(Don't Fear) The Reaper
Chapter Four - The Benders
Harry wondered if the two Winchesters dressing up as sheriffs was possibly the strangest thing he had ever witnessed, watching the two talk to the McKay family in regards to a strange noise the son had heard. Then he remembered the minister outfits.
“I know you’re just doing your job, but the police have been here all week already. I don’t see why we have to go though this again. The more he tells the story, the more he believes it’s true.” Mrs McKay said, running a hand through her son’s hair.
“Mrs McKay, we know you spoke with the local authorities.”
“But, uh, this seems like a matter for the state police, so...” Dean trailed off. Harry smirked and stood next to Sam.
“Don’t worry about how crazy it sounds, Evan. You just tell us what you saw.” Sam said, posing his pen above his notebook as he looked at the young boy
“I was up late, watching TV. When I heard this weird noise.” The boy, Evan told them nervously.
“What did it sound like?”
“It sounded like... a monster.” Evan told them, glancing at his mother, who had a look of disbelief on her face.
“Tell the officers what you were watching on TV.” Mrs McKay told her son, Harry grinned and moved closer to the group, looking over Dean’s shoulder at what he had wrote.
“The mother’s overbearing and the kid has an over-active imagination? Bit harsh Dean.” Harry read out, looking up at Dean and tutting.
“Godzilla Vs. Mothra.” Evan admitted sheepishly, Dean smiled and became excited.
“That’s my favourite Godzilla movie. It’s so much better than the original, huh?”
“Totally.” Evan agreed, smiling widely.
“Yeah.” Dean nodded towards Sam, much to Harry’s curiosity. “He likes the remake.”
“Yuck.” Sam glared at Dean, whilst Harry hmmed and leant against Sam.
“I kinda preferred the remake. Those baby Godzilla’s were cute! I tried to make a pet version, but I had to kill it when it tried to eat me. Luna said that it was bad blood I had used. We were going to try and make another one after the war.” Harry stopped talking when he noticed the looks Dean and Sam were sending him.
“Evan, did you see what this thing was?” Sam asked, ignoring Harry who was now sulking.
“No. But I saw it grab Mr Jenkins. It pulled him underneath the car.” Evan said earnestly, Harry also detected a hint of excitement in his voice. Sadistic little brat.
“Then what?” Sam asked, risking a glance at Harry who had wandered nearer to Dean, whistling innocently.
“It took him away. I heard the monster leaving. It made this really scary sound.”
“Yeah, that’s what Skippy did.” Harry said sagely, nodding. Sam glanced at Harry as though he was completely insane before shaking his head and looking back at his notebook, much to Evan’s mothers confusion.
“Skippy?” Dean asked incredulously, much to the McKay’s confusion. The two looked at him strangely as Dean blushed, realising he had spoken aloud.
“Who’s Skippy officer?” Mrs McKay asked, as Harry told him.
“Yeah, that’s what I called my mini-Zilla. I used to watch the TV show when I was a kid. Well, when I say I watched it, I mean I listened to it. Through the door, you know? I liked the song.” Harry told him, then proceeded to hum the Skippy theme tune.
“What did it sound like Evan?” Sam asked, dragging the McKay’s attention away from his now insane brother.
“Like this... whining growl.” Evan told him. Sam and Dean exchanged a glance and Sam made a note in his notebook.
“Thanks for your time.” Sam said with a smile, as he and Dean made their way out of the small apartment. Harry followed after them, cheerfully waving to the mortals that couldn’t actually see him.
Later that evening, they had decided to discuss their findings at the local bar, much to Harry’s confusion, as he was British, and he could have sworn they were called pubs. He also couldn’t understand why. He couldn’t get drunk, even when he was alive. Hank knows he’d tried. So Harry was sitting at a table, discreetly peeling the beer-mats as Sam looked through the research on his computer and Dean played darts.
“So, local police have now ruled out foul play. Apparently, there are worse signs of a struggle.” Sam told Dean, because, let’s be honest, he wasn’t talking to Harry. Harry sighed and grabbed another beer-mat to decimate.
“Well, they could be right, it could just be a kidnapping. Maybe this isn’t our kind of gig.”
“Yeah, maybe not. Except for this - dad marked this area, Dean.” Sam told him, opening their fathers journal to the right page and showing Dean. “Possible hunting grounds of a phantom attacker.”
“Why would he even do that?” Dean asked, taking the darts out of the board and starting again.
“Well, he found a lot of local folklore about a dark figure that comes out at night. Grabs people, then vanishes. He found this too - this county has more missing persons per capita than anywhere else in the state.”
“I bet Britain in the nineties had more.” Harry stated musingly, drawing pictures in the spilt beer on the table, having run out of beer-mats.
“Huh? Why?” Dean asked, taking a drink of his beer and looking at Harry curiously.
“Oh, the guy I was fated to kill, he liked to kill people for sport. His followers got props for originality and all that. Though he did prefer to just torture them with Crucio. Stung like a bitch.”
“Er... Well it’s weird that this place is missing a lot of people.” Dean said, glancing at Harry before turning back to Sam.
“Yeah.”
“Don’t phantom attackers usually snatch people from their beds? Jenkins was taken from a parking lot.”
“Well, there are all kinds. You know, Springhill Jacks, Phantom Gassers. They take people anywhere, anytime. Look, Dean, I don’t know if this is our kind of gig either.”
“It isn’t a grindylow or a Red Cap.” Harry muttered, looking at the list Sam had managed to make.
“Huh? How come?”
“Grindylows are water-dwelling and Red Caps generally prefer marshes and bogs. Or at least fog. They like fog. Don’t know why. Have a whale of a time when it’s foggy. Especially when they are in a bog and it’s foggy. Little evil buggers then.” Harry added with a scowl.
“Right. Well, I think we should ask around more tomorrow.” Dean told him as he stood up and went to the bar.
“Hey Harry.”
“Hmm? You know, that man now thinks you’re talking to yourself.” Harry said, grinning widely as he nodded at the man in the table next to them staring at Sam strangely.
“Yeah, so what? I want to ask a favour.”
“Sure.”
“Keep an eye of Dean. I don’t care what you do, just watch over him. I’ve got a bad feeling.” Sam said, glancing over at Dean, who was leaning on the bar, chatting a woman up.
“What about you?” Harry asked, nibbling on his lip nervously and wishing he could get drunk.
“I don’t matter. Please Harry, promise me.” Sam pleaded, making Harry shift in his seat and the man one table over stand up and leave, muttering about lunatics.
“Fine. I’ll protect Dean. How ironic, a Reaper striving to keep a human alive.” Harry muttered, blushing lightly when Sam beamed at him happily.
“Hey hey, what are you smiling at? I didn’t get a number.” Dean said, sticking his lower lip out.
“Right. I saw a motel about five miles back.” Sam said, taking his wallet out and standing up.
“Whoa, whoa, easy. Let’s have another round.”
“We should get an early start.” Sam said with a frown.
“Yeah, you really know how to have fun, don’t you, Grandma?” Sam smiled at Dean as he grumbled. “Alright, I’ll meet you outside, I gotta take a leak.” Dean told him as he gathered his coat and made his way to the back of the bar.
“Right, I’ll take my research to the car, wait here for him.” Sam said with a frown aimed at Harry. Harry sighed and nodded, leaning back in his chair as he watched Sam gather up his research and walk out of the pub.
Dean came out of the toilets after about five minutes, which made Harry question his bladder conditions, and wonder if Sam would have held it against him if Dean died because of a bladder infection.
“Where’s Sammy?” Dean asked, walking over to Harry, which Harry would freely admit shocked him, as he figured Dean would have ignored him in the hopes of abandoning him.
“Outside, he told me to wait for you as he didn’t trust you not to bring some strange woman back to the motel with you.” Harry told him blandly, leaning on his hand, looking up at Dean.
“Huh, well come on, let’s go and prove him wrong.” Dean said with a frown at the door Sam had left through.
“Or he’ll think I did my job.” Harry stated lightly, jumping up from his seat and jauntily leading the way out of the pub.
Together they walked back to the car and noticed that Sam wasn’t around it, so Dean, glancing at Harry and shrugging, opened the car to check if Sam was inside. Harry got a sinking sensation in his stomach and he glanced around him.
“Where is he?” Dean muttered to himself, though Harry heard him and began to feel ill.
“Er... Maybe he came back inside to see what was holding us up?” Harry asked weakly.
“Did you see him come back in?”
“No.”
“Then he didn’t come back in did he? Come on, we’ll have a look around for him.”
They had searched everywhere for Sam and in the end made their way wearily back to the bar they had started at. Harry glanced at Dean helplessly as he shook his head.
“Where is he? Hey, you guys been outside, around here in the last hour or so?” Dean asked a biker and his girlfriend urgently. They looked at Dean blandly, making Harry wonder how much they had drunk and shook their heads negatively. Dean walked away and looked at Harry, making Harry take a step away from the angry and worried brother.
“What do we do now?” Harry asked worriedly, looking at Dean nervously.
“We go to the police?”
“Pardon?” Harry asked, blinking at Dean.
“We got to the police.”
“You know, I thought you said that. Aren’t you a felon?”
“No!” Dean sputtered indignantly.
“Huh, you just look a little rough around the edges. Suppose you really can’t judge a book by it’s cover.”
