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FUGLY BASTARD
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( Everybody Loves A Clown )
───── ◦'𖥸'◦ ─────
AT THE ROADHOUSE, BEK laid in her bed, staring up at the ceiling. It was four in the morning and she could do anything but sleep.
She rolled on her side and stared at the picture frame on the nightstand, next to her bed. She picked it up and stared at it. It was a picture of her and Bobby. Bek sits up, placing the picture where it once was and she stood. She walked to her closet and pushes the clothes aside . . . on her wall, was a bow and a quiver of arrows.
She didn't know where she found out how to shoot the weapon but she was damn good at it. She felt a sense of normal with it. She pulled it off the wall and stared at it for a moment and a small smile formed. She found her answer. She was going to hunt and she knew exactly where to start.
───── ◦'𖥸'◦ ─────
Sam stood alone, waiting for Dean to come back with information from the cops that had shown up. A very short woman walks by him but stops and he stares down at her. She walks away after looking him up and down. Dean stops next to him and a small smirk forms on his face. "Did you get her number?"
Sam gives him a weird look and shakes his head, ignoring his comment. "More murders?" He asks, looking away.
"Two more last night. Apparently, they were ripped to shreds. And they had a little boy with them." Dean says.
"Who fingered a clown." Sam sighs. Dean looks over at him, giving him an odd look. Sam looks at him. "What?"
Dean shakes his head. "Yes, a clown, who apparently vanished into thin air."
"Dean, you know. Looking for a cursed object, it's like trying to find a needle in a stack of needles. It could be anything." Sam says.
"Well, it's bound to give off EMF. So we'll just scan everything." Dean says looking at Sam. "Oh, good. That's nice and inconspicuous." He scoffs out a laugh.
Dean sighs defeated and he looks around until his eyes land on a tent with a sign that says, 'Help Needed'. "I guess we'll just have to blend in."
───── ◦'𖥸'◦ ─────
SAM AND DEAN ENTER THE tent. A man wearing sunglasses stands, throwing daggers toward a target, hitting it in the middle every time. "Excuse me. We are looking for Mr Cooper. Have you seen him around?" Dean speaks up, sharing a look with Sam.
He turns and looks at them. "What is that — some kind of joke?" He pulls off his sunglasses to reveal he's blind.
"Oh, God, I'm sorry." Dean says.
"You think I wouldn't give my eyeteeth to see Mr Cooper or a sunset or anything at all?" He asks.
Behind Dean, Sam stands covering his mouth trying not to laugh. Dean looks at him. "Mind backing me up here?"
"Not really." Sam mumbles under his hand.
"Hey, Barry. Is there a problem?" A very short man enters the tent.
"Yeah, this guy hates blind people." Barry says.
Dean looks at Barry and chuckles. "No, I don't."
"Hey, buddy. What's your problem, huh?" He asks.
"Nothing. It's just a little misunderstanding." Dean says as he desperately tries to defend himself.
"Little? You son of a bitch!" The shorter man says and attacks Dean while Sam laughs.
"No! Wait! Could somebody tell me where Mr Cooper is? Please!"
Sam and Dean are led into another building. "You boys picked a hell of a time to join up. Take a seat." Dean looks around, spotting clowns left and right, even a chair that was a clown. "We got all kinds of local trouble." Dean takes the regular chair and smirks at Sam, who shifts his jaw and slowly sits down. "What do you mean?"
"A couple of folks got themselves murdered. Cops always seem to start here first. So, you two every work the circuit before?" Mr Cooper asks.
"Uh, yes, sir. Last year through Texas and Arkansas." Sam lies.
"Doing what? Ride Jockeys? Pull shoot? A-and-S man?" Mr Cooper cocks an eyebrow.
"Little bit of everything, I guess." Sam says.
"You two have never worked a show in your lives before have you?" Mr Cooper tilts his head.
"Nope." Says Dean.
"But we really need the work. And Sam here's got a thing for the bearded lady." Dean laughs.
