Mannequin 3: The Reckoning. // Dean //

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Sam Winchester Hunter. Posts: 958	Mannequin 3: The Reckoning. // Dean // Nov 27, 2016 16:09:08 GMT -5 Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Member Give Gift Back to Top Post by Sam Winchester on Nov 27, 2016 16:09:08 GMT -5 ooc; SEASON SIX. EPISODE FOURTEEN. The pain was insurmountable. Excruciating. Pain like Sam had never felt it before. And that's saying a lot.

Dean Winchester
Hunter.

Our lives are weird, man.

Posts: 2,165

Mannequin 3: The Reckoning. // Dean // Nov 27, 2016 18:09:52 GMT -5

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Post by Dean Winchester on Nov 27, 2016 18:09:52 GMT -5

Sam lay still and cold on the ground as a stone statue, his eyes closed. "Sam??" Dean gave his shoulders a violent shake for about the dozenth time, his heart pounding so loudly he could barely hear his own voice addressing the comatose younger Winchester. "Sammy! Come on dammit! Sam!!" He was seriously considering pounding on his brother's chest when Sam's eyes flew open with a long, drawn out gasp, as though trying to suck down all the oxygen in the world. Dean's panic subsided into just plain concern. "Hey, hey, hey, you with me?" He helped Sam up into a seated position, watching him carefully. Sam groaned slightly and gave his head a little shake, trying to clear it and focus. "Ok, come on, we've got to get you out of here." Dean rose to his feet, then reached down and hauled Sam to his, keeping an arm out to help the younger Winchester stay steady on both feet until he'd regained his balance. "Let's go." They were not staying another second in that town.
~~~

Several towns away, Dean pulled the car over and parked it at the end of a tiny street lined with vendors. Leaving Sam in the car, he raided the vendors, doing quite a bit of shopping, until he returned to the Impala with a stash of coffee, burgers, and a vial of pills, the last of which hadn't come from any vendor but a man in the alley just off of the street. In Dean's absence, Sam had gotten out of the car and was now leaning up against its side, pinching the bridge of his nose, his eyes scrunched shut. "How you feeling" Dean wanted to know as he approached. Sam groaned lightly, releasing his nose and opening his eyes. "Like I got hit by a...planet." "Well, lucky for you, I'm a doctor" Dean assured him, holding up the drinks in one hand and bag of fast food in the other. "I got joe, grub, and..." He placed the bag down on the Impala's roof and lifted the bottle of pills from his pocket, giving it a shake. Sam's eyebrows constricted. "What are they?" Dean held the bottle out. "Effective."

Rather than accept the pills, Sam reached over and took one of the coffees. "I'm fine. Thanks though." Dean shrugged and pocketed the pill bottle again. "Suit yourself." Sam took a long drink of coffee before asking, "so, how long was I out, again?" "I'm telling you, man, like two or three minutes." Dean kept going cold at the memory of his lifeless brother. "Why, what'd it feel like to you?" Sam made a face. "About a week, give or take." The brothers sipped their coffee in synchronized silence for a few minutes before Dean broke it. "So you wanna talk about it?" Sam lowered his styrofoam cup, looking blank. "It?" "Yeah, whatever that was" Dean clarified. "I mean, it was like you were freakin' electrocuted." "Look, I mean, it wasn't fun, but I-I'm...Fine" Sam promised in a very unconvincing tone. "It was Hell, wasn't it" Dean pressed, not needing a verbal confirmation of this fact to know he was right. "You got a big, fat faceful of hell. Ever cross your mind that you could've died?" "Oh come on" Sam scoffed, rolling his eyes. Dean pinned him with a hard stare. "I'm serious. And none of this "it's just a flesh wound" crap. 'Cause we did it your way. We let you go explore, and every bad thing that I said would happen happened. So guess what -- Past stays past. We're not kicking that wall again." "So I'm supposed to just ignore it?" Sam looked appalled by this very notion but as far as Dean could see, it was their only option. He gave a firm nod. "Yes."

Sam pulled a miserable face. "Dean...I might've done...who knows what, and you want me to just forget about it?" "Yes" Dean repeated with more instructions to follow. "You shove it down, and you let it come out in spurts of violence and alcoholism." "That sounds healthy" Sam countered dryly and Dean gave an indifferent shrug. "Hey, it works for me." More or less. Sam sighed heavily, opening his mouth in an obvious attempt to keep protesting but Dean had heard enough. "This is not a joke" he insisted forcefully. "Your life is on the line here, Sam. This is not a debate." He took a deep breath, reorganizing his thoughts before addressing his brother once more. "I mean, first you were a-a soulless dickbag, and now you're not. So we good?" He locked eyes with Sam, waiting. Sam hesitated for the space of a heartbeat before giving a reluctant nod of acceptance. "Ok. Sure." "Good." Dean nodded briskly with a relieved smile. "Well, let's get your mind off it, shall we? You, uh, up for a job?" Sam raised an interested eyebrow. "What do you got?" Dean reached into an inner jacket pocket and pulled out the newspaper he'd stashed there, passing it over. "Janitor murdered in a college lab last night. Doors were locked, nobody else in or out of the building." "Great. Where to?" Sam began to scan the article. "Paterson, New Jersey." Dean lifted the bag of untouched burgers from the Impala's roof and tossed them in through the half open backseat window for later consumption. "Hey, maybe we'll have a Snooki sighting." He chuckled but Sam merely looked confused. "What's a Snooki?" Dean's smile faded slightly, considering this.

