SPN Fanfic: Ghosts, Spies and Campfire Lies 4/5
Title: Ghosts, Spies and Campfire Lies 4/5
Disclaimer: I own neither Supernatural, nor the TV series Chuck.
Word Count: Total - 20770, Part 4 - 4560
Previously: Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3
Summary: Abandoned campgrounds are never a good idea.
PART 4
Chuck skidded to a stop in the center of the campsite, flashlight aiming wildly at Sarah and Dean. "Did you find Ellie?"
Dean glanced at Sarah. "No, we couldn't find the-"
"We've gotta talk," Casey growled, snagging Chuck by the shoulder and Sarah by the elbow, towing them towards his car. "'Scuse us."
"Okay then," Dean said, watching them go and drifting towards where Sam's flashlight bobbed, trailing in from the cave entrance.
Sam was staring across the campsite at the barely-illuminated back of Chuck's head like he wanted to see through it.
"What's up?"
"Chuck, he-" Sam shook his head, frowning. "Nothing."
"What, Sam?"
"Back at the cave, he looked like he had a vision. Like the things I used to get."
Dean glanced at the three-way discussion across the clearing without changing his flashlight's aim. "If Chuck was one of the Yellow Eyed Demon's bunch, he should have been at Cold Oaks though, right?"
"Right..." Sam shook his head. "Might be nothing, but it happened right when he saw a symbol on the cave entrance."
"What kind of symbol?"
Sam pursed his lips in frustration. "I couldn't tell. Could be graffiti, could be demonic, but from Chuck's reaction to it I'd say it's not nothing."
"So you think Chuck knows something and isn't sharing with the group?"
"Not our part of the group anyway." Sam watched the heated yet hushed discussion taking place across the campsite in a pool of light from three flashlights. "He said... something. 'Toucan Keep'."
"'Toucan Keep?' Sounds kind of piratey. Unless Casper has a serious thing for Froot Loops."
"You know, I'm thinking maybe Chuck didn't say 'Toucan Keep' but 'Two Can Keep'"
Dean's flashlight swung up to Sam's face. "He didn't say 'Toucan' but he said 'Toucan'? You're starting to hurt my brain, Sam."
"No, 'Two Can'." Sam paused significantly between the words. "As in 'Two can keep a secret if one is dead.' I mean if the thing about our vics having big secrets is right..."
"...maybe this ghost, or demon, has a hang-up about keeping secrets."
"It finds people with secrets and... keeps them."
"Hunh. That sounds grim."
Sam nodded towards Dean. "What did you find? Obviously not Chuck's sister."
"A disappearing hole and a schwackload of EMF. Inside the salt line."
"Ghost's underground," Sam nodded with a grimace. "That is, if it is a ghost and not a demon."
"With the amount of EMF, I'd say ghost, and a pretty pissed off one. Either way, we're screwed."
"I salted the cave entrance, but that's not gonna do much good."
"Not if he can pop a hole out anywhere, not to mention any pre-existing vents and holes. As long as he doesn't come out inside the salt circle himself, he can do anything he wants."
"Including set off grenades."
Dean rolled his eyes. "Great. Where the hell does a ghost get grenades anyway?"
-
"Alright, Chuck, talk." Casey hissed when they were far enough away from the Winchesters not to be overheard.
Sarah flicked her flashlight from Chuck to Casey and back again. "What's going on?"
"I flashed at the cave. Sarah, we have to get Ellie out of there!"
"Flashed on what?"
"Antoine Kupferberg. Arms dealer. There's a symbol painted at the cave entrance, it's his-" Chuck waggled a frantic hand in the air. "-trademark, calling-card thing."
"Kupferberg." Sarah nodded. "I've heard of this guy. He's a demolitions expert, traded in secrets too. He's here?"
"He's got a bunker he calls 'Two Can Keep' built into the cave system." Chuck's voice was tight with suppressed panic.
"We knew he had one somewhere," Casey growled softly.
"We need to get Ellie out of there now!"
Casey bared his teeth and whispered. "Chill, Bartowski."
-
"My sister's fallen into the lair of a lunatic arms dealer and you want me to chill?!" Chuck's strained voice carried across the campsite.
Silence fell.
Dean resisted the urge to shout 'Don't worry, we totally didn't hear that' across the campsite. Barely. "And that's what I think," he said instead, speaking in a hushed, neutral tone and turning more towards Sam.
"So you think if we continue talking quietly in an undisturbed and unexcited manner, they'll think we didn't hear that?" Sam said with a tone of mild contemplation.
"Yes, Sam, I do believe that that might be the case." Dean murmured back as though ordering an imported beer. "Let's move slightly in a random neutral direction."
The Winchesters took a few steps towards the nose of the Impala. Dean shone his flashlight at one of the tires. Across the campsite the murmured conversation started up again.
"Lunatic arms dealer. That's a new one."
"It would explain the grenade. Maybe not our kind of gig after all?"
"Disappearing holes and EMF? He's a ghost or possessed."
"You're sure you had the right place and the hole wasn't there?"
Dean glanced over to where Sarah's blonde hair caught the light from the three-flashlight conference. "I don't know what Sarah really does as a day job, but she's sharp and she's thorough. There is no way we had the wrong spot."
"Maybe it was a trap door, and now it's held shut with electromagnets?"
Dean paused, then shook his head. "That is an awesome thought, but no. Between the two of us we dug down far enough to find a trap door if there was one."
"Disappearing people, disappearing holes."
"And Ellie's in an arms dealer's Wonderland."
-
Casey looked away from the Winchesters and back at Chuck. "You're lucky they didn't hear that. So are they. Keep your voice down, Bartowski."
"Keep my-!"
Sarah held onto Chuck's forearms and looked in his eyes. "Chuck, panicking will not help."
"But Ellie-!"
"The more we know, the more it will help Ellie," Sarah said. "Was there anything else?"
"That's all the flash gave me!"
Casey grunted. "Surprised it gave you anything. Kupferberg's not only an absolute recluse, he's dead."
"What?"
"He disappeared over a decade ago. Seems he wasn't too discriminating about who he traded secrets to or where he got them. It was assumed that one of his clients found out he'd sold their intel and ganked him."
"You think he just holed up in northern California?" Sarah mused.
"Maybe." Casey dug out his cell phone and held it up and "No signal, even on my phone."
"Could Kupferberg have a signal jammer running?"