"You see that picture?" Mr Cooper points the picture frame hanging above his head. "That's my daddy."
"You look just like him." Sam says.
"He was in the business — ran a freak show till they outlawed them most places. Apparently, displaying the deformed isn't dignified. So, most of the performers went from honest work to rotting in hospitals and asylums. That's progress, I guess. You see, this place is a refuge for outcasts. Always has been, for folks that didn't fit in nowhere else. But you two . . . should go to school, find a couple of girls, have two point five kids. Live regular." Mr Cooper says.
Sam leans toward him. "Sir . . . we don't wanna go to school. And we don't want regular. We want this."
Dean hums as he and Sam exit the building. "What?" Asks Sam.
"That whole 'I don't want to go back to school' thing — you just saying that to Cooper or were you, you know, saying it?" Sam stays quiet.
"Sam?"
"I don't know." Sam shrugs.
"You don't know? I thought that once the Demon was dead and the fat lady sings that you were gonna take off. Head back to Wussy State." Dean says. Sam stops and turns to him. "I'm having second thoughts."
"Really?" Dean quirks an eyebrow.
"Yeah, I know . . . dad would have wanted me to stick with the job." Sam says.
"Since when do you give a damn what dad wanted? You spent half of your life doing what he didn't want." Dean claims.
"Since he died, okay? You have a problem with that?" Sam asks.
"No . . . I don't have a problem at all." Dean lies and walks away from Sam.
───── ◦'𖥸'◦ ─────
AT THE ROADHOUSE, BEK WAS currently packing her bag. It already being noon she wanted to leave the bar by that evening. Ellen stomps into her room. "What the hell do you think you are doing?" Bek sighs and pauses for a moment but continues to pack. "Going on a hunt."
"Since when do you want to go on a hunt?" Ellen crosses her arms over her chest. Bek stays quiet. "Is it because John died? Is it because of those boys?" Ellen asks.
"It's the adrenaline. Saving people and seeing new, but scary things. I feel normal when i'm hunting, Ellen," Bek says and turns to look at the woman with her arms crossed over her chest, "I don't remember anything from my life before I was found on the side of the road. You know that, hell everyone knows that. It's not normal, i'm not normal but what feels normal? Hunting. I feel like that's where I belong."
Ellen shifts her jaw. Bek grits her teeth and scoffs. She grabs two bags — one that held her clothes and the other that held her weapons. She moved passed Ellen and headed for the door where Jo and Ash stood.
"You really gonna do this?" Jo asks with her arms crossed over her chest. "I have to, Jo."
Just before she took a step outside the Roadhouse, Ellen appeared and said;
"You leave right now . . . do not come back."
───── ◦'𖥸'◦ ─────
IT HAD GOTTEN CROWDED AT the Cooper Carnival as the day went on. Sam stood by a trash can, holding a trash bag and claw. He opened his new red jacket that read 'Cooper Carnival Staff' and showed off the EMF. He walked into the haunted house. All around him, were creepy laughs. He held the EMF toward a set of pipes and then to a baby doll head but nothing. A fake skeleton dropped in front of him. He held the EMF up to the skeleton but nothing.
Dean stood next to a dumpster and tossed a trash bag inside just as her phone began ringing. "Hello?"
"Hey, man." Sam greets on the other line.
"What's the matter? You sound like you saw a clown." Dean jokes.
Sam was out of the fun house. "Funny. Skeleton, actually."
"Like a real actual, skeleton?" Dean asks.
"In the fun house. What if the spirit isn't attached to a cursed object? What if it's attached to its own remains?" Sam asks.
"Did the bones five off EMF?" Asks Dean.
"Well, no, but —" Sam was cut off by Dean. "We should check it out anyway. I'm heading to you."
Someone bumps into Dean. It is the blind man and he grabs him. "What are you doing here, kid?"
"Just sweeping." Says Dean.
"Bull. And what were you talking about? Skeletons? What's EMF?" Barry asks.
"Dude, you're blind man hearing is hectic." Dean forces out a chuckle.
