September 2014
The boys decided that their first point of call after leaving the estate, was to visit a pawn shop, hoping to cash in the old cross for 'beer money'.
"Real classy guys." You had joked with them.
"Hey, if you want to benefit from the beer too, than you keep your opinions to yourself." Dean retorted back through the rearview mirror. Man it was good to be out of the bunker like this, travelling around with them.
Unfortunately, for Dean and Sam. The 'rocks' turned out to be fake. But the man who evaluated the cross for them, discovered it was in fact a key. And naturally, the oddity of Bobby being left a key by Bunny, meant the boys had a strong curiosity to find out what the key belonged to. So rather than heading home again, much to your happiness, the three of you returned to the estate to ask the Buttler what he knew.
When Dean pulled Baby back into the estate it was evening, and you couldn't help but notice the lights of a police car out front. And it brought back your memories of the time you yourself had had a run in with the United States police.
The three of you had been chatting away, speculating about what the key could possibly unlock, when you were pulled into a trance because of the car. And your sudden silence didn't go unnoticed by Sam or Dean. "You okay back there?" Sam's voice sounding a long way off.
"Sweetheart?" Dean repeated, turning around to look at you as he put Baby into park in the last remaining space of the small parking lot.
"Hmm...." You suddenly turned to look at the brothers staring at you. "Um... Yeah... Sorry." The car looked exactly like the one that had transported you from the hospital to the Police Station where Dean had first found you. You tried your best to stifle the memories, and put on a not so convincing smile. "Let's go?" You asked them.
"Yeah." Dean agreed. And the three of you got out of the car.
This time it was Phillip who opened the door to you, unimpressed with your return. And Sam and Dean proceeded to ask him if everything was okay. Which it wasn't.
"Uh... The three of you were here earlier?" A man in a suit approached you from down the hall.
You had been standing slightly behind the boys, when Dean moved back closer towards you and grabbed your hand. "Yeah. Who wants to know?" He asked.
The man in the suit reached up and moved his jacket to the side revealing a shiny police badge on his belt. You felt your breath hitch and the image of Officer tubby making a similar gesture towards you all those months ago came flooding back. "Detective Howard. New Canaan P.D... Congratulations Gentlemen, Lady..." You felt the Detective's eyes on you but you refused to look at his face. "You're now officially murder suspects."
Murder suspects... Was it sad to say you were relieved. That you were wanted for murder? At least for now, you hoped your fugitive status was unknown.
"Bunny LaCroix's brother Stanton was killed this evening. His body's just gone to the morgue..." Detective Howard answered the question none of you had asked yet.
"And you think..." Dean started. His hand still gripping yours.
"I don't know what to think. And that's why you three..." Detective Howard waved his pointed finger at each of you individually. "And anyone else who stepped foot in this house today is being detained for questioning."
Detective Howard pointed you in the direction of the room where the family were currently gathered and told the three of you to go wait in there.
Sam moved first but you couldn't find your feet. And so Dean pulled you down the hall, moving his hand from yours to wrap his arm around your shoulders. "It's alright sweetheart." Dean whispered so only you could hear. "Me and Sam are right here... And this has nothing to do with the abduction crap. Alright?"
How had Dean come to know you so well. "Alright?" You heard him seeking your confirmation. You shook your head and made a slight mmhmm sound. It was all you could muster.
As the three of you entered the room you had been told to wait in, it quickly became obvious that the family were squabbling amongst themselves. And to distract yourself from the impending questioning, where you knew you would have to be alone with Detective Hudson and away from the comfort of Sam and Dean, you tried to focus on their conversations.
Heddy was accusing Stanton's wife, Amber, of offing him. This whole situation was turning into a soap opera and you were struggling to keep up with who Amber was being accused of sleeping with. And then the word ghost was brought up and you felt Dean straighten next to you.
"She's claiming Bunny's late husband, Lance did it." Bunny stated incredulously. She being Amber. "Have you ever heard such a thing?"
Sam and Dean exchanged glances. This had definitely piqued their interest.
As the family continued to bicker near by, the boys moved to huddle together in a corner, Dean gently ushering you with him as he moved to follow Sam who spoke first. "So ah... Looks like we might have a case here.... Vengeful spirit?"