"More than likely. It would explain the disruption in the earpieces and the EMF the Winchesters are detecting, though not why they have an EMF meter in the first place." Casey glanced sidelong at the pool of light by the Impala.
"I wouldn't worry about that," Sarah muttered.
"Can we stop with the talking and go rescue my sister now please?" whispered Chuck.
"We're leaving." Casey said abruptly.
"What?"
"It's too risky for you to be here. We'll call General Beckman as soon as we get a signal and bring in a squad to lock it down and clean up."
"We can't leave!" Chuck's eyes shot back and forth between Sarah and Casey. "What about Ellie?"
"Ellie is not our priority," stated Casey.
"She's my sister!"
"You're the asset, Chuck, not her."
"There is no way I am leaving here without my sister."
Casey grimaced towards Sarah for support.
Sarah glanced between the two of them. "I agree with Chuck, we can't leave Ellie down there."
"Thank you, Sarah." Chuck crossed his arms and turned toward Casey.
"Fine," Casey gritted. "I'll go take the Crown Vic out to where I can get a cell signal, call it in. Since you're so determined to play Lassie, Walker, you can babysit the Intersect and his sister and keep an eye on the Winchesters. Keep them out of the caves. If they're involved in this, they're probably allied with Kupferberg."
-
"We got movement," said Sam, slapping Dean in the chest as Casey's light separated from the rest and headed towards his car.
"Hey, where're you going?" Dean called across the campsite.
"Wouldn't you like to know," Casey shouted back.
"He's gonna drive out and try to get a cell phone signal," said Chuck, making a little loop motion in the air with his finger.
Casey snarled.
"Great. I'm going with you," Dean shouted at Casey.
Sam grabbed Dean's arm and pulled him into whispering range. "What? Why?"
"Sam, this guy has no clue about ghosts or anything like ghosts. Plus he has secrets out the wazoo. He'll get in his car and never be seen again if he goes alone. We can't let any of these people wander off by themselves."
"Yeah, Dean." Casey called from the other side of the campsite, pronouncing Dean's name with his teeth clenching. "Come with me. You and I can have a nice chat."
"See?" Dean turned to Sam, grinning. "All fine."
"Dean, you-"
"No, Sam, you stay here. Watch these guys, make sure no one does anything stupid. Particularly Chuck, since it's his sister that's missing. No one goes into the caves until we're sure what we're up against."
Sam reached into a pocket. "Here, take my phone. I got a picture of the symbol, send it to Bobby."
With a raised eyebrow, Dean took the phone and tucked it into his pocket along with the EMF. "You don't seriously think we're going to get a signal, do you?"
Sam shrugged. "Worth a shot. Like you said, we need to know what we're up against."
"Ghost of a lunatic arms-dealer or demon-ridden lunatic arms-dealer."
"Or plain old vanilla lunatic arms-dealer."
"Fun times." Dean jogged across the campsite to Casey's car.
-
The tunnel Ellie was following got wider and branched several times. She kept calling out and following the light, marking each branch she took with an arrow of stones. Her throat was getting hoarse. Why don't they hear me? Cave acoustics can't be that bad.
Behind her, the floor rippled away any trace she'd ever been there.
-
Sam, Sarah and Chuck watched as Casey backed the Crown Victoria down the offshoot trail and onto the main path.
As soon as the tail lights had gone around a corner, Chuck clapped his hands together. "Great, so we're going to the cave to rescue Ellie now, right?"
"No," said Sarah.
"What, but you-"
"Casey's right, it's too dangerous."
"Ellie's stuck in a cave with some gun-running psycho!"
"Chuck!" Sarah shot a glance at Sam.
Sam smiled wryly and half-shrugged. "Already knew that part."
Sarah glared.
"I'm getting her out with or without your help," Chuck insisted, then clarified, "'With' would be a lot less likely to get me killed and have a much better chance of success. So what I'm saying is I would really appreciate your help."
"I'm sorry, Chuck, but Casey is right. You can't go into the caves."
Sam spoke up. "I gotta admit, I agree with Chuck, Sarah. If it was my brother there'd be no stopping me. How about this? I go find your sister for you, Chuck, you and Sarah stay here."
"Stay out of this, Sam. Chuck, you can't, and I can't leave you here alone and go myself," she glanced at Sam again. "You know why."
Chuck seemed to deflate with Sarah's every word. "Yeah, I guess you're right, we can't- Oh my god!" He pointed behind Sarah and Sam, alarmed.
Sam turned flashlight ready, reaching into his jacket. Beside him he saw Sarah draw her gun from somewhere behind her back and point it, not behind them, but at him. His hand froze inside his jacket.
Nothing was behind them. Feet thudded away as Chuck ran towards the cave.
"Dammit!" Sarah glared at Sam, holding him at gunpoint and spotlighted by her flashlight. "Ease whatever it is you're intending to draw out, and place it on the ground."
"You really don't work at a hot-dog stand, do you?" Sam asked rhetorically, following her instructions.
Sarah did a double take at the silver flask in Sam's hand. "What's that?"
"Holy Water."
Sarah blinked.
"I'm out of salt, and I thought it might be a demon?" Sam shrugged again.
Sarah shook her head. "...You and your brother are insane." She tucked her gun back into her waistband and turned to follow Chuck.
"Hold up, I'm coming too."
"No, you aren't."
"Look, I know you think I'm nuts, but I know where the cave mouth is. You need me."
Sarah looked up the trail Chuck had taken. His light was nowhere to be seen. She turned back to Sam. "All right, move it."
"I'm gonna get a shotgun out of the car first, so don't shoot me. It's loaded with rock salt rounds, alright?"
"Just hurry."
-
Ellie turned a corner into a widening of the tunnel. There was a small cot, a shelf of canned goods and stacks of olive green cases. One case stood open, full of glowsticks, all except two at the far end of the case were unlit. A trickle of water seeped down the wall into an overflowing basin and out through a crack at the base of the wall, making a low burbling sound as it followed its course.
This was the light and sound she'd been following. Not searchers. Someone lived here.
Ellie cleared her throat. "H- hello? Anyone home?"
Aside from the water dripping into the basin and her own breathing, there was no sound. It was warm, sort of cozy for a damp cave full of big, military-looking boxes.
Probably scavenged from some base somewhere, reused for storage. They are really good boxes after all. Hinged lids and everything.
