Disclaimer: All rights belong to their owners, I claim ownership of nothing but Mia.
A/N: I'm sorry for the late update, and for the intimidating length.
Chapter 13: Attack of the Croatoans
"I don't understand why I can't just get the groceries on my own. I'm not an idiot," Dean muttered to himself as he and Mia walked through the local mini-mart.
"Because if I'm not here to make sure you actually get nourishing food, we're going to be stuck with a ton of pies and candies for another week," Mia retorted playfully.
Dean ignored her attempts to be friendly and picked up his walking pace, forcing her to break into a slow jog to keep up.
Mia's face fell. Dean had been acting coldly towards her all week, ever since he'd found out about his father's deal with the demon. First, it was the silent treatment, which was awful, then it was the constant insults, the ridicule, the dirty looks, and now it seemed as though he'd gone back to ignoring her again... Wonderful.
Sam had been the one who had forced her to go with Dean to the store, not only to monitor his food choices but also in hopes that forcing them to be alone together would allow them to talk out their issues. But Dean wasn't gonna break so easily. His expression remained cool and aloof.
Mia followed him past the toy aisle and was distracted by some Disney dolls that reminded her of the ones she'd played with as a child. Next to those was a bin of giant bouncy balls. She pulled out a bright blue one that had an image of Ariel from The Little Mermaid on it. She began bouncing it, happily, while wondering if she could somehow incorporate the toy into their hunting regime. Maybe she could fill it with holy water and whip it at people they suspected were being possessed by demons. She laughed to herself at the thought and turned to Dean, thinking maybe sharing her silly idea would put a smile on his face and get him to finally forgive her. But he was gone.
She groaned and walked over to the baked goods aisle, figuring Dean would be by the pies, but he wasn't there either. The young girl continued to check various aisles, wondering where on earth Dean could have gone.
After nearly five minutes of vigorous searching, Mia began to feel panicked. What if he'd left her alone at the store? She wouldn't put it past him to do that, especially with his current mindset.
She was about to whip out her cell phone and call him when she saw the familiar brown leather coat walking out of the meat aisle. Mia ran to him, the giant bouncy ball still tucked under her arm.
"Why the hell do you have a ball?" He asked.
She smiled and explained to him her idea of making a ball of holy water to chuck at people they believed were demons.
"-Or we could use balloons! Holy Water Balloons!" She giggled to herself.
Dean stared at her in immense irritation. "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard… I think it was a mistake for you to become a hunter if you're going to treat it like a game. Let's just get the stuff we need and get out of here, I'm starving."
He then turned around to grab a pack of beef jerky. Meanwhile, Mia was fuming. She couldn't believe how awful Dean was. He was a gigantic jerk!
She knew she'd promised herself to just take his words with a grain of salt, but the word 'mistake,' elicited a fire within her and she knew from that moment on, there would be no more lying down and taking abuse from Dean Winchester.
The furious brunette lifted the giant bouncy ball above her, and with all the strength she could muster, she chucked it at the back of Dean's head. Unfortunately, at that moment, he decided to duck down to look at the prices and the ball didn't make an impact with the back of his skull as Mia had hoped, but instead hit his back. She was joyously victorious for a moment… Then the ball came back.
Dean, who'd felt the impact on his back, spun around just in time to see the ball ricochet and smack Mia in the face. The force of impact was so strong, it managed to knock her onto her back.
It took Dean less than two seconds to comprehend what had just happened and burst into hysterical laughter. It took nearly two full minutes for him to stop laughing.
"Karma's a bitch, huh?" Dean managed as he wiped tears of laughter from his eyes.
Mia pulled herself to her feet and shot him a dirty look. "Yeah, go ahead; Laugh. I hope it's still funny to you when you're in hell, you ass!" She declared, then grabbed her giant bouncy ball and fled to the toy aisle in embarrassment with Dean's laughter still echoing in her ears.
After that incident, Dean and Mia gathered what they needed and left the store. Mia hoped that her folly would at least give Dean the chance to finally stop being angry with her, but if anything, it seemed to have the opposite effect. Dean was angrier now because she'd made him laugh, and broken his cold and unforgiving exterior. He wasn't ready to 'make nice,' just yet.
When they got back to the motel they noticed that Sam, who had been fast asleep on his bed when they left him, had rolled onto the floor. He sat upright and stared at both of them wide-eyed, and drenched in sweat. The look of panic and disbelief in his expression reminded Mia of the time she and Dean had discovered him in the bathroom just after he'd had a vision.
Sure enough, Sam had had a vision. This time, it involved Dean. He explained to them that in his vision, Dean killed a young man, claiming that something was in him.
"Do you think it has something to do with the yellow-eyed demon?" Dean questioned.
Sam shrugged. "I don't know, maybe. All I know is that in my visions, you claimed that there was something inside him, and he had to be killed."
"Then it must've been demonic possession or something like that, I'd never kill an innocent person," The elder Winchester determined.
Mia and Sam exchanged skeptical looks and Dean noted the exchange with irritation.
"Hey! I wouldn't kill an innocent person!" He exclaimed.
"I never said you would!" Sam replied, defensively putting his hands up.
Mia remained doubtful. At the rate Dean was currently spiraling downward at, she wouldn't be too surprised if Sam's vision came true.
A poster in Sam's vision put them in Rivergrove, Oregon, near Crater Lake. The three of them traveled there within a day and reached the small town by the afternoon. Mia was in awe of the natural landscape nearby.