"Yeah." Dean agreed with his brother. "Think we can get to the car? Get the EMF?"
"Not with, uh. Detective friendly there." Sam looked at you out of concern as he mentioned the Detective. "Not a chance. Guess we're gunna have to go old school."
"So, we're looking for cold spots?" You asked the brothers as you began to perk yourself out of the slump you'd been in. Dean stepped back a little, his arm around you moving with him to rest his hand on your back instead. Both brothers now stared at you with impress.
"Thought we'd lost you back there." Dean begun. And then he turned to Sam. "You stay here and keep an eye on Mrs. Peacock and Colonel Mustard. Jennifer Love Hewitt here and I will sniff around."
And with that, the three of you split up. Sam staying with the family, and you on your first official ghost hunt with Dean.
"You alright?" Dean asked you as the two of you left Sam and the others to start exploring the large house in search of the spirit.
"Yeah... Sorry bout that... I just um, well seeing the detective, it brought back memories ya know." You managed to spit out, hoping Dean wouldn't tease or judge you about your moment of weakness.
"Yeah. I thought as much." He turned around to smile at you. There was no judgment in his eyes. "No need to apologise sweetheart. I get it... I saw what, what the guy did to you."
"I still dream about Officer tubby sometimes." You admitted, saying the nickname you'd given him out aloud for the very first time.
"Officer tubby?" Dean questioned you.
"Yeah. He looked like a Teletubby...." You explained through a giggle. "So that's what I called him... In my mind at least. Never to his face... I didn't pay attention to his real name."
Dean snorted at that. "I guess he did look like a Teletubby."
*****
"So the key, is to a hidden attic." Dean was relaying what the two of you had seen to Sam. The two of you had recently returned from your exploration of the old house. "And we found Olivia and Colette locked inside."
"Wait, Clown College Colette?" Sam asked.
"Yup." Dean continued. "Except she ain't studying balloon animals up there. She's ah..." And Dean made the pretend sound people use if they're pretending to cut a knife. "She's dead. Rolled up like a burrito..."
"So we're definitely dealing with a vengeful spirit?" Sam was working out all the new information in his head. You nodded at him.
"Are we going to go find Phillip now?" You asked Dean, having already gotten over seeing a dead body. This was playing out like a game of Cluedo for you, albeit real.
"Phillip? Why Phillip?" Sam queried.
"He's the one that rolled Colette up and locked Olivia in the attic when she saw it." Yeah, you were definitely too excited.
Dean was scowling at you but turned his attentions Sam. "We dunno why. But Alfred is covering up for our spirit. So we need to find him."
"Alright." Sam agreed. "I'll take the upstairs and you two can take down here. Yeah?" He looked over at you a little apprehensively.
Sam turned to head out of the room you had been in to head upstairs, leaving you and Dean alone once again.
"Alright Sherlock." Dean turned to you, still holding the scowl on his face. "This has gotten more serious now... It's no longer just a ghost hunt. We're dealing with a regular guy that's covering for it, and I've told you before, people can be crazy. So stick close to me 'cause I can easily lock you away somewhere till we know it's safe."
"Okay." You nodded, trying to hide the slight smile that would give away your excitement.
"You, you're enjoying this aren't you?" Dammit, he saw right through you.
"Maybe a little...." You pinched your thumb and forefinger together. "It's just cool to see you and Sam actually work a case over hearing about it when you get home... I'll behave. I promise."
"You..." Dean begun. And then he sighed. "Let's just... come on." And he moved to walk away before stopping and grabbing your arm to pull you along with him.
*****
You followed Dean around the lower level of the house, eventually finding the staff quarters and a door labelled Butler. Just outside of the door was a set of bookshelves where Dean found an old rusty wrench. And he picked it up. By the way he held it, he clearly planned to use it as a weapon
The door with the Butler plaque was slightly ajar and he pushed it open, the two of you stepping inside. He moved his arm in front of you signalling you to stop, when you heard the sound of another's footsteps.
As the two of you rounded a corner that had been obscuring your view from the rear of the room, you saw Phillip, standing at a mirror fixing his bow tie.
"Leaky faucets down the hall." Phillip addressed Dean, clear that he had seen the wrench in Dean's hand.