They found themselves being sent to the deputy of the creepy little town, who insisted that they call her Kathleen, the next day. Harry scowled as he followed the two humans to the small room Kathleen lead them to.
“So what can we do for you, Officer Washington?” Kathleen asked after looking at a fake police ID Dean had, making Harry frown at it suspiciously. Harry sighed and sat down on the table near Dean.
“I'm working a missing persons.” Dean told her. Harry looked at her shrewdly, wondering how she was supposed to help them find Sam.
“I didn’t know the Jenkins case was being covered by the state police.” Kathleen admitted with a small frown.
“Oh, no. No, there’s someone else. Actually it’s my cousin. We were havin’ a few last night at this bar down by the highway. And I haven’t seen him since.”
“Does your cousin have a drinking problem?” Kathleen asked, making Harry snort with laughter, despite the serious situation.
“Sam? Two beers and he’s doin’ karaoke. No, he wasn’t drunk.” Dean said with a small smile. Kathleen nodded and turned to the computer on her desk.
“Alright. What’s his name?”
“Winchester. Sam Winchester.” Dean told her, leaning forward in his seat to look at the screen. Harry glanced over Dean’s shoulder, quickly leaning back though when the screen flickered briefly.
“Like the rifle?”
“Are all law official people things obsessed with guns?” Harry asked with a frown at the deputy.
“Like the rifle.” Dean confirmed with a nod. Kathleen typed in the name and then looked over the police record brought up, clicking on Dean’s link and bringing up his record.
“Samuel Winchester. So, you know that his brother, Dean Winchester, died in St. Louis. And, uh, was suspected of murder.” Kathleen asked, reading the police record. Dean tried to look nonchalant, made somewhat harder by Harry’s scandalised gasp.
“I knew you looked like a felon!” Harry said, pointing at Dean to make the impression last longer.
“Yeah, Dean. Kind of the black sheep of the family. Handsome though.”
“Careful, you’re head won’t fit through the door on the way out.” Harry warned, rolling his eyes.
“Uh-huh. Well, he’s not showing up in any current field reports.” Kathleen told him, typing on the computer and reading the results.
“Oh, I already have a lead. I saw a surveillance camera by the highway.” Dean told her.
“Uh-huh. The county traffic cam?”
“Right. Yeah. I’m thinking the camera picked up whatever took him. Or, whoever.” Dean added when Kathleen looked at him strangely.
“Well, I have access to the traffic am footage down at the county works department, but - well, anyhow, let’s do this the right way.” Kathleen said, standing up, making Harry jump out of her way quickly much to Dean’s amusement, and getting some paperwork from a filing cabinet. “Why don’t you fill out a missing persons report and sit tight over here?” She told Dean, handing him a clipboard.
“Officer, look, uh, he’s family. I kind of - I kind of look out for the kid. You gotta let me go with you.” Dean said pleadingly, Harry glanced up from where he was looking at the form.
“She’s not going to let us go?! Is she insane?” Harry shrieked, making Dean wince slightly as he was right next to him.
“I’m sorry, I can’t do that.”
“She is! She’s insane! We’re trusting her with Sam’s life?” Harry asked, trying to restrain himself not to attack the deputy.
“Well, tell me something. You county has its fair share of missing persons. Any of ‘em come back? Sam’s my responsibility. And he’s comin’ back. I’m bringin’ him back.” Dean told her, making both Harry and Kathleen stare at him in stunned silence.
Dean and Harry sat on a bench outside of the County Works Department waiting for Kathleen to get some results in searching for Sam.
“Do you think he’s still alive?” Dean asked morosely.
“Definitely. He’s alive. I’d know if he was dead.” Harry said firmly, almost believing it himself. “Here she is. I can’t believe she wasn’t going to let us go.” Harry said huffily as Kathleen came over to them, holding printouts of the camera footage in her hand.
Dean stood up to meet her, ignoring Harry, who sighed and stood up as well, trying to get a glimpse of the photos.
“Greg, I think we’re got something.” Kathleen told him, grinning and handing him the printouts. “These traffic cams take an image every three seconds, as part of the Amber Alert program. These images were all taken around the time that your cousin, Sam, disappeared.” Kathleen explained as Dean looked through the photos.
“This really isn’t what I’m looking for.” Dean admitted, trying to find a photo in which he could at least identify the van that took his brother.
“Would it be bad to just kill her!!” Harry yelled in frustration, making Dean twitch almost imperceptibly.
“Just wait, wait - next one. This one was taken right after Sam left the bar. Look at the back end of that thing. Now look at the plates.” Dean looked at the photos and then turned to the next one, which was a close-up of the license plates.
“Oh, the plates look new. It’s probably stolen.” Dean added unneeded. Harry rolled his eyes and fidgeted behind Dean.
“So whoever’s driving that rust bucket must be involved.” Kathleen told him smugly. Harry looked up when he heard an engine of a beat up van whining loudly as it passed by them and nudged Dean, pointing the van out to him.
“That the van, you think?”
“Hear that engine?”
“Yeah.”
“Kind of a whining growl, isn’t it?” Dean asked, looking at the van.
“Sure.” Kathleen agreed. Dean and Harry stared at the van as it drove away in complete disbelief.
“I’ll be damned.” Dean muttered to himself.
Dean, Harry and Kathleen were all sitting in the sheriffs car, which took some getting into as Dean had to somehow manage to get Harry into the car as well without looking weird to Kathleen. He ended up with Harry practically sitting on his lap, much to Harry’s amusement and Dean’s consternation.
“Okay, the next traffic cam is fifty miles from here, and the pickup didn’t pass that one, so...” Kathleen trailed off, searching around her as she slowed the car down.
“So, it must’ve pulled off somewhere. I didn’t see any other roads here”
“Well a lot of these backwoods properties have their own private roads.”
“Great.” Dean huffed, annoyed and accidentally, though Harry believed otherwise, elbowing Harry.
“Ow! That hurt! Bony idiot.” Harry huffed, noticing that Kathleen was looking at something that had come up on Kathleen’s computer, which was occasionally flickering depending on how close Harry swayed to the machine. “Heads up.” Harry muttered to Dean, making him look away from the window and at Kathleen.
“So, Gregory.”
“Yeah?” Dean asked cautiously.
“Uh oh.” Harry muttered, shifting slightly and making Dean wince.
“I ran your badge number. It’s routine when we’re working a case with state police. For accounting purposes and what have you.”
“Mmhmm.”
“Smooth Dean. James Bond you are not.”
“And, uh, they just got back to me. “ Kathleen said, pulling the car to a stop and making Harry and Dean look at each other, though to be fair, it probably looked like Dean looked at Kathleen. “It says here your badge was stolen.” Dean looks surprised, which to Harry looked impressively convincing. “And here’s your picture of you.” Harry glimpsed at the photo and burst into shocked laughter, making Dean grin sheepishly.
“I lost some weight. And I got that Michael Jackson skin disease.” Dean said, grinning cheekily. Kathleen took off her seat belt and looked at Dean.
“Okay, would you step out of the car, please?”
“Look, look, look. If you wanna arrest me, that’s fine. I’ll cooperate, I swear. But, first, please - let me find Sam.” Dean pleaded with her. Harry watched Kathleen nervously, hoping that she didn’t stop searching for Sam.
“Oh god. Dean! What do we do?”
“I don’t even know who you are. Or if this Sam person is missing.”
“Why would we lie about that? Sam would be with us!! We would be with Sam!! Tell her!! She is insane!! Sam is out there alone!! Dean!!” Harry shrieked, making Dean flinch at the volume once more.
“Look into my eyes and tell me if I’m lying about this.”
“Oh great. Like that’s going to work.”
“Identity theft? You’re impersonating an officer.”
“Told you it wouldn’t work. Though to be fair, this is hardly the worse crime you’ve committed.
“Look, here’s the thing. When we were young, I pretty much pulled him from a fire. And ever since then, I’ve felt responsible for him. Like it’s my job to keep him safe. I’m just worried that if we don’t find him fast.” Dean’s voice broke and he swallowed, looking away. “He’s my family.”
“Oh god. We cannot lose Sam! We will not lose Sam!” Harry stated firmly, making Dean grab his hand out of view and squeeze it.
“I’m sorry. You’ve given me no choice. I have to take you in.” Kathleen said, looking at a photo in her visor. She glanced at Dean sadly and sighed. “After we find Sam Winchester.”
“Woo! Go Dean with your puppy dog eyes!! Such a cutey you!” Harry said, smacking a kiss on Dean’s cheek. Harry was secretly impressed with how good Dean was getting at ignoring him.
Kathleen had stopped the car back in town, with both of them getting out and getting a cup of coffee to go. Much to Harry’s relief. Dean may have been a very attractive man, the Winchester genes were something to be jealous of Harry thought, but practically sitting in his lap in a situation where he was the only one able to see him. Harry was just glad to be left alone on his own in the car for a few minutes.
When they got back to the car, they both seemed to have an understanding with one another, which left Harry feeling somewhat left out. Kathleen drove them in silence past the edge of a forest, though to Harry it seemed that she chose the area at random, however, it was random that they found the van, so Harry was preying random got them even further.
“Wait, wait, wait - pull over here. Pull over.” Dean told her. Kathleen slowed the car to a stop and all three piled out of the car, Harry quickly following Dean. “It’s the first turn-off I’ve seen so far.”
