Being dragged out of bed and forced to function before seven in the morning should be considered cruel and unusual punishment. It certainly feels like it as Elizabeth climbs out of the Impala, wishing she could just curl up in the backseat and ignore the reason why Sam had demanded they revisit the crime scene again.
"Why are we here so early," Dean asks, nursing a cup of coffee.
"Clues," Sam answers. "The tape shows the killer coming in, but not coming out. Maybe we can find a trail to follow." Dean sits on the hood of the car while Sam looks around and Elizabeth steals a drink of Dean's coffee, keeping close to him for the warmth.
"But did it have to be at the ass crack of dawn?"
"It's seriously too early for this Scooby-Doo shit," Elizabeth agrees, handing the Styrofoam cup back to her friend. "I'm fairly certain not even Agent Smith drags his glitchy ass out of bed at five thirty."
"Maybe you two will actually sleep tonight instead of fooling around," Sam snaps back, lip curled in distaste.
"I was too exhausted to do much of anything last night, so there." Elizabeth sticks her tongue out at him, barely managing a smile when he winks. Even with all the build-up and lingering touches Dean had teased her with last night, she'd crashed hard the second her head hit the pillow. Fortunately for her Dean was okay with only cuddling for the night.
"Anyway, my thinking is that the police won't be following any trails out this way because they think they've already got their man." She closes her eyes and rests her head against Dean's arm, the pale sunlight doing nothing for her throbbing head. "We got blood."
"Well, at least it ain't cows." Dean snorts and nudges her so that she straightens up again, watching as he stands to look around the pavement near the car.
"We don't have anything over here, so maybe that's the end of it," he says, voice still rough from sleep. A high siren starts somewhere behind them, the group turning in time to see an ambulance turn the corner and speed towards a house further down the street. "Well, that doesn't bode well for anyone. Wanna check it out?"
"Might as well. It's not as if Sam will actually let us go back to the house to get some sleep."
"You know you love me, Liza," Sam says, full of confidence. It's a damn good thing she does love Sam or he would have gotten beat over the head with a pillow for waking her up this morning. She'd nearly done it on autopilot but had caught herself when she'd spotted him.
"This early in the morning, that's debatable." Elizabeth still manages a smile for him, pushing herself away from the warm metal of the car. "Come on, follow the sounds of shocked friends and neighbors." By the time they make it to the house cordoned off by the familiar yellow tape, a small crowd of people have gathered out on the street to watch as a pretty woman is rolled out, unconscious, on a stretcher and into the ambulance.
"What happened?"
"The guy tried to kill his wife," a woman next to them answers," tied her up and beat her. He used to wave at me when I jogged past every morning. He seemed so nice." They stay there until the police drive off with an Asian man in the backseat, Sam and Elizabeth heading to the alley that ran behind the houses on this street while Dean stays behind to chat with a few people.
"See anything over there?"
"Not yet," Elizabeth replies, studying the dark pavement for any blood that might have been left behind. "Although, I'm not entirely sure what exactly an evil Doppelganger might leave behind."
"I'll look them up in Dad's journal when we get back to Becky's house."
"Speaking of Becky, she's pretty cute." She waggles her brows and Sam scoffs as he allows the lid of a trashcan to fall shut again. "If her brother wasn't just accused of murder, then you could probably get some."
"Little sisters are off limits, Liza."
"Oh please, that's not a thing." She pauses, studying him for a minute while he's distracted by the second trashcan. "Are you doin' okay? I mean, with everything going on and all." He shrugs and closes the lid again, turning to face her with his hands buried in the pockets of his dark brown jacket.
"I'll be fine."
"That's not what I'm asking and you know it." He's saved from having to answer as Dean joins them, not looking too happy about something. "What's up?"
"Sammy was right, this is our thing. I just had a little chat with the patrolman that was first on the scene and he said that Alex was apparently driving home from a business trip when his wife was attacked."
"He was in two places at once," Sam says with a small smile. It's good news for them since it means that Zach is innocent, but it's also bad news for bored housewives since the thing is targeting them.
"That's right, and here's the kicker. The dude saw himself in the house. He told that to the cops and now he gets a free stay in the looney bin for the night."
"Two dark doubles attacking loved ones in the exact same way."
"It might even be the same monster doin' it. Every culture in the world has some lore on Shapeshifters, so we might as well look into it. The way I see it, we got two attacks within blocks of each other and probably a Shifter with mommy issues that he's taking out on unsuspecting women who are home alone."
"Can any of them fly?"
"Not unless they turned into a friggin' bird. Why do you ask?"
