This is an anthem for the homesick
For the beaten
The lost, the broke, the defeated
A song for the heartsick
For the standbys
Living life, in the shadow of the goodbye
Do you remember when we learned how to fly?
We'd play make-believe
We were young and had time on our side
You're stuck, on the ground
Got lost, can't be found
Just remember that you're still alive
I'll carry you home
No, you're not, alone
Keep marching on
This. Is. Worth. fighting for
You know we've, all got battle scars
ALL DOGS GO TO HEAVEN
This chapter is told entirely from Dean's POV
It had been a long couple of weeks since we learned about Sam's lack of soul, and I wasn't talking in the sense of Stevie Wonder or Aretha Franklin. I'd forgiven Sam's lack of musical taste years ago, finding out that would have been easy, and… this wasn't easy. This was perhaps one of the harder situations we'd had to deal with in all the time we'd been looking after our tiresome little brother.
We got through Halloween, spending it at home with Lisa and the kids, locking it all down before trying to have a good time taking Ben and Sophia trick-or-treating. Lisa was the better parent for that stuff; Beth and I, we'd seen too much in our lives to really enjoy the niceties of Halloween night. I had managed to convince Beth to dress up as Catwoman, something she'd done with a roll of her eyes, while I'd decided to rock Batman. (With a few extra weapons hidden in places that are better left unmentioned.)
Now we were out the front of a place called Fat Mack's Rib Shack (my choice of course) in Atlanta Georgia, eleven hours south of Michigan. We'd hightailed it down here three days ago after hearing reports of a pack of zombies attacking people. Turns out some idiot teenage witches thinking they were clever had raised the dead at their local cemetery during one of their rituals over Halloween. Once again, Halloween, nothing good came of it. Unless you counted some of the ridiculous costumes I had, over the years, managed to talk Beth into wearing. But to be fair, we generally hadn't been going out during those times, those had been inside costumes, if you get my drift.
So here we were, Atlanta, my ribs sitting untouched beside Beth on an outdoor table while I listened to Bobby on the other end of the phone tell me that he'd hit yet another dead end.
"I know, Bobby, but there's got to be another way," I said, glancing over at Sam and Beth as she picked at fries from her plate, and Sam pushed coleslaw around his.
"Well do you have any bright ideas?"
"I don't know," I sighed. "Keep digging. I mean, if Crowley thinks we're just gonna -"
"Crowley thinks you're just gonna, what, Dean?" The familiar Scottish accent of the demon, now self-proclaimed King of Hell, Crowley sounded behind me and I sighed.
Busted.
"Is that Bobby Singer?" Crowley asked, moving to stand beside me. "Give him a kiss for me."
"I'll call you back," I told Bobby, and hung up the phone, glaring at the demon next to me.
Crowley ignored me and walked over to the table, pulled out the chair next to Sam, spun it around so that he could straddle it, and then sat down.
"Good news boys," Crowley announced. "I've got a job for you."
Sam sighed and dropped his fork on his plate, moving slightly away from the demon. I sat back down next to Beth, taking a minute to glance sideways at her. She nonchalantly chewed on one of her ribs, clearly trying to appear calm, cool and collected at the appearance of our least favourite person in the world. She looked calmer than I was, that's all I knew.
"I'm gonna say this once," I said as I settled in across from Crowley. "You can take your job and shove it up your ass."
"Is that any way to talk to your boss?" Crowley asked.
"You're not my boss, dickbag," I retorted, knowing I was pushing the line, but unable to stop myself.
"Dean, Dean. Been through this," Crowley said in a sing-song voice. "Quit clutching your pearls. You've been working for me for some time now. Sam here, longer."
"We didn't know," Sam replied.
"Like that makes a difference to you," Crowley countered. "You'd sell your brother for a dollar right now if you really needed a soda."
I looked at Sam, a little startled at this realisation, and even more uncomfortable when I saw the expression on his face wasn't any form of denial over the accusation either.
"Look," Crowley continued. "I'm sending you-"
"No." My word was clear and strong. I felt proud of myself.
"Beg pardon?" Crowley asked.
"I've done some shady stuff in my time, but I am not doing this. No."
Crowley shook his head, glanced over at Beth who was still remarkably calm in all of this, and raised an amused eyebrow.
"Ten quid says you will," he said, and then he reached out and touched the back of Sam's hand. A sizzling sound came from the point of contact and Sam yelped with pain, grabbed his hand, and glared at the demon. I could see a red raw burn start to spread on his hand, and grimaced.
Crowley had us, and he knew it.
"You like pain, Sam?" Crowley asked, rubbing it in. "You like Hell?"
I shuddered, and hoped that it wasn't noticeable to the demon like it was to Beth - I felt her slide a hand under the table to rest on my knee, and squeeze lightly to keep me in my body. Hell, and all its niceties, was still something I grappled with on a daily basis, and it was hard sometimes not to dissociate from my body when the really bad memories came up. Beth was instrumental in getting me through those times, often with simple touch.
Crowley turned to look at me, a no-nonsense expression in his eyes.
"You need to stop thinking of this as some kind of deal. This is a hostage situation, you arrogant little thug. I own your brother! Do you understand me?"
He snapped his fingers and the burn on Sam's hand disappeared. I found I'd been holding my breath. I let it out slowly and glanced down at my food, appetite gone.
"You've made your point, Crowley," Beth said coldly, "now what do you want?"
"What do I want? Oh that's a long list that I'm not sure any of you could satisfy... satisfactorily, but for now, I'll settle for a hunt."
I sighed without even realising I was going to do it.
"Come on, Dean, smile. It's not that bad. Here's incentive - you bag me an alpha, and I'll give you little Sammy's soul back, with a cherry on top." I glanced at Sam, his face looked furious.
"What, alpha vamp not good enough for you?" Sam asked.
"Best mind where you poke your nose, if you want to keep it," Crowley countered. "Your merry little hike up the food chain starts here."
He slapped a newspaper down on the table, the headline read 'Businessman Falls Victim to Animal Attack.'
"Businessman found dead in his car - chest ripped open," Crowley summarised the article for us while Sam picked the newspaper up and started to read it, "heart missing. Sounds like?"
"Werewolf," Sam supplied.
"No, it's not a full moon," Beth replied.
"Werewolves turning on the full moon - so '09," Crowley replied dismissively, waving his hand in the air.
"He's right," Sam said. "Samuel and I ganked one about six months back on the half-moon. Things have been out of whack for a while now, I guess."
"Yeah, I guess," I muttered to myself, feeling Beth squeeze my leg again. I casually placed my hand over hers, but kept my eyes on the demon across from me.
"So, it's settled then. You bag the howler, bring it home to Papa. See you soon, boys."
He vanished.
I looked at my food and sighed. I couldn't even think about stomaching it, and I'd been so looking forward to lunch. Beth cleared her throat next to me, as if she sensed what I was feeling and waved the waitress over.
"We'll get all this to go," she said softly, "why don't we get on the road?"
She knew me best. The only place that I ever felt truly comfortable and safe was on the road in the car. Getting me out of here, and behind the wheel would be the fastest way to get myself regulated and ready to face this hunt. I hadn't told her this, and thought for a moment that maybe I should, but as selfish as I felt by tearing her away from Sophia, I was also grateful that she'd told me she couldn't handle it there without me, and rejoined us on the road. The honest truth was, I couldn't do this anymore without her.
We were halfway to New York, it was the middle of the night, and Beth had fallen asleep in the back seat. I watched the road intently ahead of me while Sam read articles from the laptop about our latest case.
"So, the vic's a real class act," Sam announced. "Owned a bunch of slum-grade apartments. Couple houses, too."
Something about his casual attitude was grating me the wrong way, but fair to say that was Sam in general most days, and I didn't know if it was normal or new.