“You stay here, I’ll check it out.” Kathleen told him as they stopped at the edge of the forest.
“No way!”
“Like she couldn’t see that one coming.”
“Hey. You’re a civilian. And a felon, I think. I’m not taking you with me.”
“Like that’s gonna stop us, ay Dean?” Harry asked, nudging the hunter.
“You’re not goin’ without me.”
“Oh yeah, that told her.” Harry said, rolling his eyes whilst Kathleen sighed and walked back to the car with Dean.
“Alright. You promise you won’t get involved? You’ll let me handle it?” Kathleen asked.
“You know, Luna told me about a situation like this. Can’t remember what she said though.”
“Yeah, I promise.”
“Shake on it.” Kathleen extended her hand out to Dean, who grabbed it and shook it. Both Dean and Harry stared in shock when Kathleen placed a set of handcuffs on Dean’s arm and then attached the other cuff to the car door.
“She’s good.”
“This is ridiculous. Kathleen, I really think you’re gonna need my help.” Dean pleaded, tugging at the cuffs around his hands.
“I’ll manage. Thank you.” Kathleen said dryly, locking the door as she walked away, leaving a stunned Harry and Dean behind.
“Well that was a flop. What are we gonna do now?” Harry asked, looking at the cuff around Dean’s wrist.
“I gotta start carrying paper clips.”
“Well that was profoundly helpful.” Harry stated dryly.
“It would be if I carried them around with me. Then I’d be able to actually get out of these stupid things and get Sam.”
“Huh. Well what else can you use?” Harry asked curiously, looking around for something to jump out at him, much to Dean’s hidden amusement.
“Something long, thin and preferably metal.”
“The antenna?”
“The antenna would be perfect.” Dean said, before he reached up and tried to grab the antenna. However he was too far away and couldn’t reach it. In the distance they heard the distinctive whine of the engine of the pickup truck.
“Oh, son of a bitch. Can you not get it for me?” Dean asked Harry, struggling to reach the antenna.
“Er... me? I’m a midget! I’m even shorter than you!”
“You don’t have to say it like that.”
“Like what?”
“Implying I’m short.”
“Well you’re not tall.”
“Oh shut it midget.”
“Me! Keep stretchin’, I don’t want to be reapin’ your soul anytime soon.”
“I’m stretchin’! Trust me! Aha!” Dean exclaimed, grabbing hold of the antenna and then starting the painstaking task of unscrewing it.
“Er... not to cause panic or anything, but they’re getting closer.”
“Shut up. Nearly there.” Dean muttered, unscrewing the antenna and pulling it away. Harry watched as he fiddled with the wire and the handcuffs and then grinned when he heard the unmistakeable click and the cuffs dropped away.
“Maybe we should keep them.” Harry said, picking the cuffs up from the floor and pocketing them.
“I do not want to know what you and my brother get up to when I’m not around.” Dean muttered, making Harry blush bright red.
“We’re not doing anything.”
“Sure, whatever. I don’t want to know. Let’s just go find him, shall we?” Dean asked, leading his way into the forest as the brother’s walked out opposite them, just missing them.
Dean lead Harry to a large house in the middle of the forest, which confused Harry, who muttered under his breath, still following Dean. They looked around, before Dean lead them to a large barn behind the house, carefully opening the door and walking in quietly.
“Sam? Are you hurt?”
“Shit Sam! You’re in a cage.”
“No, I’m not hurt.” Sam answered Dean, only smiling at Harry kindly.
“Damn, it’s good to see you.” Dean exclaimed in relief.
“How did you get out of the cuffs?” Kathleen asked from her cage, Dean spun around to face her and smirked.
“Oh, I know a trick or two.” Alright. Oh, these locks look like they’re gonna be a bitch.” Dean said, examining the locks on the cage doors. He turned and looked at Harry, much to Kathleen’s confusion.
“Think you can make them go funky? You and electricity seems to mix like diet coke and mentoes.” Dean said, making Sam snigger and Harry sulk.
“Hey, it’s not that explosive.”
“Who are you talking to?” Kathleen asked, making Sam, Dean and Harry all look at her, having forgotten she was there.
“Ah, er... no one?”
“I can’t risk it. If I do and it makes it worse then what do we do?”
“You know, there is some kind of automatic control right there.” Sam told them. Pointing to a panel on a post in the barn.
“Have you seen ‘em?”
“Yeah. Dude, they’re just people.”
“Really? You know, I’m beginning to question you’re claims of being Hunters. I’ve been with you about a month and I'm the biggest oogie boogie you’ve met. Me.” Harry said incredulously, making both brothers stare at him before sniggering.
“You do have a disturbing point there. Back to a more serious point though, they jumped you? Must be getting’ a little rusty there, kiddo.” Dean said, walking over to the control panel and randomly pressing buttons. “What do they want?”
“Why would they need to want something?”
“I don’t know.” Sam said with a shrug, answering both questions, though more so Dean’s. “They let Jenkins go, but that was some sort of trap. It doesn’t make any sense to me.”
“Well, that’s the point You know, with our usual playmates, there’s rules, there’s patterns. But with people, they’re just crazy.”
“Wow, Dean made sense. That’s creepy.” Harry stated, making Sam grin and Dean scowl at him.
“See anything else out there?”
“Uh, he has about a dozen junked cars hidden out back. Plates from all over, so I’m thinkin’ when they take someone, they take their car too.”
“Did you see a black Mustang out there? About ten years old?” Kathleen asked, getting a sad look from Dean, much to Sam and Harry’s confusion.
“Yeah, actually I did. Your brothers?” Dean asked, Kathleen nodded and Harry and Sam finally understood what the two were talking about. “Let’s get you guys out of here, then we’ll take care of those bastards. This thing takes a key. Key?” Dean asked, looking at the control panel in horror.
“I don’t know.”
“Alright, I better go find it.” Dean said, turning to leave, but stopping when Sam called after him.
“Hey. Be careful.”
“Yeah.” Dean said and left the barn.
“Harry. Go with him!” Sam shouted, much to Kathleen’s confusion.
“Yeah yeah. I got it, seriously, after this, neither of you are splitting up!” Harry groaned, walking out of the barn, hearing the gasp from Kathleen as the door seemingly opened and then closed on it’s own.
Harry made his way up to the house, following after where he hoped Dean had gone and let himself inside, not caring if anyone saw the door open. Hopefully it would give them the wiggins if they did.
“Dean? Dean? Where the bloody hell are you?” Harry muttered, walking into the creepy house, looking at the bones and other objects lying around.
Harry wandered through the house, before hearing the yell of someone yelling for their father. Harry slowly waked that way, guessing, correctly, that Dean would be the one causing the yelling.
Harry walked into the main room to find Dean being tied up to a chair, unconscious. Harry groaned and wondered what to do. “To save or not to save.” Dean groaned, waking up, and looked around him, eyes catching on Harry and scowling.
“Come on. Let us hunt him.” One of the sons said, well Harry thought he was a son. He was younger than the oldest at least.
“Yeah, this ones a fighter. Sure would be fun to hunt.” The other son said, making the father laugh and Harry and Dean to look disgusted.
“Oh, you gotta be kiddin’ me. That’s what this is about? You yahoos hunt people?” Dean asked incredulously, staring at his captors in horror.
“You ever killed before?” The father asked, grinning obscenely.
“Well, that depends on what you mean.”
“I’ve hunted all my life. Just like my father, his before him. I’ve hunted deer and bear - I even got a cougar once. But the best hunt is human. Oh, there’s nothin’ like it. Holdin’ their life in your hands. Seein’ the fear in their eyes just before they go dark. Makes you feel powerful alive.” The father told Dean, making Dean look disgusted.
“You’re a sick puppy.”
“We give ‘em a weapon. Give ‘em a fightin’ chance. It’s kind of like our tradition passed down, father to son. Of course, only one or two a year. Never enough to bring the law down, we never been that sloppy.”
“Yeah, well, don’t sell yourself short. You’re plenty sloppy.”
“So, what, you with that pretty cop? Are you a cop?” The father asked, making Harry snort despite the situation.
“If I tell you, you promise not to make me into an ashtray?” Dean asked, making the father look at him angrily and Harry groan.
“You make my job of protecting you so much harder.” Harry grumbled as one of the sons punched Dean.
“Only reason I don’t let my boys take you right here and now is that there’s somethin’ I need to know.” The father said. He walked to the fire place and took a hot poker.
“Yeah, how ‘bout it’s not nice to marry your sister?” Dean told him, making Harry wince, though he did find it rather amusing. Harry carefully took a step closer to Dean, finally coming to a stop behind him.
“Play along with anything.” Harry told him, placing his hand on the side of Dean’s neck. Dean didn’t move, only stared at the father.
“Tell me - any of the cops gonna come lookin’ for you?”
“Oh, eat me. No, no, no wait, wait - you actually might.” Dean said with a grin. One of the sons walked over to Dean and held his head in place, forcing him to look at the father. Harry moved slightly out of the way, but not taking his hand off of Dean.
“You think this is funny? You brought this down on my family. Alright, you wanna play games? We’ll play some games. Looks like we’re gonna have a hunt tonight after all, boys. And you get to pick the animal.” The father said, turning to Dean with a grin. “The boy or the cop?”
