Title: 5.) Episode 1.05: "Thievery"
Description: (Original airdate: August 29th, 2008)
Sam451823 - December 5, 2008 02:18 AM (GMT)
In the dark of the hotel room, the bedside alarm clock switched to eight a.m., and the hard rocking strands of Three Days Grace played on the clock radio, sounding the chime of the hour:
“When you’re on the edge and falling off, it’s all over for you…”
Ruby grumbled, slamming down on the snooze button as she rolled over. “At least this station’s better than Sam’s old fogey crap,” she muttered, reaching over and turning on the bedside lamp. The room now brightened, she threw off the covers and stood, grabbing her head and groaning the second she did.
“Damn… feel like I didn’t sleep at all. Human bodies don’t get rest like they used to.”
Moving groggily to the bathroom, she took off the T-shirt she had slept in and turned on the shower. The very moment she stepped in, she knew that this was the best shower she had taken since indoor plumbing had been invented. After a few minutes of shampooing and waking up, she stepped out, dried off, and got dressed. After drying her hair, she walked back into the bedroom, and began packing her clothes and gear.
She didn’t take as long as Travis and Sam did to pick up in any town that they visited. Unlike them, she kept her stuff tucked away and ready to go whenever it was needed. Like most men, they threw their stuff everywhere without regard, room littered with clothes, guns, fast food bags, and empty beer cans. No wonder it took them so long to hit the road half the time.
Moving out into the hallway, duffel bag over her shoulder, Ruby crossed the hall to the other side where the boys’ room was. Using the spare key they had given her, she opened the door wide, still standing in the hall. “Salt line?” She called into the room.
“You’re clear,” Travis shouted back. The two men were at least smart enough to always salt their room everywhere they went, but usually killed the line behind the front door so that Ruby could come and go as she pleased. But Ruby found herself frowning at the tone of voice Travis held. Something was up.
“Okay,” she said, walking in. “What exactly has crawled up your asses today?” She found them both staring at her, faces stone cold, gazes piercing. She looked back and forth between the two of them in confusion. “What?”
Without turning his look away from her, Sam lifted up the television remote, turning up the volume on the TV:
“Police still only have the one surveillance camera photo taken of the thief from last night’s break-in here at the Seattle Art Museum. One guard is in critical condition as a result of the break-in, and a second is dead. If you see this woman, contact the Seattle Police Department immediately.”
Ruby moved in front of the television screen to get a closer look at a still frame that replaced the female anchor.
The picture on the screen was blurred, but it was obvious to see that it was Ruby, standing in the middle of the museum. She had her knife in her hand and they both were covered in blood. Two security guards lay at her feet, the red liquid oozing out them.
“Oh, hell no,” she muttered. She turned to face the boys and began shaking her head in defiance. “I… hell no! I didn’t! I wouldn’t! I…”
“Then explain what we’re looking at Ruby!” Sam challenged angrily, standing and pointing at the television screen. “And you better do it fast.”
But as Ruby looked away in thought, trying to think back on the night before, her mind was even foggier. Less and less was clear the more she focused. She felt the same way she had that morning, so drained. She couldn’t do anything more than stare at Sam and shake her head blankly.
“I… I can’t remember,” she said, her voice resounding with a tone that surprised even her. She wasn’t good with shock, but she sure as hell was feeling it now. “I honestly can’t remember.”
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Opening Credits roll:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_AqUE4ywfQ
Theme Song: “Bring Me to Life,” Evanscence
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Chapter One:
Ruby couldn’t believe her own eyes. Sam couldn’t believe her. “Ruby, why did you do this?” He said, the fury coming to a boil.
“Sam, I swear, I didn’t do this. And if I did, it was against my will because I don’t remember doing it.”
“Then explain that,” he said, pointing at the television. It was still broadcasting the picture of her with the knife and the guards at her feet.
“I can’t,” Ruby said and Sam heard something he had never heard from Ruby before, a hint of truth.
“Well then we need to figure out what made you do that. Or if it’s a shape shifter or what.”
“It is me,” she said. “It has my knife. And that’s not something a shape shifter could get its hands on. Trust me.”
“Then we need to figure out what made you do that. And we need to do it fast.”
“I think I can be of assistance,” said a voice from behind Sam. They all looked at the source. It was Carson Adams.
“What the hell do you want?” Travis said, getting up with a rifle in his hands.
“Easy, tiger,” Carson said. “I’m here to help. I know what happened to Ruby last night.”
“And how’s that?” Sam asked.
“Because… well the details aren’t important. What is important is that I know who forced Ruby to do that and where you can find her. You can trust me or not. That’s up to you.”
“I vote we don’t trust him,” Travis replied. “Especially not after Kentucky.” He pointed the gun at Carson. “You know you’ve got a hell of a lotta nerve coming here after that, right?”
“Whatever, Dark Gable,” Carson said, waving Travis off. “So whaddya say, Sammy boy?”
Sam looked at Carson, then at his friends. Sam walked right up to Carson. “Sorry, buddy.” And he clocked Carson square in the face.
“OH!” Travis yelled. “YES! Atta boy, Sam!”
