Mission Fic
Triggers: Human/Hunter Gabriel, Ghost Dean, mention of supernatural death, Werewolves, Vampires, Djinn, Monster of the Week, Daniel is the unnamed angel that was killed in the homeless camp in front of Metatron before the fight with Dean.
Gabriel loved his family, he really did. He loved working with them and hunting with them. But even he needed a break every once in a while. Between the fighting that Michael and Lucifer seemed to be doing so much of lately and the way that Castiel and Balthazar were going off on their own and not telling anyone what they were doing, it was all wearing on Gabriel and he needed some time to himself. He left a hastily scribbled letter on the desk of their headquarters, nothing detailed just a quick something to let them know that he'd be a few days and that he'd be back. He packed light and tossed his duffel into the back seat of his corvette. The car was the last thing that a Hunter should be driving; it was memorable when he needed to be forgotten but he couldn't help it. It was a bright cherry red and he loved the feeling of the air that blew through his hair when had the top down. He slipped his aviators on and with a grin he peeled out of the gravel driveway and pointed his car towards the west.
The town that Gabriel found himself in was nothing more than a one stoplight and stop sign sort of town and judging from the aging sign that welcomed people into the city limits there were only 200 people that called the town home. It was perfect. A slow cruise up the main-street showed brightly lettered glass windows and brick store fronts where people would stop and talk to one another as if they had nothing else to do that day but visit with their neighbor. With it being such a small town; Gabriel was certain that Mayberry was probably bigger than this little one light town; his appearance in town was big news.
Glances and whispers followed him as he drove through town and then as he checked into a small hotel that was located between the town post office and the police station. The hunter part of his mind didn't like being that close to the police, but he was on vacation and not on a job so he shoved that little voice into the back of his mind and put on a charming smile as he rang the bell at the front desk. With a wink at the cute red-head as he took his key he shouldered his duffel bag and and headed up to his room. Though it was no five-star hotel in New York or LA; he didn't do the motels and abandoned houses his brothers did while hunting; the room was clean and it smelled of fresh air and clean linen. He tossed his bag on the bed and stretched out beside it, a small nap never hurt anyone.
His small nap turned into a dead sleep from which he found himself abruptly woken up from around 3am. The slamming of a door startled him awake and out of reflex he reached for the silver blade that was always clipped in it's sheath at his hip; rubbing at his eyes to clear the sleep from them he peered around the room. Only it was empty, the doors all shut and the only light on being the one in the bathroom. Narrowing his eyes he settled back against his pillow, his blade still held tightly in his hand.
"Maybe it was just someone else in the hotel trying to find their room." He murmured with a yawn.
Just as his eyes slipped closed again the sound of the knob on the closet door rattle and he glanced over from his spot on the bed just in time to see the door begin to violently shudder in it's frame as if someone was on the other side shaking it.
"I'm supposed to be on vacation." He grumbled as he got out of bed and headed towards the closet. "Listen I don't know who or what you are and I don't really care but you interrupted my beauty sleep." He called out as he grabbed the knob and yanked the door open.
Unsurprisingly the closet was empty save for a few coat hangers that were unnaturally still despite all the noise that had just went on. Rolling his eyes Gabriel shut the door and waited, his eyes flicking from the door to his watch every so often. Less than 30 seconds later the door started to rattle again and he wrenched it open, yelping as one of the hangers flew at him and smacked him in the face.
"Fuck." He muttered as he rubbed the spot where the hanger had hit. "Look, I'm tired and I'm not dealing with this shit right now. Lets see you shake the door if it's open."
As if on cue the water in the bathroom turned on and Gabriel groaned loudly as he ran his hands through his hair, tugging on the ends and finally taking a deep breath.
"Leave it to me to find a job while on vacation." He grumbled. "Hey, you obviously have enough ghost juice to manipulate things, so why don't you just manifest yourself so I can see you?"
All the noise and movement stopped and Gabriel felt his skin prickle as the room dropped in temperature quick enough to where in the span of a second he could see his breath plume out before him. The bathroom light flickered wildly before it too stopped and Gabriel held his breath as a mist started to form in front of him. Slowly it began to solidify until he found himself face to face with a young man dressed in ripped jeans, gray t-shirt, and a leather jacket. His hair was brunette and close cut with the front spiked slightly up and despite the boys washed out appearance Gabriel had no trouble making out the green of his eyes. If he had to guess the boy couldn't have been more than 21 and his heart ached slightly at the fact that the boy had died so young.
