Chapter 20: Red Sky at Night
"You're hungry, again?!" Sam exclaimed in exasperation as his older brother pulled into the parking lot of a pub.
"Listen, I'm going to be dead within the year, and if you think I'm going to Hell without trying every kind of burger known to man, then you don't know me at all," Dean replied calmly as he shifted the gear into park.
Mia, who had been awoken by Dean's sharp turn, yawned and stretched her legs. She looked out the window and noted the dark skies and torrential downpour. They hadn't found a case in ages so they'd been driving around nonstop until they could find anything similar to any of the seven deadly sins they'd dealt with. In the meantime, Dean was treating their work like a personal road trip; stopping at touristy sites, bars, and rest stops. This pub claimed to have an incredible peanut butter burger which had attracted the eldest Winchester's infinite appetite.
Mia grabbed her blue umbrella from her duffle bag and followed the brothers toward the entrance. Across from the entrance, she could see a small park with a swingset and not much else. She beamed and began heading towards it when she heard Dean calling after her.
"What the hell are you doing? It's pouring and you're gonna go play?"
Mia turned around and replied, calmly, "It's not raining that hard, just go get a table I'll be right in!"
Sam chuckled in amusement to himself.
"You're going to slip and fall and get yourself soaked!" Dean shouted.
Mia rolled her eyes, "Dean, trust me, I know what I'm doing. I'm just going to swing on the swings and jump."
"You're going to fall, you have no balance or core strength," Dean retorted.
"Listen, my mom put me in gymnastics when I was 7 and I did them until I was 16," Mia explained, "I've got great balance and core strength."
Dean snickered, "Yeah I bet."
With that to motivate her, Mia threw her umbrella and purse aside then ran towards the swings and leapt onto its seat... Her intention was to grip the chains with both hands and use them to propel herself off of the swing into a front flip to show off to Dean. However, the swingset was wetter than had anticipated and she realized this, midway through her attempt when her hands slipped from the wet chains. Instead of propelling herself into a flip, she only managed to fall forwards in a perfect belly flop into the puddle beneath her.
Fortunately, the puddle was deep enough to prevent her from injuring herself badly but unfortunately, it wasn't deep enough to prevent the sound of Dean's mocking laughter from reaching her ears. She crawled out of the puddle, her clothing completely soaked to her skin. She brushed herself off and walked shamefully back to face the Winchester brothers who were nearly howling with laughter. Sam was laughing so hard that there were tears in his eyes.
"So that's what you learned from your nine years of gymnastics, huh?" Dean managed between gasps.
Mia groaned in embarrassment and muttered something about changing her clothes before walking back to the Impala. Her soaked boots made squishing noises as she walked which only made the boys' rumbling laughter grow louder. They left her to change in the car, and she cursed when she realized that the only outfit she could excavate from her duffle was a short black dress. She realized she must've forgotten her laundry bag at Bobby's meaning that all the clothes she had right now were the soaking wet jeans, black tank top, and grey hoodie she was currently sporting, and the black dress she'd packed for dress-up purposes.
She reluctantly threw it on, fixed her everyday makeup, tied her hair into a ponytail, and grabbed Dean's hunter-green jacket that was floating around in the backseat of the car. She walked into the pub and glanced around until she spotted the brothers at the bar counter. Dean was happily munching on the peanut butter burger while Sam filtered through some local newspapers.
"What are you wearing?" Sam asked in an amused tone when he saw her approach them.
"I left my laundry at Bobby's," She mumbled as she climbed onto the bar stool beside him.
Dean glanced up and stared at his green jacket. "Did I say you could borrow that?" He asked condescendingly.
"Well, no but I don't have-"
"Ugh, you're worse than Sam…" He sighed.
Mia normally would have cursed back at him but stifled herself by instead asking Sam what he'd found so far.
"Only one possible incident, apparently in a town not far from here called Sea Pines, this woman named Sheila Case, was found dead in her shower."
"Do they know the cause of death?" Mia inquired
"Drowning, apparently," Dean answered for his brother.
She frowned in confusion. "But I thought you said she died in the shower? How does someone drown standing up?"
Sam nodded in agreement, "Yeah the case sounds interesting… I think after we're finished here we should head out there."
"Not so fast, Sammy," Dean countered, "I think I want a dessert from off the menu." He finished and glanced across the bar at a young woman giggling with her friends.
Mia and Sam exchanged irritated glances. Both of them were still trying to be gracious to Dean but there were times when his urges would lead them far astray. Sam found this incredibly frustrating because he was still in pursuit of any kind of lead to get Dean out of his deal.
He recalled the last case they'd been on when the girl who'd saved him from Pride appeared and then thought about how the other night he saw the mysterious blonde again where she revealed herself as a demon and then offered to help him find a way to keep his brother from ending up in Hell. Of course, he wasn't sure whether it was a good idea to believe her and was hoping she'd appear to him again. He hadn't informed Mia or his brother about the demon as he wanted to know what she was promising before trusting her.
Suddenly, a loud bang brought all three hunters out of their daydreams. Beside the bar counter at a pool table, a drunk-looking boy had nearly flipped over the table trying to shoot pool.
Dean's eyes lit up with an idea. "Mia, he's the perfect target."
Mia cocked her head and sized up the wobbling young man. "I don't know, Dean. He seems to be playing pretty well."
Dean and Sam had been teaching Mia how to trick guys out of their money by beating them at pool but all the while flirting and pretending to be very bad at it. So far she'd been able to beat Dean at pool but not Sam because he was a lot better than both of them.
Sam joined his brother and Mia in observing the man who was begging his friends to redo his shot because he'd tripped. His friends were getting bored with him and taking off towards the same booth of girls Dean had been ogling earlier.
"I agree with Dean," Sam chimed in, "I think he's perfect. He's alone, he's clearly too drunk to win, you've got this."
Mia smiled unsurely. She knew Sam wasn't exactly in support of cheating people out of their money but when times were desperate, it was the best they could do. His confidence in her gave her the courage to try.