“Fine,” Carson said from the ground with a bit of blood on the corner of his mouth. “I’m smart enough to be able to tell when my company’s not wanted. I’ll be going. But when Ruby goes after another museum tonight, don’t say I didn’t warn you.” And he faded away.
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FBI Special Agent Garrison Potter was on a plane first thing in the morning to Seattle, Washington. He’d been assigned to the murders at the Seattle Art Museum. And he was ready to put somebody under arrest.
“Can I get you anything, sir?” A stewardess asked him.
“No thank you,” he responded. “I’m fine.”
“Are you sure? It’s no bother.”
Potter nodded. “I’m sure. Thank you, though.” The stewardess didn’t push the issue any further and left.
Potter pulled out the file on what the FBI knew about the theft. That wasn’t much.
The security camera had gotten a single picture of the assailant. A blonde woman, probably in her mid-to-late twenties wearing black leather pants, a black KISS T-shirt, and a red leather jacket had a bloody knife in her hand, a deceased security guard at her feet, and a significantly injured one lay on the ground at the edge of the room. What’s more is that when the woman could’ve made away with half the museum, she only took one thing. Some piece of African pottery. What the hell?
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As his flight pulled into the appropriate gate at the airport in Seattle, Potter was the last to leave. When he actually got inside the airport, he was met by a woman with short red hair. “Garrison Potter?”
“Yes, ma’am, I am. Who are you?”
“Detective Marissa Witt of the Seattle Police Department. My partner and I are the detectives you’ll be working with on this case.”
“Ah, I see. And who’s your partner?”
Detective Witt pointed out a tall man with short blonde hair. “Gabe! I got him!” She called. He walked over to them. “Agent Potter, meet Detective Gabriel Patton.”
“How do you do?” Detective Patton said, reaching out his hand to shake Potter’s.
“I’m fine and yourself?”
“Could be better, but I’ll live.”
They let go of each other’s hands. Detective Witt spoke again. “Alright, Agent Potter, let’s go get your luggage and head over to the seven-nine.”
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Retrieving Potter’s luggage was no easy task. FBI or not, he was still subjected to the same torment that was lost luggage as other human beings. But they finally got his second suitcase and were no parked in the garage across the street from Seattle’s Seventy-Ninth Precinct.
Inside, they were met by Lieutenant Holly Brady who watched over the detectives of this precinct. She shook Potter’s hand after they were formally introduced and took a seat behind her desk. “So what does the FBI think about this woman, Agent Potter?”
“Pretty much the same thing as you guys probably. Just some crazy broad who tried to steal from a museum and killed when it went south. What I don’t get is why she would’ve only taken that urn.”
“We don’t get that either,” Detective Patton said. “But we’re gonna get to the bottom of it. Now that we’ve got the FBI backing us up anyway.”
“That’s right,” Detective Witt put in. “We’ll catch her and then we’ll put her away for the rest of her life.”
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Sam, Ruby, and Travis were still sitting around their motel room. They’d been doing that all day. They didn’t know what else to do. They didn’t want to risk somebody recognizing Ruby from the news report and call in the cops. Not to mention they needed to stop her from going AWOL tonight as Carson had told them she would. Then again, Carson wasn’t exactly a reliable source these days. And on top of that, they needed to figure out what caused Ruby to lash out like she had last night and might do again.
“Any ideas, Sam?” Travis asked.
“Yeah, Sammy. Put your God’s gift to work. Use that brain.”
“I don’t even have a clue where to begin.”
“Well you should’ve thought about that before you socked our only lead and kicked him outta here,” Ruby said.
“Ruby, do you really trust him after what happened in Lexington?” Travis asked.
“No,” she said. “But if he says he has information and we don’t have anything, then we should at least hear him out.”
“Well we don’t have any time to get him back here. Travis,” Sam called. “Get those chains out of the duffel bag. And a knife.”
“Chains? Knives?” Ruby asked.
“In case Carson was telling the truth and you’re gonna try and go after another museum tonight, we need a little insurance.” Sam grabbed the chains Travis handed over and somehow convinced Ruby to go along with it. He and Travis bound her to the bed with them and after tightening them as best they could, Sam put a Master Lock on them. Then he took the knife and climbed up on top of the bed. He etched a Devil’s Trap in the ceiling above Ruby and then hopped off the mattress. “That ought to hold you.”
“And if it doesn’t?” Ruby asked.
“Then I won’t hesitate,” Sam said, palming Ruby’s knife. Ruby nodded, getting the message.
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Chapter Two:
It was midnight, give or take a few minutes. Sam and Travis had agreed to take shifts watching Ruby sleep. The first shift was handed to Travis and that ran until two in the morning where he would wake Sam up to make sure she didn’t go nuts between two and six.
When Ruby didn’t even budge an inch for at least thirty minutes, Travis decided that he needed to take care of some business and grabbed the day’s paper which he still hadn’t read and walked into the bathroom to relieve himself.
When Ruby sensed that her guardian was gone, she easily and silently broke through the chains and telekinetically shattered the Devil’s Trap. She pulled her knife out of her pocket in case Travis heard the commotion and came out of the bathroom. When he didn’t, she walked to the door and left.
