Catching Up
Chapter 5 – Bloody Mary

Dinner was a fantastic even Cas managed to enjoy it towards the end as he practiced eating with his human senses. "Keep it up," Mary encouraged as they cleared the table. "I want you with us at every meal, that's how family works."

"Yes Mrs. Winchester," Castiel nodded obediently.

Mary gave him a soft smile, "Please Cas, call me Mary or even mom if you like, I don't mind."

Cas smiled back, "Yes Mary."

"Well since Cas is integrating into the Winchester clan, I guess he can do dishes," Dean clapped the angel's back.

"Alright," Cas obliged. With a wave, the dishes in everyone's hands and the ones in the sink were gone.

Sam, lips quivering, opened a cupboard to find all of them put away and sparkling. "Thanks buddy."

"Happy to help," the angel shrugged.

"Thank you Cas." Mary said albeit a bit nonplussed. "Don't get used to it," she added to her sons especially Dean who already looked like he was contemplating all the possibilities.

At his mother's words he deflated a little, "Okay."

"So, next episode?" Sam suggested. They all nodded and returned to the study. Sam picked up the DVD case and read out, "Let's see, 'Bloody Mary'. Several high schoolers dare their friend to look into a mirror and repeat a chant, not knowing that this will unleash a series of mysterious murders."

"Here we go," Dean started the show and it opened with a painfully cliché slumber party. One of the girls was dared to go say 'Bloody Mary' in the bathroom and as the description said, noticeably unleashed the spirit. "Don't kids just say darnedest things?"

"Perhaps we should be paying extra attention to these children's games," Cas commented.

"That poor girl," Mary shook her head at the daughter finding her father. "And Sam, how long did these nightmares haunt you?"

"Too long," Sam replied. "Don't worry I'll get fresh ones soon."

"It's a shame we got too old for that student lie, it was always the easiest," Dean moved on. "No IDs, nothing."

"Except a fat wad of cash for when it didn't work on medical assistants," Sam tossed back.

"Spent all my poker money on that jerk," Dean grumbled. "You're real cash happy when you're cranky you know that?"

"Whatever gets the job done, aside from your stellar acting," Sam countered.

"Hey I was good here," Dean pointed out as they moved on to the scene at the Shoemaker house when the memorial was going on.

"Crashing funerals, that was one thing I didn't miss," Mary grimaced. "My dad would send me because he thought people were more trusting with a girl. Can't say he was wrong but I didn't like it."

"That was very kind of you Dean, alleviating that girl's guilt even if it was to get more information," Cas nodded.

"Thanks Cas," Dean beamed.

Oh get a room. Sam flinched and wished he could strangle thin air. "A little warning might be nice," he whispered under the cover of TV!Sam and TV!Dean's conversation. The voice didn't speak again and Sam went back to watching the show. Charlie had confronted the brothers and they let her in, a little, on what they were really doing.

The TV!Winchesters went to the library only to find that all the computers were shut down. "You think that's annoying try having to hit up all the personal archives for every town and having contacts with major newspapers if you need to the broaden the search. A single basic haunting could take up to a week," Mary told them, Sam and Dean shuddered at the thought.

The show moved to Charlie speaking to her friend. "Hear that Sammy? We're cute," Dean bragged.

"Please we all know who's the better looking one though" Sam joked.

"Why Sam, thank you for being generous. You're not bad yourself," Dean ribbed. "Charlie's friends are ridiculous though. How does one group contain so many connections to death?"

"Birds of a feather? Fate?" Sam guessed.

"She does have a morbid sense of humour and poetic justice," Cas shrugged.

"Fate is real?" Mary asked.

"And she gets really ticked when you mess with her," Dean bobbed his head. "Thankfully it wasn't our fault that time, stupid Balthazar and his hatred of Celine Dion."

"Who? What?" Mary blinked.

"We'll get there mom," Sam patted her knee.

"Once again why is insanity the preferable option?" Cas shook his head in confusion at Charlie's tearful comments. "Wouldn't there be more comfort in being right, in being sure and knowing how to protect oneself?"

"Maybe but dude, once you believe in one, you believe in them all," Dean tried to explain. "It's like 'if this is real then other things have to be real too'. Like remember when I knew about demons but refused to believe in angels, my mind fought against the idea of there being more than what I was used to. In this case, this girl has never encountered anything supernatural in her whole life so now she'll be wondering about ghosts, witches, spells, all of it. It's pretty scary and any reason to believe that it doesn't exist is better."