"That is a good question."

We hunt monsters....you know who does that? Crazy people!

Sam Winchester
Hunter.

Posts: 958

Mannequin 3: The Reckoning. // Dean // Nov 27, 2016 19:51:57 GMT -5

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Post by Sam Winchester on Nov 27, 2016 19:51:57 GMT -5

The college science lab was empty apart from the two of them and one other cop who paid them no attention past asking to see some ID. Sam wandered around the room, studying their surroundings, trying to find something out of place. Dean, meanwhile, headed straight for an anatomy dummy with interest. "Check it out. This thing's friggin' awesome!" He removed the outer plastic shell of its torso, reaching in to remove the heart and offered it to Sam. "Be my valentine." "Dude, we're working" Sam reminded him, rolling his eyes. "Put it back." Dean pushed the heart closer to Sam, mock pouting. "Have a heart." Sam stared in exasperation at his brother. "Dean!" "Buzzkill." With a chuckle, Dean tossed the heart up into the air and then caught it with one hand before returning it to the dummy. "Do you smell sulfur" he asked after another second, wrinkling his nose in suspicion. "Yeah." Sam gave his brother an odd look.

"We're in a science lab."

Dean Winchester
Hunter.

Our lives are weird, man.

Posts: 2,165

Mannequin 3: The Reckoning. // Dean // Nov 28, 2016 21:22:53 GMT -5

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Post by Dean Winchester on Nov 28, 2016 21:22:53 GMT -5

"Right." Dean nodded in realization and turned to continue checking out the lab. As he took a step, his phone began to buzz in one pocket so he pulled it out to check the caller ID. "Who is it" Sam wanted to know from behind him. The name 'Lisa Braeden' flashed across his phone's screen and Dean jabbed the word 'ignore' with his thumb, tucking his phone back into his pocket. Sam's voice rang out from behind him again, knowingly this time. "So...Lisa." "Maybe you should mind your own business" Dean countered flatly without turning around. "What's wrong with just talking to her, Dean" Sam pressed and this time Dean did turn around, a sarcastic smile tugging at his lips. "Thanks, Dr. Laura. That's -- that's very insightful. Look at that -- our time's up." He didn't need this right now. He had thought about calling Lisa a hundred times since they'd gone their separate ways. But what did you say to someone whose son you almost killed as a vampire and whom you loved more than you thought possible but you knew you couldn't be around?

Sam fortunately backed off of the subject, pulling out his EMF detector instead and switching it on. "Wow" he remarked as the machine lit up, buzzing and humming. "Ghosts gone wild" Dean added, looking around the room curiously. "Something's up in here." "The question is...what" Sam finished, also giving the room a quick visual sweep. "Hey Sam, good news." Dean inclined his head at the surveillance camera he'd noticed. "Big brother's watching."
~~~

"So, what'd you find out from the, uh, mop jockey's girlfriend" Dean wanted to know as Sam slid into the waiting Impala outside the victim's girlfriend's apartment a few hours later. "Nothing" Sam sighed dismally. "Just how great he was -- went to church, donated to charity, rubbed her feet during "Glee"." "I just threw up in my mouth" Dean countered, making a face. "Sorry." Sam shrugged. "Anyway, I checked his record -- spotless. What about the science building? Anything?" Dean shook his head, relaying the information he'd dug up. "Built in '05. Nothing weird about the land. Before this, the biggest mishap was some genius accidentally spilled sulfuric acid on his crotch. They don't even dissect anything good in there. Anything bigger than Kermit, they use an iPad." "So we got nothing" Sam concluded and Dean nodded glumly in agreement. "Yeah, a big steaming pile of it."
~~~

The next day, they no longer had nothing. There had been another death overnight and that morning found the boys at the scene of the crime, a factory three towns away from the first kill. Dean wandered his way through the barrels of mannequins and racks of clothing, keeping his eyes peeled for anything unusual. "Dean." From across the room, Sam called him over. "This thing's humming again" he added once Dean was close enough, holding up his buzzing EMF detector. "Hmm." Dean frowned in thought. "Wait." Sam moved the EMF detector closer to a pile of mannequin parts. The detector's humming increased. Sam moved the detector away from the parts and the humming decreased. Sam's eyebrows raised in apparent realization of something. "That anatomy dummy you were molesting at the lab." Dean did a double take. "Excuse me?" Sam switched off the EMF detector and slid it into one pocket, looking excited about his discovery. "What if that's what this is about?" Dean opened his mouth, found he still wasn't quite following and closed his mouth before opening it again with a defensive, "what exactly are you accusing me of?"

