A/N: I don't know if I'm 100% satisfied with this chapter, but I'm not sure what else to do with it. As always, your reviews are always appreciated!
On an unrelated note: SHERLOCK! For those of you who watch it – who's loved it, who's hated it, who's excited for the next episode and who's not ready for another hiatus?!
Disclaimer: I own nothing except a few characters.
St. Louis, MO:
A girl is tied to a chair and has obviously been tortured. She is covered in blood and struggling.
"Did she look familiar to anyone else?" Jess asked, her brow wrinkling in thought.
"A little," David admitted. "But it was really quick, and it's dark."
Someone pulls a knife. Outside, police officers and a S.W.A.T. team creep towards the house. As they walk inside, blood can be seen on the wall. They find the girl alive, and when one team member releases the bond on one arm, she points frantically the way her attacker went. The team moves that way.
"Thank gawd, someone who isn't useless in a rescue situation," Cassandra breathed out.
"Well she's not panicking. Definitely good," Brady agrees.
"Freeze!" one team member says to the figure in the window, raising his gun. "Don't move! Drop the knife! Keep your hands where I can see them!" They continue giving him orders and he slowly moves to face them.
It's Dean.
"What?!" Nobody was really clear who said it, they were too busy staring at the screen.
"It must have been a monster," Brady determined.
"But the way she was screaming –" Lizzie bit her lip.
"It could've been a monster in disguise?" Cassandra added. "Or maybe one of them was possessed?"
"It's possible," David pondered. "I mean, it doesn't add up to see several hunts where Dean has saved someone and then just see him attack someone here. And that's the whole point, or at least that's what he said when they were hunting the wendigo."
"It definitely wasn't Dean. He spends way too much time trying to save people to just turn like that," Jess said adamantly.
Lizzie nodded. "What happened though, that he would let himself get caught like that?"
After thinking about it for a moment, Jess frowned. "It's possible to torture a demon, right? When they were hunting the last one, they burned it with holy water. So maybe Dean is trying to get information and a neighbour heard screaming and called the police?"
"Or Dean was possessed into torturing the girl so that he would have to go on the run," Cassandra suggested.
"I don't know… I think the demons were mostly told to keep their distance from them for a bit," Brady said hesitantly.
"That seems weird. Why did they go through all that trouble if not to attack them?" Jess asked.
"I'm not sure. I didn't last much longer than the wendigo hunt."
"And I don't think any of the demons possessing us were high enough clearance to know anything…" Cassandra tapped her lips with her finger.
"They could be waiting for something," David suggested.
"Like what?" Lizzie rolled her eyes. "Why would a demon have to wait?"
"I don't know," David said, exasperated, throwing his hands up. "I just know it's not Dean just doing it for shits and giggles."
Lizzie sighed, "I know."
"Thank you," Mary spoke up, after a moment. At their slightly confused looks, Mary continued, "for not giving up on Dean the moment it looked bad."
"He didn't give us a good impression while we were alive, but seeing him here, and taking care of Sam and seeing everything that he's done… It's just different," Cassandra said, everyone else nodding.
"And when I first met Dean, he seemed lonely and lost, not like some psychopath," Jess added. "Sure, he broke into the apartment, but he also knew his brother could handle it, and at this point I'm pretty sure that's normal for them."
Mary laughed. "That is true." A pause. "I'm not going to tell you if you're right or wrong on the demon or monster theories, I don't want to give anything away. And please, don't stop with the theories! It's wonderful to see you work. However, I do want you to know that this is going to be a hard case for you. Try to be patient.
The students knew from the previous cases that Mary was not going to be coerced into giving up answers, her belief being that there was a time and a place for them to learn everything they were going to.
"Well, let's see what this is all about then," David suggested, and everyone turned their attention back to the T.V.
One Week Earlier:
Sam and Dean pull up to a gas station. "All right," Dean says. "I figure we'd hit Tucumcari by lunch, then head south, hit Bisbee by midnight."
"That's a pretty long drive, isn't it?" Brady questioned. "Some five hundred miles?"
"Not twelve hours' worth though," David frowned.
"Unless they're having a late lunch," Cassandra suggested.
David shrugged. "Possible."
He looks at Sam, who isn't paying attention to him. "… Sam wears women's underwear."
David wolf-whistled.
"Nope," Jess grinned.
"That was something I didn't need to know about," Brady claimed, holding his hands to his ears.
"But we did," Lizzie smirked.
"I'm listening, I'm just busy," Sam touches his stylus to his phone, going through emails.
"Busy doing what?" Dean gets out of the car.
"Reading emails."
"Emails from who?"
"From my friends at Stanford."
Jess smiled, "I'm so glad he keeps in touch."
"I guess. We're not there though," David said. "What's the point?" Lizzie elbowed him in the ribs.
"Well Becky, Zach, Rachel, Tom, Mike, and a few others might disagree," Jess argued, sticking out her tongue at David. "He made a lot of friends."
David sighed. "And I thought we were best friends."
"Nah man, that was me," Brady teased. "You know, aside from the whole possession thing," he trailed off.
"You're kidding. You still keep in touch with your college buddies?" Dean picks up the gas nozzle and takes it to the back of the car to fill it.
"Why not?"
"Well, what exactly do you tell 'em? You know, about where you've been, what'cha been doing." He comes up and leans against the passenger side door.
"That would be a great conversation," Cassandra nodded. She coughed, "Oh, you know, I just hunt ghosts and wendigos and demons with my brother," she said in her best Sam impression.
David, Brady, and Lizzie sniggered, while Jess and Mary tried not to laugh.
"I tell 'em I'm on a road trip with my big brother. I tell 'em I needed some time off after Jess."
"Oh, so you lie to them."
"No. I just don't tell them… everything."
"Yeah, that's – that's called lying. Hey man, I get it, telling the truth is far worse."
"So what am I supposed to do? Just cut everybody out of my life?" Dean shrugs. "You're serious?"
"Look, it sucks, but… a job like this, you can't get too close to people."
"It's such a lonely job," Jess said, frowning. "I can see why he wanted out. But at least he has Dean with him."
"Yeah, he's pretty lucky," Lizzie agreed, a slight bitterness to her voice.
"Does everyone hunt with someone?" Cassandra asked.
