Vagabond Roaming (1/?)
Title: Vagabond Roaming
Fandom(s): SPN/Grimm Crossover. Supergrimm.
Pairing: Dean/Nick.
Rating: T. Ratings will go up.
Warnings: None.
Summary: Dean and Sam were sent to Portland, Oregon to investigate a possible creature attack when three mutilated corpses turned up. The brothers never expected to end up chasing the same monster alongside Detective Nick Burkhardt.
Cross-posted to:
thecenturi0n,
grimm-fic,
sn_slash,
spn_fics,
( Chapter 1 )
A pillow ungracefully landed on Dean's face with a smack. "Agh!" Dean flailed as he jerked awake. "Dude, what the hell?" He pulled the pillow from his face as he sat up and glared at his brother who was across the room half-dressed and packing the weapons.
"Rise and shine, sleeping beauty." Sam grinned as Dean rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. He turned back to zip up the weapon bag and absentmindedly patted it.
"Bobby called." Dean quirked his eyebrow. "He thinks there's something up in Portland. Since we're about an hour away, he thought we should check it out." Sam pulled on a black tie around his neck and set to tie it. Dean got up from the bed, peeling his shirt as he walked to the bathroom.
"What's going on up in Portland?" Dean called out from the bathroom.
"There's been two bodies found mutilated last week and a third body was just found around twenty-five minutes ago," Sam explained.
"What else is new?" Dean muttered. He ducked his head towards the sink, putting out his hand in the rushing water before running his fingers in his hair. He long sacrificed the luxury of shampoo and conditioner, and besides, his short hair didn't require taxing effort. Sam on the other hand... one did wonder.
Sam continued, "Bobby thought it might have to do with a werewolf, since it looks like an animal attack. But he isn't sure because after the first two attacks, the third body that had the same MO didn't coincide with the lunar phases." He tugged on his black suit jacket and straightened the sleeves. "It must be something else."
"So what? We'll head up there and crash the crime scene?" Dean asked as Sam straightened his tie.
"Yup, get your suit on and we'll get out of here."
Dean quickly pulled on his crispest two-piece suit he had in his bag. He shoved his dirty jeans and shirt into the bag, packed his remaining items and hopped out the motel room, putting his shoes on with a tie loose around his neck. He rounded the outdoor stairs and reached the Impala where he saw Sam throwing the bags in the trunk and shutting it. Dean threw his bag in the backseat and got into the driver's seat while Sam wordlessly slid into the passenger seat. The engine roared to life as he ignited the car.
Dean popped in a cassette, turned up the volume on the dash and the intro to Wherever I May Roam by Metallica crooned from the speakers. Sam rolled his eyes and looked out the window. Dean grinned happily as he turned the steering wheel, driving out of the motel heading north towards Portland, fingers thumping against the steering wheel to the beat.
...
Portland, Oregon
An hour-long drive later and a quick stop for shitty coffee (later), Dean and Sam made it within the city limits of Portland and soon they found the crime scene they needed to be at.
Dean parked the Impala down across the park. He swiftly secured his tie as he and Sam walked over to the scene. A police officer in uniform noticed them and walked up to them. "Can I help you?"
"Yeah, hi." Dean said as he and Sam flipped out their badges. "I'm Agent Bonham and this is Agent Page." They tucked their badges after the officer was content and Dean continued, "We're sent to check out your investigation because of the similarities between your recent body and the past two bodies from the week before." The officer nodded and pointed across the crime scene area.
"See him right there? He'd fill you in more than I could. Hey, Burkhardt!"
A dark-haired man, clad in jeans and a dark jacket, kneeling by the mutilated corpse looked up at the sound of his name. A slightly irritated expression graced his face as he saw the two men in crisp suits. Dean surmised that he was the local detective. With really nice eyes. "What, Wu?" The man called out and paused his moving hands.
"These feds," he said with slight distaste, "want to know what's up." The police officer, apparently called Wu, crossed his arms. The man called Burkhardt stood up and peeled off the latex gloves. The second thing Dean noticed was that the man seemed to be a slightly shorter than him.