"We are a tight-nitt group. We don't like outsiders. We take care of our own problems." Barry tells him.
"Do we have a problem?" Dean asks.
"You tell me. You're the one talking about human bones." Barry retorts.
Dean pauses for a moment. "Do you believe in ghosts?"
"What? My brother and me . . . we are writing a book about them." Dean lies. Next, Dean walks past a bunch of activity tents and toward the funhouse where Sam stood waiting for him. "What took you so long?"
"Long story." Dean says and opens his mouth to explain but a little girls voice catches their attention.
"Mommy! Look at that clown." Sam and Dean walk toward them to get a view of this clown. "What clown?" The mother asks. There was no clown but the girl did continue to stare until her mother gently took her by the shoulders and turned her around, pulling her along. Sam and Dean share a look.
───── ◦'𖥸'◦ ─────
THAT NIGHT-A VERY FAMILIAR mini-van pulls up to the house where the little girl lived, parking on the side of the road. Sam and Dean sit inside. "Dean, I cannot you told paisley about the homicidal clown murders." Sam says.
"I told him a legend about a phantom homicidal clown. I never said it was real." Dean corrects him.
Sam shushes him. "Keep it down."
Dean frowns. "Oh! And get this, I mentioned the Bunker Brothers circus in '81 and their evil clown apocalypse. Guess what?"
"What?"
"Before Mr Cooper owned Cooper Carnival, he worked for the Bunker Brothers. He was their lot manager." Dean tells him.
"So, you think Cooper just brought it with him?" Sam asks.
"Something like that. I can't believe we keep talking about clowns." Says Dean.
The oldest Winchester brother snored quietly in the drivers seat while Sam kept watch. A light in the house turns on and he wakes up Dean. "Dean!" He points and Dean looks. The girl is walking. Sam and Dean got out of the car as fast they could and creeped into the house, hiding behind corners and holding their guns. "Want to see mommy and daddy?"
The little girl rounded the corner and held the clowns hand. "They're upstairs." She tells it. Sam and Dean jump out and the girl begins screaming as Sam grabs the little girl and holds her close to keep her from getting shot as Dean begins to shoot the clown with rock salt. The clown falls but stands right back up and jumps out of the window, disappearing into a mist.
"What's going on in here?" The father shouts running down the stairs.
"What are you doing here! Get out!" His shouts once he sees what was happening. The mother follows closely behind him. Sam and Dean left quickly. "Mommy, daddy. They shot my clown." The little girl says.
Sam and Dean ditch the mini van in case they had saw their license plate. They walked down the road with their bags in their back. "I know one things for sure." Dean says.
"What's that?" Asks Sam.
"We're not dealing with a spirit. That rock salt hit something solid." Says Dean.
"Yeah, a person, or maybe a creature that can make itself invisible." Sam suggests.
"Yeah, and dresses up like a clown for kicks? Did it say anything in dads journal?" Dean asks.
"Nope," Sam says and pulls out his phone.
"Who are you calling?" Dean asks.
"Maybe Ellen or that guy Ash will know something. Probably Bek." Sam says. Dean pauses for a moment and thinks about the brunette girl and how she took him down with a single punch. "I don't like her." He says.
Sam looks up at him. "Really? You are the one who was eyeing her in the bar and you talked to her . . . is it because she kicked your ass?" Dean scoffs and looks at Sam with an offended look. "She did not kick my ass."
"Dude . . . she took you down with a single punch. She's got some power." Sam says with a laugh only making Dean roll his eyes. "She just has something unusual about her." Dean shrugs and Sam rolls his eyes.
"You think dad and Ellen used to have a thing?" Sam asks.
"No way." Dean refuses.
"Then why didn't he tell us about her?" Sam asks.
"I don't know. Maybe they had some sort of falling-out." Dean shrugs and Sam nods.
Sam puts the phone to his ear. "You ever notice that dad had a falling out with just about everybody?" Dean stays quiet and Sam hangs up the phone when he doesn't get an answer. "Don't get all Maudlin on me, man."