Mary shrugged slightly. "It's a good idea to have some sort of backup. Things can get pretty nasty, as you've seen. There are some though, who just don't work well with others, don't trust other people or just don't like other people. And you definitely need someone you trust on this job."
"You're kind of anti-social, you know that?"
"Yeah, whatever."
Sam's phone chimes. "Gawd."
Dean leans into the window. "What?"
"This email from this girl, Rebecca Warren, one of those friends of mine." The email reads:
hey sam / wanted to update you; wasn't sure if you'd heard the news. zach was arrested for killing his gf. sounds crazy, I know – but he's charged with murder, cops say they have dna, fingerprints, all kinds of evidence…/ he didn't do it! / this all feels so unreal. / just thought you'd like to know
"Oh my gawd, that's terrible!" Cassandra said sadly.
"Poor Zach! He couldn't have done it though! He would never!" Lizzie bit her lip.
"If they have all that evidence though, they have a pretty clear case," Brady stated. "I can't see him as a killer either. I wonder if he was framed? Maybe that's why Dean was seen in the house – he was framed too?"
Jess suddenly gasped and went rigid. "Could that have been Becky at the beginning?" she whispered, horror lining her words. "After all, if she's emailing Sam, then it seems like he'll go to see her, and the girl did look familiar…"
"You might be right…" David furrowed his brows. "Jesus, I hope not."
"She hot?" Dean asks.
Sam ignores the question. "I went to school with her, and her brother Zach, she said Zach's been charged with murder," he says instead, disbelief in his voice. "He's been arrested for killing his girlfriend, Rebecca says he didn't do it. But sounds like the cops have a pretty good case."
"Dude, what kind of people are you hanging out with?"
"No man, I know Zach," Sam cuts in defensively. "He's no killer."
"Well maybe you know Zach as well as he knows you," Dean points out.
"No, Zach is definitely not a killer," Jess was adamant.
"They're in St. Louis. We're going."
Dean grimaces. "Look, sorry about your buddy, okay, but this does not sound like our kind of problem."
"It is our problem. They're my friends."
"St. Louis is four hundred miles behind us, Sam." They stare at each other. Next, Dean is turning the Impala back up the road they just came from, ignoring a stop sign on the way.
"I'm so glad Dean is a pushover for Sam. He needs to be there for Becky," Cassandra murmured.
The door opens to reveal Sam and Dean. Sam smiles.
"Oh my gawd, Sam!" Rebecca says happily.
"She probably really misses him," Jess sighed. "I forget that it wasn't just our lives that were messed up."
"Same," Brady said. "I wish it didn't have to be like this," he continued wistfully.
"Well if it isn't little Becky," Sam replies.
"You know what you can do with that 'Little Becky' crap." She's smiling though, and they hug.
"I got your email," Sam tells her.
"I didn't think that you would come here."
Dean, tired of being left out of the conversation, steps forward and introduces himself.
"We're here to help, whatever we can do." Rebecca invites them in.
"Nice place," Dean praises.
"It's my parents'. I was just crashing here for the long weekend when everything happened. I decided to take the semester off. I'm gonna stay until Zach's free."
"Where are your folks?" Sam asks.
"They live in Paris for half the year, so they're on their way home now for the trial. Do you guys want a beer or something?"
Dean smiles, "Hey –"
"No thanks," Sam cuts him off, staring at him. "So, tell us what happened."
"Well, um, Zach came home and he found Emily tied to a chair and she was beaten up and bloody and she wasn't breathing, and so he called 9-1-1 and the police, they showed up and – and they arrested him. But the thing is, the only way that Zach could have killed Emily is if he was in two places at the same time." Sam and Dean glance at each other. "The police made the video. It's from the security tape from across the street and it shows Zach coming home at 10:30. Now Emily was killed just after that, but I swear, he was here with me, having a few beers until at least after midnight."
"Oh, she's so upset," Jess said sadly.
"I know, Cassandra agreed. "I wish there was something we could do for her. Or could've done for her."
"I'm pretty sure we can rule out demon," Brady added. "They can't be in two places at once, or take on a different appearance. And that's definitely a plus."
"You know, maybe we could see the crime scene? Zach's house?"
"We could?" Dean looks at Sam.
"Why?" Rebecca questions. "And what could you do?"
"Well, me, not much. But Dean's a cop."
"Uh oh," David said, grinning. "Sam's being a bad boy."
"Becky's too smart to fall for that," Brady complimented her.
"I bet they make it at least halfway through the hunt before she figures it out," David grinned. "You in Liz?"
"Nuh uh. She's not gonna fall for it."
"Suit yourself."
Rebecca looks quickly at Dean. Dean forces a little laugh and looks at Sam. Sam looks at him and gives him a quick smile.
"A detective, actually," Dean concedes to Sam's lie.
"What he does for his brother," Lizzie said in wonder.
"I wish they didn't have to lie to Becky though…" Jess admitted. "I almost think it would be easier to just tell her everything, but I'm pretty sure she would just think they were insane."
"Really?" Dean nods. "Where?"
"Bisbee, Arizona. But I'm off duty now."
"You guys, it's so nice to offer, but I just… I don't know…"
"Beck, look, I know Zach didn't do this. Now, we have to find a way to prove that he's innocent."
"Okay," Rebecca agrees. "I'm gonna go get the keys." She walks off.
Dean whistles. "Oh yeah man, you're a real straight shooter with your friends."
"Look, Zach and Becky need our help."
"I just don't think this is our kind of problem."
"Two places at once. We've looked into less." Dean still isn't convinced.
"They have though. And with the number of monsters out there, almost anything could be suspicious, right?" Cassandra looked to Mary uncertainly.
"It's true. The number of 'natural deaths' or 'accidents' that are actually supernatural is really quite high. There are those that are just coincidences or accidents though. Hunters just have to sort through the mess."
The Impala pulls up to a house and Dean, Sam and Rebecca exit.
"You're sure this is okay?" Rebecca asks Dean.
"Yeah. I am an officer of the law." They take off towards the house.
"The amount of annoyance in that sentence," Lizzie shook her head.
"I think it's mixed in with some disbelief of what he's willing to do for Sam," Jess adds.
There's a picture of Zach and Emily inside and blood everywhere. Dean and Sam duck under the police tape easily, Rebecca hesitating at the door.