"I've always wanted to visit Crater Lake," she told Sam as they walked down the main city square, hoping to run into someone that Sam recognized from his vision.
"Yeah, well we're not here to sightsee, Princess," Dean snapped as he passed her on the sidewalk.
Mia glared at his back. "One of these days I'm gonna use my power as your appointed Princess and order your banishment…" She muttered bitterly.
Sam overheard her muttering and smiled in spite of himself. He'd definitely noticed the animosity between the two of them and was beyond annoyed, especially with Dean. Why he couldn't just let bygones be bygones was beyond him.
Suddenly, he stopped, recognizing a man from the scene in his vision. The man was sturdily built, with rippling muscles and a military haircut. He was cleaning his gun while sitting on the front porch of his house.
Sam told his brother and Mia that he recognized the man as one of the people in the room during the 'execution', and led them over to talk.
"Hi there, I'm Billy Gibbons, this is Frank Beard, and she's Dusty Hill. We're U.S Marshals," Dean announced, as the three of them flashed their fake badges.
The man nodded. "How can I help you?"
"We're looking for someone, a young man, in his early twenties. He's got blond hair, blue eyes, and a thin scar on his forehead," Sam told him as he recalled the details from his vision.
The man put down his gun and observed the three of them closely. "Why? What did he do?"
"Oh, nothing, we just think he can help us find someone else," Mia jumped in with a charming smile.
"He's not in any trouble," Dean replied, but paused when he noticed a familiar-looking tattoo on the man's arm, "Master Sergeant."
'Master Sergeant' glanced at him in surprise.
"My dad was in the Corps, he was a Corporal," Dean explained with a smile.
"What company?" The man asked, now, seemingly more at ease with him.
"Echo-2-1."
Sam stepped forwards and gave the man his best puppy dog look. "So, can you help us?"
Mia wasn't sure if it was Sam's puppy dog look or Dean's recognition of the man's military status, but he gave in. "Duane Tanner has a scar like that, but he's a good kid."
"Of course," Dean nodded automatically, "Do you know where he lives?"
"Up Aspen Way with his folks," The man answered.
"Thank you," Mia smiled gratuitously, as the three of them left to find Duane Tanner.
As they crossed and walked down the sidewalk towards the Impala, Mia asked, "How come you never told me your dad was in the military?"
"Because it wasn't any of your business," Dean retorted sharply before Sam got a chance to say anything.
Mia stared daggers at him and was about to respond that military involvement wasn't exactly a giant secret, when she suddenly walked into a telephone pole, not having seen it due to the fact that her head was turned to face the boys.
"Ow!" She exclaimed, clutching at her nose.
Dean burst into laughter. He didn't know what was wrong with her today, but she seemed to be a walking disaster. He continued laughing as he walked while Sam rushed to Mia's aid. Dean was still snickering and glancing back at his brother and Mia, when he walked right into a tree.
"OUCH!" He shouted in alarm and clutched at his forehead.
Now it was Mia's turn to laugh at Dean's expense. "Karma's a bitch, huh?" She teased him with the words he'd used to taunt her earlier that day.
"Shut up," He retorted furiously as he walked over to her and Sam, who was now inspecting the telephone pole Mia had walked into.
"Take a look at this," Sam said as he pointed to a word that was scratched into the wooden pole.
"Croatoan," Mia read as she removed her hands from her nose.
Sam glanced at the two of them, hoping for a reaction. "Roanoke? The first colony? Is this ringing any bells?"
Mia's blue eyes widened and she nodded, recognizing the significance of the word. Dean remained clueless and stared at his younger brother blankly.
"Did you ever pay attention in history class?" Sam sighed at him.
"Uh, yeah! How bills become laws, Shots heard around the world…"
"That's not school, that's Schoolhouse Rock," Mia retorted, remembering the funny little animated cartoons from her childhood, in particular, 'Conjunction Junction'.
"Whatever," Dean rolled his eyes.
"Roanoke was the first English Colony in America, in the late 1500's," Sam explained.
"The whole colony just disappeared overnight, and all that was left was one word carved into a tree; 'Croatoan,'" Mia added in a mystical voice.
Dean raised his eyebrows at her theatrics then turned to his brother. "Right, I think I remember that. There were all these theories and stuff but no one knows for sure what really happened."
"Yes," Sam nodded, impressed that Dean remembered.
"Do you think what's going on here, could be like that?" Mia asked nervously.
Sam shrugged. "All I know is what happened in my vision wasn't pretty."
"Maybe we should get back up," Dean suggested. "Call Bobby, or maybe, Ellen?"
Mia pulled out her phone to call Bobby but found it wasn't getting any service.
"That's weird," Sam remarked, checking his own phone. "I've got nothing, too."
"Same, here," Dean frowned, as he checked his phone.
He then darted to the phone booth next to them and picked up the phone. There was no dial tone.
"Spooky," Mia commented.
Dean ignored her. "Well, if I was gonna massacre a town, cutting the phone lines would be my first step."
They found the Tanner residence in no time and knocked on the door to ask for Duane.
A boy with dark hair who looked to be about Mia's age answered the door.
"Yes?"
"Hello, we're U.S. Marshals and we're looking for a Duane Tanner?" Sam asked as the three of them flashed their badges.
"I'm Jake," The boy smiled at Mia who blushed. "Duane's my older brother, but he's on a fishing trip at Roslyn Lake."
"Are your parents home?" Dean inquired.
He nodded and turned to an older-looking man with balding hair and piercing blue eyes who stood in the doorway.