"So this is it?" I asked, looking over at him in the darkness. "This is - this is what you're gonna do?"
"What am I doing?" Sam asked, his voice confused.
"Crowley. He's so far up our asses we're - we're - we're coughing sulphur, but you - you're just gonna work the case?"
I knew, as we all did, that we were obviously going to work the case, but it still irritated me. And since Sam was the reason we were in this mess in the first place - albeit not of his own making - I had chosen to take it out on him.
"Well, he's got us by the short and curlies," Sam replied calmly. "What else are we supposed to do?"
"It's just - you know, man, I… I'm working for a demon now."
Again, I thought to myself, my mind drifting back to my time in Hell; all the years I'd tortured souls for Lilith and Alistair, they weighed heavily on my soul. It was almost too much to bear, if I thought about it too long. I spent a lot of my time trying to drown out the memories, but working for Crowley was bringing it all back with a vengeance.
"I - I don't even know who you are," I continued. "I just need a second to adjust."
We'd had weeks, but clearly I wasn't there yet.
"Look… this is a crap situation," Sam said. "I get it. But, Dean, I am still me - same melon, same memories. I- I still like the same music. I still think about Evie Miller."
"Evie Miller? Took your virginity Evie?" I asked, curious, casting a quick glance to make sure Beth was still asleep. She wouldn't like me teasing Sam about that night where we'd barged in on the two teens getting it on in the motel. Beth and I had been at loggerheads at the time ourselves, fighting our feelings for each other - or not - and taking it out on each other that Dad's rules were the problem, not our love for each other.
"Can you blame me?" Sam said with a smile, I inclined my head with a slight smile. It was sweet, I thought, Sam mooning over that girl still so many years later. Almost made him human.
Almost.
"Look, I know you don't trust me," Sam continued. "And I can't take back what I did. But I'm going to prove it to you. I'm still your brother."
Buffalo, New York
It was an hour after dawn when we hit the outskirts of the city. Beth stretched in the back seat behind me, having gotten a pretty decent sleep. I was grateful as neither of us slept much these days, but the car seemed to help her with that. At least one of us wouldn't look like the walking dead.
Ten minutes earlier Sam had intercepted a call out on the police scanner, an incident that sounded related to our case. We'd pulled into the first private alley we could, long enough to get our suits out of the trunk and slip into them, tucking our FBI badges into the inner pockets. Beth had brushed her long, dark locks back into a ponytail, and we were ready to roll.
I pointed the car toward the docks, and within minutes we were surrounded by police officers, ambulances, and the usual peeping toms hellbent on getting a look at whatever horror had befallen whoever was lying dead on the pier. We let ourselves under the police tape and walked toward a short Asian man in a grey suit wearing a badge, overseeing two coroners who zipped a body bag up right in front of us and started to carry it away.
"How you doing? Agents Holt, Wilson and Neff," I announced, whipping out my badge and flashing it at the Detective.
"Feds?" He asked sceptically.
"Yeah," Sam nodded.
"What are the Feds doing here?" He questioned.
"Oh, we're specialists," Sam replied. "They call us in to answer the questions of mouth-breathing dick monkeys."
I couldn't believe the words that had just come out of my brother's mouth. Both the Detective and I turned to look curiously at him. Behind Sam, Beth shook her head in disbelief.
"So, you gonna walk us through this, or, uh…" Sam rolled on past the uncomfortable moment and the Detective set his mouth into a stern line.
"Dock worker," he replied. "Guy on the morning shift found him - chest ripped wide open."
"Same as the body in the car?" I asked, thinking about the case that sent us down here.
"Yeah, second one in two days," the Detective nodded.
"Internal organs missing on both vics?" Sam questioned. "Like their hearts?"
The Detective looked down at his notes and then nodded. "Uh… looks like it, yeah. How'd you know?"
"So, this guy, he - he have any enemies?" Sam pressed.
"Yeah, plenty, but uh, I don't think it was a wolf or possibly a cougar that had a beef with the guy. You do realise these were animal attacks?" He asked as if we were stupid.
"An animal, out here?" I asked, looking around the dock. There was nothing but water or factories, no vegetation, no backing on to untouched wildness, just concrete jungle for miles.
"What, you think it came for the sailing?"
The Next Morning
By the time night had rolled around, I was exhausted. Beth had wanted to keep me busy so I didn't harp on Sam for his attitude with law enforcement. She sent Sam to the library while we went to the morgue and then paid a visit to the laundromat. At the motel, there had been no way I was going to be able to keep my eyes open five minutes past crawling into bed, and I'd thankfully slept through the night.
Now, with morning light streaming through the half-open curtains, I opened my eyes to the voices in the motel room, stretching as I took in the gaudy red décor around me. Beth and Sam were seated at a table by the window, organising papers, and the bed next to ours was untouched.
"Morning," Beth smiled at me as I pushed myself up on one elbow.
"Morning," I mumbled, rubbing at my eyes, "how'd you sleep?"
"Like the dead," she said, getting up and moving to place a kiss on my cheek.
"Unlike Sam…" I pointed out, nodding at the unmade bed that Beth then sat on, raising her eyebrow at me. "'Cause you don't… sleep," I said, looking over at my brother.
"Right," Sam replied.
"Yeah. That's not creepy at all," I muttered.
"Not like I can help it," Sam shrugged and stuffed a few pieces of paper into a file, then moved to throw on his suit jacket. He paused to look at me and I swore it was as if he was rolling his eyes at me.
"So you gonna just lay there staring or you want to hear what I dug up while you two were asleep?" He asked.
I raised my hand in the air and gestured for him to continue, flopping back on the pillow as Beth winked at me, then crossed the room to where she had a suit hanging in a closet. I watched appreciatively as she slipped out of her sweatpants and wriggled into pants that fit her ass like a glove.
"All right," Sam said, ignoring her and hovering by the table. "So, we know that werewolves are basically id gone wild, right? I mean, whoever they hate, they kill when they wolf out."
I nodded in agreement, eyes still on Beth as she stripped from one of my over shirts into a crisp white blouse, turning to face me deliberately as she buttoned it up, giving a glimpse of breast that sent my blood rushing to places that it really didn't need to go right now. I squirmed a little, and half sat up, forcing myself to pay attention to Sam.
"Okay, and?"
"So," Sam continued. "We've been playing connect the victims."
This piqued my interest.
"And?"
"And, we think we found a common denominator," Beth replied, slipping into her jacket and flipping her loose hair over her shoulders.
"So come on," Sam said, checking a couple of IDs he had picked up and tossing mine at me. "Get the lead out, huh?"
I groaned, still feeling other appendages with their pointed attention toward Beth, who wasn't looking any less sexy in a suit.
"Fine, let me get dressed, Robocop," I muttered.
First though, I was gonna need a moment alone in the bathroom…
We were on the road within twenty minutes, I was sorely in need of a coffee and donut, or some kind of fuel besides adrenalin, but Sam was pushing us on without stopping. I was starting to wonder if he got tired at all, and whether it was worth having a soul when it felt as tired as mine.
I followed Sam's directions and pulled the car into the curb beside a modest, ranch style brick house with a pretty typical family front yard filled with kid's toys. Beth exited the car from the back seat and I smiled, pulling her in to give her a quick kiss on the mouth.
"Mmm, what's that for?" She asked, flashing me a smile.
"No reason," I said. "Just haven't kissed you good morning yet."
"Well, I can get used to this," she said, her eyes sparkling in a way that told me we really needed to find some time alone.
Sam cleared his throat beside us and I sighed, stepping back from Beth.
"Later," I promised as we turned back to the job at hand, leading us up to the front door of the house and knocking.
It only took a minute for a dark-haired woman, who reminded me of Lisa, to come to the door carrying a young boy. She looked us over curiously.
