Endless Epitaph

The Players : Xander Harris
Where : Chicago, IL
When : January 28, 2009.
Rating : PG13 – R for language.

Xander walked towards the bar with his Xander thoughts running around in his head. It had been a weird few days. Meeting both Lois and Alli had been great. Dealing with Simon had not.

Seeing Lois go was kind of sad though. Sure, he just met her, but it was good working with her. If it hadn’t been for the whole Joker thing, they probably would have had a better goodbye than the awkward one they had.

Xander headed downstairs to the bar and smiled at his two co-workers. “Evening ladies. How are my gals?”

“We should be asking you the same thing…we heard what happened. Kind of surprised you’re here. What the hell happened that you were thrown on top of a car,” Mary asked.

“Yeah. Piss off a Terminator,” Wendy asked.

“It’s a long messy story. Don’t worry about it. I’m fine. Still a bit sore, but otherwise fine.”

“And that girl you left with the other night? Made in progress?”

“Yeah. Like every other woman in the world I’ve met, she left as quickly as she came into my life.”

“Oh?”

“Went back to Metropolis…you know where she lives. I’m sure our paths will cross at some point again.”

“Right,” Wendy said placing a newspaper on the bar. “And Xand, we’re gonna need you in the back in a little bit to bring in the beer mugs.”

Xander took the paper and nodded as he started going through it. When a few articles caught his eye. The front page was all about the Joker robbery. It still made his blood run cold when he saw the Joker with that gun. Also made him nervous. Wondering if the Joker was still around and if he bumped into him, would he try to finish the job.

Xander turned to the back and saw an article about another death…a young woman. The same woman Simon was talking to the other night. Died of a suicide the article said. But something inside Xander was telling him otherwise.

“Looks like he made his third wish,” Xander thought aloud.

Crap. Now he can kill anyone now to get that card to give him strength. No more wishing required. Things just got a lot harder for him.

Why the hell was he even doing this? He’s not the superhero. He had no powers or anything that made him remotely special.

But he knew the answer. It was her.

She changed his life for the better…despite the hell he had both been through and fought. She gave him a purpose. Something to fight for. A purpose without ever having a purpose.

In the end, he did it because it was right. Because now with her being God knows where, he was alone in this city. He saw the things that lurked in the darkness.

He did it because no one else would.

He did it because the only thing that kept him from going crazy with being alone is saving lives, helping people. Ironically, he was still very much alone. Even with his new “sidekick”. That’d even be short lived cause it was how things were in Xander’s life.

“Xander,” Wendy said coming to the back. “Someone out front is looking for you.”

“Is it a pretty blue haired girl,” he asked standing up.

“No, its that guy you helped out a few nights ago. The guy that almost got beat up.”

( Oh FUDGE! )

The Players : Chloe; somewhat opened to other SV characters and stuff. See note below.
Where : Chloe's apartment above the Talon
When : Um... In the middle of the day? Nothing specific here.
Rating : PG-13, at most.
Notes : I guess this is really meant to be a narrative, but I thought it might be kind of neat if she checked her answering machine and has messages from her friends or something, wondering if her and Jimmy are okay. So... feel free to comment to this post with a message from your kid to Chloe. :)


( After at least a few weeks, Chloe Sullivan-Olsen was finally home. )

Who: Ryan Dallion or Ryan the Lion
Where: Curious Goods; Chicago, IL
When: January 27th 2009
What: Ryan reflects on the incident the day before…and finds a new mystery to solve.
Rating: PG-13 for now. Could go to R
Notes: Ryan’s card is uh…oh, The Tower. Fires springing up will be linked to the card. Only he doesn’t know it yet.

It was a typical Tuesday in the Curious Goods shop.

Miki was in the vault trying to make some more room for another returned object. If they didn’t find some extra space soon, they were going to need a bigger boat.

Ryan was doing some cleaning of his own. They had accumulated a large amount of newspapers over the last couple months and he was trying to organize them.

He had a long talk with Miki about what had happened the day before. Alli had stopped by with some guy. He seemed to know about the paranormal. Ryan had to tell the man a little bit about what he did, because it seemed he knew about a cursed object that was out there.

