Even Monsters have a Social 7/?

[emebalia]

Chapter 7

"Mr. Reese?" Harold tried again but was only met with silence. "Mr. Reese, what happened over there?" He knew it was a silly question but he asked anyway. The silence became unnerving and cold dread clumped in his stomach.

Their job was dangerous, Mr. Reese's more than Harold's but Harold never got used to things like this. Somehow the not knowing was far worse than actually knowing if John was injured. Or worse. His mind refused to even think of the possibility of worse and instead raced for an explanation.


The Winchesters had found them, that was the only plausible explanation Harold could come up with.
"Harold?" There finally was an answer and Harold dared to breathe again. However, it wasn't John's voice he was hearing.

"Ms. Martin?" He asked, deliberately trying to keep his fear out of his voice. Whatever was going on there, Ms. Martin was most likely confused and shocked and for sure he'd need her help to bring her and Mr. Reese to safety. If it wasn't already too late but he refused to even consider that option.

"Surprise, I'm still alive." She sounded kind of smug. "Not that hard, considering your little goon doesn't seem to know what he's doing."

"Ms. Martin, what happened to Mr. Reese?" Harold asked and strained his ears to hear anything beyond her breathing.

"Mr. Reese, hmm." She made a considering noise as if she was trying to figure something out. "You're calling him by his last name so he's not your best buddy, I guess?"

"Ms. Martin, I must insist to speak with Mr. Reese." Harold tried again, not sure if the woman at the other end fully grasped the severity of the situation. Not that Harold knew in what kind of situation they were but it had to be bad.

"He can't come to the phone right now." She answered and he could almost hear her shrug. "Don't worry, I haven't killed him. Yet."

For a second Harold's mind froze. Was she the perpetrator after all?

"What have you done to him?"

"He's sleeping. Having a nightmare, looks like." It sounded like she moved around, the soft noise of her footsteps carried over to Harold, she was pacing. "You know, I feel kinda offended."

"What do you mean?" Harold asked when she didn't continue while his mind raced.

"Didn't you figure out by now what I am or did you sent your partner in unprepared on purpose?" She asked. "I mean if he's the rookie you want to get rid off, I'd be happy to help out."

"I can assure you, Ms. Martin, that I don't want any harm done to him." Harold hurried to say. "We can negotiate."

Now she laughed, a harsh, unhappy sound. "A hunter who wants to negotiate, that's a new one."

Harold had no idea what she was talking about but he was willing to agree to almost everything at this point. They could sort this out when Mr. Reese was out of immediate danger.

"You don't sound like Dean." She changed the subject and Harold needed a second to follow her train of thoughts. "So I'm guessing you're his other partner, that tall guy with the long hair. Didn't get your name earlier, Harold."

She thinks I'm Sam Winchester, Harold realized and wasn't sure what to make out of that one.

"So tell me, Harold." She rolled his name. "Did you figure out what I am or did you sent Johnny boy here in on half-baked assumptions?"

Harold stared into nothingness for a second before he answered with the only thing coming to mind. "You're a Nachtmahre."

"Very good." She praised him. "Which leaves the question why John here tried to shoot me. What game are you playing, Harold?"

"Ms. Martin." Harold tried to sound reasonable. "Please, we mean you no harm."

She laughed her humorless laugh again.

"You know my mom had it coming." She continued in an almost chatty tone and Harold let her talk. More time for him to figure this one out. Maybe he got some information out of her.

Should he call Detective Carter or Fusco? They would come running to help John, he had no doubt, but for some reason he wasn't sure if the police was the right choice here.

"Your mother?" He asked into the thoughtful pause at the other end.

"She was greedy." Ms. Martin continued. "Drew attention to us. So one day a hunter found her. I'm not sure if he even knew she had a daughter, I didn't stay to find out."

There was another pause and when she spoke again she sounded close to tears. "I'm trying. I'm trying so hard."

"I know that, Rachel." Harold used her name in hope to get through to her but he wasn't sure if she even heard him.

"I live on the brink of starvation. Do you know how it feels? Being so hungry all the time? With food all around you and you can't have any of it? You have any idea?" She screamed the last part at him.

"No." He had no idea what she was talking about but his answer was lost in her sobs anyway.

"I take only what I need. Hell, I take one of the vegetables when they're about to pull the plug if I can get one." She sniffed and the next part had an iron layer underneath. "But a girl has to eat. So I kill one or two of your precious fellow humans, so what?"

Finally Harold understood. She was a serial killer, a very delusional serial killer, however, the picture became much clearer now. There were parts Harold still didn't understand but he was working on that. If only he could keep her talking.

"Ms. Martin." Harold started and stopped. "Rachel, we can sort this out. I can help you."

"Help me?" For the first time her laughter actually held humor. "A hunter offers to help a monster. How stupid do you think I am?"