"Yes, can I help you?"
We flashed our ID at her and Sam nodded.
"Is Cal Garrigan at home? We've got a few questions we'd like to ask him," Sam said. The woman nodded and smiled, stepping back into the house.
"Yeah, um, come in," she said, opening the door wider for us to enter.
The front of the house opened into a small alcove, kitchen straight ahead so we headed there. The woman put the kid down on the floor and handed him a lego build that had been on the table. She smiled and then sent him to his room to play, looking anxiously at the other toys strewn on the table which she started to gather up, smiling at me.
"Sorry about the mess," she said, arms full. "Please, sit."
Sam and I sat down at the table, while the woman disposed of the toys in a nearby basket. Beth stood by the entry to the kitchen, eyes watching our surroundings; she inclined her head toward a German Shepherd dog lying quietly on the floor. It hadn't even raised an eyelid when we'd come in.
"Um, can I get you guys anything?" The woman asked, running a hand through her hair.
"No, thank you," I said with a shake of my head. "So Cal is your boyfriend?"
"That's right," she nodded.
Beth had moved to stand in an entry that led to the lounge room, she peered inside and then looked back at the woman.
"And where is he now?" Beth asked, clearly not seeing anyone in the adjoining room.
"Uh, sleeping, I think," the woman replied nervously.
"You mind telling him up and at 'em?" I asked, more of a demand than a question. "He's got some guests."
"Yeah," the woman said, "yeah of course."
She started to walk toward the hallway, when a man with short dark hair and a beard stumbled through the entry, wearing jeans and a dark blue and green plaid shirt that looked like it had been slept in.
"Cal…"
The woman was interrupted as the dog raised its head, barking once at the new arrival.
"Lucky, shhh!" Cal groaned in the dog's direction, rubbing his eyes. The dog growled again, and this caught my attention. Dogs are sensitive to the supernatural, and often a good indicator of something going on when they acted out of the ordinary.
"These are Agents…" the woman looked questioningly at me, and I nodded.
"Holt, Wilson and Neff," I said. "Morning…ish."
"Three of you?" Cal asked, his eyes flicked to Beth.
"I'm a specialist, you might say," she replied with our general cover story.
"Huh. So does a specialist need with me?" He asked, as he moved to the coffee machine and started to pour himself a mug of caffeine.
"You out late last night, Cal?" I asked, deflecting his question.
"Just, uh, you know, a couple beers with friends," he replied with a chuckle.
"How many's a couple?" I asked.
"I don't know," Cal replied. "Three, four tops." He took a sip of the coffee, looking over at me.
"If all you had was beer, then how come you're sweating vodka?" Sam said without any diplomacy. "And looks to me like you slept in those clothes. Am I right?"
The man held out his arms, and looked down at himself, seeing the state he was in. When he looked up, his eyes went to the woman who was nervously standing by the sink, her arms wrapped around her stomach.
"I dunno," he said with a chuckle. "I - I guess."
I leaned on the table and smiled at him knowingly. "So what you're saying is you got drunk and blacked out, and something tells me this isn't the first time."
"So, Cal, truthfully, who knows what you've really been up to at night?" Sam asked.
Cal's brow furrowed as he leaned against the bench, his attention turned fully to both Sam and I.
"Look, what's this about?"
"We're investigating the death of Ronald Garrigan," Beth said, moving to stand beside me.
"My brother?" Cal asked, he looked over at the woman by the sink, and she shrugged.
"Sorry for your loss," I said.
"Yeah, I thought that was some kind of animal attack," Cal replied.
"No love lost between the two of you, huh?" Sam asked.
Cal shrugged and crossed his arms.
"Look, we had our differences, I guess. You love your brother, of course, but… Ron had a lot of problems. He was, uh, volatile," Cal said.
"Last time he was here, you called the cops?" Beth asked.
"Yeah, look, he came in here all messed up and he was yelling. He shoved Mandy. So yeah I called the cops. I don't see how that has to do with-"
"Your landlord was found dead this week. Were you aware of that?" Sam cut in.
"Saw it in the papers," Cal nodded. "Why?"
"Well, you two were pretty far behind on your rent, right? He had sent eviction papers?" Sam pushed.
Cal laughed incredulously, and Mandy frowned, stood to attention, her arms crossed over her chest.
"I- I'm sorry. That was an animal attack," she said, confused.
"Funny enough, yeah," Sam said. "Both of them were."
"So great, great. Yeah, guys. What in the Hell do you think I had to do with 'em?" Cal asked.
"Just following procedure," I said, not seeing any evidence one way or another. "Had to ask. You two have a good day."
I stood up, and led the way out of the house, Sam and Beth following.
Sam seemed on edge as we headed back to the car.
"So, Cal's a prince," he said sarcastically.
"Yeah, doesn't even know where he was last night," I commented.
"Bag him now?"
I exchanged a look with Beth and saw her eyebrows knit in concern, then looked back at Sam.
"No. We make sure," I said, frowning at him.
"Really?"
"Before we hand him over to a lifetime of demon rape? Yeah, really," I said, concerned that he even had to ask. This soulless crap was really starting to eat at me, I'd have tried to get a room separate from him just for some down time, if I wasn't so worried that Sam might fly off the handle and do something stupid.
Maybe after tonight, I thought to myself. At least then we'd have more answers, hopefully.
Stakeouts with Sam were never fun. I didn't mind them with Beth, and I know Sam accused us of pretty much getting it on every chance we had, but he hadn't been around to see us during the early years of our relationship. Even after we got together officially, we'd behaved on hunts. Stakeouts in particular had been down time for us from the killing, training, and mediation of Dad and Sam's almost daily arguments.
I found myself anticipating the stakeout this evening with a fondness I didn't often feel for any kind of hunt these days. Sam of course, had to ruin it with his Robocop intensity that was grating on my last nerve. He was sitting in the back of the car as I pulled us up across the road from a Fix-It business, after a long night of stalking Cal across town.
The place looked dead to the world, so I was curious why Cal had led us here out of all the other options in town. Sam simply wanted to get out and kidnap the guy for Crowley's personal interrogation room. For Sam, breathing wrong seemed to be enough to find the guy guilty.
Other trucks started to pull up to the front of the property, and a garage roller door opened from the inside, revealing a home bar, jukebox and pool table.
"Boy, Cal just doesn't know when to quit," Beth commented with a yawn, shaking her head as Cal cracked open a can and took a long plug from it before stumbling across the room to grab a pool cue. I was quietly impressed with his stamina.
"Three scuzzy bars, one scuzzy strip club, a chili-dog joint, seven or eight nightcaps, and now… scotches in the library," I commented, gesturing at the party about to kick off.
"No wonder he can't pay his rent," Beth commented.
"I'm getting cirrhosis just watching this. Other than that, we got squat."
"Let's just see," Sam insisted.
I didn't want to stay, I wanted to go back to the motel and crawl into bed with Beth, wrap myself around her soft body, and fall into a deep sleep. Even if I knew it was unlikely to last the night, just the thought of closing my eyes for longer than five minutes was appealing.
Beth reached into a bag she had placed between us on the front seat and pulled out a cold can of coke, which she'd just picked up at the gas station when Cal had stopped at the chili-dog place next door. She'd been unrecognisable in her hoodie and jeans compared to the FBI suit she'd been wearing earlier, even if Cal hadn't been three sheets to the wind.
I smiled and accepted the coke, cracking the can open and taking a drink. It wasn't a beer, but it would do, I hoped there was enough caffeine to keep me upright for the next few hours at least.
Just as I'd predicted, Cal hadn't wolfed out and killed anyone by the time daylight hit. I was feeling dead to the world, Beth was holding up better than I - but not by much, and in the back seat was Sam - as bright and alert as if he'd just had a twelve hour nap. I hated him for it, and at the same time felt uneasy just thinking about it.