Ryan explained to Miki that the guy mentioned a tarot card and there was a tarot card deck out there somewhere. It seemed that many of their problems may have gotten more complicated with this fact that the cards are split up. Each card could carry one of a thousand curses and that makes tracking them down that much harder.

But they were going to try and do it.

After making a couple piles, Ryan found himself looking back at past articles. Having one last look before sending the papers to the recycling center. It wasn’t until later when he noticed something.

“Huh…lot of fires in the last few months.”

Ryan went through every single article that mentioned a fire. That netted a large amount of articles, but three of them really caught his eye.

Every single one, the fire inspector said the same thing. That the fire started from mysterious circumstances…that it seemed to have no official point of origin. One even seemingly had lightning strike the side of the building.

“Miki…I think I found something…,” he said as he headed to the basement.

Across town…

A man sits in his office chair looking out at the city. He puffs a cigar as he talks to another man.
“They’re not willing to sell Jameson. I know you have your eye on the property. But you’d still have to have that church to leave along with the other three properties to be able to get that neighbor hood.”

He turns around in his chair slowly.

“I’ve already made deals. I plan to own that neighborhood before March. A few buildings not wanting to clear out won’t stop me,” Jameson said.

“Jameson, our bank is fully happy to back you up in this endeavour, but its going to cost you a lot more than you seem to think. Yes, there have been some fires in the area, but that hasn’t devalued the land all that much.”

He reached into his desk and pulled out a tarot card.

A tower has just been hit by lightning and is aflame. The top of the tower is crumbling and falling to the ground beneath. Two figures are falling from the top of the tower.

“Oh, I’m well aware,” he replied spinning the card around with his fingers. “And I will get everything I want for the cost I want it. Believe that. Now, if you’ll excuse me. I have another meeting to get to. Tell your boss the next time he wants to pussyfoot around money issues, come to me himself.”

Jameson left the lackey in his office and headed out, with his card in hand. Outside the alley near his office a homeless man held out his cup.

“You got change,” He asked.

Jameson smiled and put his arm around the homeless man and led him back into the alley.

“So, you’ll give me 200 dollars and all I have to do is one favor for you,” he asked.

“Small price to pay wouldn’t you say?”

“What do I have to do?”

Jameson pulled out his knife and stabbed the guy in the heart. He fell to the ground blood starting to slowly ooze out. Jameson used the blood on his knife and put it on the card. The card absorbed the blood and glowed a faint red. Putting the card back into his jacket, he took the homeless man and threw him in the nearby dumpster, covering it up so no one would see it.

Who: Clark Kent
Where: Metropolis, Kansas
When: January 27th 2009
What: Clark is investigating something for Lois.
Rating: Dude, its Clark…PG at worst
Notes: Takes place seconds after his conversation with Harley.


Clark rubbed the bridge of his nose. If it were possible, he’d have a huge headache right now.

“Damnit Lois, what have you gotten yourself into,” he asked himself aloud.

Clark read the article; she had met The Joker and somehow lived to tell the tale. They got wind of some of the stories from Gotham City. The Joker was a dangerous homicidal maniac with a love for the theatrics.

And now, he had his sights set on Lois. And Clark couldn’t be there to protect her. Lois knew that he was here in Metropolis. If he showed up all of a sudden she’d get suspicious.

Sometimes he really wished he could tell her his secret. It would be easier. But he couldn’t. He didn’t want to put her in more danger than she already managed to get herself in.

He’d have to worry about that later. Right now, he had a promise to keep. He told Lois he’d check out that old murder scene. He picked up the piece of paper he wrote the address on and headed for the elevator while making a phone call.

“Detective John Jones.”

“John. It’s Clark.”

“Mr. Kent,” he replied. “Good to hear from you. Been a while.”

“Yeah, been kind of busy.”

“So I’ve been reading. I will say this, you have gotten more careful with your rescues.”

“Just taking some advice from a friend…look the reason I’m calling…I need a favor.”

“And this favor…”

“I need some police records of a murder a couple of months ago. I’m working on something for a friend. Could use some inside information to help with the story.”

“Two month old murders aren’t exactly what make The Daily Planet sell Mr. Kent…but I think I can make some calls and get that information to you.”

“Thanks,” Clark replied.

“I’ll have it ready for you tonight. Roof of the Daily Planet.”