“Okay, wait, wait - look, nobody’s comin’ for me, alright? It’s just us.”
“You don’t choose, I will.” The father said, before moving the poker and pressing it into Dean’s chest.
“Scream!” Harry told him through gritted teeth, Dean glanced down briefly before finally screaming, as Harry took the pain into himself. Of course, he wasn’t entirely sure it was going to work, so he was surprised when it did. He had no idea what Dean was feeling though. Hopefully it wasn’t pain.
“Oh, you son of a bitch!” Dean yelled, though Harry thought some of it may have been aimed at him.
“Look, this is all I can do to take some of the pain!” Harry told him huffily, he nibbled his lip as the father held to poker to Dean’s eye threateningly. “Er - dunno if I can save your eyes. Mine are so much more pretty.”
“Next time, I’ll take an eye.” The father said, taking Dean’s attention away form Harry.
“Alright, the guy, the guy! Take the guy!”
“What? Are you insane?” Harry shrieked. The son holding Dean’s head let it go as his father moved the poker and then took a key from around his neck and giving it to the other son.
“Lee, go do it. Don’t let him out, though. Shoot him in the cage.” The father told Lee, making him grin and walk to the door.
“What? I thought you said you were gonna hunt him. You were gonna give him a chance.”
“Lee, when you’re done wit the boy - shoot the bitch too.” Lee nodded and left the house with his rifle. “Better clean this mess up before any more cops come runnin’ out here.” The father told him. Dean looked at him, showing fear for the first time, before struggling to look at Harry, who was feeling like Dean looked.
“Sam’s not going to die! I refuse to let him die!” Harry stated, moving so that Dean could see him.
“Look, I now you’re up to something with my brother, and at the moment I don’t care, I just want to know why you’re here with me and not him!” Dean yelled, looking at Harry with tears of frustration glinting in the corners of his eyes, making the three others in the room look at him strangely.
“You’re right. I do want Sam. But that doesn’t mean I can follow him wherever he is! Do you understand me? I don’t know!!! I should have stayed with him!! Instead I stayed with you! All because he asked me to watch over you! You!! Not him!” Harry screamed, pulling at his hair in anger. This was all his fault, he just knew it. Damn Reaper genes. They weren’t helping him at all. He had no way of saving his Sam.
Wait - His Sam? Oh dear.
“So you can’t help me? Why are you here then? Why don’t you just go off and reap some more souls?” Dean yelled back, making Harry stop tugging at his hair and look at Dean. He could feel tears forming in his eyes much to his shame.
“I can’t. I gave up that right when I chose to follow you and your brother. I have to wait for Hank to come to me now. I can’t feel souls that are ready to leave anymore. I don’t collect human souls anymore. I can’t be returned to mortality though, either! It isn’t possible. You and your brother are the only ones who have ever been able to see me and not sue me for your own needs. Sam is the only one, since I have become a demon, that actually looked at me as a human! Even you look at me with some distrust in your eyes. He didn’t though and now I’ve lost him!” Harry said, feeling lost for the first time since he had met the Winchester brothers, flinching when they heard the sound of a gunshot.
“You hurt my brother and I swear I will kill you! I will kill you all!” Dean yelled, glaring at the family in front of him.
“You won’t have to. If they harm Sam anymore than they already have and I will make sure they don’t have a soul left to do whatever their religion says will happen. No one will find anything left of their soul or man parts actually. Never piss of a Reaper.” Harry stated with a glower. Dean stared at Harry with a look Harry liked to think was impressed and maybe a little bit cowed.
The father stared at Dean as though he had lost his mind, and then walked to the door and stuck his head outside. “Lee!” When he didn’t get a response, he turned back into the room and look at his other two family members. “Jared, you come with me. Missy, you watch him now.” Jared grabbed two rifles, handing one to his father. Missy remained behind, standing next to Dean with a knife dangerously close to his eye. The sound of a gun being shot echoed around the room, followed by more soon after.
“Can you not just zap her?” Dean asked anxiously, making Missy glare at him suspiciously, occasionally glancing in Harry’s direction.
“Zap her? What do you think I am?”
“I don’t know! Do something Reaper-boy!”
“Oh that’s it!” Harry huffed, wondering if his magic would work and pointing a finger at Missy. The girl continued to glance around the room warily, whilst not moving from Dean, when she suddenly got thrown across the room. “Oops.”
“Oops? Oops?! What the hell did you do?”
“Er... Well maybe the explanation should be saved for later hmm?” Harry said sheepishly, glancing at the unconscious girl on the floor guiltily before picking up the discarded knife and cutting the ropes holding Dean.
“You are telling me what you did, but first we need to find Sam.” Dean told him, though Harry wasn’t listening to him as Sam had run into the room at the moment.
“I found Sam.” Harry said cheerfully, making Dean spin around to face his brother and enveloping him in a bear hug. Harry waved at Sam from over Dean’s shoulder, getting a smile and small wave back.
“Let’s get out of here. I may never be able to watch Deliverance again.” Dean mumbled, walking out of the house with Sam, Harry following close behind them. They met up with Kathleen outside as she was leaving the barn.
“Where’s the girl?” She asked them, walking over to them.
“Out cold in the living room. What about the dad?” Dean asked. All three noticed as she paused before answering.
“Shot. Trying to escape.” Kathleen told them, they walked to Kathleen’s police car, in the make-shift junk yard and finding the keys left in the ignition. Kathleen leaned into the car and grabbed the radio and turning it on.
“Shall we get out of here?” Sam asked wearily, making Harry nod fervently.
“Yeah, I think the car is a t the police station.” Dean told them, whilst Kathleen listened to a woman on her walkie-talkie.
“Backup unit en route to your location.” A woman’s voice sounded over the radio.
“So, state police and the FBI are gonna be here within the hour. They’re gonna wanna talk to you. I suggest that you’re both long gone by then.” Kathleen told them, making Harry huff at being ignored.
“Thanks. Hey, listen, I don’t mean to press our luck but we’re kind of in the middle of nowhere. Think we could catch a ride?” Dean asked with a grin.
“Start walking. Duck if you see a squad car.”
“Sounds great to me. Thanks.” Sam said, smiling at Kathleen.
“Listen, uh... I’m sorry about your brother.” Dean told her. Harry nibbled his lip, uncomfortable and walked over to Sam.
“Thank you. It was really hard not knowing what happened to him. I thought it would be easier once I knew the truth - but it isn’t really. Anyway, you should go.” Kathleen said, sniffling slightly and wiping her tears out of her eyes. Sam and Dean nodded and then walked away from the house.
They walked in complete silence, making their way down the dirt road and through the gate at the end, sticking to the trees on the side of the road.
“Never do that again.” Dean said, breaking the silence as they walked along the road. Harry nodded his agreement fervently.
“Do what?”
“Go missing! What do you think?” Harry asked incredulously.
“I would have said it less hysterical, but yeah. Don’t ever go missin’ like that again.”
“You were worried about me.” Sam said with a laugh.
“All I’m sayin’ is, you vanish like that again, I’m not lookin’ for ya.”
“Sure you won’t.”
“I’m not.”
“So you got sidelined by a thirteen-year-old girl?”
“”Shut up. More importantly, ask Harry what he did to said thirteen-year-old girl.” Dean said, moving the spotlight onto Harry, who swallowed heavily and smiled weakly at the brothers.
“What did you do Harry?”
“Er - first, I suppose I should tell you that magic is real. I mean magic of the wand-waving kind. Not just voodoo. Real magic. Spells, potions, magical creatures. It’s easier to explain to you tow, than normal non-magical people because of what you deal with on a regular basis, but yeah. Magic.”
“Magic?” Dean asked blandly.
“Yeah. I was a wizard before I died. The guy I was destined to kill? He was a Dark Lord.”
“Like Darth Vader?”
“Er... sure. Was he a dark lord?”
“You’ve never heard of Darth Vader?” Dean asked incredulously, looking at Harry as though he had just kicked his puppy. Sam watched the two silently from the side.
“Nope, anyway. Back to the story. What I did was a spell. Only um... since I died, my magic doesn’t like to obey me.”
“Obey you?” Dean asked dryly.
“Why not?” Sam asked at the same time, breaking his silence.
“Erm, obey me, as in, do what I want it to do. It won’t because, normally, when you die, your magic goes back into the earth. When I died, my soul didn’t move on, and I kept a grasp on my magic and didn’t let it leave.” Harry told them with a shrug.
“So it won’t do what you want anymore?”
“Not all the time. Sometimes it becomes a little - eager? My spells either fail or do what I want, but... more so. I only wanted to shove Missy back and well, Dean, you saw what happened when my magic interpreted that.”
“So you don’t do magic anymore?”
“Only when I feel like my magic is feeling in a good mood.” Harry told them with a light shrug.
“You make it sound like it’s alive.” Dean told him with a smirk.
“It is.”
“Pardon?”
“It is. Well I’ve always thought it was. So when I died, my magic should have left me and joined the earth, but well... I didn’t want it to and so in a way, it’s holding a grudge. A bloody long one as well.”
“Okaay. You do know you sound like you have schizophrenia, right?” Dean told him before grabbing Sam and ducking into the trees when a police car approached, leaving Harry alone on the roadside to contemplate what he had just said.