Ellie lifted the lid of the one nearest her. More weapons than she'd seen in any of Chuck's video games glinted up at her. She dropped the lid and skittered backwards. "Wow. Oh, wow. That's a lot of guns."
Yes, obviously someone was living here. Someone who really liked guns. That was a very scary thought.
Ellie looked to the ceiling and addressed the empty room.
"I'm sorry. If there's anyone here. I'm-" she lunged forward and snagged a glowstick. "I'll just leave. Okay?"
She snapped the glowstick into life, turned and retreated down the tunnel she'd just come up.
Get back to the cave I fell into. Never should have left it. She started looking for her most recent stone arrow.
-
A secret is like a bomb. Death waiting to happen. Heavy as lead, deadly as poison, toxic as radiation. They yearn to be free, to become the death they were meant to be.
A secret is given away, it becomes death. I keep them, hidden, controlled. All the secrets that have become death.
They will give their secrets to her. She will enable their death. And I will keep them all.
It will be beautiful.
-
The ride in the Crown Victoria was one of the least comfortable Dean had ever been on, and not just because it was an old, mostly unconverted cop car. The security cage was even still set up around the back seat. Casey had to be some kind of law enforcement. Either that or he had damn kinky hobbies that Dean did not need to know about.
"So, what do you think is going on?" Dean asked brightly after a few minutes of tense silence.
Casey looked sideways at Dean. "I think that my co-worker's sister fell down a hole."
"I hear your, uh, co-worker had a bit of an incident at the entrance to the caves."
Casey's eyes locked to the front, headlights illuminating shrubbery and ruts. "He's excitable. And strange. Says weird things all the time."
"Things like 'Two Can Keep'?"
Casey's eyes snapped to the right.
"Sam told me."
"Yeah, weird stuff. Doesn't mean anything. He plays too many video games."
"Right." The car bounced down the trail in silence for a while before Dean spoke again. "So. Ellie fell in a hard-to-find hole, Chuck says weird things sometimes and this campground has grenades going off every once in a while."
"You'd know more about that than I would," gritted Casey.
"You really think so?"
"I do." Casey flashed a great deal of teeth. "I also think as soon as we get a cellphone signal you and your brother-"
The EMF meter in Dean's lap squealed loudly, all the lights lighting up. Casey reflexively jerked the steering wheel but didn't go off the trail.
Dean looked out the window. "I don't think getting a cell signal is going to happen any time soon."
Casey stopped the car, its headlights reflecting off the Impala's taillights, half-hidden up the bushy trail. They were back at the campsite.
Friggin' ghost, thought Dean. He's got the campground in lockdown. No one's going anywhere until he gets what he wants.
"Hunh. Stupid civilian campground design," Casey snarled, starting to roll forward again.
"Whoa, whoa, hold up." Dean stuffed Sam's cellphone and the EMF into pockets.
"What?"
"Turn off the headlights for a sec."
Frowning, Casey looked towards Dean.
"Please?"
Casey grunted and switched off the lights. The campsite was pitch black.
Dean's stomach fell. "There's no flashlights. They're gone." He had the door open and flashlight out, running up the trail.
The lights on the Crown Victoria flicked back on and the car roared up behind Dean and stopped. The headlights illuminated the whole camp better than Dean's flashlight could. No signs of struggle, no holes, no sign of anyone. They'd disappeared.
No, no, not again. "Sam!" called Dean.
Over the sound of the engine behind him he heard a door slam and a gun being cocked. Dean turned to see Casey silhouetted in the headlights of his car in an unmistakable stance.
"Where are they, Dean?"
-
After Sam pulled the shotgun loaded with salt out of the Impala and they both followed Chuck into the caves, Sarah was very quiet. Too quiet. A 'thinking things that might make her feel she needed to shoot him' sort of quiet.
Having her behind him with a gun was also not helping. A few hundred yards of cautious advancing later, she spoke.
"If this is all some kind of stupid, elaborate grift on the Bartowskis, a con to swindle them, I will skin you alive. You and your brother."
"What?!" Sam glanced back over his shoulder. "No! No! We help people!"
Sarah snorted. "Starting with yourselves. Trust me, I know all the rationalizations."
"That's not it."
"So if I looked 'Sam and Dean Winchester' up in a law enforcement database, all I'd find a speeding ticket or two?"
"Uh." Sam thought of the list of charges Henriksen had listed off at their last meeting. Plus escaping from the Green River County jail, and that whole general 'wanted by the FBI' thing. "No."
"Why am I not surprised?"
Sam huffed. "It's, it's complicated."
"I can handle complicated, Sam Winchester. If that is your real name."
"It is actually," Sam said in bemusement. "Look, just trust me, all right?"
"Give me a reason to."
Sam shone his flashlight around a corner before continuing along the tunnel. "I'm pretty sure you know the person who built this bunker isn't me or my brother."
Sarah shrugged. "He could be your dad. A cozy little family arms-dealing business?"
"Heh. Uh. No. Not arms dealing. We're really just here to help."
"What's your interest in Chuck?"
Sam rolled his eyes. "I didn't even know he was here, alright? I barely remember him from one class at Stanford. Aside from making sure you all get out of here safe, me and Dean have no interest in any of you."
"Well, that's fine then. Make sure it stays that way."
-
Ellie stood in the shadows of one of the tunnels leading back into the room with the cot and all the guns, ankle throbbing, frustrated nearly to tears. Either she'd managed to kick the arrows she'd left when she passed them, or she'd misjudged how easy they were to spot in the faint light. She'd gone into each tunnel, looking, in case she'd gotten turned around and taken the wrong one, but nowhere could she find any of the arrows she'd left.
Since wandering around in an unfamiliar cave system was a kind of stupid that Ellie Bartowski was not meant to be, she came back to the room with the cot. It was still empty, glow coming from the glowsticks, gun cases undisturbed.
She cleared her throat. "Hello, it's me again. If there's anyone here, I really don't mean any harm. I'm just lost. I'm- I'm going to stay here until..."
How and when was anyone going to find her here?
Don't panic. Stay calm. Do what you can do, don't worry about the rest.
Ellie limped to the cot and sat on it, elevating her ankle which had begun complaining about all the wandering around the tunnels. She felt a little like Goldilocks hanging out at the three bears' place. If the bears were heavily armed.
Where the heck am I?
