Standing Outside the Fire

2

[Two and a Half Men]

INT. GARAGE - DAY

The Impala was mostly covered by a tan tarp, but the trunk was clear. Dean opened the trunk of the Impala and looked inside. He took out his sawed-off shotgun, checked the rounds, and put it away. He closed the trunk, locked it, put the keys in his toolbox, and let the tarp settle back over the trunk of the Impala. He left the garage with a box labeled "KITCHEN."

INT. DEAN AND FRANCESCA'S HOUSE

Dean and Francesca were unpacking boxes. She kept glancing at him with a frustrated expression.

"What's up?" Dean asked.

"Nothing," Francesca replied.

"At least wait until you've checked the place out before you hate it. Open mind, that's all I ask."

"Yeah, all right." She stood. "I'll be back."

"Oh, hey. Where's the fire?"

"Just going to check out the block."

"And let me unpack the kitchen by myself? Come on. We'll go for lunch later. Scope out the neighborhood. Right?"

"Yeah, sounds like a plan." He smiled at her. "Come on, why don't you give me a hand?"

Dean and Francesca left the room together.

EXT. VICTIM'S HOUSE

Cop cars were on the street and policemen walked it and out the front door of a house surrounded by crime scene tape. Sam spoke to a detective while holding a flyer for a missing child in his hand.

"Where'd you find them?" Sam asked.

"We found the parents upstairs," the detective replied. "Pretty brutal."

"Break in?"

"No, alarm never went off."

"Any leads on the baby?"

"None yet."

"So what do you think? Think it's okay? Alive?"

"I did yesterday."

"Thank you." Sam walked up the path toward the house, ducking under the crime scene tape that blocked it off.

INT. DEAN AND FRANCESCA'S HOUSE

The doorbell rang. Dean opened the door to reveal a pizza delivery man.

"There you go," Dean said. "Keep the change."

"Thanks," the pizza delivery man replied.

"Thanks." Dean turned to see Francesca standing behind him. "What?"

"I thought we were going out?" Francesca answered.

"Oh yeah, I forgot. I'm sorry."

"Sure. I'll go look for plates." She left the room, muttering curses in her other language to herself.

EXT. VICTIM'S HOUSE

Sam left the house and spoke to Samuel on the phone. "Hey. So, I've been all over this. No sulfur. No EMF. I'm starting to think maybe it's not our kind of thing."

"Four couples slaughtered in one part of the state within days of each other. That's four babies taken from locked houses. Damn it! Explain to me how any version of that is natural."

"No, no, I agree. It's awful. I'm just saying this one might be on the police."

"Okay, so either we've got monsters grabbing babies to make baby stew, or we've got a bunch of psychotic yokels grabbing babies to make baby stew. Either way, it's baby stew, which is bad." Sam sighed. "Am I boring you? You got someplace you need to be?"