"Beck, you wanna wait outside?" Sam asks, concerned.
"No. I wanna help," she replies, determined. She ducks under the tape and steps inside.
"She always did get right into things," Brady said fondly, smiling at some memory.
"Tell us what else the police said," Sam encourages.
"Well, there's no sign of a break in. They say that Emily let her attacker in. And the lawyers, they're already talking about plea bargain." She looks around, becoming more and more upset as she takes in the blood and the mess. "Oh gawd." She's about to cry.
"Look Beck," Sam tries to comfort her. "If Zach didn't do this, it means someone else did." Rebecca nods in understanding, pulling herself together. "Any idea who?" She shakes her head.
"Um, there was something," Rebecca gets out. "About a week before, somebody broke in here. They stole some clothes. Zach's clothes. The police, they don't think it's anything. They were not that far from downtown. Sometimes people get robbed."
"So something that can look like him and needed his clothes to keep the image," Cassandra said thoughtfully. "Something like a shape shifter?"
"Possibly…" Brady looked at Mary who looked back at him innocently. "I'm not even going to ask."
"Probably a good idea," Mary agreed.
Sam notices something and moves away from Rebecca. Dean looks outside at a barking dog. Rebecca walks up behind him. "You know, that used to be the sweetest dog."
"Right!" Cassandra gasped. "Dogs can see the paranormal!"
"Not everything is out of a horror movie," Lizzie scoffed.
"That myth isn't just in horror movies," Cassandra defended herself. "It's said that sometimes that's why dogs seem to bark at nothing, and why cats stare at nothing."
"It's true that dogs do have a greater sense of the paranormal. Cats as well. I'm not sure if it's just those two animals or if it relates to others. I wouldn't be surprised. Animals are so much more perceptive than humans, and we notice a lot of things that we pretend not to," Mary said thoughtfully.
Cassandra stuck her tongue out at Lizzie.
"What happened?" Dean asks.
"He just changed."
"Do you remember when he changed?" Dean presses.
"I guess around the time of the murder." Dean thinks about it for a moment. Something clicks. He walks over to Sam who is looking at a picture of himself, Zach and Rebecca.
"That's such a cute picture," Jess smiled while David pretended to puke. She turned to him, "Don't think I didn't see some of the pictures Jordan put up of you." David stopped altogether, the rest of the group snickering.
"So, the neighbour's dog when psycho right around the time Zach's girlfriend was killed," Dean informs him. He raises his eyebrows suggestively.
"Animals can have a sharp sense of the paranormal," Sam agrees.
"Hah!" Cassandra pumped her fist in the air. "Not that I doubted you," she said quickly to Mary, "But them saying it while they're working a case just means that I'm doubly right and she can't argue at all." Lizzie just glared.
Mary chuckled. "Not a problem."
"Yeah, maybe Fido saw something."
The corner of Sam's mouth lifts. "So you think maybe this is our kind of problem?"
"No, probably not," Dean says quickly. Sam smirks a little.
"I think that means it is," sang Brady.
"But we should look at the security tape, you know, just to make sure."
Sam gives a nod. "Yeah."
"Yeah." Dean turns to Rebecca who is approaching. "So, the tape. The, uh, security footage. Think your lawyers could maybe get their hands on it? See, I don't have that kind of jurisdiction…"
"I've already got it. I didn't want to say something in front of the cop." Dean laughs. "I – I stole it off the lawyer's desk. I just had to see it for myself."
"Yeah! Go Becky!" David cheered.
"I bet that just put her at the top of Dean's list of awesome people," Lizzie informed them.
"Definitely," Brady said. "Every boy likes a bad girl." The girls rolled their eyes.
"All right." Dean gestures for her to lead the way out. There is a close up on the picture.
Zach is sitting on a bench, looking around. An Asian man exits a building with a woman at his side. The man is getting ready to leave on a trip. The woman kisses him goodbye. Zach is writing and watching the couple. The man will be home the following night. Zach watches the man get into the car and drive away and then the woman walk back to the building, a smirk on his face. His eyes suddenly seem to glow.
"Oh, those poor people! What are the chances of Sam and Dean solving this before they get hurt?" Jess asked.
"We're not very far in. About halfway through the case – they all seem to run for the same amount of time," Cassandra frowned.
"How do you know what time everything is? There aren't any clocks or sun or really…anything to tell the time with," David quizzed her.
Cassandra grinned. "For the past few cases, they've shown us the first attack, Sam and Dean start investigating, another attack occurs, and then they get the info they need to solve it. I'm just going by that. And then it just feels like they're about the same – they manage to get us the same amount of information anyway."
"On another note, those eyes were creepy," Lizzie added.
"Not quite as creepy as the whole demon eye thing, but yeah, creepy," Brady nodded.
Sam, Dean and Rebecca are watching the security tape.
"Here he comes," Rebecca warns.
"Twenty-two oh four. That's just after ten. You said time of death was about ten thirty."
Rebecca nods. "Our lawyers hired some kind of video expert. He says the tape's authentic. It wasn't tampered with."
Sam seems to notice something. "Hey, Beck, can we take those beers now?"
"Oh. Sure," she replies. She gets up and starts walking to the kitchen.
"Hey, uh, maybe some sandwiches too?" Sam asks.
Rebecca laughs. "What do you think this is, Hooters?" She walks away.
"I wish," David and Brady said wistfully.
"I wish," Dean turns with a smile on his face. "What is it?"
The girls sighed. Of course Dean would wish so too. It was a good thing Becky really was a smart girl.
"Check this out." Sam and Dean move closer to the T.V. Sam rewinds the tape slightly to show Zach with a pair of glowing eyes.
"Maybe it's just a camera flare," Dean suggests.
Sam shakes his head. "That's not like any camera flare I've ever seen. You know, a lot of cultures believe that a photograph can catch a glimpse of the soul."
"Like that whole 'can only show the true reflection', right?" Brady questioned.
"Right," Mary supplied.
"Right."
"Remember that dog that was freaking out?" Sam gestures to the T.V. "Maybe he saw this thing. Maybe this is some kind of dark double of Zach's. Something that looks like him but isn't him."
"Like a doppelganger," Dean offers.
"Yeah. That sure explains how he was in two places at once."
The Asian man walks through his doorway and locks it behind him.