Clark hung up and went to the address. It had been a couple of months so the police tape was down. But was still officially a crime scene.

He checked the door and it was locked. He glanced around to make sure he was in the clear and he gave it a small nudge popping the door open.

He’d have to wait for the file from John to get the view of the original scene. But Clark could see things that they probably missed.

“Okay, I’m not exactly sure what she expects me to find,” he said looking around.

The faded outlines of where the bodies were could still be seen, in a small flash he could almost see what happened.

“Guy came in from here,” he said pointing to the front of the room. “They were there.”

He didn’t see any bullet holes. He x-rayed the floors and didn’t find anything. Then out of the corner of his eye he saw something. He had to look twice to make sure he saw what he saw.

Clark moved towards the wall and felt it. There was a tiny, paper thin cut inside the wall. He stepped back and x-rayed the wall. When he did he saw exactly what he needed. Clark punched through the wall and grabbed the object that was embedded inside.

He carefully pulled it out. It looked like a card, but it was tougher than paper. It was almost metallic.

“Joker card. This was what he used to kill this family.”

Lois was not going to be happy when she heard this. Though whatever keeps them from having to talk about what happened or what almost didn’t happen…the better. It was one conversation he wasn’t looking forward to because he still didn’t know what to say to her.

That night Clark waited for John Jones on the roof of the Planet.

“I hope you know the trouble I went through to get this for you,” He said as he opened the door and walked towards him. “Tell Miss Lane…to be very careful. She’s dealing with an unstable character. The more she pokes, the angrier he’ll get. It’s bad enough that her recent article most likely put her in his crosshairs.”

“She’ll be back soon. Then I can keep a closer eye on her.”

“Right,” John said with a small smile. “Just be cautious in the days ahead Clark.”

He nodded as John handed him the file.

“Everything you need to know about that night is in that file. Everything except the murder weapon. Officers on scene think it was a blade of some sort.”

“It was,” Clark said as reached into his pocket. “I found this in the wall. It’s a Joker Card. Only its hard…like a sharp blade.”

“Removing evidence from a crime scene now are we?”

“Cops can’t know about this. Not yet. If word gets out the Joker killed this family, it won’t be good for anyone. Lois or the person she’s trying to protect. Promise me, we’ll keep this quiet.”

“Understood Mr. Kent. Same with this file. Because if anyone found out you were withholding evidence and I was giving inside information to a reporter of the Daily Planet…well lets just say you’d have to move to your fortress to stay out of the tornado that would come our way.”

“Understood.”

John left him alone on the rooftop. Clark turned out towards the city hearing sirens in the distance.

“We have a robbery in progress, subjects are on the move.”

In a blur, Clark put his file in his drawer and went out to help the city once again as the red-blue blur.

Who: Clark Kent (open to any in Metropolis)
When: January 26th, mid-afternoon
Where: Daily Planet; Metropolis, Kansas.
Rating: Its Clark. Totally PG
Notes: Clark's working at the Planet, thinking about stuff, doing stuff.


Clark was typing up a story on a town council meeting as he was listening to the police scanner. He glanced down at his bag that held his regular clothes, blue shirt and red jacket.

After saving Chloe and meeting the Legion, he had worked harder as the red-blue blur. Making more saves and stopping robberies. It was a good feeling.

All of which was a major distraction from thinking about his almost kiss with Lois. He still didn't know what to make of that. Since he had started working across from Lois at the Planet, they had gotten a lot closer. He was slowly getting over Lana, becoming the hero his birth father wanted him to. But he STILL had conflicting feelings for Lois. They had been friends ever since they met when Chloe 'died' and they were investigating the death. Their relationship had been anything but simple.

Clark had to be honest with himself, he was feeling something for her. But after seeing Lana again. It was like the feelings he had for her resurfaced. It was an issue he was going to have to deal with before she left town again.

*pzzt* "Attention all emergency units. Be advised. We have a 10-25 in progress on Ferret and Amsterdam. That's a 10-25. One man is still trapped."

Clark saved his work and grabbed his bag. Walking into the phone booth he swirled around and changed into his red jacket and blue shirt and jeans. He quickly made his way out of the basement and disappeared in a blur.

10-25 was a manhole fire. He arrived to see a large crowd gathered around. Rescue workers were trying to work but were having problems.