"Hi, can I help you?" Mr. Tanner politely asked.
"We're U.S Marshals and we're looking for your son, Duane," Dean recapped.
"Is-is he in trouble?" Mr. Tanner questioned in a worried tone.
"No, we just need to ask him some questions," Mia answered, her eyes still on Jake Tanner who shot her a devious grin.
Mr. Tanner spoke quickly, "Oh well, he's out, on a fishing trip, I'm not sure when he'll be coming back."
"Does your wife know when he'll be back?" Sam enquired.
Mr. Tanner shook his head. "No, I don't know. She isn't here, she's out getting groceries."
Mia eyed Jake suspiciously. "But you said both of your parents were home?"
"Did I?" His devious grin turned from charming to terrifying.
"Is there a number he can call you at when he gets back?" Mr. Tanner rushed them.
"Uh, no. We'll keep in touch," Dean smiled awkwardly as they shut the door.
"That was a freakshow," Dean commented.
Sam nodded. "Something is definitely off."
The three of them walked over to a window at the side of the house and peered inside. The window allowed them to see into the kitchen, where they noticed that Jake's mother was indeed home. She was also tied and bound to a chair while her husband and son stood over her with a butcher knife. Jake cut his arm, then his mother's before pouring his blood into her wound.
"Why'd he have to be evil, he's so cute," Mia sighed to herself as the three hunters kicked down the back door.
They ran inside with their guns raised. Dean shot Mr. Tanner twice, and Sam aimed his gun at Jake who moved quickly and jumped out the window. Sam ran to take a shot at him but found that he couldn't do it. Mia, who had fumbled with her gun, didn't take any shots.
Deciding that they needed a professional opinion on the state of Mr. Tanner and his wounded wife, Sam, Dean, and Mia dragged them into the Impala. They put Mr. Tanner in the trunk and Mia sat between Dean and Sam in the front to allow Mrs. Tanner to have space in the backseat.
As soon as they arrived at the medical center, Sam escorted Beverly Tanner inside to find a doctor while Dean went to unload the dead guy from the trunk. Mia got out to follow Sam but Dean called her to help him carry Mr. Tanner inside.
"Okay, I'll grab his arms, you take his legs," Dean instructed coolly.
He lifted the body out of the trunk, covered with a blanket. Mia winced as she recognized the blanket. It was the one she'd used to take countless naps in the backseat. It was grey and scratchy, but so warm. She was pissed that Dean had used her blanket to wrap up a dead guy, and now she'd have to throw it out and buy a new one.
"You owe me a new blanket," She hissed at him as they pulled Mr. Tanner towards the doors of the medical facility.
"Fat chance of that happening," Dean retorted as they maneuvered up the sidewalk.
Mia stopped suddenly as they reached the entrance.
"What are you doing?" Dean demanded, having noticed that she had stopped.
Her blue eyes were wide with pure terror as she stared down the one thing she truly feared.
Birds.
A flock of them were waddling around in front of the doors to the facility and Mia would be damned if she was walking through them with a dead body. They'd be swarmed!
Horrific images of a childhood memory flashed before her eyes. She was four years old and had crawled out of bed late at night to ask her dad for something to drink but instead, she found her parents sitting together in their room watching Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds. The scene with the birds swarming the schoolchildren had traumatized her for life and although the incident happened sixteen years ago, Mia had never been able to go near a swarm of birds to the day.
"HELLO? EARTH TO MIA?" Dean's angry voice brought her back from her memories. She looked around and was grateful to see that Dean's loud voice had scared the flock of birds away.
"What?" She asked, dropping Tanner's legs.
"Great, you just dropped him!" Dean shouted at her, heatedly.
Mia looked down to where Mr. Tanner lay on the ground. "It's okay, I don't think he noticed," She replied.
Dean released an irritated sigh. "Forget it, I should've known better than to ask YOU for help. You can't do anything right."
He scooped Tanner up off of the ground and lifted him into the fireman's carry as he muttered about how useless Mia was.
She walked into the medical facility in front of him and let the door swing back and hit Dean.
"WATCH IT!" He exclaimed.
"My bad," Mia sighed sarcastically, "I guess I really can't do anything right."
Dean suddenly felt the overwhelming urge to throw Mr. Tanner at her.
A doctor came rushing out to help them.
"What's going on? Has this man been attacked?" She asked.
Dean shook his head. "No, he did the attacking. This is Mr. Tanner. He tried to kill his wife and got himself hurt in the process."
Mia nodded at the doctor who seemed wary of their story. "We're U.S Marshals," She added and flashed her badge so the doctor would be more willing to trust them.
Immediately, the woman nodded and told them where they needed to bring the dead body.
The doctor, whose nametag read; Dr. Lee, her assistant Pam, Sam, Dean, and Mia stood in the examination room as Beverly Tanner explained what had happened to her.
"-It was as if one minute, they were my son and my husband, and the next, they were possessed by the devil, himself," She broke into sobs as Dr. Lee comforted her.
At the word, 'possessed', the three hunters shared a knowing look and excused themselves into the hallway.
"What are you guys thinking? Multiple demonic possessions?" Sam theorized.
Mia shook her head. "It doesn't fit. If they were possessed by demons how were we able to kill one so quickly? I mean usually with possession, it's holy water, exorcism, black smoke, etc. This is a completely different ball game…"
Dean spoke up, "Whatever it is, it turned the Tanner boys into monsters, and if Sam could've taken the boy out we'd know for sure."