She took off Dean's jacket and draped it across her bar stool, then let her hair down into its natural waves, and licked her lips in anticipation. She was terrified but knew the worst that could happen was he got mad at her and the boys jumped in to protect her. As she headed towards the guy, Dean whistled at her encouragingly and she blushed.
She approached the boy who looked to be her age, maybe a couple of years older, he was stumbling around a little but besides his disheveled hair and clothes, he was extremely attractive. He had piercing blue eyes, wavy short dark blonde hair, and slight stubble on his chin which only contributed to his overall roguish look. Mia had to take a deep breath before she could find the courage to speak.
"You're really good at that," She said in a sweet but playful voice.
The young man turned around and looked her in the eyes. Oh no, he's even cuter up close! She thought to herself.
He smiled and shrugged, "I guess I'm alright at it."
Mia smiled back and heard Dean's voice in her head. Compliment him, and then flirt a little, boost his ego, guys love that.
"You're better than alright," she replied flirtatiously, "You're much better than me anyways, I don't even know how to play."
He smirked, "Thank you. My name's Peter, what's yours?"
"Mia."
"Well, Mia," Peter began in a slurred voice, "I could teach you to play if you wanted."
Mia felt a rush of excitement, "I'd love to," she smirked to herself. This guy was as good as gone!
He began to explain the goal of the game to her while she leaned in and nodded emphatically at him. She made sure to smile and curl a piece of hair around her finger just as her friends from home would do when they flirted. She caught the guy glance down at her cleavage a couple of times and thanked her lucky stars that this had been the only dress she could wear because it was perfect. She let him coach her on how to properly position the cue stick and let him put his arms around her in order to show her how to properly aim and shoot.
Mia, who already knew these tips, feigned that she was worse than she actually was. He was very patient with her and cracked a few jokes as they went until finally, Mia allowed herself to make a good shot.
"You did it!" Peter exclaimed, putting a hand on her shoulder in encouragement.
She grinned, "Thanks to your great teaching! I'll be a pro like you in no time!"
He laughed at that and Mia began to fear he was sobering up too quickly. She glanced back at the brothers but Dean had gone off to chase his 'dessert' and Sam was nowhere to be seen. She was alone in her efforts.
"Okay, to make things more interesting, let's say we both take a turn and if I sink a ball and you don't, you have to buy me a drink and if you sink one and I don't I'll pay for the drinks," She offered, intending to lose to make sure his ego was well inflated before she beat him.
He agreed but said that would be happy to buy her a drink win or lose.
"Humour me," Mia whispered to him seductively.
He winked and then shot, he sank the 6 ball. Mia shot second and just missed hitting the 4 ball. She ran off to the bar and grabbed them shots of rum.
When she returned, both of them downed the shots, and Mia, who was ridiculously light weighted, demanded a redo.
"Sweetheart, you're gonna end up buying me too many drinks before you beat me," Peter answered.
"I know, I'm just very competitive. I love winning."
He agreed, and she upped the ante. "Okay, let's say the loser of this game gives the winner 50 bucks?"
He agreed and almost seemed to feel bad about it, thinking he was going to beat the pants off of her.
However, Mia won that game and in astonishment, he handed over his cash.
"How did you do that?" He exclaimed in disbelief, "You could barely hold the cue ten minutes ago!"
She shrugged nonchalantly, "I guess I'm just a fast learner."
"I want a rematch, double or nothing," he insisted.
Mia agreed and beat him again.
Peter was barely standing at this point, "Triple or nothing," he slurred.
This time, Peter beat her extremely quickly.
"What the-" She cursed but when she turned to face him she realized he was smiling at her in amusement.
"Really," he began, in a condescending tone, "the old, "I'm so innocent, teach me how to play so I can take all your money' routine? I had such a higher opinion of you."
Mia gasped. When the boy had spoken his voice had changed, his speech was no longer slurred and now he had some sort of English accent.
"I don't understand… you knew I was playing you the whole time?"
"The whole time. You think I don't recognize another hunter when I see one?" He laughed.
Her eyes widened in excitement, "You're a hunter too? What? How did you know I was one?"
"Your con style, first of all, I've been victim to it too many times to not recognize it. Second I noticed you were sitting with the Winchester brothers."
Mia cocked her head at him in disbelief, "You know Dean and Sam?"
He scoffed, "Please, I've only heard rumors about them, and that apparently you guys were at the site when the Devil's Gate was opened."
She suddenly stiffened. If this guy was gonna act like Tamara and Isaac and blame them for the incident then she was going to smack him right in his beautiful face.
"Relax," he said, noting her clenched fists, "I'm not pointing any fingers, I'm just curious is all. I want to understand what happened from someone who was there." The older boy then cleared off a nearby vacant table and pulled out a chair for her.
She scrutinized him tentatively.
"It's just a chair, love," He chuckled.
"It's not that, it's just, usually in this line of work when people know things about you, they're the bad guys…"
Peter crossed his arms, "I'm not a bad guy or a demon. I'm just a hunter like you. All I want to know is what happened that night because I've heard so many obscure versions of the story… If it would make you feel safer I can down some holy water and then we can call your friend over here to protect you."
Mia shook her head emphatically at the idea of Dean having to babysit her while she talked to a boy. She could practically hear his gripes right now. She instead, accepted the seat offered to her and after watching Peter down her flask of Holy Water without issue, she explained the complicated story about how they ended up at the Devil's Gate, leaving out the part about Dean's bargain with a demon, as well as Sam's childhood story, and his death out of fear that this guy might still be untrustworthy.
He listened intently to her and after a few drinks, the two began talking like old friends. They exchanged jokes about the hazards of the job and the hunting community.
"If I had a penny for every time one of my weapons got thrown across a room, I'd be rich," Peter smiled.
Mia giggled, "That's why I always tell the boys we need to use bungee cords! Then we'd never lose our weapons again!"
A while later, Dean left with the girl he'd been chatting up and Mia continued talking with Peter. Their conversation topic changed to more emotional stories as Mia confided why she became a hunter and Peter told her that he had a friend growing up who had been brought up into the hunting world that taught him all he knew. He revealed that a lifelong friend of his had passed away after a violent confrontation with a nest of vampires.