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Travis exited the bathroom fifty minutes later. He was finished forty-five minutes ago, but saw it as his chance to get a heads-up on anything else supernatural that might be happening in Seattle. That’s where he went wrong. “Oh, crap!” He yelled when he saw that the chains binding Ruby were completely busted open, the Devil’s Trap above broken, and Ruby gone. He walked over to the mirror. “You dumb ass!” He shouted at his reflection. That woke Sam up.
“What the hell is going on?” He said groggily.
Travis rounded. “Dude, I went to the bathroom for like three minutes and she split.”
“What?! You were supposed to be keeping an eye on her.”
“Yeah, well, it was either take a few minutes off or piss myself in your bed. Which would you rather?”
“Well if she only got like a five minute head start then she shouldn’t be too hard to catch up to.”
Travis lied. “Yeah, she’s only got a five minute head start.” He picked up the keys to the Impala off the table and tossed them to Sam as he pulled on a pair of dirty jeans. “Let’s go.”
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At one o’clock in the morning, Detectives Witt and Patton charged into their lieutenant’s office where Lt. Brady and Agent Potter were meeting to discuss the case. “Potter, let’s haul ass,” Patton said.
“What? Why?” Potter said as he turned to face them.
“Just got a call from the Museum of Natural History,” Detective Witt explained. “Our mystery blonde and two men just broke in. Their requesting back-up.”
“Well they got it,” Potter said, grabbing his coat and service pistol. “Let’s make an arrest.”
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It was 12:50 in the morning and Sam and Travis had finally caught up to Ruby outside of the Museum of Natural History. She was entranced and ignored them as they called out to her. Sam double parked the Impala and he and Travis ran out to meet their ally.
“Ruby, come on. Snap out of it,” Sam said, snapping his fingers in her face.
Ruby ripped the front doors off their hinges which Sam kind of guessed set off the silent alarm. The security detail probably knew about her already. Things could only go downhill from here.
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Ruby, Sam, and Travis were inside the museum, Ruby leading them by about five paces. When she stopped, she was in front of a caveman exhibit and snatched a necklace from one of the mannequins. She turned and said in a monotone, “Move.”
“No,” Travis said and that sent him flying across the room by way of Ruby’s telekinetic prowess.
“Move, Sam,” she said.
“What he said,” he replied, knowing that his own psychic powers would shield him from Ruby’s. She knew it to, but as a reflex, tried to make him move by force. When he didn’t, she pulled out her knife. Sam, grabbing her forearm, forced her to drop the blade, but that started the first ever male-versus-female catfight.
Ruby began clawing at Sam and he tried a leg sweep to dodge and get her to the ground. Blood ran from his cheeks since Ruby got a few good swipes in before hitting the deck.
She leg swept him right back, bringing him to the ground next to her. She got on top of him and began to press his neck against the cold floor.
Travis had gotten up by now and ran to Ruby and Sam. He whipped her with the grip the rifle he was carrying. Ruby, never even removing a single finger from her grip on the necklace, let go of Sam long enough to grip the gun and plunge the barrel right into Travis’ Adam’s apple. He went down, holding onto his neck. Ruby bent the barrel of the gun and threw it away.
Now she turned her attention back to Sam who punched her in the face. “Fine, Ruby,” he said, breathing heavily. “You wanna fight like a man; I’ll kick your ass like one.”
He tugged on her hair as she tried to crawl away to get her footing. Still in a monotone, she said, “Ouch.” She reached behind her and held onto Sam’s left leg. She rolled backwards, sending Sam to the ground and her back on top of him with her back facing him. Not thinking about Sam’s hold on her hair anymore, Ruby turned around and began clawing him again.
Travis, now back up again, ran over to a rope barricade around one of the exhibits and pulled out a metal pole. “Sam’s right. Batter up,” he said as he swung the pole clean-cut into the back of Ruby’s skull.
She stood.
“POLICE! FREEZE!” The voice of a Seattle police officer screamed. The officer had her gun raised and two men stood behind her. One, like her, had a police badge hanging from his neck. The other one had an FBI badge open in his right hand. Her gun still pointed at Ruby. The other two joined in with the aim. “Hands on your head, now!”
Ruby, not seeing them as much of a threat, stood up and attempted to walk over and out of the room. The Seattle detective in the back must’ve been itching to pull the trigger. He was the first to fire.
Ruby telekinetically sent the bullets back and they clipped him in the shoulder. His blood on the wall, the detective dropped his gun and clutched his injured shoulder. “Gabe,” Detective Witt said.
Ruby broke into a run. Witt and the FBI Agent fired their guns. Ruby sent the bullets away, but not at them. She palmed her knife. She slit Detective Witt’s throat, spun around and stabbed her in the gut. Before the FBI Agent knew what was happening, she pulled his legs out from under him with her own, and his next to shots landed somewhere in the roof.
Ruby left them all after that.
Sam and Travis ran over to the Agent and his fallen comrades. “Are you okay?” Sam asked him as he pulled him to his feet.
“Freeze!” The Agent said with his gun pointed out Sam. Without taking his eyes off of him, he checked for a pulse from the two detectives. The one that took the bullets to the shoulder was still alive, but the other one wasn’t so lucky. “Damn it!”
The FBI Agent called it in on the deceased detective’s radio. “Agent Potter to Seattle Seventy-Nine. Do you read?”
