They pulled up at the hotel and sat in silence. Dean was a little embarrassed about his verbal breakdown and Callie was confused about what she had seen. She was also worried that Dean would be sucked down into the deep well of depression again. This whole case was turning out to be bigger than they thought.
"You ok?" He asked. Callie nodded.
"Yeah. You?"
"Yeah seems like a chick flick moment was what I needed. Thanks." They laughed.
"Anytime Dean." She went to get out of the car but he grabbed her back.
"Same for you yeah? You wanna talk about anything, I am here." He couldn't shake the feeling that there was more going on to that little blank out she had in the car. Callie smiled.
"I know." She leant over and kissed his cheek. It sent jolt through his skin. "And you say you're not a nice guy." She winked and moved out of the car again. "Oh. And I won't tell Sam." She winked before heading to the room.
His cheek tingled from the kiss. It made his heart ache. She was so close yet so far away from him. He wanted it all back. To take her in his arms and throw her over his shoulder like he use to do. To hear her scream with laughter and hit his back to be put down. To come home…their home…and have her run into his arms, covering in flour and icing. Most of all, he just wanted her to look up at him and smile the special smile she had for him and tell him that she loved him. He rubbed his aching chest and climbed out of the car. He never thought this would be so hard.
He entered the room and found Sam on his laptop. The bathroom door was shut so he assumed Callie was in there.
"What did you find out?" Dean asked. Sam sighed and looked up sadly.
"I'm sorry." Sam said. Dean knew exactly why he was sorry.
"The man who had a heart attack? Marshall Hall? He died at 4:17."
"That was the time you were healed." Callie answered standing in the bathroom doorway.
"How did you know the exact time I was healed?" Dean asked.
"I looked at my watch right before you fell to your knees." Callie waved her wrist watch at him.
"OK then." Sam frowned at them before shaking it off. "So Roy's healed six people in the last year and every time someone was healed, someone else died. And each time, the victim died of the same symptom LeGrange was healing at the time." Dean shook his head.
"I knew this was too freaking good to be true." He muttered. "So someone's healed of cancer and someone dies of cancer?" Sam nodded.
"He's trading lives? Really?" Callie asked pushing herself off the doorframe and walking over to sit on a bed.
"You shouldn't have brought me here Sam. Marshall Hall is dead because of me!" Dean snapped. Before Sam could argue back, Callie chimed in.
"Argue later. Right now we need to know how the hell this asshole is trading lives ok?" She looked at Dean with a raised eyebrow, daring him to challenge her. She wanted to hit him and scream at him but she also needed them to focus. She also needed to pull his stubborn ass out of the dark hole =he was digging himself into.
"He's not doing it." Dean said tearing his eyes from Callie and turning to his brother. "That old man I saw on stage? He's what's doing it and old Roy is controlling it." He sighed and ran a hand over his hair. "I didn't want to believe it but I knew. I knew exactly what it was. There's only one thing that can take and give life like that."
"A reaper." Callie murmured. Dean nodded.
"Makes sense."
"The reaper? As in the Grim Reaper? The angel of death, collects your soul wears a lot of black reaper?" Sam raised his eyebrows.
"There's reaper lore in pretty much every culture. Our representation of death and the skeleton and the black robes only came about during the plague in London. Makes sense if there was more than one reaper." Callie piped up. Dean smiled, impressed with her knowledge. She blushed under his gaze.
"I found a few books ok?"
"A guy in a suit is a reaper though?" Sam shook his head. "It doesn't make sense."
"Why not? It's not like it would be standard uniform for reapers especially if there is so many different ones."
"Time stopped. My watch froze right before you collapsed on your knees than was normal by the time we got you to the hospital." Callie looked up. "Reapers stop time. I think you're on to something Dean."
"Right. We know what we are dealing with. Let's find how the bastard is controlling it and how to stop it." Dean clapped his hands together. "Let's stop this crap now." They grabbed their bags and piled back into the car. Callie couldn't help but wondered how they kept going. They hadn't rested much since Dean was healed and although she was use to the long hours of double shifts, she was starting to hit her wall. She'd sleep when this was over. Dean's safe, they'd stop this whole swapping lives thing and then she could sleep for a week.
