𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐄𝐆𝐈𝐍𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆

『4.1』

      Riley hums quietly as she doodles in her sketchbook. It's been about a week since Manitoc and the answers about her 'prone-ness' to the supernatural remains a mystery. She is fine with that so long as it doesn't cause any issues. She did try to text John though. He didn't respond and that worried her.

      Sam enters the hotel room and Dean opens his eyes. Riley sees him reach under his pillow out of the corner of her eye and smirks as she draws. "Morning sunshine." Sam greets. Dean jerks awake. "What time is it?" Riley checks her watch. "About 5:35." Dean raises an eyebrow. "In the morning?" Sam nods and Dean looks at Riley.

      "What are you doing up then?" Riley shrugs. She woke up when Sam left and could go back to sleep. "Where does the day go?" Dean turns over to look at Sam. "Did you get any sleep last night?" Sam nods. "Yeah, I grabbed a couple hours." Riley snorts.

      "Liar." Both she and Dean say at the same time. "I was up at 3:00, and you were watching a George Foreman infomercial." Dean sits up. "Hey, what can I say? It's riveting TV." Sam holds up a box of donuts and two coffees. Riley spots the gatorade in his pocket. "When was the last time you got a good night's sleep?" Dean asks.

      "A little while I guess, it's not a big deal." Dean scoffs. "Yeah, it is." Sam shakes his head. "I appreciate your concern-" Dean cuts him off. "I'm not concerned. It's my job to keep Riley's ass alive and it's your job for mine, so I need you sharp." Sam nods and Riley returns to her drawing. She's drawing a dog as a hotdog. Very exciting.

      "Seriously, are you still having nightmares about Jess?" Sam walks over to his bed and sits down next to Riley. He sees her hotdog-dog and chuckles a bit. "Yeah. But it's not just her. It's everything. I just forgot, you know? This job- Man, it gets to you." Sam hands Dean his coffee and Riley her gatorade. She frowns at it. He got her grape.

      "You can't let it. You can't bring it home like that." Riley can't help but let it get to her. She's only 14 and things are scary. Like drowning. Or being eaten alive. "So, what? All this- It never keeps you up at night?" Dean shakes his head. "Never? You're never afraid?"

      "No, not really." Riley snorts. "Liar." Sam reaches under Dean's pillow and pulls out a massive knife and Riley's gun. They share a bed after all. Only one pillow to hide the weapons. Dean takes his knife and Riley takes her gun, setting it next to her. "That's not fear."

      Riley scoffs. "I beg to differ,"

      "That's precaution." Sam nods. "All right, whatever. I'm too tired to argue." Dean's phone starts ringing and Riley glances at it. She finishes her drawing and closes her sketchbook. "Hello?" Dean says as he answers the unfamiliar number. "Dean, It's Jerry Panowski. You, Riley and your dad helped me a couple years back." Riley sits on the edge of the bed as she listens.

      She remembers Jerry. He had one hell of a poltergeist. "Oh, right, yeah, up in Kittanning, Pennsylvania, the poltergeist thing." Sam tilts his head in confusion. Dean frowns. "It's not back, is it?"

      "No. No. Thank god, no. But it's something else, and well, I think it could be a lot worse." Riley frowns. "Worse than the poltergeist?" Sam looks at her and Riley nods. "It was terrible." She says nodding. "What is it?" Dean asks. "Can we talk in person?"

△

      "Thanks for making the trip so quick. I ought to be doing you guys a favor, not the other way around." Riley looks around the hargar and purses her lips. "I dunno. That donut gift card you gave us way back was pretty great." She comments. Jerry looks at Sam. "Dean, Riley and your dad really helped me out."

      Sam nods and glances at Riley and Dean. Dean reaches into Riley's pocket and pulls out a Rips sour candy. Sam chuckles a bit as Riley eats one herself. When had she gotten those?

      "Yeah, they told me. It was a poltergeist?" Riley offers Sam a candy but he declines the offer. "'Poltergeist'? I loved that movie." Jerry looks at a passing man. "Hey, nobody's talking to you. Keep walking." The guy walks past and Jerry turns back to Sam. "Damn right it was a poltergeist- Practically tore our house apart."

      Riley makes a face as she remembers that hunt. Right next to Peter Sweeney, it had to be the most malevolent spirit she's ever encountered. And of course, she got hurt on that hunt. The poltergeist hit her in the head with a candelabra (Who even owns one of those things? Jerry apparently) and Riley had a decent sized goose egg for a week. It's what got her to start wearing beanies.

      Jerry turns to Dean. "Tell you something- If it wasn't for you, Riley and your dad, I probably wouldn't be alive." Riley snorts. "Yeah, well I would have one less head injury to add to the ever growing record." Dean and Riley smirk at Sam.

      "Your dad said you were off at college. Is that right?" Sam nods. "Yeah, I was. I'm... Taking some time off." Riley looks at Sam and he gives her a nod. He's getting better. "Well, he was real proud of you. I could tell. He talked about you all the time. More than Riley." Sam glances at Riley and she looks away with a smile.

      "He did?" Jerry nods. "Yeah, you bet he did." Jerry turns to Dean. "Oh, hey, I tried to get a hold of him, but couldn't." The three Winchesters share a look. "How's he doing, anyway?" Riley looks down and holds her phone in her pocket. She'll text him after Jerry tells them what's going on. "He's, um, wrapped up in a job right now."

      "We're missing the old man, we get Sam. Even trade, huh?" Sam laughs. "No, not by a long shot." Jerry smiles and Dean takes another candy from Riley's pocket. This time he pulls out an M&M. Sam gives her a look. Where's she keeping all this? Her pockets are small.

      "I got something I want you guys to hear." Jerry says as he leads them into an office. He pulls out a CD. "Listen to this. It sounded like it was up your alley." Jerry puts the CD into a player. "Normally I wouldn't have access to this. It's the cockpit voice recorder for United Britannia Flight 2485. It was one of ours."

      The recording begins playing. The sound of the pilot and co-pilot can be heard talking, but there is loud crackling. Riley leans forward as she listens to it. Sam and Dean notice the glossy look in her eyes. The sound of the airplane descending can be heard, then a loud animalistic moaning can be heard. Sam and Dean share a look and Riley frowns at the recording. It almost sounds like a voice. A voice she hasn't heard in a very long time.

      The audio stops. "Took off from here, crashed about 200 miles south. Now they're saying mechanical failure. The cabin depressurized somehow. Nobody knows why. Over 100 people on board, only seven got out alive." Dean makes a face and glances at Riley. She's staring intently at the ground, deep in thought.

      "Pilot was one of them. His name is Chuck Lambert. He's a good friend of mine. Chuck is uh, well, he's pretty broken up about it, like it was his fault." Sam rubs his hands together. "You don't think it was?" Jerry shakes his head. "No, I don't." Sam leans forward and Dean kicks Riley, getting her attention. She looks at him and he raises an eyebrow. Sam glances at them as Riley shrugs her shoulders.

      "Jerry, we're gonna need passenger manifests, a list of survivors-" Dean nods. "Right. And any way we can take a look at the wreckage?" Jerry sucks a breath between his teeth. "The other stuff is no problem, but the wreckage- Fellas, the NTSB has it locked down in an evidence warehouse. No way I've got that kind of clearance."

      Dean nods slowly. "No problem." Riley smirks.

- author's notes -

episode four!