experimental weirdness part 12
Title: An End Has a Start
Rating: R
A/N: I have had a long bunch of days. Just... long. Dude.
A/N 2: follow the tags for previous
A/N 3: oh, and don't read too much into the first part
“FBI?” the man behind the counter said, frowning at their IDs.
His nametag said ‘Gus’ and Seth was having a hard time not laughing.
“Yes,” Ryan said, adjusting the collar of his suit.
“You already sent guys in,” Gus, frowning harder. “They’re still in the records room.”
“Guys,” Ryan repeated, stiffening up a bit.
“Yeah,” Gus said. “Two FBI came in here about an hour ago looking for information. Detective Rose and Detective Hudson.”
“Rose and Hudson,” Seth repeated slowly, something clicking in his brain. “They wouldn’t happen to be William Bruce Rose and Saul Hudson?”
Ryan looked over at him, managing to hide his confusion from Gus, but Seth could sense it. He ignored his brother, though. He had a hunch.
“Yes,” Gus said, relaxing a bit, now that he thought they were authentic.
“Of course, Detectives Rose and Hudson. We’re here to help in their investigation,” Seth said, standing up straighter, confident in his hunch.
“Right this way,” Gus said, leading them down a little hall, to a room labeled ‘records’.
“Could you excuse us?” Ryan said, getting back in the game, even though Seth was sure he still had no idea what was going on.
“Of course,” Gus said, hurrying off.
“What the hell?” Ryan whispered when Gus was far enough away.
“You’ll see,” Seth grinned, pushing the door open and walking inside. “Detective Rose,” he said with authority, nodding at one of the two men standing inside. “Detective Hudson,” he nodded at the other.
“Seth?” the taller one said, looking confused for a second.
“It’s Detective Ward,” Seth corrected. “And this is Detective Trask.”
“You’re the guys from the bar,” Ryan said, stepping up to the table they were sitting at.
“Ryan,” Seth said, still smiling. “This is Sam and Dean Winchester. They’re hunters.”
“Hey,” Sam said, smiling. The other one just nodded, sizing him up.
“I knew it had to be you guys,” Seth grinned. “William Bruce Rose and Saul Hudson?”
“Dean’s idea,” Sam rolled his eyes.
“Hey, don’t insult the Guns,” Dean threatened.
“What’re you guys doing here?” Seth asked, looking over at Ryan, who seemed to have made the connection now, between the words Guns and Rose.
“Research on a house,” Sam explained. “We think it’s haunted, so we wanted to get the records on it. You?”
“Looking for a man,” Seth explained. “We have a name, and maybe some aliases, we just need to see if he owns any property. I didn’t know you guys were in DC.”
“Yeah, I was gonna call you,” Sam said. “But we just got here last night and I forgot in all the haunting stuff.”
“It’s cool,” Seth sighed.
“Wait, you guys keep in touch?” Ryan asked.
“Yeah. Didn’t I tell you that?” Seth moved toward a computer to avoid Ryan, just in case he decided to take a swing. “After you stormed out and I followed you to the hotel, I went back to apologize to them. Then I explained what we were doing and Sam gave me his number in case we ever needed any help. He’s the one who told me about the library here.”
“Oh,” Ryan said. “Thanks for telling me.”
“Didn’t tell me, either,” Dean said, turning to his brother with a raised brow. Sam shrugged.
“You would’ve bitched and I didn’t feel like putting up with you.”
“Thanks, Sammy. I spent eons in hell and you’re hiding stuff from me,” Dean grumbled, turning back to the records book in front of him.
“Hell?” Ryan asked.
“Long story.”
…
“So,” Taylor said, touching the cut on her forehead, “we’re chained in the basement of some guy named Ethan who used to be friends with Parker before he got turned into a vampire?”
“Pretty much sums it up,” Summer sighed, leaning back against the wall.
It was amazing how much more relaxed she was now that Taylor was awake. Although that may have had something to do with the fact that Ethan wasn’t there.