"I'm so sorry to hear that, what an awful way to go. I was kidnapped by vampires once, they're horrible," Mia shuddered as she remembered the monsters who'd abused and fed on her.
Peter stared at her in amazement, "How did you escape?"
"Sam and Dean came back for me, they got me out of there," she explained, "they're like… family to me. I've always been able to count on them, Sam especially. He's always been there for me."
"Do you and Sam have a thing?" Peter asked abruptly.
Mia shook her head, "Nah, Sam is my best friend, it's nothing like that."
"Oh," Peter replied in a subtly relieved tone.
Mia caught his tone and smirked. "Why the relief?"
"What are you talking about?" He joked nonchalantly.
Mia knew it was the alcohol but she felt like this guy liked her, and without thinking she leaned across the table slowly, and his lips met hers. They kissed for what seemed like ages, until when they broke apart, Peter asked, breathlessly, if she wanted to leave with him, and she agreed.
That night Dean wasn't the only one who went home with someone.
The next morning, Sam was pacing the hotel room as Dean did research on the bed. Mia hadn't touched base with them in a while and they were worried, well Sam was worried, Dean figured she was probably out shopping or doing something else equally stupid.
Just as Dean was about to tell Sam to pop a Xanax, Mia slipped through the front door of the motel room.
"Where have you been?" Sam exclaimed when he noticed her arrival, "We've been worried sick."
"Yeah, we barely slept," Dean joked.
Mia blushed, "I didn't mean to worry you, my phone died."
"Where were you all this time?" Sam inquired.
Mia dropped her purse onto her bed and made herself busy organizing the objects she withdrew from it. "I umm, I was hanging out with that guy from the bar."
Dean smirked, "Did you get his money?" He then noticed Mia's appearance; her face was flushed and her hair was sticking up in random places.
"Oh my God, you got laid!" Dean cheered.
Mia's already rosy cheeks turned vermillion.
Sam raised his eyebrows. He was impressed by her but surprised, he'd never really considered Mia as being someone like his brother who had constant one-night stands. He recalled a past conversation with her in which, the two of them discussed past relationships and Mia divulged she'd only ever really dated one person and it had ended badly which had prevented her from pursuing other relationships.
"That's my girl, give me a high five!" Dean laughed as he hopped off the bed and forced Mia to raise her hand to hit his.
"Now we need to work on getting Sammy laid," Dean joked to Mia who cracked a small smile.
"Or," Sam began, "we could worry about that another time and instead get our asses to Sea Pines to investigate the case."
Dean rolled his eyes and the three of them began packing up. Mia was glowing, she'd had an amazing night, not only was Peter great in bed but the two of them just genuinely enjoyed each other's company, when they'd woken up Peter had made her breakfast in his bed and he'd kissed her goodbye.
As they packed up the Impala she plugged her phone to charge and by the time it was time to go, she'd received a text message from Peter who'd gotten her number that night.
Had a lovely time, hope we can see each other soon
Mia beamed at her phone and replied that she hoped they could meet up soon but then made the mistake of letting Dean see her smile because for the entire trip to Massachusetts, he teased her.
"Thanks," Mia said when Dean finally tired himself out.
"For what?"
"For making me realize how lucky I am to be an only child, geez Sam how did you put up with him?" She cried out.
Sam burst into laughter and Dean scowled at the two of them, "Hey, I am an amazing brother and you both know it."
Sam and Mia suddenly remembered Dean's sacrifice and stopped laughing to themselves because Dean was right. Everyone was silent and somber for the rest of the trip.
As soon as they arrived in the town, the first thing they did was interview the aunt of their victim, an elderly woman by the name of Gertrude Case. Despite her old age, she was flirting up a storm with Sam to Mia and Dean's amusement.
"I don't understand," Gertrude said cocking her head at Sam, "I thought I went through all of this with the other detectives."
"Mrs. Case-" Sam began.
"Please, call me Ms. Case," Gertrude winked.
Sam smiled awkwardly and cleared his throat, "Um, Ms. Case, could you tell us if your niece was acting strange before she died? Did she say anything out of the ordinary?"
Gertrude looked at him strangely for a moment but then smiled, "You're working with Alex, aren't you? That's why you're asking more questions."
Dean immediately replied, "Yes! Yeah, us and Alex are like this."
"Alex has been such a blessing, but I don't understand, I thought the case had been closed?"
"We're still working on it," Mia answered her, wondering who this Alex was.
The older woman nodded and spoke, "There was something, before Sheila went to take a shower, she told me she'd seen some kind of ship on her evening run. She said it was strange because one moment she saw it and the next it had vanished… Very strange business if you ask me. Alex says it might be a ghost ship."
"Well, thank you ma'am, I think that's all we're going to need from you today," Dean said as he packed their things up to leave.
Mia and Sam stood to leave as well, but as Sam went to grab his notepad, Gertrude reached her hand out and laid it on top of his. "Let me know if there's anything else I can help with."
Sam looked thoroughly uncomfortable but then Gertrude leant towards him and whispered, "Anything."
He immediately yanked his hand back as Dean and Mia exchanged amused glances, both trying their hardest not to laugh. They all walked out of the woman's house and towards the Impala.
"So a ghost ship, huh?" Mia offered, knowing Sam would appreciate any topic other than the woman who'd been all over him.
"Looks like it," He replied.
Dean smirked, "Your girlfriend might have you whipped but not me, do you really believe there are ghost ships just floating around in the harbour?"
Sam narrowed his eyes at his brother, "Actually if you actually listened to me explaining the case to you yesterday instead of focusing on the girls across the pub you would have heard me mention to you a bunch of incidents related to the sighting of a ship in this harbour, every 37 years. Besides, there's lore all over the world about cursed ships, haven't you ever heard of the Flying Dutchman?"
Dean rolled his eyes. Mia, however, who'd heard stories about the Flying Dutchman, understood and asked, "So whenever this ship gets sighted it's a sign that the person who sees it will die, right?"
