A few days later. in the kitchen. Morning.
I walked into the kitchen and saw the brothers sitting there eating breakfast.
Sam saw me first and smiled "morning"
I smiled and sat down next to Dean "morning, boys"
Dean smiled at me and pulled me in for a kiss "morning, sunshine"
I smiled "morning. why didn't you wake me when you woke up?"
Dean "it got late last night. and you've been through a lot. you needed the sleep"
I nodded "thank you"
He nodded "anything for you, doll"
Dean took a bite from the bacon "All right, so what have you found on her Majesty's Secret Suckbags?"
Sam " Well, I may have turned the bunker upside down looking for any reference whatsoever to the British Men of Letters, and all I found was this letter tucked into an old ledger, uh, from the "London Chapterhouse.""
Dean nodded " Okay, well that's something."
Sam " Yeah uh...not so much."
He grabbed the note and turned it to us.
Most of the letter was blacked out.
Dean grabbed it, not happy " Awesome."
Cas appeared in the door frame.
Dean " Morning, sunshine. Some coffee?"
Castiel shook his head " No, thank you. I have to go."
Then he walked away.
We looked at each other before following him.
Sam "Cass?"
Cass turned to us.
I asked confused "where are you going?"
Cass "Cleveland, Ohio."
Sam asked confused " For what?"
Castiel "I think I may have a lead on Lucifer. I found a police report in Cleveland about a man whose eyes flared a glowing red. It could be Lucifer in a new body."
Dean nodded " All right. Yeah, that sounds like something. We should go check it out."
Castiel shook his head "No. The Devil is free because of me. Finding him is my responsibility."
Sam " Cass, you're gonna want some backup on this."
Castiel " If it is him, I will call you. In the meantime, I think you're needed here."
Then he walked away.
Dean asked confused " The hell was that about?"
Sam "Mom?"
Dean asked confused " What are you talking about? Mom's fine."
Sam " Sure. I heard her walking around all night last night. I mean don't you think she seems a bit...withdrawn? You know...shaky?"
We walked back into the kitchen and sat down at the table.
Dean "Of course she's shaky. She hasn't been on this planet since Jane Fonda was wearing leg warmers. Look, all she needs is a little R&R. You know, some good family time...she'll be aces."
Sam nodded " Yeah."
Mary walked in.
Sam, Dean and i nodded "hey"
Mary had cut her hair shorter.
She smiled "Hey. Hi.
Sam " Hey. Morning."
Her face lit up when she saw the bacon on the plate "Ooh."
Sam " Oh, we can fry up some more. That's – that's probably cold by now mom."
She grabbed a piece of bacon " It's bacon."
Then she ate it.
Dean nodded impressed "Wow. We are SO related."
Mary and Dean laughed.
Sam eyed her "Did you cut your hair?"
Mary " I'm gonna keep it short if I'm gonna go out on a hunt, you know? Why give the bad guys the advantage of long pullable hair right?"
Dean " Wow. I've been trying to tell Sam that for years."
Sam shot him a look.
I drove a hand through my hair "yeah, i've thought about that too but never really did it"
Mary asked confused "why not?"
Dean drove a hand through my hair "nah, i like your hair like this"
I gestured to Dean while looking at Mary, amused "there's your answer"
Sam asked " Did you say, uh, "going out on a hunt"?"
Mary nodded " I found a case."
Sam " I thought you were still struggling with even the IDEA of the Internet."
Mary " I had Dean pick up some newspapers when he went into town."
Sam and i looked at Dean.
Dean's eyes widened " Whoa, whoa. I...You didn't tell me you were looking for a case."
Mary shook her head " I wasn't. I just...found one. Minnesota. Two dead, locked room. Victims had put in a call about a crying baby. But the place was empty. The only thing at the scene as their bodies. Been five days, and the coroner still hasn't put out a cause of death. Seemed fishy."
The brothers did not look happy at all.
Mary " It's probably nothing. I just thought I might...get out there, stretch my legs."
Sam " I-I thought you-you weren't down to hunt in the first place."
Dean " Well things change, right? Family hunting trip."