"Honey, it's me. Flight cancelled at the last minute." He looks for his partner. "I called. Why didn't you answer?" He looks around. Nothing, and no sounds. "Lindsay?" He calls her name again. He turns back and sees a smear of blood on a wall. "Lindsay?" he calls, more panicked now. He rushes to the house and into the bedroom where he finds Lindsay tied up and covered in blood. He moves to her and pulls the gag from her mouth. "It' okay Lindsay, it's me."
"Please don't hurt me anymore," she pleads with him. He looks confused. "Leave me alone." He tries to unbind her. She's sobbing. There's the sound of something shattering, like glass. The man walks away from her to investigate the noise.
Looking around, the man comes face-to-face with… himself with flowing eyes and is hit over the head with a bat.
"How confusing would that be?" Lizzie burst out. "He's going to wonder what was going on for the rest of his life – if he even survives that."
"No, he's going to have to. He's being framed for attacking his partner. After all, the whatever-it-was took the shape of him to torture Lindsay, so she'll blame him. He's the one who's going to be arrested despite the fact that he looks like he could never hurt another person," Brady reasoned. "Even with an alibi."
"So would the thing leave without killing her though? Now that he's home?" Jess wondered. "Or will it just leave?"
Brady shrugged.
The Impala pulls up to Zach's house.
"All right," Dean starts, holding a cup of coffee. "So what are we doing here at five thirty in the morning?" he demands.
"What is it with Sam and five thirty in the morning?" Lizzie demanded. "That's for sleeping."
"He shouldn't be allowed to leave his bed until ten or something," David agreed.
"He's probably still having nightmares," Jess fretted. "I wish he would just get some rest." Mary was inclined to agree with Jess.
"I realized something," Sam explains. "The video shows the killer going in, but not coming out."
"So he came out the back door?" Dean takes a sip of his coffee.
"Right. So there should be a trail to follow," Sam is walking away, looking for something. "A trail the police would never pursue."
"Cause they think the killer never left," Dean catches on. "They caught your friend Zach inside." He leans against the Impala. "I still don't know what we're doing here at five thirty in the morning," he mutters as he takes another sip.
Sam pauses and leans down to investigate a smear on a pole. "Blood," he tells Dean. "Somebody came this way."
"Maybe the trail ends. I don't see anything over here." Sirens. An ambulance drives by. The brothers look at each other and go to see what happened.
"What happened?" Dean inquires. He is told that the man tried to kill his wife and that she was tied up and beaten. The same thing that had happened to Emily, although with a semi-happier ending. The woman the boys are talking to remembers him as being a friendly, neighbourly man as he's pushed into a police car.
"At least it left without finishing the job," Cassandra sighed.
Sam is behind the building, looking in recycling bins and on the ground. As he comes out from behind the building, Dean approaches.
"Hey, remember when I said this wasn't our kind of problem?"
"Yeah."
"Definitely our kind of problem."
"What'd you find out?"
"I was talking to the patrolman who was first on the scene, heard this guy, Alex's story, and apparently the dude was driving home from a business trip when his wife was attacked."
"So he was in two places at once."
"Exactly. Then he sees himself in the house, police say he's a nut job."
"Two dark doubles, attacking loved ones in exactly the same way." Sam looks pensive.
"Could be the same thing doing it, too."
"Shapeshifter?" Sam says after a second. Dean shrugs. "Something that can make itself look like anyone?"
"I can't really think of anything else from legends that would be able to make someone be in two places at once. Unless they drugged the person and made themselves look similar… The guys were too different though," Cassandra figured.
"Every culture in the world has a shape shifter lore. There are legends of creatures who can transform themselves into animals or other men."
"Right. Skinwalkers, werewolves."
"We've got two attacks within blocks of each other. I'm guessing we've got a shapeshifter prowling the neighbourhood."
"Let me ask you this, in all this shapeshifter lore, can any of them fly?"
"Not that I know of."
"I picked up a trail here. Someone ran out the back of this building and headed off this way."
"Just like your friend's house."
"Yeah. And, just like at Zach's house, the trail suddenly ends. I mean, whatever it is just disappeared."
"Well, there's another way to go." He pauses. "Down." They look down and notice a manhole.
"That definitely makes more sense than flying," Jess chuckled. "Sometimes I wonder about Sam."
"Sometimes? All the time," Brady shook his head.
The two boys climb down the manhole.
"I bet this runs right by Zach's house too. The shapeshifter could be using the sewage system to get around." Sam approaches Dean.
"I think you're right. Look at this," Dean crouches down and pokes at something with his pocket knife. It's a pile of skin and blood. Dean pulls it up.
"Is this from his victims?"
"You know, I just had a sick thought. When the shapeshifter changes its shape, maybe it sheds."
"That is sick."
"One thing I learned from Dad," Dean says, lifting the false bottom of the trunk of the Impala, "is that no matter what kind of shapeshifter it is, there is one sure way to kill it.
"Silver bullet to the heart," Sam finishes, smirking at his brother.
"Ugh," Jess shuddered. "Wouldn't it still look like a person though?"
Lizzie blanched, Cassandra looked sick and even the guys paled. They had seen the brothers kill monsters and exorcise demons and get rid of ghosts, but they hadn't actually seen them kill something resembling a human. The thought hadn't even really occurred to them.
"That's right."
Sam's phone rings. "This is Sam."
"Where are you?" It's Rebecca.
"We're near Zach's. We're just checking some things out."
"Well look Sam, just stop 'cause I really don't need your help anymore."
"I think this is it," David grinned.
"Damn. I thought she was smarter than this!" Brady groaned.
"Give her a break," Jess said, rolling her eyes. "She's stressed and worried and not thinking clearly."
"I still won though!" David boasted.
"We don't know that yet," Brady argued.
"What else would she be talking about?" David shot back. Lizzie just sighed.
"What are you talking about?"
"I told the lawyer's that we went to the crime scene."
Sam looks exasperated for a moment. "Why would you do that?"
"In her defence, she thought it was perfectly okay," Jess defended her friend.
"I told them that we were with a police officer. And they checked it out and they told me that there is no Detective Dean Winchester."
"See?" David asked smugly.
"Beck –"
"Now I don't understand why you would lie to me about something like that…"
"We're trying to help."