"They don't just die," Sam elaborated, "they drown. Whenever sightings of this ship appear a bunch of bizarre drownings are reported on land."
"Another thing we need to worry about is this Alex person," Dean added, "he's probably another hunter working the case, and if we've learned anything from working with Gordon-"
Mia and Sam tensed at the mention of the immoral hunter's name.
"-we should be wary of who we're dealing with."
As he finished speaking they arrived at the Impala to find a woman who seemed to be around Sam's age, admiring the car.
"You looking to buy?" Dean joked.
The woman glanced up and smiled. "I must say I'm tempted, 67' was a good year for Chevy."
When she saw Sam her smile grew larger and she walked towards him. "You're Sam Winchester, aren't you?"
He smiled nervously, "Yes, how do you know-"
"Your name? When you're in this line of work it's important to know all the players. Judging by the interest in the car, that must be Dean," she then turned towards Mia, "You, however, I don't know your name."
"I'm Mia. Are you Alex, then?"
"Guilty," She replied putting her hands up, "Gert just called me saying some 'friends' of mine had stopped by and I wanted to see who I was dealing with."
The brothers exchanged surprised looks. They hadn't pictured Alex to be the bubbly woman in front of them.
"We're sorry for butting into your case like this," Sam said, "we didn't know another hunter was in town."
Dean added, "We just want to make sure this case is being handled well."
Alex beamed, "Sweet of you to worry but I've got everything under control. The case is pretty much wrapped up."
"So you know about the ghost ship?" Mia asked hopefully, she found this case extremely interesting and wanted to know if Alex had been able to crack it.
The woman's smile faltered, "Still working on that part, I have another eye witness who was able to ID what the ship looked like specifically but he… passed away this morning."
Sam looked shocked, "There was another victim? What?"
"Yes, two actually, the Warren brothers. Tragic, really, they died within 24 hours of each other, the one who died later claimed they'd both seen the ship and gave a vivid image of it, I'm actually on my way to do some research to find the name of the ship."
Mia noted the lack of sympathy in the woman's voice and felt a bit uneasy. She wasn't sure if she liked this woman yet. Sam, who was often on the same wavelength as Mia, caught her apprehension and asked Alex if she'd be willing to let them accompany her.
It was Alex's turn to look uneasy as she shifted her weight and began twisting her fingers, "Actually, I work better alone, but I'll tell you what," She withdrew a pen from the pocket of her trench coat and then grabbed Sam's arm, pulled up his sleeve and wrote down her number.
"If you have any questions, text me and I'd be more than happy to fill you in," She said with a smirk. "It was nice officially meeting you all!"
With that, the brunette took off towards the harbour. Dean shook his head and climbed into the Impala, leaving Sam and Mia to discuss ideas with each other.
"I don't trust her," Mia muttered, "I feel like she's hiding something."
Sam sighed in despair. "If only we'd gotten here sooner, maybe we could have saved those brothers."
"Don't beat yourself up about it," Mia told him reassuringly, "there was probably nothing we could have done, it was too soon."
"I just feel like lately I can't save anyone these days, not Isaac, not the Warren brothers-"
"Not Dean," Mia added quietly, understanding her friend's pain.
Sam looked into her eyes and she saw the pure despair and hopelessness behind them. "We'll find a way to save him," Mia insisted to him, "no matter what it takes."
As they climbed into the car, Dean leant over to his brother and took a deep sniff near his neck.
"Dude, what the hell?" Sam exclaimed in disgust.
"What is it about you today? Every woman we've seen has been throwing themselves at you! Did you get a new cologne or something?" Dean remarked.
"Hey, not every woman has thrown themselves at me," Sam retorted, glancing to the backseat where Mia was continuing her texting conversation with Peter, a bright smile on her lips.
Dean gave Sam an incredulous look, "Mia doesn't count."
"I heard that," Mia called out, her eyes not leaving her cell phone.
"I meant it in a sense that you're more of a sister than some random lady off the street," Dean said, backpedaling.
Mia raised her eyebrows, unsure whether to continue busting Dean's balls or to tear up after he'd referred to her as a sister.
"Anyways," Sam interrupted, "I don't want to leave until we get to the bottom of this case, Alex seems like she's got everything under control but I don't believe her. Let's see if we can get the brother's eyewitness account of the ship from the police station."
The three of them got took notes on the evidence they sifted through. Once they got to a vacant house they'd booked for the weekend, they went through the evidence from the case. Mia used her laptop to search for information that could potentially link the victims of the bizarre on-land drowning incidents.
"So I found nothing really on Sheila, just that she and her aunt are part of the local Yacht Club which is apparently having some gala tonight, oh and the Warren brothers come from money too, when their dad died six years ago he left them a hundred million dollars," Mia announced.
Dean glanced up from the record book he was flipping through and whistled, "Must have been nice to have all that money."
Sam glanced up from his own laptop. "I have a description of the ship but there are too many matching it, if Alex is able to ID it then Mr. Warren must have given her a more detailed account of what it looked like than the one he gave to the cops."
"Sammy, I think it's time to give your new girlfriend a call," Dean instructed.
Sam sighed in irritation and rolled up his shirt sleeve as his brother handed over his cell phone. As he made the call, Dean stared at Mia.
"What?" She finally asked. Feeling his eyes on her was weirding her out.
"We both got lucky last night, I feel like it's our duty to make sure Sam and this Alex chick hook up, what say you?"
"Dean, I don't think Sam really wants-"
"Mia, the guy hasn't gotten some in two years, of course, he does."
She shrugged at him unsurely.
"You're just all lovey-dovey about that guy you met, you're all goo-goo eyes for... what's his name?"
"Peter," Mia replied monotonously, knowing if she reacted he would just start teasing her again.
"Yeah, him! Are you guys like a thing now or something?" Dean inquired.
Mia laughed darkly, "Dean, it was just sex. You of all people should get that."
"Yeah but you don't see me pathetically staring at my phone waiting for a message from the girls I sleep with, do you?"
Just as he spoke, Mia's phone received a new text message from Peter which she dived for instantly.
Dean shot her a victorious look and she left the room.
