09x11 - Mr. In-Between - Part Three: Shades of Green
Episode Number: 09x11 of Season 9 Fan Fiction (S9FF)
Title: Mr. In-Between
Subtitle: Shades of Green
Author: dracox-serdriel
Word Count: 2,333
Rating: R
Warnings: violence, language, innuedo
Status: Complete. Feedback appreciated.
Dean wasn't sure when his life became so screw up. Just yesterday he'd been happy, over the fucking moon even. Today, Sam copped to working with a Fed behind his back. Castiel flirted with a dweeby coroner, and Benny wanted to run and hide from him -
His brain stopped. He had the feeling something was stalking him, following him, sizing him up. He took a moment while stopped at an intersection to gage his surroundings.
A dark colored goat with amber eyes stared straight at him. It was just beyond the road, by itself. It gave him the creeps.
He turned left and tried to forget about it.
From outside The River Canteen, one of the local watering holes, Benny looked up from his perch. He heard the roar of the Impala coming closer.
"Hey Benny, you find anything?" Dean asked.
"Nah, most of the locals thin' there's a spiri' protectin' the river," the vampire replied as he climbed into the passenger seat. "Only one local died, so mos'ly they don't talk 'bout it."
"Your stuff's at the motel, if - "
"Yeah, that'd be good."
Dean pulled out.
"Look, I remember last time, you had a rough go out in the world, and I don't want that to happen again," Dean said. "But you've been dodging me for weeks."
"Dodgin' is a rough word. I jus' don' fit anywhere, you know that."
"I'm not letting that happen again. We've got resources, and we'll find something. Just don't drop off the map on me is all I'm saying."
"I know what yer sayin'," Benny said fondly. "And I'm glad for it. Don' ge' me wrong, I wanna be there, but it's jus' too much. To be 'round people all the time, bein' what I am."
"I know that feeling," Dean muttered. "I mean it, Benny, we'll figure it out. We'll cure you if that's what it takes."
Benny laughed. "Sur' Dean, if only."
"You told him?" Sam repeated, pulling the pickup into the motel parking lot. "Cas, I should've been the one to tell him, now he'll be pissed at both of us - "
"Yes, he is," Cas admitted. "I thought he'd take it better from me. But now he's upset with me for something, and I don't understand what."
"It's because of Dodge. He's looking for some reason to be mad at you, any reason. Don't push on this one, Cas, let me handle it."
"Now you're upset with me as well?" Cas asked.
"No, I'm just - this is gonna be hard enough," Sam fumbled.
They got out of the truck and headed for the room in a stiff silence.
"Maybe we should just stick to the case?" Castiel offered.
"We can try."
Sam opened the door to find Dean stretched out on his bed with a beer.
"You find anything?" Dean asked without moving.
Sam unloaded the files and notes he had onto the table.
"All three of the drowning victims had records for poaching," Cas said.
"The first exsanguinated victim was a local - " Sam began.
"Samantha Kaufman," Dean said. "Deputy mentioned her."
"The others were hikers or tourists," Sam continued. "All had been cited for poaching or vandalism, other than that, there's - "
"They were all women," Cas interrupted. "And all the drowning victims were men."
"Right, and the last vic, the one Benny found, she and two partners were on a hike. Both are still missing."
"So, what're we talking 'bout here?" Dean asked. "Benny said the locals babbled about a river guardian, which fits with the whole poacher thing."
"I dunno. I dug into other local deaths, and found that our local bloodless body, Samantha, was mother to Amanda Kindle, who died a little over a week ago - "
"Drowning?" Dean asked.
"No, the flu," Sam said. "Or that's what they thought until they opened her up for an autopsy and found she had stage four cancer - "
Dean interrupted, "You said a little over a week ago? So that's before the other murders?"
"Yes, two days after her death, Amanda's mother was killed," Cas said.
"Maybe Amanda's ghost?"
"Ghost doing exsanguination?" Sam asked. "That's new."
"She got any relatives nearby?" Dean asked.
Sam pulled out her file. "A husband and five kids."
"That sucks," Dean muttered. Finishing his beer, he sat up and said, "We should check the husband out. Could be a witchy thing."
"Dean, it's not like I was lying," Sam said.
