Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
The first location they checked was close to ten miles away in Horicon. It was what appeared to be a fairly new house in a residential area with few homes. They drove into the gated community driving Erin’s car which was a respectable Subaru Tribeca, she insisted her other ride was 1966 dark red Chevy Malibu convertible. Dean smiled at her arrogance; she was a Winchester, as if he had any doubts before. Sam had only grinned.
With the scarcity of the neighborhood, they were able to get in and out of the basement fairly quick before they went on to check out the next house, which was only three miles away. This time it was in a well-lit area with lots of neighbors. Dean sighed as they drove down the street. He could imagine everyone glancing out the window to see them as the headed to break and enter in the quiet community.
The drove around to the alley once the house was located before Erin let all of the men out. Two were going to be on watch while the other two hid in the shadows on the way to the back porch. It occurred to Dean as he used the picks on the back door that since the house was empty maybe they should have just drove up and walked in no one would have known if they had key or not.
Of course, hindsight is 20/20, Dean heard a noise behind him as Sam fell at his feet and the click of a gun sounded.
“Evening Stranger,” the police officer said, “Turn around slowly,”
Dean turned with his hands up as Sam struggled to his feet with the help of the other officer who was a saucy blonde. Dean hoped he could work his magic on her for the sake of their cause.
“Officer, we talked to the owner earlier but he forgot to give us the key. We didn’t want to bother him this late.”
Sam bit his lip as he had the feeling Dean’s charade was going to fall flat.
Mean while Alec and Ben hid in the shadows as they ran to catch up with Erin to tell her what had happened.
“Erin we have to hurry the cops were taking them to the police cruiser behind the house when we rounded the corner,” Alec said his eyes a glow with excitement.
“Okay, you two squat down in the back; let me take care of this.”
Erin reached in the back to grab her suit jacket, which looked rather nicely with her jeans, and off white snugly fit tee shirt. She put on a dab of lipstick and reached to pull out a fake ID that read Marianne Faithful, Realtor. She fluffed up her hair and clipped the police car just enough that they would stop as she drove by them.
“Oh I’m sorry,” she said as she jumped out of her vehicle to rush around to the officer’s driver side door.
“Why are you in such a hurry, Miss?” the older male officer asked Erin as he got out of the car.
Erin looked confused at him.
“Where are you taking my clients?” she asked as she looked at Sam and Dean in the back seat.
“Your clients?”
“Yes I was to meet them… right about now but was running late,” she insisted breathless.
The blonde officer looked to the Winchesters to verify the story, the brothers only nodded.
“I guess we were impatient,” Sam said as he sighed as though he had tried to explain it a hundred times.
Long moments passed as the older policeman stared at Erin as they all waited for a decision. She had her hands on her shapely hips and for all the world seem to be a frenzied Realtor watching her commission drop by the second.
“Okay take them but next time,” he said as he looked at Sam and Dean, “Wait to be let in.”
“Absolutely,” Sam said as they made a hasty retreat from the police car as soon as the cuffs were off.
Erin didn’t leave the spot until the cops where gone because she realized with no alternate vehicle which would have served as the way her clients arrived their story would lose credibility. They all decided to go back toward their home, which was in the opposite direction of where the cops drove.
Half way back Dean told Erin to stop.
“We still need to check that house.”
“Well I was thinking if anyone were there they would have heard the commotion outside,” Erin reasoned.
Sam nodded in agreement.
“I think we need to check the other two houses, we can find some scam to get inside. Let’s check the people out when we get back and see what they may need,” Sam said as he looked at his brother who suddenly seemed to have lost heart.
"Don’t", Dean said as he watched Erin watch him in the rear view mirror.
They will be fine, Sam interrupted the thought flow as he turned around to look back at Dean who had laid his head down on the seat. He was quiet, he couldn’t even think of Ari because his siblings were in his head. For a moment, he was angry for that reason alone.
Meanwhile, Ari looked around the furnished basement she could tell that it had been prepared with her in mind. There were cribs, a sofa, a television, a small refrigerator with food as well as bottled water. The planning itself made her curious as to why they went through all the trouble if they wanted to kill them. That was before she saw Milton walk in the room. He seemed distant as he gazed at the glowing light that surrounded them. All the children were sound asleep and Ari didn’t move. She wanted him to think she was calm and unmoved by the craziness they had landed in.
“Ari, I hope you are comfortable,” he said as though she was over for a tea party.
She couldn’t speak she was so angry with him, how could he allow himself to be used by the dark side, she couldn’t even think the word that came to mind. She bit her lip to keep from yelling at him. She took a deep breath as she held Braeden in her arms, he was at peace and she needed to do the same. Milton stayed only a few moment as he tried in vain to put his hand threw the light that surrounded them.
Ari prayed to God that Dean would come soon. She had no idea how one of her children could have been protecting them. Her inclination was that it was Braeden because he most often seemed at peace with his surroundings, today had been no different. On the other hand, John Michael had been less fussy since they were taken then at any other time. She looked down at Braeden to see he was watching her face in silence, he smiled as she leaned down to kiss his soft cheeks before she prepared to feed him.
Dean wanted to get out of the car to be alone with his thoughts, to be away from his siblings what he wanted was his wife. He wanted to see her face and touch her skin. He had to stop thinking, he heard himself groan aloud as Alec watched him.
