DISCLAIMER: I only own my character! Anything you might recognize is courtesy of the CW.
WARNING: Some of these episodes/chapters may contain graphic violence, cursing, mentions of suicide or assault and other triggering aspects. Proceed with caution please.
Episode Summary:
Angel, Sam and Dean discover that Jack Montgomery, a family man, is turning into a Rugaru, a creature that starts as a human but changes into a flesh-eating monster. The people who are infected don't understand what is happening until they turn into cannibals and eat another person. Understanding what it is like to be a victim of a twisted destiny, Sam believes he can reason with Jack and convince him to control his urges.
At an abandoned warehouse…
A man, possessed by a demon, sat tied to a chair in the center of a Devil's Trap. Sam stood in front of him, heading the interrogation as Ruby stood nearby.
"Where's Lilith?"
The demon growled as his eyes turned black, "Kiss my ass."
Sam grinned humorlessly, "I'd watch myself if i were you."
"Why? Huh? Because you're Sam Winchester, Mr. Big Hero? And yet here you are, slutting around with some demon. Real hero."
"Shut your mouth."
"Tell me about those months without your sister. About all the things you and this demon bitch do in the dark." Ruby looked over at Sam who was fuming at the demon's words, "Huh? Tell me, hero."
Sam, unable to control his anger, began to force the demon out of the man with his mind. Soon the demon smoke burned through the floor and the man the demon was possessing fell unconscious. Sam took a deep steadying breath as he tried to get himself under control. Ruby smiled as she looked down on the floor where the demon smoke left scorch marks. Her eyes met Sams, who was also smirking. Sam touched the guy's neck to check if he had a pulse and let out a breath when he did.
"How'd it feel?"
"Good." Sam smiled at her as he began to unty the man, "No more headaches."
"None? That's good."
"Hey, hey. I got you." Sam patted the man on the shoulder as he began groaning, "It's alright."
He helped the man out of his chair and began walking him towards the door when it swung open. Angel walked in first, followed by Dean, both looking livid and unbelievably pissed at their little brother.
"So…" Angel scoffed as she and Dean scowled in disbelief at Sam, "Anything you wanna tell us, Sam?"
Sam's eyes widened as he tried to look between them innocently. Ruby stood silently behind him, carefully watching the two eldest Winchesters.
"Guys, hold on, okay?" Sam hurriedly spoke as they walked closer towards him, "Just let me-"
"You gonna say, 'let me explain'?" Dean interrupted, his voice dangerously calm, "You're gonna explain this? How about this? Why don't you start with who she is, and what the hell she's doing here?
Sam turned back and looked at Ruby who also looked completely calm. The demon even smiled as she met Angel's eyes and answered Dean's question herself.
"Glad you're back, Angel. It's good to see you again." Her eyes fall beside the blonde, "And you too, Dean."
Dean scoffed, shock filling his features, "Ruby?"
"Sam, that's not Ruby." Angel glared from Ruby's smiling face to pierce her youngest brothers eyes, "Tell me thats not Ruby."
At his lack of response Angels glare pierced Ruby again. She was seething, quickly losing her resolve, and Ruby could tell. Her smile faded as the tense, heavy silence stretched on between what seemed like just the two women. Angel's temper boiled dangerously as she felt like things were crumbling down around her. She sold her soul, went to Hell, to save her brothers. Now she was back, plucked from the Pit by an Angel of the Lord, to catch her baby brother strengthening his demon-given psychic abilities with his demonic partner-in-crime Ruby.
Without warning, Angel went into attack mode. She grabbed ahold of Ruby and shoved her angrily up against the wall. Pulling out the demon knife she was just about to strike and end everything when Sam quickly pulled her off from behind.
"Angel!" He caged her arms tightly, not allowing room for escape, "Don't!"
"Get off me, Sam!"
When Sam yanked the knife out of her hand Dean attacked him, throwing him up against the wall. Quickly, Ruby pinned Dean up on the wall to stop him from punching Sam. Angel went to attack a second time but Sam grabbed her up again and restrained her, grunting as she tried to fight him off.
"Ruby! Stop it!" Sam demanded, "Everybody calm down!"
Ruby angrily stared into Dean's eyes as she kept a firm chokehold on him and he stared right back, just as angry. Finally she let go, letting him rise up to his full height. Dean glared from Sam, who still had a strong hold over Angel, and then back to Ruby in disbelief.
"Well, aren't you an obedient little bitch?"
Ruby made a move to attack him again but was stopped by Sam's voice, "Ruby." She glared at Dean for a few moments before looking over, "Ruby, he's hurt." He motioned to the man who was possessed earlier, "Go."
She gave Dean and Angel one more sneer before turning and walking over to the man. She put the man's arm over her shoulder, and started heading out.
Angel struggled harder in Sam's grasp, "Where the hell do you think you're going?"
"The E.R." Ruby stopped and turned, "Unless either of you want me to let him die so we can go another round."
They both stayed silent as she walked out with the man. Dean turned to look at Sam who slowly let go of their sister. Swinging around, Angel pushed him back roughly, betrayal clear as day on her face, before she turned to storm off.