-
In the glare of Casey's headlights Dean looked down at the red dot in the center of his chest. "Oh come on! We don't have time for this!"
"Hands in the air where I can see them, Winchester."
Dean raised his hands with an exasperated sigh. "I don't know what your thing is with this Chuck guy. Frankly I don't care."
"You'd like us to think that wouldn't you?" Casey pointed his gun at Dean. The red dot moved up to hover between Dean's eyebrows. "Who are you working for, where'd your partner take Chuck and Sarah, and what the hell is up with all the salt?"
"We're not working for anyone, 'Agent Bauer', and I want to find out where they all went as much as you do. I figure one way or another, they're all down in the caves."
"One way or another, hunh?"
"Either they went down to get Chuck's sister, or something took 'em down."
"Something?"
"Look. You and I both know some kinda weird crap is going on here."
"Yeah, weird crap you and your brother are causing somehow."
Dean debated telling Casey the truth, but that would probably go less well than it had with Sarah. Sarah. "You know Sarah, right?"
"What?"
Dean vaguely waved his upraised hands. "I mean you know her as more than just the gorgeous hot-dog-selling girlfriend of a co-worker."
"I have no idea what you're talking about." Casey's silhouette shifted slightly and the red dot steadied.
"Okay, okay! All I'm saying is, Sarah and Ellie went out in the woods. Ellie fell into a hole Sarah didn't notice until Ellie fell in it. When we went back out there to the place she'd marked, the hole was gone. From all that you know about Sarah, about how perceptive and diligent she is, does that make any sense to you?"
Casey stood silently in the Crown Victoria's headlights.
Hands still raised palms out, and trying not to get blinded by the red targeting light of the gun pointed between his eyes, Dean tipped his chin down and glared at Casey. "Now, are you gonna work with me so we can get my brother and your friends back, or do I have to waste my time kicking your ass before I go do it myself?"
For a hanging moment Dean thought he might have pushed the wrong buttons and Casey was going to ventilate Dean's brain six months before the hellhounds came to claim him.
"Hunh," Casey grunted and lowered his weapon. "Okay. But you owe my car an apology."
-
When Chuck was deep in the tunnels, moving as fast as he could over the rough ground and scanning ahead with his flashlight, he had a moment of panic.
Nothing to worry about, just the bunker of a notorious arms dealer. No need to freak out. He probably loves having unannounced guests. Serves cake and ice cream.
A loose pebble fell from where he'd grabbed at the wall. He froze, hyperventilating as it clattered down behind him.
Just a rock. Just a noise. Oh god, I'm gonna get killed.
Chuck took a deep breath. Ellie was down here somewhere. He kept going.
He got another few hundred yards before the tunnel ahead split in three directions.
"Ellie!" Chuck bellowed, then listened as the echoes died down.
A faint noise came from the right-most tunnel. He couldn't tell if it was Ellie, an animal, or an armed and pissed off psychopath, but it wasn't his own voice.
"I'm coming! And if that's not Ellie, please don't kill me!"
-
Yes. He is coming. So many secrets, so worth keeping. He holds all the secrets, she holds none. Perfection. They are worth keeping. Pride of the place, my old inner sanctum.
He'll tell her everything. And then I'll keep them there together. Forever.
-
As soon as Casey had lowered his weapon, Dean had gone straight for the bag of weapons in the back seat of the Impala. The trunk had more options, but he was still loath to reveal the hidden compartment to anyone. One of the salt guns was missing; Dean was relieved. Wherever Sam was, he was armed appropriately.
He didn't relay this information to Casey because knowing Sam had had time to arm himself would not add strength to this feeble alliance.
Casey turned off the Crown Victoria and went to his trunk. "Dean Winchester, hunh? More I think about it, the more familiar that name sounds."
"Yeah, I'm one of the FBI's most wanted," said Dean in his best 'is it true or is it bullshit' tone of voice.
"Anything that's a threat to national security?"
"Nope." Dean said truthfully.
"Fine then."
Over half the spare shells were gone too, Dean noted. Also a good sign.
"So...." said Dean, loading another shotgun with some of the remaining salt-shells. "You work in retail, hunh?"
Casey grunted. "And you work in...?"
Dean nodded and closed the back door of the Impala with a smirk. "Fair enough."
Casey closed his trunk, hefting the gun with the red laser sight and one that looked a bit odd. Dean cocked an eyebrow as he shouldered his bag full of guns.
"Trank gun. Handy sometimes."
Dean shone his flashlight toward the cave trail, then back towards Casey. "I'm sorry I insulted your car and thought you were a chick."
"And I'm sorry I didn't kick your ass when I wasn't so pressed for time."
Dean grinned and hoisted a salt-loaded shotgun. "Shall we?"
Casey grunted eloquently.
-
It wasn't a bad place, as far as hovels full of guns went. Water, food, a bed, heat from somewhere, she wasn't sure where, but the room was warmer than the rest of the caves. Lots of light, there were enough glowsticks to last for weeks.
Since some were activated before she got there, she knew someone was coming back. Someone.
Ellie slid off the cot, went to the nearest gun case and picked up a gun at random. Everything about it felt wrong. It was too heavy, too cold. She had no idea or intent to shoot it, and no clue whether it was loaded or not. But she was an unexpected guest in the hidey-hole of a person who liked guns an awful lot. Sitting there without any hint of defense that the unknown resident of this place would understand, well, if it wasn't stupid, it certainly wasn't wise.
She went back to the cot and sat with her back to the wall, watching the entrances, not sure what to do with the gun in her hand.
She looked down at it. This was made to kill people. The statistics for accidental gun deaths ran through her head. What if her friends found her first? What if Chuck came charging in through one of the entrances to this place...
"What am I doing?" She went back to the gun case and dropped the gun back in like it was contagious.
I don't know what to do, but that's not an option. When the person who lives here comes back, I'll, I'll.... Something.
Beside her in the chest full of glowsticks, one of the lit ones started to wane. A tiny snap, and another glowstick began burning greenly.
-
Soon. Soon. Secrets to share and death to keep. Death to share and secrets to keep. One and the same.
Secrets get shared, people die. That's how it is.
People gave me secrets whether they wanted to or not, I shared them, people died. They tried to take my secrets from me. They shot me, hurt me, but I ran, into the dark. No one could find me. I died. My own secret got shared, I died.
That is the way it should always be. Secrets and death and no separation between them.