"'Cause look at that." Dean and Elizabeth follow Sammy's gaze, spotting thin drops of blood splattered across the dark road and disappearing suddenly. It's hard to spot, but the increasing sunlight catches the drops of red.
"Maybe it didn't fly," Elizabeth says, pointing at the manhole cover near Sam's foot. "Maybe it went to ground in a more literal sense than usual."
"Aw man, why couldn't he just be bird," Dean complains, making a face at the stench leaking out past the metal grate. "Alright, let's get this over with." Elizabeth makes sure her pistol is still tucked into the back waistband of her jeans before following the guys down below. The tunnels are dark and disgusting down here, grime, water, and who-knows-what covering the floor and walls. She sticks close to Dean once she gets down the ladder, pinching her nostrils shut to block out the worst of the stench.
"I bet the Shifter's using the tunnels to get around," Sam says, trailing behind a couple of feet as he looks around. Dean and Elizabeth come to a stop not far from the ladder, staring down at a weird puddle of goo part of the way down the right tunnel.
"You're probably right, I mean, look at this." Dean kneels down and takes out his pocket knife, using it to poke and prod at the slime. "Is that a fucking ear?"
"Looks like it."
"That's just all kinds of wrong," Elizabeth grumbles, shaking her head. "Do y'all think he consumes parts of his victims?" The boys share a look and then glance her way, both arching a brow at the same time. It's like they're the Wonder Twins sometimes. "Why else would there be a body part in… In its…" She gestures towards the mess, nose crinkling in distaste. She doesn't want to know which end it came out of and she doesn't really want to think about it either.
"I'm just spit-balling here," Dean starts," but what if they shed like some kind of snake when they change into a new person? Sure, it's not as sick as Liza's Hannibal theory, but it's plausible. Right?"
"Makes my stomach a little less queasy at any rate." Dean stands, wiping the edge of his pocket knife off on his jeans before closing it and slipping it back into his pocket. "Can we go get coffee now? I'm still not awake enough to deal with monsters. If it shows up, I'd probably just shoot it in the face and hope it works."
"Not a bad plan. Come on." They follow Dean back to the ladder, the metal rungs slippery under Elizabeth's hands as she carefully climbs up it and out of the manhole. Since Dean is the first one out, he's also the first one to reach the Impala, opening the trunk and using a sawed-off shotgun to prop up the fake bottom. What he revealed is a small arsenal that would probably make John Wayne proud.
"What do you have in mind," Sam asks as he joins them, peering down at the weapons with a vague interest. He's handled all of them at one point or another, so it's nothing new to him.
"One thing I learned from Dad was that a silver bullet to the heart will kill just about everything." Sam's cell rings and he walks off to talk while Dean and Elizabeth ready their guns, exchanging their magazines for the ones with silver bullets in them. This is something she's gotten used to over the years, the feeling of cold metal and a leather grip comforting. Uncle Bobby has had her handling guns since she was five, whether teaching her the finer points of keeping it clean or actually shooting. John added to the education after a while, taking her and the boys out to shoot at empty cans or even car doors. "You and that Walther."
"I want it to be buried with my ashes," she remarks with a smile. "It may be a little on the small side, but it packs a punch." He scoffs, shaking his head as she takes up a knife and clips it to the belt of her worn jeans. "Who do you think Sammy's talkin' to?"
"I'll give you three guesses, but the first two don't count." They share a look, taking in the sour apple expression Sam's sporting and the way he keeps tugging at his hair every time he's cut off by the person on the other side of the conversation. "Becky's probably riding his ass about something. That right there's a prime example of why we shouldn't make friends outside of other hunters."
"If your dad thought that way, then we might not have ever met." She looks up at him, hands in the pockets of her jacket. He meets her gaze, green eyes intense and lips pressed into a firm line.
"Nah, we'd have ended up together. Some people, the ones that really belong together, always find each other."
"Maybe in fairy tales." He doesn't roll his eyes like Elizabeth is expecting or make some kind of quip, just reaches out to brush some loose hair behind her ear. He's in serious mode, calloused fingers gentle as they run from her ear and down along her jaw until they're settled under her chin.
"Could you two maybe stop groping each other for a minute," Sam grouses, coming back over with his phone in his pocket. "We got problems."
"Becky-shaped problems?"
"Yeah, she found out Dean wasn't actually a cop and flipped out."
"I hate to say it, but that's exactly what I was talking about," Dean tells him softly yet firmly. "You lie to your friends because if they knew who you really were they'd probably freak out and check you into a psyche ward." Elizabeth pulls Sam in for a hug, resting her cheek against his broad chest since there isn't a chance in hell for her to reach his shoulder.
