Weeks later. Pittsburgh. At a motel.
I walked into Dad's motel room and put my gun on the table.
I called out "Dad!You here?"
Then i saw Dad sleeping on the sofa.
I called out amused "Dad! come on, old man, wake up"
He didn't move.
I raised an eyebrow and walked to him "dad?"
No reaction.
I shook him "Dad, wake up"
He didn't move.
My stomach dropped and i shook him harder "Dad! Daddy! wake up!"
He didn't move.
I cracked out "Dad!"
At the hospital.
I sighed and looked at dad.
Suddenly i heard the brothers rush into the room.
I looked at them.
Sam "We got here as soon as we got your text"
I cracked out "He called me saying he needed my help with a case...and i found him like that. He wouldn't wake up and-"
Then i shook my head "He isn't waking up"
Sam hugged me "hey, he's gonna be okay"
Dean looked at Dad "What did the doctors say?"
Me "He's perfectly healthy except that he's comatose. The doc said that they can't do anything because they don't know what caused his current state"
Dean looked at me.
Me "i need your help, please"
He nodded "of course we'll help you, Lena"
Back at the motel.
I opened the door and walked inside with the boys.
Sam "So, what was Bobby doing in Pittsburgh?"
Me "A case. He needed my help with a case"
Sam "did he say with what?"
Dean looked around.
I shook my head "No. nothing at all"
Dean "there's nothing here that could tell us what he was doing here "
Me "The closet. check the closet"
Sam walked to it and opened it. He shoved Dad's clothes to the side.
there were some papers sticked to the wall.
Sam "how did you--?"
Me "He raised me, Sammy"
Papers of all of the news clippings, maps and pictures he was looking for. there's pictures of roots, mushrooms, seeds and a map where dad had written "Pittsburgh" in big letters and underlined it. There's postists with adresses and numbers. There's a piece of paper about a plant.
Dean chucked "Good old Bobby, always covering up his tracks."
Sam " You make heads or tails of any of this?"
Dean took one of the papers about a plant ""Silene capensis", which of course means absolutely nothing to me. "
Sam "Here, obit. "
He took a newspaper clipping " "Dr. Walter Gregg, 64, university neurologist.""
Dean " How'd he bit it?"
Me "He went to sleep and never woke up. That sound familiar to me"
Sam "Alright, um... So let's say Bobby was looking into the doc's death. You know, hunting after something- "
Me "but tables turned and it started hunting him"
Sam nodded " Yeah. "
Dean nodded " Alright, stay here. See if you can make heads or tails of this. "
Sam "What are you gonna do?"
Me "I can't speak for Dean but i'm gonna look into the good Doctor myself"
Dean "you sure?"
I nodded "yes"
Dean nodded "I'm gonna join you"
I nodded "good.
At Dr. Gregg's office.
I looked around the office.
Books and boxes were cluttered over the room, ready to be packed up and removed.
I turned to Gregg's assistant "So you're Dr. Gregg's lab assistant?"
Sanders nodded " That's right."
Me "Well, his death must have come as a shock to you. "
Sanders nodded " Yeah, it did."
I looked around.
Sanders "But, still, go in your sleep, peaceful... That's what you wish for, right? "
I nodded "Maybe"
Then i saw a book on the desk "Dr. Gregg uh.. studied sleeping disorders?Dreams? "
Sanders shook her head confused " I don't understand. I went over all of this with the other Detective. "
I raised an eyebrow at her " You already spoke to another Detective?"
She nodded "Yes. A very nice older man with a beard."
I smiled a little " Well, I'd love to hear it again if you don't mind."
Sanders " Thing is, I'm sort of busy. Maybe we could do this later?"
I had to hold back an eyeroll " okay. Or i could Just bring you down to the station later this afternoon. Get your statement on tape, do it all official-like."
she sighed " Look, okay, I didn't know about Dr. Gregg's experiments. Not until I was cleaning out his files. "
I asked confused " His experiments, uh...? The ones he was conducting on sleeping?"