Clark saw a nearby grate and popped it open and jumped down.

"There's too much fire and smoke we cant see the worker," one of the rescue worker said to his commander.

No sooner had he said that, the worker was lifted up through the manhole. The other workers grabbed their friend and pulled him out. What they didn't see was it was Clark who had found him and helped him out. As he ran back around he used his super breath to blow out the fire.

He joined the crowd as they watched paramedics put an oxygen mask on his face to help him breathe after his smoke inhalation. He coughed and pointed in Clark's direction. "That man...he saved me. That man."

Everyone turned toward where he was pointing, but no one was there.

Clark had once again pulled a disappearing act.

As he returned to his seat at the Planet, everyone was buzzing about the recent save. The Red-Blue blur had saved the day again. Clark smiled to himself as he continued working on his story. After finishing he checked his phone and realized Lois had left him a voice mail message. He listened, about half way through Clark was fairly certain she was drunk when she made this call. He heard something about a guy and vampires.

Yeah...vampires were real. Just like the Easter Bunny.

Clark wanted to call her. He had only called her once since she left to be with Jimmy. He didn't know what to say to her just yet. So he was brief with his conversation. He would talk to her...once he figured out what he was going to say.

Who: Dean and Sam Winchester
When: January 25th
Where: Lincoln, Nebraska
Rating: PG 13
Notes: Sam and Dean are on a road trip. Trying to stop the seals from being opened and the Devil himself from being released. Brothers are investigating mysterious deaths.

Sam and Dean sit across from each other at a diner, Dean is eating a large hamburger while Sam is working on a lean salad.

“Sammy, you need to learn how to eat man food,” Dean said with his mouth full.

“I eat man food. I just don’t want a heart attack before I’m 30,” Sam said while he was doing some internet research as he ate. “So I did some more research on our mistress and Megan. Both of them dated the same kinds of guys. Older men, some married. Rich. All left them high and dry. Some of the women even tried therapy. I checked into mysterious deaths and the ones close to what we’re looking for started a few months ago. A total of 6 men before we got the bassinet guy.”

“That’s nine guys. So, we have any kind of connection?”

“Make that ten.”

“What are you looking at now?”

“Local police report. Seems late last night a guy was killed in his car,” Sam paused. “By lightning.”

“Merciful Zeus,” Dean replied.

“Exactly. Another strange death attributed to the mysterious Justice killer,” Sam said.

“So, who was the Don Juan this time around?”

“He wasn’t. Did a search on the guy, and he was a model citizen. Eric Winters, happily married, worked at a clinic here in town as a therapist. Helped a lot of people and couples, won a lot of awards.”

“Then why would this person go after him? He didn’t seem to fit the bill for needing Justice.”

“No clue. I suggest we go and investigate his practice and interview his wife. Find out for sure if he was the model husband and employee,” Sam said sipping his drink.

“Okay, I’ll check the practice, you meet up with the good doctor’s wife,” Dean said finishing his drink. “See if he was as good as he seemed.”

“Just be careful Dean. We don’t know who’s behind this yet and the last thing we need is to get killed by the wrath of Athena.”

“You too Sammy. And no using your Sith powers either.”

“Dean…”

“I’m serious Sam. I don’t want Castiel and his buddies killing you cause you can’t control yourself. I went to Hell to keep you alive, and I’m not going to let you make the sacrifice I made for nothing. Understand?”

Sam nodded.

“Now, first person to find something calls the other. Agreed,” Dean asked.

“Agreed.”

( Mystery Revealed )

Who: Xander
Where: Chicago, IL
When: January 26th (Starts moments after Lois/Xander RP)
Notes: More explanations on what’s going on

Xander was tired and frustrated after a very long night with Lois. Their investigation was the easy part. Explaining about monsters and demons and having to prove it with a visit to a small vampire nest, was the hard part.

He understood her aggravation though. It was a lot to take in. He was sure she’d feel better in the morning after she had some time to let it soak in. Or in a day or so. Cause it was very difficult thing to believe in, even if you see it in front of your face.

Xander headed downstairs to the bar and saw Mary and Wendy cleaning up. It was very late in the evening and it was closing time. The final patrons few patrons finished their drinks and headed out. The two of them were obviously drunk frat guys.