They stood staring at one another in silence before Gabriel snorted at the absurdity of the situation. Hunters did not just stare at ghosts like civilians, they busted their asses back to the afterlife or whatever awaited a spirit once they were purged from earth. Before anything could happen however the boy flickered twice and then disappeared leaving Gabriel to stare at the spot where the apparition had been standing. The room returned to it's normal temperature and Gabriel grumbled as he climbed reluctantly back into bed; though he did sprinkle salt around the bed before doing so.
He must have fallen asleep at some point as the next thing he knew the sun was streaming in through the window. The room was quiet and a quick look around showed nothing out of place. Yawning, Gabriel stretched made his way to the bathroom for a shower, his mystery case could wait until he was more awake. As he lathered up he began to think over which was going to be the best way to approach the problem and hopefully solve the case quickly. Being a new face in such a small town meant that most people wouldn't want to talk to him and doubly so if he started asking suspicious questions.
"It'd be better if I had a name." He muttered as he climbed out of the shower and grabbed a towel to wrap around his waist.
The slight sound of squeaking caught his attention and he looked up in time to see letters appear in the condensation on the mirror.
D E A N
"Dean?"
Y E S
"Good to know. Got a last name Dean?"
No more writing appeared and Gabriel blew out a breath before wiping the steam away to look at his reflection as he went about his morning routine. As he pulled a brush through his hair he figured that at least he had a starting point, he knew the spirits name and that was a good portion of figuring out what happened. Once complete he exited the bathroom and spared a glance at his phone; despite this being a self imposed vacation he thought about calling his younger brother Castiel for help. If there was one thing that Castiel excelled at it was research and that would undoubtedly make the job go some much easier and quicker so that he could enjoy the rest of his time off.
A grumble from his stomach however made the decision to wait on making the call until after he'd eaten and with his wallet and phone in pocket he headed down to the front desk. He nodded at the morning desk person; a gangling young man with light brown hair and a friendly smile; and stepped outside. For a brief moment he was taken aback by the sheer quaintness of the place and fora brief second he fully expected to see a horse-drawn carriage appear and women in large hooped skirts get out. With a head shake he started down the street in search of a place to eat.
Near the end of the block he found a small diner that from a quick glance in the window it looked like it hadn't been updated since the 40's; it was perfect. A small bell chimed over head as he stepped inside and Gabriel's hunter hackles rose instantly as everyone turned to look at him. Subtly squaring his shoulders he plastered a smile on his face and sauntered up to the counter and settled on one of the chairs.
"Good morning." He greeted the woman behind the counter cheerfully.
The greeting was returned with considerably less cheer and Gabriel let out a mental sigh; it was going to be hard to get any information from her judging from the tone. The woman was dressed in a pale yellow uniform dress with white buttons down the front and white cuffed short sleeves. Judging from the blank expression she had either worked the late shift the night before only to then work the opening shift or she was plotting on how to leave the town in her rear-view mirror and never look back. Gabriel couldn't place her age, she had dark hair with no hints of gray and dark eyes but her demeanor gave off the impression of having experienced more than most people would in two life times.
"So..." He cast a quick glance at her name tag before looking back her face. "Eve, what would you recommend for first timer here?" He asked with a smile.
"The coffee isn't the worst, and Benny is our morning cook today so I'd say try his crepes and with the fruit toppings." The delivery was completely dead pan as if she didn't particularly care one way or the other what Gabriel decided on.
"Sold. Sounds delicious."
"Mmm." She jotted down the order and headed towards the back without another word.
The diner was quiet save for the soft sound of silverware against plates but Gabriel could feel everyone's eyes on him. Pretending to be oblivious he pulled out his phone and sent off a text to his brother what little bit of information he had about the case he'd stumbled into.
"Never seen you around before. Passing through?"
The question came from his left and Gabriel turned slightly to look at the person who had spoken. The man was thin with red hair and was wearing what looked to be a thrifted blue flannel type overcoat layered over a grey sweater with a white t-shirt underneath, a gray chunky knit scarf and washed out, distressed jeans. Altogether the man; as well as his clothes; looked as if they had seen better days.
"I was passing through, but I like it so far here; it's much quieter than where I'm from. I think I might stay a few days."
"It is a nice place," the man agreed before dropping his voice. "As long as you're inside by night fall. Bad things happen here after night fall."