“We got you, Agent Potter,” a female’s voice came. “What happened?”
“Detective Witt’s dead,” he said. “So send the M.E., not that we really need him. And send a bus for Detective Patton. He’s alive, but losing blood fast. Took two bullets to his right shoulder.”
“We’re all on our way,” she had said.
Now Agent Potter turned on Sam and Travis. “You two are under arrest on charges of breaking and entering, assault, theft, and murder. Unless you tell me where I can find your friend.”
“Friend?” Travis asked. “Did you not just see her whipping our asses?”
“I’ll take that as you’re not telling me squat. Am I right?”
“Right,” Sam said.
“Right?” Travis asked. “He’s not right. We just don’t know where Ruby is.”
“So her name’s Ruby, huh? Now I know you’re in co-hoots with her.” Agent Potter took a set of handcuffs from each detective and shackled Sam and Travis with them. “Let’s take you down to the station and then see if you’ll talk.”
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Great, Sam thought. He’d just been cleared by Agent Henriksen all of six months ago. Now he was back in the clutches of the FBI. They had taken his fingerprints so it wouldn’t be long until Potter came through that door knowing that he was Sam Winchester and that he didn’t die in the explosion at Monument.
Just as expected, Potter walked in with a manila folder in his hand. “Well we ran your fingerprints,” was the first thing to come out of his mouth. “And you know what we found?”
“Do tell,” Sam said though he already knew the answer.
“Nothing,” Agent Potter replied. “Not a damn thing.” This, Sam wasn’t expecting. But Potter had gotten his hopes up for nothing because he continued with, “Until we ran them through the FBI database. Then they were sent back as identical matches to a serial killer who died six months ago. A man by the name of Samuel Winchester.”
“Well how’d his prints get on my fingers?”
“Cut the crap, Sam,” Potter said. “You’re in a lot of trouble. We pulled records of seven warrants out for your arrest.” He laid photocopies of warrants from Milwaukee, Sam saw, among others. All leading up to his arrest by Agent Henriksen and locked up in a small-town jail that Lilith blew up where he and Dean were presumed dead. “So where’s Dean?”
“He’s dead,” Sam replied.
Potter scoffed. “Yeah, and I’m the Easter Bunny. Where is he?”
“He’s dead. Died in the explosion.”
“Whatever. We’ll find him soon enough. So who’s your friend?”
“Who? The black guy you arrested me with? I just met him when I got here. I don’t know who he is.”
“Pure, unadulterated bull,” Potter said, slamming the folder shut after gathering up all the papers. “I hope you get put away for the rest of your life, you son of a bitch.”
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Ruby walked into an elegant room covered in silk and satin. In the middle of the room sat a young woman behind a boiling pot that she flicked herbs into. Off to the left, stood Carson, arms crossed and waiting. When Ruby stepped up to him, she sat the necklace down in front of him. “Good, my pet,” he said. “Now return home. And forget everything that happened following my little visit yesterday.”
“Yes, master,” she said and walked off.
The woman looked up at Carson. “I did what you asked Carson. I put her under the spell. Is my soul safe now?”
“How many times are you going to ask me that? You and Kelly sold me your souls and I agreed to burn the contracts when I was finished with you. Now I’m not done with you. When I am, then your souls will be safe. But until then, stop asking.”
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Ruby woke up at eight o’clock the next morning to the sounds of Within Temptation:
“I know I better stop trying. You know that there’s no denying. I won’t show mercy on you now. I know I should start believing. I know that there’s no retrieving. It’s over now. What have you done?”
She showered and dressed and headed over to Sam and Travis’ room. The door was locked. She beat on it. “Hey, Sammy, wake up,” she called. When no one responded, she tried again. Nothing. She headed over to the balcony that overlooked the parking lot. The Impala wasn’t where they left it parked. They must’ve gone out to breakfast or something. She walked back into her room and waited.
And waited.
And waited.
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Chapter Three:
“You got a plan for getting us outta this one?” Travis continued asking. It was about the sixth time in less than ten minutes. It was a good one though and one that Sam didn’t have an answer to.
The boys had been moved from their cells at Seattle’s Seventy-Ninth precinct, cuffed and shackled, to an FBI van waiting for them in the back for extradition to the state penitentiary. Now booked and processed, they were heading towards a very uncomfortable-looking cell.
“I’m thinking,” Sam muttered under his breath so that only he and Travis could hear. “I’m thinking…”
“You wanna think a little bit faster?” Travis finished as Agent Potter rounded the front of the van, smiling as if he had just won the lottery.
“Why so sad, boys?” He asked with a spring in his step. “Oh, that’s right. Because you’re off to meet your new boyfriends at the state’s Grey Bar Hotel. Remember, don’t drop the soap.”
“You always this friendly with people?” Travis asked him. His smile vanished instantaneously.
“Only to psycho killers and friends of women that just brutally murdered a cop for no apparent reason,” and with that he turned to the agents standing behind him and motioned to the van, signaling for them to escort Sam and Travis inside.
They shoved Sam and Travis from behind, pushing them forward. “Hey!” Travis yelled. “I don’t know what you Men in Black do in your spare time, but we don’t roll that way so get out from behind!”