"What's your input in this, Liza?"
"The same as Dean's except I'm a lot saltier about it." She pulls back and shrugs when his gaze lands on her. "I mean, I wish we could all just hold hands and skip into the sunset, but things don't work out that well with hunters, let alone normal people." Sam gives her a look, cutting his gaze to Dean before it rests on her again. "What?"
"You were our friend before any of us had any idea about hunting."
"Well, you two jackasses make that difficult in all aspects, especially you with those eyes hardly anyone can say no to." This gets the smile she's looking for, Sam taking the pistol Dean offers to him. "Now, what say you to kicking some Shapeshifter ass?"
"As long as you promise not to quote Aramis, I'm in."
"Oh, look, he's a feisty little fellow." She grins and turns on her heel, making for the entrance to the sewers again.
"That was the other one, wasn't it?"
"Porthos," Dean confirms and she can hear the grin in his voice. "You gotta admit it, she knows her movie trivia."
"Coming, slow pokes," she calls over her shoulder, waiting for them to join her again before talking. "You know what will really cheer you up, Sam? Watching goofy movies until the wee hours of the morning."
"You just want an excuse to re-watch The Three Musketeers."
"Damn straight." The boys share another look, Dean nodding Elizabeth's way and Sam eventually giving a slight shrug. The way they can communicate so well with only a few gestures is amazing, like they have their own wavelength that no one else can access.
"We'll think about it. In the meantime, take a flashlight and get to climbin'." She takes the proffered flashlight from Dean with a smile, stuffing it in her jacket pocket before starting back down the ladder.
"Oh shit, the smell's even worse the second time!" Elizabeth moves as fast as she can to the stone ledge below, wincing as liquid begins seeping further into the material of her shoes. I'll have to throw them out after this 'cause they'll never be clean. It's a depressing thought since they've lasted so long.
She pulls the flashlight out and turns it on, waiting on the guys before starting down one of the tunnels. The light reflects off the water and sludge, rats scattering every now and then, the sounds of claws echoing unnervingly. Frowning, she keeps her grip on the flashlight tight as they keep going forward. The bad part of the tunnels is that they're narrow and the trio don't have the greatest chance of winning if they're attacked.
"We're close to its lair," Dean says. Elizabeth follows his gaze and sees the same ooze from before on a pipe next to Sam's head.
"How do you know," Sam asks, oblivious.
"Simon says, turn your head to the right," she says, biting back a laugh when his face contorts into an expression of disgust. "God, I'm pretty sure Pennywise would have a field day in all this mess." There are a pair of jeans and tan work boots heaped in a pile a few feet away, both covered in the pink ooze. "Am I the only one wondering if our villain of the week is actually Vigo the Carpathian?"
"That…. Actually makes a weird amount of sense. Pink goo, a trip through the sewers, all we're missing are some jumpsuits and Lady Liberty." Sam sighs as he looks over at the other two, his hazel eyes going wide with shock and a bit of fear a moment later. "Guys!" Dean and Elizabeth turn to find the Asian man from the crime scene standing just behind them, Alex's brown eyes flashing silver in the yellow beam of the flashlight. The shock makes the hunters falter and that leads to the Shifter backhanding Dean hard enough to send him sideways against a row of metal pipes and to the ground before it tucks tail and runs down the tunnel. Sam manages to fire off a couple of shots before Elizabeth can grab at his wrist.
"Are you fucking stupid? Those things will ricochet all over the place down here!"
"Stop arguing and go get the son of a bitch," Dean growls, gesturing in the direction the Shifter had taken. Elizabeth makes sure she has her knife in hand before beginning to sprint, suddenly glad for her uncle's paranoia and the silver flecks embedded in the blade. If nothing else, she can at least seriously wound this fucker.
"He's goin' through that manhole up ahead!" Sam's long legs work in his favor where covering distance is concerned, but it doesn't change the fact that the Shifter is nowhere to be seen when they make it up a slick ladder and out into a small park. Elizabeth growls in frustration, teeth clenched together to keep from shouting out obscenities in case there's a kid around. The last thing I need is to be bitched out by a soccer mom right now.
Dean lets out a pained grunt, hauling himself above ground, favoring his left shoulder. When he notices where they are, he stows his gun away as Sam had, nodding towards the knife Elizabeth still holds. Frowning, she replaces the knife in its sheath at her belt so that they stand a chance of not sticking out more than necessary.
"You good," she asks, only just stopping herself from squeezing his shoulder.