Intrigued Gabriel turned fully to face the man but he was interrupted by Eve setting a cup of coffee down in front of him and glaring at the man next to him.
"Daniel you know that you can only stay if you're not bothering anyone."
"Oh, but.." Gabriel started.
"I'm only warning him before he gets fed to them next."
"Out Daniel!"
"Save yourself.." Daniel hissed before getting up and leaving the diner; the tiny bell chiming behind him.
"I'm sorry about that." Eve said as she glared at the door. "Daniel is...well he's the town drunk."
"What's he mean by I'll get fed to them next?"
"Daniel believes that anyone that stays out late gets 'fed' to these imaginary monsters that he says live among us." Eve explained as she rolled her eyes. "Like I said, the man is a drunk and hasn't been right in the head since his wife left him."
"Monsters?"
"He believes that there are Vampires and Werewolves that live in town and feed on those that are out late at night."
"Do a lot of people go missing around here?"
"Not really, I mean the younger generation leaves as soon as they can so it's mostly just the older generation living here. Every once in a while a burn out city person looking for peace and quiet moves in."
"You said not really though, so there are missing persons?"
"I wouldn't call them missing, it's most likely they just up and moved away without telling anyone."
"Order up!"
The shouted words brought an end to the conversation and Gabriel sat and stewed on the information as Eve disappeared into the kitchen to get his plate. First it was a ghost and now there were Vampires and Werewolves involved. Granted he knew that he couldn't put much stock in what was just rumors but he knew that he was going to have to do some digging on top of whatever research his brother was doing to see what was actually going on in town.
His breakfast was ate in silence, Eve didn't seem interested in talking anymore to him and none of the other patrons would even look at him as they came up to pay their tabs. He left the diner and with his hands in his pockets he started back down the main strip. There wasn't much to see, just the standard brick and glass store fronts with a variety of stores and every so often Gabriel would catch someone watching him as he walked. In what seemed like no time he was making his way back into his room.
He had settled down at the little table in the room when the bathroom door slammed shut causing him to jump. Trying to calm himself down he turned at looked at the close portal, running his hands through his hair.
"Hey there Deano. I didn't forget about you." He said. "I did just learn something new though, apparently there are Vampires and Werewolves here. Did you know about that? Are you not the only thing wandering around this town?" He waited for a few moments but nothing else happened and he grumbled to himself as he dug through his duffel bag for his laptop to do some research work.
He was part way through some old news stories that he'd managed to find after working a little magic and getting into the library's directory remotely when the sound of the tv flicking on caught his attention. Glancing over he watched the snow play over the screen before he got up and turned the set off, stopping cold in his tracks when he heard grumbling to the left of him and with wide eyes seen Dean's form flickering in and out.
"Hey jackass I worked hard to turn that on. What's a dead guy gotta do to get someone to hear him? Do I need to have a pottery wheel in here? A Ouija board?"
"You trying to be Swayze up in here Deano?"
"Hey, first off, Swayze always gets a pass. B, you can see me? And hear me?" Dean said as he seemed to turn a bit more solid.
"I couldn't answer you if I couldn't."
"Fair. So, uh...hunter huh?"
"How'd you know?"
"The salt on the floor last night. Classic hunter trick. Plus the fact that you're not freaking out about talking to a ghost or the fact there are Vamps and Were's here in town."
Dean flickered again before disappearing completely then popping up over by the bed. There was a disgruntled look on Dean's face and Gabriel tried to keep from laughing at the petulant look on the boys face.
"Were you a hunter?"
"Sure was. At least until I stopped here on my way to a job on the West Coast; a nasty ghoul case. I was out checking on my ride when everything went dark. When I came to I was this." Dean motioned to himself with a scowl. "I don't think it was Garth, dude's too friendly to be attacking humans and ripping out their hearts. And Benny, well he's on bagged blood, so I don't think it was him."
"Wait, wait. Garth? The front desk man here in the hotel?"
"Mmhmm. He's a friendly guy, he actually told me himself what he was. He seen the silver dagger I carried and wanted me to know that he wasn't a threat. That he'd just settled down here with his wife and they were raising a family. Dude is a hugger though, so..watch out for that." Dean said with a laugh as he shrugged one shoulder.
"And Benny? The cook at the diner?" Gabriel pressed.
