better man/worse than nicotine » arthur ketch

sixteen: inside the bunker

Inside the bunker, Arthur Ketch delivers orders at a rate that he reminds himself of his old commander. And a wave of pride washes over him at the thought.

            He turns to one soldier. "Apparently, Mick let them get their hands on...the bloody Colt. Find it, huh?" The soldier nods, like the obedient dog he is, and accepts his order.

            Turning to the room, he addresses all of them in general. "By the time we leave, Dr. Hess wants to know everything about the Winchesters. The rooms are my priority, the rest of you focus on the library, map room, and kitchen."

            One of the soldiers with a camera in his hands, who Ketch has been known to call a pain in the ass, asks, "What about Joy, sir?"

            Ketch's face hardens. "I said she is not here. Now get to work. I have somewhere to be."

            Camera flashes light up the rooms, along with the sound of microphones being synced to the system as they are placed around various places.

            Ketch doesn't necessarily agree with this method. Well, he agrees with spying on the brothers seeing as they are the hardest to persuade, but Joy is different. Ketch knows it won't be hard at all to get the younger sibling completely onboard, not when she's hanging around him.

            He knows he has a magnetic attraction. And he uses it to his advantage.

            Ketch moves to the rooms, going into Sam's first. It's about the same as Joy's, except less...Joy. There's books everywhere, but no desk. It's obvious all he does here is read and sleep.

            Moving onto Dean's room, Ketch finds exactly what he is expecting to find with someone like Dean. Half-eaten food. Various weapons hanging from the walls and scattered in drawers. A set of crumpled sheets in one drawer that Ketch leaves alone, moving on to the nightstand.

            There he finds one of Dean's spare guns. He places it on the nightstand carefully, sifting through the pictures and papers in the drawer. He stumbles upon one picture in particular. It's of the three of them: Sam, Dean, and Joy. All young, most likely taken just before Joy made that deal, judging by their faces.

            But Joy. Ketch studies her face for the longest time. It's a simple picture, so he shouldn't be reading into her facial expression as much as he is, but he is anyway. He was trained to, and it's hard to break that.

            It's obvious just from a single picture that Joy wasn't happy. The exhaustion and pain in her eyes— It's something Ketch knows well. Because it's in his eyes as well, but because he has seen that look on Joy's face. It was more prevalent when he had first met her, when he stumbled into the bunker that night for a drink. It's diminished as of late, but the sheer fact that he has seen that look on her face – and knows it, even after knowing her for a short month—

            It's obvious to him that her brothers pay her no attention. And for that, he places the pictures back in the nightstand and stands to his feet.

            He shuts the light off when he exits Dean's room, moving on to Joy's room.

            Ketch is unable to stop the small smile that crawls onto his face at the sight. Joy's room is comfortable and...completely Joy. The smell, the books, the colors. It is hard for him to explain, but he feels different when he is here. And when he is with her.

            He doesn't spend much time in here. He knows Joy and trusts her. But he is looking for one thing.

            Once he finds it, he tucks it in his hand, shutting the light off as he leaves her room. He cracks the door exactly how she always leaves it, careful not to leave it an inch or two different.

            Walking back out into the library, he sees his men packing up their gear, right on schedule.

            Ketch listens absentmindedly as one of his men describes the microphone placements, how the audio should be optimal, but Ketch knows he will have to ask them all to repeat this when they return to the compound.

            Ketch places the book back down on the table in the library, nodding to his men to start heading up the stairs.

            Before he shuts off the lights, he glances at the book with an almost sad smile.

            It is for the best, Joy.

            And with that, he turns all the lights off, and follows his men up and out of the Winchester's bunker.