"It was a kid, Dean."
"No, it was an, 'it'," Dean snapped.
" 'It', was also once an innocent human being that people like you tend to shoot first and ask them questions later," Mia defended Sam.
Dean glared at her but before he could rebuttal, Dr. Lee came in. "What the hell happened out there?" She asked.
"We don't know, but, how close is the nearest town?" Dean inquired.
"About forty miles south," She answered.
"All right, well I'm gonna head down there and find some help, my partners, are gonna stay and protect you," Dean explained as he moved to leave.
"Actually," Sam chimed in, "I'll be staying but Agent Hill is going with him."
He then shoved Mia towards Dean.
"Why do I have to go with him?" Mia whispered to Sam, harshly.
"Because I don't like his frame of mind right now. Just make sure he doesn't do any hit-and-runs on any innocent people, okay?"
She reluctantly agreed and followed Dean out. He looked about as pleased to have her join him as Luke Skywalker was when he found out Darth Vader was his father.
Mia followed Dean outside and froze as she watched him climb into the driver's seat of the Impala.
"What now?" He sighed in annoyance.
She pointed towards the flock of birds that were flying overhead.
"What? The birds?" Dean questioned in an attempt to make sense of why Mia refused to walk to the car.
The birds flew away and Mia released a sigh of relief. What was it with this town and birds? Her hometown hardly had any, then again, that was probably because the town's regular hunters had killed most of them.
"I live in constant fear of birds and especially being crapped on by a bird," Mia explained apprehensively as she walked to the car.
Dean was in disbelief at this girl. "Why did you even become a hunter?"
She stuck her tongue out at him as she climbed in.
The rest of the drive was passed in silent resentment; until the two of them reached a blockade in front of the bridge that led out of town. The blockade was made up of cars and men with guns.
Mia was shocked to recognize one of the gunmen standing in front of the blockade to be Jake Tanner. She deduced from the sinister expressions of the rest of the men that this blockade was made up of people who had contracted the same thing that the Tanners had.
There was a loud bang, as if someone had jumped on the hood of the car and suddenly a man was at Dean's window.
"Hey," The man smiled.
"Uh, hi, why's the road closed?" Dean asked.
"Quarantine stuff, the County Sheriff called and told us to set it up," The man explained, still with a strange smile on his face.
Mia raised her eyebrows at the man. "Sure, he did," She mumbled.
"Hey, why don't you two get out of the car," The man suggested with a devious expression.
Dean chuckled awkwardly. "Look, you're a real handsome devil but I don't swing that way, and you look a bit too old for her, so we're just gonna stay here."
The man still smiled, "I'd appreciate it if you both got out."
"That's not gonna happen," Dean grinned before quickly pulling the car into reverse.
Mia screamed as the man took hold of Dean's collar and was dragged along with them. Meanwhile, the men at the blockade began firing at them. She then grabbed her gun and aimed it at the man who was still clutching Dean.
"WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? DO IT ALREADY!" Dean shouted.
"I DON'T HAVE A CLEAR SHOT! I COULD HIT YOU!"
"JUST FUCKING DO IT!"
"FINE!" Mia shouted before pulling the trigger. She unloaded the bullet into the chest of the man, killing him instantly. Unfortunately, as she did not have a clear shot, she slightly skinned Dean's arm.
"I'M SO SORRY!" Mia told him honestly.
"AHHHH! SON OF A BITCH!" He exclaimed, clutching his arm. He took both hands off of the wheel, causing the car to spin out of control.
Mia leapt for the wheel and spun the car into drive before taking them as far away from the blockade as possible.
"Get off of me," Dean snapped, shoving her back into the passenger seat before taking the wheel back.
She began again, "I'm sorry, do you want me to-"
"Don't. Just don't talk to me, okay?"
Mia looked out the window, feeling terrible. She wanted more than anything just to prove that she was useful and now she shot him. Dean was going to convince Sam to get rid of her for sure.
Meanwhile, Sam was in the medical facility listening to the doctor's discoveries.
"I've been looking at Mr. Tanner's blood and it's the strangest thing," She noted. "His immune system looks as if he was fighting off an infection. But I doubt any infection could have caused him to act like… But if I didn't know any better I'd think there was sulfur in his blood cells."
Sam did know better, and he knew that anything tied with sulfur was demon-related. It seemed whatever had affected Tanner and his son was a sort of demonic virus.
"Mrs. Tanner?" Dr. Lee called across the room. "Did any of your husband's or your son's blood get on you or into an open wound?"
Beverly Tanner's eyes filled with fear. "Oh my God… Do you think I could have…."
"The only way we'll know for sure is if you'll allow me to take a blood sample," Dr. Lee announced.
Beverly nodded slowly but just as Pam, the nurse, got to her arm to prepare to take a blood sample, Beverly threw her across the room with alarming force.
Sam ran to stop her but she threw him against a glass cabinet, which shattered upon impact. He quickly grabbed a fire extinguisher off of the wall and slammed it against Beverly's head, knocking her unconscious.
They threw her into a storage room and locked the door.
"DEAN!" Mia screamed.
The Impala skidded to a halt just before it hit a man standing in the middle of the road. He held a large gun at them and seemed very familiar.
Dean was on his feet with his gun aimed at the man in seconds. "Are you one of them?" He shouted.
"No, are you?" The man who Mia recognized as 'Master Sergeant' replied.
Both men held their ground.
"How do I know you're not one of them?" Dean asked.
Master Sergeant frowned. "How do I know you're not?"
