Episode number: 09x18 of
Season 9 Fan Fiction (S9FF)
Title:
Downpour in CairoSubtitle: In the Rain
Author:
dracox-serdrielWord count: 2,462
Rating: R
Warnings: language, violence, innuendo
Arrow Rock, Missouri. Sam had been awake for over an hour, but he had no inclination to get up. Dodge was stretched out across his chest, soundly sleeping for the first time in over a week.
They had driven out here to fix up a hunter's cottage, but Dodge had a vision yesterday about a drowning. He knew that if he searched, he'd find a case, and he didn't want a case right now. He wanted just a few days without blood, death, or firearms.
The cottage Kevin found previously belonged to some distant relative of the Campbell family. Bobby had apparently used it after a particularly bad situation with local police in Wisconsin, but from what Sam could tell, no one had bothered with the place for about a decade. As much as he wanted another safe house, it'd be a pipe dream to repair this one, so he had to scrap the idea.
That didn't mean they couldn't spend a few days out here together.
Dodge woke up. She followed her morning ritual. As soon as her eyes opened, her body tensed and she assessed the situation. They were in a single-bed motel room with a drab mute-green color theme. Her gun was on the nightstand, easily within reach. And she was in bed with -
Her body relaxed as her eyes met Sam's.
"Morning," she said.
"Morning."
"How long've you been awake?"
"Not long."
"You're a terrible liar in the morning."
"I guess."
Dodge leaned in and gave him a soft kiss. He pulled her up slightly, deepening the kiss.
"I'm gonna go brush my teeth," she whispered.
Sam watched as Dodge got out of bed and headed over to the bathroom. He couldn't remember the last time he woke up so happy. Maybe a few years ago, when he was with Amelia? No, his relationship with her was rockier than it ever had been with Jess, which was - whoa, was that really ten years ago?
Sam loved that Dodge knew about hunters. He never had to lie to her about it. But then again, she was an FBI Agent, and he witnessed personally how dangerous her job was back in Chicago when a serial killer threw her off a fifteen-story parking garage. Even without the supernatural world, her life was on the line.
He felt guilty because part of him was happy that her visions made her too sick to wield her badge.
A clatter of fallen objects echoed from the bathroom.
"Dodge?" Sam said as he ran to her.
She had fallen against the bathroom wall; her eyes were elsewhere. Another vision, certainly. Sam reached out for her and held her upright, waiting for it to pass.
Boonville, Missouri. "Agent Page," Dean said, flashing his newest FBI badge at the local officer. "I'm here about the drowning victim."
"Eggers, Grace," the officer replied mechanically without looking up from his computer. "Sheriff Doris Hovey has that case. Three doors down to the left."
Dean followed the instructions and came to a medium-sized office with a middle-aged woman behind the desk.
"Sheriff Hovey?" Dean asked.
"You can put the report in the inbox on the door," she said, not looking up. "And I'll - " She cut her words short when Dean caught her eye. "You're not Ted from forensics."
"No, I am not. Agent Page," Dean replied.
"Sorry," Hovey said, walking over to shake Dean's hand. "Sheriff Doris Hovey."
"Nice to meet you."
"To be honest, I'd rather not have this case," Hovey said, going back to her desk. "Eggers was a good kid."
"I was told her body was found in the river," Dean said. "That she drown around two am last night. Any reason a good kid would be out in the woods so late?"
"Well, I can't prove it," Hovey replied, "but a lot of sports teams do hazing rituals this time of year."
"Okay, have you spoken to the next of kin yet?"
"Notified them, yes. Did the basic prelim: any enemies, any signs of recent depression or indicators of suicide."
"And?"
"And a whole lot of resentment and nothing," Hovey replied.
"You have the coroner's report?"
"No, sorry, the coroner said Ted would drop it by, but he hasn't yet. I'm sure they're ready down at the morgue."
"Right, thanks," Dean said as he exited.
He passed the robotic officer at the front desk and took out his phone. "Sam," he said. "I'm in Boonville, Missouri and we've gotta case."
"Drowning?" Sam asked.
"Yeah. Wait, Kev told me you and Dodge came out to fix up a safe house."
"We did. She had a vision, though. Two, actually."
"Huh," Dean replied. "Little strange, her having a vision of a case in the immediate area."
