Down the Rabbit Hole

Selfless, Brave and True Part 1

Lacey stood leaning against the wall of a fast food joint called Fat Mack's BBQ Rib Shack, waiting for Dean, who was inside ordering. After their visit to Storybrooke and everything that had happened there they had decided to take a slow drive back down from Maine, waiting to see if they could find a case to work on. Lacey let out a squeal of happiness as Dean came out of the restaurant, handing her a bag of food. She immediately dipped her hand into the bag and began munching on fries. Dean pulled his phone from his pocket to check but there were no new messages.
"He'll call when he's ready." Lacey told him gently.
"Yeah, I know." Dean sighed and put his phone away. "Come on, let's find a new ride." They walked down the row of parked cars until they came to a blue and grey Dodge Challenger. Dean pulled a hook from his bag and used it to unlock the car. Lacey stared disgustedly at the pile of rubbish on the passenger seat.
"Gross."
"Yeah, have some pride." Dean grimaced before collecting the rubbish and chucking it in a nearby bin. Lacey threw her duffle bag in the back and climbed into the front, still clutching the food bag while Dean hotwired the car. As the engine sparked to life Dean turned on the radio.
"Ooh that makes me hungry!" The voice of the announcer blasted through the speaker. "You're listening to the morning chaos with me, Bananas Foster!" The two of them looked disgustedly at the radio. Dean leant forward and pulled a pair of fluffy dice down that had been hanging from the rear view mirror. Lacey was about to change the station but Dean reached out a hand to stop her.
"And now for the news of the weird, two very odd murders to be exact. Mediums are dying in Lily Dale, the most psychic town in America. So if you want to know your future, stick to that 900 line, cause is it me or should those guys have seen in coming?" Dean reversed out of the space and headed onto the main road.
"Guess we're going to Lily Dale." Lacey said, getting comfy and pulling more fries out of the bag.
"Guess we are." Dean said as he headed for the highway.