Next Chapter
Previous Chapter
Harry wondered if the two Winchesters dressing up as sheriffs was possibly the strangest thing he had ever witnessed, watching the two talk to the McKay family in regards to a strange noise the son had heard. Then he remembered the minister outfits.
“I know you’re just doing your job, but the police have been here all week already. I don’t see why we have to go though this again. The more he tells the story, the more he believes it’s true.” Mrs McKay said, running a hand through her son’s hair.
“Mrs McKay, we know you spoke with the local authorities.”
“But, uh, this seems like a matter for the state police, so...” Dean trailed off. Harry smirked and stood next to Sam.
“Don’t worry about how crazy it sounds, Evan. You just tell us what you saw.” Sam said, posing his pen above his notebook as he looked at the young boy
“I was up late, watching TV. When I heard this weird noise.” The boy, Evan told them nervously.
“What did it sound like?”
“It sounded like... a monster.” Evan told them, glancing at his mother, who had a look of disbelief on her face.
“Tell the officers what you were watching on TV.” Mrs McKay told her son, Harry grinned and moved closer to the group, looking over Dean’s shoulder at what he had wrote.
“The mother’s overbearing and the kid has an over-active imagination? Bit harsh Dean.” Harry read out, looking up at Dean and tutting.
“Godzilla Vs. Mothra.” Evan admitted sheepishly, Dean smiled and became excited.
“That’s my favourite Godzilla movie. It’s so much better than the original, huh?”
“Totally.” Evan agreed, smiling widely.
“Yeah.” Dean nodded towards Sam, much to Harry’s curiosity. “He likes the remake.”
“Yuck.” Sam glared at Dean, whilst Harry hmmed and leant against Sam.
“I kinda preferred the remake. Those baby Godzilla’s were cute! I tried to make a pet version, but I had to kill it when it tried to eat me. Luna said that it was bad blood I had used. We were going to try and make another one after the war.” Harry stopped talking when he noticed the looks Dean and Sam were sending him.
“Evan, did you see what this thing was?” Sam asked, ignoring Harry who was now sulking.
“No. But I saw it grab Mr Jenkins. It pulled him underneath the car.” Evan said earnestly, Harry also detected a hint of excitement in his voice. Sadistic little brat.
“Then what?” Sam asked, risking a glance at Harry who had wandered nearer to Dean, whistling innocently.
“It took him away. I heard the monster leaving. It made this really scary sound.”
“Yeah, that’s what Skippy did.” Harry said sagely, nodding. Sam glanced at Harry as though he was completely insane before shaking his head and looking back at his notebook, much to Evan’s mothers confusion.
“Skippy?” Dean asked incredulously, much to the McKay’s confusion. The two looked at him strangely as Dean blushed, realising he had spoken aloud.
“Who’s Skippy officer?” Mrs McKay asked, as Harry told him.
“Yeah, that’s what I called my mini-Zilla. I used to watch the TV show when I was a kid. Well, when I say I watched it, I mean I listened to it. Through the door, you know? I liked the song.” Harry told him, then proceeded to hum the Skippy theme tune.
“What did it sound like Evan?” Sam asked, dragging the McKay’s attention away from his now insane brother.
“Like this... whining growl.” Evan told him. Sam and Dean exchanged a glance and Sam made a note in his notebook.
“Thanks for your time.” Sam said with a smile, as he and Dean made their way out of the small apartment. Harry followed after them, cheerfully waving to the mortals that couldn’t actually see him.
Later that evening, they had decided to discuss their findings at the local bar, much to Harry’s confusion, as he was British, and he could have sworn they were called pubs. He also couldn’t understand why. He couldn’t get drunk, even when he was alive. Hank knows he’d tried. So Harry was sitting at a table, discreetly peeling the beer-mats as Sam looked through the research on his computer and Dean played darts.
“So, local police have now ruled out foul play. Apparently, there are worse signs of a struggle.” Sam told Dean, because, let’s be honest, he wasn’t talking to Harry. Harry sighed and grabbed another beer-mat to decimate.
“Well, they could be right, it could just be a kidnapping. Maybe this isn’t our kind of gig.”
“Yeah, maybe not. Except for this - dad marked this area, Dean.” Sam told him, opening their fathers journal to the right page and showing Dean. “Possible hunting grounds of a phantom attacker.”
“Why would he even do that?” Dean asked, taking the darts out of the board and starting again.
“Well, he found a lot of local folklore about a dark figure that comes out at night. Grabs people, then vanishes. He found this too - this county has more missing persons per capita than anywhere else in the state.”
“I bet Britain in the nineties had more.” Harry stated musingly, drawing pictures in the spilt beer on the table, having run out of beer-mats.
“Huh? Why?” Dean asked, taking a drink of his beer and looking at Harry curiously.
“Oh, the guy I was fated to kill, he liked to kill people for sport. His followers got props for originality and all that. Though he did prefer to just torture them with Crucio. Stung like a bitch.”
“Er... Well it’s weird that this place is missing a lot of people.” Dean said, glancing at Harry before turning back to Sam.
“Yeah.”
“Don’t phantom attackers usually snatch people from their beds? Jenkins was taken from a parking lot.”
“Well, there are all kinds. You know, Springhill Jacks, Phantom Gassers. They take people anywhere, anytime. Look, Dean, I don’t know if this is our kind of gig either.”
“It isn’t a grindylow or a Red Cap.” Harry muttered, looking at the list Sam had managed to make.
“Huh? How come?”
“Grindylows are water-dwelling and Red Caps generally prefer marshes and bogs. Or at least fog. They like fog. Don’t know why. Have a whale of a time when it’s foggy. Especially when they are in a bog and it’s foggy. Little evil buggers then.” Harry added with a scowl.
“Right. Well, I think we should ask around more tomorrow.” Dean told him as he stood up and went to the bar.
“Hey Harry.”
“Hmm? You know, that man now thinks you’re talking to yourself.” Harry said, grinning widely as he nodded at the man in the table next to them staring at Sam strangely.
“Yeah, so what? I want to ask a favour.”
“Sure.”
“Keep an eye of Dean. I don’t care what you do, just watch over him. I’ve got a bad feeling.” Sam said, glancing over at Dean, who was leaning on the bar, chatting a woman up.
“What about you?” Harry asked, nibbling on his lip nervously and wishing he could get drunk.
“I don’t matter. Please Harry, promise me.” Sam pleaded, making Harry shift in his seat and the man one table over stand up and leave, muttering about lunatics.
“Fine. I’ll protect Dean. How ironic, a Reaper striving to keep a human alive.” Harry muttered, blushing lightly when Sam beamed at him happily.
“Hey hey, what are you smiling at? I didn’t get a number.” Dean said, sticking his lower lip out.
“Right. I saw a motel about five miles back.” Sam said, taking his wallet out and standing up.
“Whoa, whoa, easy. Let’s have another round.”
“We should get an early start.” Sam said with a frown.
“Yeah, you really know how to have fun, don’t you, Grandma?” Sam smiled at Dean as he grumbled. “Alright, I’ll meet you outside, I gotta take a leak.” Dean told him as he gathered his coat and made his way to the back of the bar.
“Right, I’ll take my research to the car, wait here for him.” Sam said with a frown aimed at Harry. Harry sighed and nodded, leaning back in his chair as he watched Sam gather up his research and walk out of the pub.
Dean came out of the toilets after about five minutes, which made Harry question his bladder conditions, and wonder if Sam would have held it against him if Dean died because of a bladder infection.
“Where’s Sammy?” Dean asked, walking over to Harry, which Harry would freely admit shocked him, as he figured Dean would have ignored him in the hopes of abandoning him.
“Outside, he told me to wait for you as he didn’t trust you not to bring some strange woman back to the motel with you.” Harry told him blandly, leaning on his hand, looking up at Dean.
“Huh, well come on, let’s go and prove him wrong.” Dean said with a frown at the door Sam had left through.
“Or he’ll think I did my job.” Harry stated lightly, jumping up from his seat and jauntily leading the way out of the pub.
Together they walked back to the car and noticed that Sam wasn’t around it, so Dean, glancing at Harry and shrugging, opened the car to check if Sam was inside. Harry got a sinking sensation in his stomach and he glanced around him.
“Where is he?” Dean muttered to himself, though Harry heard him and began to feel ill.
“Er... Maybe he came back inside to see what was holding us up?” Harry asked weakly.
“Did you see him come back in?”
“No.”
“Then he didn’t come back in did he? Come on, we’ll have a look around for him.”
They had searched everywhere for Sam and in the end made their way wearily back to the bar they had started at. Harry glanced at Dean helplessly as he shook his head.
“Where is he? Hey, you guys been outside, around here in the last hour or so?” Dean asked a biker and his girlfriend urgently. They looked at Dean blandly, making Harry wonder how much they had drunk and shook their heads negatively. Dean walked away and looked at Harry, making Harry take a step away from the angry and worried brother.
“What do we do now?” Harry asked worriedly, looking at Dean nervously.
“We go to the police?”
“Pardon?” Harry asked, blinking at Dean.
“We got to the police.”
“You know, I thought you said that. Aren’t you a felon?”
“No!” Dean sputtered indignantly.
“Huh, you just look a little rough around the edges. Suppose you really can’t judge a book by it’s cover.”