“Dude, we should totally buy a bar,” one said as they passed him to the door.

“Yeah! Totally, with no last call. Bar doesn’t close until the last person is finished.”

If he had a nickel every time he heard that.

“There’s the stud,” Wendy said clearing off a table. “So…details.”

“What details,” Xander said as he helped clean the tables. He was off the clock, but he still didn’t mind helping.

“We saw you talking to that girl,” Mary said. “Then you ran off with her. So, spill. Did you two…you know?”

“What? No. It wasn’t like that. It’s…it’s complicated. But nothing happened. And nothing will happen. She’s just a friend.”

Mary turned to Wendy. “Me thinks he protest too much.”

“You haven’t been on a date since we’ve known you,” Wendy said. “It’s okay if you did. We won’t be jealous.”

She winked at him.

“I’m not looking to date anyone right now anyway. She’s a reporter for The Daily Planet. I offered to help show her around the city and find a lead on a story she’s working on. That’s all.”

And of course took her to a vampire lair and staked a few vampires, but other than that…
The two women nodded.

“Good. Now that I see you ladies are doing fine without me. I’m gonna head home. I’ll see you ladies Tuesday.”

Xander went home and made an international call to the new Watchers Council. If something weird was going on, Giles would know and what he could do to figure it out.

“Rupert Giles.”

“Giles, its Xander.”

“Xander, so good to hear from you. Been a few months since I’ve heard from you. How are things? You’re in Chicago right?”

“Yeah. Los Angeles wasn’t for me. New York seemed a bit too big for me. So found the middle area. It’s not that bad. Save for the usual vampire population, its fairly quiet,” he said stressing fairly.

“Notice you said fairly there…what’s going on,” Giles asked.

“Well, it’s probably nothing. Just me grasping at windmills or whatever…”

“Yes…”

“There was a guy who got killed here a couple nights ago. Ran over by a bus. And in a long complicated story short, I think something supernatural is behind it. It literally came out of nowhere. And all the witnesses say the same thing.”

“Xander, much as I’d like to think there’s something behind it, it just sounds coincidental. If you had more to go on…”

“I checked out the guy I think might have known something. He had a tarot card,” Xander said. What was it Lois said it was…”Strength Card I think. And I noticed his fridge was moved back. I know its small, but…”

“You believe that the two are connected?”

“In theory. Have any knowledge on this kind of thing Giles?”

“Sorry Xander. I think you’re seriously reaching on this one. However, the old council, before it was destroyed, dealt with certain antiques of an occult nature. There’s a shop called Curious Goods in your area. I’ve never dealt with them personally, but if you find some more evidence, go there. They might be able to help you.”

Oh, look. Xander just smacked into a brick wall.

“Okay Giles. Thanks anyway.”

“You’re welcome. But do keep me in on your progress on this. I might be able to help once we have more information.”

Xander sighed and nodded. Giles was right. He didn’t have much to go on save for a gut feeling. He was grasping and straws on this one.

“Alright. I’ll do that. Talk to you soon Giles. Bye.”

Xander hung up and plopped on the couch, letting the day wash away as he succumbed to sleep. One day, he might actually sleep in his bed.

( The Next Day... )

The Players : Lois Lane, Xander Harris. (Closed)
Where : Chicago, Illinois.
When : January 25, 2009.
Rating : PG13 – R for language.
Notes : So, yeah, Lois Lane is in Chicago. Go, Lois! Or something to that effect.

“Chloe…” Lois Lane sighed as she listened to her cousin complain about one of the nurses that was watching over her new husband. “I know she’s a bit nuts, but she means well. Remember, I put up with her while you were,” Lois hesitated, unsure how discuss Chloe’s kidnapping from some kind of beast at her own wedding, “away. But she’s not that bad. Really. I’m sure you and Jimmy can survive Nurse Netty Nightmare.” She paused and heard Chloe’s sigh in resignation. Finally. Lois was pretty sure Chloe just wanted to vent in general and the nurse was a good target. Lois was thanking god Chloe was in Star City with her new husband and she wasn’t. She hadn’t minded being there for her new cousin-in-law, but she knew it was Chloe that needed to be there, not her.