"Yeah, I didn't clock him at first, he tends to be out during the day. Wears a ton of sunscreen so he can stand to be out in it more than a normal Vamp. But he's on donated blood bags only. Makes a hell of an etouffee, I definitely suggest trying it while you're here."
"I'll take that into consideration. So if it wasn't Benny or Garth, what do you think it was?"
"I don't know but I had heard rumblings that there's this house out on the outskirts of town. I took a little trip to see what the fuss was all about and it looks like something straight out of a nightmare. Worn down and broken shutters and over grown lawn, real haunted looking. No one lives there that I know of, but I had the feeling that something was there. I just never got a chance to check it out further."
"And you haven't checked it out since you've...." Gabriel motioned at Dean in lieu of saying it.
"I can't leave here. I'm tied to something in this room. I know what it is, but I don't know where it is."
Judging by the way Dean glared around the room, Gabriel was certain that if the apparition could huff he would have. Still he too looked around to see if anything stood out to him that wasn't standard issue in a hotel room.
"Well maybe if you tell me what it is, I can help you find it." He offered. "And uh, just wondering how long have you been part of the ghost crew?"
"It's a brass pendant of a face with horns and swirled designs on it. My brother gave it to me for Christmas one year and I almost never took it off. It's on a leather cord. As for the other part, not long, maybe six months?"
Gabriel nodded before starting to check all the normal places that he could think of. Though in most places any jewelry left behind was normally taken into a main office and kept in case the person came back, though in this case he wasn't so sure that had happened. He'd just pushed the night stand a bit to the side when a piece of leather caught his eye and he reached under the piece of furniture and pulled out the pendant that Dean had described. With a triumphant 'hah!' he turned around and held the necklace out for Dean to see.
"Found it Deano."
He wrapped the leather around his fist and stared at the face, memorizing the swirls and how the brass was worn in places as if Dean had made it a habit to rub the pendant randomly. He knew the next step but he was hesitant to say it out loud as if just speaking about it would make it happen. He felt the hair start to rise on his arms and he looked over to see that Dean had gotten close to him and he held the pendant out a bit more for the apparition to see. And though he knew it was impossible he swore that he'd seen tears starting to gather in Dean's eyes.
"Yeah, that's it. Sammy said it was a good luck charm of some sort. Always seemed to work."
"Tell you what Deano, I'll keep it safe." He slipped it over his head and let it fall down under his shirt, shivering at the cold feel of it against his skin. "Why don't we see what's out at that house before we make any more decisions."
"Hell yeah, I want to see what miserable sonvuabitch got the drop on me."
Gabriel laughed before nodding and putting his cell phone back into his pocket along with his wallet. The day might still be young, but he could always chalk it all up to being curious and looking around. Looking back at Dean he seen that the boy was starting to flicker in and out again and he wondered briefly if it was due to the amount of power the boy had expended to be able to communicate as long as he had been. Before he could say anything however Dean finally disappeared from sight and Gabriel took it as sign that it was time to do some recon.
The walk through town was quick with only a few people nodding at him as he passed and he made it a point to stop and look at a few of the shops along the way before turning off the main street and following the one stop sign road to the point where it ended in a cul-de-sac with a wide expanse of woods behind it. The only house at the end of the cul-de-sac matched Dean's description to a T and Gabriel shuddered as he crept closer. The pendant seemed to grow a bit warm the closer he got to the house and he fought back the shudder that wanted to slide down his spine as he peeked into one of the dirty windows.
It seemed like a normal living room from what he could see though judging from the layer of dust that he could see it had been quite a while since anyone had been in it. The next window revealed a kitchen and it looked to be in just as much disrepair as the living room. Moving around to the other side of the house Gabriel found one more window but he'd only managed a quick peek before he stumbled backwards. That room was a bedroom but in the middle of the room was an IV stand that had a bag of blood attached to it and two long tubes that were used to pull the blood from the host. Then suspended next to the IV stand was a person; their head dropped forward so no features could be seen and their skin a pale grey color.
"Djinn.."
The sound of Dean's voice caused Gabriel to jump and he glared at the apparition even as he pressed a hand to his chest.
"Thanks for the heart attack Deano. I can't take care of this if we're both free floating."
"Yeah, yeah. Sorry. But that makes sense, I didn't hear them coming and then it was all black and I was dead." Dean hummed before he turned to look at Gabriel. "Silver knife and lambs blood. The only way to take care of these guys."
"Where am I going to get lambs blood Dean?"