"Oh, trying to help. Do you realize that that was a sealed crime scene? This could have just ruined Zach's case."
"She has a point there…" Brady muttered.
"The whole point of being sneaky," Lizzie reminded him.
"She didn't know that," Brady shot back. "It would've been easier if they either hadn't involved her, or if they had told her the truth."
"I still don't think she would've been sold on it. I think she'd have to see it, and even then might think it was a prank," Jess surmised.
"Beck, I'm sorry, but –"
"No. Goodbye Sam." She hangs up the phone.
Sam stares at his phone for a moment before dropping his arm and looking around.
"He needs a hug," Jess decided sadly.
Dean approaches. "I hate to say it, but that's exactly what I'm talking about. You lie to your friends because if they knew the real you they'd be freaked. It's just, it'd be easier if –"
"If I was like you," Sam finishes.
"Hey man, like it or not, we are not like other people." Sam stares at him. "I'll tell you one thing. This whole gig," he pulls a gun out and hands it to Sam. "It ain't without perks." Sam smirks a little and takes the gun, tucking it in the waistband of his jeans.
"I'm not sure why that's a perk exactly," Cassandra stated.
"It looks so bad ass!" David proclaimed.
"Uh huh…"
The Winchester are walking through the sewers, guns drawn. Down one way, Sam goes first. Dean mentions that he thinks they're close because of the pile of skin and blood next to Sam, who didn't notice it.
"That's so gross!" Jess gagged.
"That really is," Cassandra agreed.
"Mmm, lunch!"
"David, that's way too gross to even joke about eating. It's human skin!" Jess reminded them.
Sam pulls away in disgust. There's another pile on the ground further along. They decide he's been there for awhile and wonder how many murders he's gotten away with.
Sam turns towards Dean, shining his flashlight down the tunnel… and right into the face of the Asian man standing behind Dean, his eyes flashing silver.
"Holy shit!" Lizzie shrieked as Jess jumped. Cassandra grinned – she had been expecting something.
"Get him!" David and Brady called, leaning forward.
"Dean!" Sam calls. Dean turns and the shifter hits him. Dean slams against the wall and the shifter runs. Sam fires at him and misses. He turns to Dean who tells him to go get that "son of a bitch". They run off after him, Dean gripping his arm.
The shifter climbs out of a manhole and runs across a park. Sam pulls himself up shortly after, and hides his gun. Dean struggles out a moment later, and hides his own gun. They decide to split up, and Dean agrees to meet him on the other side. They take off.
"If they're separated, how do they know the shifter isn't going to turn into the other one?" Cassandra wondered.
"Oh no," Jess paled.
"They gotta know," David reasoned. "They seem to know each other so well, they should know if something's off."
Dean is running down streets with his gun out and his left arm hanging.
Sam is still hiding his gun as he walks down another one.
Dean is again seen moving down the street.
"Hey," Dean calls to a waiting Sam. Sam turns to face him. "Anything?"
"No, he's gone."
"All right, let's get back to the car."
Sam turns and starts walking and Dean follows after a moment, falling behind to let a car turn down the street before crossing. As the headlights flash over him, Dean's eyes flash. He's the shifter.
"No! And Sam didn't have time to notice, either!" Jess moaned.
"What about Dean?" Lizzie asked. "If the shifter is him, he's gotta know that Dean isn't just going to show up…"
"Damn…"
"At least we know what happened at the beginning though!" Cassandra pointed out. "'Dean' is actually a monster."
"You think he found another way underground?" Sam asks who he thinks is Dean as they approach the Impala.
"Probably. You got the keys?"
Sam reaches for them, but something seems to occur to him. "Hey, didn't Dad once face a – a shapeshifter in San Antonio?"
"Thank gawd he's suspicious," Jess breathed.
"Nah. I knew he'd know," David's shoulders still sagged with relief.
"That was Austin. And it turned out not to be a shapeshifter, but it was a thought-form. A psychic projection. Remember?"
"Oh. Right," Sam agrees softly.
"How the hell did it know that?!" Lizzie burst. "It didn't have time to ask Dean about his whole life – how would it know to ask him that?!"
"Maybe there's some kind of psychic connection? The thing is connected, Dean can see what's going on and just thought the answer up without realizing the shifter could hear him and would use it?" Brady suggested.
"Maybe…" Cassandra said. "I don't see how else he could've known that."
"Here you go," he tosses 'Dean' the keys, which he catches with his left. Sam walks away, pursing his lips.
'Dean' opens the false bottom and looks around at everything in glee.
"Don't move," Sam commands, coming around the other side of the car, his gun aimed at 'Dean'. 'Dean' looks up, startled. "What have you done with him?"
"How did he still know?!" Cassandra stared.
"They really do know each other that well," David said, amazed.
"Or he caught the keys with his 'injured' hand," Brady said dryly.
"…or that."
"He could've been feeling better," Cassandra speculated. "Like when you bang your elbow off of something and it hurts at first, but feels better quickly."
"Maybe," Brady was doubtful.
"Although I don't know about your elbows, but that shit hurts," David complained.
'Dean' raises his hands. "Dude, chill. It's me, all right?"
"No, I don't think so. Where's my brother?"
"You're about to shoot him. Sam, calm down."
"You caught those keys with your left. Your shoulder was hurt."
"Yeah, it's better. What do you want me to do? Cry?"
"You're not my brother," Sam takes a step forward.
"That's where you would've fallen for it," Brady smirked at Cassandra. She simply huffed.
"Why don't you pull the trigger then?" 'Dean' taunts. "Hm? 'Cause you're not sure. Dude, you know me."
"Don't."
'Dean' lunges forward and knocks the gun out of Sam's hand and Sam out in two quick moves with a crowbar.
"Expect the unexpected," Cassandra advised.
"Thanks," Lizzie intoned. "Now that we're all dead, it should come in handy."
Cassandra blushed. "I definitely meant them."
Sam wakes up gasping, tied at least by the chest, and neck. 'Dean' walks up, holding a coil of rope and backhands Sam.
"Where is he? Where's Dean?"
"I wouldn't worry about him," the shifter suggests. "I'd worry about you."
"Where is he?"
"You don't really wanna know." Sam just stares at him. "I swear, the more I learn about you and your family… I thought I came from a bad background."