Sam hung up and turned to his brother. "So get this, Alex has not only ID'ed the ship but she figured out what is causing the deaths."
His older brother was impressed, "What's the story?"
"Apparently the ship is called the Espirito Santo, a merchant trading ship. In, 1859 one of the sailors was accused of treason and hanged, he was 37 years old."
"That explains why the deaths only occur every 37 years," Chimed in Mia who had returned to hear Sam's report.
Her friend nodded at her, "The sailor was cremated but they cut off his right hand to be made into a hand of glory."
Dean snickered, "I think I had one of those the last time I had a massage."
Sam and Mia stared at the eldest Winchester blankly, although Mia's lips twitched.
"Dean, the right hand of a hanged man is a powerful occult object, it's priceless," Sam replied.
"So that counts as remains then, right? We just need to burn this hand and this guy will stop killing people?" Mia offered.
"That's what Alex seems to think, but we still don't know what it is about these people that are causing the ghost to kill them," Sam answered, with a hint of worry in his voice.
"Well if we get that hand and destroy it we won't have to worry about that," Dean replied impatiently, "did Alex say if she knew where the hand was?"
"The Sea Pines Nautical Museum, it's usually closed to the public but apparently the yacht club is renting it out for a party tonight."
"Great! We can just sneak in there and take the hand!" Mia exclaimed.
Sam suddenly became very embarrassed. "Um, unfortunately, it's members only. But Alex said the friends of members can get bring one guest each. She's going to bring Dean and her friend is going to bring me."
Mia stared at him incredulously, "So there's no way I can come with you guys?"
"I'm sorry Mia. But while we're at the gala you can do some more research and figure out why the sailor's ghost is only attacking a certain people," he offered sympathetically.
She groaned and Dean snickered at her misfortune. "Look on the bright side, at least you don't have to dress up!"
Mia pouted, "I like dressing up."
"If it makes you feel any better, Gertrude is my date," Sam offered.
This made Mia grin a little, "You poor man, she's gonna have herself wrapped around you all night."
Sam sighed miserably.
A few hours later, Alex arrived at the house wearing a stunning black dress, diamond earrings, and her brown hair piled on her head in curls. She stood in the candle-covered hallway with Mia as they waited for the boys to come downstairs.
"I feel like Cinderella," Mia sighed to herself as she curled up with her laptop.
Alex flashed her a sad smile. "At least in that scenario, the boys are the ugly stepsisters."
Mia beamed appreciatively.
Just then Dean and Sam came downstairs in matching tuxedos.
"You both clean up good," Alex remarked, although her eyes remained on Sam longer than Dean.
"You don't say clean up so bad yourself," Dean replied, clearly slightly jealous of the attention his younger brother was receiving.
Alex ignored him. "Let's head out, we're gonna need to think of some sort of plan to take that hand of glory, and Sam, you're gonna have to keep Gert occupied so she doesn't alert anyone else."
Both boys nodded and discussed potential plans. Meanwhile, Mia who was texting Peter, took a picture of herself looking sad and captioned it "Everyone gets to go undercover but I gotta do research".
"Hey Mia, if you find anything call us!" Sam cried as they left for the party.
Mia smiled, "Have fun, you crazy kids!"
During her half-hour of research she uncovered some interesting information on the sailor as well as the vessel, she learned all the names of the crew and even a potential reason as to why he might be killing people. She grabbed her cell phone to call Sam but just as she reached for it she noted that she had two missed calls from Peter. She dialed him, instead.
"Hey, I'm sorry I missed your calls, my phone was on silent. What's up?" She tried to hide her surprise at his phone call.
"Mia!" Peter's voice sounded alarmed, "are you working with Bela Talbot?"
"Who?"
"Bela Talbot? The woman in the background of your photo."
"That's not Bela, that's Alex… Wait a second, who's Bela?"
"She is a notorious occult collector. She knows about the hunting world but she doesn't care, all she cares about is making money, she buys and sells cursed and magical objects to unsuspecting buyers."
Mia frowned, "Are you sure? When we met her she introduced herself as Alex and said she was a hunter working a case. She was helping one of our victims."
"Trust me, Mia, she's not a hunter. She's the opposite. I've met her before, she's ruthless she'll kill to get what she wants. If she's interested in working a case with you and the Winchesters it's because you're dealing with a cursed item and she wants it for herself. Do not trust her."
Suddenly everything became clear, why 'Alex' didn't want to work with them, how she knew who the Winchesters were, and why she needed the brothers to help her get the hand. She had no desire to get the hand to save future victims, she wanted to sell it!
"Peter, I gotta go!" She exclaimed before hanging up her phone. She dialed Sam's number and cursed when it went directly to voicemail, she tried to call Dean and screamed in frustration when she heard his ringtone coming from the desk beside her.
Mia was going to have to crash the gala. She knew she didn't have any clothes that would allow her to slip into the party unnoticed so she ran into town and wandered around until she found a gown rental place and bought the first dress she saw in the window. She quickly changed and ran towards the docks to the museum.
Meanwhile, as Mia was on her way to the gala, Sam was having the worst time with Gertrude who was tipsy off of champagne and whispering things to him, referring to him as her 'adonis' and feeling up not only his arms and legs but also his ass. He found himself insanely jealous of Mia who was probably curled up with her laptop listening to some music as she did her research. He sighed aloud.
"Tired, my love?" Gert asked flirtatiously, "How about I get us some more champagne to get some excitement into you?"
"Uh, sure," Sam offered with a polite smile. He took the time Gertrude left to find his brother and Alex who were scoping out the entrances to the building. It seemed the room they needed to get into was upstairs.
"How long do I have to entertain her?" Sam asked angrily, "There are limits to what I'll do."
"Aw," Dean laughed, "you're adorable when you play hard to get."
Alex gave him a sympathetic glance, "Just until we can get that hand, okay?"
Sam huffed and returned back to his date who offered him champagne which he chugged back.
"Any bright ideas on how to get upstairs?" Alex asked hopefully.
Dean stared intensely at a painting of a ship at sea, "I'm working on it."