Mary didn't like the idea of having the boys come with her at all. I could see it in her face
She nodded "Sure."
Dean " All right. Meet at the car in 10."
He jumped up happily.
She nodded and walked out.
Sam " What about the R&R?"
Dean "W– Look, man, I got Baby back to mint. I got my other Baby back on my side. We're road ready. And if mom wants to hunt, I say we hunt. "
Then he looked at me before walking out of the kitchen.
I followed him into his bedroom "so, what is it?"
Dean "i wanna ask you something"
Me "i already know what you wanna ask."
Dean "and your answer ?"
I shook my head "no"
Dean "you didn't even know what i wanted to ask you"
I nodded "yes, i do. And the answer is no"
Dean sighed "come on, Elena-"
I shook my head "no. Dean, i love you, you know i do. But the answer is no"
At a gas station.
Dean got in the car while Sam was filling up the tank "Nice bike. There's a lot of things that have gone to seed since you were here, but the variety in snack food flavors is not one of them."
He pulled stuff out of the bag and showed it to Mary who was in the backseat "We got your teriyaki jerky, we got your sriracha, and we got your chili lime, which...is my personal favorite."
He opened up a bag of the Chili Lime Jerky.
Mary " Let's give chili lime a whirl."
Sam got into the car and Dean handed her the bag.
Dean " Eh?"
Mary tasted it " It's...good. Artificial, kinda tingly."
Dean "That's how you know it's working."
Then he turned on the car.
Born To Be Wild was being played on the radio. Sam motioned for Dean to turn down the music.
Mary reached over and turned it up instead.
Dean smirked at me, happily.
I forced a little smile.
Dean then started to drive off.
At the Coroner's office.
Mary "Agent Shirley Partridge, out of the Minneapolis field office. These are my partners, Agent Cassidy, Agent Bonaduce and Agent Lemon."
The Coroner looked at us " This is a local case. Why would the FBI be interest–"
Mary " They're new. Wanted their first case to have training wheels."
Coroner nodded "Mm."
Mary " We wanted to have a look at the bodies."
Sam "Now you haven't filed a report. Has there been any problem determining the cause of death?"
Coroner " Problem? No. No, no, no. I figured out the cause. Just doesn't make any damn sense. "
I walked around the body ad noticed a mark on her leg.
Dean " Is this a burn?"
Coroner "Frostbite. Yeah. Both victims died of acute hypothermia...in a 65 degree room."
I raised my eyebrows.
Coroner " When I opened them up, their hearts were literally – and I mean literally – frozen. Wanna tell me how to present that to the public? Or to their families? So much for training wheels huh?"
At the abandoned house.
Dean "You sure you go the swing of that thing?"
Mary said kind annoyed "For the third time, yes. Dean, it's analog. I'm good."
Dean nodded "Right."
I walked into a room and saw a crib and something wrapped in a blanket.
My EMF reader was going off like crazy and the lights above the crib started flickering.
I turned the flashlight off and pulled back the blanket. I came face to face with an old fucked up doll.
Oh hell no!
i hate dolls, i still hate dolls and i wanna get out of here.
Dean called out "Len, we got something over here"
I turned to the door but it slammed shut "Dean?!"
Dean "Len?"
I tried to open it but it didn't move.
I called out "Dean!"
Dean "Len?"
Sam "Elena!"
Dean "babe, get away from the door."
I stepped back.
Dean broke the door open and rushed to me "are you okay?"
I nodded "Yes, yeah, just a bit shaken up"
He nodded.
Suddenly Mary walked to us, shocked.
There was a red handprint on her arm.
Me "You're hurt, Mary"
The brother's looked at her.
Sam " Mom, you're hurt."
Dean " Let's go. Come on. Come on."
at a Motel. Next day.
Mary walked into the room " Okay, ready to head out? Go knock on some doors?"
Dean asked confused " Doors?"
Mary " Yeah. Talk to the neighbors, hit up the Hall of Records, work the...case? "
The boys looked at each other amused.
Mary "We still do that right?"