They found themselves being sent to the deputy of the creepy little town, who insisted that they call her Kathleen, the next day. Harry scowled as he followed the two humans to the small room Kathleen lead them to.
“So what can we do for you, Officer Washington?” Kathleen asked after looking at a fake police ID Dean had, making Harry frown at it suspiciously. Harry sighed and sat down on the table near Dean.
“I'm working a missing persons.” Dean told her. Harry looked at her shrewdly, wondering how she was supposed to help them find Sam.
“I didn’t know the Jenkins case was being covered by the state police.” Kathleen admitted with a small frown.
“Oh, no. No, there’s someone else. Actually it’s my cousin. We were havin’ a few last night at this bar down by the highway. And I haven’t seen him since.”
“Does your cousin have a drinking problem?” Kathleen asked, making Harry snort with laughter, despite the serious situation.
“Sam? Two beers and he’s doin’ karaoke. No, he wasn’t drunk.” Dean said with a small smile. Kathleen nodded and turned to the computer on her desk.
“Alright. What’s his name?”
“Winchester. Sam Winchester.” Dean told her, leaning forward in his seat to look at the screen. Harry glanced over Dean’s shoulder, quickly leaning back though when the screen flickered briefly.
“Like the rifle?”
“Are all law official people things obsessed with guns?” Harry asked with a frown at the deputy.
“Like the rifle.” Dean confirmed with a nod. Kathleen typed in the name and then looked over the police record brought up, clicking on Dean’s link and bringing up his record.
“Samuel Winchester. So, you know that his brother, Dean Winchester, died in St. Louis. And, uh, was suspected of murder.” Kathleen asked, reading the police record. Dean tried to look nonchalant, made somewhat harder by Harry’s scandalised gasp.
“I knew you looked like a felon!” Harry said, pointing at Dean to make the impression last longer.
“Yeah, Dean. Kind of the black sheep of the family. Handsome though.”
“Careful, you’re head won’t fit through the door on the way out.” Harry warned, rolling his eyes.
“Uh-huh. Well, he’s not showing up in any current field reports.” Kathleen told him, typing on the computer and reading the results.
“Oh, I already have a lead. I saw a surveillance camera by the highway.” Dean told her.
“Uh-huh. The county traffic cam?”
“Right. Yeah. I’m thinking the camera picked up whatever took him. Or, whoever.” Dean added when Kathleen looked at him strangely.
“Well, I have access to the traffic am footage down at the county works department, but - well, anyhow, let’s do this the right way.” Kathleen said, standing up, making Harry jump out of her way quickly much to Dean’s amusement, and getting some paperwork from a filing cabinet. “Why don’t you fill out a missing persons report and sit tight over here?” She told Dean, handing him a clipboard.
“Officer, look, uh, he’s family. I kind of - I kind of look out for the kid. You gotta let me go with you.” Dean said pleadingly, Harry glanced up from where he was looking at the form.
“She’s not going to let us go?! Is she insane?” Harry shrieked, making Dean wince slightly as he was right next to him.
“I’m sorry, I can’t do that.”
“She is! She’s insane! We’re trusting her with Sam’s life?” Harry asked, trying to restrain himself not to attack the deputy.
“Well, tell me something. You county has its fair share of missing persons. Any of ‘em come back? Sam’s my responsibility. And he’s comin’ back. I’m bringin’ him back.” Dean told her, making both Harry and Kathleen stare at him in stunned silence.
Dean and Harry sat on a bench outside of the County Works Department waiting for Kathleen to get some results in searching for Sam.
“Do you think he’s still alive?” Dean asked morosely.
“Definitely. He’s alive. I’d know if he was dead.” Harry said firmly, almost believing it himself. “Here she is. I can’t believe she wasn’t going to let us go.” Harry said huffily as Kathleen came over to them, holding printouts of the camera footage in her hand.
Dean stood up to meet her, ignoring Harry, who sighed and stood up as well, trying to get a glimpse of the photos.
“Greg, I think we’re got something.” Kathleen told him, grinning and handing him the printouts. “These traffic cams take an image every three seconds, as part of the Amber Alert program. These images were all taken around the time that your cousin, Sam, disappeared.” Kathleen explained as Dean looked through the photos.
“This really isn’t what I’m looking for.” Dean admitted, trying to find a photo in which he could at least identify the van that took his brother.
“Would it be bad to just kill her!!” Harry yelled in frustration, making Dean twitch almost imperceptibly.
“Just wait, wait - next one. This one was taken right after Sam left the bar. Look at the back end of that thing. Now look at the plates.” Dean looked at the photos and then turned to the next one, which was a close-up of the license plates.
“Oh, the plates look new. It’s probably stolen.” Dean added unneeded. Harry rolled his eyes and fidgeted behind Dean.
“So whoever’s driving that rust bucket must be involved.” Kathleen told him smugly. Harry looked up when he heard an engine of a beat up van whining loudly as it passed by them and nudged Dean, pointing the van out to him.
“That the van, you think?”
“Hear that engine?”
“Yeah.”
“Kind of a whining growl, isn’t it?” Dean asked, looking at the van.
“Sure.” Kathleen agreed. Dean and Harry stared at the van as it drove away in complete disbelief.
“I’ll be damned.” Dean muttered to himself.
Dean, Harry and Kathleen were all sitting in the sheriffs car, which took some getting into as Dean had to somehow manage to get Harry into the car as well without looking weird to Kathleen. He ended up with Harry practically sitting on his lap, much to Harry’s amusement and Dean’s consternation.
“Okay, the next traffic cam is fifty miles from here, and the pickup didn’t pass that one, so...” Kathleen trailed off, searching around her as she slowed the car down.
“So, it must’ve pulled off somewhere. I didn’t see any other roads here”
“Well a lot of these backwoods properties have their own private roads.”
“Great.” Dean huffed, annoyed and accidentally, though Harry believed otherwise, elbowing Harry.
“Ow! That hurt! Bony idiot.” Harry huffed, noticing that Kathleen was looking at something that had come up on Kathleen’s computer, which was occasionally flickering depending on how close Harry swayed to the machine. “Heads up.” Harry muttered to Dean, making him look away from the window and at Kathleen.
“So, Gregory.”
“Yeah?” Dean asked cautiously.
“Uh oh.” Harry muttered, shifting slightly and making Dean wince.
“I ran your badge number. It’s routine when we’re working a case with state police. For accounting purposes and what have you.”
“Mmhmm.”
“Smooth Dean. James Bond you are not.”
“And, uh, they just got back to me. “ Kathleen said, pulling the car to a stop and making Harry and Dean look at each other, though to be fair, it probably looked like Dean looked at Kathleen. “It says here your badge was stolen.” Dean looks surprised, which to Harry looked impressively convincing. “And here’s your picture of you.” Harry glimpsed at the photo and burst into shocked laughter, making Dean grin sheepishly.
“I lost some weight. And I got that Michael Jackson skin disease.” Dean said, grinning cheekily. Kathleen took off her seat belt and looked at Dean.
“Okay, would you step out of the car, please?”
“Look, look, look. If you wanna arrest me, that’s fine. I’ll cooperate, I swear. But, first, please - let me find Sam.” Dean pleaded with her. Harry watched Kathleen nervously, hoping that she didn’t stop searching for Sam.
“Oh god. Dean! What do we do?”
“I don’t even know who you are. Or if this Sam person is missing.”
“Why would we lie about that? Sam would be with us!! We would be with Sam!! Tell her!! She is insane!! Sam is out there alone!! Dean!!” Harry shrieked, making Dean flinch at the volume once more.
“Look into my eyes and tell me if I’m lying about this.”
“Oh great. Like that’s going to work.”
“Identity theft? You’re impersonating an officer.”
“Told you it wouldn’t work. Though to be fair, this is hardly the worse crime you’ve committed.
“Look, here’s the thing. When we were young, I pretty much pulled him from a fire. And ever since then, I’ve felt responsible for him. Like it’s my job to keep him safe. I’m just worried that if we don’t find him fast.” Dean’s voice broke and he swallowed, looking away. “He’s my family.”
“Oh god. We cannot lose Sam! We will not lose Sam!” Harry stated firmly, making Dean grab his hand out of view and squeeze it.
“I’m sorry. You’ve given me no choice. I have to take you in.” Kathleen said, looking at a photo in her visor. She glanced at Dean sadly and sighed. “After we find Sam Winchester.”
“Woo! Go Dean with your puppy dog eyes!! Such a cutey you!” Harry said, smacking a kiss on Dean’s cheek. Harry was secretly impressed with how good Dean was getting at ignoring him.
Kathleen had stopped the car back in town, with both of them getting out and getting a cup of coffee to go. Much to Harry’s relief. Dean may have been a very attractive man, the Winchester genes were something to be jealous of Harry thought, but practically sitting in his lap in a situation where he was the only one able to see him. Harry was just glad to be left alone on his own in the car for a few minutes.
When they got back to the car, they both seemed to have an understanding with one another, which left Harry feeling somewhat left out. Kathleen drove them in silence past the edge of a forest, though to Harry it seemed that she chose the area at random, however, it was random that they found the van, so Harry was preying random got them even further.
“Wait, wait, wait - pull over here. Pull over.” Dean told her. Kathleen slowed the car to a stop and all three piled out of the car, Harry quickly following Dean. “It’s the first turn-off I’ve seen so far.”