Alex sighed after a long period of silence. "You know your reputation really proceeds you."
"Okay, then what's your plan?" Dean retorted in annoyance.
Alex gave him a smirk before she released a loud groan and collapsed into Dean's shocked arms.
"Oh my g- honey, honey! Waiter!" He addressed the nearby caterer, "Is there shellfish in this? My wife, she's allergic!"
He sampled one of the mini quiches with one hand while he held Alex up with the other. "No, but they're delicious!"
One of the guards who was alerted by the noise came over to investigate.
"What seems to be the problem?"
"My wife," Dean offered, "she's a lightweight, she hasn't eaten all day and the champagne went straight to her head, is there anywhere I can set her down so she can get her sea legs back?"
The guard paused for a moment then gestured for him to follow him upstairs. He carried Alex and smirked in appreciation for the woman's quick thinking.
"Thanks, Bobby!" Mia said as she hung up her cell phone after asking the older hunter for advice about Bela. She stood on the docks in front of the museum. There had to be a way to get into that building. She decided to try her first plan but knew it wasn't going to work and contemplated if worst came to worst, she could climb through the window in her ball gown.
"Name?" The guard at the front door asked.
Mia flashed her fake FBI badge, "My name is Ilene Woods, I'm here undercover looking into the deaths of the Warren brothers and Sheila Case."
The guard bought it! He stepped aside to let her in and asked him to let her know if she needed anything to tell him. Mia had to stifle a laugh, thank goodness he believed her, she didn't think the skirt of her gown could make it through any of those windows if she had to climb through them... Mia dashed into the party to search for the Winchester brothers.
Upstairs on the second floor, Dean dumped Alex onto a couch in a sitting room and thanked the guard who helped them.
Once he left, Alex sat up, "It should be in room 235, there's probably gonna be some sort of alarm system so keep an eye out."
"You're not coming?" Dean asked in confusion.
"Someone's gotta stay here in case the guards get back," she shrugged.
Dean sighed and left to find the stupid hand.
Sam continued to dance with Gert who was slowly becoming unbearable touchy. Every five seconds he'd have to move her hand off of his ass.
"I wonder where your friend and Alex went," Gert pondered aloud.
Sam muttered bitterly in reply "I'm sure they're entertaining themselves just fine."
Gert made a noise of approval, "Maybe we should go off and entertain ourselves too."
Sam stiffened, "Uh."
"You remind me of my late husband, he was shy too, until we got below deck," She smirked.
Sam tried to envision himself anywhere rather than where he was then. A blissful moment of silence passed.
"How's the investigation going?" Gert piped up, "Everyone is talking about those Warren brothers, it's the gossip of this whole party. I mean, I get the excitement, they had it coming in a Biblical sort of way."
Sam suddenly stopped dancing and gazed at her in confusion, "What do you mean?"
The older woman's eyes sparkled as she beckoned him to lean down so she could whisper into his ear, "The whispers say the boys' father didn't die of natural causes, but nothing's been proven."
Wincing, Sam pulled away, "What about Sheila? Did she have any connection with them?"
"None that I know of, they never really spoke."
"Did she have any kind of tragedy in her life?"
Gert nodded emphatically, "When she was a teenager she was in a car accident, she survived it but her cousin was killed. Why? Is that important?"
The young man tried to fumble a response but caught a glimpse of someone familiar attempting to signal him nearby. "Would you excuse me for a moment?" he asked Gert politely, "I promised my, uh, colleague, a dance."
He headed over to Mia and laughed before he grabbed onto her and the two began to dance, "Thank goodness you're here! You just couldn't stay away, could you?"
Mia smiled, "You know me, I can crash almost anything. But I came here for a more serious reason, where's Alex and Dean?"
"They went upstairs to find the hand of glory, why?"
Mia took a deep breath and explained everything to him that Peter had told her. That Alex was actually Bela Talbot, a notorious occult collector and not a hunter. That she'd had bad run-ins in the past and didn't care about the case she only wanted their cursed object.
"No offense Mia," Sam began awkwardly, "it's not that I don't like Peter it's just-"
Mia interrupted, "It's okay, I called Bobby on the way over here to confirm Peter's story, and everything he said about her is true. She's bad news."
Sam and Mia exchanged concerned glances, if Dean and Bela were upstairs how were they going to get to Dean without alerting Bela to their suspicions?
Dean had found 235 and groaned loudly when he read a note on the empty glass case which said that the hand had been temporarily re-located to be cleaned and resided in the manager's office on the main floor. He made his way down the stairs to the main area, to any of the guards who inquired after the condition of his 'wife' he said that he was just grabbing her some water. He walked past the ballroom where he snickered to himself when he spotted Sam across the room but instead of the older lady, he saw Sam dancing with a gorgeous young girl. Dean couldn't see her face clearly but from his vantage point, he could tell she was hot.
"Atta boy, Sammy!" Dean said to himself under his breath.
Sam, who noticed Gertrude's annoyed expression, stopped dancing and turned to Mia, "I have to keep Gert occupied but you gotta find Dean, tell him everything you told me, and make sure Bela doesn't end up being the one with the hand."
Mia nodded determinedly and went off in the opposite direction to find the elder Winchester brother.
Dean mistook the worry in his brother's eyes to be disappointment and figured the girl had turned his brother down. He felt terrible for him but his failure might mean Dean's own gain. He smiled to himself, slicked his hair back slightly, and walked over to the beautiful woman who was momentarily distracted, staring at a painting Dean had been admiring earlier.
He felt as though he was in a movie scene, the music was soft and gentle, and the candlelight nearby illuminated the woman in the most charming way. She was exquisite up close. Her skin was olive, and her hair was a beautiful warm brown colour, pulled up into a bun with a few ringlets escaping. Her soft lavender ball gown draped in all the right places and Dean took a deep breath before speaking to her.
"Excuse me, but you shouldn't be standing here, your beauty is putting all the works of art to shame," Dean crooned seductively.