"Cut the crap Wadsworth. What are you doing hiding dead bodies in secret rooms?" Hearing Dean now reminded you of the day you'd first met him. Although he wasn't donning his FBI outfit, he still held that same stoic presence that had left you feeling slightly unnerved the first time you had met him.
"I know it all looks, rather odd but I can explain... I didn't want Colette's death over shadowing Mrs LaCroix's funeral so I planned to keep her hidden in the attic until after." Hearing Phillip talk about another human like that was shocking to hear. But you kept your cool the whole time, so as not to concern Dean.
You heard the buzzing of Deans phone and you watched as he pulled it out of his pocket to read a message from Sam. He immediately turned to you with a frown on his face and handed it over to you so that you could read the message too.
- Just found Phillip dead. -
Fuck. You kept that to yourself. Sam had written that Phillip was dead, but Phillip was clearly standing in front of you. How was that possible? Twins maybe, you thought to yourself. You knew it best not to converse with Dean at this new information. So you continued to stay close as he had instructed you earlier to just listen and watch what he did.
Dean cleared his throat and began to turn around to continue talking to Phillip. But as he did, Phillip grabbed Dean by the jacket and threw him across the room.
"Dean!" You screamed out, before Phillip grabbed a hold of you and threw you to the opposite side of the room, smashing you into the wall and knocking the wind out of you.
"You okay?" Dean groaned from across the other side of the room as you saw him standing up.
"Yeah... I'll be good in a sec." And you moved to sit up.
You followed Dean with your eyes as he walked back to the entrance of the room you'd walked through moments before. He was now out of your view but you could hear him pressing buttons on his phone to call or text Sam.
When you felt you were able to, you stood up and walked over to where Dean was. As you got closer to him, you heard him speak into the phone. "Sam. It's no ghost... it's a shapeshifter."
There on the floor before you was Phillip's black and white suit, with goo and blood oozing from it. You thought Colette's rolled up dead body was bad, this was way worse.
*****
"I guess we can rule out that the Butler did it." Dean not so appropriately commented. Like you, Sam was also not impressed.
You could see what Sam meant back in the hotel last night. "Welcome to my world." He had said as he patted you on the shoulder before you had shared the bed with his older brother.
Dean's wittiness usually made you laugh, even if a lot of the time it was internal, but on this occasion it hadn't. Seeing two dead bodies now, if you could count the second one as a body, was the most you'd seen in your life. Colette being the first. And it had definitely unnerved you. This night was becoming a roller coaster of emotions and you were surprised you had held it together as long as you had.
"The creep could be anybody now." Dean was now taking the situation seriously. "It can't be me or Glowworm, we can vouch for each other, but it could be you." He looked over at his brother. "It could be anybody in the house now... We need silver..."
The three of you were currently in the kitchen, where Sam had found Phillip's body. Poor Phillip was face down on the ground in front of you, with a knife sticking out of his back. Make that two dead bodies and one possible one you'd now seen in your lifetime.
You heard Dean's comment about vouching for each other and you realised, you hadn't seen him for a few seconds when he had disappeared around the corner, as you regained your footing. You didn't know how the shapeshifting worked, but you knew you couldn't vouch for him, and him for you technically. And you told them so as your confidence regained.
"Dean... We lost sight of each other back there. While I was still on the ground and you went over to the goo... Doesn't that mean it could be... Either of us too?" You rationalised.
"Is that true, Dean?" Sam asked, intrigued by your revelation.
The older Winchester was just staring at you now. And you were certain, that had you had superman like hearing, you would be able to hear the cogs ticking away in his brain as he registered that you were more attune than he realised.
"Yeah... Do you still have the pocket knife I gave you?" Dean had acknowledged Sam's question but it was short lived as his train of thought went straight to weapons.
He was referring to the small silver knife he had given you way back when he had first taken you shopping for necessities. On the second day of knowing him. At that stage in your United States journey, you were both utterly clueless that an angel had brought you here, and Dean had given you the blade to protect yourself. You were still yet to use it on anything.
While you had kept the knife, it was currently not in your possession. You kept it in the very back of the drawer of the nightstand in your room and it had stayed there since you had first moved into the bunker. Completely forgotten about until this moment. Your gun however, that you had recently acquired, again thanks to Dean, was, and you pulled it out from its concealed space, between your back and the jeans you wore.
