Endless Epitaph

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 was now tied to a chair in Dr. Garrison’s office struggling to get free.

“Why are you doing this,” he asked angrily.

“You men. You’re the cause of all of this. Michael Carmichael was a womanizer. He wasn’t going to change. I was their marriage counselor. For months he was spitting out his drivel of how much he loved her and he’d change. Cutting off ties to the women he was with. But when she wasn’t looking…the way he looked at me…he had to be stopped. When I found this card, and discovered what it could do, I knew we could have our revenge against scum like him.”

“And Spade?”

“Thought he could do what he wanted with all women. Broke their hearts not caring how much it hurt them. Something I’m sure you and your partner know all about. At your core, all you men are alike.”

“Think you’re the one who needs some therapy,” Sam said still trying to break free.

“And I think you shouldn’t push me,” she said holding out the card. “I’ve killed quite a few men with this thing. And once your partner gets here, you’re both going to die.”

Meanwhile…

Dean roared the Impala to the clinic trying to get there as fast as he could. Sam was in serious trouble.

Their code word…Thunderstruck. It was to let the other know they were being held against their will. Things weren’t making much sense until the pieces in Dean’s mind fell together.

Dr. Garrison worked with all the women who’s significant other was killed under the ‘poetic justice’ of Athena. Her partner was leaving with clients, so she had to stop him.

She was behind it all.

Dean hated this part of the job. He and Sam weren’t murderers, so they’d never take a life. Stopping demons, vampires, monsters, and evil spirits they could handle. But finding a way to stop a human without killing them was always easier said than done.

As he parked in front of the building he popped the trunk. Looking at his display of weapons he grabbed his sawed off shot gun and grabbed some rounds before heading upstairs to the good doctor’s office.

Dean scanned the area, it seemed they were all alone here.

Perfect.

Dean ran up and kicked down the doctor’s door and took aim. Sam was tied to a chair and the woman was sitting on the desk flipping the card around her fingers idly. A wicked grin appearing on her face.

“Its about time you showed up.”

Behind her the clouds quickly darkened as lightning began to form.

“Crap,” Dean muttered under his breath. He had to be very careful how he played this or the Winchester boys would be extra crispy like the last guy.

“I know what you’re thinking. And I’d advise against it.”

“Really lady? Then just what the hell am I thinking?”

“Firing that gun…Killing me…saving your partner? That about cover it? You shoot that thing, it better kill me. Cause before I die, I’ll take you and your brother out in a very special way.”

Dean stares her down. He sees the truth in what she’s saying. If he and Sam didn’t do this right, they’d all end up dead.

“Sammy, you okay?”

“Fine…”

“So, you killed those men using that thing? How’d you get it if you don’t mind me asking?”

Keep her talking, Dean thought to himself.

“Auction of some old lady’s estate. Woman probably didn’t even know what she had. Or might have considering how rich she was. Who knows these things really?”

“I get that you want to get back at people who wronged you, but seriously…murder?”

“Just the way the card works. If you ask me, murder was a going easy on them. They deserved so much worse.”

“You really are a wack job you know that?”

“I’m still standing here. And you’re not dead yet, so I’d say I’m not that crazy. But yeah, killing those guys might be crazy to you, but they won’t be hurting anyone else.”

“You get that Sam?”

“Every word,” he replied.

She turned slowly to Sam. He was no longer tied up to the chair and he was holding up his cellphone. He had caught every word of her confession.

Fire raced through her eyes. She was not happy.

“Regular Houdini aren’t you? Lets see if you can get out of this one…”

She squeezed the card and it glowed blood red.

“I don’t think so,” Dean said. He shot her just as a bolt of lightning streaked across the sky bursting through the window.

All three hit the ground.

“Sam you okay?”

Sam picked himself up off the ground. “Fine. You?”

“Been better,” Dean said getting up.

“You shot her?”

They both heard a curse.

“Used rock salt rounds. You know we don’t kill people.”

“Big mistake,” Dr. Garrison said standing up.

Her card was in her hand, once again glowing. She tilts her head back and when she brings it back up her hair had snakes on it.

“Well that’s not good,” Dean said getting a little worried.

Her eyes glowed white, Dean and Sam ran and dove over the couch for cover as she shot beams of light from her eyes. The beam misses the brothers but hits the couch…turning it to stone.

“Oh that is REALLY not good,” Dean said. “So, Brainy Smurf got any ideas on how to dodge getting stoned by Medusa over there.”

“Only got one…the mirror on the other end of the room is reflective. Might deflect the beam and hit her.”

“Yeah, if she doesn’t hit us first.”

“Its all we got,” Sam said.

Dean cursed under his breath. “Fine…You better hope this works.”

“On three,” Sam said. Dean nodded.

“Three!”

The brothers ran as if in slow motion. Garrison shot the beams at them as they ran the beam cracking against the glass as they ran. As they reach the mirrored wall they dove to the ground.

The beam hit the mirror and bounced back hitting Dr. Garrison. She let out a painful scream she turned to stone.

Sam looked up carefully seeing that she was now completely stone. His idea had worked.