"Gabriel...look where we are. We don't need to kill the lamb, but I'm sure you can get just enough to coat the knife to do the job."
Gabriel rolled his eyes as Dean disappeared again but the boy had a point and Gabriel beat a hasty retreat back to town; this time making plans to get the blood and the knife ready. In the back of his mind he knew that there was still the problem of figuring out who the Djinn was, from what he could remember of them, they could blend seamlessly in with humans. He sent off a quick text to Castiel to tell him about the newest twist in what was going on before tucking a couple glass vials into the leather pouch at his hip and heading out to gather the blood.
Night came all too soon and found Gabriel hunkered down in the tall grass outside of the house at the edge of town. The only way to figure out who the Djinn was to wait and then take them down as they fed on their newest victim. Time passed slowly and Gabriel was starting to regret not using the bug spray before coming out; the mosquitoes seemingly insatiable and his blood ambrosia. He'd just smacked one against the side of his face when he noticed movement through the window. Moving quietly he made his way to the window and peeked over the ledge to see what was going on.
In the center of the room the Djinn was checking on the bag connected to the stand and then slipped the needle free from the person suspended from the ceiling and drank from it greedily. Gabriel's hand tightened around the hilt of the silver blade at his hip as he started creeping around to the back door. A floor board creaked under his weight as he crossed the thresh hold into the kitchen and he froze on the spot waiting to see if the Djinn had heard him. When nothing happened he moved through the kitchen silently then down the hall in what he hoped was the way to the bedroom.
At the end of the hall Gabriel caught sight of flickering light from under a door at the very end and he sent up a small prayer to whatever deity was watching over him as he moved closer. The closer he got to the door the more he could hear the creaking of the rope as the suspended person was moved around and the sound of various things being moved around the room. With deliberate movements he pulled the blade free from it's holster and the uncapped one of the vials of lambs blood before carefully coating the blade in it. Counting to three he stood and with a hard kick sent the door flying open.
"Hey there ugly! Time to meet your maker!" He yelled as he stepped into the room.
He'd expected the Djinn to turn around but all that was in the room was the person that had been suspended from the ceiling. Quickly Gabriel turned in a circle; the room itself wasn't that large so there wasn't many places that the Djinn could have hid, but just as he finished one revolution a hand clamped itself over his mouth and he started to struggle even as he felt himself starting to fade. Just as his vision started to fade to black a bright light filled the room and he was let go. Somewhere in the distance a piercing scream was heard but he couldn't bring himself to move. All he wanted to do was sleep and when the light died away he finally allowed his eyes closed; his last thought was that at least he would have someone to spend time with on the other side.
A pounding in his head made him groan and he screwed his eyes together tightly as he struggled to sit up.
"Stay still Gabriel. I'm pretty sure the Djinn's poison is still working on you."
"C-Cassie?" He groaned as he flopped back down, his arm flopping over his eyes to block out any sort of light.
"Of course it's me. Thankfully you never turned off your location and I was able to find you."
The pain behind his eyes eased some and Gabriel turned his head to side where his brother's voice seemed to come from and looked at him through squinted eyes. Dressed in his customary tan trench coat and suit Castiel looked completely out of place in the room and Gabriel had to fight the smile that wanted to escape.
"Hey Cassie...the person..."
"Dead. I gave them a hunters funeral; along with the small pit of bodies that I found a little further in the woods." It was said so contritely as if Castiel had been put out to have to salt and burn the remains. "A Djinn, Gabriel. How do you find yourself in these situations."
"Just lucky I guess." He snorted as he rubbed at his chest, his hand catching on the pendant under his shirt.
"I wouldn't call it lucky, but you are lucky I got there in time. I'm just not sure how you managed to stab the Djinn considering the state you were in when I got there."
"Again, just lucky. Musta had someone watching my back." He fell silent as he pressed his hand against the pendant again. Feeling completely drained he allowed himself to fall back asleep, his hand clutching the pendant.
It was two days later when he found himself checking out of the hotel; Garth giving him a hug and telling him to come back, that there was a fall festival that he was certain Gabriel would like. With a smile he nodded and gave a nebulous answer before sliding into the drivers seat of his car. As he pulled out of town he spared a glance at the empty passenger seat.
"We make quite the team Deano."
The radio suddenly cut on and Gabriel laughed as the strains of 'Ramble On' filled the car and once he was out of town he put the gas pedal to the floor and disappeared into the countryside.