Sanders " No one knew, okay? Not the university, not anybody. I already spoke with a Lawyer and he told me I can't be held liable for anything. "
Me "Well, that was before the new evidence came to light. "
She froze " New evidence?"
I nodded "hmm. "
Sanders "What new evidence? "
I shook my head "I'm not allowed to say anything"
She sighed. She was screwed.
Sanders" Look, I'm just a grad student, this was a gig to cover tuition. "
Me " Maybe so. But, uh, still this-this... this could go on your permanent record. Unless you hand over the Doctor's research to me. "
Then i smiled "All of it, please"
Jeremy Frost's apartment.
I knocked on the door and Jeremy opened the door.
Dean and i held up our badges.
He sighed and let us in.
Jeremy " Look, I don't know what the RA said, but, ah, I was growing ferns. "
I rolled my eyes " Take it easy, Phish, that's not why we're here. "
He asked surprised "Really? "
i turned to him with the file in my hand.
He breathed out relieved "Oh, thank God. Okay. "
Me" we wanna talk to you about Dr. Gregg's sleep study. "
Jeremy nodded " Yeah. Dr. Gregg just died, right?"
Dean "You were one of his test subjects, right?
He nodded "Yeah. "
He opened the fridge and took out three beers.
He offered me one "Unless you're on duty or whatever? "
I shook my head but Dean took one.
I raised an eyebrow at him but he just shrugged at me.
Dean "I guess I can make an exception. "
They opened the bottles and held them together and them took a sip of them.
Me " Now, Dr. Gregg was testing treatments for a, uh, "Charcot-Wilbrand syndrome"? Which means...? "
Jeremy " Um.. I, uh.. I can't dream. "
I raised my eyebrows surprised.
Jeremy " I had this bike accident when I was a kid and banged my head pretty good and I haven't had a dream since. Till the study. You know. Sort of."
Me "What'd the doc give you? "
Jeremy " It's this yellow tea. It.. it smelled awful, tasted worse. "
Dean" What did it do? "
Jeremy "Just passed right out. And uh, I had the most vivid, super-intense dream. Like a bad acid trip, you know? "
I nodded "Totally. "
Jeremy "That was it. I dropped out of the stufy right after that. I didn't... like it. To tell you the truth... it kind of scared me."
I nodded.
At the hospital.
I walked into Dad's room and saw Dean sitting by the bed.
I smiled "hey"
He looked at me "hey"
Me "what are you doing here?"
He shrugged "i just...i just wanted to see him"
I nodded "where's Sammy?"
Dean " on his way with more information"
I nodded.
He nodded and stood up "here, sit"
I shook my head "no, no, please "
Sam walked inside with a file in his hand "how is he?"
Dean " No change. What you got? "
We both walked over to Sam who was standing at the end of dad's bed.
Sam "Well, considering what you told me about the doc's experiments. ..Bobby's wall is starting to make a hell of a lot more sense."
I asked confused "how so?"
Sam held up a picture of a plant from the folder " This plant, Silene capensis, is also known as African Dream Root. It's been used by shaman and medicine men for centuries."
Dean " Let me guess. They dose up, bust out didjeridus, start kicking around the hackey. "
Sam " Not quite. If you believe the legends, it's used for dream walking. I mean, entering another person's dreams, poking around in their heads. "
I nodded.
Dean " I take it we believe the legends. They share a look."
Sam " When don't we? But dreamwalking is just the tip of the iceberg. They pick up a paper from the folder that contains info on the root and a drawing of it."
Dean asked confused " What do you mean?"
Me "this shit is serious?"
Sam nodded "Yes, this Dream Root is some serious mojo. You take enough of it, with practice, you can become a regular Freddy Krueger. You can control anything. You could turn bad dreams good, you could turn good dreams bad. "
Dean " And killing people in their sleep? "
Sam nodded " For example."
Dean sighed.