Dean got up and walked up to it and poked it.

“Damn. Talk about pilar of salt.”

Sam takes the card that is in her hand out of her grip. It was the only thing that wasn’t turned to stone.

“It didn’t turn to stone either,” Dean asked. Sam shook his head. “Well, lets just rip it then.”

“Dean…”

Dean grabs it and tries to rip it up. He struggles with it trying to rip it but it wont rip.

“Damnit.”

“Think that is one evil card Dean.”

“Well then how do you suggest we keep it safe?”

A little while later at their motel, Sam closes a hex box.

“Worked for the rabbits foot. Should work to contain this until we figure out what to do with it,” Sam said placing it into their trunk. “So, where we headed now?”

“Salem. And please no witch jokes. You know I hate those nasty bitches. Read some reports of kids going missing after trying to stay a night at Logan Castle. Abandoned outside of town. It was a reform school…lots of mysterious deaths. Angry sprits. Sounded like a party to me.”

The boys got in the car and Dean cranked up the music.

“But if we run across any witches…we are so out of there,” Dean said putting on his sunglasses as they headed down the road.

Who: Ryan Dallion or Ryan the Lion
Where: Curious Goods; Chicago, IL
When: January 29th 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.

Ryan heads downstairs after a long night sleep sipping his coffee. It was his fuel for what would most likely be a long and exhausting day. Those were always the kinds of days they had around here.

He noticed an envelope on the floor. Someone must have been tossed in the mail slot last night because there was nothing there before he went to sleep the night before.

He picked it up and opened it. Inside, was a tarot card.

The Strength Card.

The guy that came with Alli the other day must have found the guy and gotten the card back. Guessing it didn’t end well. After placing the card in the vault, Ryan went out to get a newspaper.

His suspicion was soon confirned when he picked up and read the newspaper’s headline. A man had died of an apparent suicide. While there was nothing overly suspicious there was a mention of high testosterone in his system.

He made a note to try and find the guy later and thank him for getting the card back to the shop. Most people who know what that card could do, would use it to their advantage, but this guy did the right thing.

Also on the front page, there was a front page story about another fire in the downtown area. There had been several fires in that area over the last month. Strangely only a handful of the fires had no explanation.

He had checked the manifest, but there were few items that would fit the mysterious fires. Ryan thought for a moment, and a thought occurred to him. Maybe there was another tarot card out there that was causing this. He picked up a reference book off the shelf and found pictures of tarot cards.

One of which was a church on fire with figures falling to the ground. It would fit. But finding that card in the city would be like looking for a needle in a haystack.

He’d have to figure out who would have motive to set these fires, how they were using the card, and most importantly…who was doing it.

Ryan placed a map on a tack board after calling the fire department and asking some questions about the fires he placed blue tacks and red tacks on the board. Blue tacks, fires that had easily determined causes. Red tacks being the buildings that burned down under mysterious circumstances and undetermined causes.

Fires happen, that was a thing you get use to in the city. But fires that seemingly are caused on their own were a different story. Looking at the map it looked like the red tacks were concentrated to one particular area.

Ryan picked up his camera to take outside photos of the mysterious fires…four in total thus far.

After a few hours, his pictures were taken and ready to be loaded onto his computer. But before heading back to the Curious Goods shop, Ryan made a pit stop.

He had been busy with Micki on acquiring some new antiques to sell for the store so he hadn’t been able to make it to the comic book shop for his new comics of the week.

So, he made a quick stop to his local comic book store to get his latest issues and say hello to Alli, his favorite worker at the comic book store. He’d have to remember to thank her and her friend for getting the card.

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! )

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: 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.

( Read more... )

Who: Dean and Sam Winchester
When: January 21st
Where: On the road to 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.

The Impala roared down the back roads of some no name town as Dean Winchester rocked out to Whitesnake’s “Here I Go Again”. His brother Sam rubbed his forehead as Dean sang loudly and off key along with the classic rock band.

“Dean.”

But his brother didn’t hear him. He was too busy rocking out.

“Dean,” Sam said louder this time turning down the music.

“Sammy we’ve been through this. Never touch a man’s music when he’s rocking out. It’s a law.”

“Yeah, I studied law. I don’t remember it.”

“You weren’t looking in the right books then. So tell me more about this case since you’ve ruined my fun,” Dean said turning a small glare to his brother.

“There have been a lot of mysterious deaths up in Lincoln. A couple guys. Married man found a bassinet out on his front door and when he opened it, it turned out to be poisonous snakes. Another guy was bitten by spiders.”

“Sounds like plagues. Think Lilith is some way involved?”

“Possibly,” Sam said flipping through one of his books. “But something about this is kind of familiar.”

“What else could it be?”

“Not sure. Won’t know until we poke around. Talk to the widow and spider guy’s family.”

“Awesome. Until then…”

Dean turns his music back up and speeds up as he the duo head to Lincoln, Nebraska.

A day later the two brothers found a motel in town and got into their suits. The first stop was to the widow of the man who had found a bassinet in his front porch.

They knocked on the front door and a tired looking young woman opened the door.

( More here )