Dean "Sometimes. But the, uh, the internet has made a lot of that legwork...obsolete."
Sam " I mean, I'm already in the St. Paul Police Department database."
Dean "Anything?"
Sam nodded "Yeah, a lot. I got police reports filed form 2004...uh, '91, '89. '85, '78. All deaths. All kids. Looks like it started with this girl here. Elizabeth Moriarty."
Mary asked surprised "You got all that from THAT...?"
Sam shrugged, nodding "Yeah."
Mary sat down on the bed, overwhelmed.
Sam " Mom...don't worry about it. We'll teach you how to do this."
--
Me "Mylings"
Dean asked confused "Mylings?"
I nodded "Yes. from Scandinavian lore. Uh, children's spirits, vengeful ones. "Their cries to help lure adults to their death.""
Mary "Anything about frozen hearts?"
Sam looked at my laptop "Uh, no, not yet. But this is just from old, incomplete folk accounts. We all know the lore isn't always 100%."
Mary nodded " Hmm. Mm, maybe, but...all I know is, that little boy who grabbed me, I...he didn't wanna hurt me. He was scared."
Sam " Yeah, um...it must've felt that way, but, mom, the victims were all lured to their death by a baby's cry. Uh, the spirit marked Natalia right before she was killed, the same way the spirit marked you. I mean, if we hadn't gotten there in time..."
Dean "Well, look, we know all the kids' names, right? We know that they're all buried locally, so I say we salt and burn 'em. That's the safe bet."
Sam nodded "Agreed."
Mary was rubbing on the red hand print on her arm.
Dean nodded "All right. Well, let's do that."
Suddenly she looked like she lost balance.
Dean rushed over to her " Mom?"
The boys rushed over to her.
Dean asked worried " Hey, you okay?"
Sam "Mom?"
Mary nodded " Yeah, fine. I'm fine. I'm fine."
Then she stood up "I'm fine."
Sam nodded "May – Maybe, uh, you should stay here."
I nodded "yeah, i'll stay here, with her"
Dean nodded "okay"
---
I walked into the motel room and looked around confused "Mary?"
She wasn't here anymore. Shit
Then i got a call from Sam and i answered it.
Before i could say anything i heard Dean's voice "what about Elena?"
Sam "you should talk to her"
Dean "Elena's fine"
Sam "no, she's not, and you know that"
Dean "for someone who just got tortured after thinking her boyfriend died, she's holding up pretty good"
Sam "She's pretending"
Dean "she's still trying to live with it. We're all still working out the kinks. But, I mean, can't we, for once, just not turn everything into a problem? "
Sam "and i am not trying to but-"
Dean "then don't do it, Sam"
Sam "and i don't want to, Dean."
Dean "Elena could have died, Sam. "
Sam "and i know. But...there's something about her. I mean, something's going on with her."
Dean "like i said, she nearly died, thanks to you, by the way"
Sam asked pissed off "what does that mean?"
Dean "i am just saying, if you hadn't gone out to buy some stupid pizza then Toni wouldn't have gotten her hands on Len in the first place"
Sam "Toni being there wasn't my fault"
Dean "but bringing her Elena on a silver plate was"
Sam "Dean, we both know Elena better than anyone else, okay? and you know as good as i do that there is more going on with her than just the fact that she got tortured and nearly killed. "
Dean "if Elena wants to talk about it, i'll be there and listen. But i can't force her to talk to me, Sam, i won't."
Sam "Dean-"
Dean "either you shut up about it now, Sammy, or i will knock out you teeth with this shovel"
I rolled my eyes and hung up.
At the Chamberlin house.
I walked in and saw Mary standing there.
Me "Mary?"
Mary looked at me "Elena"
Suddenly the house started to shake.
Mary's eyes widened and i turned around.
The ghost of some guy was standing there.
Mary "You're the father of that little girl. You killed them ALL, all those ch–"
The ghost placed a had on her chest and started to freeze her.
Me "Mary!"
i stepped forward but she looked at me. black blood or something like that was running down her cheeks.
Me "okay-"
Suddenly she sent me flying against the shelf.