I looked out the windshield at the blue sky, brightening with every minute and sighed.
"Dude, sun's up," I announced, watching as two men left the garage. Inside, Cal and several others were sitting around a table, still doing the rounds.
"This guy's still on two legs, in theory," I said. "He ain't' wolfing out."
"Well, not tonight, anyway," Sam commented.
"Let's head back," I said. "We can re-attack this in a couple hours."
We didn't get to bed.
When we got to the motel, I chuckled and grabbed Beth by the hand, pulling her into the bathroom with me and kicking the door closed behind us. Sam's protest went unheeded as I slipped my hand along her neck, caressing her cheekbone with my thumb, staring down into those big, swirling brown eyes.
She smiled up at me and then raised her eyebrow cheekily.
"Can I help you with something?" She asked.
I groaned, just thinking about what she could help me with. It had been a fast, furious anti-climactic event this morning before we'd headed out. I'd been thinking about getting her alone for the whole rest of the day.
"Maybe," I replied huskily. "I seem to be having trouble getting in the shower."
"Oh dear, that is a problem. Can't have you smelling up the motel room," she commented.
"Yeah, maybe there's something you can do to help me out with that?"
I was already tugging on the end of her hoodie, and she complied by lifting her arms over her head, allowing me to divest her of the article of clothing. I felt my cock twitch to attention just at this simple movement, it really didn't take much to get me going when it came to this woman.
By the time we reached the shower, we were both hot and heavy, ready to finish what we'd started. I couldn't think of a more perfect end to the night, or day, or whatever this had been, than getting to satiate my desires after fantasizing about it for almost twenty-four hours.
I was buried deep inside Beth, her legs wrapped around me, hair wet and slick down her back. Her skinned hummed beneath my hands as I pressed us both up against the tiled wall, thrusting up and drawing a soft moan from her lips as I hit that spot that left her trembling.
What had started out as slow, sweet torture was reaching a quick climax. I sped up, feeling myself get even harder with the anticipation of what was coming. I could tell from her breathing that she was close… so close, and I wanted to wait for her to crash into oblivion with me, but it was getting harder and harder to…
"Beth..." I groaned in her ear, the sound little more than a grunt.
She groaned in reply, wordless music to my ears.
Then I felt it, that moment when she started trembling uncontrollably around me, sending a new pleasure through my cock and down into my loins. I gasped, and thrust hard and deep inside of her, holding as I felt our bodies move without any guidance from our minds. They knew what to do, had done this hundreds of times, and I let it carry us over the edge.
Within seconds I was panting, feeling myself come deep inside this beautiful woman wrapped around me, and she spasmed in return baring her neck to me as I kissed it, sucking on the soft, white skin soaked with the water washing down over us.
"God…" she murmured, wrapping her arms even tighter around my neck and I breathed deeply, taking in her clean scent and the feel of her pulse racing under my lips.
"I can die happy," I agreed, feeling my legs start to weaken now that the adrenalin was starting to fade. "Oh I'm so ready for bed."
"Me too…"
Bang bang bang!
I almost slipped at the sound of the door being pounded on, and felt myself go soft and fall out of Beth. Her legs dropped to the tiles beneath us, helping us both to stand.
"Are you two quite done?" Sam's voice sounded on the other side.
"None of your damn business!" I yelled back at him, frowning at the intrusion that was eating at my afterglow.
"We got business to attend to!"
"Yeah, it's called sleep!"
"Not anymore it doesn't, so I hope you didn't tire yourselves out doing… whatever you're doing in there."
"What the hell is he talking about?" Beth asked, reaching to turn the water off. Suddenly it was very cold in the room and I reached for a towel, handing one to her first so she could wrap it around herself.
"Did you hear me?" Sam was still yelling through the door.
"Yeah, yeah, we heard you - we'll be right out!" I snapped, then sighed at Beth who was already drying herself off.
"Babysitting Robocop is gonna be the death of me," I commented.
She grunted a reply that sounded like she agreed, and I chuckled. It wasn't often that Sam managed to piss off Beth, I found it amusing that this was one of those times that got to her.
"Sorry," I said, kissing her nose.
"Not your fault," she replied with a gentle smile.
"I really just want to crawl into bed with you right now," I said, and she nodded.
"Yeah, me too, but Robocop sounds kind of urgent, and we can't trust him to handle this on his own."
That much we both knew was true. I quickly dried myself off and stuck my head out of the bathroom, leaving Beth some space to get herself sorted.
"You have the worst timing," I muttered at Sam, walking stark naked in the motel room as I crossed to my duffel bag and started to rustle up some underwear.
"Don't blame me," Sam replied, watching me with a raised eyebrow. "Blame Cal."
"What are you talking about?" I asked, standing up as I pulled on a pair of boxer briefs.
"Dead body at the garage bar," Sam reported.
What? Had we somehow missed it? What the Hell was going on around here?!
When we arrived back at the place we'd left just over an hour earlier, there was the usual police, ambulances, and coroner milling around. We walked up to the scene of the crime, which was just outside the bar where we'd spent the night watching Cal drink himself into stage four cirrhosis of the liver. The body had been discovered right around the time Beth and I had been… well, you know. And it was Cal.
I watched the coroner zip up the body bag, and then turned to look at Sam.
"Well, I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that it's not Cal," I said, referring to the attacker.
"Masterful deduction, Sherlock," Sam commented.
The three of us turned toward the car and started to walk.
"I mean, a werewolf attack in daylight? This whole thing is just weird," I said, rubbing my face in an attempt to stave off the fatigue that was gnawing at me.
"Dogs and cats living together - mass hysteria," Sam quipped, tapping on my arm and stopping. "So, you know this means we're down to one suspect, right?"
I sighed, seeing where he was going with this. "I know."
"I mean, Mandy is right at the deep end of the vic pool," Sam pushed. "Can you do it?"
"Do what?" I asked, confused.
"Shove her in the trunk, serve her up to Crowley," Sam replied, his eyes moving to Beth who was standing very silently beside me. I felt my blood run cold at the thought, but at the same time… if she was a monster…
"Yeah Sam, I can do it," I replied, hoping my voice sounded more convinced than I was.
We wanted to beat the police to Mandy, so as soon as we were in the car we drove to her house, finding her outside with the dog on a lead, talking to one of her neighbours.
I pulled the car up to the curb and cut the engine, all three of us looked out at her.
"Man, she doesn't look like a monster," I commented.
"Dean…" Sam's voice had a warning to it.
"I know, I know," I said resignedly.
"I think one of us should stay here," Beth said, "we might spook her with all three of us turning up like we do."
"What?" Sam asked. "So you can both talk yourselves out of doing what needs to happen here? No way."
"We are not going to do that," I replied, frowning at him. "Maybe Beth is right on this one."
"Well, then I'm going with you," Sam replied.
"You know what, this is stupid," I said, throwing my hands in the air. "If she's a monster, we're gonna need all three of us to restrain her, right? Screw it, we all go in."
Beth looked unconvinced, but Sam was right. I knew she was wavering, so was I. Maybe we needed Robocop right now to keep us on track.
Within moments we were out of the car and crossing the road toward Mandy, who was finishing up her conversation and heading inside.
"Ma'am," I said as we reached her. She smiled and nodded.
"Agents. What are you doing here?"
I knew we'd beaten the cops, but we still had to play this like we were ignorant of that fact.
"Nobody called you?" I asked.
"Called me about what?"
Within moments we were inside the house.
The dog was on its bed on the floor of the kitchen, and we were all sitting around the kitchen table. Mandy looked distraught at the news of Cal's death.
"I'm sorry, I just can't believe it," she said, shaking her head and dabbing at her eyes with a tissue.
"I'm really very sorry," I said.
