Later in the day, we decided to keep looking for Joe and Glen Kyle by looking in Glen's building and if possible the basement. We were back in the car with Ramble On blasting, but Dean wasn't singing. He was just telling stupid jokes. That was weird because usually we were his audience while he did his best performance of this song. But not here. Sam threw me a look in the mirror. Even though he was smiling like a goof, I knew something was not right. Something was definitely on Dean's mind and it troubled him, I could tell. He was just trying to distract his mind. I wanted to confront him so bad. But it was not the right time, nor the right place. So I just asked "What's the plan again?" Dean used the rearview mirror to look at me and said " First, we go to the morgue and ask to see Glen's file in the archives. Then, we go to his ancient building, we'll tell them that we are looking for asbestos or crap like that so we'll need to check the whole building to find clues about that son of a bitch."
I furrowed my eyebrows a bit. "Why would he still live there? He could just have left and changed his name. Are you sure it is a good idea and not a total waste of time?" His green eyes were no longer on the road but solely on me. "I know that if he's alive, he probably won't live in this flat anymore, Robin. But there might be a chance that he's still around. We can't reject this possibility. We'll also look for Joe and maybe Zeke, too." His tone became oddly calm. "Okay. If we find him, Joe or Glen I mean, what do we do? Try to kill them on the spot, without questions asked?" The green of his eyes became darker. "We can't let them live one more second knowing what they did to innocent people." I could see his hands gripping the steering wheel tighter. This time, Sam said " Dean! We need to know their motivations, about their scheme, we need to…" It seemed that Dean completely snapped at these words. "And what your fees will be Doc, huh?! We're not here to play shrinks! I don't care about their motivations! I don't want to hear about it! We have to kill them right away!" Dean was screaming at this point. For the only answer, Sam just threw him a dirty look but it contained everything he wanted to say to his brother.
A heavy silence fell in the car and the tension soon became unbearable. I regretted a bit to have asked this question. I must admit that I agreed with Dean but I couldn't take part in this. The rest of the trip was dead silent. Even without a single word from them, each look they threw at each other seemed full of unspoken anger. I really hoped that our federal roleplay would ease the tension at least a little bit. Once we arrived at the morgue, we all got out of Baby and tried to look professional.
As always, Dean used his charm to get us Glen's file. Much to Sam's exasperation. They left us alone while they went for were all seated in the archives with multiple pieces of the files in our hands. "So, it implies the 3 gunshot wounds in the chest Dean inflicted on him. And also a cicatrized bite mark on the back of his neck." said Sam, showing us the pictures of the corpse. "It also mentions that the bullets were made of silver. The death occurred between midnight and 1 AM." Dean sighed and Sam put the file back on the table. "Do you think that means that he is really dead?" asked Dean. "Maybe not. The silver of the bullets could have slowed the healing process and once they were out, he regenerated himself." said Sam. "Okay. That could make sense. But what about the forensic? He would have noticed something." I asked.
Then Dean replied "Except if he was an accomplice. But that doesn't make sense. I think he is completely dead and that we wasted precious time.." We all sighed. Our main lead seemed to be a waste of time. " It means that we are left with Joe. But we also have to find Zeke." said Dean, rubbing his temples. "Do you really think that there is a link between these two? Joe and Glen, I mean." I asked. "Well, maybe. We can't be sure of anything. After all, if he knows about Supernatural, he might have read the books and took the name of a fellow werewolf to lead us in the wrong direction." replied Dean. I saw something in Sam's eyes, as if he was irritated that such a smart reflection came out of Dean's mouth instead of his. I guessed that he was still a bit mad about earlier in the car. "I guess it's time to go to his old flat. Joe might have left another ridiculous bait for us, but it could also help us."
After a quick trip to the motel to change our costumes, we finally arrived in the neighborhood in the middle of the afternoon. Sam and I were already in costume to pass as asbestos inspectors, while Dean was in more casual clothes. It seemed like a nice suburban place. Not the kind of place where you'd expect a werewolf to be on the loose. As we walked, I noticed a realtor's bench. Their names were Evelyn Taylor and Phil Bixby. "Hey, guys." I said. Both Dean and Sam turned their heads toward me. "Have you seen this?" Dean glanced at the picture and said "Guess we might run into them. I'll take care of this." He flashed me a seductive smile. I couldn't help but blush just at the sight of his smile. Sam rolled his eyes and said "Alright, Casanova. Robin and I are going inside and we'll tell them that we come to check asbestos. Then we go look for his apartment and the basement. While you do your 'thing'. We'll meet in front of the car." As we walked away from him, I waved at Dean and, after hesitating, he vaguely waved back. I didn't know why but he seemed at war. Sometimes close to me, sometimes aloof. Something was wrong, it wasn't my imagination.
