09x16 - Boogie Man - Part Two: Skatene
Episode Number: 09x16 of Season 9 Fan Fiction (S9FF)
Title: Boogie Man
Subtitle: Skatene
Author: dracox-serdriel
Word Count: 2,330
Spoilers: Through episode 08x20 "Pac Man Fever"
Rating: R
Warnings: language, angst, depression, violence
Princeton, New Jersey. Sam paced the length of the hallway, pretending to be interested in the displays along the wall. So far no one looked twice at the overlarge man strolling the halls at Princeton.
Finally, Kevin Tran left the room, smiling as he walked over to Sam.
"You look happy," Sam remarked.
"That was easy," Kevin replied.
"Compared to the Angel Tablet Trials? Sure," Sam said.
"Shhh," Kevin said, indicating the general silence.
They walked out of the building and headed towards the parking lot. Sam kept pushing Kevin to walk faster.
"Dude, come on," Kevin said, "a few extra minutes isn't gonna kill us."
"You don't know that," Sam said. "My car's in the second lot."
"Why would Lucifer even care about me?" Kevin asked. "It's not like - "
"He's worse than Crowley," Sam said. "He's got power, influence, and - there's no telling what he'll do now that his Apocalypse plans have fallen apart. He had the Angel Tablet, Kev. He'll wanna know what's on it."
They reached his truck, and Kevin popped into the passenger seat.
"Krissy and Aiden packed up your dorm room," Sam said as he turned the car on.
"Wait, what?"
"It was either them or your mom," Sam replied.
"Okay, okay, fine, but are you - "
"We're not having this conversation again," Sam said shortly. "There's no time, and it's just too dangerous."
"I was just getting my life back, Sam," Kevin said. "Don't think I won't fight for it again."
"I know," Sam replied as he drove them away from the university parking lot.
Sam didn't make the turn to the Tran residence; instead, he drove towards the highway. Kevin didn't need to ask where they were going.
"What's gonna happen to my mom?" he asked. "Is she coming with us?"
"No," Sam replied. "She and Aiden and Krissy and Jo are all being relocated by a friend of mine in the FBI."
"The FBI can protect my mom from angels?"
"No, Cas has gave her the full rib carving," Sam replied. "All of them, actually."
"Doesn't that mean he can't find them either?"
"Yeah, but it'll be ok."
"Will it ever be?"
"We'll figure it out," Sam said. "We will. Right now, I just gotta make sure you stay alive."
"Wow, comforting," Kevin griped.
"I thought so."
Gallup, New Mexico. Dean rarely worked a full case with Cas as his sole wingman, and he wasn't sure how well this one would go given the angel's recent drop into a comatose depression. Dean could only hope working a case would restore Cas's confidence.
They stepped out of the car, suited up and ready, though Castiel's usually blank demeanor was weighed down by tiredness. It was dusk.
"Agents Rogers and Steel," Dean said as they both flashed their badges at the local officers.
"Glad your here. Detective Dezaree Sommer," she said by way of introduction, "but everyone calls me Sommer."
"Agent Rogers, you can call me Dean," he replied. "This is Agent Steel."
"Great. This one is off-the-charts weird."
"That's our kind of case," Cas replied, sounding oddly human.
"No, this ain't anyone's kinda case," Sommer replied. "Come on."
She waved them into a ground floor door that opened immediately to stairs. Dean carefully walked down, examining the walls and creepy interior.
"Someone lives here?" Dean asked.
"Not exactly," Sommer replied.
They fanned out in the bottom room, which seemed to be more of a basement storage room than a home.
"Ah, I see," Cas remarked.
Tupperware graced every shelf, as if it were on display, and they were all filled with -
"Are those, uh - "
"Human," Sommer replied. "Yep. That one's a full human hand. And we've got a foot and six heads."
"Six heads?" Dean asked. "You know who they are?"
"We've IDed some of them, but we got here thanks to this one," Sommer said, indicating the far right head. "Linus Gallagher."
"Linus, awesome," Dean said. "What makes him so special?"
"He was reported missing by a very adamant citizen, who happens to be related to one of our officers."
"How long was he missing?" Cas asked.
"About twelve hours," she replied. "Like I said, family member checked into it. Saw him walking zombie-like from a club on some security footage. He got cam feed from the surrounding buildings, and Bob's your uncle, Linus walked to this door."