Mia rolled her eyes. This was getting them nowhere. She climbed out of the car and aimed her gun at MS as well. "Look, we're not one of them, now put your gun down before somebody gets hurt."
"Again," Dean added maliciously, referring to Mia skinning his arm.
The girl shot him a dirty look, "I saved your sorry ass! If it wasn't for me-"
Master Sergeant interrupted, "What's happening out there? It's the goddamn zombie apocalypse! Everyone is shooting each other and acting crazy. My neighbor, Mr. Rogers, he-"
"You have a neighbor named Mr. Rogers?!" Mia and Dean exclaimed in unison. They shared a small smile but then remembered that they were still angry at each other and resumed staring down the man in front of them.
"Not anymore," he sighed. "He attacked me, I had no other choice. And he's not the only one, this is happening to a lot of people."
Dean nodded. "We're heading to the Doc's, there are some sane people still there."
"You should come with us," Mia offered.
MS shook his head, "No way. I'm getting the hell out of town."
"Well unless you've got a bulldozer to take out that blockade, you're kinda stuck here," Mia informed him.
Master Sergeant looked to be struggling with the idea of getting in the car with them but ultimately gave in. He slid into the backseat, his gun still trained on Dean. Mia kept her handgun trained on him while Dean drove.
"Try not to skin him, will you," Dean taunted.
Mia glared at the side of his head. "Really? You want to piss me off while I have a gun in my hands, Dean?"
"Please, with your luck you'd end up shooting yourself," He scoffed.
"Oh yeah? How about I test out that theory?"
"It's not a theory if it's true."
"You know what? You're nothing but a…a.. pie-eating, prickheaded… goblin!" She declared, unable to think of a wittier comeback.
The man in the backseat decided that he'd prefer if the two of them were trying to kill him instead of bickering like an old married couple.
They got back to the center in no time. Sam greeted them at the door and explained what the doctor had found in Mr. Tanner's bloodstream.
"She says it must be some kind of virus. It's transferred from blood-to-blood contact. I'm guessing it must be a kind of demonic virus because she claims she's seen sulfur in the blood and it would explain my visions being tied to it," Sam relayed.
Dean nodded distractedly. "It's like a biblical plague…"
Sam turned to Mia. "Were you guys able to reach a phone?"
She opened her mouth to respond but Dean answered for her, "No. There's a damn roadblock with people infected by that virus protecting it. They shot at us and tried to get us out of the car. Then Einstein over here," He gestured towards Mia, "decides she can't shoot a gun properly and nails me in the arm."
Sam's expression turned to one of amusement rather than shock, "You shot him?"
"It was an accident! This guy was being dragged by the car, it wasn't exactly a motionless target. And Dean's being a drama queen, I just grazed him."
She lifted his left shirt sleeve to reveal a small cut that wouldn't even need stitching.
"See? I told you. Men are such babies, honestly…"
Dean continued to glare at her resentfully. "You could've shot my arm off!"
"But I didn't!"
Dean shook his head. "Sam, she's a liability, I vote her out of here. She can battle it out with the zombies outside."
Mia stared him down. "You know, there are over a million words in the English language, but I could never put any of them together to properly describe how badly I want to hit you with a chair right now."
Sam put his hands up. "Alright, alright, enough! Dean, we are not kicking her out. Mia, you can hit him with a chair later, we've got bigger problems now."
Mia grinned while Dean shot his brother an incredulous look.
Sam pulled out their father's journal, "I've been looking through here and it seems like Dad had a theory about the Roanoke colony. He believed that Croatoan was a demon's name. A demon that goes by Deva or Resheph and is the demon of plague and pestilence."
"Wonderful," Dean remarked. "But why is it here, now?"
"Your guess is as good as mine. But if this virus spreads, we gotta warn people, and get help," Sam replied.
Master Sergeant called from one of the rooms, "THEY'VE GOT ONE!"
"Who?" Mia asked, alarmed.
Sam answered, "The Tanner wife, she's been infected."
The three of them ran into the room where Beverly Tanner sat curled in the corner as Master Sergeant stood over her with a gun.
"We can't leave her here like this, the longer she stays this way, the stronger she'll get, just like my neighbor," He explained.
"Mark?" Beverly cried to the man, "Is that you?"
Pam shook her head, "You can't do this! You can't shoot her like a wild animal."
Dr. Lee sighed in defeat; she knew there was no other choice. She had no cure and she had no idea what kind of disease it was that was affecting the people.
"Please, Mark! You've known me your whole life," Beverly pleaded. "It's them! They have it!"
Master Sergeant Mark began to tear up and lowered his gun.
Dean turned to his brother. "Are you sure she has it?"
Sam nodded reluctantly and put a steadying hand on Mia who looked quite distressed. She couldn't stand seeing the innocent woman looking so scared and alone, it wasn't her fault she'd been infected.
The elder Winchester stepped in front of Mark and shot the sobbing woman twice for good measure.
Mia fiddled with her necklace as Sam and Dean checked over their weapons. She was still thinking about Beverly Tanner. That poor woman had probably woken up that morning thinking about what dinner she had to make for her family, what groceries she needed to pick up for the week, and now she was dead. Mia understood why she needed to die but her heart broke for the poor woman. It hadn't been her fault that she'd been infected.
Her heart seized as she wondered what Dean would've done if she'd been infected instead.
He'd pull the trigger, no questions asked, She thought to herself as she watched Dean reload his gun with bullets. That thought scared her more than the creatures outside. That Dean could so easily kill someone that had been human only moments ago.