"I guess. How did you get onto it?"
"Kev," Dean replied. "Said he found a pattern in the old hunter's journals going back about fifty years. I thought I'd check it out, and what-dya-know? New body dropped two nights ago."
"We're about a half hour from you," Sam said. "You good to meet me at the coroner's? Have you seen the body yet?"
"No, that's my next stop. I'll see you there."
Dean waited outside the morgue. When he saw Sam's Dodge Ram pull in, no one was in the passenger seat, and Dean immediately felt relieved. Dodge would not be joining them on this case, at least.
"I was kinda hoping there'd be no case," Sam said by way of greeting.
"So, what? Your plan was just to come out, fix up a cottage, have a little love shack?"
Sam's skin turned crimson, and he hesitated to respond.
"No, hell no!" Dean barked, pulling Sam around so they were face-to-face. "Seriously? Out of all the women in the world? You pick an FBI Agent?"
"Isn't the coroner waiting for us?" Sam said, ignoring Dean's question.
They walked into the building, following the signs till they reached the office of JERRY HYATT, as the door read. Dean knocked.
"Come in," Jerry said from beyond the door.
Jerry's office was more of a scientific display area than a business office. All the odd items distracted Dean.
Jerry walked them down the hall to the morgue proper. He said, "Glad you're here. This one's really weird, and I'm not sure I wanna be the one to explain it."
"Weird how?" Sam asked.
"Well, sure thing it's a drowning," Jerry said, turning the corner. "But she was found a few hours after death, not a scratch on her, and, uh, missing her heart and lungs."
"Without a cut on her? How?" Dean asked.
"Best guess? They were somehow pulled out through the throat. Obviously not in tact."
"How much damage to the esophageal area?" Sam asked.
"A lot. Beats me how they did it without causing damage to the skin," Jerry said.
They finally got to the morgue, and Jerry pulled out the slab with Grace Egger's remains.
"Anything else?" Sam asked. "Did she struggle?"
"There are no indicators that she was held down, but since there were no external injuries associated with the missing internal organs, I'm letting myself remain skeptical."
"What about the bruises on her legs?" Dean asked, pointing to the purple-red marks down her inner thighs and knees. "You don't think that's related to her death?"
"Gracie used to ride horses from time to time," Jerry replied. "Sometimes you get bruises when you ride, and that's exactly where."
"Sorry, did you know her?"
"Small town, and she grew up here," Jerry replied. "And I ride horses myself."
"How recent was the bruising?" Sam asked.
"Sorry?"
"How close to time of death did she get the bruises?" Sam asked.
"Same day, I imagine."
"If she was gonna ride a horse around here, where would she go?" Sam asked.
"Uh, well, there's a mounted troop over in Arrow Rock," Jerry said. "And a few privately owned stables in the general area. I don't know if she had a preference."
"Can you get us that information?" Sam asked.
"For the stables?" Jerry asked.
"It will help us establish a timeline," Dean lied.
"Very well. I'll just be a few minutes."
As Jerry walked away, Sam asked, "Oh, where are her organs?"
"Over here," Jerry said, waving his arm at the steel refrigerator door.
Sam went over to see the organs. Dean examined her fingernails and face. Everything seemed so pristine.
"Brain is intact," Sam said. "And there's damage to some of the other internal organs."
"So, what drowns then slurps your insides-out?" Dean asked. "And apparently is picky about it."
"Dunno," Sam said as he came back to the body. "But Dodge said that the girl was riding a horse right before she drown."
"Ah, of course, if Dodge says so, it must be true," Dean commented bluntly.
"I say we check into the horses, let Cas and Kev check into anything that yanks stuff out through the throat," Sam suggested.
Dean rolled his eyes but made no protest. Jerry returned with a list.
"Here you go, agents," he said, "hope this helps."
"It does, thank you," Sam said.
"Just one more question," Dean said. "You said she was found floating down river. Who found her?"
"Early morning jogger I think," Jerry said. "Called it in. Sheriff fished her out."
"You wanna split up and check out these stables? There're only three and the mounted troop, " Sam said as they got out into the parking lot.
"No," Dean said. "I'm gonna go talk to the girl's parents."
"Okay, but after will you check out one of the - "
"No," Dean interrupted.