Soon.
- - -
(continued in Part 5)
Disclaimer: I own neither Supernatural, nor the TV series Chuck.
Word Count: Total - 20770, Part 4 - 4560
Previously: Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3
Summary: Abandoned campgrounds are never a good idea.
PART 4
Chuck skidded to a stop in the center of the campsite, flashlight aiming wildly at Sarah and Dean. "Did you find Ellie?"
Dean glanced at Sarah. "No, we couldn't find the-"
"We've gotta talk," Casey growled, snagging Chuck by the shoulder and Sarah by the elbow, towing them towards his car. "'Scuse us."
"Okay then," Dean said, watching them go and drifting towards where Sam's flashlight bobbed, trailing in from the cave entrance.
Sam was staring across the campsite at the barely-illuminated back of Chuck's head like he wanted to see through it.
"What's up?"
"Chuck, he-" Sam shook his head, frowning. "Nothing."
"What, Sam?"
"Back at the cave, he looked like he had a vision. Like the things I used to get."
Dean glanced at the three-way discussion across the clearing without changing his flashlight's aim. "If Chuck was one of the Yellow Eyed Demon's bunch, he should have been at Cold Oaks though, right?"
"Right..." Sam shook his head. "Might be nothing, but it happened right when he saw a symbol on the cave entrance."
"What kind of symbol?"
Sam pursed his lips in frustration. "I couldn't tell. Could be graffiti, could be demonic, but from Chuck's reaction to it I'd say it's not nothing."
"So you think Chuck knows something and isn't sharing with the group?"
"Not our part of the group anyway." Sam watched the heated yet hushed discussion taking place across the campsite in a pool of light from three flashlights. "He said... something. 'Toucan Keep'."
"'Toucan Keep?' Sounds kind of piratey. Unless Casper has a serious thing for Froot Loops."
"You know, I'm thinking maybe Chuck didn't say 'Toucan Keep' but 'Two Can Keep'"
Dean's flashlight swung up to Sam's face. "He didn't say 'Toucan' but he said 'Toucan'? You're starting to hurt my brain, Sam."
"No, 'Two Can'." Sam paused significantly between the words. "As in 'Two can keep a secret if one is dead.' I mean if the thing about our vics having big secrets is right..."
"...maybe this ghost, or demon, has a hang-up about keeping secrets."
"It finds people with secrets and... keeps them."
"Hunh. That sounds grim."
Sam nodded towards Dean. "What did you find? Obviously not Chuck's sister."
"A disappearing hole and a schwackload of EMF. Inside the salt line."
"Ghost's underground," Sam nodded with a grimace. "That is, if it is a ghost and not a demon."
"With the amount of EMF, I'd say ghost, and a pretty pissed off one. Either way, we're screwed."
"I salted the cave entrance, but that's not gonna do much good."
"Not if he can pop a hole out anywhere, not to mention any pre-existing vents and holes. As long as he doesn't come out inside the salt circle himself, he can do anything he wants."
"Including set off grenades."
Dean rolled his eyes. "Great. Where the hell does a ghost get grenades anyway?"
-
"Alright, Chuck, talk." Casey hissed when they were far enough away from the Winchesters not to be overheard.
Sarah flicked her flashlight from Chuck to Casey and back again. "What's going on?"
"I flashed at the cave. Sarah, we have to get Ellie out of there!"
"Flashed on what?"
"Antoine Kupferberg. Arms dealer. There's a symbol painted at the cave entrance, it's his-" Chuck waggled a frantic hand in the air. "-trademark, calling-card thing."
"Kupferberg." Sarah nodded. "I've heard of this guy. He's a demolitions expert, traded in secrets too. He's here?"
"He's got a bunker he calls 'Two Can Keep' built into the cave system." Chuck's voice was tight with suppressed panic.
"We knew he had one somewhere," Casey growled softly.
"We need to get Ellie out of there now!"
Casey bared his teeth and whispered. "Chill, Bartowski."
-
"My sister's fallen into the lair of a lunatic arms dealer and you want me to chill?!" Chuck's strained voice carried across the campsite.
Silence fell.
Dean resisted the urge to shout 'Don't worry, we totally didn't hear that' across the campsite. Barely. "And that's what I think," he said instead, speaking in a hushed, neutral tone and turning more towards Sam.
"So you think if we continue talking quietly in an undisturbed and unexcited manner, they'll think we didn't hear that?" Sam said with a tone of mild contemplation.
"Yes, Sam, I do believe that that might be the case." Dean murmured back as though ordering an imported beer. "Let's move slightly in a random neutral direction."
The Winchesters took a few steps towards the nose of the Impala. Dean shone his flashlight at one of the tires. Across the campsite the murmured conversation started up again.
"Lunatic arms dealer. That's a new one."
"It would explain the grenade. Maybe not our kind of gig after all?"
"Disappearing holes and EMF? He's a ghost or possessed."
"You're sure you had the right place and the hole wasn't there?"
Dean glanced over to where Sarah's blonde hair caught the light from the three-flashlight conference. "I don't know what Sarah really does as a day job, but she's sharp and she's thorough. There is no way we had the wrong spot."
"Maybe it was a trap door, and now it's held shut with electromagnets?"
Dean paused, then shook his head. "That is an awesome thought, but no. Between the two of us we dug down far enough to find a trap door if there was one."
"Disappearing people, disappearing holes."
"And Ellie's in an arms dealer's Wonderland."
-
Casey looked away from the Winchesters and back at Chuck. "You're lucky they didn't hear that. So are they. Keep your voice down, Bartowski."
"Keep my-!"
Sarah held onto Chuck's forearms and looked in his eyes. "Chuck, panicking will not help."
"But Ellie-!"
"The more we know, the more it will help Ellie," Sarah said. "Was there anything else?"
"That's all the flash gave me!"
Casey grunted. "Surprised it gave you anything. Kupferberg's not only an absolute recluse, he's dead."
"What?"
"He disappeared over a decade ago. Seems he wasn't too discriminating about who he traded secrets to or where he got them. It was assumed that one of his clients found out he'd sold their intel and ganked him."
"You think he just holed up in northern California?" Sarah mused.
"Maybe." Casey dug out his cell phone and held it up and "No signal, even on my phone."
"Could Kupferberg have a signal jammer running?"