"I don't mean that." Sam waved this off impatiently. "I mean, there was an anatomy dummy there, and here..." He swung his gaze around to the mannequins, letting his sentence trail off. Dean looked from his brother to the mannequins and then back to his brother incredulously, finally catching on. "You're joking." Sam's expression remained steadfast. "You're not joking" Dean realized, gaping. "Okay, uh, so, what, we've got -- we've got a bunch of killer dolls like...Chucky? I mean, come on, that's --" He forced a strained chuckle that didn't last, pulling a face. "That's just...Friggin' creepy." "I mean, if ghosts can possess humans and -- and move objects, why can't they possess this" Sam suggested. "I suppose" Dean allowed before throwing a wrench in the theory. "But riddle me this, bat boy --Ghosts aren't exactly known for hopping county lines, right? This one hits up a college and now a factory, what, three towns over?" "Doesn't add up" Sam agreed, frowning. "So we dig." Dean eyed the mannequin closest to him's blank faceless face and added, "over there" pointing to the far side of the room. He waved his other hand in front of the mannequin's face uneasily.

"I don't like the way Kim Cattrall's lookin' at me."

We hunt monsters....you know who does that? Crazy people!

Sam Winchester
Hunter.

Posts: 958

Mannequin 3: The Reckoning. // Dean // Nov 30, 2016 8:38:23 GMT -5

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Post by Sam Winchester on Nov 30, 2016 8:38:23 GMT -5

So the boys set up shop in one of the back offices where there was access to computers. "Well, this dead guy's as squeaky clean as the last dead guy" Dean complained from the laptop he'd settled down behind, researching their latest victim. "I can't find a reason anyone would gank the guy. Not a single speck of dirt on him." He closed the laptop with a frustrated snap, looking over at Sam hopefully. "You?" "Nothing." Sam continued scrolling through the information he'd dug up on the history of the factory. As far as he could tell, the place was completely boring. Just a normal factory that made and sold clothes. And- "Wait."

Sam's sharp eyes honed in on the last article, describing a young woman who'd worked at the factory and gone missing about a year ago with no leads whatsoever. Sam gestured Dean over.

"Well here's a speck."

Dean Winchester
Hunter.

Our lives are weird, man.

Posts: 2,165

Mannequin 3: The Reckoning. // Dean // Dec 1, 2016 18:28:59 GMT -5

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Post by Dean Winchester on Dec 1, 2016 18:28:59 GMT -5

Dean crossed to stand behind his brother. "What you got?" "Uh, seamstress named Rose Brown went missing over a year ago." Sam enlarged the article so Dean could see it too. "Cops just gave up on her. Last seen at the factory, presumed dead. Survived by sister Isabel." "50 bucks, vengeful spirit" Dean bet, though it was a pretty solid guess and there was no way Sam would argue that. Sam nodded his agreement, closing the laptop. "Let's pay the sis a visit." Dean headed for the office door but had only taken two steps when his phone rang again and, sure enough, when he pulled it out there was Lisa's name on the caller ID. "Answer it" Sam ordered firmly from behind him before Dean could press 'ignore' again. Taking a deep breath, Dean turned further away from Sam, pressed 'talk' and held the phone to one ear, his tone a little stiff. "Lisa"- "Finally" came Ben's anxious voice. "I've been calling you forever!" "Ben?" Dean frowned, thrown off by this twist. "What are you"- "Something's wrong with mom" Ben rushed to explain, sounding worried. Dean's heart skipped a beat. "What are you talking about??" "It's bad Dean." Dean's grip on the phone tightened. "Define bad."

"I-I don't know exactly" Ben stammered. "S-she won't talk to me." "Alright put her on the phone" Dean instructed, trying to keep his flat out panic at bay until he had all the facts. "She won't come to the phone" Ben insisted, his tone now falling between concerned and stressed. Sam stepped in Dean's line of vision, mouthing "what's going on" with a curiously arched brow. Dean waved him off with the 'one minute' signal, commanding firmly, "Ben, go get your mother and put her on the phone." "I-I-I can't" Ben stuttered, his pitch elevating an octave in frustration. "Her door's locked. She barely gets out of bed. I'm not kidding. Please just -- just come help me" he begged desperately. "I-I don't know what to do." "Alright, let me call you back" Dean suggested, needing to fill Sam in and figure out a plan. "Dean!" Ben sounded on the verge of a nervous breakdown. "Five minutes" he promised as soothingly as he could before hanging up. "Something up with Lisa" Sam guessed, indicating the phone with his head. "Ben says there is" Dean confirmed, lifting his phone free hand to rub at his temples. "So..." Sam prompted, waiting. "Obviously I want to go help her" Dean began, feeling a twinge in his gut. He loved her. There was no question that he would always do whatever he could to protect her. But there was the small detail that they were currently a little busy standing in his way. "But we're kind of mid ghost hunt right now" he finished, letting his hand drop back to his side, exhaustion all over his face. Sam began to usher Dean towards the door. "Call Ben back and tell him you're on your way." "Come on, man, I-I can't just leave" Dean protested, despite every fiber of his being saying the opposite. "Dude, you've got to leave." Sam opened the Impala's driver side door, gesturing. Dean started to get in but then backtracked, turning to face his brother. "Yeah, but we're talking life or death here." "I can handle it for 24 hours, Dean" Sam assured him. Dean still hesitated and Sam's expression softened. "Look, I get you want to bury it. I do. But I had to deal with my past year. You got to deal with yours." Dean smiled dryly.

"Oh, yeah, and that worked so great for you."

We hunt monsters....you know who does that? Crazy people!

Sam Winchester
Hunter.