"I told you I wanted nothing to do with her," Dean said, "and you agreed. Then you said you'd never call her. Meanwhile, you've been taking cases from her."
"She gave us the case with the nightmares, the one that showed you it was Benny - "
"How much does she know?" Dean interrupted.
"What?"
"She knows about Cas, so she knows about angels. Did it ever occur to you she could be really shady? Did you think what could happen to Cas if someone wants to poke some angel dust?"
Sam couldn't let that one go. "Poke some angel dust? Dean, you are the only one poking his angel dust, trust me on that one - "
"Don't make this some cute thing - "
"I'm not. Dodge doesn't know about Cas. He healed her and left, and she never saw him. And I didn't tell her about angels."
"And if there's a fall out? What'll happen to you?"
"I dunno, but I trust her."
"You trust her?"
"Yeah, I do," Sam snapped. "This isn't like before, when there was demon blood or I was missing my soul, okay? My instincts are just as good as yours, and I trust her."
"Seems like more than trust," Dean pushed Sam out of the way. "Stow it, we need to figure out this case."
Dean strolled up to the house of Jason Kindle. They could hear the sounds of children playing.
"Awesome," Dean whispered as he knocked.
Jason Kindle was a tall, square man with a good-natured face. He waved the two brothers into his threadbare living room.
"We're here to talk to you about Samantha Kaufman, your mother-in-law."
Jason lowered his eyes. "Yes, of course."
"Must be hard, losing her so soon after your wife," Dean said. "We're both sorry for your loss."
"Jason!" a woman's voice yelled.
"I'm in here with guests," he yelled back. "Sorry - "
A young woman walked into the living room. She wore dark green attire that matched her emerald eyes, and her heart-shaped face warmed the room. She carried a young boy, maybe about two-years-old.
"Ethan's got a fever," she said.
"Lane could you take him upstairs? Put him to bed?" Jason asked.
"Of course, but he wants you to read to him," Lane replied.
"I will, once I'm done here."
She nodded to them and disappeared upstairs.
"I'm sorry we have to ask," Sam said, "but is Lane the reason you had a falling out with your mother-in-law?"
Jason looked surprised. "No, uh, my wife, Amanda. She was sick. For a long time, and we didn't know. I didn't, anyway. I think she might've near the end. Her mother blamed me, said I should've taken better care of her. She threatened to cut me out of her family's estate after Amanda's death."
Sam comforted Jason. "Pancreatic cancer is very difficult to detect. I'm sure she knew that, she was just upset over her daughter."
"I hope so," Jason mumbled.
"Did she?" Dean asked.
"Did she what?"
"Cut you out of the estate?"
"No," Jason replied. "Well, technically I guess. But the kids, they're all still a part of it, and that's what really matters."
"I'm sure," Sam said sincerely before Dean could speak. "Sorry we have to ask, but about Lane?"
"Oh, right. I met her after Amanda's funeral. She managed to get Ethan to be still for more than five seconds. She's great with the kids, and she offered to nanny for me for room and board, till we got the will and things figure out."
"When was this?"
"Just over a week ago."
"Can I use your bathroom?" Dean asked.
"Uh, sure, just a few doors down."
Sam awkwardly pressed ahead, trying to assess if he was a witch, or cursed, or haunted. Dean headed over to the bathroom, his EMF reader handy.
He crashed into a boy about ten. He reminded Dean of Ben, Lisa's son, and it bothered him.
"Hi," Dean said. "I just need the bathroom."
"It's over there," said the kid. "You're an FBI Agent?"
"Yeah."
"You carry a gun?"
"You bet."
"Cool."
"I'm Dean."
"Jeremy."
Lane yelled from outside, "Jeremy! Need your help!"
"Sorry, gotta go."
Dean wondered why she was outside and not with fever-child, so he discretely crept upstairs. Fever-kid was asleep. Dean poked around, scouting for anything occult or otherwise witchy. There was nothing but kids toys and clothing.
His phone rang, so he silenced it. After he want back downstairs, he answered it, so as to not wake the sick kid.
"Yes?" Dean said.
"This is Deputy Janice Black," she said. "We got another body."
Benny packed his camper. He didn't want to leave, but he couldn't stay. If Dean was right, if there was hope, then he wanted it, but hope was one of those things. If you reach for it and it's not there, you'll be dangling off a cliff you can't come back from.