The gravel crunched underneath the Impala's tires as they pulled up to the ground.
"We need to find a spell book if he's using a spell."
"Right. Sam, see if you can…"
"I'll go." Callie interrupted from the back. Both brothers turned around to look at her.
"I'll go and look for the spell book. I know just as much as Sam does and I am smaller. Besides, if I get caught I can make up some shit about wanting to thank them all over again for saving my dear sweet Dean." She battered her eyelashes at them.
"She has a point. She is less obvious." Sam shrugged to Dean.
"Fine. Callie, get the spell book. There's…15 minutes until service so haul ass." She nodded. Dean didn't like sending her out alone especially since she hadn't done this type of thing since the attack…but he couldn't fault her argument. She was tinier than his giant brother and the LeGranges did love her enough that the excuse would work.
"Sammy, you and I are going to stall the reverend." Sam nodded. "Alright. Let's get this son of a bitch."
_PAGE BREAK_
Callie couldn't help but cringe as she stepped on another stick. She wasn't doing so well with the silent watch and wait thing. She kept waiting for someone to find her. She was watching Roy and Sue Ann leave the house with another dark haired man. Once they were well and truly out of sight, she shimmed through the opened window and took a deep breathe before starting her search.
She wasn't use to this whole cloak and dagger crap. She was a nurse. A damn good nurse who loved her patients and hated the doctors. Searching through dark houses looking for a spell book to stop a reaper wasn't exactly something she had seen herself doing. She had to admit though, it was thrilling. There was something about this whole thing that made her feel…content. She hadn't felt like that in a long time. She was happy with her job and life as much as she could remember at least but there was always a void…a small niggling sensations…that made her think she was missing something. Maybe this supernatural crap was that something. She paused for a second in front of the bookshelf, had she done this before? She frowned and shook her head, dismissing the thought instantly. No, if she had she would have done it with Dean and Sam and they would have surely said something about knowing her when they first met. She smirked as she noticed the one book in the bookshelf without dust. If you're going to be sneaky at least do it right, she thought pulling the book away. She flipped it open and frowned when there was nothing inside. Could have sworn the bookshelf would have moved or something. She looked up and noticed a smaller book behind the larger one and sighed.
"Well this is no fun." She mumbled to herself pulling the small book out of its terrible hiding spot. Inside is a picture of a skeleton reaper, and on another page the wooden cross that was on display in the tent. Callie shook her head as she glanced over the newspaper articles that were stuck inside. They were all the people who had died. The two victims had been a openly gay teacher and a abortion rights advocate. Callie scoffed loudly. They were going after people who they thought were immoral. Hypocrites much?
"Shit." She hissed reaching in her pocket for her phone as she glanced over the newest article.
"Cal, you okay?" Dean answered after one ring.
"I'm fine but that protestor in the parking lot? He's next. Roy is choosing his victims he believes are immoral." She said.
"Yeah cause playing God isn't immoral in the slightest." Dean snarked back.
"Amen to that dude. Anyway I'll find the protestor but do not let Roy heal anyone okay?"
"Okay. And sugar? Stay safe okay?" she laughed.
"Always Dean." She moved quietly back out the window and made her way back towards the carpark. It was dark and a little spooky as she began to search for the next victim. A hand shot out and grabbed her arm as she turned the corner. Another large hand clapped over her mouth before she could scream. Without thinking, she threw back her elbow as hard as she could right into the middle of her attackers chest.
"Callie it's me. It's Sam." The owners of the hands said softly. Callie felt her heart was going to beat through her chest. She pulled away and spun around.
"Jesus Sammy, warn a girl next time." She placed a hand over her heart. Sam was bent over at the waist.
"Somehow I think you would have been fine. Damn you have bony elbows." He rubbed his belly and straightened, not even thinking about correcting her use of Sammy.
"Well don't sneak up like a serial killer and you'll never have to feel the wrath of them again." Sam laughed and shook his head.