Posts: 958

Mannequin 3: The Reckoning. // Dean // Dec 1, 2016 21:25:39 GMT -5

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Post by Sam Winchester on Dec 1, 2016 21:25:39 GMT -5

It didn't take too much more needling before Sam was watching his brother drive off towards Lisa's and he was on his way to Isabel's apartment.

"So you and Rose were close huh" he guessed after Isabel had shown him multiple pictures of the two of them, smiling and hugging for the camera. He and Isabel were now seated next to each other on the flower-print sofa. "Very." Isabel nodded with a sad smile. "Our parents died when we were little, so we only had each other. She was my best friend." Sam certainly knew how that felt, and while he knew exactly the kind of pain she was going through having lost her sister, he was fortunate enough to have gotten his brother back from the dead. He gave Isabel a comforting smile. "What was she like?" "Um, kind...giving. She had the biggest heart." Isabel's wide smile faltered. "But people gave her a hard time." Sam glanced down at the framed picture of Rose on the table and then back to Isabel. "Why?" "She was shy, a little awkward" Isabel explained. "I guess that made her an easy target. I feel like I've been defending her my whole life." "I'm sure she appreciated it" Sam assured her with an encouraging smile. "Well, it went both ways. She did more for me than anybody else ever could." Isabel's voice choked up slightly on the last bit. She took a few deep breaths, calming herself down before adding, "I just miss her." Sam wanted to give her a few more minutes to pull herself together so he quickly gestured towards the leather bound photo album on the coffee table. "May I?" Isabel gestured graciously. "Sure, please." Flipping idly through the pages, Sam stopped suddenly on a photo of about twenty people all dressed in red and green and smiling merrily for the camera. "Oh that's the company christmas party a few years back" Isabel informed him, noticing where he'd stopped. Sam cocked a brow. "Wait, you work at Salzman & Sons, too?" "Well everyone in town works at the factory at some point" Isabel explained with a half-shrug. Sam moved on, getting to the real reason he's paused at this particular picture. He'd noticed a familiar face about three people away from Rose and her sister. The janitor who'd died at the college three towns away. What was he doing in the factory christmas party picture? Sam jabbed a finger at him, trying to sound casual. "Isabel, who is this?"
~~~

"Dean, hey, get this." Sam spoke into his cell phone eagerly. "That college janitor? He worked at the factory, too, until last year. Apparently, he quit right after Rose's disappearance." "So fair bet something happened to that girl around that factory, so let's call that joint ground zero" Dean concluded. "Right" Sam agreed, getting into his "borrowed" car and starting the engine. "But it still doesn't explain how a ghost ended up at a college in another zip code." "It's not like she hopped the blue line" Dean added wryly. Sam chuckled. "Well I'm headed to the factory now. I'll call when I get the whole scoop on Rose. You just go help Lisa." And they hung up.
~~~

"So, how long have you been here with the company?" Sam was on what felt like his thirtieth interview of the day. A scrawny young man named Johnny who couldn't seem to sit still. "I've been here about three years now" Johnny replied, shifting in his chair. "I'm sorry, w-what's this got to do with me?" Sam studied him closely. "Relax. Just a routine questioning." "Oh. Ok." Johnny shifted some more, his eyes swinging around from one spot to another. Sam watched his behavior for another few seconds before proceeding with the interview. "So did you know Rose Brown?" He could have sworn Johnny flinched at the name but he was moving too much to be certain. "Um...maybe" he hedged. "The name sounds vaguely familiar." "She was a seamstress here" Sam reminded him. "She went missing about a year ago. Here. You mind taking a look?" Reaching into an inner jacket pocket, Sam slid free a picture of Rose which he placed on the table and slid towards Johnny. Johnny barely looked at the picture before sliding it back towards Sam and stuttering, "uh, y-yeah, I s--I saw her around." "Anything you can tell me about her that might help" Sam wanted to know, pocketing the photo again. "Uh, look, I'd love to help, but I don't know anything" Johnny stressed, his fidgeting more pronounced than ever. "And, uh, I'm about to be late back from break, so-" "You seem nervous Johnny" Sam observed, unable not to call him out on it any longer. Johnny finally stopped his little shifting dance, wringing out his hands instead. "Well...those guys that died were my friends. O-of course I'm gonna be upset." "I didn't say upset" Sam corrected with a shrewd expression.

"I said nervous."

Dean Winchester
Hunter.

Our lives are weird, man.

Posts: 2,165

Mannequin 3: The Reckoning. // Dean // Dec 1, 2016 23:05:59 GMT -5

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Post by Dean Winchester on Dec 1, 2016 23:05:59 GMT -5

After hanging up with Sam and getting a quick refuel of coffee to keep him awake, Dean sped the rest of the way to Lisa's house, sprinted up the front steps and rang the bell. Half a second passed and, impatient, he began to bang on the door instead of waiting. Finally, after what seemed like eternity and a day, the door swung open and there stood...Lisa.

Wearing a low cut black satin dress with a black wrap around her shoulders, her hair curled and piled on top of her head, Lisa looked perfectly fine...other than the massively confused expression spreading across her face. "Dean, what are you doing here?" "Well, you look absolutely fine" he observed, putting two and two together in his mind as she questioned, "what's going on?" Dean let out a sharp breath of air. "We've been parent trapped." Lisa's expression remained blank. "What?" "Ben sent out a 911" Dean elaborated and Lisa's confusion elevated. "Why would he do that??" "You're going on a date aren't you?" It was really more of a statement than a question. She wouldn't be dressed like that for just an evening at home watching television. Lisa looked at him for a minute silently before taking a step back and gesturing him inside. "Come in."