Sam and I stepped inside the building. It was quite charming. But I didn't have the time to look properly when an attractive woman came to us. I recognized her, it was Evelyn Taylor. She smiled at us and asked "Hello. What can I do for you?" "Uh, we're Chris Holmes and Alice Cooper from American Air Testing. We're here to do an asbestos test." She seemed to be surprised and said "But we never asked for your services." I was quick to say "Your colleague, Phil. He called us to schedule a test. Maybe he forgot to tell you? It doesn't surprise me. He seems very forgetful " She seemed to doubt. My stress level got higher when she retorted "I'm calling him and.." But she never finished her sentence. Dean appeared and threw her a bright smile. She suddenly forgot about us. She just threw us a set of keys and went all over Dean. "Hello, Sir. What can I do for you?" She was basically swooning over him. He smiled even more and said "I'm looking for a flat. Maybe you could help me?". She giggled, grabbed him by the arm and walked away as if Sam and I weren't even there. "So, we go to his flat first?" I asked Sam. "Guess so. I don't know if we'll find anything but it's worth a shot." He replied while shrugging his shoulders. We both headed to apartment number 1.
"Found anything?" asked Sam from afar as I closed the closet. "Squat. You?" I replied. "Same". He said as his voice sounded closer to me. "Apparently, this flat was unoccupied for quite a long time." I said as I tried to get rid of the spider web stuck in my hair. Sam gave me a hand to get the web out of my hair. "We already looked for every nook and cranny here. I guess we'll have to go to the basement now." He said. I looked one last time at the whole flat. Then I said "Okay, let's go."
We were now going to the basement. It was bigger than I thought. As we tried to find Glen's box, I felt a feeling rising in me. Even though I had to stay focused on our case, I couldn't help but feel a bit angry at this Evelyn Taylor. And Sam seemed to notice. "What's going on?" he asked. I was about to say "nothing" but I needed to get it off my chest. "Have you seen her, simpering over him like a schoolgirl? Drives me crazy!" Sam just chuckled. "Uh oh, looks like someone's jealous." I could feel my cheeks getting warmer. "It's not funny and I'm not jealous." Sam threw me an amused look. "Okay, I'm jealous. What do you think he's saying to her?" Sam shrugged and replied "The usual crap he uses on almost every woman I guess. But don't worry too much, you know how it always ends up." I sighed and said "I know. But this time, it's different. Dean's different. Something's not right." This time, it was Sam's turn to sigh. "You're still on that? His supposed sudden weirdness? Listen, Robin. I know my brother. He can be weird but it doesn't mean a thing, okay? Now try to focus, please." This time, I was angry. I turned to face him and said "No. You, listen to me. I can feel that something changed when he came back and I can't put my finger on it. He's not like the Dean we know. He still does his jokes and all, but it feels different."
Sam looked a bit taken aback by my sudden outburst. He seemed to think for a bit, then asked "What if Dean was a shapeshifter? I mean, you said it yourself. He still acts like himself but something is weird, not like his usual self." This suggestion surprised me, to say the least. "You're sure, Sam? Maybe something simply happened? But a shapeshifter? I don't know. I mean, first a werewolf and now a shapeshifter? It would be too much. Maybe you're exaggerating a bit?" "You're the one who's obsessed with his behavior. We'll just have to be careful. Maybe something happened but that doesn't rule out the shapeshifter possibility." I tried to think about it but this possibility was scary because it meant that the real Dean was trapped somewhere in the city. But at least, he was still alive."Hey! I think we're near Glen's box." I said in an attempt to change the subject.