"Noted. So what did you find?"
Callie opened her mouth to relay what she had found but was interrupted by a loud yell for help.
"That's David, the protestor from the other day! The next victim! Come on!"
As they ran around the carpark trying to find the protestor, Callie filled Sam in on what she had found.
"This dude is messed up." Sam huffed. The protestor came barrelling around the corner, white and a look of pure terror on his face.
"Help me please!' he huffed clinging onto Callie.
"Where is he?" Sam barked. David pointed over Sam's shoulder.
"Move it." Callie yelled grabbing a handful of David's jacket and pulling him along with her as she began to run again. She could hear Sam's phone ring and pulled David behind a car and crouched down.
"You are okay. It's ok. We are here to help ok?" Callie said softly squeezing his hands. David nodded nervously. He looked around and sighed. Sam was talking on the phone a few feet away.
"I think it's gone." David said before standing and turning around. He screamed loudly.
"Sam!" Callie yelled seeing the terror in David's face. She pulled him behind her and blindly looked around. David fell to his knees behind Callie yelling and grew paler.
"It didn't work Dean! He's still here! Roy mustn't be the one controlling him!" Sam yelled into the phone.
"Sam!" Callie screaming turning and seeing David on the ground in pain, staring at something she couldn't see. Then as suddenly as it started, it stopped. David took a large shuddering breath and rested his head on the ground. Callie crouched down and rubbed his back.
"It's over?" she looked at Sam who nodded. "It's all over." They helped David up and walked back towards the tent. David turned and shrugged at them.
"Thank you?" He made it sound like a question.
Callie frowned as cops shoved Dean and let him go.
"I'm going to …go…somewhere else." David said shakily, wanting to high tail it away from the area.
"You'll be okay?" she asked facing him. He nodded.
"Thank you." It sounded stronger this time. She shrugged.
"As long as you're ok. Two shots of whiskey and a long hot shower and you'll feel better." He nodded and walked off.
"Let's get back to the motel." Dean said walking over to her.
"Something wrong?" She asked. He squeezed her shower
"He's got another healing session tonight with Layla." He rubbed his face. Callie nodded.
"Regroup at the hotel and then come back and stop this son of a bitch?" Dean laughed.
"Amen to that."
_PAGE BREAK_
"Wait, he actually believe he has the powers of God? Really?" Callie leant against the small table in the hotel room. Dean nodded from the left bed.
"Yep. Poor shmuck has no idea."
"I found this?" Callie pulled the small book form her jacket pocket. "It's…messed up. Binding spell for a reaper made by a priest with too much spare time on his hands." She threw it to Dean who had held up his hand.
"It has the whole nine yards. Black alter, dark juju. Bones, human blood, crosses …the whole evil black magic murdering evilness."
"She was desperate to keep her husband alive." Dean said softly.
"Yeah but to keep going? That's crazy on a whole new level. She's using it to take down those she thinks is immoral. She's literally playing God. Pretty sure that's a sin."
"May God save us from half the people who think they're doing God's work." Dean snorted. Callie nodded in agreement.
"We gotta break it." Sam piped up.
" Sue Ann had a coptic cross like this. When she dropped it the reaper backed off." Dean squinted at the book and turned it to show Callie and Sam .
"Okay so we find the cross, destroy it without getting reaped. And destroy the alter just in case?" Callie asked. Both brothers nodded.
"This wasn't what I had in mind for my holiday time. " She groaned.
"How much longer you got?" Dean asked, not really wanting to know the answer.
"Two weeks left. Then I have to go back to the real world." She sighed. There was a part of her that didn't want to go back. It wanted to stay and hunt bad monsters with the brothers. It made her feel good…fulfilled like this was the part she had been blindly looking for
"You…you could always stay?" Sam asked slowly. Callie smiled at him.
"What help would a nurse with amnesia be to the big bad Winchester brothers?"
"You helped today? You are small and clever and quick. You would fit right in." Dean added. Callie blushed and nibbled on her lip.
"Case first, job shift second okay?" the brothers nodded. She was going to have a lot of thinking to do when this case ended.