"Ma'am," Sam cut in. "I know this isn't the best time, but we'd like you to come with us."
Mandy looked up sharply at the request.
"Why?" She asked. "You think I have something to do with this? With Cal?"
"Of course not," I tried to placate her. "We just got a few questions - i's and t's mostly."
Mandy hesitated and glanced toward the hallway. "I, uh… could we do it later?"
"I'm afraid not," Sam pushed.
The woman stared at Sam who seemed unemotional - just like a soulless statue, I thought to myself.
"Oh," she said after seeing the look on his face. "Uh- uh, my kid has the flu, um, and he was up all night, so…"
"Well, is there a neighbour or a friend who can watching him while you're gone?" Sam asked, completely unmoved.
"Wait, I'm sorry," Beth cut in, glaring at Sam. "You said your boy was up all night?"
Mandy nodded, turning to Beth with red, tired eyes. "Uh, yeah."
"Were you with him all night?" I asked, seeing where Beth was going with this. We'd had our fair share of sleepless nights with sick children in the last twelve months, I knew how hard it was with two of us there, let alone going it alone.
"Um, uh, well, I had, half an hour of sleep, maybe," Mandy said.
"Can I talk to your son?" Beth asked.
"Why?" Mandy asked.
"Yeah, what different does that make, Agent?" Sam cut in, his eyes narrowing at Beth.
"Trust me," Beth said, staring back at our brother. "It's important."
I nodded at Mandy and smiled.
"Please?" I added. If this was going where I thought Beth was taking it, we needed to stay united.
By the time we left the house I was convinced that Mandy was not the monster we were seeking. I felt relieved. She looked too much like Lisa, and Beth… her kid reminded me of Ben. I was too close to this, and I knew why Sam was pushing so hard; he thought we couldn't get the job done.
Fortunately for us, we didn't have to drag an innocent woman off kicking and screaming to Crowley's torture den.
"Well, it wasn't her," I said, smiling at Beth. I was proud she'd picked up on the overnight thing, she was smart, and not much got past her.
"You don't know that," Sam replied, scowling next to us.
"She's got an alibi," I said.
"She's lying," he retorted.
"You heard the kid, Sam," Beth chimed in. "She's not lying."
"Fine." Sam sighed. "She still had time to wolf out, guys. The last werewolf we encountered was in bed, with me, and she wolfed out."
"Don't make this personal," I said with a frown. "Look, all I'm saying is that Beth is right on this one. Between this and the daylight attacks, something's not adding up."
I reached the Impala, and Beth stayed beside me. Sam moved to take the passenger seat, opposite sides yet again.
"We are not just going to hand her over to Crowley," Beth said.
"At least not until we know what the hell is going on around here," I agreed. "You understand?"
Sam stared at us, but when he saw the expressions on our faces he backed down, his shoulders sagging in resignation.
"Okay," he said after a moment. "Okay, I understand. Look, how about you guys go check out Cal's crime scene, see if we're missing anything. Then you can get some rest, cause we've been up all night. I'll come back and keep an eye on Amanda."
"Whoa, I dunno…"
"No, how about you go, and we'll stay here?" I countered as Beth started to protest about Sam staying behind.
"Dean, I still know how to do my job," Sam snorted. "I'm just gonna watch her. That's all. Trust me." He didn't wait for an answer and climbed into the car.
"Uh huh," I said sceptically, glancing at Beth who shook her head in concern.
But truthfully, another day on stakeout sounded exhausting, there was no way I was up for it. Neither was Beth. We needed to get some sleep if we were going to be any good to anyone.
"Look, if it's not her, he can watch the house at least, huh?" I said, Beth sighed softly in resignation. "If someone shows up that shouldn't be here, Sam can handle it."
"Yeah, okay," she breathed, "I really do need some sleep."
"Me too," I agreed.
It was late, and I was staring at my phone debating whether to call Lisa and check in on the kids. In the bed next to me Beth slept soundly, the sheet wrapped around her soft, naked body. I grinned at the sight of her, but decided to let her sleep a little longer.
With a bone-weary groan, I stood up and crossed to the kitchenette, picking up the coffee pot on the counter and pouring myself a cup of joe. My phone started to ring, and I hurried to answer it before it woke Beth - knowing full well it was a futile gesture.
"Hey," I said, seeing Sam's name flash across the screen.
"Hey, man, it's me," he replied.
"Yeah, I know. What do you have? Because we've got bupkis here," I said, referring to the lack of any further clues at the crime scene where Cal had been killed.
Beside me Beth stirred, and blinked her eyes against the sharp light of the bedside lamp. She stretched, affording me a flash of breast, which I enjoyed.
I switched the phone to speaker so she could listen in while I moved to pour her a cup of coffee.
"I definitely got something," Sam's voice sounded in reply. "It ain't a werewolf, for one."
"Yeah? What is it?" I asked, crossing back to Beth and handing her the coffee I'd just made, receiving a grateful smile in return.
"Skinwalker."
This caught our attention and Beth sat up in bed, frowning.
"A skinwalker?" Beth asked, joining the conversation.
"Yeah, as in the family dog seriously needs a neuter," Sam replied.
"Wow, I haven't heard of a skinwalker in years," I said, shaking my head and reaching for Dad's journal on the nightstand. "I'm actually a little rusty on the profile."
"You and me both," Sam replied. "Uh, I just got the low down from Bobby. They can change anywhere, anytime. Skinwalkers infect you with a single bite. Otherwise, they're basically a werewolf cousin - silver will drop 'em, they chow hearts like sausages."
"We gotta be careful around those teeth," Beth said.
"Yeah," Sam said.
"So what happened?" I asked into the phone, sipping on my coffee. "Did you catch him?"
"Not exactly," he replied. "I started to follow him when I saw him shift in Mandy's house. He headed for the park. By the time I got there and was ready to shoot, he met up with another man. They nearly made me, their sense of smell is good."
"Yeah, and you probably need a shower," I joked, chuckling. Sam ignored my comment and continued.
"Anyway, the guy he was meeting was angry, they argued, then went their separate ways. I started to follow, but he shifted back into dog form. By the time I caught up, he was lying in the street and some do-gooder couple was putting him into their station wagon talking about getting him to a vet. He must have run right out in front of 'em."
"That's pretty unlucky…" I said with a smirk. "Get it, unlucky? The dog's name is Lucky?" Beth chuckled and rolled her eyes at me, but I could tell she liked it. I smiled, happy with my Dad joke.
"Yeah, okay," Sam said, "well, I have some idea where he might be, so are you two planning to just lay about all night, or…?"
"Whatever man, we aren't all soulless Robots, some of us need sleep once in a 48 hour period," I snapped. "Come and get us, we'll be ready."
I reached out and hung up the phone, glaring at it.
"The nerve!"
"Let it go," Beth said, standing up and letting the sheet fall to the floor.
I smiled appreciatively at her and wrapped my free hand around her waist, pulling her body against mine.
"I think I can be convinced to do so," I said, my voice heavy with want.
Beth laughed and kissed me quickly on the cheek before sliding her arms around my neck.
"Haven't you had enough yet, Mr Winchester?" She asked demurely, I shook my head.
"Never," I replied. "But Robocop will be here any minute, I suppose we better have some clothes on when he arrives."
She nodded her agreement and pulled away reluctantly.
"But this isn't over," I promised, watching as she walked over to her duffel bag and started rifling through it for a pair of pants. "As soon as this case is dealt with, we're getting our own B&B for a weekend, at least."
Beth chuckled and looked over her shoulder at me, which nearly made me forget everything I'd just said and take her right then and there.
"Deal," she replied. "In the meantime, maybe you should also put on some pants?"
I looked down at myself, seeing a bulge in the front of my boxer briefs, and sighed. It was going to be a long night, I was going to need more coffee.