The Next morning they arrived at the house where the last victim had been murdered. They flashed their badges at the police officer at the door and he ushered them inside. According to the police report the woman had been conducting a séance at the time she was murdered. They entered the room where the murder had occurred and Dean began to look around. He found a tape recorder under the table in the centre of the room and pressed the play button. Spooky noises began to play in the background as Dean played around with all the other gadgets he found.
"Oh spirits of the further, am I going to win the Powerball?" He asked, jokingly, before pressing a lever that caused a knocking noise. "I'm gonna be rich!" He grinned up at Lacey who smiled back.
"Sweetie, I'm already rich. You're basically a kept woman." Lacey joked. Dean chuckled and straightened up.
"I don't think there's much to see here, wanna grab some breakfast?"
"Sure." Lacey linked arms with him and they headed out the door. They headed down the street and found a row of shops and restaurants.
"Wanna try this place?" Dean asked, nodding in the direction of a café, the sign outside read Good Graces Café. A poster for the Annual Lily Dale Psychic Festival was strung up next to it, a photo of the woman who had just been murdered, Grandma Goldy, was displayed on it along with two others, one of which was another of the other murder victims. As they entered the café and enthusiastic waiter headed over to greet them.
"Hello! First time at Good Graces?"
"Yeah." Dean replied carefully.
"Well we're 100% locally sourced, biodynamic and you get a free affirmation with every order." He smiled back at them.
"Think I'll source a taco joint." Dean turns to leave until he hears a voice at the other side of the café.
"Just coffee, black, extra shot." Lacey turned with him and they spotted Sam sitting at a table reading a case file.
"You always wear a suit to get your palm read?" Dean asked as the approached the table. Sam looked up at Dean, his expression steely. It softened a little as he spotted Lacey who leant in to give him a hug, which he returned.
"Hi Lace." He said ignoring Dean, who pretended not to notice and carried on talking.
"Yeah, not surprised you caught this one. It's on every morning zoo in America. You mind?" Dean asked, pointing at the other seats at the table. Sam shrugged and the two of them sat down.
"So, we went to the scene. Wires, speakers, enough EMF to make your hair stand up. Don't even think about getting a reading. Oh, and if this hadn't been two psychics that bit it... I would have just chalked this up as being dumb and accidental. And I know, I know, this whole town is supposedly calling ghosts. But that takes some serious spellwork and some serious mojo. The only books this lady had were Oprah crap. When was the last time you saw a real psychic, huh? Pamela? Missouri?" Lacey looked at him blankly as he continued to ramble. "Anyway this is good. And uh, how you been?" The waiter from before approached their table.
"And what can I get for you?"
"Uh, pancakes, side of pig. Coffee, black."
"I'll have the same but with hot chocolate." Lacey smiled.
"Fantastic." The waiter turned to Dean. "You are a virile manifestation of the divine. And you are a wonder of mother nature." He told Lacey before taking his leave. Lacey tried hard not to laugh at the expression on Dean's face.
"What the hell did he say to me?" Sam scoffed and went back to reading his case file. "Oh, it's funny? No, go ahead. Laugh it up, Sam. Hilarious."
"Dean..." Sam started.
"Oh, he speaks." Dean interrupted, sarcastically.
"Look..."
"Sam, look, we're all here. All right, the chances of either one of us leaving while people are still dying out there..." Dean made a zero sign with his hand. "You might as well bite the bullet and work with us on this one."
"I don't know if I can." Sam replied, through gritted teeth.
"I'm not asking you to open up a can of worms, okay, I'm not even asking you where the hell you've been for the past week and a half."
"Good." Sam replied, obstinately.
"I'm just saying, let's try and stop the killings. That's it."
"Okay." Sam sighed.
"Okay? Good." A woman who was walking past their table stopped and stared at them.
"Can I help you?" Dean asked as he noticed her staring.
"You're the brothers from the..." She began, before Sam interrupted her.
"Oh, no, no, no. The Winchester guys on the news a couple weeks back? No, we get that a lot."
"Yeah, no those depraved killers got put down like the dogs they were. Us on the other hand, we're completely harmless." Dean added. The woman visibly relaxed and began to laugh.
"Oh, yeah! I'm sorry! Silly me. And I can see by your energies, you're completely gentle." Lacey bit her bottom lip, trying to keep a straight face. A man walked up beside her and took her arm.
"Excuse my friend, she's excitable. Sweetheart, look at them, hmm? They're FBI."
"Oh!" The woman looked back at them apologetically.
"I'm Russian. We can spot the lore. You must be here about the tragedies."
"Oh, we're just beside ourselves about what happened." The woman nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, and so close to festival season, huh?" Dean asked, pointedly.
"Yeah, no.." The woman looked back at him confused until her male counterpart interjected.
"Of course we are worried. We have no idea what's going on, huh?" He pulled a calling card out of his pocket and handed it to Sam. "Nikolai. Let me know if I can help you. I'm highly intuitive."
"Nikolai Lishkin. Spoon bender." Sam read from the card.
"World famous." Nikolai added before picking up Sam's spoon. "Come to my demonstration at the festival, hmm?" He closed his eyes, making a grunting noise as he passed his hand over the spoon and putting it back on the table. "I teach you to harness the power of your mind. Come, let's leave them be." He nodded at the three of them before leading the woman away.
"So glad we decided to vacation here, huh? Right." Dean shook his head. Sam slid the case file across the table towards them
"All right, here we go. First death...second death." He pointed at a photograph.
"What am I looking at?" Dean asked.
"Well, see this? Now, this is Imelda Graven, death number one. She was brained by her own crystal ball."
"Bummer. And ironic." Dean commented. Dean turned the page and examined the photo of the second victim. "Same necklace?" He asked, pointing out the similarity between the two photos.
"Yeah. See Imelda gave it to Goldy in her will."
"Okay, so cursed object maybe?" Dean guessed.
"Worth looking into. Goldy's next of kin lives in town, also a psychic."
"Oh good. I haven't had my fill." Dean grumbled. Sam went to put sugar in his coffee but the spoon he picked up was bent.
"He broke my spoon." Sam stared at it, half impressed and half exasperated. Lacey shook her head.
"Dude, if I had my powers I could bend all the spoons in this place like that." She snapped her fingers.
"Yeah, that's cause you're awesome." Dean said, putting his arm round her shoulders while rolling his eyes at Sam.