"Zombie-like?" Dean asked almost sounding hopeful.
"Yeah, wacked out on something," Sommer replied.
"We're going to need that footage."
"Of course."
"I see six heads, twelve hands, twelve feet," Castiel said mildly, as if running a basic inventory check.
"And?"
"Nothing else," Cas replied with a twinge of annoyance. "No blood, no bones or bone fragments. No limbs, torsos, or organs - "
"Yeah, we think this guy is running a black market organ donation thing," Sommer said. "Takes the bulk of the bodies so we can't be sure - "
"Why would he do that?" Dean asked. "Take everything but hands, feet, head? And you said this last guy was high, right? I'm not a doctor, but drug users wouldn't be a good target for this kinda thing."
"Beggars can't be choosers, right? And organ harvesters need to cover their tracks, so - "
"Leaving the heads on display is not congruent to 'covering tracks'," Cas said, sounding more like his awkward angelic self. "The hands will allow you to identify them, will they not?"
"Uh, yeah, if they're in the system - "
"So he left precisely what your investigators need to know who has been killed here," Cas said casually. "That does not bode well."
Sommer cast a look at Dean that roughly translated to "What the hell?"
"Uh, Agent Steel," Dean said. "Maybe we should look around before drawing conclusions?"
"Very well," Cas said shortly.
"We're gonna need copies of the files for this," Dean said to Sommer as she made her way out. "Can we - "
She turned and handed him a large, clipped stack of papers. "Enjoy."
When Dean seemed surprised by this, she said, "Look, if your partner is right, and this isn't an organ-harvesting ring, then it's something a lot more twisted, and - let's just say, I'm glad you're here."
"Yeah, right, thanks," Dean replied.
As soon as she was up the stairs, Dean examined the area himself. There was a small drain in the middle of the floor. He grabbed a tissue and tossed it over the drain, and it immediately turned reddish-brown.
"Blood."
"A lot of it," Cas replied. "They were slaughtered on the stairs and then dismembered here."
"Uh, what?"
"I fail to understand what was confusing about that statement," Cas remarked dryly.
"Nothing, you're right," Dean replied. "What about EMF or anything?"
"No EMF or sulfur, but something was here," said the angel. "The cuts along the neck, the ankle, the wrists? They were made by very sharp teeth, though it's likely the authorities will consider it done by tools."
"Teeth?" Dean said. "How can you tell from looking?"
Cas sounded annoyed when he replied, "It's not from looking, it's from smell."
"Cas, what the hell is wrong with you?"
"You said we had to check this out," Cas replied. "I only came along because you insisted. I don't have to relish it."
"I'm not asking you to," Dean replied, "just drop the sour attitude."
Cas scowled, but he made no reply.
"So this isn't some crazy human, right? This is definitely our case?" Dean asked.
"Yes, Dean," Cas said with some annoyance still lingering. "We need to look at the footage, see what they missed."
"Okay," Dean said as he led his angel out onto the street.
Nigel Delossantos was in his own personal Hell. He should never have asked Linus to score for him.
His hands shook, but he didn't care. He needed the buzz to keep him from dropping, but it was making him a little hot. He stumbled outside for some air.
Nigel found himself staring at the stars outside his house. The soft padding of feet drew his attention down to a black, shaggy dog about ten yards from him.
He always liked dogs, and something about this one made him feel lonely. He stepped forward, stumbling slightly, and he realized he had taken a lot more than he needed.
It didn't matter. He needed to follow that dog.
Cas seemed slightly better when they settled into a cramped tech room with an overly excited officer.
"Name's Noah, Noah Gilmer," he said. "Agents. You're here to see the footage?"
"We are," Cas said.
"Okay, so we have footage from some store fronts, outside the club, and a few traffic cameras. I've set it up chronologically for you."
"Great, play it," Dean said shortly.
Noah scrambled to start the footage. Linus Gallagher stumbled out of the alley alongside the club then continued down the main street.
"How far did he walk?" Dean asked.
"About twelve blocks, but the blocks here aren't typical city blocks, so it's like about a mile," Noah said.
"What's that?" Castiel said, pointing at the screen.
"Back it up," Dean ordered Noah.
"It's a dog, I guess," Noah said. "So what?"
