Tell me where we go from here 38/?
Chapter 38
It was still early in the afternoon so they had some time to kill before they could come back to have a real look at that wall. They had skipped breakfast so they decided to have a quick lunch and then have a little chat with Mrs. Green. Maybe she could tell them why her husband had been on the construction site when he'd been supposed to be home.
While Sam got them sandwiches for lunch, Dean stayed at the car and gave Cas a quick call to tell him that they would have to stay for a little while longer. Sam didn't know what they were talking about but when he watched his brother through the glass front of the store he noticed the smile and the easiness with which Dean leaned against the car. Whatever they were talking about, it was something good. And knowing Dean probably x-rated.
A minute later Sam was outside again with their sandwiches and some cokes and Dean hurried to end the call. Sam half-expected to hear a hushed "I love you" but then he would have to get the holy water out again.
"He's already at the bunker." Dean put the phone in his pocket to have the hands free for his food and drink.
"Cas alone at home." Sam mused and slipped into the passenger's seat.
Dean threw him a glance but didn't comment on it.
"I wonder what he's doing." Sam took a bite from his sandwich. "You know, alone in the bunker. He doesn't need to eat or sleep anymore. Is he just staring at the walls?" Thinking about it some slightly disturbing ideas formed in Sam's mind. Cas lying in Dean's bed, Cas snooping around their private things. He knew the angel respected their privacy, at least Sam's, and would never scoop around in their underwear but it was a strange thought that somebody was at their home while they weren't there. During all those years on the road without a real home, thoughts like this never crossed his mind, now he couldn't stop thinking about it.
"He said he wanted to do some research." Dean answered around a mouth full of sandwich. Sam just looked the other way to not lose his appetite, teaching Dean table manners was a lost cause, at least as long as he had only Sam as an audience. "About the Mark and about the situation in heaven. Souls are piling up in the veil."
Now Kevin was back on Sam's mind and he dropped his half-eaten sandwich on the wrapper in his lap. His appetite was gone. He only remembered bits and pieces of the time with Gadreel behind the wheel, most of it was just blackness, but he did remember Kevin looking at him in shock and then not looking anymore because his eyes were burned right out of their sockets. Knowing that Kevin couldn't even pass over to heaven didn't help either.
Dean had kept talking but Sam was lost in his own thoughts.
"Earth to Sammy." Dean snapped his fingers in his line of sight to get his attention. "You have the address of the wife?"
The interview with the wife was very informative but Sam wasn't sure if the new information would help them with their case or not. Apparently the Greens were one of the families who had lost their homes to the company building the apartment complex. And it turned out that Andrew hadn't been on the site that night just for fun, no, it looked like they were behind the schedule and the foreman of Andrew's working group, Mrs. Green only knew that his name was Steve, had kept the workers on the construction site overtime. Which of course was off the record.
Mrs. Green was looking into suing the company but given their tight financial situation she doubted that she would get far with that. Sadly Sam had to agree. As far as he could tell the woman had nothing in hand against the company and they would just squish her.
"So Andrew was pissed." Dean summed up the situation when they walked back to the car. "He loses his home and then has to work for the company that kicked him out in the first place."
Sam chewed on his bottom lip. It made sense.
"Think he tried something?" Dean asked.
"And it backfired?" Sam finished the thought for him. "Maybe."
They drove back to the motel for a little nap before they would be back to the construction site to see what they could find in that wall.
"I just hope today isn't one of the overtime nights." Dean mused when they had packed their gear and were ready to head out. "I really don't want to wait until they're finished."
Turned out they were lucky. Just like the other night the building lay dark and silent in front of them.
"Maybe they're more careful now." Sam guessed and shouldered his bag. They hadn't bothered with buying sledge hammers so that was their first step, find where the workers stored the tools for the night.
There was a shed at the side next to the trailer the foreman used as an office and the lock was not problem for them.
What turned out to be more difficult was to find that one wall again. This place was huge.
"You sure it's on the fourth floor?" Sam asked when he followed Dean up the stairs.
"Fourth flour, south east corner." Dean answered easily. "More or less." He shrugged with a grin.
They needed the EMF meter to guide them, every room looked the same, but in the end they found the right place.
"Okay, let's see what's in here." Dean raised the hammer and for a second Sam's stomach clenched at that sight, memories still too fresh in his mind. He knew that Dean wouldn't use the hammer against him but he couldn't shake off the uneasy feeling when he saw the casualty with which Dean was handling the sledge hammer.