"More than likely. It would explain the disruption in the earpieces and the EMF the Winchesters are detecting, though not why they have an EMF meter in the first place." Casey glanced sidelong at the pool of light by the Impala.
"I wouldn't worry about that," Sarah muttered.
"Can we stop with the talking and go rescue my sister now please?" whispered Chuck.
"We're leaving." Casey said abruptly.
"What?"
"It's too risky for you to be here. We'll call General Beckman as soon as we get a signal and bring in a squad to lock it down and clean up."
"We can't leave!" Chuck's eyes shot back and forth between Sarah and Casey. "What about Ellie?"
"Ellie is not our priority," stated Casey.
"She's my sister!"
"You're the asset, Chuck, not her."
"There is no way I am leaving here without my sister."
Casey grimaced towards Sarah for support.
Sarah glanced between the two of them. "I agree with Chuck, we can't leave Ellie down there."
"Thank you, Sarah." Chuck crossed his arms and turned toward Casey.
"Fine," Casey gritted. "I'll go take the Crown Vic out to where I can get a cell signal, call it in. Since you're so determined to play Lassie, Walker, you can babysit the Intersect and his sister and keep an eye on the Winchesters. Keep them out of the caves. If they're involved in this, they're probably allied with Kupferberg."
-
"We got movement," said Sam, slapping Dean in the chest as Casey's light separated from the rest and headed towards his car.
"Hey, where're you going?" Dean called across the campsite.
"Wouldn't you like to know," Casey shouted back.
"He's gonna drive out and try to get a cell phone signal," said Chuck, making a little loop motion in the air with his finger.
Casey snarled.
"Great. I'm going with you," Dean shouted at Casey.
Sam grabbed Dean's arm and pulled him into whispering range. "What? Why?"
"Sam, this guy has no clue about ghosts or anything like ghosts. Plus he has secrets out the wazoo. He'll get in his car and never be seen again if he goes alone. We can't let any of these people wander off by themselves."
"Yeah, Dean." Casey called from the other side of the campsite, pronouncing Dean's name with his teeth clenching. "Come with me. You and I can have a nice chat."
"See?" Dean turned to Sam, grinning. "All fine."
"Dean, you-"
"No, Sam, you stay here. Watch these guys, make sure no one does anything stupid. Particularly Chuck, since it's his sister that's missing. No one goes into the caves until we're sure what we're up against."
Sam reached into a pocket. "Here, take my phone. I got a picture of the symbol, send it to Bobby."
With a raised eyebrow, Dean took the phone and tucked it into his pocket along with the EMF. "You don't seriously think we're going to get a signal, do you?"
Sam shrugged. "Worth a shot. Like you said, we need to know what we're up against."
"Ghost of a lunatic arms-dealer or demon-ridden lunatic arms-dealer."
"Or plain old vanilla lunatic arms-dealer."
"Fun times." Dean jogged across the campsite to Casey's car.
-
The tunnel Ellie was following got wider and branched several times. She kept calling out and following the light, marking each branch she took with an arrow of stones. Her throat was getting hoarse. Why don't they hear me? Cave acoustics can't be that bad.
Behind her, the floor rippled away any trace she'd ever been there.
-
Sam, Sarah and Chuck watched as Casey backed the Crown Victoria down the offshoot trail and onto the main path.
As soon as the tail lights had gone around a corner, Chuck clapped his hands together. "Great, so we're going to the cave to rescue Ellie now, right?"
"No," said Sarah.
"What, but you-"
"Casey's right, it's too dangerous."
"Ellie's stuck in a cave with some gun-running psycho!"
"Chuck!" Sarah shot a glance at Sam.
Sam smiled wryly and half-shrugged. "Already knew that part."
Sarah glared.
"I'm getting her out with or without your help," Chuck insisted, then clarified, "'With' would be a lot less likely to get me killed and have a much better chance of success. So what I'm saying is I would really appreciate your help."
"I'm sorry, Chuck, but Casey is right. You can't go into the caves."
Sam spoke up. "I gotta admit, I agree with Chuck, Sarah. If it was my brother there'd be no stopping me. How about this? I go find your sister for you, Chuck, you and Sarah stay here."
"Stay out of this, Sam. Chuck, you can't, and I can't leave you here alone and go myself," she glanced at Sam again. "You know why."
Chuck seemed to deflate with Sarah's every word. "Yeah, I guess you're right, we can't- Oh my god!" He pointed behind Sarah and Sam, alarmed.
Sam turned flashlight ready, reaching into his jacket. Beside him he saw Sarah draw her gun from somewhere behind her back and point it, not behind them, but at him. His hand froze inside his jacket.
Nothing was behind them. Feet thudded away as Chuck ran towards the cave.
"Dammit!" Sarah glared at Sam, holding him at gunpoint and spotlighted by her flashlight. "Ease whatever it is you're intending to draw out, and place it on the ground."
"You really don't work at a hot-dog stand, do you?" Sam asked rhetorically, following her instructions.
Sarah did a double take at the silver flask in Sam's hand. "What's that?"
"Holy Water."
Sarah blinked.
"I'm out of salt, and I thought it might be a demon?" Sam shrugged again.
Sarah shook her head. "...You and your brother are insane." She tucked her gun back into her waistband and turned to follow Chuck.
"Hold up, I'm coming too."
"No, you aren't."
"Look, I know you think I'm nuts, but I know where the cave mouth is. You need me."
Sarah looked up the trail Chuck had taken. His light was nowhere to be seen. She turned back to Sam. "All right, move it."
"I'm gonna get a shotgun out of the car first, so don't shoot me. It's loaded with rock salt rounds, alright?"
"Just hurry."
-
Ellie turned a corner into a widening of the tunnel. There was a small cot, a shelf of canned goods and stacks of olive green cases. One case stood open, full of glowsticks, all except two at the far end of the case were unlit. A trickle of water seeped down the wall into an overflowing basin and out through a crack at the base of the wall, making a low burbling sound as it followed its course.
This was the light and sound she'd been following. Not searchers. Someone lived here.
Ellie cleared her throat. "H- hello? Anyone home?"
Aside from the water dripping into the basin and her own breathing, there was no sound. It was warm, sort of cozy for a damp cave full of big, military-looking boxes.
Probably scavenged from some base somewhere, reused for storage. They are really good boxes after all. Hinged lids and everything.