A few minutes later and Lois was finally allowed to end the conversation and was left alone in her hotel room and staring at her cell phone that now sat on the nightstand. After everything that had happened, and didn’t happen, at Chloe’s wedding to Jimmy Olsen, Lois was a bit relieved to have been given the chance to go to Chicago on assignment. Jimmy had nearly died but the doctors in Star City had saved the newlywed so he’d at least been alive when Chloe had escaped from the clutches of her mysterious and monstrous kidnapper. To think, that was just the most important part of the night besides the wedding itself.

Lois shook her head with a scowl. “Snap out of it, Lane. He’s not going to call.” Of course not, why would he? There wasn’t any point. It was just a fluke. After all, it wasn’t as if she and Clark had actually kissed. Sure, there had been a moment where she thought- She’d been so sure… And then the moment was shattered. But even then she’d allowed Oliver to get her hopes up. But then more disaster struck and after she’d left from Jimmy she hadn’t heard from Clark Kent since. Not call, no messages, not a text. Figured. “Hot fudge and halibut.” She muttered. It could never work anyway. She’d just be a placeholder or second place and Lois Lane was no one’s second choice. When she got back to the Daily Planet she’d just be sure to make it clear. They were just friends and coworkers. That was it.

Thinking of work, Lois realized she had to finish her article if she ever intended to do anything fun later. She was in Chicago doing a fluff piece on some archeology discovery that had made it’s début in the states in the Windy City. It wasn’t all that interesting to her, but it kept her from going back to Metropolis and at the moment that was fine in her book. She gave her phone one last wistful look before getting to work. After this she was so heading out as Lois was pretty sure she deserved a drink for her troubles.

**************

It hadn’t taken long for Lois to decide where to go that night. There was a bar not far from where she was staying and it had looked decent enough, and as long as they served something decent, Lois would be fine.

She walked into the bar and after a subtle look around the room she headed for the bar and took a seat. She was dressed casually, hoping that no one decided that she would be their choice for a quick pick up. Lois just wasn’t in the mood for it. She wasn’t wallowing in self pity; she just didn’t want to deal with the hassle of shooting some drunk down.

“I can’t believe the bus just hit him like that!”

The reporter’s attention was caught for a moment as a couple of people were talking nearby. Lois attempted to look nonchalant as she eavesdropped on their conversation.

“I know, I swear the bus practically came out of nowhere. The guy was a dick though. He kind of deserved it.”

“Still, it was pretty gross. I hear they’re still scraping him off the pavement. You think that chick he was with needs a shoulder to cry on?”

Well, that was disgusting, Lois thought. Even at her worst she was pretty sure she wasn’t that tactless. Not while sober anyway. Speaking of which, she lifted her hand to get the bartender’s attention. “Hey, can I get some service here?”

Who: Dean and Sam Winchester
When: January 23rd
Where: Lincoln, Nebraska
Rating: PG 13
Notes: Sam and Dean are on a road trip. Trying to stop the seals from being opened and the Devil himself from being released. Brothers are investigating mysterious deaths.

Dean looked over his little brothers shoulder as a website slowly opened.

“Come on, can’t this thing go any faster,” Dean asked.

“Well, the hotel service is a little slow. Plus, all those Asian porn websites you’ve been going to aren’t helping the speed any,” Sam retorted.

“It’s research.”

“Yeah…call it whatever you want, just make sure you wash your hands before touching my keyboard again okay?”

Dean smacked Sam upside the head. “Shut up…now are you going to keep me in suspense or are you going to tell me your theory.”

“Athena.”

“Athena…as in the Greek Goddess Athena? That would be new. We’ve faced everything else, why not a Greek goddess. That’s insane Sam.”

The site finally opened and Sam clicked on a story.

“Tell me if this doesn’t sound familiar. It’s the story of Cecrops of Athens… Athena gave his three daughters a box and they were told never to open it, inside was a future king, but when they opened it, the baby had a snake coiled around its body. It’s said that the two sisters that opened it went insane or were killed by the snake.”

“Okay…What else you got? The spider bite thing…how is that connected to Athena.”

“A weaver named Archane said she was better than Athena. And being a god she was prone to being arrogant. They had a contest. Archane depicted pictures of the not so great moments of the deities. She got cranky again and turned her into a spider.”

“So,” Dean said pacing the room. “Whatever is causing these deaths is related to Athena?”