Sam at least had his morals. He had hope and he believed that people could change. She respected him for that because in this world, it was hard to hold onto hope.
Mia listened to everyone discuss what they would do if the creatures outside decided they wanted to come in for a check-up.
"We have no weapons," Mark exclaimed. "How can we hold them off?"
"Why aren't we getting out of here?" Pam demanded in a terrified voice.
"Because we'd be swarmed," Dean explained.
Sam looked up at one of the nearby shelves. "We may not have a lot of weapons but we could build bombs." He pulled down some potassium chlorate and shared a look with his brother.
Suddenly, there was a loud banging at the front door.
"Hey! Let me in! Please!" A voice cried.
The little party ran to the front door and to their surprise there was a young man, with blond hair and blue eyes, and a thin scar on his forehead.
"Duane Tanner!" Mark exclaimed, opening the door for the terrified-looking man.
Mia's eyes widened. Damn, those Tanner boys were good-looking!
Dean turned to Sam, "Is that the guy that I-"
"Yep," Sam sighed, beginning to fear that his vision would come true after all.
Duane explained to Mark and Dr. Lee what had happened while Pam checked him over for any injuries or signs of contact with the virus.
"-I came home from my fishing trip and I saw my neighbors killing each other! People were cutting each other up and I hid in the forest. Has anyone seen my parents?"
Everyone exchanged somber looks as no one wanted to be the one to tell him that both of his parents were dead due to some strange virus and his brother was out shooting up innocent people.
"My God, you're bleeding," Dr. Lee noted, as she found a large gash on his left leg.
"Yeah," Duane shrugged, "I must've gotten it when I tripped."
"Tie him up," Dean declared as he threw Mark some rope.
"What? What's going on!?" Duane cried out as he stood up.
Dean pulled out his gun. "Sit down! Did they bleed on you?"
"No! What the fuck?"
"Doctor, is there any way we can tell?" Mia asked, hoping that Dean wouldn't need to shoot another person.
Dr. Lee took a deep breath, "I've studied Beverly's bloodwork inside and out-"
"My mom!?" Duane remarked.
The doctor continued. "The virus takes three hours to spread, that's when the sulfur shows up in the blood. There's no way of knowing, not until he turns."
"Turns into what? Could someone please explain what's going on?" The poor boy pleaded.
Mark sat him down and tied him up, reluctantly, while Sam and Mia dragged Dean outside for a moment.
"What?" Dean asked, feeling a little frustrated by them.
"This is exactly what I saw in my vision," Sam said.
"Yeah, and?"
Mia stepped up. "And? I don't think you should do it. Sam's visions are always about preventing something from happening! Think about it; The mother of the baby girl we saved from the yellow-eyed demon, the doctor that would've died in the gun store if Sam hadn't prevented it, and now this? I think it means that you shouldn't kill him. We should lock him up just to make sure. "
"Make sure!? What more proof do you two need? He comes in here with a huge cut, and his entire family is infected! What, you wanna just sit around and wait for him to hulk out and infect more people?"
"Dean, at least it would give us a clear conscience," Sam said as he blocked his brother from walking back into the room.
"Why does that matter?"
"You know, you've really been acting out, recently! You might kill an innocent person and you don't even care!" Sam shouted. "You're angry all the time, you're violent and honestly, you're scaring me."
Dean rolled his eyes and moved to the door but Sam stopped him again. This time, Dean flung him towards the back wall and ran out into the hallway, locking the lobby door behind him.
However, Mia had been quick and made it through the door before he had closed it. She jumped onto his back, hoping her weight would at least slow him down.
"GET OFF OF ME!" He shouted as he tried to pry her arms off from around his neck.
"No! You can't do this, Dean! He's not a monster, and killing him only proves that you are the real monster here!" She shouted as he slammed his back, and her, into various walls.
Eventually, he got a good grip on her arms and wrenched them apart before tossing her on the ground like a ragdoll.
"IF HE'S INNOCENT YOU'RE GOING TO SPEND THE REST OF YOUR LIFE WITH THE KNOWLEDGE THAT YOU MURDERED AN INNOCENT BOY, DEAN WINCHESTER!" Mia shrieked as Dean walked into the room and locked the door behind him.
Sam pounded on the door of the lobby, urging his brother not to go through with it. Mia unlocked the door for him and the two of them tried to open to the door to the doctor's office.
Dean stood in front of Duane Tanner who was tied up.
"Please! It's not in me! It's not in me!" Duane sobbed, just like his mother had.
Dean cocked his gun and aimed it at the boy, who looked to be only twenty-one. He'd probably just started drinking and going on fishing trips and camping trips with his buddies. Maybe, he even had a girlfriend too. This boy still had people who cared about him.
Mia's voice echoed in his head, "If he's innocent, and you kill him, you'll spend the rest of your life with the knowledge that you murdered an innocent boy, Dean Winchester!"
That annoyingly righteous message, combined with Sam's pleading, and Duane's sobbing made him too weak to pull the trigger.
"Dammit," He sighed as he finally put his gun down to Duane's immense relief.
Dean burst out of the room, nearly hitting Sam and Mia with the door on the way out.
They stared at him in dismay, realizing that he hadn't been able to go through with it.
"Well? Let's start making some bombs," He announced before brushing past them to reach the cabinet on the other side of the medical facility.
Mia and Sam both released a sigh of relief.