"What do you mean?" Dean asks.
"I mean this strong, silent thing of yours. It's crap, I'm over it." Sam says and Dean scoffs. "This isn't just anyone we are talking about. This is dad. I know how you felt about the man."
"Back off, alright? Just because I'm not caring and sharing like you want —"
"No, no, no. That's not what this is about, Dean. I don't care how you deal with this, but you have to deal with this, man. Listen, I'm your brother, alright. I just want to make sure you're okay." Sam says.
"Dude, I'm okay. I'm okay! The next person who asks me if i'm okay, I'm gonna start throwing punches. These are your issues. Quit dumping them on me." Dean stops and looks at Sam who stares at him with confusion.
"What are you taking about?" He asks.
"I just think it's strange . . . this sudden obedience you have to dad. It's like 'oh! what would dad want me to do?' Sam, you spent your entire life slugging it out with that man. Hell, you picked a fight with him the last time you ever saw him, and now that he is dead, you want to make it right? Well, i'm sorry, Sam, but you can't. It's too little, too late." Dean rants, angrily.
"Why are you saying this to me?" Sam asks, calmly.
"I want you to be honest with yourself about this! I'm dealing with dads death. Are you?"
They stared at each for moments and then Sam clears his throat. "I'm gonna call Ellen . . . again. See if she will answer."
They were still walking, no longer arguing. Sam had just ended the call with Ellen. "Rakshasa." Sam says.
"What's that?" Asks Dean.
"Ellen's best guess. It's a race of ancient hindu creatures. They appear in human form, they feed on human flesh, they can make themselves invisible, and they cannot enter a home without first being invited to." Sam explains.
"They dress up like clowns, and the children invite them in. Why don't they just munch on the kids?" Dean asks.
"Not enough meat on the bones, maybe?" Sam suggests.
"What else did you find out?" Dean asks.
"Apparently, rakshasas live in squalor. They sleep on a bed of dead insects." Sam says and Dean groaned in disgust. "And they have to feed a few times every twenty to thirty years — slow metabolism I guess." Sam shrugs.
"That makes sense — the carnival today, the Bunker Brothers in '81." Says Dean.
"Probably more before that." Sam says.
"Sam, who do we know that worked both shows?" Dean shifts his jaw.
"Cooper?"
"Cooper." Dean confirms.
"You know, that picture of his father, that looked just like him." Sam says and Dean caught on quickly.
"You think that's him?" Asks Dean who looks over at him.
"It's a possibility. I mean, who knows how old he is?" Sam says.
Dean sighs. "Ellen say how to kill him?"
"Legend goes a dagger made of pure brass." Says Sam.
"I may know where to get one," Dean claims.
"Well, before we go stabbing things into Cooper . . . we're gonna want to make damn sure it's him." Sam says and Dean nods. Then, a teal Ford 250 Voltron -10, pulls up beside them and stops. Sam and Dean share an uneasy look until the window is rolled down and a very familiar brunette sits in the drivers side.
"Hey, boys. You need a ride?" She smirks at them, placing an arm on the window seal. Sam and Dean share a look.
Bek looks at the brothers with raised eyebrows as they struggle to get into the truck once they were in and got seated, she cleared her throat. Sam and Dean look at her. "What happened to the mini-van?" She asks.
"Uh . . . long story short, we did in fact follow the killer clown to a house and tried to kill it, it turned invisible and the parents possibly saw a plate so we ditched it." Dean says and her eyebrows raised.
"So . . . a rakshasas is turning into clowns and killing parents?" Bek asks and Dean looks over at her. How did she know it was a rakshasas and he didn't? Sam nods at her. She hums and turns to the road, driving once again. "So, what have y'all got so far?"
"Mr Cooper — Cooper Carnival — it has to be him. He was also at the Bunker Brothers in '81 when the murders happened." Sam explains to
her.
"Well, can I join you?" She asks and waited silently for a answer but she was growing nervous. "I thought you quit hunting." Dean says and cocks an eyebrow.