When they got to the rear of the van, they were helped inside by another pair of agents. The last thing they saw before the doors closed behind them was the smug, satisfied look on Potter’s face.
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As the van pulled away with the agents who had helped them into the van driving and the other set staying behind with Potter, Sam hit the back of his head on the metal wall of the van, sighing and closing his eyes. “Great,” he said, “so much for being dead.”
“Yeah, you wanna explain that one to me?”
“You remember that train station that Lilith blew up in Pierre?”
“Uh-huh,” Travis said.
“Well about six months ago, she did the same thing back in Monument, Colorado and some good people got caught in the crossfire. Dean and I were presumed dead by the authorities and that helped us out… until now obviously.”
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After several minutes of silence, Sam began with, “We still don’t know who or what did this to Ruby. What we do know is that she’s still out there and if the pattern continues, she’ll go on a moonlit stroll to the nearest museum again tonight. We gotta get outta here and back to the motel.”
The words no sooner left Sam’s lips than the van pulled a one-eighty with a screech of the tires that threw Travis to the side and Sam off the one bench in order to make his face meet the other Mr. Iron Wall with a thud and a groan.
“What the hell?” Travis snapped.
A ruckus from the front of the van caught their attention: Two gunshots, some crunching glass, and Sam’s personal favorite, Ruby’s cursing the two agents out for shooting her. He heard it through the walls as if she were standing right next to him. “Damn you! I can’t believe you shot me! I mean, it only stings a bit, but I can’t believe you sons of bitches shot me! Twice, no less!” As another face came in contact with another part of the van, the horn began to blare.
Seconds later, Ruby ripped the back doors right off of their hinges and threw them down the street behind her. “Come on,” she rushed; utilizing the keys she had stolen to release the grips of their cuffs. “It won’t be long until more show up. We gotta go. Then you two need to spell out how the hell you got arrested.”
“How did you find us?”
“They had all of your things in evidence bags in the front, including your phones. GPS is awesome, isn’t it? Now let’s get moving!”
With no need to be coaxed, Sam and Travis followed Ruby out of the van and worked their way to the front. The driver’s side door lay open, also off its hinges. Sam’s suspicions had been confirmed about the driver’s skull bleeding profusely into the hole that Ruby had opened by it in the deflated airbag. Sam laid his right index and middle fingers by his neck to check for a pulse and was amazed that he found one.
Travis ran to the other door to check the other agent. “This one’s still alive,” he said after checking her pulse as Sam had done to the other male of the pair.
“This one too,” Sam said. “Wow, Ruby. I figured you’d kill them based on the way you were yelling at them.”
“What can I say?” She asked. “I’m getting soft. Now let’s run about three blocks to the Impala and you can explain to me how you got arrested.”
“Don’t have to tell me twice,” Travis said as he broke into a run.
“Me neither,” Sam said, doing the same, just as two realizations set in. The first being that Ruby mustn’t remember the night before. The second being that she had gotten behind the wheel of the Impala!
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Still at the motel gathering up all of their things, Sam shoved a shirt of his into the duffel bag that housed his clothing and then looked up at Ruby. “You really don’t remember anything from last night, do you?”
Ruby threw her hands up in annoyance and leaned back against the window. “No, damn it! I told you this already. I woke up, found your room empty, waited for about seven hours, I guess, then actually went inside to find your room looking like a war zone, spent about two more hours with AT&T and their political bull before they finally turned the GPS on in your cells which we now gotta find the money to get you new ones since you both stupidly forgot them back with the cops! So do you wanna tell me what I supposedly did last night or are you gonna keep yanking me around?”
“I’m still trying to get over why it took you seven hours to actually go inside the room,” Travis said from the other side of the room, lying on the bed. “And we didn’t forget them. At least I didn’t. They know the numbers now so they could track us anywhere we went if we stole them back.”
Sam forced himself to calm down, sitting on the edge of the bed for a moment, running his hand through his hair in frustration. He looked over his shoulder at Travis who had the same look of confusion, anger, and downright aggravation on his face. They knew it wasn’t Ruby’s fault this was happening. But how could they find out what was happening to her by nightfall which was in just under an hour or stop a demon that can break out of any containment imaginable? If it came down to it, they’d have to kill her. If it came down to it, tonight, Sam would not hesitate as he had promised Ruby the night before.
“The mess you saw in the room was from you,” Sam said. We had you chained to the bed with a Devil’s Trap over top of you. Somehow,” he laughed, “and I still can’t get my head wrapped around this one, you broke out, and busted into the Museum of Natural History. You stole some necklace, killed one police officer, telekinetically shot another, which is how we ended up with the FBI. Yeah, you got them on your trail now and also, they know that I didn’t die via Lilith back in Monument. So Dean and I are back on the FBI’s Most Wanted List. And my personal favorite, Travis is now as hot on the FBI’s radar as the Winchester brothers.”
Ruby stared on as Sam told his story, her face screwed into an expression he had never seen worn by her before. Horror. She was mortified by what Sam was telling her; he could see it. And he didn’t understand that reaction. Not from her anyway.
She turned her head, searching for words, for something to say. As she started to open her mouth, a knock sounded from the door. Everyone looked up. Sam and Travis found themselves reaching for their .45s.