The three of them drove over to Goldy's next of kins house and Dean parked out front. As they made their way up the walk the front door opened and two women stepped out.
"Melanie Golden? Hi, got a minute?" Dean asked as they flashed them their badges.
"You want me to stay?" One of the women asked.
"No, that's ok." The woman who must be Melanie reassured her before giving her a hug.
"Okay."
"Thanks for stopping by hun."
"Of course." The woman patted her shoulder before turning to leave.
"A friend, she just heard about my grandmother, which I guess is why you guys are here. Come on in." She lead them into the house and invited them to sit down in the living room.
"Sorry, I just got back." She said nodding in the direction of the suitcase that was leant against the wall.
"You were out of town?" Dean asked.
"Yeah, I work the circuit, hotels. Conventions, you know."
"Oh." Dean stared at her for a second. "Wait. No offence but you don't seem all that psychic."
"Why do you say that?" She smiled at him.
"Well, I mean, just, you know... where's all the crystals and pyramids?" Dean balked.
"I'm off the clock. Also not psychic." Dean raised an eyebrow. "What? It's an honest living."
"Interesting definition of honest."
"Well, I honestly read people. It's just less whoo-whoo more body language. Like you guys, you're long term partners, but there's a lot of tension between the three of you." She turned to Sam. "You're pissed. You're stressed." She pointed at Dean. "And you're..." She paused watching Lacey for a moment. "You're afraid." Dean looked at her surprised. Lacey shrugged at him. "It's not brain surgery. It's kind of why me and my grandma didn't get along. I mean, she'd go full smoke machine, but she still actually believed in this stuff."
"You don't?" Dean asked.
"You do?"
"I've got an open mind. You'd be surprised." Dean shrugged.
"Hmmm." Melanie seemed to be re-assessing her opinion of him. Lacey tuned out at that point, she couldn't be bothered listening to Dean flirt with Melanie.
"I'm sorry to have to ask, but there's a necklace of your grandmothers." Sam interjected.
"Don't have it. Everything went straight to the emporium. She had a deal with the owner."
"The emporium?" Sam asked.

They left Melanie's house a short while later and headed into town to find the emporium. As soon as they stepped inside Lacey disappeared into the aisles of occult objects, looking fascinated. Sam and Dean headed for the counter and the guy stood behind it. He looked up as they approached, seeming to study them.
"Mmmm...mmmm... you're looking for something."
"You're good." Dean replied, sarcastically.
"You Jimmy Tomorrow?" Sam asked.
"Mmmhmm."
"We're looking for a necklace."
"Oh. Romantic." There was a loud snort from Lacey from behind one of the shelves.
"It would have come in with Grandma Goldy's effects." Sam continued. He produced the photo of Imelda and showed Jimmy the necklace.
"Oh, yes, yes. Now you do know that is the orb of Thessaly." He looked up at them expectantly.
"We did not know." Jimmy reached under the counter and produced a silver box. Lacey stepped out from behind the shelves, wanting to get a look at the necklace. He unlocked the box and opened it.
"Very powerful, very rare."
"Let me guess, very expensive." Dean grinned.
"Worth every penny." Jimmy reassured him.
"Well in that case..." The three of them produced their badges. "we'll be taking the state's evidence discount."
"What's going on?"
"A murder investigation. That we'd like to personally thank you for not obstructing." Jimmy looked ready to close the box on them but Sam pulled the necklace out before he could. Before he could move though Jimmy grabbed his wrist.
"You know, I give private energy readings."
"No, thanks."
"A loss weighs on you. You're angry. It's complicated." He proffered a card which Sam took. "Come see me, Agent."
"Thanks, Jimmy. We'll see you." Dean said as he ushered the other two towards the door.
"The bureau's gonna reimburse me for the necklace, right?" He called after them.
"Oh, we'll send you a check." Dean called back before shutting the door behind them.
"Right." Jimmy muttered, watching them go.
"Went a little Mentalist on you there, didn't he?" Dean started, but a glare from Sam stopped him. "All right. Next question. What's an orb of Thessaly?"
"I know one thing, it's made in Taiwan." Sam said as he tossed the necklace to Dean.
"Oh. A fake, around here, imagine that. Course that means whatever's killing mediums is still out there." Lacey trailed behind them. She didn't want to get involved in this fight. She had told Dean after they'd left Sam in ... that she was staying neutral on the whole subject. Dean looked back to see if she was following them.
"Wanna check into the motel, sweetheart?"
"Yeah, sure. I'm hungry too."
"Ok. Hey." Dean pulled her aside, letting Sam walk on. "What did Melanie mean? What are you afraid of?"
"Oh, that. I just.. I know my powers are coming back, but we don't know how long that's going to take. I just feel useless that's all." She shrugged and carried on walking, catching up to Sam. Dean stared after them, silently.