Sam "So let's say uh, let's say this doc was testing this stuff on his patients, Tim Leary-style. "
Dean nodded "Somebody gets pissed at him, decides to give him a little dream visit, he goes nighty-night. "
Sam looked at Dad " What about Bobby? I mean, if the killer came after him, how come he's still alive?"
Me "Because my dad is one tough son of a bitch. He's not gonna get himself killed today, and sure as hell not in his sleep"
In the hallway.
dean "so how do we find our homicidal little sandman?"
Sam "it could be anyone"
I nodded "anyone who knew the doctor had access to his dream shrooms. Maybe one of his test subjects ?"
Dean nodded "possible, but his research is pretty sketchy. I mean, we don't know how many subjects he had r who all of them were. "
I nodded.
Sam sighed.
Dean "what?"
Sam "in any other case, We'd be calling Bobby and Lena asking them for help right now"
Me "I am here"
Sam "but dad isn't"
Dean "Let's go talk to him"
Sam and i stopped walking and turned to him.
I raised my eyebrows at him"hm?"
Sam nodded confused "sure, i think we might fund the conversation a bot one-sided. "
Dean "not of we're tripping on some dream root"
Sam asked confused "what?"
Dean nodded "you heard me"
Me "you wanna go dream-walking inside my dad's head?"
Dean nodded "yeah, why not?"
Sam "we have no idea what's crawling around in there"
Dean "how bad could it be?"
Sam "bad"
I looked at him "We're talking about my dad, Sam"
He looked at me.
Me "worse"
Dean "but it's Bobby"
Sam nodded "you'r right. One problem, though. We're fresh out of african dream root. unless you know someone who can score some. "
Dean sighed "crap"
Me "what?"
Dean "Bela?"
I asked confused "who?"
Sam "Bela? You're actually suggesting we ask her for a favor?"
Sam "i'm feeling dirty just thinking about it, but yeah"
I raised an eyebrow when Dean walked away.
At the motel.
Dean and i were sitting on the sofa while Sam was sitting on the chair with his head on the desk. He was sleeping. drooling.
I called out "Sam, Sammy"
Dean yelled "Sam, wake u!"
Sam jumped up.
Me "you were drooling"
Dean nodded "and making some serious happy noises. Who were you dreaming about?"
Sam shook his head "no one. Nothing. "
Dean "come on. You can tell me. Angelina Jolie?"
Sam shook his head "No"
Dean "Brad Pitt?"
Sam shook his head "No"
I smirked"Me?"
Dean looked at me before glaring at his brother.
Sam looked at me with wide eyes and shook his head "no?"
Dean raised an eyebrow but nodded "i called Bela"
Sm "yeah?She gonna help us?"
Dean "shockingly no, wich puts us back to square one? I've been trying to decipher the doctor's notes- Unfortunately he has worse handwriting than you do"
Dean "you gonna come help me with this stuff? Looks like Elena needs break "
I shook my head "I'm fine "
Sam nodded "yeah, give me a sec"
Suddenly there was a knock on the door.
Dean stood up and waked to the door. When he opened it his pulled a face.
Dean walked back into the room "Bela, as i live and breathe"
Bela "you called me, remember?2
Dean "i remember you turning me down"
Bela "well, I'm just full of surprises"
She looked at Sam who nodded "hey, Bela, what's going on?"
Then she looked at me "Elena, it's been a while"
I nodded "yes"
Dean looked between her and me "you know each other?"
Me "We've crossed paths in the past"
Bela nodded "i brought you your african dream root"
She handed me a can "nasty stuff. And not easy to come by"
Dean "why the sudden change of heart?"
Bela opened her coat "what, i can't do you a little favor every now and again?"
Dean shook his head "no you can't. I want to know what the strings are before you attack 'em."
Bela looked at me "He said this was for Bobby Singer, right?"
I nodded.
Bela "well, i'm doing it for him, not you"
Me "for my dad? why?"
Bela "He saved me life once...in Flagstaff. "
Dean looked atme.