“How long have we been down here?” Taylor asked, shifting to lean against the wall as well.
“I dunno,” Summer shrugged. She wanted to say weeks, but she honestly didn’t know. It felt like weeks, but it could be hours.
“Do you think Parker told Ryan and Seth?”
Summer shrugged again. “Well, Parker knows we were taken, so I assume he did, but… I mean… he didn’t tell you about his superfun vampire friend, what if he’s not gonna tell Seth or Ryan? What if he bails? I mean… he’s obviously not the most upstanding guy.”
“You blame him for this?” Taylor asked, eyes going a little dull.
“You don’t?” Summer asked, genuinely surprised. If she’d had a boyfriend and this happened, she would be so pissed.
“I mean… do you really think he knew Ethan was coming? Because if he did and he didn’t warn me, than yes, I’m angry. But if he honestly didn’t know, how can I blame him?” Taylor reasoned, staring down at the floor.
“And you’re not angry that he didn’t tell you about his psycho friend?” Summer asked, slowly, to make sure Taylor heard her right.
Taylor hesitated, picking at her nails and still staring at the floor. “So he hid something in his past from me. So what? Does that make him a horrible person? We all have secrets, Summer.”
Summer was about to slap her friend when a thought occurred.
“Ryan.”
“What?” Taylor said, looking up at the entrance to the room they were in, like Summer had meant he was here.
“No,” Summer said, making Taylor look at her. “You never told Parker about Ryan. That’s why he seemed totally ok with him being here.”
“No, I never told Parker about Ryan,” Taylor said, looking over at the far wall. “He didn’t need to know, especially when Ryan came. It would’ve only hurt him.”
“Ok, but Taylor, Parker hid this like… life threatening secret from you, and you didn’t tell him about an ex.”
“I still hid stuff,” Taylor shrugged.
“But…” Summer started, but Taylor turned to face her and cut her off.
“Summer, we’re both liars. He lied to me, I lied to him, we deserve each other.”
“Taylor, that is so stupid,” Summer said, narrowing her eyes.
“Fine, whatever, I’m stupid. Look Summer, I tried to be with someone out of my league, it backfired, I paid the price, and now I’m with someone that I deserve, ok?”
If Taylor hadn’t looked so absolutely pathetic and totally convinced with her statement, Summer would’ve hit her.
“Do you love Parker?” Summer asked, deciding that it was her job, as future Maid of Honor at Taylor’s wedding, to make sure the groom would be the right one.
“No.”
“Uh huh,” Summer said, biting at her lip. “Remember Henri-Michel? You didn’t love him and you divorced him because of it.”
“Right, that was back when I thought love was this magical thing that would make everything better and fix my life. It didn’t. It just complicated things and made everything hurt like, ten times more.”
“Yeah,” Summer sighed. “That’s love. But it’s worth it.”
“Maybe,” Taylor shrugged. “If the guy loves you back.”
…
Parker woke up and panicked.
It was dark and he couldn’t move his hands or his feet and something was over his mouth.
His eye hurt.
All he remembered was being in the parking lot and… then Ryan had punched him and that was it.
…
“I really hope no cops pull us over,” Seth rambled, turning around in the passenger’s seat for the hundredth time to see if anyone was following them. “We just impersonated FBI officers and we have an unconscious guy tied up in our trunk.”
“Yeah, well, the FBI thing was necessary,” Ryan grunted, staring straight ahead as he drove.
“And Parker?” Seth asked, turning to him.
“Kind of necessary,” he answered.
Necessary, but also kind of fun.
Punching Parker had definitely been satisfying.
“Right,” Seth drawled, in that way he had that made Ryan kind of want to punch him, too. “And this has nothing to do with Parker banging your ex.”
Yes.
“No,” Ryan said instead, making a left into the neighborhood. “He would’ve been in the way with the FBI thing and I don’t trust him enough not to run off while we were in there.”