The woman spun around and Dean mentally high-fived himself, the girl was gorgeous! She had pretty pink lips and bright blue eyes that seemed to hold his gaze for hours before she spoke, in a tone of relief, "Thank goodness! I've been looking all over for you."
"I could say the same thing about you," Dean flirted back.
Mia frowned in confusion, why was Dean acting so bizarrely, was he drunk?
"Sure, umm where's Alex?"
"Alex?" He frowned, "who's Alex?"
"The hunter? Hello?" Mia reached out and lay the back of her hand against his forehead, "are you feeling okay?"
The combination of her cooling touch and the sight of the familiar blue pendant which hung around her neck triggered Dean's brain to realize the woman he'd been flirting with was Mia!
"Oh, my God!" He exclaimed, taking a step back.
Mia's eyes widened in alarm, "What's wrong?"
"I-I completely forgot, I need to find the hand, Alex is waiting for me to get it."
"Wait! Hear me out, Alex isn't who she says she is. Peter recognized her from a photo I took and he ID'ed her as Bela Talbot, a supernatural object seller, she's known for screwing over everyone she works with and selling cursed items to the highest bidder. She isn't a hunter, she's been playing us so she can get that hand, no doubt to sell it."
Dean was frozen in surprise at this news, "Are you sure?"
"Positive, Bobby can confirm if you'd like."
Dean stared at her for a moment as he tried to comprehend what had just happened. First off, he didn't recognize Mia and tried to pick her up, next Alex is lying?
"I believe you, I just, I need to find that hand before she does," Dean mumbled as he walked off in the direction of the room needed.
Mia lifted her skirt and chased after him, "Wait!"
The hunter sighed, secretly wishing she'd leave him alone as his head was spinning right now trying to make sense of everything.
"You gotta make sure Bela doesn't end up with that hand," Mia warned as Dean picked the lock to the study, "she's crafty, Peter said she's a really good pickpocket and she's ruthless, she's killed people over money. Don't let her know we're onto her, she needs to think that we're all still in this together."
Dean unlocked the door and the two of them walked into the office, Dean spotted a glass case, this one wasn't attached to an alarm system so he just grabbed the hand from beneath it.
"Oh trust me, she isn't going to get her hands on this," Dean assured Mia as he picked up the item from the nearby desk and stuffed it into his pocket.
"Who's in there!?" A voice yelled.
Mia and Dean exchanged panicked expressions.
"Under the desk!" Dean hissed and the two of them crouched behind the desk. However, the guard who'd come to search the room saw Mia's long skirt sticking out on the other side of the desk.
"I can see you! Get out from behind there right now!" The guard called as he began to walk towards them.
In a moment of pure panic, Mia grabbed Dean by the collar and crashed his lips against hers then climbed on top of him. Dean, who had no idea what her motives were, just let it happen although he was extremely confused.
"If you're going to do that you'd best take it outside, these rooms are off limits," The guard said in a calmer voice when he discovered them beneath the desk.
Mia pulled away from Dean and laughed, "We're so sorry, we just wanted a moment to ourselves. I guess it can wait until we get home, huh sweetie?"
Dean could only blink back at her in astonishment.
She and Dean exited the room but then Dean grabbed her hand before she could walk away.
"What the fuck?" He exclaimed, "Why did you do that?!"
"What, kiss you?"
"YEAH!"
"If the guard found us just sitting there it would seem suspicious, also, you idiot, the empty case was on the desk, they would have noticed that we took the hand. By distracting him into thinking we were going to hook up I threw him off our tracks," She explained, nonchalantly.
He couldn't deny the brilliance of her plan but he felt so confused now. First, he tried to hook up with her and now he'd made out with her? He blamed all the champagne for what he was feeling and tried to shake it off.
"I need to get back to Bela, you grab Sam and tell him we're leaving. We're burning this hand the first chance we get then we're skipping town," He instructed.
Mia gave him an affirmative look before heading back towards the dance floor. Dean walked back upstairs to Bela, shaking the brunette's attractive receding form from his head and trying to focus on the importance of the case at hand. Especially that of not letting the con artist outcon him.
"That took you long enough," Bela commented when Dean finally entered the room.
He used all of his willpower not to call her out, "Yeah, it was moved to another room to be cleaned but I grabbed it."
Bela extended her hand, "Give it here, then. I can take care of it, I know what to do."
Dean folded the napkin he'd wrapped it in then put it back inside his suit pocket. "Believe me, I'd feel a lot better if I held onto it, after all the trouble I went through to get it. Once we get out of here and to the cemetery to burn it, I'll let you do the honours."
Bela bit her lip then put her hand down and smiled, "Alright, sounds good, let's go rescue Sam."
They headed out together, thanking the guards they passed for letting them take refuge upstairs for a bit. Once they got downstairs, Gert was wandering around looking for 'Alex' as she needed some girl advice on how to seduce Sam into her bed.
"I think Gert has had enough champagne, I'm going to make sure she gets home safe, I'll see you and Sam later," Bela laughed cheerfully before escorting her friend out the door.
Mia and Sam who were talking nearby didn't notice Bela taking off as they were too invested in their own conversation.
"I can't believe you kissed Dean," Sam chuckled, "of all the ballsy things to do."
"Hey, it was brilliant thinking and I stand by it, besides, it meant nothing," Mia shrugged.
Sam wiped a tear from his eye, "At least you know he feels the same."
She blushed, "Sam, I think I really like Peter, we've been talking for the past day, a lot and we really connected. I feel like this might go somewhere, I know it's really soon to tell but, I don't know… I have a good feeling about him."
"I'm happy for you, at least one of us should have a good romantic life. Anyways, he really came through for us with that information about Bela tonight, who knows what would have happened if you hadn't shown up in the nick of time!"
Dean walked over to the two of them, "Okay Bela left to take Gert home, and we're set to leave. Let's get the hell out of this town and burn this before she can get her greedy hands on it."
The three of them left the party and Dean felt his pocket to make sure he still had the hand. He patted his chest and felt the familiar wrapped-up lump. They climbed into the car and headed back to their little house. On the ride back, Mia gave them the information she'd discovered about how the ghost chose its victims.