Dean moved into the kitchen, taking a seat at the island counter, unsure of what to say next. Lisa seemed to be in the same boat. Crossing to her refrigerator, she pulled out a chilled beer and passed it over. Dean twisted off its cap, tossing it lightly onto the counter and taking a swig of the refreshing beverage to stall the beginning of their conversation further. Lisa began to pace, fiddling with the end of her wrap, focusing intently on it, obviously doing whatever she could to keep herself from looking at Dean. "You want to sit down" Dean finally offered, feeling kind of silly asking someone to sit down in their own home, but also feeling that the silence had stretched on too long already. Lisa dropped her wrap, letting it settle around her shoulders again, finally looking up to meet Dean's eyes. "Not so much" she admitted. "Who's the guy" Dean couldn't help but ask, despite not being 100% sure he wanted the answer. Lisa's smile was strained. "His name is Matt" she finally announced. "He's a doctor." "Oh, Dr. Matt. How respectable." The slightly bitter words were out of Dean's mouth before he could reign them in and Lisa's expression became pinched. "Really?? THAT'S how this is going to be?" Dean winced in silent apology. "Look, I"- "I called you SIX times Dean" Lisa interrupted, her tone cold and annoyed. "And I almost called you back about 100" Dean returned passionately. Lisa's answering tone was full of heavy sarcasm. "Good to know." Dean put his beer bottle down next to its cap on the counter and pinned his whole focus on Lisa intensely, his heart twinging. "Lis, Ben called me. I dropped everything and ran. So if you want to know if I care"- Lisa gave an indifferent shrug. "Doesn't help me." Dean's spine bristled impatiently. "What do you want from me?" "I'm not asking for anything" Lisa insisted on edge. "WELL THEN ASK FOR SOMETHING" Dean barked, his frustration level peaking. "Um..." Ben's timid voice interrupted their staring contest from the kitchen doorway. Dean and Lisa turned to him in unison. "Go to your room!"

Dean tried to smile at Ben as he retreated but his heart hurt too much to make it much of a genuine one. Once Ben had gone, Lisa finally took a seat on the stool next to Dean's, her expression crumpling in defeat. "You know, I...I can't. Ask for something." She looked deeply into his eyes. "I know what I want. But I can't have it -- Not how you live. My phone rings, I think -- tiny chance it's you, big chance it's Sam calling to tell me you're dead." Dean closed his eyes briefly, swallowing hard. "Lis..." "No, don't. Don't apologize for anything" she objected. "It's who you are. I know that. It's just... It's just I get to this place where I'm okay, and then you show up at our door. You keep doing that, every time I think I'm never gonna see you again." Lisa's warm brown eyes were glassy, holding tears at bay. "I'm trying to get over you. What are you trying to do" she pressed. "What do you want from us, Dean?" Dean felt his breath hitch in his throat.

That was a very good question.

We hunt monsters....you know who does that? Crazy people!

Sam Winchester
Hunter.

Posts: 958

Mannequin 3: The Reckoning. // Dean // Dec 3, 2016 12:02:25 GMT -5

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Post by Sam Winchester on Dec 3, 2016 12:02:25 GMT -5

Deciding to follow Johnny hadn't been exactly a hard decision to make. His interview process had gone so suspiciously that Sam, even without a lifetime of learning to trust your instincts, would have known something was up. He caught up with Johnny in the factory after hours, a deep gash like the ones that had been on the other victims' foreheads already present on his, the temperature about twenty degrees below zero, and a mannequin with scissors chasing him. "Move" Sam insisted, grabbing Johnny's arm and hauling him through the depths of the factory until they'd reached the kitchen, where Sam proceeded to line the doorway with salt. "What's going on" Johnny asked in a panic. "That was a ghost trying to kill you for being a dick." Sam straightened, grabbed a towel and tossed it to Johnny so he could wipe off his bloody forehead. Johnny stared at him, flummoxed. "What??!" "You know what?" Sam salt lined the room's only window as well. "You're lucky you were the most suspicious interview of all time." He dropped the half-empty bag of salt onto the table with a thud. "I figured something like this would happen." "Figured something like what would happen" Johnny demanded at a loss. "Buddy, look, I don't have time for the big speech, all right" Sam informed him briskly. "So, brass tacks -- Rose is back."