"Angel…" When Sam turned his defeated look to Dean, he shook his head and followed her out, "Dean!"
Back at the motel…
Sam sat at the small motel table, reading a book as the impala pulled up outside. Hushed and hurried voices could be heard outside of the room before Dean and Angel entered a few moments later. Angel leaned on the door, arms crossed, as Dean made a beeline for his bag to pack. Sam got up as soon as they entered and looked between them with confused eyes. He frowned as he watched Dean hurriedly fill his duffle.
"Dean, what are you doing?" Dean ignored him, so Sam looked between the two of them slowly, "What, are you, are you guys leaving?"
"Yeah, Sam, we are." Angel barked, "It's obvious you don't need either one of us anymore. You have Ruby. Go fight demons and monsters with that bitch."
"Hold on." Sam immediately ran over and slammed the door shut so they couldn't leave, "Come on, guys."
Whipping around, Angel slapped him in the face with every inch of muscle she could muster up. Both brothers were equally shocked at her outburst. Angel had the Winchester temper for sure, and she was quick to lose it if pushed too far. That being said she was never overly violent with either of her brothers. Her patience and resolve was completely dissolved upon their discovery.
Sam's face whipped to the side and he clenched his jaw before turning back to look at her, "You satisfied?" Quickly she reared back and punched him directly in his mouth without any other warning making him stumble back a little and touch his now bloodied lip, "Guess not."
Angel once again rushed forward trying to nail him again but was intercepted by Dean. He grabbed her arms to separate her to her own corner of the room before rearing back on Sam, barely able to contain his own anger and betrayal.
"Do you even know how far off the reservation you've gone? How far from normal? From human?"
Sam's voice dropped, begging both of them to understand, "I'm just exorcising demons."
"With your mind, you idiot!" Angel screamed back before collecting herself and forcing her voice to a calm volume, "I mean for christ sake, what else are you hiding? Hm? What else can you do?"
"I can send them back to hell." He hurriedly explained, "It only works with demons, and that's it."
Dean grabbed a hold of him roughly, "What else can you do?!"
Sam pushed his hands away, "I told you!"
"And we're just supposed to believe that?" Angel asked from behind them, "Because you've been so honest thus far."
"Look, I should have said something to you guys." Dean grabbed his newly packed bag before trying to walk out again but Sam intercepted, "I'm sorry. I am, but try to see the other side here."
"The other side?" Ange scoffed in disbelief as she whirled back around, "There is no other side, Sam!"
"I'm pulling demons out of innocent people."
Dean shook his head, "Use the knife!"
"The knife kills the victim! What I do, most of them survive!" Sam yelled back, "Look, I've saved more people in the last five months than we save in a year."
"Sam, do you hear yourself? Ruby's got you so wrapped around her finger you cant even see straight! She's playing you! Making you think using this crap is for the greater good." Sam shook his head at her in sadness, "This is a slippery slippery slope, Sam. One that gets darker and darker the more you're on it."
His eyes plead with her, "I'm not gonna let it go too far."
Angel scoffed as she ran her hands through her hair in desperation and stress. Dean angrily walked over to the wall and hit the lamp on the side table, making it crash and fly.
"It's already gone too far, Sam! If I didn't know you… I would wanna hunt you." Hurt flashed across Sam's face as he looked down, "And so would other hunters."
"Sammy…" Angel's voice broke as she studied her little brother, "This… this isn't okay no matter how many people you think you're saving. This isn't right."
"You were gone." Sam looked up at her, tears filling his own eyes breaking her heart even more, "We were here. I had to keep on fighting the best that i could… and what I'm doing… It works."
"Well…" Dean shook his head, "If it's so terrific… then why'd you lie to us about it?"
Angel immediately met his eyes when he tried to look away at that, "Why did an angel tell me to stop you?"
Sam looked up at her in surprise, "What?"
"Cas said that if we don't stop you, he will. Don't you get it, Sam? That means that God doesn't want you doing this." Tears fell down her cheeks as she pleaded to him, "So are you gonna sit here and tell me that everyhtings good after hearing that?"
With tearful eyes, the three of them exchanged pained emotion filled stares with each other before Sam once again looked away and down at the floor. The silence between the three was broken by Sam's phone ringing. Dean flinched at the sound, and Angel hung her head in exasperation as Sam answered it.
"Hello?" He pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to collect himself, "Hey, Travis. Yeah, hey. It's good to hear your voice, too, yeah. Um, look, it's not a really good time right now. It's-" Silence stretched on as Travis cut him off, "Yeah, okay. Well, just give me the details, and…" Sam paused again, "Carthage, Missouri." Dean and Angel both watched as Sam walked over to the bedside table and wrote down the location, "Looking for Jack Montgomery."
He put down the pen and ended the phone call. Breathing deeply, he looked over at his siblings knowingly. The three of them all knew they were going to have to table this discussion for another hunt.