It might not seem that the brothers paid attention to detail or watched the habits of the people they came across during their time on the road. Especially Dean, since Sam was the one that was a stickler for details and information. But Dean did unconsciously pick up on the little things, as he was trained to do as a hunter. Most of the time, some information turned up useless and it just passed by Dean. But for some reason, there was something about this Burkhardt character that set off Dean's instincts. Dean watched as Burkhardt walked over to where they were standing. There was something different about this guy, but he wasn't able to put a finger on it. Thinking it was nothing, he quickly shook off the feeling.
Burkhardt came up to them and after confirming their FBI badges, he stuck out a pale hand towards Sam to shake, his eyes shifting between the two men as they pocketed their badges with practiced synchronized movements.
"Agents Bonham and Page? I'm Detective Nick Burkhardt. I'm in charge of this case, along with my partner over there." He quickly jerked a thumb over his shoulder towards where a dark skinned man was speaking to another cop on the scene. "How can I help you?" He asked as he took Dean's hand and shook it. His skin was really pale. Dean thought to himself, this guy might be the first half-decent looking detective they had come across in their travels. He even looked their own age, if not a little younger. Not bad seeing that he seemed to be some big-shot city detective.
"The question is how you can help us. We've been put on your case and we need to know what you know," Dean said effortlessly, keeping in character.
"That's odd." He frowned a little. "We're doing perfectly fine on our own. Why would feds need to intrude now?" The detective rubbed his eye tiredly with the tips of his fingers, as if he had been working the night before.
"Y'know, I think otherwise. This is the third incident with the same MO. Just explain, detective. The sooner we know, the sooner we'll be out of your hair." Sam says, sliding into his mean-Fed personality.
Dean asked, "What happened here?"
The detective looked at the tall brother warily for a moment before giving in. "Alright, well, at this point it looks like an odd animal attack. We're not sure what attacked her. It doesn't look like her body was torn up by teeth, but she does look pretty ripped up. Her organs are missing. These are sure signs of some kind of wild animal attack. We ID'd the victim - her name is Sarah McKellen, just turned 20. Home on a college break visiting her family, apparently." He paused and looked in his small notebook then looked back up. "We're going to take her body to the coroner to see exactly what could have torn her up. I'm guessing maybe a wolf." He pocketed his notebook along with a pen and crossed his arms tightly across his robust chest.
Then Dean saw it. The tick of an eyebrow and the slight tightening of the mouth. To a normal person, this change in facial features would pass over their heads. But body language was one of the tricks that Dean and Sam had to learn as hunters. Sam and Dean glanced at each other, their eyes saying they both saw the same thing. Something was definitely off.
"Really?" Sam paused in writing in his own little black notebook as he glanced back at Burkhardt. Dean stopped playing with the rock beneath his shoes and looked at Burkhardt who seemed very calm. The guy didn't seem like he had anything more to add, but clearly he was hiding something. Either way, neither party was interested to further the conversation.
"Yes," Burkhardt glanced at Dean. "Er, Agent… Bonham, right?" At Dean's nod, he continued, "Okay, well... I don't see a reason why feds need to intrude on a normal case. This is a case that I know we can handle."
"No, I don't think so," Dean smiled, eyes eyes crinkling in the corners, coming off as slightly smug when Burkhardt looked startled at his rude response. "I think we have everything. Thanks for your time."
As Dean and Sam walked away, they missed the dark expression that flashed over Burkhardt's face and his glance off to the side as if he was debating something in his mind. He appeared to make up his mind and went back to work on the crime scene, calling for his partner to get going.
Sam nudged Dean as they walked back to the Impala. He tilted his head towards Dean as he asked, "What was that about?"
"Nothing," Dean replied simply, keeping his sight straight ahead.
Sam shrugged. "Alright well, we should go talk to the victim's family then, try to find out more about her."
"Yeah, okay," Dean mumbled and looked behind him, the crime scene now a mere speck across the park.
( next chapter )