Johnny shook his head with a nervous laugh. "That's crazy!" Ignoring the very common reaction, Sam pressed, "look, you're gonna end up like your friends unless you tell me what you did to Rose." Johnny looked off to one side. Sam crossed his arms. "Do you want me to help you or not?" It took another second but finally, Johnny sank into the nearest chair at the table between them, looking crestfallen. "It was just a stupid joke" he explained defensively. "I mean, you play jokes don't you?! I...we didn't think it was that big of a deal." Exhaling deeply, Sam took a seat opposite Johnny. "What did you do?" "We made Rose think she had a secret admirer." Johnny blot at his forehead with the towel. "You know, put chocolates and roses in her office locker. I don't think the girl had ever been asked out in her life. Honestly, we just thought she was kind of pathetic..." He trailed off, as if maybe hoping Sam wouldn't ask for anymore details. But Sam simply stared back at him impassively, waiting. Johnny sighed and finished his story. "So we knew she'd take the bait. We put a note in her locker asking her to meet her admirer at a nearby hotel. She was so excited. The poor girl never saw it coming." Johnny used both hands to wring out the towel as he talked. "When she found out it was a mannequin and not a real person...she tried to leave. Told us to go to hell. Steve...he grabbed her wrist. We tried to explain. Tried to tell her it was just a joke. We didn't realize she'd take it so hard." Sam's impassive expression morphed to one of incredulousness. "It was mean" Johnny agreed, still quite defensive. "But you know how it is when a group of guys get together. They -- they act like jackasses!" He swallowed hard. "Anyway...she...she pulled out of Steve's grasp but she stumbled and fell. She hit her head on the coffee table." Well that explained the gashes in the victims' foreheads. "We didn't mean for it to happen" Johnny promised miserably. "And then it was too late. Steve said there was only one option. We had to dump her body. If we called the cops..." Johnny trailed off before adding an even more miserable, "I wish I could take it all back." Sam smiled humorlessly. "I'm sure you do." "I didn't kill her" Johnny insisted. Sam set his jaw, locking eyes with Johnny. "Okay. Look me in the eyes and tell me none of it's on you."

Johnny couldn't hold Sam's gaze for more than a second before he was looking down at the wrung out towel in his death grip. Sam let his guilty silence last for another few seconds before exhaling sharply. "Look, I'm not saying you deserve to die. I can help you." Johnny looked up again hopefully. "How?" "You have to tell me where she's buried" Sam instructed and Johnny immediately complied. "In the woods, a clearing off Canyon Run Road." Sam got to his feet and headed for the door with Johnny close behind him. "No, no, no, you're not going anywhere" Sam objected, waving him back. Johnny frowned. "But I"- "You need to stay inside the salt line until I tell you you're safe" Sam insisted, earning another baffled frown from Johnny. "You just want me to stand here all night?!" Sam gave him a long once-over.

"Consider it getting off easy."

Dean Winchester
Hunter.

Our lives are weird, man.

Posts: 2,165

Mannequin 3: The Reckoning. // Dean // Dec 3, 2016 15:14:29 GMT -5

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Post by Dean Winchester on Dec 3, 2016 15:14:29 GMT -5

Leaving Lisa in the kitchen, Dean made his way upstairs and down the familiar hallway to Ben's room. Ben was sitting on his bed playing on his gameboy. Whether he heard Dean enter or not, he didn't look up or say anything. Dean watched the game play out for a few seconds over Ben's shoulder, before observing dryly, "well that's ridiculous. Planes could never kill a zombie." "You think I'm gonna say I'm sorry" Ben inquired bitterly without looking up. "And why would I think that?" Dean took a few steps closer. "Because you lied to get me here?" "It was an emergency" Ben informed his gameboy. "A date's not an emergency Ben" Dean corrected him gently. "It is if it's the third one" Ben argued, violently punching a few buttons and blowing up a zombie. "I watch TV. I know what that means." The third date? Dean felt a squeeze in his gut. He knew what that meant too. But he'd been the one to walk out. He'd been the one to return to hunting with Sam. He couldn't expect someone like Lisa to just sit around pining for him and ceasing to live her life.

Dean cleared his throat with a strained smile. "Well, your mom's a grown-up. She gets to go out." "Why won't you come home??" Ben finally lowered the gameboy, looking up desperately. "Can't you just say "I'm sorry" and then come back?" "I'm sorry, I can't." Dean's smile was tinged with sadness. He wished it was that simple. "Can't or won't" Ben challenged, tossing his forgotten gameboy onto the bedspread beside him. Dean met his stare evenly. "Both." "Oh so you hate Mom now" Ben accused, catching Dean off-guard. He shook his head incredulously. "What? No, come on." "So it's me" Ben guessed next. Dean took a seat next to him on the bed, holding up both hands. "Ben, stop it." "Whatever I did, I'm sorry" Ben stressed, looking downtrodden. "Listen to me." Dean took one of his lifted hands and placed it on Ben's shoulder. "You didn't do anything. You understand that?" He needed to make sure Ben really heard him on this one. "Look, one day you'll, uh...You'll get this when you're older." "Don't talk to me like I'm six" Ben scoffed and Dean removed his hand from Ben's shoulder, strongly reminded of himself at that age. "Okay, fine. It's like this, then." He locked eyes with Ben seriously. "Just 'cause you love someone doesn't mean you should stick around and screw up their life. So I can't be here."

Ben frowned, at least appearing to consider these words before asking, "you think something will follow you home?" "No, I don't" Dean assured him, not sure if he believed that or not, but there was a bigger issue here which he voiced next. "But I think my job turns me into somebody that can't sit at your dinner table. And if I stayed, you'd end up just like me." Ben gave Dean an odd look. "Why do you say it like you're so...bad?" "Oh trust me, I'm not someone you want to aim to be" Dean promised with a labored smile. The drinking, the one night stands, the violence...he was no one's role model. "Don't I get a vote" Ben begged but Dean wasn't backing down. "No, you don't." Ben's whole posture sagged. "I'm sorry, Ben" Dean apologized whole-heartedly. "But, you see, this way you got a shot at living whatever life you want. You know, pick one. Pick five. 'Cause with me..." He stared off into the distance. "...there's just the one road." "You're a liar Dean." Ben's voice was sharp all of a sudden, frustrated. Dean blinked, zipping his focus back to Ben. "Excuse me?" Ben squared his shoulders, staring Dean down hard. "You say family's so important, but -- but what do you call people who -- who care for you, who love you even when you're a dick?" Ben narrowed his eyes. "You know you're walking out on your family, right?" Dean swallowed hard, his throat tight, at a loss for words.