"What do you mean 'learn'?"
The shifter pulls out a knife and looks at it, placing it down and looking at Sam. He suddenly places a hand to his head and words from past cases can be made out – he can hear and possibly see things from the past.
"Okay, so the psychic connection makes sense," David agreed.
"He's sure got issues with you. You got to go to college. He had to stay home. I mean, I had to stay home. With Dad. You don't think I had dreams of my own? But Dad needed me. Where the hell were you?"
"Ouch," Jess hissed. "He has no right. Sam can't believe him. Just because he looks like Dean doesn't mean that's actually what Dean's thinking. And from what we've seen, I have no doubt that Dean is proud of his brother going off."
"Where is my brother?"
"I'm your brother. See, deep down, I'm just jealous. You've got friends. You could have a life. Me? I know I'm a freak. And sooner or later everybody's gonna leave me."
"What are you talkin' about?"
"Could be just enough truth to make it believable," Cassandra suggested. "As long as there's a tidbit of truth…" she trailed off.
"You left. Hell, I did everything Dad asked me to, and he ditched me too. No explanation, nothin'. Just poof. Left me with your sorry ass." He picks up a cover. "But still, this life? It's not without its perks." He laughs. "I meet the nicest people. Like little Becky. You know, Dean would bang her if he had the chance. Let's see what happens." He smiles and covers Sam up.
"Oh no. Not Becky," Lizzie growled.
"That bastard had better stay away from her!" David snarled. The others looked angry as well.
There is a knock on Rebecca's door and she goes to answer it, finding Dean on the front step.
Rebecca greets him unenthusiastically. "Oh. Hi."
"Tell him to leave!" Lizzie shouted.
David said much the same, with much different language.
"I know what you're gonna say."
"Oh, you do?"
"Well, no, not exactly. But I can take a guess. Get off my porch?"
Rebecca laughs a little. "That's about right."
"I admit it. We lied. I thought I'd try and explain myself. Sam told me not to come, but I thought 'what the hell?' I had to try." He smiles.
"Don't fall for his charm," Cassandra moaned. "Didn't we agree he has no charm?"
"I think so…" Lizzie bowed her head.
"On a good note, we know that a S.W.A.T team interrupts the attack on her!" Brady reminded them.
"She doesn't need to be tortured though," David was glaring at everything.
Sam has managed to shift the cover half off of himself. "Damn it," he mutters as he tries to get out of the ropes and fails. There's movement elsewhere in the room and coughing.
Dean is still covered up. "That had better be you Sam, and not that freak of nature." Sam laughs.
"Yeah, it's me." Dean pulls the cover off of himself. He's still tied up, however. "He went to Rebecca's, looking like you."
"Well, he's not stupid. He picked the handsome one." Sam stops struggling with the ropes for a second, and frowns, turning to look at Dean for a second.
"You guys gotta hurry up."
Rebecca and 'Dean' are sitting in front of the fireplace. He's telling her all about the shifter. She doesn't quite believe him, but he says that it's how Zach was in two places at once.
"Knew she wouldn't believe it," Jess smiled despite everything. She was confident the guys would make it to save her friend.
She questions that it can turn into anybody and calls the shifter a "genetic freak".
"Maybe," the shifter replies. "Evolution is about mutation, right? So maybe this thing was born human, but was different. Hideous, and hated. Until he learned to become someone else."
Rebecca looks away, and 'Dean's' eyes flash. He smirks.
"That's the thing," Sam's saying to Dean who's almost worn out the ropes around his wrists. "He didn't just look like you, he was you." Dean finally pulls his arms away from the post he's tied to. "Or he's becoming you."
Dean works on the rest of the ropes. "What do you mean?"
"I dunno. It's like he was downloading your thoughts and memories."
Dean turns to look at Sam. "You mean like a Vulcan mind meld?"
"Cool, but not with a monster," David took the time to grimace.
"Yeah, somethin' like that. I mean, maybe that's why he doesn't just kill us."
Dean gets up and walks over to Sam. "Maybe he needs to keep us alive. Psychic connection," he proposes as he begins to untie the ropes still binding Sam.
"Hands. Yeah. Come on, we gotta go. He's probably at Rebecca's already."
Sam pushes out a vent on the side of a building and climbs out. "Come on. We gotta find a phone, call the police."
Dean pulls himself out. "Woah. Woah, woah, woah, woah, you're gonna put an APB out on me."
"Who cares?!" David roared. "Save Becky!"
The others nodded in agreement. They could worry about Dean later.
Sam shrugs. "Sorry."
"This way," Dean starts running down the street. Sam follows.
The shifter grabs his beer from the table. "It's funny. I kinda understand him. He's all alone. Close to no one. All he wants is for someone to love him. He's like me." He looks at Rebecca and she looks away, uncomfortable. "Everybody needs a little human touch now and then. So hard to be different." He tucks Rebecca's hair behind her ear, and she shrugs away.
"You should go."
He leans forward to whisper in her ear. After a moment she leaps up from the couch and away from him in horror. "You're disgusting! Just get the hell outta here!"
"Yes Becky, just get away!" Lizzie called to her. David's hands were clenched into fists while Cassandra bit her nails.
"Rebecca just calm down," the shifter rises up from the couch.
"Calm down? What is wrong with you?"
'Dean' walks forward, "what's wrong with me?" He's in her face. "What's wrong with you?!"
Rebecca moves away from him, "I'm calling the police." The shifter turns, almost too quickly, and throws the phone as she's dialling.
Rebecca screams and starts to run. The shifter trips her and begins to wrap the phone cord around her wrists. She struggles but to no avail. He hits her.
The shifter throws down some chains. Rebecca is tied to a chair, just like the other victims.
"Oh my gawd," Jess gasped, horrified. "So it was Becky we saw before!"
"We kind of figured that," Brady gritted out.
"Now we know for sure though," Jess pressed her lips together in a hard line.
"At least we know she gets out," Cassandra said shakily.
"You're a nice girl, Rebecca," the shifter says. "I mean, I liked you. Believe me, it makes this harder." He pulls out a knife. "But I gotta do what I gotta do." He approaches Rebecca and she starts to scream, muffled by the gag. There is a noise from somewhere else in the house. He covers her mouth with his hand and holds the knife to her throat. "Shh."