"No... But I have this..." And you handed Dean your gun.
Dean shook his head with pride at you, a huge grin spreading across his face. Causing an instant eye roll reaction from you. "That's my girl! You listened... But I know you're not packing the silver bullets, so this things useless to us now."
His girl huh. Stop it! Stop it! Stupid brain. That's not what he meant and you know it!
He held onto your gun anyway, tucking it away in the same place on his body as you had. And that's when you realised, the bastard had made you carry that thing around everywhere, yet he and Sam currently weren't carrying themselves. Fuck you Dean!
"You... You made me carry that thing around and you don't even have your own on you?" Your line of sight was jumping between the two men.
Dean was now rummaging through the set of drawers in front of him. Not even bothering to look up at you while he spoke. "We're here for Bobby's inheritance. Don't need them to do that."
"Why didn't you tell me that?" You asked incredulously
The older Winchester tilted his head at that and you could just see the smile of his lips as he brushed you off. "Because you should have yours on you at all times. I told you that..." You huffed in frustration. "Stop messing around and help us look!"
Rolling your eyes, you set to work looking in the cabinet closest to you. The kitchen was extravagant, much larger than the small kitchenette of the bunkers mess room. It was triple, if not quadruple the size. And even then you were possibly being too modest for the current circumstances you found yourself in.
You moved across the lower cabinets of one side of the kitchen island, while Dean covered the opposite. Sam was behind you searching through the higher cabinets, not even needing to stretch thanks to his towering height.
Five, maybe ten minutes had passed when another person appeared in the doorway. "What are you doing in here?" Olivia, the maid shrieked. She had begun to move forward towards you, who was closest to her at present, when she stopped dead in her tracks.
"Oh my god!" Yup, she'd found Phillip. You sympathised with her panic, but you didn't let it show as you busied yourself with the search for silver. She's only seen the one body, you'd seen two, three. You really didn't know if the pile of goo in the Butler's quarters counted or not. You made a mental note to research all you could on shapeshifters when you got back to the bunker.
Sam and Dean had stopped briefly and looked over to her. "Hey... He was like that when we found him." Dean's hands were gesturing for her to stay calm but his rough demeanour wasn't helping him convey it.
"Who did this?" Olivia directed her question at all of you as she glanced around the room.
"We don't know yet, okay?" Sam's gentle voice was a stark contrast to Dean's. "Now, listen. Calm down... There's something way worse going on here."
"What could be worse than this?" The poor girl was hyper ventilating.
Dean's frustration levelled up and he glared at her. "You're going to find out if we don't get a move on... If you want to help us, then help. Can you do that?"
"Wh-what do you need me to do?" Olivia whispered in return.
"Silver." Sam was glaring at Dean, and stepped closer to Olivia to take over the conversation. "We need silver. Is there any cutlery or..."
"They keep the silverware in the dining room..." Olivia declared, and she crossed the kitchen to the door on the opposite side of the room, stepping over Phillip as she did so. She sure changed her tune quickly.
The three of you exchanged glances and then followed her through the door. By the time you arrived in the dining room, she had already pulled out a large flat box from atop of a beautiful old fashioned buffet table. Inside, were rows of knives, forks and spoons, all shining and silver.
Sam and Dean each reached for a knife, watching on carefully as the other did so. They were relieved. And so were you, as you realised their skin wasn't reacting to the silver, in the same way Garth and his family's necks had done to the necklaces they chose to wear.
Olivia turned to you. "Why do they need the butter knives?"
"Trust us, there's a method to the madness." Dean called out before you could respond. You just shrugged at her, your lips stretching across your chin in an 'eh, I dunno' kind of manner.
With the knife still in his hand, Dean moved over to you, holding the silver utensil out in front of him for you to touch. "Sweetheart." He watched your features carefully as you did what he had silently communicated to you. Stretching your hand out to it and touching the cold metal, you winced as you waited for a reaction that never came.
Satisfied with a nod of his head at you, Dean turned to Olivia. "Your turn. I need you to touch this as well."
You turned to observe Olivia just as Dean had done to you and you were relieved to find she too didn't react. You were all clean. No one currently in the dinning room was a shapeshifter.