"I was thinking about what you said earlier," Sam told Mia as they mixed chemicals to create the bombs.
"About what?"
"About, how my visions are usually things we need to prevent," Sam explained. "You're right. Once I had a vision that this man was killed by some invisible being that locked him in his garage and put the car on. He died from the exhaust fumes. It turned out that his son killed him and that he had psychic powers like me. Only he could move things with his mind. I just get premonitions but I usually can't stop them from coming true. Like that man, I was too late to help him. Same with Andy's birth mother and the late Dr. Jennings. What good is being a psychic if you can't save anyone…"
"But you've helped countless other people! Baby Rosie and her family could've all died in that fire if it wasn't for your visions. Same goes for Andy's girlfriend-we wouldn't have known where to find her if it wasn't for you. I believe you were given your powers to do good, because that's just who you are, Sam. I know you worry about The Demon's plans for you but I honestly think people like you, just can't, do bad. It goes against your programming."
Sam smiled at her. Another reason he liked having her around was because she always knew what to say to cheer him up. She was a great friend and a good hunter and he'd be damned if he was gonna let Dean convince him to get rid of her.
Dean returned from his washroom break to find that Mia had stolen his chair, as she was exhausted from standing for nearly three hours as they made the bombs.
"That's my chair," Dean told her angrily.
Mia didn't look up. She was tired of Dean bossing her around, if she wanted to sit, she was gonna sit. "That's funny, I don't remember seeing your name on it."
He leant in close to her and whispered in a malicious tone. "It'll be written in your blood if you don't get up."
Dr. Lee walked into the room before Mia could react to Dean's threat.
"It's been over four hours. I've checked and rechecked Duane's bloodwork. He's clean and I'm going to untie him," She announced before walking back to her office.
Sam glanced over at his brother. "You know I'm going to ask why."
"Yeah," Dean responded without looking up.
"Why'd you, you know, not kill him?" Sam asked.
"We need more alcohol," Dean noted, refusing to answer the question.
"I'll get it," Mia offered but Sam stood first.
He strolled over to the dispensary where Pam was putting away supplies.
"How are you holding up, Pam?" Sam inquired politely.
"Fine," She answered as she shut the doors. "It'll all be over soon,"
Sam frowned. "What do you mean?"
Meanwhile, Mia and Dean were still making bombs.
"Why didn't you do it?" Mia asked, still wondering why he didn't go through with it.
"Drop it," Dean answered.
"But-"
"You really shouldn't piss people off when they're holding explosives," Dean said. "One wrong move and you'll need facial reconstruction surgery."
"Alright, alright; no need to be so grouchy," Mia mumbled.
They heard shattering glass and Sam screaming from the dispensary. Without thinking the two of them grabbed their guns and ran towards the sound. Mark, who had heard the noise as well, joined them with his own gun.
Dean kicked down the door and they found Pam sitting on top of a struggling Sam, hissing like a wild animal. Pam had been infected too!
With Sam's life at stake, Mia didn't hesitate this time and shot Pam twice in the back. The girl crumpled to the ground.
Sam panted as he tried to sit up. His brother moved to help him up but Mark stuck his arm out, preventing Dean from moving.
Mia ignored Mark's warning and rushed to her friend's aid. She pulled him up to a standing position.
"Don't touch his chest, Girl, he's got the virus," Mark announced, noticing the blood on Sam's chest and the matching wound on Pam's palm.
Sam, Mia, and Dean exchanged stunned looks.
They quickly moved Sam to the doctor's office so she could thoroughly examine him and bandage him up.
"Check again," Dean demanded.
Mark rounded on him. "Why is there any need to check? We saw it! He's gonna turn."
"Are you sure her blood entered your wound?" Dr. Lee asked, still shocked at the fact that her assistant had gone rogue on them.
"Of course it did," Mark sighed. "Look, I know he's your brother and I'm sorry, I am, but he's gonna turn."
"We don't know that for sure," Mia retorted angrily.
Duane spoke up, "We can't take any chances."
"Look, nobody is gonna shoot my brother!" Dean shouted.
Duane shot back, "He's not gonna be your brother any longer, you said so yourself."
Dean glared at Mark and Duane. "Look, nobody is shooting anybody."
"You were gonna shoot me!" Duane cried.
Mia glared at him. "Look here, you're lucky you're still breathing air at this point so why don't you just shut your mouth before I do it for you, okay?"
Shocked by the girl's threat, Duane did shut his mouth.
"Dean, Mia, they're right. Just give me the gun, I'll do it myself," Sam sighed, fighting back tears as best as he could.
"No way, José," Mia replied firmly.
Dean shook his head in agreement with her.
Sam stared at them. "You're being ridiculous."
"Look, we gotta take him out. I'm sorry you guys, but there's no other choice," Mark told them regretfully as he pulled out his gun.
"You make a move on him again and you'll be dead before you hit the ground, do I make myself clear?!" Dean demanded.
"Then what are we gonna do?" Mark questioned.
Dean tossed Mia the keys to the Impala and instructed them to drive as far out of town as possible and take the explosives with them.
"Wait, what about you?" Mark asked.
"No, Dean, you can't stay. You have to go with them," Sam exclaimed.
"You're not getting rid of me that easy. Mia, you take care of my baby, okay?" Dean told her, begrudgingly.
"What? If you're both staying then I'm not going either," She resolved stubbornly, handing the keys to Mark.
Dean and Sam gazed at her in utter surprise.
"You're both crazy," Mark diagnosed.