I'm not a hunter, was on the tip of Harold's tongue but he doubted she would believe him and it was kind of hard to explain who he really was. What was a hunter anyway?

"Okay, Harold." She sobered up. "This is how we're going to do this. I'm taking Johnny here with me as a hostage. If I see you or Dean anywhere on my way out of town, he's dead. Understood?"

"Yes." Harold breathed the word out while his fingers flew over the keyboard. Where were the Winchesters? If they managed to find her before he got John back …

"There is a public phone in front of my apartment, I take, you know where that is." It wasn't a question but Harold answered it anyway with a yes. "I'm going to call in an hour. You and Dean better answer it."

"What?" Harold must have misunderstood.

"Look, I know you're going to come after me, that's the game, I guess." She made a frustrated noise. "All I want is a head start, a fair chance. So I'm going to call that phone in an hour. You, Dean and I are going to have a little chat and then I'll leave Johnny alive and unharmed for you to pick up. Sounds like a deal?"

She didn't point out what would happen to John if Harold and Dean wouldn't be there to answer the phone.

"One hour, Harold. Tick-tock." With that the line went dead.

Harold wasted a precious minute to ponder his options. The wise decision would have been to call for help, Carter or Fusco, but he wasn't sure if they could reach Ms. Martin in time. He had confidence in their ability to deal with criminals but this was a very dangerous person with a hostage and she'd already admitted prior murders. Detective Carter was the right person to talk her into releasing John and to surrender but he was running out of time.

What would happen if he answered the phone alone?

She would think Dean's coming for her and kill John, Harold answered his own question.

"What should I do?" Harold asked. Bear seemed to hear his distress and trotted over to lay his head on Harold's thigh, looking up at him.

Making up his mind Harold dialed a number.

"Yeah?" Came the rough answer after the third ring. By then Harold was close to hanging up. This was probably the stupidest idea he'd ever had.

"Mr. Winchester?" He asked as if he hadn't recognized the voice.

"Who's this?" Mr. Winchester demanded to know with barely concealed anger in his tone. Harold figured the man wasn't in the best mood after they'd lost Ms. Martin.

"We haven't met. My name is Harold." He licked his lips not sure if he should do this or not. "I think you've met my partner, Mr. Reese."

"Maybe." There was a second voice in the distance, Sam Winchester wanted to know who was on the phone and Dean answered with a hushed "Prince Charming's partner.".

"What do you want?" That was directed at Harold again and by the way the sound had changed he guessed he had been put on speaker. "And who the hell are you guys?"

Harold chose to leave the latter for another time.

"It seems like Ms. Martin has kidnapped my partner, Mr. Winchester." He fully expected him to shrug it off, what would a man like Dean Winchester care about a man he didn't even know.

"What does she want?" It was Sam who asked.

"For some reason Ms. Martin has me mistaken for you, Sam." Harold explained and heard a light snort from Dean but otherwise they kept silent to let him explain. "She's going to call the phone in front of her place in an hour. Your brother and I are supposed to answer it otherwise she's going to kill Mr. Reese."

They had questions, of course, and most of them Harold answered truthfully, others he brushed off but all in all he was surprised how caring they were. Both Winchesters. They even tried to calm him down and reassure him that everything would be alright. He nearly laughed at that one.

However, Dean was willing to meet him at the phone. Harold could only hope that Ms. Martin kept her word and would release Mr. Reese. Or that by that time he'd managed to free himself, John had proven his capability in that department often enough.

While Harold and Dean headed for the phone, it would take Harold at least half an hour to get there, Sam was free to go after Ms. Martin.

Harold wasn't exactly happy about that part of the plan. Ms. Martin knew Sam and would recognize him if she saw him but he had to admit that they couldn't trust her to keep her word. Not that Harold trusted the Winchesters any more than Ms. Martin.

In the end Harold agreed to track Mr. Reese's phone and to update Sam on their position.

"Ready for a walk?" Harold asked Bear when he was ready to leave. He was going to meet a mass murderer to get his friend out of the hands of a serial killer, he would at least take the trained military dog with him.

For a moment he considered to take one of the guns Mr. Reese tend to leave around but decided against it. He doubted it would do him any good. If he wanted to Dean Winchester could overpower him whenever he felt like it and Harold couldn't even hope to run from him.

So with Bear in the back seat, one eye on the screen of the laptop next to him in the passenger seat and Sam in his ear, Harold reached the phone with only seven minutes to spare.

"Mr. Winchester?" Harold got out of the car but kept his distance to the older Winchester. Who gave him a once-over, taking in the limping and the stiff neck and the iron grip Harold had on the dog's leash. Bear stood next to him, body tense like his owner's.

"You have to be frigging kidding me."

Chapter 8
Masterpost