As we opened the metallic door, clouds of dust flew in the air. We both cough and put our arms before our faces. I switched the light on and discovered just a few cardboard boxes in the back. Probably stuff nobody reclaimed. I looked at Sam and said " Time to snoop." We then began to open the boxes. It was filled with clothes and various trinkets. But nothing relevant. "There's nothing here. We should find Dean," said Sam while getting closer to the door. I then noticed another box. "Wait, Sam. There's another one. Maybe it contains the answers we're looking for." As I lifted it, I found something interesting. "Sam! Come here, I think I found something." Indeed, it was interesting. It was a trap door leading deeper under the building. There were deep claw marks on it. "What is it?" Asked Sam. "It looks like a door to somewhere deeper. Hold my lamp." I said, handing him the lamp as I tried to open the trap door. It was stuck by the rust. "Do you think you can help me open it?" I asked Sam. He nodded his head and began to try to force it to open . After a lot of effort, the trap door gave in and we were able to open it. Sam glanced at me and asked "You want to go in there? You don't want to check that box first?" I shook my head. "We have to check this first." I grabbed my flashlight and without another word, I jumped into that black hole.
As I landed hard, more dust flew around. "You okay?" Asked Sam from above. I managed to answer "Yeah." between two coughing fits. I soon heard Sam jumping behind me. I switched my flashlight on and began to scan the area. There were even more claw marks on the floor and the brickwalls. But the beam of my lamp reflecting on something else caught my attention immediately. Broken chains. There were broken chains still firmly attached to the wall. Someone definitely knew that Glen was a werewolf. I turned my head and called Sam. A dim light suddenly lit the room. Sam just switched the light on. When he arrived next to me, I said "Have you seen this? Those chains were certainly to hold Glen when he transformed into a werewolf. And apparently, he broke free. Someone knew that he was a werewolf and they helped him." He just hummed and walked away to inspect further. I was sweeping the area with the beam of my lamp when Sam suddenly arrived in front of me. "Do you think that…" I didn't have the time to finish my sentence. Sam's eyes flashed with a silver glow when my flashlight shined on him. He was a shapeshifter! I tried to grab my silver dagger but he jumped at me.
This made my dagger fall on the floor. He then tied me to the wall with another set of chains that I didn't notice. "Tks, tks, Robin. I'm really disappointed. And you're supposed to be an experienced hunter? A shame, really…" He said with a sassy laugh. "Who are you?!" I spat. He came closer and replied "So, little Robin can't recognize me? I'm a bit upset. But to your defense, the last you saw me, I wasn't looking like that." He came even closer and whispered in my ear "I still remember the smell of the cocktails you almost spilled on me at the convention." I tried to fight against the restraints. What was he talking about? Then realization struck me like thunder. He was the guy I bumped into. "You followed us? Why? What did you do to Sam?" He smirked and said "Easy tiger. Of course, I've followed you. Ever since Lebanon, in fact.I didn't want to at first but Joe was really persuasive. When he mentioned the Winchester, I couldn't let this occasion go. And to answer your last question, Sam is somewhere where you can't find him. At first, I wanted to take Dean. But the diner was too crowded last night. It was easier with Sam this morning. That guy comes running every morning at hours where practically no one's around." I looked at him in the eyes and spat on his face. His smile faded quickly and he squeezed my face in his hand, making me wince a little. He suddenly scrunched his face as if he was in pain, opened his eyes, smiled again then told me "You know, Sam told his brother about your ridiculous feelings for him. And Dean laughed his ass off. Dean recently told him how much he loved to toy with your heart, how powerful it makes him feel. I should have taken Dean's appearance, it would have been better. Just to see your little heart shatter" I knew he was lying but it stung nevertheless. I knew that Sam would never do such a thing to me.
I finally asked "What do you want?" "Oh, I just want to have some fun." He replied with a demented smile. I never thought that Sam's face could ever become scary. He came closer to me and whispered in a secretive tone "Did you know that the books imply that your love for the elder Winchester is one-sided?" He was so close that I managed to kick him in the knee. He didn't even flinch. He just looked down at his knee then lifted his head. His smile sent shivers down my spine. "Oh oh, it seems like I struck a nerve." I tried to throw him the most murderous glare I could."Don't look at me like that. Not my bad if nobody loves poor little Robin" I knew that he just wanted me to crumble. But I would never give him this satisfaction, not if I could help it. "You can say whatever you like, I don't care. I know that you are here to separate us, to cause distrust and to make us lose our time. As soon as we get Sam, you're dead, asshole." He faked indignation. "Wow, easy with the insults. Now I see why nobody loves you. You're a killjoy." He said as he tapped my cheek. He then checked his watch and said "Anyway, I have to go. I wasn't glad to finally meet you. But business is business, dear." With that, he threw me the hardest and the most painful blow I've ever received in my life. I just had the time to see him running away before losing consciousness.