Because Ben was absolutely right.

We hunt monsters....you know who does that? Crazy people!

Sam Winchester
Hunter.

Posts: 958

Mannequin 3: The Reckoning. // Dean // Dec 3, 2016 15:50:00 GMT -5

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Post by Sam Winchester on Dec 3, 2016 15:50:00 GMT -5

"All right, it's over" Sam informed Johnny over the phone as he watched the flames lap at Rose's remains. "You're safe. And, Johnny? Look at this as a new beginning. Lot of chances not to be a jackass." And he hung up.
~~~

Unfortunately, it was not a new beginning. The next morning, there was news of Johnny's death on the police scanner, bringing Sam to his apartment to check it out. He'd been strangled, a blown up sex doll on the bed the most likely culprit in Sam's opinion as it was the closest thing to a mannequin which seemed to be Rose's possession of choice. Sighing heavily, he pulled out his phone and called Dean, getting the machine. "This is Dean's other other cell, so you must know what to do." "Hey, it's not over" Sam announced, eyes on Johnny's corpse as it was covered with a sheet. "Burning the remains didn't stop her. She's got to be hooked to something else. I'm gonna head to the sister's now. Call me." And he hung up.
~~~

"So, um, this is it?" Sam rifled through a small cardboard box of insignificant objects, none of which seemed very likely to be the cause of Rose's refusal to move on. Isabel nodded apologetically. "I gave most of her clothes to the Goodwill. She didn't have much." Sam pushed the box away from him, settling back in his chair to think. As he did this, his eyes landed on a pile of school books on the counter and an idea struck him. "...are those yours? Are you in school?" Isabel nodded proudly. "Yeah." "Where" Sam demanded, appearing to shock Isabel with the intensity of his question. "Um...great falls." "So let me guess...you were at the chem lab and the factory this week" Sam concluded, everything starting to piece itself together for him. "Well yeah" Isabel confirmed, looking confused. Remembering the bar he'd noticed underneath Johnny's apartment, he wondered, "did you happen to stop by a bar called McOwen's last night?" "Everybody from the factory goes there" Isabel explained, starting to look a little miffed. "I stop in maybe three times a week. Why?" "That's it." Sam rose from his chair and began to pace. "This is all about you."

Isabel also stood. "What? What is?" "The murders. Your coworkers, your college janitor" Sam began, causing Isabel's eyes to widen. "What?? You think I could do something like that??" Sam waved this off quickly. "No, no, no, no, no. But -- but I think you're at the center." "Me?" Isabel put a hand to her throat. "How?" "What are you wearing of Rose's" Sam demanded intensely. "A ring? A bracelet? Her baby teeth in a locket? What?" Isabel took a step back, her eyes at their widest yet. "You're scaring me." Sam advanced a step on her. "Just think, please. It's important. What -- what do you have of Rose that you carry with you?" "I...I'm..." Isabel started to shake her head in denial but stopped cold, her expression registering something. "What" Sam prompted eagerly. "Well, the only thing I have of hers is a part of me" Isabel explained slowly. "When I was 16, she gave me one of her kidneys." "Her kidney" Sam echoed blankly. "You're kidding." "Will you please tell me what this is about" Isabel begged, her complexion paling. "Yeah. Um..." Sam fixed the best attempt at an encouraging smile on his face that he could manage while trying to mentally figure out this latest hurdle.

"But I'm gonna need you to come with me."

Dean Winchester
Hunter.

Our lives are weird, man.

Posts: 2,165

Mannequin 3: The Reckoning. // Dean // Dec 3, 2016 18:26:34 GMT -5

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Post by Dean Winchester on Dec 3, 2016 18:26:34 GMT -5

Dean was almost glad to get Sam's messages. While he wasn't happy that another person had died and while he was certainly vexed about the haunted kidney problem...one they'd never come across before...it definitely took his mind off of everything else, including walking out of Lisa and Ben's life. Again.
~~~

"So is that the girl with the haunted kidney" Dean wanted to know, gesturing behind Sam at the young woman sitting in the back of Sam's "borrowed" car, looking uneasy. Sam nodded once. "Yeah." Dean let out a low whistle. "Just when you think you seen it all." Sam nodded again without offering any suggestions on fixing it. "So what do you want to do" Dean pressed curiously. "Can't exactly burn the thing. I mean, she kind of needs it." "Well, she can't just walk around with it, Dean" Sam argued. "The spirit's attached. It's gonna use her to get close to anyone it wants revenge on. It's not gonna stop killing." "Okay, so what are you suggesting, that we cut it out of her" Dean countered to which Sam fired back dryly, "and then what? Leave her in a tub of ice with a phone taped to her hand?" Dean had to agree that that wasn't really a solid plan so he made a new suggestion. "Maybe we should call Dr. Robert. He might have some leads on some non-haunted, black-market replacement kidneys." "He works out of a butcher's shop" Sam pointed out but Dean waved this aside. "It's pretty clean. You'd be surprised."