Cas turned to Dean, "We need to see every frame that has that dog in it, and before he emerged from that side street."
"Sorry, what?" Noah asked.
"Agent Steel is just filling me in. That first camera footage, can you back it up? Before the guy came out?"
"Uh, yeah, sure," Noah said.
"Stop, there," Cas ordered. "Play it from there."
A tall, dark figure moved out of frame before the dog appeared. On the screen it looked to be little more than a shadow. Feedback and noise clouded its features.
"Can you make this more clear?" Cas asked Noah.
"Uh, no, sorry."
"Is that normal?" Dean asked, pointing out the noise and broken pixels.
"No, actually that's the only time that anomaly appears on the screen."
"Ok, can we get a shot of this, and a few of that dog?" Dean asked.
Noah turned around and looked inquisitively at Dean. "Sorry, I don't see what the dog has to do with this man's death," Noah stated blandly.
"Werewolf," Castiel said, completely deadpan.
Noah laughed, but no on else joined him. "Seriously?" he asked.
"What my partner means, Noah, is that we're not allowed to disclose information about our investigation, even when people think we're absolutely out of it," Dean placated. "So, can we get this rolling please?"
Noah shrugged and set to work.
Castiel stretched out along the motel bed, taking up almost all of it. Dean sat next to him, staring down at his angel.
"Cas, we gotta talk."
"Do we?"
"What's up with you?"
"Besides the impending nature of yet another Apocalypse, the rising of one of the most dangerous entities I've ever known, and the constant threat of death from my own brethren?"
"I like that my sarcasm is rubbing off on you," Dean said as Castiel rolled his eyes. "But most of that stuff you said was true before the whole amnesia witch whammy."
"The whole, 'amnesia witch whammy,'" Cas said, actually miming air quotes, "was a byproduct of Lucifer, Dean."
"I mean, what if the whammy is still going?" Dean asked. "Maybe there's something else going on?"
"What difference does that make?" Cas asked.
"The difference is this is not like you. This isn't even like me, okay? It's like your personality is changing overnight. Sounds like a spell to me."
"No, Dean, all that's happening is that the good things I've done - that we've done - are all coming undone," Cas replied. "And soon we'll be dead because of it."
Dean slid his hand up Castiel's leg to his knee. "Listen, Cas, we both know that's not true. The horsemen aren't up to bat anymore. He sprung out of the cage without all of his angel mojo, right? Otherwise there would be earthquakes and fire falling from the sky like last time."
Cas blinked his eyes slowly. "I suppose, but - "
"No buts," Dean interrupted. "We're gonna figure this shit out, okay? But first we gotta figure this case out. So tell me whatcha got."
The angel stared up at the ceiling. "For all intensive purposes, I have no idea. The pattern roughly matches an off shoot of the Skatene."
"Skatene?" Dean said. "Is that a thing?"
"From the folklore of the indigenous people of North America," the angel continued dryly. "Skatene could transform into an animal, an owl. She appeared to be kind person so a family would invite her in. Then she would decapitate the father and retreat to the woods."
"Except in this case, the thing was a shadow that transformed into a big dog. And people seem to follow it into danger."
"As I said, for all intensive purposes, nothing. I only thought of the Skatene because of the heads."
"What else do we know about this Skatene bitch?"
"It's one of many creatures classified as a bogey."
"A boogie man," Dean said. "Except usually they are used to frighten children."
"In this case, the creature seems to be indiscriminately targeting adolescence."
"Most of these people were early twenties, Cas, way past puberty."
"Adolescence isn't about puberty, physical maturity," Cas began. Then he paused for a moment and took Dean's hand. "You didn't have much of a childhood. You always knew loss, danger, responsibility."
"Learned how to either make a quick buck when Dad was away or steal it," Dean added with a bright smile. "Your point?"
"Adolescence is the time from childhood to independent adulthood. You have always needed to be independent, even before your body was mature. All the victims in that room were mature," Cas said, "but none of them were independent adults. They were all adolescence."
For some reason, Cas's words hit Dean like a bag of ice.
"Dean, it's two in the morning, you need to sleep."
"You're taking up the entire bed!"
"That's never stopped you before."