Sam moved over to the door and looked over at Travis who nodded as he loaded a bullet into the chamber and stood ready. Opening the door a crack, Sam peered out to see a woman standing on the opposing side. She was medium height, her hair long and red, pulled back into a ponytail. Piercing green eyes looked at him through tears of sadness. Her small frame shrunk down as she wrung her hands nervously. Sam opened the door the rest of the way which startled her. “I’m sorry,” Sam said. “Can I help you?”
“I’m… I’m alone, I promise. I followed your blonde friend. I can help you with what’s wrong with her.”
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Chapter Four:
The woman was now sitting at the table by the window. Sam passed a glass of water to her shaky hand as he leaned against the dresser, Ruby sitting on the bed and Travis standing beside Sam. The woman was nervous, Sam saw. More like scared, honestly. And for some reason she looked familiar, though he couldn't quite place it. But whatever she could do to solve this, help Ruby, and stop people from dying, sounded wonderful to him.
"My name is Kelly," she said. "I work at a diner just outside of town..."
"That's where I remember this chick from," Travis chimed in. "It's called Roadside, isn't it?" Kelly nodded in agreement and Travis looked over at Sam. “We ate there just on our way into Seattle, man. She was our waitress." Sam nodded in agreement as he looked at Kelly. That was why she was familiar...
"And you said that a man approached you about setting Ruby up for all of this?" Sam countered, to which Kelly nodded. She had just finished telling them this as she had walked in, explaining that someone had told her what to do and how to do it. "Then you can be good enough to tell us why."
Kelly's eyes misted over. "He had me backed in a corner. I had no choice. I was going to die if I didn't. And not in a good way either, trust me."
"He got a name?" Travis asked. Kelly shook her head.
"I was never told. But he's tall. Shaggy, kind of dirty blond hair. Dark eyes..." She looked up at Sam, fear on her face. The kind that showed she was worried he'd think her crazy. Sam knew that look well. And it spoke volumes of who- or what- he feared she was dealing with. "And those eyes go black sometimes," she finished.
Sam looked over at Ruby and Travis, who all returned the gaze with anger. They knew the physical description, and the eyes clinched it for them. Carson. The bastard. Ruby bit down on her lip in anger, starting to speak up and probably throw a string of curse words out of her mouth before Kelly spoke up again, fishing out three bags from her jacket pocket.
"I couldn't stand the thought of someone else suffering because of me," she said. "So I followed her home after she left him and me from bringing him the last little trinket that he had her take."
"From the museum," Travis said to Sam.
"These are what he had me use." Kelly passed them to Sam. "I spiked her food and drink with them. I've been sneaking in and keeping the doses going the past two days. He'd phone me, tell me where you guys were. I'd show up at the diner, tell them I was from Roadside and we needed to borrow some stock. They'd let me in, and I'd find her order...spike it." Kelly passed the baggies over to Sam, shame on her small face. "He said to make the doses heavy, but I don't know why," she whispered, hanging her head sadly.
Sam started to inspect the bags, but before he could he saw Ruby start to stand. Anger in her gaze, she moved towards Kelly, ready to open her mouth and let loose with a barrage of curses and enraged statements. Not that he could blame anyone. But with Ruby, hell she might just kill the woman on principle, despite the fact that Kelly was forced into it. So Sam quickly jumped in front of Ruby, moving to look at Kelly. "It's alright," he said in response to Kelly's whispered statement. "It took a lot for you to come here and tell us this. You did the right thing." Kelly looked up at him, her smile weak, but there at least. "Now..." Sam held out a hand for her, which Kelly took, standing. Sam led her towards the door, being careful to put himself between Kelly and Ruby. "I want you to go home, lock yourself in for the night. Do you have salt at your house?"
"Yes."
"Good. Pour a line at every door and on every window that you have and stay there."
Kelly looked at Sam in confusion as he opened the motel room door. "What is this guy superstitious or something?"
"Yeah," Sam said quickly. “You could say that. And thank you again for all of this. This helps us more than you know." Kelly smiled and nodded before leaving the room, Sam shutting the door behind him.
As he held up each bag, Travis spoke up. "Sure we shouldn't have kept her here to protect her, Sam?"
"With Potter and the rest of the FBI on our tails?" Sam countered, still staring into the clear plastic baggies. "If we get caught, she'll automatically be included as an accomplice and thrown in a cell. Nothing would keep Carson and his hell hounds off of her then. She's better off at home where she can salt it down and seal herself in." Sam grimaced, looking at the group as he held the bags out. “And this explains a lot." He tossed the first one to Travis, who held it up. "That's Nightshade... the raw form of Belladonna."
The second baggie he tossed to Ruby, who caught it and looked it over. She grimaced in anger. "Henbane," she growled. "I'll be damned..."
"And this one?" Sam held the bag up. "Opium."
"These are all serious hallucinogens and sedatives," Travis said.
"Tell me about it," Sam replied. "They used these in the old days as ointments to try and induce lycanthropy. Aside from the obvious narcotic value they have other uses such as poisons, sedatives, aides for heart murmurs...” He looked at Ruby. "And if mixed and given in a high enough dosage, they can put anyone into a complete state of obedience. And later the person can be stone cold unconscious and if lucky, no memory of what happened. And even though you're a demon, you have a human body. That's why Carson jacked the dose; to make sure it would affect even you."