Seth didn’t answer as Ryan parked on the curb, about five houses down from the address they’d found in the records room.
Ethan Gehman didn’t have any housing records, but Ethan Brooks did.
Before he’d made Parker unconscious, the guy had explained that Brooks was the name Ethan used on his fake IDs.
“Come on,” he said, getting out of the car and moving toward the trunk.
Seth followed and they opened the back hatch to find Parker awake and looking slightly panicked.
“Hey,” Seth said. “I’m gonna take the tape off your mouth, but don’t make a fuss or Ryan here will have to punch you again.”
Parker nodded and Seth ripped the tape off.
“Why am I in the trunk?” Parker asked as Seth cut the tape around his wrists and ankles off, too.
“Because it’s cliché,” Seth said.
“We found an address for Ethan, and you’re going in first,” Ryan said, ignoring Seth.
Parker opened his mouth to protest, but Ryan grabbed his arm and hauled him out of the back and marched him toward the house.
“What if he kills me?” Parker whispered as they neared the house.
“You already said he doesn’t want to,” Seth reasoned. “Plus we’ll be right behind you.”
“Although if you scream and it takes us a while to get to you, for whatever reason,” Ryan added, “you’re not that big of a loss.”
Seth rolled his eyes, but Ryan ignored that because Parker gave a satisfyingly pitiful moan.
…
Taylor tried to shift the cuffs on her wrist again, wincing as they scraped the sore skin.
She and Summer hadn’t spoken in a while, and it was really awkward.
She knew Summer was angry with her, but how could she be mad at Parker for this? She’d lied, too. She was just as bad.
God, she was such a horrible person. She hadn’t just lied to Parker about Ryan.
Because, now that she was forced to be honest with herself, she was using Parker to get over Ryan. She was a horrible person. So she couldn’t blame Parker for…
“What was that?” Summer whispered, stiffening.
Taylor shut her brain up and heard someone walking down the stairs, slowly.
“Shit, he’s back,” Summer said.
“Oh goody, I get to meet Ethan?” Taylor whispered back. She wondered what Ethan looked like. Did he dress in all black? Were vampires all goth-y like they were in the cliché? Or were they normal looking? She didn’t really know what to expect.
Although she really wasn’t expecting Parker.
“Taylor!” he said, rushing over to her.
“Parker, what are you doing here?” she asked as he fumbled with the chains around her wrists.
“I’m here to rescue you,” he said, which three years ago would’ve made her swoon, but now just sounded stupid. “Where’s Ethan?”
“I don’t know,” she said, looking over at Summer. “He’s been gone since I woke up and we can’t really tell time down here.”
“I think you need a key,” Summer said, a bit sarcastically. “Unless you have superhuman strength and can rip them off.”
Parker stopped trying to pry the cuffs open and flushed red.
“Parker?” a voice called and Taylor’s heart leapt. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Summer react, too.
“It’s clear!” Parker shouted toward the stairs and a few seconds later, Seth and Ryan came down.
“Summer,” Seth breathed, immediately rushing to her side and dropping to his knees. “You’re alive.”
“Seth, Parker,” Ryan’s voice was tight. “Back away.”
Taylor was confused and she could see Summer and Parker were, too, but Seth tensed and stood back up.
“Parker,” Ryan commanded, moving to pull Parker into a standing position.
“What the hell, Atwood?” Summer asked, glaring at him.
“Sorry,” he shrugged. “Procedure.”
“We have to make sure he didn’t turn you,” Seth clarified, looking pale at the idea.
“Oh,” Taylor said, nodding. That made sense. “What do you need us to do?”
“We need to check for fangs,” Seth said, kneeling down in front of Summer again, this time with a short sword in his hand. Ryan pushed Parker out of the way and kneeled, too, holding an axe. “Here, just lift up your lip,” Seth was saying to Summer, who obeyed.
