNSPNSPNSPN
MJ was combing her hair in front of the steamy bathroom mirror when her cell phone rang. She checked the display, but didn't recognize the number.
"Hello?"
"Hi, MJ. It's Carrie. Spencer gave me this number. I hope you don't mind."
"Carrie, hi." MJ was surprised to be hearing from the girl who had barely said two words to her since she met her. Plus, she talked to Spencer? "No, it's fine. What's up?"
"It's Sabrina." Carrie said quietly.
MJ's heart skipped. "What about her?"
"Well…" Carrie started. She seemed reluctant to continue.
"Carrie, tell me what's wrong." MJ ordered.
"She seemed really upset after school and when I asked her what was wrong she said something about you and Spencer. She really likes Spencer, you know. She has for, like, ever. But she was really mad at him today. She said he'd regret picking you over her. I didn't really know what she was talking about, but then I saw Spencer and he looked…panicked. I asked him for your number and he sort of told me about you and your brothers. Said I should watch my back."
"Where is Spencer now?" MJ asked urgently.
"I don't know." She paused. "Do you think there's some kind of epidemic of crazy going around?"
"Do you know if Sabrina went home?" MJ asked, ignoring Carrie's question.
"She said she was going to the dance. Something about getting to Spencer. I think she's really losing it."
"Carrie, thanks for letting me know. I gotta go."
"Wait, so it's true? You and your brothers are private investigators or something?"
"Look I can't really explain right now. I'll talk to you later. Bye." She snapped her phone shut and burst out of the bathroom. Sam and Dean looked up, taking in her wild expression. Dean stood.
"What?" He asked her, knowing something was up.
"Sabrina's going after Spencer." She said as she hurriedly rifled through her duffel bag for the one semi-formal dress she owned. "We need to get to the dance, now."
"I thought she wasn't going to be at the dance." Dean said.
MJ ran back to the bathroom. "I'll explain on the way!" She shouted, slamming the bathroom door and changing into her dress at record speed. She pulled her still damp hair up in a bun and ran back out, grabbing her strappy black sandals and putting them on while hopping out the door behind Sam and Dean.
"What's with the dress?" Dean asked as they got into the Impala. "It's not like you're actually going to dance."
"It's called blending in, Dean. I don't need to draw any more attention to myself than I already have."
"Okay, I'll find Principal Cole and clue him in. You guys look for Sabrina and keep her away from Spencer." Sam said.
When they arrived at the school, the dance was nearly half over. The gym was decorated with crepe paper and balloons, all in silver and gold. MJ took a moment to cringe at the clashing colors, wondering whose idea this had been. Dean scanned the gym. Some kids were gathered around in groups, talking and drinking punch. Others were grinding on the dance floor, earning them disapproving looks from the chaperones. The siblings split up at the gym entrance, Sam to look for Spencer's father, Dean and MJ to look for Spencer and Sabrina.
MJ followed Dean through the crowd of kids, keeping her eyes peeled for Sabrina. She spotted Warren, slow dancing with a blonde girl who she assumed was his girlfriend, and made her way toward him. She tapped him on the shoulder, earning herself an annoyed look from the girlfriend.
"Sorry." She said to the girlfriend, before turning to Warren. "Have you seen Spencer Cole? It's kind of an emergency."
Warren gave her a confused look. "You, too, huh?" He asked, almost frowning.
"Me, too, what?" MJ asked, confused.
"That little blonde girl…Carrie, she was looking for Spencer earlier." He pointed over his shoulder. I saw him by the bleachers with some of the guys from the team." He said. "But I think he took off."
"Carrie?" MJ asked, now completely baffled. "Um-okay. Thanks." She started to walk away, trying to figure out what the hell Carrie was even doing here, let alone looking for Spencer, when Warren called out to her.
"Hey." She turned back. The girl was still looking at her, but no longer looked annoyed, only curious. "I'll tell you what I told her." He leaned in closer. "You could both do better than Spencer Cole." He gave her a small smile, before turning back and wrapping his arms around his date's waist.