Ellie lifted the lid of the one nearest her. More weapons than she'd seen in any of Chuck's video games glinted up at her. She dropped the lid and skittered backwards. "Wow. Oh, wow. That's a lot of guns."
Yes, obviously someone was living here. Someone who really liked guns. That was a very scary thought.
Ellie looked to the ceiling and addressed the empty room.
"I'm sorry. If there's anyone here. I'm-" she lunged forward and snagged a glowstick. "I'll just leave. Okay?"
She snapped the glowstick into life, turned and retreated down the tunnel she'd just come up.
Get back to the cave I fell into. Never should have left it. She started looking for her most recent stone arrow.
-
A secret is like a bomb. Death waiting to happen. Heavy as lead, deadly as poison, toxic as radiation. They yearn to be free, to become the death they were meant to be.
A secret is given away, it becomes death. I keep them, hidden, controlled. All the secrets that have become death.
They will give their secrets to her. She will enable their death. And I will keep them all.
It will be beautiful.
-
The ride in the Crown Victoria was one of the least comfortable Dean had ever been on, and not just because it was an old, mostly unconverted cop car. The security cage was even still set up around the back seat. Casey had to be some kind of law enforcement. Either that or he had damn kinky hobbies that Dean did not need to know about.
"So, what do you think is going on?" Dean asked brightly after a few minutes of tense silence.
Casey looked sideways at Dean. "I think that my co-worker's sister fell down a hole."
"I hear your, uh, co-worker had a bit of an incident at the entrance to the caves."
Casey's eyes locked to the front, headlights illuminating shrubbery and ruts. "He's excitable. And strange. Says weird things all the time."
"Things like 'Two Can Keep'?"
Casey's eyes snapped to the right.
"Sam told me."
"Yeah, weird stuff. Doesn't mean anything. He plays too many video games."
"Right." The car bounced down the trail in silence for a while before Dean spoke again. "So. Ellie fell in a hard-to-find hole, Chuck says weird things sometimes and this campground has grenades going off every once in a while."
"You'd know more about that than I would," gritted Casey.
"You really think so?"
"I do." Casey flashed a great deal of teeth. "I also think as soon as we get a cellphone signal you and your brother-"
The EMF meter in Dean's lap squealed loudly, all the lights lighting up. Casey reflexively jerked the steering wheel but didn't go off the trail.
Dean looked out the window. "I don't think getting a cell signal is going to happen any time soon."
Casey stopped the car, its headlights reflecting off the Impala's taillights, half-hidden up the bushy trail. They were back at the campsite.
Friggin' ghost, thought Dean. He's got the campground in lockdown. No one's going anywhere until he gets what he wants.
"Hunh. Stupid civilian campground design," Casey snarled, starting to roll forward again.
"Whoa, whoa, hold up." Dean stuffed Sam's cellphone and the EMF into pockets.
"What?"
"Turn off the headlights for a sec."
Frowning, Casey looked towards Dean.
"Please?"
Casey grunted and switched off the lights. The campsite was pitch black.
Dean's stomach fell. "There's no flashlights. They're gone." He had the door open and flashlight out, running up the trail.
The lights on the Crown Victoria flicked back on and the car roared up behind Dean and stopped. The headlights illuminated the whole camp better than Dean's flashlight could. No signs of struggle, no holes, no sign of anyone. They'd disappeared.
No, no, not again. "Sam!" called Dean.
Over the sound of the engine behind him he heard a door slam and a gun being cocked. Dean turned to see Casey silhouetted in the headlights of his car in an unmistakable stance.
"Where are they, Dean?"
-
After Sam pulled the shotgun loaded with salt out of the Impala and they both followed Chuck into the caves, Sarah was very quiet. Too quiet. A 'thinking things that might make her feel she needed to shoot him' sort of quiet.
Having her behind him with a gun was also not helping. A few hundred yards of cautious advancing later, she spoke.
"If this is all some kind of stupid, elaborate grift on the Bartowskis, a con to swindle them, I will skin you alive. You and your brother."
"What?!" Sam glanced back over his shoulder. "No! No! We help people!"
Sarah snorted. "Starting with yourselves. Trust me, I know all the rationalizations."
"That's not it."
"So if I looked 'Sam and Dean Winchester' up in a law enforcement database, all I'd find a speeding ticket or two?"
"Uh." Sam thought of the list of charges Henriksen had listed off at their last meeting. Plus escaping from the Green River County jail, and that whole general 'wanted by the FBI' thing. "No."
"Why am I not surprised?"
Sam huffed. "It's, it's complicated."
"I can handle complicated, Sam Winchester. If that is your real name."
"It is actually," Sam said in bemusement. "Look, just trust me, all right?"
"Give me a reason to."
Sam shone his flashlight around a corner before continuing along the tunnel. "I'm pretty sure you know the person who built this bunker isn't me or my brother."
Sarah shrugged. "He could be your dad. A cozy little family arms-dealing business?"
"Heh. Uh. No. Not arms dealing. We're really just here to help."
"What's your interest in Chuck?"
Sam rolled his eyes. "I didn't even know he was here, alright? I barely remember him from one class at Stanford. Aside from making sure you all get out of here safe, me and Dean have no interest in any of you."
"Well, that's fine then. Make sure it stays that way."
-
Ellie stood in the shadows of one of the tunnels leading back into the room with the cot and all the guns, ankle throbbing, frustrated nearly to tears. Either she'd managed to kick the arrows she'd left when she passed them, or she'd misjudged how easy they were to spot in the faint light. She'd gone into each tunnel, looking, in case she'd gotten turned around and taken the wrong one, but nowhere could she find any of the arrows she'd left.
Since wandering around in an unfamiliar cave system was a kind of stupid that Ellie Bartowski was not meant to be, she came back to the room with the cot. It was still empty, glow coming from the glowsticks, gun cases undisturbed.
She cleared her throat. "Hello, it's me again. If there's anyone here, I really don't mean any harm. I'm just lost. I'm- I'm going to stay here until..."
How and when was anyone going to find her here?
Don't panic. Stay calm. Do what you can do, don't worry about the rest.
Ellie limped to the cot and sat on it, elevating her ankle which had begun complaining about all the wandering around the tunnels. She felt a little like Goldilocks hanging out at the three bears' place. If the bears were heavily armed.
Where the heck am I?
-
In the glare of Casey's headlights Dean looked down at the red dot in the center of his chest. "Oh come on! We don't have time for this!"