“So what type of scam?” Alec asked in the silence of the car.
Sam was quiet he had forgotten that his relatives had no idea how they survived without actual money.
“Oh just um something like telemarketers do but we will go in person.”
“Like be a plumber or sell fire alarms, that type thing,” Erin added as they all looked at her including Dean.
She laughed.
“Yeah I did wonder about the Realtor’s ID,” Sam said with a grin at his sister.
“Family business,” she said with a smile.
Ben chuckled in the back, he knew a little about John’s way to avenge Mary but the details he had never required from his brother.
When they finally made it back to the house Dean closed himself off in his bedroom. He took a deep breath as he lay down on the bed he usually shared with his wife though he had to harden his heart to keep from breaking down into tears. He closed his eyes to avoid looking around the room at the two cribs that should have contained his sons. He sighed as he tried to clear his mind he had to be logical, they all had to be unemotional as far as getting the mission completed.
Erin and the rest were in the study making plans. Sam was glad she had come back because she was aware that the twins six month birthday was around the corner. She had insisted that her family was more important than her job and having her brothers in her life had been liberating. Though she was still on the payroll as a fashion editor she was on an extended leave. Her boyfriend, Anthony, was due to come visit her the following week with a surprise for Sam that Erin knew he would be eternally grateful for.
Erin smiled as she looked over at him as he sat in front of the computer. His brows were furrowed and his hands flew across the keyboard.
“Hey um Erin,” Alec said as he called her over to look at a map of the area.
Ben moved to the sofa to lie down as he allowed the younger cousins to work out the plans. Sam looked up to see the two blonde heads as the leaned down on the floor, despite all that was happening he was glad to have family with them. He sighed as he hoped that Dean would be all right. He could only imagine what was like to have someone you loved ripped from your sight it was bad enough Jessica had died in front of him he refused to let his brother go through something similar.
Dean jumped when he heard his cell phone ringing, for a second he couldn’t remember where he had last seen it. By the time he found it in his jacket pocket on the chair it had stopped ringing. He bit his lip when he saw the call had been from Cassie and hesitated to return the call after he listened to her ambiguous message. Dean call me as soon as you can, I know you must be upset. If Cassie wasn’t phoning to tell him something about Megan then they didn’t need to talk. He was not in the frame of mind to have her commiserate with him. He was the walking wounded and he was not certain how he would relate to anyone at that moment. On the other hand, it wasn’t as though he needed to be rude to the mother of his child. In the end, he decided since it was too late to talk to Megan he would wait to call when it was more appropriate.
***
Ari watched the twins and Amber sleep. She was glad they were all protected by the white light but she did not understand how or why. She had tried hard not to break down into tears, but her courage was running low and fear had begun to set into her spirit. Ari had Amber on the sofa, Braeden in her lap and John Michael in a crib beside them all. She was the only one wide awake and she did not know what to expect from the people with the black eyes that kept coming to check on her. They seemed discouraged by the white light around them but she was most afraid of Milton. He had seemed like a nice man when they met but she wondered how he could have allowed himself to be used by anyone to take her prisoner. When he came down to ask how she was doing she had been so angry she had not asked questions, now she wondered if that was a bad idea.
She took a deep breath as she heard a sound.
“It’s late maybe if they are sleeping the light will fade,” someone said as a group of three came to the door.
She could hear the key in the lock so she straightened her back and attempted to look brave.
“Oh so you are awake,” the tall man with the brown hair and glasses said to her.
“Why am I here?” she asked as he came close to the light but it did not move from around her.
“I came to make sure you were fine.”
“Answer my question,” she requested in a more controlled tone with an effort not to waken her kids.
“Well, it would be better if we could talk face to face.”
“We are face to face,” she said as she glared at the man whose eyes she suddenly saw were as black as his cohorts.
“Okay Katarina Mayfield, how did you get involved with Dean Winchester?”
“What?”
“Yeah we know who and what you are, but it does not matter to us. The Winchesters are the reason you are here.”
Ari felt sick. Who and what she was. She looked down to find Braeden had his eyes open, he was smiling at her again. He squeezed her hand before she kissed his chubby cheeks then she held him close to her chest as the man left the room. This time she did cry as she held her baby.
Mary watched from the corner of the room. She was afraid something like this would happen. The light was something she had given Braeden from the first time he became aware of her in the house. Until now he had not needed it he had been secure in his surroundings. Mary was in constant fear of being caught when she helped her family. She had almost given all her powers up when she had to save Dean but somehow they had regenerated. She hoped help would come soon for Ari and the children she hated seeing her family captive. Though Sam had felt her presence at the house she had not been able to face him, yet.
Mary heard the yellow eyed demon before she saw him he stood on the other side of the door as he spoke with Milton. She moved to stand near him in a swift movement she hit him in the side. He only glared at her because he knew she was angry.
“I haven’t hurt them,” he said.
Milton looked strangely as he did not see who the yed was speaking to.
“How dare you bring them here it’s cold and damp and they are only babies,” Mary said as she prepared to pummel him in her rage.
“Stop,” her guardian said to her.
Mary huffed.
“You shouldn’t be here, now leave and allow things to work out as they have to be worked out.”
Mary bit her lip as she faded away.
TBC