“You stay here, I’ll check it out.” Kathleen told him as they stopped at the edge of the forest.
“No way!”
“Like she couldn’t see that one coming.”
“Hey. You’re a civilian. And a felon, I think. I’m not taking you with me.”
“Like that’s gonna stop us, ay Dean?” Harry asked, nudging the hunter.
“You’re not goin’ without me.”
“Oh yeah, that told her.” Harry said, rolling his eyes whilst Kathleen sighed and walked back to the car with Dean.
“Alright. You promise you won’t get involved? You’ll let me handle it?” Kathleen asked.
“You know, Luna told me about a situation like this. Can’t remember what she said though.”
“Yeah, I promise.”
“Shake on it.” Kathleen extended her hand out to Dean, who grabbed it and shook it. Both Dean and Harry stared in shock when Kathleen placed a set of handcuffs on Dean’s arm and then attached the other cuff to the car door.
“She’s good.”
“This is ridiculous. Kathleen, I really think you’re gonna need my help.” Dean pleaded, tugging at the cuffs around his hands.
“I’ll manage. Thank you.” Kathleen said dryly, locking the door as she walked away, leaving a stunned Harry and Dean behind.
“Well that was a flop. What are we gonna do now?” Harry asked, looking at the cuff around Dean’s wrist.
“I gotta start carrying paper clips.”
“Well that was profoundly helpful.” Harry stated dryly.
“It would be if I carried them around with me. Then I’d be able to actually get out of these stupid things and get Sam.”
“Huh. Well what else can you use?” Harry asked curiously, looking around for something to jump out at him, much to Dean’s hidden amusement.
“Something long, thin and preferably metal.”
“The antenna?”
“The antenna would be perfect.” Dean said, before he reached up and tried to grab the antenna. However he was too far away and couldn’t reach it. In the distance they heard the distinctive whine of the engine of the pickup truck.
“Oh, son of a bitch. Can you not get it for me?” Dean asked Harry, struggling to reach the antenna.
“Er... me? I’m a midget! I’m even shorter than you!”
“You don’t have to say it like that.”
“Like what?”
“Implying I’m short.”
“Well you’re not tall.”
“Oh shut it midget.”
“Me! Keep stretchin’, I don’t want to be reapin’ your soul anytime soon.”
“I’m stretchin’! Trust me! Aha!” Dean exclaimed, grabbing hold of the antenna and then starting the painstaking task of unscrewing it.
“Er... not to cause panic or anything, but they’re getting closer.”
“Shut up. Nearly there.” Dean muttered, unscrewing the antenna and pulling it away. Harry watched as he fiddled with the wire and the handcuffs and then grinned when he heard the unmistakeable click and the cuffs dropped away.
“Maybe we should keep them.” Harry said, picking the cuffs up from the floor and pocketing them.
“I do not want to know what you and my brother get up to when I’m not around.” Dean muttered, making Harry blush bright red.
“We’re not doing anything.”
“Sure, whatever. I don’t want to know. Let’s just go find him, shall we?” Dean asked, leading his way into the forest as the brother’s walked out opposite them, just missing them.
Dean lead Harry to a large house in the middle of the forest, which confused Harry, who muttered under his breath, still following Dean. They looked around, before Dean lead them to a large barn behind the house, carefully opening the door and walking in quietly.
“Sam? Are you hurt?”
“Shit Sam! You’re in a cage.”
“No, I’m not hurt.” Sam answered Dean, only smiling at Harry kindly.
“Damn, it’s good to see you.” Dean exclaimed in relief.
“How did you get out of the cuffs?” Kathleen asked from her cage, Dean spun around to face her and smirked.
“Oh, I know a trick or two.” Alright. Oh, these locks look like they’re gonna be a bitch.” Dean said, examining the locks on the cage doors. He turned and looked at Harry, much to Kathleen’s confusion.
“Think you can make them go funky? You and electricity seems to mix like diet coke and mentoes.” Dean said, making Sam snigger and Harry sulk.
“Hey, it’s not that explosive.”
“Who are you talking to?” Kathleen asked, making Sam, Dean and Harry all look at her, having forgotten she was there.
“Ah, er... no one?”
“I can’t risk it. If I do and it makes it worse then what do we do?”
“You know, there is some kind of automatic control right there.” Sam told them. Pointing to a panel on a post in the barn.
“Have you seen ‘em?”
“Yeah. Dude, they’re just people.”
“Really? You know, I’m beginning to question you’re claims of being Hunters. I’ve been with you about a month and I'm the biggest oogie boogie you’ve met. Me.” Harry said incredulously, making both brothers stare at him before sniggering.
“You do have a disturbing point there. Back to a more serious point though, they jumped you? Must be getting’ a little rusty there, kiddo.” Dean said, walking over to the control panel and randomly pressing buttons. “What do they want?”
“Why would they need to want something?”
“I don’t know.” Sam said with a shrug, answering both questions, though more so Dean’s. “They let Jenkins go, but that was some sort of trap. It doesn’t make any sense to me.”
“Well, that’s the point You know, with our usual playmates, there’s rules, there’s patterns. But with people, they’re just crazy.”
“Wow, Dean made sense. That’s creepy.” Harry stated, making Sam grin and Dean scowl at him.
“See anything else out there?”
“Uh, he has about a dozen junked cars hidden out back. Plates from all over, so I’m thinkin’ when they take someone, they take their car too.”
“Did you see a black Mustang out there? About ten years old?” Kathleen asked, getting a sad look from Dean, much to Sam and Harry’s confusion.
“Yeah, actually I did. Your brothers?” Dean asked, Kathleen nodded and Harry and Sam finally understood what the two were talking about. “Let’s get you guys out of here, then we’ll take care of those bastards. This thing takes a key. Key?” Dean asked, looking at the control panel in horror.
“I don’t know.”
“Alright, I better go find it.” Dean said, turning to leave, but stopping when Sam called after him.
“Hey. Be careful.”
“Yeah.” Dean said and left the barn.
“Harry. Go with him!” Sam shouted, much to Kathleen’s confusion.
“Yeah yeah. I got it, seriously, after this, neither of you are splitting up!” Harry groaned, walking out of the barn, hearing the gasp from Kathleen as the door seemingly opened and then closed on it’s own.
Harry made his way up to the house, following after where he hoped Dean had gone and let himself inside, not caring if anyone saw the door open. Hopefully it would give them the wiggins if they did.
“Dean? Dean? Where the bloody hell are you?” Harry muttered, walking into the creepy house, looking at the bones and other objects lying around.
Harry wandered through the house, before hearing the yell of someone yelling for their father. Harry slowly waked that way, guessing, correctly, that Dean would be the one causing the yelling.
Harry walked into the main room to find Dean being tied up to a chair, unconscious. Harry groaned and wondered what to do. “To save or not to save.” Dean groaned, waking up, and looked around him, eyes catching on Harry and scowling.
“Come on. Let us hunt him.” One of the sons said, well Harry thought he was a son. He was younger than the oldest at least.
“Yeah, this ones a fighter. Sure would be fun to hunt.” The other son said, making the father laugh and Harry and Dean to look disgusted.
“Oh, you gotta be kiddin’ me. That’s what this is about? You yahoos hunt people?” Dean asked incredulously, staring at his captors in horror.
“You ever killed before?” The father asked, grinning obscenely.
“Well, that depends on what you mean.”
“I’ve hunted all my life. Just like my father, his before him. I’ve hunted deer and bear - I even got a cougar once. But the best hunt is human. Oh, there’s nothin’ like it. Holdin’ their life in your hands. Seein’ the fear in their eyes just before they go dark. Makes you feel powerful alive.” The father told Dean, making Dean look disgusted.
“You’re a sick puppy.”
“We give ‘em a weapon. Give ‘em a fightin’ chance. It’s kind of like our tradition passed down, father to son. Of course, only one or two a year. Never enough to bring the law down, we never been that sloppy.”
“Yeah, well, don’t sell yourself short. You’re plenty sloppy.”
“So, what, you with that pretty cop? Are you a cop?” The father asked, making Harry snort despite the situation.
“If I tell you, you promise not to make me into an ashtray?” Dean asked, making the father look at him angrily and Harry groan.
“You make my job of protecting you so much harder.” Harry grumbled as one of the sons punched Dean.
“Only reason I don’t let my boys take you right here and now is that there’s somethin’ I need to know.” The father said. He walked to the fire place and took a hot poker.
“Yeah, how ‘bout it’s not nice to marry your sister?” Dean told him, making Harry wince, though he did find it rather amusing. Harry carefully took a step closer to Dean, finally coming to a stop behind him.
“Play along with anything.” Harry told him, placing his hand on the side of Dean’s neck. Dean didn’t move, only stared at the father.
“Tell me - any of the cops gonna come lookin’ for you?”
“Oh, eat me. No, no, no wait, wait - you actually might.” Dean said with a grin. One of the sons walked over to Dean and held his head in place, forcing him to look at the father. Harry moved slightly out of the way, but not taking his hand off of Dean.
“You think this is funny? You brought this down on my family. Alright, you wanna play games? We’ll play some games. Looks like we’re gonna have a hunt tonight after all, boys. And you get to pick the animal.” The father said, turning to Dean with a grin. “The boy or the cop?”