Fire and ash blasted everywhere, and a young woman was next to him.
"An' you are?" Benny asked.
"My name is Kuravi," she replied. "We met briefly."
"We didn'."
"I've been keeping an eye on you since I raised you out of Purgatory," Kuravi said. "Wasn't sure if you'd wanna talk to me."
"You raised me? I thought tha' was the angel - "
"Castiel," Kuravi said. "Yes, he asked me to."
"That's it? Some guy asks you to raise a vampire and you jus' jump for it?"
"He told me you were a vampire but not a monster."
"I'd sure like tha' tuh be true," Benny said. "But let's face it - "
"You don't like being a child of Eve," Kuravi observed. "I can help you."
"Really? How's that?"
"I can make you human again."
Benny laughed. "I've fed as a vampire. A lot. There's nothin' that can cure me."
"You can become human. It's not only possible, but, to be honest, that part's easy."
"Tha' part?"
"The transformation of the body," Kuravi said. "I can do that, no problem."
"Wha's the problem then?"
"The soul. Said it yourself, you've fed. If I healed you, made you human again, your soul would bear the weight of your deeds as a vampire."
"I'd still go to purgatory?" Benny asked.
"Hell's more like it," Kuravi said, "as you'll be human, and judged as one."
Benny shook his head. "I am wha' I am an' Purgatory, let's face i', is be'er than Hell."
"I know that. I didn't approach you to give you bad news."
"Bu' you jus' did."
"I mean, there's something to be done about the soul, that's the hard part."
"You're sayin' you can etch-a-sketch the sin off my soul?" Benny asked.
"No, don't be ridiculous. Only you can do that."
Benny wasn't sure what Kuravi was or who she was. He couldn't trust most people and certainly not most monsters.
"You can atone for your acts, but it needs to be done while you are a vampire, before you become human again."
"I've gotta think about this," Benny said.
Kuravi handed Benny a red-and-golden feather. "Hold this and call my name," she said, "and I'll hear you."
"Name's Theodore Ramstein," Janice said.
His body was exsanguinated but also hacked and slashed.
"Whoever's killing folks got a lot more violent," she said. "Don't ask me how all the blood is gone, I don't know."
"This is the first man bled out," Sam said. "Maybe the killer had to work harder to subdue him."
"According to the boys back at the station, Ted here was bad news. And he was one of the hikers out here with Emily Hillsdale, who we found earlier today."
"Bad news?" Dean asked.
"Charges of child abuse, which will now never have to be investigated."
Dean had that feeling again. He turned his head and glanced around. Someone was watching him. Then he saw it, that goat -
"Agent?" Janice said. "You need anything else?"
"Uh, no, thanks."
"Any sign of the third man they were hiking with?" Sam asked.
"No, let's hope he fairs better."
Washington, D.C. Two men, thin and dirty, shook shackled in a stone building. They had long beards and were unkempt; maybe they had been held captive for a long time. The world shook. Aldridge Cemetery. The world broke. The day passed by, and as dusk fell, the two men screamed. They begged. They died. The world blasted apart -
Dodge fell out of her bed. Last night, she woke up every hour, on the hour, with a new element of that same dream. Yesterday it had been an annoyance, but now, it's like she couldn't sleep at all. The dream just wouldn't let her.
According to Sam, the other dream had been true. What if this one was, too? Aldridge Cemetery. She knew that place. It was in D.C.
She grabbed her phone.
"Hello?" her partner responded.
"Marie, I got a tip," she said. "About two people being held captive in a cemetery."
"Dodge, it's ten at night."
"I'm sorry. I didn't - "
"I'm glad you called, don't get me wrong," Marie interrupted.
"It can wait."
"No," Marie said, "people tied up in a cemetery? That's a new kind of fucked up. You know who they are?"
Dodge considered this, and her dream surged. "Just that they're scared."
"You wanna check it out first?" Marie asked.
"Yeah, I trust the tip but I'm not sure the source will be taken seriously by anyone else."
"You take it seriously, I take it seriously. I'll pick you up in half an hour, sound good?"