MJ just shook her head, continuing on her way, trying to catch up to Dean who was up ahead, scanning the swaying bodies on the other side of the dance floor. She silently berated Carrie for coming here and getting in the middle of this. It was dangerous and she could get hurt. She shouldn't be trying to play the hero.
As MJ closed in on Dean she felt a sharp pinch across her scalp at the crown of her head. "Ow!" She yelped, reaching up to adjust her clip, thinking maybe she had wound her hair too tightly into it. When she reached for the clip, though, her hand met a loose clump of hair instead. She grasped it firmly, intending to secure it back into the clip. When she pulled the hair upward to refasten it, she felt no resistance. This was when she realized that the hair was no longer attached to her head. She pulled her trembling hand in front of her face, saw the massive clump of hair in her fist, and nearly shrieked.
"Dean!" She rasped, unable to control her voice. Still clutching the bundle of hair firmly in her fist, she closed the distance to Dean and yanked desperately at the sleeve of his jacket.
He turned and took in her panicked expression. "What happened?" He shouted over the music and din of chattering voices around them.
She held up the fistful of hair for his inspection. "My hair!" She managed.
Feeling another pinch, this time at the nape of her neck, she reached up and gingerly removed the clip, and another chunk of hair along with it. She whimpered, clutching onto the hair in both her hands as Dean grabbed her shoulders and steered her out into the hallway.
"What the hell is happening?" He asked her.
"Sabrina." MJ managed. "She's jealous because of Spencer."
Sam had no trouble finding the principal, but convincing him to help them was another matter.
"Mr. Cole, we need to find Sabrina Foster and get her out of this building before someone else gets hurt!" Sam was now pleading with the man.
"No!" He shouted, abandoning his post at the refreshments table and stepping back toward the bleachers. He took a step closer to Sam and lowered his voice. "My son told me about you. You're a phony. I oughta have you arrested right now. Just get out of my school."
"Mr. Cole, please, the students are in danger."
"From what?" he spat, his eyes wide with anger. "The gypsies? You should be ashamed of yourselves, filling innocent kids' heads with nonsense! Now get out! I won't ask you again."
Sam stood his ground. "Mr. Cole, your son is going to be next if we don't stop her. Do you understand me? Sabrina is going after Spencer."
MJ continued to pull handfuls of hair out of her scalp, wailing all the while. Dean tried helplessly to calm her down. She was sitting on a bench in the deserted hallway, Dean hovering over her, angry and disgusted.
"It's okay. We'll find her and stop this. Okay? Just try to stay calm."
"MJ!" They both turned to see Carrie, running toward them from the darkened corridor to MJ's left. Carrie's lip was bleeding and she had the beginnings of a bruise on her right cheek. She was cradling her left wrist, holding it to her chest.
She skidded to a stop next to Dean. "Are you okay?" She asked, her eyes widening at the sight of MJ's hair lying across her lap in a heap.
"Are you?" Dean asked her, examining her face and torn shirt.
She waved off his concern. "I'm fine, but we have to hurry. Sabrina has Spencer in the library. He's tied up and she's going to…"
They waited for her to finish, but she couldn't seem to bring herself to finish the sentence.
MJ's stomach turned.
"Show us where!" Dean demanded, grabbing MJ and pulling her along beside him.
Carrie ran, leading them to the pitch black corridor outside the library. The doors were closed, but Dean could see a light was on toward the back of the large room. He signaled for MJ and Carrie to stay behind him, before slowly opening the door and stepping quietly inside, gun drawn. They made their way through the rows of books toward the pale light shining from the back. As they neared the back, a faint moaning met their ears. When only one shelf of books separated them from the source of the noise, Dean signaled for MJ and Carrie to stay where they were. He eased carefully around the side of the book shelf and noiselessly peaked around the edge.
Spencer, looked up at him, wide eyed and terrified, his arms and legs tied to the chair he was seated in, only able to mumble beneath the gag in his mouth. Dean scanned the small area quickly, saw no one else, and approached Spencer, ready to cut him free.