"That was surprisingly deep for you Dean," Sam made an approving face. Just then TV!Dean made the comment about looking like Paris Hilton on the night-vision camera. "But then again…"

Onscreen the boys discover the missing link between all the victims, expand their search and find out about Mary Worthington. "Geez Dean why can't you help with the research anymore? You used to be so helpful."

"Well you took over and I hate to infringe," Dean smirked.

"Of course you do," Sam scoffed. The episode moved to the confrontation between Donna and Charlie and Donna summoning Bloody Mary in the bathroom. "Don't you just love it when friends set murderous spirits on you?"

"You know I think that's the only thing that hasn't happened to us yet," Dean mused over Charlie's frightened screams as she is stalked by Bloody Mary. "Unless you count Crowley and his goons."

"So you admit Crowley is your friend?"

"I said 'unless', Crowley fails into that acquaintance category," Dean clarified. "Otherwise our record is clean."

"We may not have used spirits but I'm afraid our record for personally attempts is woefully abysmal," Cas sighed.

"We haven't tried to actually kill each other, maim sure, but not kill," Dean denied but both Sam and Cas turned to him with their own personal bitchfaces. "Okay not while we were in our right senses."

"You tried to kill me on sight," Cas reminded him and Dean's shoulders sagged in defeat.

"You boys lead strange lives," Mary rubbed her temple.

Boy she does not know the half of it. Sam took some deep breaths, "What did I say about warning me?" I thought about it but face it Sam, anything I do to warn you is still going to freak you out. "Anything new?" Maybe, I'd prefer to talk to you alone. They had just gotten to the part with TV!Sam wanting to offer himself as bait to Bloody Mary and Sam made an uncomfortable noise, "I'll be right back, bathroom."

"And miss my outstanding big brother moment? Dude!" Dean protested.

"I'll send your award in the mail," Sam left and ducked into the hallway where the bedrooms were. "So?" They still haven't figured out how you got away but they've decided that isn't a priority anymore. They're just going to recapture you and figure out the rest later. "What about Dean?" Well they know he's alive so it would be safe to assume he's going to be targeted. "Are we safe in the Bunker?" Lady Toni 'lost' the key so yes you're safe. Sam grinned, "Hope you made it good." Some of my best work I assure you.

"Sam you alright man? You're going to miss the fight," Dean shouted ahead of himself and Sam jerked.

"Keep me updated," Sam made a show of wiping his hands on his shirt just in time for Dean to see. Aye, aye captain! The voice was gone and Sam was relieved but still tense if that made any sense.

"You okay little brother?" Dean asked.

"Fine, I don't like thinking about all of that. The visions, the demon blood, any of it but I'll live, I mean I already survived it," Sam said dismissively.

"Doesn't make it any easier but mom is worried about you," Dean said. "And we have barely scratched the surface on all of this. We might do an episode or two more but after that, we should give it a rest. Give her a day to digest it. Hey maybe we can go on a hunt?" Dean proposed and Sam blanched.

"Uh dude, we might need to give that a rest for a bit too, until we can figure out the situation with the Men of Letters," Sam coughed. "They don't seem like the type to just give up."

"Right, I forgot about those mooks," Dean grimaced. "Fine, we'll stay here but I still think we should take a break."

"We'll talk to mom," Sam promised. "Come on let's go watch us kill an urban legend."

They returned to the TV room and Mary and Cas looked up at their entrance. "What did we miss?" Dean hopped back into his spot.

"Sam summoned Bloody Mary and you've gone to handle the police." Cas reported, "Your lies continue quite atrocious by the way."

"I get it, my cover stories need work, stop ragging."

"You okay baby?" Mary asked Sam softly.

"Fine mom," Sam reassured her.

Bloody Mary began her attack and revealed Sam had dreamt about Jessica's death weeks before it actually happened. "Sam!" Mary gasped.

"I wish I could say it gets better." Sam blew out a breath only to snort at Mary coming out of the mirror, "Are we watching The Ring?"

"Maybe…" Dean shrugged. "Animating the dead can't be easy. The 600 years' worth of bad luck would explain a lot though."

"An interesting paradox to be sure but it doesn't make much sense," Cas frowned. "I thought the spirit latched onto to guilt but Mary must've felt justified in her killings."

"I don't think it was about guilt, it wasn't clear if Shoemaker felt guilt or that Jill girl," Mary thought over. "I think it's more that they were connected with death and had a part in it that they never paid the price for. Accidental, justified, or not."

"The point is it worked," Dean concluded. "What's next?"