"No, I think we have to go hoodoo" was Sam's counter-suggestion. "That's more of a band-aid, not really a cure" Dean hedged, tilting his head from one side to the other in consideration. "It buys us a minute" Sam pointed out with half a shrug. "Alright." Dean couldn't argue that. "Louisiana it is." "Voodoo?!" Isabel had made her way over, unbeknownst to the conversing brothers and was now staring between them in bewilderment. "What the hell are you talking about?" "Actually, it's hoodoo" Dean corrected with a thin smile. "It's a little different." Isabel shook her head several times, looking spooked. "You're not feds." Sam held up both hands. "Hold on Isabel. Just let us explain." Just then, behind the three of them, the Impala's engine revved, its headlights burning bright. "No." Dean stared. "No way." The keys were still in his pocket. "That's impossible" Isabel whispered, staring at the car as though she'd seen a ghost. "No, no, no, no" Dean objected, horrified. "She possesses sex dolls! This -- this is not a sex doll!" The engine revved again. "Hey, you leave my baby alone" Dean shouted possessively. "She's got nothing to do with this!" Ignoring him, the Impala began to drive straight at the three of them. "Go, go, go!" Dean ushered Sam and Isabel in the opposite direction before sprinting in a large circle around the parking lot, the car chasing him. "Son of a bitch" he hollered over one shoulder, cursing out the ghost as he upped his speed to keep from becoming a pancake beneath his baby's wheels. Then, on his third lap of the lot, an idea occurred to him and he altered courses, running straight up to the abandoned gas station and stopping in front of its glass front window, turning to face his oncoming car. "I am so sorry baby" he apologized before diving to the side at the last second. The Impala wasn't fast enough and crashed straight through the window, falling silent and stationary.

"Dean!" Sam came running over, helping his brother up off the glass littered pavement. "You ok?" "Yeah, yeah, I'm good" Dean promised, brushing some glass shards from his jacket and wiping some blood from the cut on his lip. "You guys?" "I'm fine" Sam promised and they both turned to look at Isabel who was swaying on her feet. "Yeah, I'm" she began but couldn't finish the sentence, spitting up blood and collapsing, a large glass piece protruding from her stomach. "Isabel" Sam cried in alarm, both boys rushing forward to kneel on either side of her. Sam helped her up into a semi-seated position. "Hey, hey, hey, it's ok." Isabel's breathing came out shallow and labored. Off to the side, Rose's spirit appeared with a flicker, looking down at her dying sister with guilty anguish. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean for this." Isabel gave a final shuddery breath and lay still in Sam's arms. Rose vanished in a burst of flames. It was over.
~~~

"How's it look?" Sam approached Dean from behind while he was working on repairing the Impala back at Bobby's scrapyard. "Well, considering she got carjacked by poltergeist, could be worse" Dean allowed, tossing his wrench onto the nearby workbench and accepting the offered beer from Sam. After twisting off its cap and taking a swig, Dean voiced a concern that had been nagging at him. "I mean, what exactly did we do back there, Sam?" Sam pulled a face. "Yeah...I'm not putting it in the win column either." "We saved a few dicks, a-a-and we killed an innocent girl" Dean listed off. "I got a heartbroken kid and a woman who's so pissed at me..." He sighed and took a longer pull on his beer, letting the familiar buzz wash over him. "I see what you mean about facing your past" he finished with a wry smile. "It's, uh - It's awesome."

"Dean" Sam tried but Dean wasn't done. "I mean, all we do is make a mess." "That's not true" Sam argued fiercely. "We do save lives...now and again." "Yeah, I guess." Dean set his beer down on the workbench, his expression heavy. "I'm just...I'm just tired of all the bad luck, you know?" "Well, you know, number one, bad luck is kind of in the job description" Sam reminded him unhelpfully before adding, "and two, it's not all bad. Really. Look at me. I mean, at least Satan's left the building." "Yeah." Dean chuckled dryly. "It's the little things." "And I have a soul because of you." Something registered on Sam's face. "I never thanked you for that, did I?" Dean waved this aside graciously. "It's all good man." "Well thank you anyway" Sam insisted genuinely. Dean nodded in recognition of that. "You'd have done the same for me." He was certain of that.

"Look, we keep our heads down, keep swinging" Sam encouraged. "We'll lose some. Hopefully, we'll win more. And...I don't know. We'll figure it out. We always do." He shrugged, meeting Dean's gaze with an elevated spark of intensity. "Anyway, for what it's worth, I got your back." "Yeah." The first true smile of the evening graced Dean's features.

"I know."

[THE END.]

We hunt monsters....you know who does that? Crazy people!

Mannequin 3: The Reckoning. // Dean //

Post by Sam Winchester on Nov 27, 2016 16:09:08 GMT -5

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Post by Sam Winchester on Dec 3, 2016 12:02:25 GMT -5

Post by Dean Winchester on Dec 3, 2016 15:14:29 GMT -5

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Post by Dean Winchester on Dec 3, 2016 18:26:34 GMT -5

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