<<< Previous Part:
Part Two: Lost Generation
Next Part: >>>
Part Four: Sailboat in a Bottle
Primary Post: 09x11 Mr. In-Between
Primary Post: Season 9 Fan Fiction (S9FF)
Title: Mr. In-Between
Subtitle: Shades of Green
Author: dracox-serdriel
Word Count: 2,333
Rating: R
Warnings: violence, language, innuedo
Status: Complete. Feedback appreciated.
Dean wasn't sure when his life became so screw up. Just yesterday he'd been happy, over the fucking moon even. Today, Sam copped to working with a Fed behind his back. Castiel flirted with a dweeby coroner, and Benny wanted to run and hide from him -
His brain stopped. He had the feeling something was stalking him, following him, sizing him up. He took a moment while stopped at an intersection to gage his surroundings.
A dark colored goat with amber eyes stared straight at him. It was just beyond the road, by itself. It gave him the creeps.
He turned left and tried to forget about it.
From outside The River Canteen, one of the local watering holes, Benny looked up from his perch. He heard the roar of the Impala coming closer.
"Hey Benny, you find anything?" Dean asked.
"Nah, most of the locals thin' there's a spiri' protectin' the river," the vampire replied as he climbed into the passenger seat. "Only one local died, so mos'ly they don't talk 'bout it."
"Your stuff's at the motel, if - "
"Yeah, that'd be good."
Dean pulled out.
"Look, I remember last time, you had a rough go out in the world, and I don't want that to happen again," Dean said. "But you've been dodging me for weeks."
"Dodgin' is a rough word. I jus' don' fit anywhere, you know that."
"I'm not letting that happen again. We've got resources, and we'll find something. Just don't drop off the map on me is all I'm saying."
"I know what yer sayin'," Benny said fondly. "And I'm glad for it. Don' ge' me wrong, I wanna be there, but it's jus' too much. To be 'round people all the time, bein' what I am."
"I know that feeling," Dean muttered. "I mean it, Benny, we'll figure it out. We'll cure you if that's what it takes."
Benny laughed. "Sur' Dean, if only."
"You told him?" Sam repeated, pulling the pickup into the motel parking lot. "Cas, I should've been the one to tell him, now he'll be pissed at both of us - "
"Yes, he is," Cas admitted. "I thought he'd take it better from me. But now he's upset with me for something, and I don't understand what."
"It's because of Dodge. He's looking for some reason to be mad at you, any reason. Don't push on this one, Cas, let me handle it."
"Now you're upset with me as well?" Cas asked.
"No, I'm just - this is gonna be hard enough," Sam fumbled.
They got out of the truck and headed for the room in a stiff silence.
"Maybe we should just stick to the case?" Castiel offered.
"We can try."
Sam opened the door to find Dean stretched out on his bed with a beer.
"You find anything?" Dean asked without moving.
Sam unloaded the files and notes he had onto the table.
"All three of the drowning victims had records for poaching," Cas said.
"The first exsanguinated victim was a local - " Sam began.
"Samantha Kaufman," Dean said. "Deputy mentioned her."
"The others were hikers or tourists," Sam continued. "All had been cited for poaching or vandalism, other than that, there's - "
"They were all women," Cas interrupted. "And all the drowning victims were men."
"Right, and the last vic, the one Benny found, she and two partners were on a hike. Both are still missing."
"So, what're we talking 'bout here?" Dean asked. "Benny said the locals babbled about a river guardian, which fits with the whole poacher thing."
"I dunno. I dug into other local deaths, and found that our local bloodless body, Samantha, was mother to Amanda Kindle, who died a little over a week ago - "
"Drowning?" Dean asked.
"No, the flu," Sam said. "Or that's what they thought until they opened her up for an autopsy and found she had stage four cancer - "
Dean interrupted, "You said a little over a week ago? So that's before the other murders?"
"Yes, two days after her death, Amanda's mother was killed," Cas said.
"Maybe Amanda's ghost?"
"Ghost doing exsanguination?" Sam asked. "That's new."
"She got any relatives nearby?" Dean asked.
Sam pulled out her file. "A husband and five kids."
"That sucks," Dean muttered. Finishing his beer, he sat up and said, "We should check the husband out. Could be a witchy thing."
"Dean, it's not like I was lying," Sam said.
"I told you I wanted nothing to do with her," Dean said, "and you agreed. Then you said you'd never call her. Meanwhile, you've been taking cases from her."