Sam stepped back to let his brother work, destroying things had always been a guilty pleasure of Dean, and Sam was happy with flashlight duty here. If Dean wanted to do the hard work, Sam was the last person to complain.
It took only a few blasts with the hammer to break a hole into the wall.
"There's something in there." Dean peered into the opening but then stepped aside to let Sam shine the flashlight in.
"Aren't these supposed to be solid?" Sam wondered when he noticed how much space there was. You could hide a body in there.
"Not if they're meant for the tubing." Dean pointed at the small holes in the wall which Sam assumed were for the pipes. He had no clue, though, Dean was the handyman, Sam was happy when he could get the A/C back to working.
"But this is not supposed to be in here." Sam had to reach into the wall up to his shoulder to get the item Dean had spotted earlier.
"A hexbag?" Dean asked with disgust in his voice. Their last encounter with a witch hadn't been that long ago, not nearly long ago enough if anybody would bother to ask Sam and he knew his brother agreed. At least there were no poisoned cookies or needles involved this time. Yet.
While Sam held the flashlight Dean carefully pried the knot open to reveal the content of the bag. The outside was just a simple piece of cloth, nothing special about that, but when Dean peeled the edges apart Sam let out a soft whistle.
"Somebody knows what he's doing." Dean commented and shook his flat palm to jiggle the pieces apart so they could see them without having to touch them. "You do realize that the meter wouldn't pick up on a hexbag, right?"
Sam knew that and he expected a ghost to jump him any minute now but then something caught is eye.
"But this might." He pointed at a blackened bone.
"What is it?"
"Human. I think." Sam squinted at the bone. It was burned and the flashlight wasn't the best for a closer examination but the shape was familiar. "I could be wrong but I think this is a bone from a human hand."
Dean made a doubtful noise but accepted his explanation.
"Let's go back to the motel." Sam suggested. There he would be able to research the content of the bag and maybe find out more about it. This wasn't exactly a standard hexbag, he hadn't seen one like this before.
They checked the wall one last time but there was nothing more to find and then they hurried to leave the construction site.
"Was there anything at the Greens' house?" Sam thought aloud but couldn't come up with anything. He didn't remember anything that in hindsight might point to one of the Greens as a witch.
"No." Dean sounded sure. "At least not in the part of the house we've seen."
They returned the hammers to the shed but when they turned to leave, Dean went another way.
"Dean?" Sam hissed. Out here in the open they could be easily spotted by a car passing by. Dean didn't answer and was now at the trailer the foreman used.
"Just a quick look." Dean assured him. There was nothing indicating that Steve, the foreman, was their suspect but if Dean had a hunch on this, Sam was more than willing to follow. Most of the time his brother couldn't put it in words or deliver hard proof but usually he was right with his gut feeling.
The lock was a joke and a second later they were inside the office. Steve didn't seem to be a tidy one, there were papers and empty coffee mugs on the table just like when they'd visited earlier that day. It didn't make searching the place easier but they did their best anyway.
They didn't find a grimoire or an alter, not even scribbled notes on the occult, but this was his workplace. If Dean was right with his hunch it was probably worth it to check out this guy's home.
What Sam did find was an old t-shirt stuffed in a bag with other clothes.
"Hmm." He made and held it up. "This doesn't look suspicious at all."
Dean pointed his flashlight at him.
"At least we found our guy." He commented the piece missing in the fabric. "We just have to figure out what he's up to."
They put everything back in order and then drove back to their motel. With Steve's full name and his address in his pocket, Sam had everything they needed.
"I still don't get it." Dean broke the silence. "What is he trying to accomplish? I mean a hexbag in the wall? I guess Andrew triggered it by accident but what is the plan here?"
"No idea, man." Sam shook his head. Once the apartments were finished Steve and all the workers would leave. And there was no way to know who might rent that special apartment. Which led to the question if this was the only surprise Steve had left for the future tenants. They might had to come back and search the whole building. Which would be fun, they couldn't hope that the EMF meter would pick up on every bag.
Maybe they should just burn the whole thing down, Sam mused. Dean would have his fun with that.
When they reached the motel it was almost three in the morning and Sam decided to leave the research for first thing in the morning. Steve would be at work most of the day anyway.
They got out of the car and grabbed their bags but when Sam turned towards their room he noticed light behind the curtains. For a second he wondered if he had forgotten to switch it off but then he saw a shadow moving around. There was somebody in their room.
Chapter 39
Masterpost