Lucky, the unlucky dog as it turns out, was being held at the Erie County Domestic Animal Hospital. He was locked in a cage, looking somewhat sorry for himself, his head down on his paws.
I crouched in front of him and smiled.
"Hiya, Lucky. Bad dog," I commented. I held up my gun when there was no one around to see it, and popped out the clip. Behind me, Sam was smirking at the animal in the cage, tossing a ball from one hand to the other. I frowned slightly at the menacing presence, but pushed it out of my mind - we had to get on with the job, even if soulless Sam was creeping.
"You see this?" I said. "This is silver. Don't say I didn't warn you." I popped the magazine back into the gun and clipped it in place, tucking the gun against the small of my back inside my waistband.
I stood up and glanced at Beth who was holding a spare pair of jeans that Sam had collected from the park, discarded by the shifter.
"Okay, time to go," I announced to the dog who was sitting up and paying attention now.
"Now, we can either do this the easy way…" I gestured to the pants Beth was holding. "Hmm?"
"Or the hard way," I finished, holding up a silver chain.
Sam laughed, and I found the sound so odd and rare coming from him that I turned, confused.
"What?" Sam asked, shrugging. "Soul or not, that's funny."
The dog barked at us, and I wondered what decision the creature had made.
Back at the motel, we'd finally met with the shifter, face to face. Sam had him tied to a chair with a rope, reinforced with silver chain - there was no way he was escaping.
He wasn't much to look at really, an average looking male with white skin, dark hair, an overgrown five-o'clock shadow, and angry eyes.
"Well, I got to tell you, Lucky, you got us stumped," Sam started the conversation, sitting on a chair near the shifter. "I mean, why shack up with the family? Is it a kinky thing? Do you like to play with your food? Roll over, Lucky. Speak."
The man scoffed.
"Go to Hell," he said.
"Already been," Sam quipped. "Didn't agree with me. So, look…" he stood up and picked up a silver knife we'd gotten out of the car armoury, and then turned back to the skinwalker with eerie, dead eyes. "...How about I take this silver knife, and start carving some dog until you behave?"
Beside me, Beth wrapped her arms around her body and shuddered. I knew this wasn't the first time she'd had to torture a creature for information; she didn't often talk about her time while I'd been in Hell, but I knew from Sam that she had been the one doing a lot of the torturing of demons when they were searching for a way to save me.
It was so against her personality I had trouble reconciling it, and now that it wasn't about me, it seemed like she was back to being a little squeamish around knives and things tied to chairs.
The man looked at Sam, his eyes worried.
"You do what you got to do," he replied, a little breathlessly.
Sam advanced, but I had another thought, and I held up my hand to stop him - moving to sit on the bed in front of the chair.
"Hang on, Sam," I said, turning back to the man. "Listen, you don't have to tell me why you're with the family. I get it," I glanced at Beth who nodded.
"Oh you do, do you?" The shifter sneered.
"You killed every threat that came near them," I pointed out. "You care about them, in your own whack-a-doodle kind of way. It's obvious."
The skinwalker's face softened a little, and he nodded almost imperceptibly, enough to tell me I was on the right path.
"What I want to know is, who was that guy you were kibitzing with? In the park? He a skinwalker, too?"
The man tensed at the mention of that, so once again, I knew I'd hit my mark.
"Look, I can't say anything," he said, determined.
I stood up, shrugging, and Beth took her shot.
"But if you don't," she said softly, leaning against the kitchen counter, dropping her arms to her side. "You're going to put Mandy, and that little boy in danger. Is that what you want? You know how this world works, sooner or later, whatever you're messed up in is coming for them…"
"And we don't give a rat's ass about you," I said. "We want to help them. That's our angle. That's it."
The man paused, looking us over. His gaze lingered on Beth for a while and I could imagine what he was thinking. With her long dark tresses and deep brown eyes, she looked a lot like Mandy, who this thing clearly cared about. I nodded toward her, and she picked up on it too.
"You have to give us something," Beth pushed. "You don't want Mandy to get hurt, do you?" She turned her soft eyes toward him, and I swear if that didn't melt him, nothing would.
It worked.
The shifter took a deep breath and then looked at me. "Yeah, that guy, he's a … whatever it is I am. And he's not the only one."
"How many are you?" Sam asked.
"About thirty," he said, shrugging. "We were all - we were kind of recruited."
"Recruited?"
"Yeah. Me, I was living on the streets. They found me. They told me one small bite, I'd be strong, I'd be fast."
"Sniffing people's butts? Yeah, that's a real step up," I scoffed, walked past him and leaning against the table.
"Well it was for me," he said.
"Where is this little Scooby gang of yours?" I asked, changing the subject.
"Everywhere," he replied. "We're out there finding families, and once they take us in, we lay low."
"Lay low?" Beth asked, her eyebrows knitting together in concern. "What do you mean?"
"Well, we're waiting for the word," he replied simply.
"What word?"
He sucked in a deep breath and then let it out slowly, sitting back a little.
"Once we're settled, we get the signal…and we turn on our families. We change them, all in one night. 30 becomes 150," he explained.
Beth's face paled, and I couldn't keep my poker face at this admission.
"God," I muttered under my breath, "you're a sleeper cell."
"Yeah, well, that's one way to say it," the skinwalker replied.
Sam hadn't even flinched. He was staring down the creature, his eyes narrowed and firm, calculating.
"So you're waiting for word from who? Who organised you?"
"There's a pack leader," was the reply.
"Your Alpha?" Sam asked, his face lighting up, he glanced at me, almost looking hopeful. This got my attention, maybe Crowley hadn't been too far off the mark after all, however, he'd gotten the wrong creature.
"What's an Alpha?" Asked the skinwalker, confusion crossing his face.
"The - the first skinwalker," Sam explained. "The strongest."
Lucky shrugged. "Well, he's plenty strong, but, no, I - I don't think so. I'm pretty sure there's guys like him in other towns. We're not the only pack out there."
We all exchanged concerned looks.
"Fantastic," I said, "then you can help us stop him."
"Oh, no, I can't. No," he shook his head at us, clearly terrified.
"Yes, you can."
"No, you guys don't get it. No one can. These guys who turned me - they're ruthless."
Sam started whistling, like he was dealing with a dog, then held up the ball he'd been playing with for the last hour. We all stopped talking and looked at him, he smirked and threw the ball across the room, as if he was expecting the man to go fetch.
I rolled my eyes, annoyed.
"Sam, not helping."
The man sneered sideways at Sam.
"Fetch this, dick," he said as I crouched in front of him.
"Listen to me," I said, looking up at him. "What are you gonna do to that family, really? You gonna put your jaws around that little boy's throat?"
The guy paled just at the mention of it, his eyes showing me exactly how he felt about, how he loved, this family.
"You gonna clamp down, listen to him cry for his mom?" I pushed. "'Cause I'm gonna guess that these are the only people who, in your pathetic life, have ever showed you any kindness."
"So it's either that, or you can help us stop it," I said.
We'd talked it over with Lucky, and he'd told us where he could meet up with this pack leader of his. It was in an abandoned industrial area - like always. We told him to get the guy there, and we'd take care of the rest.
I parked the Impala under a nearby bridge to shield us from prying eyes while I started rummaging through the trunk. Beth stood next to me, a calming presence in the chaos.
"Man, this armory is a freaking mess," I commented as she helped move a few boxes of arrows, and a crossbow so I could get to the case underneath them.
"Yeah," she agreed, "we really need to tidy it up if we're going back into hunting full time."
I had no reply to that, instead I just nodded solemnly, seeing both sadness and the comfort of the familiar flash through her eyes. I could relate. Hunting we understood, it was in our blood… it was like being home. Being home, on the other hand, was foreign and I often felt like a duck on water, calm on the surface but paddling like crazy underneath.