As soon as Dean worked the gag free Spencer freaked. "It's her! It's her! She tricked me into coming in here and now she's gonna cut my balls off!" He shouted.
Dean placed a hand over Spencer's mouth. "Shut it!" He ordered in a harsh whisper. "You're gonna be fine. Geeze." He removed his hand, returning to the ropes securing Spencer's arms. Spencer kept his mouth shut this time, but was searching the room around them, his head jerking from side to side; clearly afraid she was coming back any second.
"By the way, thanks for keepin' quiet about us. I think the whole freakin' town knows who we are now." Dean said sarcastically, as he pulled the ropes free from Spencer's arms and began to work on the ones binding his legs. "Where is Sabrina?" He asked.
"Sabrina?" Spencer asked, pulling the rope away from his left leg and standing up, rubbing at his wrists. "Sabrina was never here."
Dean just looked at him for a moment.
"Well, then who tied you up?" Dean asked.
"Back away from him, Dean." Carrie said, coming around the corner. Dean's heart plummeted into his stomach when he took in Carrie, her arm crushing MJ's throat, a large, silver knife poised over MJ's stomach, the tip pushed into the black fabric of her dress. MJ tried to keep her breaths shallow so the knife wouldn't puncture her skin. It was a strange scene. Despite Carrie being much smaller than MJ, the rage on her face, and the ease with which she held the knife to MJ made her seem like the most dangerous thing they'd ever encountered.
"Carrie, what are you doing?" Dean asked.
"Drop the knife." Carrie said, her eyes trained on Dean. "Now!" She pressed the tip of the knife into MJ's abdomen, piercing her skin.
MJ cried out, but bit her lip, trying to muffle it.
"Okay, just relax." Dean said, holding his hands in the air. He slowly lowered the knife to the floor at his feet.
"Kick it over here." Carrie ordered. Dean obeyed, pushing the knife with the toe of his boot, sliding it over toward Carrie.
Carrie turned to Spencer. "Get back in the chair."
Spencer just stood there a moment, staring at Carrie. Then he suddenly turned and bolted in the opposite direction.
"Dili chin kar." The words rolled off Carrie's tongue like a well-rehearsed song. No sooner had they left her lips than Spencer was writhing on the floor in pain, his hands grasping at the crotch of his pants, where blood was soaking his jeans, spreading rapidly over the denim. Spencer screamed out in agony.
"You don't have to do this, Carrie." Dean said, careful to keep his voice calm and even.
"No?" Carrie asked, the twisted smile on her face, making her look even more deranged. "It's justice. They had it coming, every last one of them."
"It's not for you to punish them. You can't play God."
Carrie let out a harsh laugh. "God? God does not believe in justice! God allows people to do terrible things to other people and get away with it! I'm simply restoring the balance."
"Balance?" Dean asked.
Carrie nodded. "Where I come from, people are punished for doing wrong. And the punishment fits the crime."
"Oh, yeah? Where is that?" Dean asked. He needed to keep her talking, distract her. That was the extent of his plan. He had no clue how he was going to free MJ and get her and the Idiot Stick who was bleeding on the floor away from this crazy person before she hurled another curse at them.
"We never hurt anyone. We minded our business, supported ourselves. But people didn't want us in their town. We were too different. So they burned all of our tents and wagons. Who cares if there were a few gypsies still inside? No great loss, right?" Dean saw tears swimming in her eyes. The hand holding the knife was trembling. She took a deep breath. "My mother was killed. The others, the ones who lived, they couldn't keep me because I was tainted. I had suffered a great loss, making me marked. Unclean. They sent me to this pathetic town to live with a grandmother who I had never met. I've been here for five years. For five years, I shoved it away inside. I held back while they ran amuck, with no consequences."
"And then they pulled a Carrie on you and the gloves came off."
"I'm just getting started." Carrie said, her face now alight with excitement. "And I can't have you getting in the way."