Bonds Tested

Long-Distance Call -- Crocotta

~*****~

"Lottie, you need to stay in the car, okay?" Sam expresses.

"No way," I shoot back. "You're not going in there alone-- these things are invulnerable to most damage, remember? You need backup."

Sam nods. "Yeah, and I'm calling Dean." Sam retorts as he tugs his phone away from his ear. "No good, all I've got is the voicemail. Damnit, Dean, come on." Sam growls.

I roll my eyes and tug out my stake. "Look, I'm going in there, one way or another." I snap. "Now you can keep trying Dean, but I'm gonna get this mother fucker before it kills someone else, got it?"

"Lottie, no--" Sam snaps, but I'm already jogging to the building.

The shady looking call tech is about to get into his car when I slam up against him, holding my stake at the base of his neck. "Whoa-- what the hell?!" He yelps.

"I know what you are--" I growl.

"Wait, lady, please--"

"And I know how to kill you." I continue.

"Okay, wait, wait--" The man whimpers. "If we're overcharging you for the call-waiting or something, I-- I can fix that. I'm your friend." He begins to whimper. "Just-- Just don't kill me. Don't kill me please!"

My eyebrow quirks in confusion. I hear a shout of pain before something cracks against the back of my head, quite literally knocking the lights out.

~*****~

My head is buzzing something awful when I come to. And I can hear the man from earlier whimpering. My head flinches upwards and I try to gaze around. Sam is jerking a little until his head swings up, too. "I'm sorry, Clark! I'm sorry for whatever I did to you!" The phone tech sobs.

"Wait! Wait, don't do it." Sam snaps quickly as I try to turn my head more over his shoulder, but it's hard to do while we're bound by our hands, back to back.

"You're awake." Clark hums as he holds the stake I'd brought.

"You're not a killer, Clark! No!" The tech whimpers. "There's a-- there's a good man inside of you. I know it!"

"What do you think, Sammy? Lottie?" Clark asks. "Am I a good man?"

"Just let him go." I snap.

"I would. I really would." Clark hums. "If only I'd had more than a salad for lunch. See.... I'm starving."

"NO!" We both shout as he brings the stake down, and stabbing it into the man's chest. I can't see it, but I can head his bones popping and moving out of place as he sucks out the techs soul.

"That last call with Dean--" I stammer. "It was you. You led us here."

"Some calls I make. Some calls I take." Clark retorts. "But you have to admit, I had you fooled for a while. All that Edison Phone crap..." Clark chuckles. "Oh, well."

"What are you doing?" Sam asks. I crane my neck over his other shoulder, and Clark has his hand on a machine, and a strange buzzing is echoing out.

"I'm killing your brother." He states. "Or maybe I'm killing another guy. We'll just have to see how it goes."

Clark tugs out the stake from the tech's chest. "You know, mimicking Dean's one thing." Sam states irritably. "But my dad-- that's a hell of a trick."

"Well, once I made you two as hunters, it was easy. I didn't expect a third, but luckily for me, she was easy to trick, too." Clark mentioned. "Found Dean's number, then your number, then her number, then your father's numbers, then to e-mails, voice mails-- everything. You see, people think that that stuff just gets erased. But it doesn't. You'd be surprised at how much of yourself is just floating out there, waiting to be plucked."

"Dean's not gonna fall for this." I retort. "He's not gonna kill that guy."

"Then the guy kills him." Clark says. "Technology... makes life so much easier." Clark mentions as he moves around us, and uses the stake to move my hair from my face. "It used to be I'd-- I'd hide in the woods for days, weeks, whispering to people, trying to draw them out into the night. But they had community. They all looked out after each other. I'd be lucky to eat maybe one, two souls a year. But now, when I'm hungry, I simply make a phone call. You're all so connected.... But you've never been so alone."

I hear the bones popping out of place again as he moves around Sam, and we take the opportunity, and jump him. Sam tackles him to the ground, and the stake goes sliding across the floor. I make a grab for it as they fight. "Sam!" I shout. I force the stake through the back of Clark's neck, and he slumps to the ground, dead. Sam is wiping at his busted lip and bloody nose, and he's breathing heavily.

"Thanks--" He huffs.

I slap at his arm. "And you wanted me to wait at the car." I growl. "Come on. We better get out of here."

Sam nods tiredly and I lead him out.

~*****~

Back at the motel, Sam and I enter the room with exhausted grunts. "I see they improved your face," Dean mentions as we peer into the bathroom.

"Look who's talking." I shoot back as I snatch the rag from him and rinse it. "Sit. Both of you." I order and gesture to the main room.

"So, Crocotta, huh?" Dean sighs as I pull out the med kit.

"Yep." I sigh.

"That would explain the flies." Dean says.

"Yeah, it would." Sam nods, and winces when I check over the knot on the back of his head. "Hey, um..." Sam trails off. "Look, I'm sorry it wasn't Dad."

Dean chuckles. "I gave you two a hell of a time on this one." Dean states softly. Sam waves him off. "No, you guys were right."

"Forget about it." I say softly.

Dean is silent for a moment. "I can't." He says softly. "I wanted to believe so badly that there was a way out of this. I mean, I'm staring down the barrel at this thing.... You know, Hell... for real, forever, and I'm just...."

"Yeah." I sigh.

Dean licks his lips nervously. "I'm scared, guys. I'm really scared."

"We know." I say.

"I guess I was willing to believe anything-- you know, last act of a desperate man." Dean chuckles.

"There's nothing wrong with having hope, you know." Sam reassures him.

"Hope doesn't get you jack squat." Dean retorts. "I can't expect Dad to show up with some miracle at the last minute. I can't expect anybody to, you know? And the only person that can get me out of this thing is me."

"And us." I mention.

Dean glances at us. "And us?"

"What?" I ask irritably.

"Deep revelation, having a real moment here, that's what you come back with-- and us?" Dean mentions.

I roll my eyes at him. "Did you want a poem?" I ask teasingly.

"Moments gone." Dean says quickly. "Unbelievable."

Sam and I share an amused look before I start rustling through my hair, prodding at the tender knot at the back of my head. "You know, you shoulda seen it--" I mention impishly. "Pregnant lady manages to kill a Crocotta while it's wailing on someone."

Dean hums and gets up. "You seriously need to stop joining in on the action, Lottie." Dean mentions as he reaches around my head and feels for the knot. I wince a little at his rougher movements. "You're gonna have one killer headache with this one. Get in bed."

"What are you, my mother?" I retort as I plop onto the bed and turn on the TV. "I don't know about you, but I wanna watch some TV."

Dean sighs loudly and returns to his spot on the bed and leans back. I reach into the cooler between the beds and hand the boys their beers.