He moves away from her and sneaks around the house, avoiding the S.W.A.T team. He goes to the balcony and when one team member tells him to freeze and drop the knife, the shifter turns and throws the knife, striking the officer in the chest. They begin to shoot and the shifter leaps down from the balcony and runs.
"Think he knew how to do that, or does Dean have some awesome skills?" Brady asked to break the tension.
Lizzie tittered. "Dean definitely has the skills."
The others smirked half-heartedly.
Back in the sewers and obviously in pain, he rips off his clothing and begins to shed his skin, tearing it while his teeth fall out and pulling off his ears.
"Oh my gawd that is absolutely disgusting!" Lizzie shrieked. Jess and David were staring in horror, while Brady gaped at the screen and Cassandra rested her head on her hand. Mary simply watched, having seen it before both in person and on the T.V.
Sam and Dean are watching T.V.'s through a store window. There is a news report about Rebecca's attack and a sketch of Dean is shown.
"Man! That's not even a good picture," Dean complains.
"All that and his picture is what bothers him?" Lizzie asked incredulously.
"It's good enough," Sam replies, looking around cautiously.
They leave. Walking through an alleyway, Dean steps in a puddle, "Man!"
"Someone isn't having any good luck," David muttered, looking slightly green.
"Come on," Sam pauses. "They said attempted murder. At least we know –"
"I didn't kill her."
"We'll check with Rebecca in the morning, see if she's all right."
"All right, but first, I want to find that handsome devil and kick the holy crap out of him."
"We have no weapons," Sam reminds him. "No silver bullets."
"Sam, the guy is walking around with my face, okay?" They stop walking. "It's a little personal. I want to find him."
"Okay," Sam agrees. "Where do we look?"
"Well, we could start with the sewers."
"We have no weapons," Sam argues again. "He stole our guns. We need more." A pause. "The car?"
"I bet he drove over to Rebecca's."
"And they said he fled on foot. I bet it's still parked there."
Dean clenches his fist.
"Is anyone else loving his facial expression there?" Cassandra asked.
"I'd be making that face too if someone drove my '67 Impala," David growled.
"Ugh, the thought of him driving my car." They keep walking. "It's killing me!"
"Keep walking."
They're jogging down the street to Rebecca's where they find the Impala sitting out front.
"Finally, some good luck," Jess breathed.
"No! No! Murphy's law!" Lizzie exclaimed. "Now something's going to happen!"
"Ah, there she is!" Dean says happily. They pause to breathe. And then begin to walk forward. "Finally, something went right tonight."
"Nope. Now something's gonna happen," Cassandra corrected her, sighing.
Sirens are heard and a police car turns the corner, heading in the other direction. The brothers stop and watch. "Oh crap," Dean says, exasperated. They turn in the other direction as the car stops and turns around. Sam and Dean come face-to-face with another police car down the street they just came.
"This way, this way," Dean moves towards a fence.
"No, you go. I'll hold them off," Sam offers.
"What are you talkin' about? They'll catch you."
"Look, they can't hold me! Just go, keep outta sight. Meet me at Rebecca's." Dean turns and climbs the fence. "Dean." Dean pauses at the top. "Stay out of the sewers alone." Dean drops to the other side. "I mean it!"
"Yeah, yeah!" Dean calls back.
"I'll bet anyone that he goes back without Sam," David offers. He's met with resounding 'no's'.
Sam is approached by police officers, with their guns drawn. He is ordered not to move, and raises his hands above his head.
It's morning and Dean is at the Impala, grabbing a gun and loading it. "I'm sorry, Sam. But you know me. I just can't wait." He closes the trunk.
"Think of all the boasting rights I'd have guys," David whined.
"Think of all the quiet we'll have," Lizzie smiled. David stuck his tongue out at her.
Walking through the sewers, he finds a blob of skin, and eventually the shifter's weapons. Hearing a noise, Dean walks forward and finds Rebecca, covered just as Sam and Dean were earlier. She's bound.
"That sick son of a bitch!" David snarled. "He couldn't just leave her alone?!"
"I guess he knows the Winchesters are helping her, and want her out of the way," Brady suggested.
"Wait," Cassandra's eyes widened as a thought struck her. "Wasn't Sam going to see Becky in the morning?"
"Oh shit," Jess breathed.
Sam is sitting on Rebecca's couch.
"So say the shapeshifter is real," 'Rebecca' says, approaching the couch with a beer. "By the way, you know you're crazy. But, um, say it is real. How do you stop it?" She trades the full beer for Sam's empty one.
"I guess it's a good thing for a monster to know," Brady shrugged.
"Shouldn't it have gotten that information from Dean though?" Jess asked. "I'm sure Dean was thinking about it."
"Unless Dean was being paranoid and avoided letting it know its weakness," Cassandra suggested.
"Thanks," Sam takes the bottle. "Silver bullet to the heart."
"Hm," she says, lifting the empty bottle like a bat. "You are crazy," and crashes the bottle against Sam's head, knocking him out.
"What happened?" Dean asks Rebecca, pulling the ropes away.
"I was walking home and then everything just went white, someone hit me over the head, and then I wound up here just in time to see that thing turn into me. I dunno, how is that even possible?"
"Questioning it and it happened right in front of her," Jess smiled fondly. She was worried about Sam, but she had full confidence in his brother being able to save him.
"I'm impressed that she's not afraid of Dean though," Cassandra mentioned. "All the other victims were terrified of their attacker, and they knew them longer. I know she knows it's a monster, but it still had Dean's face. I would've expected it to affect her psychologically."
"Okay, okay, it's okay," Dean tries to calm her down. "Come on. Can you walk?" Rebecca nods. "Okay, we gotta hurry," Dean says, grabbing her hand. "Sam went to see you." They get up and go to leave.
At Rebecca's, the shifter has changed back into Dean.
"What are you gonna to do me?" Sam asks from his position on the floor, sitting and tied again with ropes.
"I'm not gonna do anything. Dean will though." The shifter opens a drawer and closes it again.
"They'll never catch him," Sam warns.
"Ohhh, doesn't matter," his eyes flash again. "Murder in the first? His own brother? He'll be hunted the rest of his life." He turns and picks up a knife from the counter.
"That is not a good life. Especially since they run into the law so often," Lizzie murmured.