"Mia, you have to go with them, and you too, Dean," Sam pleaded.
"No," Mia crossed her arms. "I'm not letting you stay here alone. Dean can go if he wants, but I'm here till the end."
"I agree with Wilkins, as crazy as that is right now, we're not leaving you," Dean insisted.
Mark shook his head, "Your funeral." He, Duane, and Dr. Lee headed for the doors.
Dean locked the room.
"Great. Locked in a room with you for three hours, that'll be fun," Dean sighed at Mia.
"Hey, you can still go if you have a problem with it," Mia shrugged and pointed at the doors.
He rolled his eyes and sat down on a stool.
"You guys are idiots," Sam sobbed as tears began to fall down his cheeks. "You still have a chance, you can get out of here. Just leave the gun."
"Sam, you're not a very convincing salesperson," Mia joked.
Dean turned to his brother. "We aren't leaving you."
"Why? You can still go on without me. You can keep hunting, you can live, you can go back to your own lives," Sam pleaded.
Mia laughed sadly. She appreciated Sam's concern but knew in her heart that his death would mean the end of her adventure. There was no way her foster family would take her back, that is if they were still unaffected by the virus. "Oh Sam, there's not gonna be anything left for us to go back to."
Dean sighed. "And who says I want to go on? I'm tired man, I'm tired of all of it; this job, this life… this weight on my shoulders."
Mia and Sam exchanged surprised glances. They hadn't expected this from Dean.
"So you're just gonna lie down and die?" Sam asked. "Look, the stuff with Dad has been tough and all but-"
"It's not just the stuff with Dad, it's other things too…"
"What other things?" Mia questioned, curious as to what was causing Dean's depression.
Before he could answer, Dr. Lee opened the door. "You're gonna wanna see this!"
The four of them walked outside the medical facility and were surprised to find that the entire city was empty. There were no infected people running around; it was completely deserted.
Five hours later, Dr. Lee checked Sam's blood work through a microscope.
"I don't know how but you dodged a bullet, your blood work is normal," She informed him.
Sam sighed in relief and Mia who was sitting beside him, gave him a bright smile.
"But how? I was completely exposed," Sam questioned.
The doctor shrugged. "I don't know, but when you compare your blood with the Tanners'-
She switched slides but to her shock. The Tanners' samples had no trace of the virus. No sulfur or anything that could prove there ever was an infection.
Everyone went their separate ways. Mark and Duane headed up north in Mark's truck. Dr. Lee took her car to the next town over in order to get a hold of the CDC. This left Sam, Dean, and Mia to reflect on the case.
"What the hell happened?" Mia exclaimed as they headed towards the Impala.
"I have no idea. Why here? Why now? How come it didn't affect me?" Sam wondered aloud.
Dean rubbed his eyes. "I'm gonna lose sleep over this one but I guess we chalk it up to one of those things we can't explain."
Mia froze when she saw a bunch of birds standing on top of the Impala.
"WHY DOES THIS DAMN TOWN HAVE SO MANY FUCKING BIRDS!"
Dean burst out laughing at her fury while Sam stared at them quizzically.
"Oh yeah I forgot to mention, Mia's afraid of birds crapping on her," Dean chuckled.
The birds flew away and Mia climbed into the backseat after the boys. They drove off.
However, it turned out that Dean had been right in suspecting Duane's guilt. It turned out that he had been possessed by a demon and, as the three of them would discover in news headlines in three days' time, Duane Tanner slit the throat of Master Sergeant Mark on their way out of town.
What the newspaper wouldn't tell them was that Duane used the blood of Mark to make a demonic call to the yellow-eyed demon. Who had not only caused the plague purposely, but had expected that Sam would be immune…
Dean felt that they needed a break and decided to park the Impala by a nearby river and pop out a couple of beers.
Mia, who was emotionally and physically spent, crashed in the backseat and continued to sleep as Dean and Sam talked by the river.
"So what were you talking about last night? That there was other stuff besides Dad's death that was making you tired of the job."
Dean dismissed it. "Come on, I thought we were both gonna die. Just forget about it.'
"I can't, I'm just gonna keep asking until you tell me," Sam told him earnestly.
Dean sighed. "I don't know man, I think we should just take a break from all this. Let's go see the Grand Canyon, or we can drive to California, and hell, if you want, I'll even let Mia can come along too so she can try to sleep with… what's his name. That guy she's head over heels for… He's in The Departed…"
"Mark Wahlberg," Sam stated.
"Yeah, whatever. The point is, we don't need all this responsibility of the job weighing us down," Dean replied.
"You're not making any sense… Look, you're my brother, whatever you're carrying let me help."
"I can't. I promised."
"Promised who?"
"Dad."
"What?"
Dean took a deep breath, he knew what he had to say next was going to be tough. "Sammy, before Dad died he told me something; something about you."
"What? What did he tell you?"
TO BE CONTINUED…
A/N: Dun dun dun dunn! I really hope you liked the chapter! I spent extra time on it because even though this episode is really sad and serious, I wanted the chapter to be a bit more fun and playful with Dean and Mia's bickering. Don't worry, they'll figure things out...eventually. In the meantime, please let me know what you think! What was your reaction to Mia's secret fear? Do you think Dean's gonna use that against her in the future? If anyone is reading this that doesn't know what Dean tells Sam, what do you think he's gonna say? Please review! Thank you so much for your continued support!
Next Chapter: After receiving some alarming news from his brother, Sam sets off to find some answers while Dean and Mia must take on the impossible task of working together as a team.