"Here," I said, handing her a box of silver ammo, and she took it silently while Sam joined us on the other side of the car.
"So, how are we supposed to get near something that can smell us a hundred yards off?" He asked, the wind whipped his hair about his face and he brushed it impatiently back from his eyes.
"We don't," I announced, finding the case I was looking for and opening it to reveal a rifle.
"The pack leader," Sam questioned. "We're taking him down?"
"Yeah," I nodded. "You got a better idea?"
"No, I…" He hesitated, frowning. "Crowley's not gonna be too happy about that."
"Who gives a rat's ass?" I snapped. "We let that thing live one second, and it sends out that psychic dog whistle and…." I waved my hand in the air and mimicked an explosion. "Phew!"
Sam looked unconvinced.
"On the other hand, it could lead us to an Alpha," he said. "Then Crowley would give me my soul back."
I exchanged a look with Beth, trying not to let the fury I was feeling show too much in my face. Her mouth twitched up at the side briefly, and she looked over at Sam with a gentleness I wasn't feeling.
"It's not that simple, Sam," she said.
"Are you kidding?!" I added, a little more forcefully. "150 people turned into monsters. That's what you want?"
Sam tried to look as if he was shocked by what I'd said, but I could see it as clearly as if I was looking in a mirror. There was nothing there - no conscience, no Jiminy Cricket sitting on his shoulder screaming at him that this was a terrible idea and should be scrapped before it was even thought of. He was only thinking of himself.
"No," Sam denied my accusation with little conviction in his voice. "Of course not. I…I'm just asking."
The last sentence told me that he knew better, somehow. Or maybe he knew that he should know better, but he didn't and so was battling to feel something even though he couldn't. It was doing my head in just thinking about it.
"All right, you know what?" I said after a minute. "That's it."
"What?" Sam asked.
"You say you're 'just folks', yeah? That - that you like baseball and apple pie or whatever. But truth is, I don't know what you are 'cause you're not Sam," I said, feeling a weight released from my chest. I'd said it, no going back now.
"Dean, come on," Sam whined, clearly unhappy with me.
"I mean, it's your gigantor body and - and maybe your brain, but it's not you. So just… stop pretending. Do us all a favour."
I grabbed the rifle case, and saw that Beth had been quietly packing a bag with the ammo I'd handed her, listening but trying to remain neutral.
I stormed off in the direction of a building that overlooked the rendezvous point for Lucky and his pack leader, putting some distance between me and my non-brother.
Beth stayed behind, and I chanced a look over my shoulder to see she was talking to Sam, they were both walking together, slowly following me and she was rubbing his back like she often did for me when I was angry. I sighed, and kept moving.
She had always been a lot better at managing Sam than I was. Heck, better at managing us all really. My old self-doubts kicked in for a minute, as they wanted to do at times like this, telling me I wasn't good enough for her - that she deserved better.
"Shut up," I muttered under my breath, hearing those things echo through my head in Lilith's voice. She'd always known how to get to the core of me, the bitch, striking at my deepest fears and insecurities. I pushed them aside, reminding myself that Beth had never shown any cause that she believed any of this nonsense.
She might be insane for wanting me, but I knew deep down she was never going to leave me.
We'd been up on the roof for at least an hour, set up and ready for action. I'd put the rifle on top of a wooden boxed in air duct, it was the perfect height to rest on while keeping us well hidden from prying eyes.
I was watching through my scope, eyes on Lucky who had arrived a few minutes earlier and was now pacing in front of an old factory with a large roller door. There were a couple of cars parked out front, but so far we'd seen no one around. A large empty parking lot ran all the way to the road, providing me with an unobstructed view of the entire area, and I felt confident that we were going to be able to make the shot once the pack leader arrived.
Sam sat to my right on an upturned crate, Beth was on my left. He was fiddling with the spare silver bullets, loading up spare magazines in case it was needed. I sincerely hoped that was overkill.
"He looks nervous, right?" Sam asked after a while, not even looking at Lucky.
"Wouldn't you be?" I questioned. He wasn't wrong, Lucky was anxiously pacing back and forth, like he was about to break.
"I'd double-cross us," Sam replied with a shrug, causing me to raise my eyebrow at him. "I mean, he's got to realise that's his best bet, if he wants to keep breathing."
"He'll do it," Beth replied, watching through binoculars. "He has to."
"You mean 'cause he loves that family?" Sam asked.
"Yep," I replied. Was he really this oblivious?
"I'd double-cross us," he said after a moment and I shared an amused look with Beth.
"Thanks Dexter," I replied. "That's reassuring."
Psychopathic brother indeed.
"Just making conversation," Sam shrugged as a black SUV drove up toward the factory.
"Here we go," Beth announced, and Sam jumped to his feet, grabbing his own binoculars.
I watched three men climb out of the car, all looking like they belonged to the mob. Behind Lucky, the roller door opened and three men came out. I didn't like it, we were sorely outnumbered if this went south.
"That big guy, the driver - that's the guy Lucky met in the park," Sam said. I looked through my scope and saw a heavy set, had dark haired, bearded bear of a man, he gave off a confident vibe, definitely bodyguard, second in command, maybe both. He opened the door behind him and a shorter, bald man climbed out of the vehicle wearing a light-coloured suit.
"And there's El Jefe," I commented as they all walked toward Lucky.
"Take him out," Sam said.
"It's not clean," I cursed, taking a breath and letting it out as I sighted the leader and followed along with them. "We got one shot at this - literally."
The leader stopped in front of Lucky, words were exchanged and I watched him nod toward one of the men, then the door to the rear passenger side of the SUV opened and we watched helplessly as a man dragged Mandy and her son out of the car, the woman clutched the boy in her arms and looked terrified.
"Oh god," Beth breathed next to me, and I swallowed.
"Take the shot," Sam said again as they dragged Mandy over to where the pack leader was standing, Lucky's eyes were wide with terror.
"I'm trying!" I said. "She's in the way."
"Take it anyway!"
"Sam!" Beth snapped at our brother. I pulled away from the rifle to glare at him, then re-sighted the leader, frowning in concentration. It was too late, I could tell that without even trying, the bald man had moved to wrap an arm around Lucky, and was leading him into the interior of the building via the roller door. Lucky threw a worried glance behind him at Mandy and the boy, and then he was gone.
"Come on, come on, come on," I muttered, trying to get the shot, but failing. "Ah!"
I lowered the rifle as everyone was ushered into the building and someone lowered the door.
"Damn!"
"So, plan B?" Sam asked, completely calm.
"We've got one?" I questioned, raising an eyebrow at him.
"We better come up with one quickly if we don't," Beth said, standing up and sighing.
Plan B was crazy, but it was all we had.
We'd moved quickly into the building through a rear door. I wound my way to the upper level and positioned myself with the rifle overlooking the interior of what appeared to be an old garage.
Down below I could see Mandy and the kid flanked by a couple of men, and the big guy was talking to Lucky. I couldn't get a clear shot on the leader, so I prepared to back up Sam and Beth when they acted.
After a few exchanges, I saw the big guy pause and sniff the air.
"What is that?" He asked the others who all started to look around.
That was their queue - Sam entered first from the left hand side, walking out from behind some plastic partitioning, his gun in the air. Beth followed from the other side of the room, entering via a side door.
Sam didn't hesitate, raising his gun and shooting the leader in the head with a silver bullet. He fell to the ground, dead.
Mandy screamed, and everyone went into motion. I shot the two guys who were flanking Mandy, and Beth ran across the pavement, shooting yet another skinwalker before grabbing the woman and child, pulling her behind a metal crate. I checked to make sure they were in the clear, then tried to catch a few more of the gang, but they were fast - already moving for cover.
