Hopelessly Human

44. Goodbye Stranger

[Goodbye Stranger]

WAREHOUSE

Dean and Natalia came around the corner in a darkened warehouse, guns drawn. They brought up their guns, but they were struck down. Castiel appeared over them.

"No, Cas. No!" Dean and Natalia cried. Castiel broke Dean's wrist and he groaned in pain. Castiel then snapped Natalia's arm, and she let out a pained groan.

"No, Cas, don't," Dean and Natalia begged again. "Please." Castiel buried his weapon into Dean's chest and Dean choked. Castiel pulled the blade from Dean's chest before plunging it into Natalia's and yanking it out. They fell back, dead, blood running from their mouths.

There was a buzz of electricity and the lights came on.

Naomi walked into the room. "No hesitation. Quick. Brutal." Naomi and Castiel stared down at Dean and Natalia. "Everything's back in order." Naomi smiled at Castiel. "Finally." Castiel's face remained expressionless. "You're ready."

BUNKER

Dean and Natalia each reached into a box. Dean pulled out a small rectangular box with a glass lid. It was the tip of a spear.

Dean sighed. "What the hell is this?" He read the contents of the box. "Spear of Destiny? What is this -- God's toothpick?" Sam and Dylan were typing on their laptops. "You know, would it have killed these asshats to label these boxes in something other than hieroglyphics?" Dean picked up a small box, opened it, and lifted out an object and turned it over in his hands. "Hey. You two listening to me?"

"Yeah. It's, uh..." Sam cleared his throat, "fascinating stuff." Dean opened a smaller box and Natalia sighed, investigating the contents of the box. "You should probably, uh, write it all down in your journal for the archives, you know?"

Natalia rolled her eyes. "Thanks. You're a ton of help." She pulled an ornate red and gold egg from the box Dean had opened, and she opened the egg and sniffed it. Sam coughed. "You all right over there, Doc Holliday?"

"Uh, yeah," Sam answered, coughing into a napkin. He pulled it away to reveal blood. "Um..." he cleared his throat, "I'm fine." Sam threw the bloody napkin into the trash can. "Just, uh, wrong pipe." He took a drink from his glass, coughing again.

Dylan narrowed his eyes and eyed Sam suspiciously. Sam shot Dylan a dirty look, silently warning him to keep quiet.

Dean, still sorting, pulled out a folder containing an old magazine titled 'Voluptuous Asian Lovelies'. He chuckled at the picture of the Asian woman on the cover holding a paper parasol.

"Well, hello." Dean flipped through the magazine. "These Men of Letters weren't so boring after all. Konnichiwa. Hey, check this out." He walked into the control room with the magazine for Sam to see.

"Dude, what is wrong with you?" Sam grimaced.

Dylan rolled his eyes. "It's Dean. Are you really surprised?"

"What's wrong with me?" Dean asked. "You kidding me? This is a first edition, dude. You know what this would go for on eBay?"

"No," Natalia said from the table as she rifled through the box. "Why? Do you?"

Dean turned to her. "No. Maybe. Shut up. Sam; you or Dyl find anything?"

Sam and Dylan nodded and Sam said, "We did, yeah -- uh, dead bodies showing up all over the Midwest last week. Benton, Indiana; Downers Grove, Illinois; uh, Novi, Michigan; and then again last night in Lincoln Springs, Missouri."

"And how is this us?"

Dylan met his eyes. "Because each of the victims had severe burns around their eyes, hands, and feet, puncture wounds through the backs of their hands, eyes and internal organs liquefied."