Ruby crumpled the baggie in her hand, rage setting in. "I swear I’m going to be coated in that bastard's blood by the end of the night..."
"You aren't going to be doing anything," Sam argued. "Except letting this stuff get out of your system. We don't know what Carson has planned for you to do again and until that stuff is completely out of you, you're not leaving our sight."
Travis huffed. "Yeah...we see how well that went last time?"
"He's right, Sam," Ruby said, to which Travis looked at her in shock. "You're better off letting me deal with this on my own.”
"And risk more innocent people getting killed?" Sam snapped. "Forget it!"
"This isn't up for discussion, Winchester!" Ruby growled, moving closer to Sam. "It's..." Ruby's angered statement suddenly cut short, dropped in her throat as the rage on her face melted away into nothing. A blank stare replaced it, her body standing straight and rigid as she stared ahead. And in that instant, Sam and Travis exchanged looks of panic. Here we go again...
"Ruby," Travis said calmly, moving towards her. "Listen to me…" Ruby simply held out a hand, her powers shoving him across the room and throwing him into the table by the window.
As he rolled across it, Sam ran forward to his defense. Ruby reached out, grabbing Sam by the throat. Her inhuman grip was tight, and growing tighter, cutting off his air. Sam struggled even as she lifted him off of his feet, grunting and fighting to pry her fingers free of him. "Move," she said flatly, thrusting his aside and into the wall beside her where he landed, denting the plaster with a loud crack as he slid down to the floor. Stunned momentarily, he was unable to stand in time to make another attempt at stopping Ruby before she walked out of the door of the motel room.
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He awoke to a grin etched across Carson’s face that was squatting down next to him. “Wakey-wakey, Sammy,” he crooned.
“You…” Sam made out. “Where’s Ruby?”
“On her way to her last assignment,” Carson replied. “I think I know what else you’re thinking. How could I force poor, innocent Kelly into doing that? Well I promise you, after tonight it won’t be happening again. Mainly because Kelly and her sister are screaming alongside Dean.”
”You monster,” Sam sent back.
“I’m not a monster, Sam. They made a contract with me. I even gave them a way out of it, but then little Kelly with her and all of her morality messed it up. Now she has to face what’s coming to her… eternal damnation.”
“I’ll kill you. I swear, I will.”
“Sorry, but your dance with the devil isn’t done yet Sammy. Ok, well, I’m not the devil, but your dance with me isn’t done yet either. I’ll be back. And I know that you won’t kill me when I do.” With that, Carson pulled his Houdini trick.
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Private home. Large mansion, large security. The guards were of little concern. Ruby had approached the gate and snapped the neck of the guard on call like a twig. He lay there unmoving, vacant eyes staring off into the night sky as she ripped open the security panel in the guard house, resetting the wires that would open the gates and dismantle the cameras. The large gilded gateway swung open with a mechanical whir, and Ruby strode in, her mind vacant, unaware of anything but the objective, of what she saw in her mind as the sole purpose, the goal. The Atheme that rested in the owners’ private collection.
The Master had told her it was important. Older than her, older than time. And the last piece of his puzzle. Necessary for what was to come. That was all that she needed to know. All that was important. Get it, and forget the rest. Kill any and all that tried to stop her.
‘Sam….Travis…’
Those names gnawed at the back of her mind suddenly as she wrenched open the front double doors to the large mansion. Who were they? Why were they important? Two important people. One of them…she was supposed to protect him. Help get him ready. Should she kill him if he got in the way? No…Master said to. He said kill.
The private collection of the owner was to the left in an open showroom. Ruby turned, a mindless walking zombie that simply made her way with a predator’s gait into the marble floored showroom. Several glass cases lined the floor, full of various priceless items from various ages, cultures, religions, and countries. Small floodlights shown down from the brass ceiling over every glass case, illuminating each priceless artifact.
And in the back of the room a similar case with a large iron blade resting against a black padded display backing. From under the glass casing, the silver that lined the thick wooden handle could be seen gleaming, a large pentagram engraved just at the hilt. There was her target.
Ruby cleared half of the distance before the clearing of a throat sounded behind her. Turning, she spotted two somewhat familiar faces…
“Sorry, Ruby. But we can’t let you do this…”
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Ruby turned on them, lifting a hand towards a glass case beside her. The glass lifted and flew straight at Travis. Sam shoved him out of the way, the glass crashing into the wall. Travis dove and rolled across the floor, pulling his pump action Remington out from under his coat. Chambering the weapon, he took aim at Ruby and fired, his rock salt load making it aim straight at her chest. She staggered back with a grunt, shaking her head slightly. Sam’s eyes widened for a moment. She must be starting to wear down from the herbs; that one hit shook her slightly.
Oh, this was good. They just had to keep wearing her down. That was if she didn’t kill them first.