"Why not?"
"Because the girl rode horses, so maybe she rode the day she died. Doesn't mean it has anything to do with this case."
"Except that Dodge's vision - "
"No," Dean said. "I'm gonna work this case like a real case. I'm not chasing around visions hoping they suddenly make sense."
"Really? Because last time her visions helped us save five people," Sam pointed out.
Dean shook his head and walked away. Sam steeled his resolve and followed him to the Impala.
Sam said, "Dean, Dodge is the first woman I've liked since Amelia. And unlike Amelia, she knows about the life. She knows the risks, and - she's actually really great."
"Really great?" Dean repeated with no attempt to hide his skepticism.
"Yeah, you two would get along if you gave her a shot," Sam said. "She even likes the same beer - "
"Is that why all my beer ran dry?"
"That's not the point, Dean!" Sam said. "I get it, you don't know her, you don't really trust her. But, come on, two weeks ago she proved to Cas and Kevin that she's all-in."
"You mean because of her seizure-causing visions?" Dean asked. "Nah, not enough."
"Then what is?"
"I dunno, Sam. But I do know that you hid your relationship with this woman from me for months - "
"We weren't in a relationship back then - "
"I mean before, when you were getting cases from her. How many cases did we work from her without me knowing?"
"One, maybe two - "
"Like I said, you hid that from me, so you must've known that it was a bad idea."
"No, Dean, I just knew you didn't want to work with her. It took me long time to trust her, too, okay? But over time, she proved to me that she's trustworthy. And our friend - "
"More than a friend," Dean muttered bitterly.
"Fine, never mind. Let's just work the damn case. I'll check out all the stables," Sam said. "Call me if you find anything at the parents."
Dodge never handled being left behind well, even though she understood that being out in the field was too risky. Not only did her visions constantly impede her daily life, but also riding around with two people impersonating FBI Agents was just plain reckless.
That didn't change the fact that she had to be left behind while Sam and his brother worked on a case.
She pulled out her laptop and her tape recorder. She had gotten into the habit of dictating her visions, or as much as she could remember, then typing them up. There wasn't any good reason for it, but without cases of her own to work on, it was all she really had to keep her hands busy.
Dean did plan on talking with the victim's parents, but before he did that, he needed to have a little heart-to-heart with Sam's new girlfriend. He peeked through the window and saw her at her computer, typing something. She even had a freaking recorder out! He wanted to see how she could explain this one.
"Dean, what the hell?" Sam asked.
He swiveled around to see his younger brother leering at him from his truck.
"How d'you know?"
"You pocketed the motel key," Sam said. "It's not like I didn't notice."
"Did you know you girlfriend's got recorders and shit? Typing things up?"
"Yeah, I do."
"She told you?" Dean asked.
"No, I put a Trojan on her computer, compliments of Charlie. It logs every keystroke and e-mails it to me," Sam replied.
"Uh-huh," Dean said.
"What were you gonna do exactly? Burst in and accuse her of something?"
"Pretty much."
"What is your problem?" Sam asked.
"My problem? Maybe this whole situation stinks. Her brain is being jacked by angels, maybe even by Satan. You really don't see that as a problem?"
"Her brain is being 'jacked' because of us, Dean!"
"What're you even talking about?"
"She wasn't having visions when we met in the summer. Okay? She started having them after..." Sam hesitated.
"After what?"
"After Cas healed her, saved her life. Some other dick angel came looking for him," Sam said, keeping his voice low. "Think about it, Dean. They know we won't be chummy when Heaven's gunning for Cas, so they figure they can beam messages down into someone's head. Someone that we know - "
"Like Charlie or Garth," Dean cut his brother off. "Who both of us know, Sammy, and both of us talk to. And, who both of us trust."
Sam bit the inside of his lip. "But Cas hasn't healed either one of them, not out in the open and recently, like he did for Dodge."
Silence passed as Dean continued to fume.
"Dean, I like Dodge. A lot. So you might as well get used to her being around, because I want her around."
Dean didn't respond, so Sam changed topics. "I'm going to give Dodge my keys, in case she needs the truck. You're driving."
"I'm driving?" Dean echoed. "Where?"
"You said you wanted to talk to the parents, so let's go there."
"Fine," Dean said, "but hurry up."
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