"She gave us the case with the nightmares, the one that showed you it was Benny - "
"How much does she know?" Dean interrupted.
"What?"
"She knows about Cas, so she knows about angels. Did it ever occur to you she could be really shady? Did you think what could happen to Cas if someone wants to poke some angel dust?"
Sam couldn't let that one go. "Poke some angel dust? Dean, you are the only one poking his angel dust, trust me on that one - "
"Don't make this some cute thing - "
"I'm not. Dodge doesn't know about Cas. He healed her and left, and she never saw him. And I didn't tell her about angels."
"And if there's a fall out? What'll happen to you?"
"I dunno, but I trust her."
"You trust her?"
"Yeah, I do," Sam snapped. "This isn't like before, when there was demon blood or I was missing my soul, okay? My instincts are just as good as yours, and I trust her."
"Seems like more than trust," Dean pushed Sam out of the way. "Stow it, we need to figure out this case."
Dean strolled up to the house of Jason Kindle. They could hear the sounds of children playing.
"Awesome," Dean whispered as he knocked.
Jason Kindle was a tall, square man with a good-natured face. He waved the two brothers into his threadbare living room.
"We're here to talk to you about Samantha Kaufman, your mother-in-law."
Jason lowered his eyes. "Yes, of course."
"Must be hard, losing her so soon after your wife," Dean said. "We're both sorry for your loss."
"Jason!" a woman's voice yelled.
"I'm in here with guests," he yelled back. "Sorry - "
A young woman walked into the living room. She wore dark green attire that matched her emerald eyes, and her heart-shaped face warmed the room. She carried a young boy, maybe about two-years-old.
"Ethan's got a fever," she said.
"Lane could you take him upstairs? Put him to bed?" Jason asked.
"Of course, but he wants you to read to him," Lane replied.
"I will, once I'm done here."
She nodded to them and disappeared upstairs.
"I'm sorry we have to ask," Sam said, "but is Lane the reason you had a falling out with your mother-in-law?"
Jason looked surprised. "No, uh, my wife, Amanda. She was sick. For a long time, and we didn't know. I didn't, anyway. I think she might've near the end. Her mother blamed me, said I should've taken better care of her. She threatened to cut me out of her family's estate after Amanda's death."
Sam comforted Jason. "Pancreatic cancer is very difficult to detect. I'm sure she knew that, she was just upset over her daughter."
"I hope so," Jason mumbled.
"Did she?" Dean asked.
"Did she what?"
"Cut you out of the estate?"
"No," Jason replied. "Well, technically I guess. But the kids, they're all still a part of it, and that's what really matters."
"I'm sure," Sam said sincerely before Dean could speak. "Sorry we have to ask, but about Lane?"
"Oh, right. I met her after Amanda's funeral. She managed to get Ethan to be still for more than five seconds. She's great with the kids, and she offered to nanny for me for room and board, till we got the will and things figure out."
"When was this?"
"Just over a week ago."
"Can I use your bathroom?" Dean asked.
"Uh, sure, just a few doors down."
Sam awkwardly pressed ahead, trying to assess if he was a witch, or cursed, or haunted. Dean headed over to the bathroom, his EMF reader handy.
He crashed into a boy about ten. He reminded Dean of Ben, Lisa's son, and it bothered him.
"Hi," Dean said. "I just need the bathroom."
"It's over there," said the kid. "You're an FBI Agent?"
"Yeah."
"You carry a gun?"
"You bet."
"Cool."
"I'm Dean."
"Jeremy."
Lane yelled from outside, "Jeremy! Need your help!"
"Sorry, gotta go."
Dean wondered why she was outside and not with fever-child, so he discretely crept upstairs. Fever-kid was asleep. Dean poked around, scouting for anything occult or otherwise witchy. There was nothing but kids toys and clothing.
His phone rang, so he silenced it. After he want back downstairs, he answered it, so as to not wake the sick kid.
"Yes?" Dean said.
"This is Deputy Janice Black," she said. "We got another body."
Benny packed his camper. He didn't want to leave, but he couldn't stay. If Dean was right, if there was hope, then he wanted it, but hope was one of those things. If you reach for it and it's not there, you'll be dangling off a cliff you can't come back from.