“Keep going, Travis!” Sam shouted with his own shotgun in hand. Before he could get a shot off himself, however, Ruby threw out a hand, yanking the gun from Sam’s grip. She turned the weapon around, aiming it at Sam. The gun leveled on him, she fired off a shot. The blast slammed into Sam and threw him to the ground, his body sliding across the floor as the tremendous sting of the salt blast blazed across his chest. God…now he knew how Dean must’ve felt…
“Sam!” Travis shouted. Ruby turned on Travis, tossing the gun aside. She lifted the lid of the case that contained the Atheme, taking the knife up into the air with her powers. She brought it forward, leveling it straight at Travis, and with a sadistic grin, she started to send it sailing…
“Exorcizo te, immundissime spiritus, omnis incursio adversarii…”
Ruby’s cries of pain filled the air as Sam began the exorcism. For once in his life, he actually felt guilt and anguish over doing this to a demon. He actually had begun to consider Ruby his friend. He truly had. But she wasn’t in her right mind, and she was about to kill Travis. He couldn’t let that happen. No more innocent people would die, and certainly none of his friends.
As the Atheme hit the ground, Ruby hit her knees, grabbing her head in pain.
“…omne phantasma, omnis legio, in nominee Domini nostri Jesu Christi…”
Ruby fell forward, slamming a fist into the marble floor, the force of her attack against it shattering a piece of the tile. Sam found himself pausing a moment, undecided on whether to finish. This…this was Ruby. God, how could he do this? Suddenly she looked up at him, pain in her face, but recognition in her eyes. “Do…it,” she begged. “Sam…no more…killing. Send me…back!”
Pain was in his heart, in his eyes, and on his face, as Sam opened his mouth to begin again, to finish what he had started. She had never asked anything of him like that. Never begged. It just wasn’t Ruby. That showed him her torment. He couldn’t and wouldn’t deny a request like that. ‘Goodbye, Ruby,’ he thought to himself.
Before he could utter another word, however, the sound of sirens filled the air in the far distance, turning his head and Travis’. “Damn it!” Travis muttered. “How the hell did they find us?!”
Sam turned to look at Ruby, seeing that she had collapsed completely on the floor, now unconscious. The withdrawal from the herbs plus the half finished exorcism had taken its toll on her. But he could only pray that this would be the end of it. Reaching down, he quickly scooped her up into his arms, nodding towards the back of the mansion. “Let’s move,” he said to Travis. “The quicker the better.”
With that, the two men left, carrying the unconscious demon in their arms.
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Epilogue:
The hotel room was quiet, but busy. Travis and Sam were packing up as quickly as they could, trying to get everything organized to get the hell out of town. They needed to cover their tracks and get away from Potter and his lackeys. But the silence in the room as they packed and cleaned up any signs of themselves... it was deafening.
Sam knew exactly what was on both of their minds. He hadn’t said a word about it since last night. None of them had.
When Ruby had woken up, she was fine. Back to her regular self again. But her sullen and angered attitude caught Sam off guard. Even for her normal anger, it was a bit much. She had went to her room to pack up, leaving Sam and Travis to hustle and bustle around their room in silence, neither wanting to say anything about what had happened.
But in the end, Travis spoke up. "Has she said anything yet?"
Sam zipped his duffel bag, putting it near the door. "No," he said quietly, “nothing."
Travis sighed, pulling the plate back on his .45 and putting it in the waistband of his jeans as he tossed his last bag by the door. He looked over at Sam, concern in his eyes. "She's been fine ever since last night. It's out of her system. But she won't talk to us. She just sulks."
From the other room, Ruby sat on her bed, staring at the floor, pain and anguish on her face as she sat in her solitude. Her hands braced on her knees, she let the anger and grief over what had happened the past few days swallow her as, from Sam's room, he answered Travis' question.
"Believe it or not, Travis, I honestly think that for the first time, Ruby's figuring out what guilt actually feels like."
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Potter sat at his desk, three separate files in front of him. He opened the first, barely any papers in it. But a prominent surveillance photo of the woman that had robbed the museums and killed those damn fine officers glaring out at him. What had those two called her again? Oh yeah... Ruby. This file folder would be built thick by the time he was done. Potter would make sure of it.
The second folder he opened, this one thicker than the next. Travis Sheridan. He had a long history about him, now didn't he? Bit older than the younger Winchester... had a family once. All dead? Interesting. Considering his background now of hanging with a murdering thief and grave defiling psycho like Sam Winchester, it made one wonder just how Sheridan's family died. Obviously he turned psychotic along the way. Made sense that he would partner up with the Sam and Dean, and this Ruby woman.
"Sir?"
Potter looked up, seeing one of his fellow agents walking in. "Yes?"
"The DNA and dentals from all the bodies recovered from Monument, Colorado will be into your office in a few hours, sir."
Potter smiled in response. "Good. And I can already guarantee that we'll have everyone accounted for in them. All FBI agents, all personnel of that Colorado PD."
Potter opened the last file, the thickest of them all. A mess of photos, including a mug shot, of Sam Winchester and his brother Dean glared out of them. Potter grinned down at the sadistic pair with malice of his own. "And Dean Winchester won't be among any of them."
"How do you know, sir?" the agent asked.
Potter looked up at him, chuckling before moving back to flip through the Winchester folding, picking up Sam's mug shot and staring at it intently. "Oh," he said with a sigh, "just call it a hunch..."
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End Credits roll
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