Sam stalked them calmly with long, confident strides, while Beth encouraged Mandy to stand up and move once the coast was clear. She was struggling, holding on to her kid for dear life. Lucky rounded the crate and was gesturing for them to follow him, and after a moment of hesitation where I saw Beth nod and push the family toward Lucky, they started to move toward an office.
Lucky forced the door open and Beth pushed Mandy and the kid into the room while I heard Lucky yell at them to bolt the door. With the family secure, I saw Beth turn to hunt down any stragglers.
I had to watch for the others. Sam moved with ease through the room, gun drawn, and Beth took position behind the same crate she'd been at before, and waited.
It was then that I heard the growl to my right, turning my head to see a wolf.
Damn!
I swung the gun, but the tip of it was positioned through wire and it got caught. I struggled to pull it out, and the wolf growled at me whilst making its run. I gave up on the rifle, and reached into my waistband, pointing my pistol and shooting at the creature while it was mid-air. The dog yelped and fell to the ground, now in the form of the balding muscle man that had arrived with the pack leader.
I breathed a sigh of relief and turned back to my scope, reorienting on the room below. There were so many of them that we couldn't let our guard down.
Beth had disappeared from sight during the scuffle with the wolf, and I desperately looked around for her or Sam, but saw neither.
What I did notice was Lucky standing guard by the office where he'd had Mandy lock herself, and the second in charge, who had been yelling at Lucky earlier walked up to him.
"You're protecting them?!" The guy asked. "After all I've done for you? I gave you your life back!"
I waited for a clear shot, but I didn't have it yet.
"Them?" The man asked, gesturing to Mandy through the glass window of the door. "You're nothing to them. You're a dog."
Lucky lunged at the man, punching, barely making a dent. The man wiped at his mouth, and chuckled, shaking his head.
"I - I was gonna turn them. But now I'm gonna kill 'em."
He lashed out with a punch, sending Lucky flying into the glass window of the door, cracking it. Mandy screamed.
I watched patiently as Lucky got to his feet, and then before my eyes he transformed into his German shepherd persona. Behind him Mandy looked shocked.
Lucky barked a warning at the man, and from the corner of my eye I saw Beth start to creep toward the fight.
The big fella stood up and shook his head at the dog. "You think this is gonna be a dogfight?" He asked, reaching into his jacket and pulling out a gun.
"I got a better idea," he said as he shot the dog. Lucky yelped, falling to the ground.
"Silver bullet, Lucky," the man said, moving into view as he advanced to take the kill shot.
I took my own, letting out a slow, even breath and then squeezed the trigger. My bullet found its mark, all those years of sniper practice paying off, and the man fell to the floor dead.
Beth stood up and hurried toward the office. That told me that she and Sam had taken out any remaining shifters, and I breathed a sigh of relief, pulling my rifle out of the wire and slinging it over my shoulder. I was good at what I did, but I didn't like being this far out of the fray when others were in the thick of it.
I hurried down the stairs to find Beth letting Mandy and the kid out of the office, Sam was standing over a pool of blood on the floor, but there was no Lucky, he had somehow managed to get away. I had a feeling we wouldn't ever be seeing him again and frankly I wasn't inclined to go after him.
Lucky being on the loose wasn't nearly as disturbing as the thought of more sleeper cells like the one we'd just taken out, somewhere out there, waiting to be activated.
We'd gone to the motel, packed everything up and hit the road, putting as much black top between us and that mess as possible.
A few hours later I pulled us up by a park that ran alongside a river, and sent Sam to grab food while Beth and I settled at a picnic table overlooking the water.
It was a sunny day, and the combination of light, green lush grass, and lilting wispy willows on the shore bolstered my spirits. If there was an opposite to Hell, pretty much green grass and blue water was it. It was balm for a burning soul. I slipped my arm around Beth and pulled her in close, smiling when she laid her head on my shoulder with a gentle sigh.
"How you doing?" I asked, turning to kiss the top of her head.
"Okay," Beth said. "I feel sorry for Mandy, she's had her whole life turned upside down."
"Yeah, it's rough," I agreed.
A woman jogged past us with a dog on a leash and I watched them curiously, sighing after a moment.
"You okay?" Beth asked, lifting her head to look at me.
"Yeah, but I'll never look at a dog the same," I said, glancing back at the woman as she and the dog disappeared from view.
"Yeah I know," she commented thoughtfully. "Makes you wonder…"
"How many packs are out there? What if they're just waiting for the signal?" I finished that thought, and she nodded quietly. I felt a shiver go down my spine, and then tried to push it out of my mind. Dad had always taught us, we can only work with what was in front of us, no point in worrying about what was out of our control. Didn't help me feel any better right at this moment.
"Well, there is one thing in front of us that we can deal with," Beth said as if she was reading my mind.
"Sam?" I questioned, and she looked past me and nodded, her eyes settling on who I could only assume was our brother returning with lunch.
"Damned if I know what to do about him either," I admitted softly and she smiled knowingly.
"One step at a time," she said, kissing me on the cheek as Sam reached us, dropping three bags with burgers and fries on the table, followed by a tray of sodas.
He took a seat opposite us, blocking our view of the river, and reached into his bag, starting to pull out a sandwich.
"So… I was thinking," Sam said after a moment. "You were right."
"About?"
"I'm not your brother," he replied. "I'm not Sam."
I exchanged a look with Beth and frowned at him, taking a sip of soda from my cup.
"Okay?"
"Um, all that 'blah, blah, blah' about being the old me?" Sam said, taking a bite and chewing thoughtfully. "Crap."
Beth tilted her head at him, listening intently. I took a bite from my own burger, frowning.
"Like Lisa, Ben and Sophia, right?" Sam asked, looking first at me, then Beth. "I've been acting like I care about them. But I don't. I couldn't care less." He shrugged matter-of-factly at us and then took another bite of his food while Beth stared open-mouthed at him.
"Is this… is this supposed to make us feel better?" I asked, confused.
Sam shrugged again and took a long sip of his drink. I resisted the urge to reach out and smack him upside the head, instead I slipped a hand under the table, finding Beth's and lacing my fingers through hers, squeezing. She responded in kind, and I waited to see if Sam had anything more to add to this little declaration.
"You wanted the real me," Sam said. "This is it. I don't care about them. I don't even really care about either of you. Except that… I need your help. And you're clearly not gonna stick around much longer unless I give it to you straight, so…" He took a deep breath and looked me dead in the eye.
"I've done a lot worse than you know. I've killed innocent people in the line of duty. But I'm pretty sure it's not something the old me could've done... and maybe I should feel guilty. But I don't."
I was so glad I was holding on to Beth, she held me together while I felt like my inner world was shattering.
"Sam, get to the punch line," I managed to get out through clenched teeth. Sam frowned, putting down his food and threw his hands up in the air.
"Look, I don't know if how I am is better or worse. It's different. You get the job done, and nothing really hurts… it's not the worse thing. But, I've been thinking, I was that other Sam for a long time. And it was… it was kinda harder, but there are also things about it…I remember… that I… let's just say I think I should probably go back to being him."
"Oh Sammy…" Beth said next to me. Her voice sounded broken, and the way he was looking at her was without any feeling or emotion; he simply didn't care that he was currently breaking her heart.
I nodded, thinking through what he'd said.
"That's very interesting…" I said, looking down at the table. "It's a step."
"So?"
I glanced at Beth and she nodded almost imperceptibly, I didn't really have to look at her to know what she was thinking.
"We do what we got to do," I said after a few seconds. "And we get our brother back."
AUTHOR'S NOTES
The song for this chapter is: Battle Scars by Paradise Fears
Hope you enjoyed this little insight into Dean's thoughts and fears as he works through what's going on with Sam! One of my favourite episodes coming up next, I need to get my head around how Beth shows up in this storyline, it'll be fun, I'm sure!