Sam is now laying on the floor, still bound.
"I must say, I will be sorry to lose this skin. Your brother's got a lot of good qualities. You should appreciate him more than you do," the shifter pours himself a drink. "Cheers," he walks by Sam and takes a drink. He picks up the knife and plunges it into the pool table he's placed his bag on. He turns away and goes back through his bag.
Sam looks at the knife, a plan seeming to form. Suddenly he kicks out at 'Dean' and sends him crashing to the floor. Rolling, he uses the knife to cut the ropes around his wrists, and then picks up the knife to use as a weapon.
"Woah," Lizzie said. Everyone else was staring. They hadn't really seen him fight before now.
It was kind of hot, the girls had to admit.
David and Brady were just jealous, while Mary wished her son didn't have to learn to fight for the reasons he did, but proud nonetheless.
The shifter disarms him and throws him away. Sam is up quickly and ready to fight again.
"You son of a bitch," the shifter says, moving forward. They fight. "Not bad, little brother," the shifter compliments him.
"You're not him." They continue fighting, the shifter finally throwing Sam against a bookshelf which falls apart all over Sam.
Sam pulls himself up with the pool table and 'Dean' picks up a pool cue. "Even when we were kids, I always kicked your ass." The shifter swings the cue at Sam, who ducks. Next, the shifter tries to stab Sam with it, but Sam rolls to the side. Another swing and the lights are taken out. After another bit of fighting, the shifter gets a kick to Sam's torso that stops him for a moment and tackles Sam over the couch to crash on the coffee table. After punching Sam a couple of times, the shifter starts to choke him. Sam can't fight him off.
"Where is Dean?!" Jess yelled frantically. She had fully expected the elder to come to Sam's aid far earlier than he had. Sam was holding the shifter off nicely, but that didn't mean he didn't need help.
"Hey!" Dean suddenly yells. The shifter pauses and turns, rising off of Sam. He steps away as Dean steps forward. Two shots to the chest and the shifter crashes backwards against the wall and falls, dead. Rebecca runs in behind Dean and Sam rolls to see the shifter as Dean, dead, the necklace hanging from his throat.
"Sam!" Rebecca runs over to him, and stares at the shifter as well.
Dean slowly approaches the shifter and crouches down beside it. He looks at Sam and Sam looks back, his head cradled by Rebecca. Dean is still holding his gun. Looking down at the shifter, he sees the necklace and he tears it off, taking it carefully.
"I bet there's a huge meaning to that necklace," Cassandra frowned. "I wonder what it means."
"Maybe it's from an ex," Lizzie suggested.
"Nah, it seemed more important than that. And the way Sam and Dean looked at each other…"
Dean sets a map down on the hood of the Impala. The sound of a door can be heard and Sam and Rebecca leave her house.
"So this is what you do," she's saying to him. "You and your brother. You hunt down these kinds of things."
Sam laughs slightly. "Yeah, pretty much."
"I can't believe it. I mean, I saw it with my own eyes and I –" she cuts off. "I mean, does anybody at school – nobody knows that you do this."
"Same old Becky," David smiled.
"She would kill you for calling her 'old'," Jess grinned.
"She wouldn't," David said in mock outrage. "She would never!"
"No."
"Did Jessica know?"
"No, she didn't," Sam's voice is softer as he replies.
"Must be lonely," Rebecca observes.
"Oh no," Sam replies quickly, looking over at Dean.
Jess and Mary both smiled, happy that Sam was happy with his brother.
"It's not so bad. Anyway, what can I do? It's my family."
Rebecca laughs. "Well, you know, Zach and me, and everybody at school, we really miss you," she pulls Sam in for a hug.
"Yeah, me too," he returns the hug.
"Will you call sometime?" Rebecca asks, pulling away.
"Might not be for a little while."
Rebecca waves to Dean and with a last look at Sam, she goes back inside the house.
"So what about your friend, Zach?" Dean asks Sam as Sam approaches the Impala.
"Cops are blaming this 'Dean Winchester' guy for Emily's murder. They found the murder weapon in the guy's lair, Zach's clothes stained with her blood. Now they're thinking maybe the surveillance tape was tampered with. Yeah, Rebecca says Zach will be released soon." Sam smiles and nods.
Dean rolls his head slightly, but accepts it and gets into the car. There's nothing he can really do about it.
"So now Dean's going to be hunted down," David suddenly grinned. "Wicked."
"No, that's terrible! He's going to have to look over his shoulder all the time!" Cassandra argued.
"I think you're forgetting something important," Brady interrupted.
"What?"
"Dean shot the shifter in his form. The shifter couldn't pull off his skin. So they think they just buried Dean."
David grinned again. "Like I said: wicked!"
"Sorry man."
"About what?" Sam asks.
"I really wish things could be different, you know? I wish you could just be Joe College."
"See, Dean really just wants what's best for Sam. Sure he had dreams of his own, that was the truth, but he's happy that Sam got to get out and live normally for a bit," Jess smiled. "Called it."
"Nah, it's okay. You know, truth is, even at Stanford, deep down, I never really fit in."
"That's… really depressing actually," Lizzie frowned.
"Maybe he felt like he didn't fit in, but it was the demons he was feeling?" Brady wondered.
"Then there's how he was raised versus how we were all raised," Cassandra added in.
"I can definitely see why he would feel like that," Jess said, somewhat sadly.
"Hey, he still wanted to be with you," David said to Jess. "You made him feel more like one of us."
"Thanks," Jess looked grateful.
"Well that's 'cause you're a freak."
"Yeah," Sam laughs, "thanks."
"Well, I'm a freak too. I'm right there with ya, all the way."
Sam smiles. "Yeah, I know you are."
"You know, I gotta say, I'm sorry I'm gonna miss it."
"Miss what?"
"How many chances am I gonna have to see my own funeral?"
The boys look at each other one last time.
The former students laughed while Mary sighed. She really didn't want to think about that.
"The next one better be less gross though," Lizzie warned. "No more peeling skin."
"I'm with you there," David nodded quickly.
Cassandra shuddered. "One hundred percent."
"And no more friends involved. I feel so bad for Becky. At least Zach got out though," Jess declared. She didn't know if she could handle having her friends in danger like that.
"Is everyone ready to keep going?" Mary asked. They quickly settled in to continue.