At the Montgomery residence…
Jack Montgomery sat at the dinner table chewing loud and fast as he stuffed his mouth. He suddenly looked over at the person next to him, pausing mid-chew. Michelle, his wife, was staring at him with wide eyes with her plate not even touched.
"Jack, are you stoned?"
"What?" He answered her with his mouth full, "It's good, I'm starving." As he started cutting up another bite, his eyes flashed back over to her questioningly, "Is there- is there dessert?"
She smiled as she got up from the table, "It just so happens."
Jack grabbed the bowl of mashed potatoes and tilted it over his plate to empty the bowl. He looked over at his wife's plate, where there's still a piece of meat left.
"Hey, babe?" She was almost out of the room when she stopped and looked back at him, "Are you gonna finish your steak?"
"You're kidding, right? You've had two already."
"I don't know, I'm just…" He put his knife in the middle of her steak and brought it over to his own plate, "Hungry."
"Or you have a tapeworm."
"Please." He rolled his eyes as he went back to eating, "I never felt better."
Later on, in the Montgomery residence bathroom…
Jack, dressed only in boxers, brushed his teeth before bed. Suddenly a crack could be heard as his knees buckled and he grunted with pain, supporting himself on the facet. After a few seconds another crunching crack could be heard and he fell lower, hanging on the facet now. His spine protruded on his back for a second as he knelt down on his knees screaming in pain. Jack panted as his spine moved beneath his skin again before it immediately stopped. He slowly rose to his feet to look at himself in the mirror, turning his back to it to see what was going on. Everything was normal, there was no sign of what just happened.
In the Impala…
The impala zoomed down the road with Dean behind the wheel, Sam sitting passenger and Angel in the backseat. Before they left, Angel told Asa that the three of them needed to handle this next case by themselves. The tension between them was thick enough to hit with a sledgehammer without adding another hunter into it. Silence stretched for a while after Dean and Angel filled Sam in on what happened when they were sent back in time.
"I can't believe it. Mom, a hunter?" He turned, "And you knew?"
"Yeah, Sam." She glared, "Looks like we're both just full of surprises, huh?"
Sam turned back around with a glare of his own as Dean cleared his throat.
"That woman could kick some ass. I mean, she almost took the both of us down."
"How'd she look? I mean… was she happy?"
"Yeah, she was awesome. Funny and smart. So hopeful." He looked over at Sam for a moment before turning back to the road, "Dad, too. Until of course…" Sam sighed and shook his head earning Dean's curiosity, "What?"
"Nothing." He looked out the window for a moment before turning back to the both of them, "It's just, our parents? And now we find out our grandparents, too? Our whole family murdered and for what? So Yellow Eyes could get in my nursery and bleed in my mouth?"
Dean and Angel both tensed at that last statement.
Angel leaned forward with narrowed eyes, "Sam… neither of us said anything about Yellow Eyes bleeding in your mouth." His face dropped in guilt and she scoffed getting angry all over again, "Just another thing you knew about and forgot to mention? But you have the nerve to get mad at me for not telling you about mom? That's rich!"
"Look i've only known about it for a year-"
"A whole year?"
"I should have told you guys. I'm sorry." His eyes flashed to Angels, "But you should've told us about mom."
"There's a big difference Sam! And saying 'I'm sorry' doesn't make up for all the lies either, just an fyi."
"No, you know what?" Dean's hands tightened around the steering wheel, "You don't want to tell us? You don't have to. It's fine."
"Guys…" Each of them completely ignored him, making him sigh and pout, "Whatever."
Back at the Montgomery residence…
"Hey, babe." Jack came down the stairs and headed straight to the kitchen as he called out to his wife, "When's dinner?"
"45 minutes."
He walked over to the fridge and opened it hurriedly, "I'm starving!"
"Jack, a delicious, non microwaved, non-takeout, homemade meal is coming."
Outside, in the Impala…
The Winchesters looked through binoculars as Jack Montgomery took out a beer from his fridge.
Dean put the binoculars down and looked to Sam, "Are you sure that's him?"
"Only Jack Montgomery in town."
"Well he looks pretty normal to me." Angel lifted her own pair of binoculars to study the man, "What the hell are we exactly looking for?"
Sam shrugged, "Travis said to keep an eye out for anything weird."
Dean frowned, "Weird?"
"Yeah."
"Alright, well, yeah… I've seen big weird, little weird, weird with crazy on top, but this guy? I mean, come on, this guy's boring."
"I dont know…" Sam shook his head as he took up a pair of his own binoculars, "Travis seemed pretty sure."
In the house Jack leaned on the kitchen island, looking thoughtful. He took another swig of his beer before opening the fridge again. Grabbing the leftover chicken, he began shoveling it into his mouth not bothering with plates or utensils. Soon he became frantic, like he's not gotten food in days. He tossed the finished chicken aside and grabbed a pack of uncooked hamburger meat. Ripping it open he started shoveling that in his mouth next, throwing looks over his shoulder all the while. Blood was smeared on his face and his shirt as his craze escalated.
"Uh, okay…" The Winchesters all wore matching disgusted looks on their faces at this as Angel spoke, "I'd say that qualifies as weird."