<<< Previous Part:
Part One: Hagondes
Next Part: >>>
Part Three: Croquemitaine
Primary Post: 09x16 Boogie Man
Primary Post: Season 9 Fan Fiction (S9FF)
Title: Boogie Man
Subtitle: Skatene
Author: dracox-serdriel
Word Count: 2,330
Spoilers: Through episode 08x20 "Pac Man Fever"
Rating: R
Warnings: language, angst, depression, violence
Princeton, New Jersey. Sam paced the length of the hallway, pretending to be interested in the displays along the wall. So far no one looked twice at the overlarge man strolling the halls at Princeton.
Finally, Kevin Tran left the room, smiling as he walked over to Sam.
"You look happy," Sam remarked.
"That was easy," Kevin replied.
"Compared to the Angel Tablet Trials? Sure," Sam said.
"Shhh," Kevin said, indicating the general silence.
They walked out of the building and headed towards the parking lot. Sam kept pushing Kevin to walk faster.
"Dude, come on," Kevin said, "a few extra minutes isn't gonna kill us."
"You don't know that," Sam said. "My car's in the second lot."
"Why would Lucifer even care about me?" Kevin asked. "It's not like - "
"He's worse than Crowley," Sam said. "He's got power, influence, and - there's no telling what he'll do now that his Apocalypse plans have fallen apart. He had the Angel Tablet, Kev. He'll wanna know what's on it."
They reached his truck, and Kevin popped into the passenger seat.
"Krissy and Aiden packed up your dorm room," Sam said as he turned the car on.
"Wait, what?"
"It was either them or your mom," Sam replied.
"Okay, okay, fine, but are you - "
"We're not having this conversation again," Sam said shortly. "There's no time, and it's just too dangerous."
"I was just getting my life back, Sam," Kevin said. "Don't think I won't fight for it again."
"I know," Sam replied as he drove them away from the university parking lot.
Sam didn't make the turn to the Tran residence; instead, he drove towards the highway. Kevin didn't need to ask where they were going.
"What's gonna happen to my mom?" he asked. "Is she coming with us?"
"No," Sam replied. "She and Aiden and Krissy and Jo are all being relocated by a friend of mine in the FBI."
"The FBI can protect my mom from angels?"
"No, Cas has gave her the full rib carving," Sam replied. "All of them, actually."
"Doesn't that mean he can't find them either?"
"Yeah, but it'll be ok."
"Will it ever be?"
"We'll figure it out," Sam said. "We will. Right now, I just gotta make sure you stay alive."
"Wow, comforting," Kevin griped.
"I thought so."
Gallup, New Mexico. Dean rarely worked a full case with Cas as his sole wingman, and he wasn't sure how well this one would go given the angel's recent drop into a comatose depression. Dean could only hope working a case would restore Cas's confidence.
They stepped out of the car, suited up and ready, though Castiel's usually blank demeanor was weighed down by tiredness. It was dusk.
"Agents Rogers and Steel," Dean said as they both flashed their badges at the local officers.
"Glad your here. Detective Dezaree Sommer," she said by way of introduction, "but everyone calls me Sommer."
"Agent Rogers, you can call me Dean," he replied. "This is Agent Steel."
"Great. This one is off-the-charts weird."
"That's our kind of case," Cas replied, sounding oddly human.
"No, this ain't anyone's kinda case," Sommer replied. "Come on."
She waved them into a ground floor door that opened immediately to stairs. Dean carefully walked down, examining the walls and creepy interior.
"Someone lives here?" Dean asked.
"Not exactly," Sommer replied.
They fanned out in the bottom room, which seemed to be more of a basement storage room than a home.
"Ah, I see," Cas remarked.
Tupperware graced every shelf, as if it were on display, and they were all filled with -
"Are those, uh - "
"Human," Sommer replied. "Yep. That one's a full human hand. And we've got a foot and six heads."
"Six heads?" Dean asked. "You know who they are?"
"We've IDed some of them, but we got here thanks to this one," Sommer said, indicating the far right head. "Linus Gallagher."
"Linus, awesome," Dean said. "What makes him so special?"
"He was reported missing by a very adamant citizen, who happens to be related to one of our officers."
"How long was he missing?" Cas asked.
"About twelve hours," she replied. "Like I said, family member checked into it. Saw him walking zombie-like from a club on some security footage. He got cam feed from the surrounding buildings, and Bob's your uncle, Linus walked to this door."