"You never truly quit hunting. It just feels normal to me." She replies after shrugging her shoulders.
"There's nothing normal about hunting." Dean scoffs.
"I didn't say that. I feel like hunting is what i'm meant to do . . . I don't know."
Dean looks at Sam. "She did kick your ass." Dean gently shoved him and looks back at Bek who was trying to hide a smile. "Yeah, okay. You're not the boss though, alright? I am."
She hums and glances over at him, before pushing harder on the gas pedal.
───── ◦'𖥸'◦ ─────
SAM AND BEK SPLIT FROM Dean, going to check out Mr Coopers van for the bed of dead bugs. Once no one was around, he nodded at her and they walked forward. Bek checked to see if the door was locked and when it was, she crouched down and shoved a bobby pin into the lock and began to turn the bobby pin until they heard a click. Bek looks over her shoulder at Sam and smiles before pushing on the door and walking in. Sam slid past her and pulled out a knife. He goes to slice the mattress but they hear a gun cock. "What do you think you're doing?"
Bek turns and Mr Cooper stands with a shotgun pointed at them.
Bek and Sam were immediately kicked out of the van and they headed to Dean who was running away from his destined location. "hey!" Bek shouts getting his attention. He turns to them. "So, Cooper thinks we are peeping toms but it's not him." Sam confirms.
"Yeah, so I gathered. It's the blind guy. He's here somewhere." Dean tells them, looking around.
"Well, did you get the —" Bek asks and Dean shakes his head.
"The brass blades? No. It's just been one of those days." Dean says and sighs.
"I may have an idea. Come on." Bek and Dean follow Sam into the funhouse.
Walking through a funhouse, a wall separated Sam from Dean and Bek. "Sam!" Dean shouts. Bek pulls out a long chain that was luckily, made in brass. She wraps it around her hand. "Dean, find the maze, okay?" Sam says.
Dean looks at Bek who was already staring down the hallway they were about to go down. "Get behind me," he says and gets in front of her. They met at the pipes. "Hey," Dean says, spotting Sam with a blazing hot pipe in his hand. "Where is it?" Sam asks.
"I don't know. Shouldn't we see his clothes walking around?" Dean asks.
"I don't think it works like that," Bek says just as a dagger pinned the oldest brother to the wall behind them. Sam pulled the pipe off, finally. Bek grips the brass chain tighter and looks down a hallway, dodging a dagger. "Where is it?" Sam shouts.
Bek looks around and then up and she sees the lever that would blow fog out. Reaching up, she grabbed it and pulled it. Fog blew out from under the pipes. That's when she sees it. "Behind you, Sam!" She shouts and throws her wrist out, the chain flying around its neck and it screams as Sam thrusts the pipe into him.
A vision appeared in Beks mind, kind of like a flashback. She had a brass chain in her hands, just like she did at the moment and slung it at someone, knocking a gun out of their hands. There was another man there and that's when the vision cut.
It screeches and falls, giving Dean time to pulls the daggers away from him and he walked up to the lever and pulled it. The fog was no longer spewing out. Bek pulled her chain back and wrapped it around her hand, breathing heavily, thinking about the vision before shaking it off.
"What the hell kind of chain was that?" Dean asks, walking up behind her.
"Brass, of course." She says.
"I hate fun house." He breathes out.
───── ◦'𖥸'◦ ─────
BEK STANDS IN FRONT OF the Roadhouse with an unsure look. Sam and Dean stand behind her. "What's with the hold up?" Dean asks after sharing a look with Sam.
"Uh, before I left — Ellen told me that if I walk out that door, I do not return." Bek says.
"I'm sure she didn't mean that." Sam says and Bek looks back at him before nodding. She leads the boys into the bar and she freezes at the door. Ellen and Jo stood at the bar, washing glasses but they freeze as well. Mostly Ellen. "Hey," Bek breathes out. Ellen and Jo share a look watching the boys step up behind her and right then and there, Ellen knew.