Fire and ash blasted everywhere, and a young woman was next to him.
"An' you are?" Benny asked.
"My name is Kuravi," she replied. "We met briefly."
"We didn'."
"I've been keeping an eye on you since I raised you out of Purgatory," Kuravi said. "Wasn't sure if you'd wanna talk to me."
"You raised me? I thought tha' was the angel - "
"Castiel," Kuravi said. "Yes, he asked me to."
"That's it? Some guy asks you to raise a vampire and you jus' jump for it?"
"He told me you were a vampire but not a monster."
"I'd sure like tha' tuh be true," Benny said. "But let's face it - "
"You don't like being a child of Eve," Kuravi observed. "I can help you."
"Really? How's that?"
"I can make you human again."
Benny laughed. "I've fed as a vampire. A lot. There's nothin' that can cure me."
"You can become human. It's not only possible, but, to be honest, that part's easy."
"Tha' part?"
"The transformation of the body," Kuravi said. "I can do that, no problem."
"Wha's the problem then?"
"The soul. Said it yourself, you've fed. If I healed you, made you human again, your soul would bear the weight of your deeds as a vampire."
"I'd still go to purgatory?" Benny asked.
"Hell's more like it," Kuravi said, "as you'll be human, and judged as one."
Benny shook his head. "I am wha' I am an' Purgatory, let's face i', is be'er than Hell."
"I know that. I didn't approach you to give you bad news."
"Bu' you jus' did."
"I mean, there's something to be done about the soul, that's the hard part."
"You're sayin' you can etch-a-sketch the sin off my soul?" Benny asked.
"No, don't be ridiculous. Only you can do that."
Benny wasn't sure what Kuravi was or who she was. He couldn't trust most people and certainly not most monsters.
"You can atone for your acts, but it needs to be done while you are a vampire, before you become human again."
"I've gotta think about this," Benny said.
Kuravi handed Benny a red-and-golden feather. "Hold this and call my name," she said, "and I'll hear you."
"Name's Theodore Ramstein," Janice said.
His body was exsanguinated but also hacked and slashed.
"Whoever's killing folks got a lot more violent," she said. "Don't ask me how all the blood is gone, I don't know."
"This is the first man bled out," Sam said. "Maybe the killer had to work harder to subdue him."
"According to the boys back at the station, Ted here was bad news. And he was one of the hikers out here with Emily Hillsdale, who we found earlier today."
"Bad news?" Dean asked.
"Charges of child abuse, which will now never have to be investigated."
Dean had that feeling again. He turned his head and glanced around. Someone was watching him. Then he saw it, that goat -
"Agent?" Janice said. "You need anything else?"
"Uh, no, thanks."
"Any sign of the third man they were hiking with?" Sam asked.
"No, let's hope he fairs better."
Washington, D.C. Two men, thin and dirty, shook shackled in a stone building. They had long beards and were unkempt; maybe they had been held captive for a long time. The world shook. Aldridge Cemetery. The world broke. The day passed by, and as dusk fell, the two men screamed. They begged. They died. The world blasted apart -
Dodge fell out of her bed. Last night, she woke up every hour, on the hour, with a new element of that same dream. Yesterday it had been an annoyance, but now, it's like she couldn't sleep at all. The dream just wouldn't let her.
According to Sam, the other dream had been true. What if this one was, too? Aldridge Cemetery. She knew that place. It was in D.C.
She grabbed her phone.
"Hello?" her partner responded.
"Marie, I got a tip," she said. "About two people being held captive in a cemetery."
"Dodge, it's ten at night."
"I'm sorry. I didn't - "
"I'm glad you called, don't get me wrong," Marie interrupted.
"It can wait."
"No," Marie said, "people tied up in a cemetery? That's a new kind of fucked up. You know who they are?"
Dodge considered this, and her dream surged. "Just that they're scared."
"You wanna check it out first?" Marie asked.
"Yeah, I trust the tip but I'm not sure the source will be taken seriously by anyone else."
"You take it seriously, I take it seriously. I'll pick you up in half an hour, sound good?"
<<< Previous Part:
Part Two: Lost Generation
Next Part: >>>
Part Four: Sailboat in a Bottle
Primary Post: 09x11 Mr. In-Between
Primary Post: Season 9 Fan Fiction (S9FF)