"I think I'll make it," he returns with a nod. "We're gonna have to split up if we stand a chance of catching him. We all meet up back at the car, deal?"
"Yeah."
"Sounds good," Sam says, already heading off in one direction. Elizabeth goes to walk along the path towards the left when Dean grasps her wrist and stops her.
"What?"
"Be careful out there," Dean says, voice low to keep from being overheard by anyone passing by. "He's strong as all fuck."
"Aw, you're worried about me."
"More like I'm worried about what your uncle would do to me if he finds out I let you get killed on a job." He runs a hand over his face, looking older than his twenty-six years. Elizabeth wriggles her arm out of his hold and presses her palms against his stubble-covered cheeks, making him look at her before pressing a chaste kiss to his lips. "Well, now you're just teasing me."
"Mm, consider it an incentive to meet me back at the Impala, handsome." With one last kiss, she pulls back and starts down the path away from him. His protective nature is endearing, something you don't get to see much of in people who've been doing this since infancy like he has. Dean's special, she's always thought so, and he'll even believe it himself one of these days. "You're getting sentimental, Mayson," she grumbles to herself, shaking her head.
She makes her way past an old movie theater, scanning the crowd pouring out for the familiar silver eyes. It might have changed forms again, but those eyes are unmistakable and will stand out in the marquee lights above. When she doesn't spot him, she keeps walking in a slow, curving path that eventually leads back to the alley where the car is waiting. It takes ten minutes before she meets back up with the boys, finding them waiting at a street corner for a red light.
"I take it y'all were as lucky as me."
"Looks like it," Sam confirms. "It's like the guy just disappeared or something."
"Let's go get some rest and we'll figure all of this out in the morning," Dean instructs, waving his arms in a move along gesture. Elizabeth loops her arm through Sam's, taking comfort in the warmth he provides as they start across the street. He's warm and his cologne mostly covers the sewer stench, and Elizabeth can already feel the tension in her shoulders beginning to ease.
As they approach the car, Elizabeth notices Dean is no longer favoring his sore shoulder. In fact, he's walking as though he was never hurt to begin with. Dean doesn't make too big of a deal about being hurt, but he usually tries to milk a little attention when he knows Elizabeth can fix him up.
"Think he found another way underground," Sam asks, looking over his shoulder at the others.
"Most likely," Dean nods. "You got the keys?" Sam pauses, leaving the car keys in his pocket and turning to face Dean and Elizabeth with an inquisitive look.
"Dad faced a Shifter in San Antonio, didn't he?" Elizabeth's eyebrows knit together in confusion. Sam basically has all the cases he's been on memorized and the fact that he's asking Dean about it is weird. When Sam's gaze drops to her, she shrugs and turns to look up at Dean as he provides an answer.
"No, it was a thought form in Austin."
"Yeah, that's right. God, I must have talked about it to Liza for hours afterwards since it was one of my first cases." Sam smiles and tosses Dean the keys, watching as the elder Winchester opens the trunk to root through the arsenal.
Elizabeth catches Sam's eyes again while Dean's distracted, fingers touching the grip of her pistol as she slowly begins to understand the question. Dean can barely remember what he had for breakfast this morning, but to remember a case he wasn't even a part of? Nah, something's wrong here. Elizabeth slides her gun out and aims it at the back of Dean's head in unison with Sam.
"Don't move," Sam shouts. "Where is he?" Dean straightens up, holding up a hand in a gesture to show he means no harm. "What did you do to my brother?"
"Chill out," Dean says. "It's me and you know it." He sends a quick glance Elizabeth's way, a pleading light in his eyes, the same eyes she's grown so familiar with over the years. Hell, she's known them both since she was a kid. "You're about to shoot your brother. Liza, tell him to calm down."
"When we left, your shoulder was hurt."
"Yeah, what, am I supposed to cry over some stupid injury?" Sam doesn't waver and Elizabeth moves in closer, feeling unsure if she and Sam are just being paranoid. Dean's jaw clenches as he takes a step towards them, arms outstretched. "If you're both so sure, then why not shoot me?" Elizabeth wavers slightly, gun lowering an inch.
"Sam," she starts, cutting her gaze towards her best friend. What if he's wrong about all of this? If this is actually Dean and they shoot him, then there's no bringing him back or quelling the guilt.
Just as she's lowering her gun, Dean knocks Sam unconscious with a few quick swipes of a tire iron. He turns on his heel and tackles Elizabeth to the ground before she can get her gun back up. The Shifter straddles her stomach with one hand wrapped up in her hair and the other hand knocking her pistol away, metal skittering across hard asphalt.
"You should've taken that shot, sweetheart."