"Zombie-like?" Dean asked almost sounding hopeful.
"Yeah, wacked out on something," Sommer replied.
"We're going to need that footage."
"Of course."
"I see six heads, twelve hands, twelve feet," Castiel said mildly, as if running a basic inventory check.
"And?"
"Nothing else," Cas replied with a twinge of annoyance. "No blood, no bones or bone fragments. No limbs, torsos, or organs - "
"Yeah, we think this guy is running a black market organ donation thing," Sommer said. "Takes the bulk of the bodies so we can't be sure - "
"Why would he do that?" Dean asked. "Take everything but hands, feet, head? And you said this last guy was high, right? I'm not a doctor, but drug users wouldn't be a good target for this kinda thing."
"Beggars can't be choosers, right? And organ harvesters need to cover their tracks, so - "
"Leaving the heads on display is not congruent to 'covering tracks'," Cas said, sounding more like his awkward angelic self. "The hands will allow you to identify them, will they not?"
"Uh, yeah, if they're in the system - "
"So he left precisely what your investigators need to know who has been killed here," Cas said casually. "That does not bode well."
Sommer cast a look at Dean that roughly translated to "What the hell?"
"Uh, Agent Steel," Dean said. "Maybe we should look around before drawing conclusions?"
"Very well," Cas said shortly.
"We're gonna need copies of the files for this," Dean said to Sommer as she made her way out. "Can we - "
She turned and handed him a large, clipped stack of papers. "Enjoy."
When Dean seemed surprised by this, she said, "Look, if your partner is right, and this isn't an organ-harvesting ring, then it's something a lot more twisted, and - let's just say, I'm glad you're here."
"Yeah, right, thanks," Dean replied.
As soon as she was up the stairs, Dean examined the area himself. There was a small drain in the middle of the floor. He grabbed a tissue and tossed it over the drain, and it immediately turned reddish-brown.
"Blood."
"A lot of it," Cas replied. "They were slaughtered on the stairs and then dismembered here."
"Uh, what?"
"I fail to understand what was confusing about that statement," Cas remarked dryly.
"Nothing, you're right," Dean replied. "What about EMF or anything?"
"No EMF or sulfur, but something was here," said the angel. "The cuts along the neck, the ankle, the wrists? They were made by very sharp teeth, though it's likely the authorities will consider it done by tools."
"Teeth?" Dean said. "How can you tell from looking?"
Cas sounded annoyed when he replied, "It's not from looking, it's from smell."
"Cas, what the hell is wrong with you?"
"You said we had to check this out," Cas replied. "I only came along because you insisted. I don't have to relish it."
"I'm not asking you to," Dean replied, "just drop the sour attitude."
Cas scowled, but he made no reply.
"So this isn't some crazy human, right? This is definitely our case?" Dean asked.
"Yes, Dean," Cas said with some annoyance still lingering. "We need to look at the footage, see what they missed."
"Okay," Dean said as he led his angel out onto the street.
Nigel Delossantos was in his own personal Hell. He should never have asked Linus to score for him.
His hands shook, but he didn't care. He needed the buzz to keep him from dropping, but it was making him a little hot. He stumbled outside for some air.
Nigel found himself staring at the stars outside his house. The soft padding of feet drew his attention down to a black, shaggy dog about ten yards from him.
He always liked dogs, and something about this one made him feel lonely. He stepped forward, stumbling slightly, and he realized he had taken a lot more than he needed.
It didn't matter. He needed to follow that dog.
Cas seemed slightly better when they settled into a cramped tech room with an overly excited officer.
"Name's Noah, Noah Gilmer," he said. "Agents. You're here to see the footage?"
"We are," Cas said.
"Okay, so we have footage from some store fronts, outside the club, and a few traffic cameras. I've set it up chronologically for you."
"Great, play it," Dean said shortly.
Noah scrambled to start the footage. Linus Gallagher stumbled out of the alley alongside the club then continued down the main street.
"How far did he walk?" Dean asked.
"About twelve blocks, but the blocks here aren't typical city blocks, so it's like about a mile," Noah said.
"What's that?" Castiel said, pointing at the screen.
"Back it up," Dean ordered Noah.
"It's a dog, I guess," Noah said. "So what?"
Cas turned to Dean, "We need to see every frame that has that dog in it, and before he emerged from that side street."