Taylor held her breath and did the same, lifting her upper lip as Ryan checked.
“Summer’s clear,” Seth breathed in relief.
“So’s Taylor,” Ryan said. It was probably just her imagination, but she thought she saw him visibly relax.
“Where’d he get these chains?” Seth grumbled, examining them.
“Dungeons R Us,” Summer muttered and Seth snorted in laughter.
Taylor smiled as Seth and Summer relaxed further, smiling at each other.
“Do you know where the key is?” Ryan’s voice brought her back to reality, and she turned to face him.
He, too, was examining the chains and he was uncomfortably close to her.
He needed to not be so close.
“Um, no,” she said, keeping her voice low so it wouldn’t crack. “We were already chained when I woke up.”
“Woke up?” he asked, looking up at her.
“Yeah, I was out for a long time, apparently,” she shrugged, hand going to the cut on her forehead.
Ryan frowned and he was going to say something, when Summer gasped.
“Oh!” she said. “The key! I’m such a ditz. He left it in the drawer over there,” she pointed to a rusty desk in the corner.
“Wow,” Seth said as he stood and went over to it. Sure enough, he pulled a key out of the drawer. “This guy is like, the worst villain ever.”
He unlocked Summer’s chains then tossed Ryan the key.
Ryan unchained her and helped her stand up. Her legs were shaky under her and she couldn’t tell whether it was from the lack of blood, lack of use, or Ryan being so damn close.
“You ok?” he murmured, keeping a hold on her arm as she steadied herself.
“Yeah,” she said back, staring at his chest because she couldn’t look him in the eye.
“Come on,” Seth broke in, surprisingly quiet. “We should get out of here.”
“Yeah,” Ryan agreed, clearing his throat.
Parker came over and hugged her and Ryan dropped her arm.
“Let’s go,” Seth said, louder this time.
Ryan led the way and they headed quietly up the steps and out of the house.
…
The car ride back was almost unbearable.
She, Seth and Parker were in the back, Ryan was driving, and Taylor was in the front seat, because she was the worst hurt.
But Ryan and Taylor were tense and guilty and Parker was clueless and she still didn’t know what was going on with her and Seth. The last time they talked, she’d said she loved him and he’d walked away.
It didn’t matter, though. She was alive and he was alright and she guessed that was good enough for now.
“Hey,” Seth whispered, leaning toward her. “You sure you’re ok? Like… did he hurt you?”
“Besides the bump on the head and the chains?” Summer asked, looking down at the raw skin of her wrists. “I’m good. Well, physically.”
“Summer,” he said, lowering his voice even more and she looked over at him. “I just… I wanted to say… you scared me back there. And I realized I never got to tell you that I love you too.”
She smiled and laid her head on his shoulder for the rest of the trip.
…
Seth wasn’t sure what he’d gotten himself into.
Yes, he loved Summer, but he couldn’t take her with him when he hunted. There was just no way she was coming. But now that he’d told her he loved her, he wasn’t sure she was going to let him out of her sight.
“I think we’ll be safe here,” Ryan said, parking the car at the motel. “We’ll hang for a couple days, see if this Ethan guy shows up. We’ll kill him if he does.”
“Um,” Seth said, scratching the back of his head. “We only have two beds.”
“I’ll sleep on the floor,” Ryan offered, ducking his head.
“No, Ryan,” Taylor said, and Seth tried to figure out which of them was more pathetic. Ryan looked up at his ex and she stared back at him and it was just really awkward.
Parker looked really confused.
“I think maybe you guys should talk,” Summer offered.
For a second, Ryan looked like he was going to say no, but then he sighed and nodded. “Yeah. Can we?”
“Ok,” Taylor squeaked and followed him further out into the parking lot.
“Um, what?” Parker asked, looking like he was about to have an aneurysm from his confusion.
“I guess we should explain some stuff,” Seth sighed, taking Parker’s arm and leading him to the motel room.
This should be fun.