Once they got to the house they began to pack but Mia turned to Dean and said, "You know, maybe we should just burn the hand here, and not risk getting a higher victim count."
Sam chimed in that it was a good idea and Dean took the napkin from his pocket but to all three of their surprise, the napkin did not hold the hand instead it held an antique ship in a bottle.
"Dean, please tell me that the sailor had a bottle for a hand and this is it. Please don't tell me I let myself get groped all night for nothing!" Sam cried out.
"SON OF A BITCH!" Dean exclaimed before smashing the bottle.
A few hours later as they were preparing to leave, there was a knock at the door. Dean answered it with his gun in hand and did not drop it when he recognized Bela.
"Let's not be hasty Dean," Bela warned, "it was an honest mistake. I just wanted to be the one to destroy the hand, after all, it was my case."
"Liar," Dean hissed, "you're no hunter, you're a thief, you're an immoral, thieving, con artist and you lied to all of us. You never wanted to help us, you just wanted the money."
"So I see you've found me out," Bela said, resuming her native English accent, "just so, I figured this would happen."
The three hunters glared at her.
"You used us," Sam stated angrily, "you used us to get that hand so you could sell it."
"Guilty," Bela replied with a sheepish smile, "and I'm sorry, I just needed a cover for the gala and I knew the three of you would be willing to help. I sold the hand for 10 million but... It now seems that I'm in large trouble as I just saw the ship."
Mia's eyes widened, "So not only are you a thief, who used us but, you murdered someone in your family too?"
Bela stared at her in confusion until Sam clarified. "Mia's extra research led us to learn the reason the ghost picks his targets. The person who decided on his hanging, the captain, was the sailor's brother, and this ghost only goes after people who have their family's blood on their hands like Sheila who got her cousin killed, and the Warren brothers who murdered their father to get an early inheritance. I guess the only question is what did you do?"
"I don't have to explain myself to you, or anyone," Bela replied in a bitter tone, "you wouldn't understand… no one did."
"And you just sold the only thing that could save you, so it looks like you're all out of luck," Dean taunted.
Bela sighed, "I guess so. I guess I do deserve this." She turned to leave but Sam called her.
"Wait, it may not be your only hope…"
He then told them of a spell they could use to summon the brother of the sailor when he attacked Bela so that instead of attacking her he could go after his own brother and fight it out with him. Bela was grateful for any chance at life she could get, so they went to the graveyard where the captain was buried and set up the proper candles, bowls, and readings needed for the ceremony. Mia offered to read the Latin while Sam and Dean protected Bela. She read aloud the incantation and it began to thunder and rain.
Suddenly, Bela fell down in a fit of choking coughs, sputtering out water. Sam tried to support her while Dean took a swing at the sailor who promptly tossed Dean against a gravestone. He went after Sam but then Bela's coughing and the thunderstorm stopped.
"You!" The sailor cried angrily seeing the materialization of his brother in front of where Mia stood.
"I'm sorry!" The captain replied.
"How could you? Your own brother!" The sailor screamed and then lunged for his brother, the two of them faded into a wave of water which then landed on Mia, soaking any part of her that had remained dry during the incantation.
Bela inhaled deeply and caught her breath.
That next morning Bela stopped by one last time, to thank them for helping her by giving them ten thousand dollars each which she believed was fair for saving her life, the three hunters disagreed with her methods but were grateful for the cash. They took off.
"We need to go to a mall, I have no clothes!" Mia cried out, as all she had was her ballgown and the dress she'd worn the day before. She'd been forced to borrow a pair of Sam's jeans, which were much too big for her and she wore Dean's green jacket as a shirt.
"You can go to one once we've reached Atlantic City," Dean told her.
"Seriously?" Sam exclaimed, "we're going there?"
"Hell yeah, I want to do some gambling!"
Sam only stared at his brother. He was in pure disbelief. Dean was DYING, he had only a matter of months left before he was going to Hell, and instead of looking for some way to fix things Dean was going to gamble. He wanted to scream at his brother, insist he give a crap about the fact that he was dying. But he decided to get some sleep, he would just have to care about his brother's survival for him and ensure it, it was his turn to look out for Dean. He was going to need to summon this girl demon.
Dean called Bobby a couple of hours down the road when Sam had fallen asleep and Mia was listening to her iPod. She'd been texting Peter the entire drive and asked Dean if when they got to Atlantic City he could drop her off at the outlet mall because Peter just so happened to be working a case nearby in Manhattan.
"How'd everything go?" Bobby asked.
"It all worked out, we managed to get rid of the ghost by giving it what it wanted in the first place, his brother."
"Smart," Bobby approved in a gruff voice, "you're all lucky Mia's little friend recognized her."
"Speaking of which," Dean said in a quieter voice as he glanced back to make sure Mia wasn't eavesdropping, "do you know anything about her friend, Peter?"
"Yeah he checks out, he's a hunter, I've run into him a couple of times. He's a good kid, he's 25, family came here from England a few years ago. Why?"
Dean frowned, "I don't know, something seems up with him. How did he recognize Bela? Has he ever worked with her?"
Bobby chuckled, "I could recognize Bela, and so could a lot of hunters, she's pretty prominent in this community. Are you sure you're not just paranoid?"
"Maybe, but keep an ear out, okay? If you hear anything let me know," Dean asked and Bobby agreed then they parted.
Dean was silent for a moment and checked the rearview mirror to see Mia smiling as she gazed at the window. Was he just being paranoid? He cared about Mia, that much he could admit now. She meant a lot to him, she was his friend and like the sister, he never asked for, but could his feelings go beyond that?
Nah, he thought to himself, she was just a stupid kid, she wasn't even legal to drink yet, she was just an annoying little tagalong that he'd grown to tolerate and that's all she'd ever be. But still, those feelings from before haunted him like a fog they surrounded his cognitive thoughts and threatened to corrupt them.
A/N: I AM SO SORRY FOR THE HIATUS, TO ANYONE STILL READING... I LOOOVE YOU!
Next Chapter: The three hunters run into a ghost from their past which leads to a fatal encounter...