"Hands in the air where I can see them, Winchester."
Dean raised his hands with an exasperated sigh. "I don't know what your thing is with this Chuck guy. Frankly I don't care."
"You'd like us to think that wouldn't you?" Casey pointed his gun at Dean. The red dot moved up to hover between Dean's eyebrows. "Who are you working for, where'd your partner take Chuck and Sarah, and what the hell is up with all the salt?"
"We're not working for anyone, 'Agent Bauer', and I want to find out where they all went as much as you do. I figure one way or another, they're all down in the caves."
"One way or another, hunh?"
"Either they went down to get Chuck's sister, or something took 'em down."
"Something?"
"Look. You and I both know some kinda weird crap is going on here."
"Yeah, weird crap you and your brother are causing somehow."
Dean debated telling Casey the truth, but that would probably go less well than it had with Sarah. Sarah. "You know Sarah, right?"
"What?"
Dean vaguely waved his upraised hands. "I mean you know her as more than just the gorgeous hot-dog-selling girlfriend of a co-worker."
"I have no idea what you're talking about." Casey's silhouette shifted slightly and the red dot steadied.
"Okay, okay! All I'm saying is, Sarah and Ellie went out in the woods. Ellie fell into a hole Sarah didn't notice until Ellie fell in it. When we went back out there to the place she'd marked, the hole was gone. From all that you know about Sarah, about how perceptive and diligent she is, does that make any sense to you?"
Casey stood silently in the Crown Victoria's headlights.
Hands still raised palms out, and trying not to get blinded by the red targeting light of the gun pointed between his eyes, Dean tipped his chin down and glared at Casey. "Now, are you gonna work with me so we can get my brother and your friends back, or do I have to waste my time kicking your ass before I go do it myself?"
For a hanging moment Dean thought he might have pushed the wrong buttons and Casey was going to ventilate Dean's brain six months before the hellhounds came to claim him.
"Hunh," Casey grunted and lowered his weapon. "Okay. But you owe my car an apology."
-
When Chuck was deep in the tunnels, moving as fast as he could over the rough ground and scanning ahead with his flashlight, he had a moment of panic.
Nothing to worry about, just the bunker of a notorious arms dealer. No need to freak out. He probably loves having unannounced guests. Serves cake and ice cream.
A loose pebble fell from where he'd grabbed at the wall. He froze, hyperventilating as it clattered down behind him.
Just a rock. Just a noise. Oh god, I'm gonna get killed.
Chuck took a deep breath. Ellie was down here somewhere. He kept going.
He got another few hundred yards before the tunnel ahead split in three directions.
"Ellie!" Chuck bellowed, then listened as the echoes died down.
A faint noise came from the right-most tunnel. He couldn't tell if it was Ellie, an animal, or an armed and pissed off psychopath, but it wasn't his own voice.
"I'm coming! And if that's not Ellie, please don't kill me!"
-
Yes. He is coming. So many secrets, so worth keeping. He holds all the secrets, she holds none. Perfection. They are worth keeping. Pride of the place, my old inner sanctum.
He'll tell her everything. And then I'll keep them there together. Forever.
-
As soon as Casey had lowered his weapon, Dean had gone straight for the bag of weapons in the back seat of the Impala. The trunk had more options, but he was still loath to reveal the hidden compartment to anyone. One of the salt guns was missing; Dean was relieved. Wherever Sam was, he was armed appropriately.
He didn't relay this information to Casey because knowing Sam had had time to arm himself would not add strength to this feeble alliance.
Casey turned off the Crown Victoria and went to his trunk. "Dean Winchester, hunh? More I think about it, the more familiar that name sounds."
"Yeah, I'm one of the FBI's most wanted," said Dean in his best 'is it true or is it bullshit' tone of voice.
"Anything that's a threat to national security?"
"Nope." Dean said truthfully.
"Fine then."
Over half the spare shells were gone too, Dean noted. Also a good sign.
"So...." said Dean, loading another shotgun with some of the remaining salt-shells. "You work in retail, hunh?"
Casey grunted. "And you work in...?"
Dean nodded and closed the back door of the Impala with a smirk. "Fair enough."
Casey closed his trunk, hefting the gun with the red laser sight and one that looked a bit odd. Dean cocked an eyebrow as he shouldered his bag full of guns.
"Trank gun. Handy sometimes."
Dean shone his flashlight toward the cave trail, then back towards Casey. "I'm sorry I insulted your car and thought you were a chick."
"And I'm sorry I didn't kick your ass when I wasn't so pressed for time."
Dean grinned and hoisted a salt-loaded shotgun. "Shall we?"
Casey grunted eloquently.
-
It wasn't a bad place, as far as hovels full of guns went. Water, food, a bed, heat from somewhere, she wasn't sure where, but the room was warmer than the rest of the caves. Lots of light, there were enough glowsticks to last for weeks.
Since some were activated before she got there, she knew someone was coming back. Someone.
Ellie slid off the cot, went to the nearest gun case and picked up a gun at random. Everything about it felt wrong. It was too heavy, too cold. She had no idea or intent to shoot it, and no clue whether it was loaded or not. But she was an unexpected guest in the hidey-hole of a person who liked guns an awful lot. Sitting there without any hint of defense that the unknown resident of this place would understand, well, if it wasn't stupid, it certainly wasn't wise.
She went back to the cot and sat with her back to the wall, watching the entrances, not sure what to do with the gun in her hand.
She looked down at it. This was made to kill people. The statistics for accidental gun deaths ran through her head. What if her friends found her first? What if Chuck came charging in through one of the entrances to this place...
"What am I doing?" She went back to the gun case and dropped the gun back in like it was contagious.
I don't know what to do, but that's not an option. When the person who lives here comes back, I'll, I'll.... Something.
Beside her in the chest full of glowsticks, one of the lit ones started to wane. A tiny snap, and another glowstick began burning greenly.
-
Soon. Soon. Secrets to share and death to keep. Death to share and secrets to keep. One and the same.
Secrets get shared, people die. That's how it is.
People gave me secrets whether they wanted to or not, I shared them, people died. They tried to take my secrets from me. They shot me, hurt me, but I ran, into the dark. No one could find me. I died. My own secret got shared, I died.
That is the way it should always be. Secrets and death and no separation between them.
Soon.
- - -
(continued in Part 5)