“She was more than a just a goddess, she was the goddess of strategic warfare, wisdom, and heroic endeavor. They built statues to her just because she remained a virgin.”

“What if, whoever or whatever is behind this, is using Athena stories to get back at men. Say an ex-girlfriend who went a little homicidal maybe?”

“Michael’s mistress.”

“Would be a good start. Unfortunately, his wife may not know who her husband slept with or how many affairs. There could be a lot of women out there with a grudge against him. Maybe he promised to leave his wife and never did.”

“You’re right Sammy. That’s why we’re gonna go talk to some of Mikey’s buddies. Maybe some of them know who which girlfriend went Glenn Close on the husband and…”

“And if we find out who the other guy who died was dating…”

“We find a match. We have our girl,” Dean said with a smirk. “Dude, we should totally have been detectives. But not the lame kind.”

“What? Like Dick Tracy?”

“Madonna was hot in that wasn’t she?”

“Dean…go get us some food. I’m going to see if I cant find out some information on our spider guy.”

Tech Town…

Sam and Dean, dressed in suits, went inside Tech Town, the town’s electronics store. The guy who was bit by the spiders, Samuel Spade, worked here. So the duo went in as detectives to talk to some of the other employees.

“Hello, Welcome to Tech Town. Can I show you some of our plasma screens,” a salesman asked.

Dean pulled out his fake ID and badge.

“I’m Detective Chris Bale. This is my partner Mike Cain. We’d like to ask you a few questions about Samuel Spade. Guy who use to work here?”

“I thought they ruled his death accidental. Spider bites. Why’d the send cops?”

“We’re just looking at it from a different angle,” Sam said. “Now, was Mr. Spade dating anyone or recently break up with someone?”

“You’re joking right?”

Dean looked at the man with a straight face. “Sir, we don’t joke around in our precinct. People end up dead. Now answer my partner’s question.”

“Spade was a hound. He had his share of conquests. Was a real love them and leave them.”

“Any particular woman you can think of got maybe a little too obsessive with him? Thought there was more going on than there actually was,” Dean asked.

“There was one a couple months ago. Megan…something. I can’t remember her last name. Went out with Spade for a couple weeks. They were pretty hot and heavy, until he got tired of her. She didn’t take it very well. She came here a few times causing a scene. He even had to get a restraining order on her.”

“Do you know where she lives,” Sam asked.

He only knew the neighborhood. So the brothers headed out in that direction.

“Okay Sammy. Any of the addresses in that book match a Megan in this direction?”

“A Megan Weston. Lives a few blocks from here.”

“So, we both on the same page. Thinking she’s our girl?”

“It’s pretty likely. I mean same neighborhood and first name. She’s probably the one.”

Dean looked uncomfortable. “How do we handle this? I mean, its not often our bad guy is human. She’s just a little obsessed with greek mythology. What if she gets mad at us and chains us to a boulder and has buzzards peck out our livers?”

“We probably shouldn’t do anything just yet. We have to be absolutely certain it’s her. And if it is her, we have to figure out how she did it.”

“If it is her…she has to be working some kind of mojo. These two deaths were way to weird to be done by some kind of psycho-bitch.”

After a short drive they arrived at Megan’s house. Dean knocked on the door, a young woman opened the door. She was a little over five feet, long brown hair and piercing blue eyes.

“Can I help you,” she asked Dean who was staring at her.

Dean couldn’t help but stare. He knew that it was possible she was evil, but she was a smoking hottie. She had a Megan Fox look going for her.

“Uh…yes,” he held out his ID badge. “Chris Bale. My partner, Mike Cain. We’re here to talk about Samuel Spade. Can we come in?”

“You don’t think I killed him do you? I haven’t seen him or even thought about him in weeks.”

“We’re just covering all our areas,” Sam said politely.

She let them in and she discussed their relationship as Dean walked around the room, looking for any kind of evidence the woman was working a magic spell or something.

“I’ll admit I didn’t handle the break up well. I loved him. I gave him my heart and soul and he threw me out like yesterday’s trash. I hate guys like that. They think they’re God’s gift to women.”

Sam glanced towards Dean. “Yeah, I know the type.”

Dean turned to his brother and glared at him.

“Guys like that just need to be dealt with.”

“Like Samuel.”