Bela "i screwed up, and he saved me, okay are you satisfied. "
Dean "Maybe. "
Bela smiled "so, when do we go on this little magical mystery tour?"
Dean grabbed the can and walked to the save "oh, you're not going anywhere. I don't trust you enough to let you in my car, Much less Bobby's had. No offense. "
He put the can inside and locked the save.
Bela "None take. it's two a.m. where am i supposed to go?"
Dean "get a room. Oh, they got the magic fingers,a little "casa erotica" on pay-Per-view. You'll love it"
Bela shook her head angrily "you.."
She grabbed her stuff and left, slamming the door hut behind her.
...
I was sitting on the bed next to dean. Sam walked to us with three glasses of the root.
I grabbed my cup and sniffed it.
I grimaced "this is disgusting"
Dean nodded.
Sam pulled out a little envelope and handed us something.
Dean "what's that?"
Sam "bobby's hair"
Dean "we have to drink Bobby's hair?"
Sam "that's how you control hose dream you're entering.you got to drink some of their-uh. of their body."
Dean nodded "well, better than other parts of the body"
We put the hair in our drinks.
Dean "bottom's up"
We clinked glasses and downed the drinks.
I grimaced "feel anything?"
Sam"no"
Dean "you feel anything?"
I shoo my head "no"
Dean "maybe we got some bad schwag"
I looked out of the window "when did it start raining?""
Then I stood up and walked to the window "hold on a sec"
Dean "what is it?"
Me "Since when does it rain from the upside down?"
I turned around and was suddenly in my house with the others.
Dean "I don't know what's weirder. The fact that we're in Boy's head or that the's dreaming of better homes and gardens. "
Me "this is my house"
Dean laughed "what?"
Me "imagine the paint job off, more cluttered, dusty and books everywhere. "
Sam looked around, nodding "yeah"
I called out "dad!"
Dean yelled "bobby!"
Sam walked around "bobby?"
Then he looked at us "I'm gonna look outside"
Dean shook his head "no, no, no, stay close"
Sam "dude, i'll be bine- Just look around in here,"
Dean shook his head.
Sam "we got to find him"
I nodded "but don't do anything stupid"
Sam nodded and walked out.
I walked into the kitchen "dad!?"
Dean called out "bobby?!"
I yelled "Dad?!"
I walked around "Dad!"
Suddenly i heard "who's out there?"
I froze and turned around. There was a locked door.
Me "Dad?!"
I tried to open the door but it as locked.
Dad "kid?"
I nodded "yeah, it's me. open the door"
Dad opened the door and looked around. He was scared.
Dad "how the hell did you find me?"
Me "The brothers and i got our hands on some of that dream-root stuff. "
Dad looked around like a deer in the headlight "Dreamroot? what?"
Me "Dr. Gregg-the experiments?"
Dad looked around "what the hell are you talking about?"
Suddenly the light started to flick.
Dad tried to rush back into the closet but i grabbed his arm to stop him.
Dad "hurry up"
Me "whoa whoa, whoa. What's going on?"
Dad answered scared "she's coming?"
Me "you know that this is a dream ,right? dad, this is ere not real"
Dad asked scared "wh-what you crazy?"
Me "It's a dream, dad. none of this is real"
Dad pointed at something behind me and asked scared "does that look made up?"
I turned around and saw a woman standing there all zombie like.
Dad tried to rush back into the closet but the door locked shut.
Me "dad, is that..?"
Dad nodded "...my wife"
I looked at her shocked.
Karen "why bobby? why did yo do this to me?"
Dad "I'd have rather died myself than hurt you"
Karen "but you did hurt me. you shoved that knife into me again and again. you watched me bleed..watched me die"
I put a hand on dad's shoulder "dad, she's not real"
Karen "how could you?"
Dad "you were possessed, baby.you were rabid. and i didn't know what i know now. i didn't know ho to save you."
Karen "you're lying. You wanted me dead. if you'd love me, you would have found a way!"
Dad "I''m sorry"
I grabbed dad "come on, Dad"