I cried out when a piece of wood went through my side.
Sam and Dean rushed inside.
Dean "Mom!"
Sam "She's possessed."
Dean's eyes widened.
Sam reached fro the chain that was lying there but Mary sent him flying against the wall.
Then she rushed to Dean, pushed him up against the wall and started to choke him-no, she was freezing him.
Mary said in a possessed tone "MY house. MY children. Forever."
Dean groaned out "Mom? You can fight this."
Sam "Mom?"
Dean pushed her off.
Mary fell to her knees and tried to fight the ghost "The basement. Go!"
I looked at the blood that was gushing from my wound.
Sam rushed out while the ghost threw Dean against the wall again.
Dean "mom?"
Mary pouted " Mommy's gone."
Dean looked at me "Len?"
I shook my head, in pain "i'm fine"
Dean reached out and grabbed the shotgun.
He aimed it at her "Don't. Don't make me."
Mary looked amused before throwing the gun against the wall.
we heard someone breaking through a wall.
Mary walked to the door.
Dean grabbed the chain from the floor and wrapped it around her, holding her in" I got you, mom."
Suddenly the ghost was thrown out of Mary. He started to scream as he burned up.
the children he had killed surrounded him as he exploded.
Sam walked in.
Dean rushed over to me and took the piece of wood out.
I cried out in pain.
Dean "you okay?"
I nodded.
At the bunker.
Dean and Mary walked inside.
I was standing in the doorframe of the control room to give them some space.
Dean "Well, you gonna take a shower? Take a nap? You really went through it today."
Mary shook her head "No, I'm okay."
Dean "And, um..listen, apologies if, uh, me and Sam hijacked or sidelined you in any way. I mean, this was your case, you know? And...well, you kicked ass. Again."
Mary " I kicked ass? YOU saved ME. I –"
Dean "Yeah, but you were right. You know, those kids WERE innocent. I mean, hell, we didn't even know what Moriarty's deal was."
Mary nodded " I do."
Dean looked at her surprised.
Mary "When he possessed me, I saw..I felt it. All of it. When Hugo lost his child, he went mad. Buried himself alive in his basement and walled himself in and starved to death."
Dean" Damn."
Mary " But when new families moved in, families with children, he coveted those children. So he took them. Killed them. And somehow that bound their spirits to his. That's where he got his power. He was so...greedy. Twisted."
Dean sighed " Mom, it's okay. All right? You're home now."
Mary leaned against the table, shaking her head, saddened " No."
Dean looked at her confused and hurt.
Mary shook her head " I'm not. I miss John. I miss my boys."
Sam walked in and walked to them " We're right here, mom."
Mary "I know. In my head. But I'm still mourning them as I knew them. My baby Sam. My little boy Dean. Just feels like yesterday, we were together in heaven, and now...I'm her, and John is gone, and they're gone. And every moment I spend with you reminds me every moment I lost with them."
She looked at them with hope that they would understand.
Then she looked at me and i nodded.
Mary " And I thought hunting, working, would clear my head."
Sam asked hurt " Mom...w-what are you trying to say?"
Mary " I have to go."
The boys looked like someone ripped their hearts out.
Mary " I'm sorry. I'm so...so sorry. I just need a little time."
She took a step to Dean who stepped back while looking down.
I looked at Dean in tears. i hate seeing him like this.
Mary understood and turned to Sam with John's journal in her hands "I love you."
then she hugged him and he hugged her back.
Mary looked at Dean "i love you both"
Dean nodded, still not looking at her.
then she grabbed her stuff and left.
Dean didn't look up at all instead he walked past me into the corridor.
I looked at Sam who looked at me.
Then he nodded and i followed Dean.
I found him in his bedroom, sitting on the edge of his bed with a beer bottle in his hand. I walked over to him and he looked up to me. There were tears in his eyes and it was killing me.
I kneeled down in between his legs and hugged him.
He hugged me back. He pulled me against him and i felt like i couldn't breath but i really didn't care at all.
His voice cracked "Len"
I put a kiss on his neck before pulling him even closer.