“No, they don’t deserve to die…you’re twisting my words. They just need to learn how to treat women better. After things with Sam ended, I went to therapy. She’s really helped me a lot with my issues. I’m not like that anymore.”

After about five more minutes of fruitless conversation, the brothers left.

“So, what do you think,” Sam said as they headed to the car.

“Girl has her issues. But I couldn’t find anything in that house that would lead me to thinking she’s packing some kind of wiccy powers or calling on some Greek goddess to do her bidding. Never say this Sammy…but this one really has me stumped. We need to go back to research mode. Find another link.”

“I’ll call Bobby. See if he has any ideas.”

A few hours later…

“Thanks Bobby,” Sam said into his phone. He closed it and sat on the bed. Dean looked up from the computer.

“Well, Bobby have anything.”

“He pretty much came to the same conclusion as me. Athena. However, he does have an alternative theory.”

“Shoot.”

“Bobby said he heard about this shop in Chicago that deals with antique items that, get this, are cursed by the devil.”

“That’s new. So, one of the women in this tangled web is using a cursed object?”

“He made some calls and it seems there was a pack of tarot cards at that store, but somehow all the cards were distributed to different people. Bobby thinks that someone might have a tarot card called The Justice Card.”

“Would make sense,” Dean said typing the card into Google. “Woman scorned out for some Justice. Men die in the way characters who crossed Athena did. But on the other hand, we still only have two deaths. Two points make a line. Not a connection.”

“Well, we can look into records to see if anyone else has died in a greek tragedy in this town…or others.”

Dean snapped and pointed to his brother. “Bingo. Now we’re cooking.”

Across town…

A man runs out of his office, quickly locking the door behind him. Its pouring rain at the moment and he forgot his umbrella in his car. He runs to his car so he doesn’t get too soaked, but he stops in his tracks.

“What are you doing here?”

“We need to talk,” she said.

“I told you, we have nothing more to discuss.”

She gets close to him and slips a card into his jacket. “I think we’re just getting warmed up.”

“We’re finished. Just get over it.”

“Fine…have it your way,” she said as she stormed off.

Lightning streaked across the sky. The man quickly gets into his car and tries to start it, but the engine won’t rev up.”

“Come on!”

He tries again. He shoves his foot on the gas, just as a lightning bolt streaks through his car window, killing the man instantly, but sadly it didn’t end there. The car explodes in a blazing inferno.

In the shadows, the woman watches a smile creeping on her face. She holds out her hand as the card mysteriously re-appears in her hand.

It’s The Justice card in a tarot deck.

She turns and walks the opposite direction laughing to herself as sirens sound behind her.

The Players: Xander Harris
Where: Chicago
When: January 24, 2009
Rating: PG-13
Notes: Weirdness begins, and mystery people are seen.

Xander raced down the street. His bike had totally died on him that morning and he was in a major rush. He had to get there on time.

He raced down the stairs and entered the building.

“Xander…you’re late. Again.”

“Sorry Mr. McClaren. My bike died on me this morning and I couldn’t get a taxi. Had to run all the way here.”

The owner and bartender of the small bar nodded and smiled. “Clock in, I’ll let it slide this time. But only because the women around here like you.”

“It’s the eye patch,” Xander said taking off his jacket. “We use it to scare the customers that hit on them into behaving.”

He went to the back and put his stuff in his locker, his co-worker Mary is on a bench tying her shoes.

“What up Sergant Fury,” she looks up at the clock. “You’re late again.”

“Bike died again.”

“Need to invest in a car there Xand,” she said standing up and grabbing her apron.

“On a bartender’s salary? Don’t make much on tips despite my friendly face and rocking body.”

Later that night…

The best thing about working at this bar was that despite it being a bar, it reminded Xander of the bar from Cheers. Friendly neighborhood bar. A lot of regulars. And with it being across the street from a health club, they got a lot of people who just worked off some pounds looking to throw back a few.

Xander people watched as he tended the bar. Mostly guys in their late 20s hitting on young women. Some had grace and style when they were flirting. Others, mostly the muscle bound monkey’s from the health club, were obnoxious jerks. Yet, they still got dates and numbers from them.

This frightened and worried Xander about the sanity of the women around here to fall for it. Because they were complete tools.

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