The three sat at the bar and Ellen got a few beers. "You guys did a hell of a job. Your dad would be proud." Ellen tells them and looks at the brothers.
"Thanks." Says Sam.
Jo slides in across from Dean and leans on her elbows. Jo tilts her head down and looks in between Bek and Sam, smirking. Bek smiles at Jo and gets another drink from her beer and pats Sam. "Oh, oh yeah. I've got to — or we - we've got too . . . " Sam stumbles over his words.
"We are gonna go play pool." Bek says and grabs Sam, pulling him to the pool table.
"So." Jo clears her throat.
"So." Dean says.
"Am I gonna see you again?" She asks.
"Do you want to?" Dean asks and raised his eyebrows, surprised.
"I wouldn't hate it." Jo admits.
"Can I be honest? See, normally, I'd be hitting on you so fast it'd make your head spin, but these days . . . I don't know." Dean admits.
"Wrong place, wrong time? It's okay. I get it." Jo smiles. Ash walks through one of the doors from the back and he smiles at the sight of Bek. "Hey! You ain't dead." He jokes making her roll her eyes.
"Where you guys been? I been waiting for you." He says, looking at Sam and Dean.
"We were working a job Ash. With Bek. Clowns?" Sam says, hoping it would ring a bell.
"Clowns? What the — Bek what are you doing chasing clowns?" Ash asks.
"I've done it for years." She mutters under her breath taking a drink and making Sam grin.
"You got something for us, Ash?" Dean hopes.
"Did you find the demon?" Sam asks. Ash sits down his home made laptop. Sam and Dean sit next to him. "It's nowhere around, at least nowhere I can find. But if this fugly bastard raises its head, I'll know. I mean, I'm on it like divine on dog dookie."
"What do you mean?" Asks Sam.
"I mean any of those signs or omens appear in any of the world, my rig will go off like a fire alarm." Ash says.
Dean goes to touch Ash's computer but Ash stares at him, uncomfortable with the action so Dean slowly pulls
his hands back. "What's up, man?"
"Ash, where did you learn to do all this?" Sam asks.
"M.I.T., before I got bounced for fighting." Ash tells him.
"M.I.T?" Sam asks.
"It's a school in boston." Ash says.
"Okay. Give us a call as soon as you know something?" Dean asks.
"Si, Si, compadre." Ash nods.
Dean sits his beer down and Ash picks it up, taking a drink. Bek sucks on her lips as she watches Sam and Dean walk toward the door. Opening her mouth to speak, Ellen beat her to it. "If you boys need a place to stay, I got a couple beds out back." Ellen says.
"Thanks, but no. There's something I gotta finish." Dean says, referring to his Impala. Sam and Dean leave the bar. Bek bounced on the balls of her feet until she took off out the door. "Hey, wait!"
She jogged down the stairs. Dean and Sam share a look and stop. "Uhm, I know - I know this is crazy to ask. Really. But . . . could I tag with you guys?"
"No." Dean says.
Sam hits his brother lightly. "It's just . . . I want to kill this demon . . . for John. It's not much to say and I wasn't close to him, but he saved my life and I just . . . I want to be there when you get the demon. And I want to go on hunts but . . . not alone."
She was scared to go alone, but who isn't. Slowly her hand went up to the scar and she bites down on her lip. Sam looks at Dean. "She did help take down the clown, Dean. She could be a lot of help to us, I mean, did you see the brass chain she had to take him down?"
"I still don't think it's a good idea." Dean admits, looking between Sam and Bek. Then he sighs. "Okay, fine. I just — don't get hurt, alright?"
"I can take care of myself."
❝ HONEST TO GOD, THE LONGEST CHAPTER I HAVE EVER WRITTEN AND I PROMISE, NO OTHER CHAPTERS WILL BE THIS LONG. ANYWAYS, I HOPE YOU ALL HAD A GOOD THANKSGIVING. AND I AM SO DEVASTATED BY THE LAST EPISODE OF SUPERNATURAL. IT BROKE MY HEART. ❞
edited on june 17th of 2022