"Sorry, what?" Noah asked.
"Agent Steel is just filling me in. That first camera footage, can you back it up? Before the guy came out?"
"Uh, yeah, sure," Noah said.
"Stop, there," Cas ordered. "Play it from there."
A tall, dark figure moved out of frame before the dog appeared. On the screen it looked to be little more than a shadow. Feedback and noise clouded its features.
"Can you make this more clear?" Cas asked Noah.
"Uh, no, sorry."
"Is that normal?" Dean asked, pointing out the noise and broken pixels.
"No, actually that's the only time that anomaly appears on the screen."
"Ok, can we get a shot of this, and a few of that dog?" Dean asked.
Noah turned around and looked inquisitively at Dean. "Sorry, I don't see what the dog has to do with this man's death," Noah stated blandly.
"Werewolf," Castiel said, completely deadpan.
Noah laughed, but no on else joined him. "Seriously?" he asked.
"What my partner means, Noah, is that we're not allowed to disclose information about our investigation, even when people think we're absolutely out of it," Dean placated. "So, can we get this rolling please?"
Noah shrugged and set to work.
Castiel stretched out along the motel bed, taking up almost all of it. Dean sat next to him, staring down at his angel.
"Cas, we gotta talk."
"Do we?"
"What's up with you?"
"Besides the impending nature of yet another Apocalypse, the rising of one of the most dangerous entities I've ever known, and the constant threat of death from my own brethren?"
"I like that my sarcasm is rubbing off on you," Dean said as Castiel rolled his eyes. "But most of that stuff you said was true before the whole amnesia witch whammy."
"The whole, 'amnesia witch whammy,'" Cas said, actually miming air quotes, "was a byproduct of Lucifer, Dean."
"I mean, what if the whammy is still going?" Dean asked. "Maybe there's something else going on?"
"What difference does that make?" Cas asked.
"The difference is this is not like you. This isn't even like me, okay? It's like your personality is changing overnight. Sounds like a spell to me."
"No, Dean, all that's happening is that the good things I've done - that we've done - are all coming undone," Cas replied. "And soon we'll be dead because of it."
Dean slid his hand up Castiel's leg to his knee. "Listen, Cas, we both know that's not true. The horsemen aren't up to bat anymore. He sprung out of the cage without all of his angel mojo, right? Otherwise there would be earthquakes and fire falling from the sky like last time."
Cas blinked his eyes slowly. "I suppose, but - "
"No buts," Dean interrupted. "We're gonna figure this shit out, okay? But first we gotta figure this case out. So tell me whatcha got."
The angel stared up at the ceiling. "For all intensive purposes, I have no idea. The pattern roughly matches an off shoot of the Skatene."
"Skatene?" Dean said. "Is that a thing?"
"From the folklore of the indigenous people of North America," the angel continued dryly. "Skatene could transform into an animal, an owl. She appeared to be kind person so a family would invite her in. Then she would decapitate the father and retreat to the woods."
"Except in this case, the thing was a shadow that transformed into a big dog. And people seem to follow it into danger."
"As I said, for all intensive purposes, nothing. I only thought of the Skatene because of the heads."
"What else do we know about this Skatene bitch?"
"It's one of many creatures classified as a bogey."
"A boogie man," Dean said. "Except usually they are used to frighten children."
"In this case, the creature seems to be indiscriminately targeting adolescence."
"Most of these people were early twenties, Cas, way past puberty."
"Adolescence isn't about puberty, physical maturity," Cas began. Then he paused for a moment and took Dean's hand. "You didn't have much of a childhood. You always knew loss, danger, responsibility."
"Learned how to either make a quick buck when Dad was away or steal it," Dean added with a bright smile. "Your point?"
"Adolescence is the time from childhood to independent adulthood. You have always needed to be independent, even before your body was mature. All the victims in that room were mature," Cas said, "but none of them were independent adults. They were all adolescence."
For some reason, Cas's words hit Dean like a bag of ice.
"Dean, it's two in the morning, you need to sleep."
"You're taking up the entire bed!"
"That's never stopped you before."
<<< Previous Part:
Part One: Hagondes
Next Part: >>>
Part Three: Croquemitaine
Primary Post: 09x16 Boogie Man
Primary Post: Season 9 Fan Fiction (S9FF)