“Okay, wait, wait - look, nobody’s comin’ for me, alright? It’s just us.”
“You don’t choose, I will.” The father said, before moving the poker and pressing it into Dean’s chest.
“Scream!” Harry told him through gritted teeth, Dean glanced down briefly before finally screaming, as Harry took the pain into himself. Of course, he wasn’t entirely sure it was going to work, so he was surprised when it did. He had no idea what Dean was feeling though. Hopefully it wasn’t pain.
“Oh, you son of a bitch!” Dean yelled, though Harry thought some of it may have been aimed at him.
“Look, this is all I can do to take some of the pain!” Harry told him huffily, he nibbled his lip as the father held to poker to Dean’s eye threateningly. “Er - dunno if I can save your eyes. Mine are so much more pretty.”
“Next time, I’ll take an eye.” The father said, taking Dean’s attention away form Harry.
“Alright, the guy, the guy! Take the guy!”
“What? Are you insane?” Harry shrieked. The son holding Dean’s head let it go as his father moved the poker and then took a key from around his neck and giving it to the other son.
“Lee, go do it. Don’t let him out, though. Shoot him in the cage.” The father told Lee, making him grin and walk to the door.
“What? I thought you said you were gonna hunt him. You were gonna give him a chance.”
“Lee, when you’re done wit the boy - shoot the bitch too.” Lee nodded and left the house with his rifle. “Better clean this mess up before any more cops come runnin’ out here.” The father told him. Dean looked at him, showing fear for the first time, before struggling to look at Harry, who was feeling like Dean looked.
“Sam’s not going to die! I refuse to let him die!” Harry stated, moving so that Dean could see him.
“Look, I now you’re up to something with my brother, and at the moment I don’t care, I just want to know why you’re here with me and not him!” Dean yelled, looking at Harry with tears of frustration glinting in the corners of his eyes, making the three others in the room look at him strangely.
“You’re right. I do want Sam. But that doesn’t mean I can follow him wherever he is! Do you understand me? I don’t know!!! I should have stayed with him!! Instead I stayed with you! All because he asked me to watch over you! You!! Not him!” Harry screamed, pulling at his hair in anger. This was all his fault, he just knew it. Damn Reaper genes. They weren’t helping him at all. He had no way of saving his Sam.
Wait - His Sam? Oh dear.
“So you can’t help me? Why are you here then? Why don’t you just go off and reap some more souls?” Dean yelled back, making Harry stop tugging at his hair and look at Dean. He could feel tears forming in his eyes much to his shame.
“I can’t. I gave up that right when I chose to follow you and your brother. I have to wait for Hank to come to me now. I can’t feel souls that are ready to leave anymore. I don’t collect human souls anymore. I can’t be returned to mortality though, either! It isn’t possible. You and your brother are the only ones who have ever been able to see me and not sue me for your own needs. Sam is the only one, since I have become a demon, that actually looked at me as a human! Even you look at me with some distrust in your eyes. He didn’t though and now I’ve lost him!” Harry said, feeling lost for the first time since he had met the Winchester brothers, flinching when they heard the sound of a gunshot.
“You hurt my brother and I swear I will kill you! I will kill you all!” Dean yelled, glaring at the family in front of him.
“You won’t have to. If they harm Sam anymore than they already have and I will make sure they don’t have a soul left to do whatever their religion says will happen. No one will find anything left of their soul or man parts actually. Never piss of a Reaper.” Harry stated with a glower. Dean stared at Harry with a look Harry liked to think was impressed and maybe a little bit cowed.
The father stared at Dean as though he had lost his mind, and then walked to the door and stuck his head outside. “Lee!” When he didn’t get a response, he turned back into the room and look at his other two family members. “Jared, you come with me. Missy, you watch him now.” Jared grabbed two rifles, handing one to his father. Missy remained behind, standing next to Dean with a knife dangerously close to his eye. The sound of a gun being shot echoed around the room, followed by more soon after.
“Can you not just zap her?” Dean asked anxiously, making Missy glare at him suspiciously, occasionally glancing in Harry’s direction.
“Zap her? What do you think I am?”
“I don’t know! Do something Reaper-boy!”
“Oh that’s it!” Harry huffed, wondering if his magic would work and pointing a finger at Missy. The girl continued to glance around the room warily, whilst not moving from Dean, when she suddenly got thrown across the room. “Oops.”
“Oops? Oops?! What the hell did you do?”
“Er... Well maybe the explanation should be saved for later hmm?” Harry said sheepishly, glancing at the unconscious girl on the floor guiltily before picking up the discarded knife and cutting the ropes holding Dean.
“You are telling me what you did, but first we need to find Sam.” Dean told him, though Harry wasn’t listening to him as Sam had run into the room at the moment.
“I found Sam.” Harry said cheerfully, making Dean spin around to face his brother and enveloping him in a bear hug. Harry waved at Sam from over Dean’s shoulder, getting a smile and small wave back.
“Let’s get out of here. I may never be able to watch Deliverance again.” Dean mumbled, walking out of the house with Sam, Harry following close behind them. They met up with Kathleen outside as she was leaving the barn.
“Where’s the girl?” She asked them, walking over to them.
“Out cold in the living room. What about the dad?” Dean asked. All three noticed as she paused before answering.
“Shot. Trying to escape.” Kathleen told them, they walked to Kathleen’s police car, in the make-shift junk yard and finding the keys left in the ignition. Kathleen leaned into the car and grabbed the radio and turning it on.
“Shall we get out of here?” Sam asked wearily, making Harry nod fervently.
“Yeah, I think the car is a t the police station.” Dean told them, whilst Kathleen listened to a woman on her walkie-talkie.
“Backup unit en route to your location.” A woman’s voice sounded over the radio.
“So, state police and the FBI are gonna be here within the hour. They’re gonna wanna talk to you. I suggest that you’re both long gone by then.” Kathleen told them, making Harry huff at being ignored.
“Thanks. Hey, listen, I don’t mean to press our luck but we’re kind of in the middle of nowhere. Think we could catch a ride?” Dean asked with a grin.
“Start walking. Duck if you see a squad car.”
“Sounds great to me. Thanks.” Sam said, smiling at Kathleen.
“Listen, uh... I’m sorry about your brother.” Dean told her. Harry nibbled his lip, uncomfortable and walked over to Sam.
“Thank you. It was really hard not knowing what happened to him. I thought it would be easier once I knew the truth - but it isn’t really. Anyway, you should go.” Kathleen said, sniffling slightly and wiping her tears out of her eyes. Sam and Dean nodded and then walked away from the house.
They walked in complete silence, making their way down the dirt road and through the gate at the end, sticking to the trees on the side of the road.
“Never do that again.” Dean said, breaking the silence as they walked along the road. Harry nodded his agreement fervently.
“Do what?”
“Go missing! What do you think?” Harry asked incredulously.
“I would have said it less hysterical, but yeah. Don’t ever go missin’ like that again.”
“You were worried about me.” Sam said with a laugh.
“All I’m sayin’ is, you vanish like that again, I’m not lookin’ for ya.”
“Sure you won’t.”
“I’m not.”
“So you got sidelined by a thirteen-year-old girl?”
“”Shut up. More importantly, ask Harry what he did to said thirteen-year-old girl.” Dean said, moving the spotlight onto Harry, who swallowed heavily and smiled weakly at the brothers.
“What did you do Harry?”
“Er - first, I suppose I should tell you that magic is real. I mean magic of the wand-waving kind. Not just voodoo. Real magic. Spells, potions, magical creatures. It’s easier to explain to you tow, than normal non-magical people because of what you deal with on a regular basis, but yeah. Magic.”
“Magic?” Dean asked blandly.
“Yeah. I was a wizard before I died. The guy I was destined to kill? He was a Dark Lord.”
“Like Darth Vader?”
“Er... sure. Was he a dark lord?”
“You’ve never heard of Darth Vader?” Dean asked incredulously, looking at Harry as though he had just kicked his puppy. Sam watched the two silently from the side.
“Nope, anyway. Back to the story. What I did was a spell. Only um... since I died, my magic doesn’t like to obey me.”
“Obey you?” Dean asked dryly.
“Why not?” Sam asked at the same time, breaking his silence.
“Erm, obey me, as in, do what I want it to do. It won’t because, normally, when you die, your magic goes back into the earth. When I died, my soul didn’t move on, and I kept a grasp on my magic and didn’t let it leave.” Harry told them with a shrug.
“So it won’t do what you want anymore?”
“Not all the time. Sometimes it becomes a little - eager? My spells either fail or do what I want, but... more so. I only wanted to shove Missy back and well, Dean, you saw what happened when my magic interpreted that.”
“So you don’t do magic anymore?”
“Only when I feel like my magic is feeling in a good mood.” Harry told them with a light shrug.
“You make it sound like it’s alive.” Dean told him with a smirk.
“It is.”
“Pardon?”
“It is. Well I’ve always thought it was. So when I died, my magic should have left me and joined the earth, but well... I didn’t want it to and so in a way, it’s holding a grudge. A bloody long one as well.”
“Okaay. You do know you sound like you have schizophrenia, right?” Dean told him before grabbing Sam and ducking into the trees when a police car approached, leaving Harry alone on the roadside to contemplate what he had just said.
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