City of Angels (and Demons)

Chapter Four

Once Dr. Cook had returned with the medical files of the other six patients, Sam and Dean took the paperwork to the hotel they had booked. They could have done their research at the hospital, but they were more free to talk in their hotel room. No risk of anyone overhearing, plus they could drop their disguises.

And Dean was more comfortable in plaid and jeans than that damn suit.

"So, what do we have?" Dean asked, picking up one of the files as he sat on one of the beds. The bed didn't give a loud creek as he sat, a sign that this place wasn't as seedy as the rest of the hotels they had stayed in over the years. "Anything stand out?"

"Other than what I already know?" Sam asked then shook his head. "But that's starting to be what stands out. There's nothing here explaining why these accidents were fatal. Other than Mark Fischbach's case, of course."

Dean held off gloating that he had been right. "So they were lied to," he said. "You think Cook knows?"

Sam shrugged his shoulders. "It didn't seem like it," he said. "Bates and Clyde seem to be running things. Maybe Cook's the scapegoat if things go wrong."

"If we keep pressing him, he might start asking questions and confront Bates," Dean said. "I may not like the guy, but we need to lay off before we get him killed." If he could help it, no one else was going to die here.

Not even Mark Fischbach. Even if he had been fated to die. Sam and Dean had avoided fate many times. Surely it would be easy to keep this guy alive.

"It'd probably be best if we stayed away from the hospital then," Sam said. "At least until Bates and Clyde come back."

Dean didn't say it, but it was obvious. They may have to go back if one or more of the other three patients keeled over. And if Fischbach was important, the other two were already on their way out.

Dean got up and moved over to the table Sam was sitting at. "I think we need to pay these guys a visit," he said once he found their medical files.

Sam was obviously thinking what Dean was thinking. "And what are we gonna say to them?" he asked. "We can't tell them they're dying."

"If this is demon possession, we can handle it," Dean said. "We might even be recognized, so we wouldn't have to tell them they're dying. I've been wanting to punch someone all day."

"It might not be possession if Fischbach is the target."

"We can't be dealing with only one thing here," Dean said. If one demon was doing the job of seven... "I swear, if this is Crowley..."

"Or maybe Cas and Crowley gave up their search too soon."

Dean didn't want to even think about dealing with Lucifer right now. It couldn't be him, there were no signs. Unless the way he hopped from vessel to vessel suddenly changed.

"Can't be Lucifer," Dean said. "Unless he thinks he can evade us by using unimpressive..." he glanced at the files. "...engineers under six foot."

"Not all of them are engineers," Sam said. "Fischbach studied in college-"

Dean cut him off. "If it was Lucifer, Cas and Crowley would know," he said. "They did their own research, remember? Which was how we got this case."

Sam started to say something then stopped when his phone started ringing. He pulled it out. "It's Cook," he said then answered it.

Dean looked over the medical files while Sam was on the phone. He couldn't figure out what was going on, but the way Sam reacted... it couldn't be good. And by the time Sam hung up, Dean could guess.

"Which one?" Dean asked, looking down at the three medical files of the patients that were still alive. He didn't like the feeling that there were only two now. Made him feel like he had failed.

"Clark Duncan," Sam said then Dean deposited that file with the other pile of files. "They don't know the cause yet."

"And probably won't."

"They don't know what to look for," Sam said. "It may tie in to that spell that locked up the operating room."

"Then work on that," Dean said. He checked the time. "First thing in the morning, I'll go talk to Fischbach." He looked at Sam. "I won't provoke him, but if he provokes me..."

"He's an unimpressive almost engineer under six foot," Sam said. "What's the worst that could happen?"

"Don't say that," Dean said. "You probably just screwed me over."

"You could always go see Patrick," Sam said, tapping the file next to Fischbach's.

Dean thought for a moment then nodded his head. "I'll go see Patrick first," he said. "Might give us some insight on just what the hell is going on."

"Tomorrow's going to be a full day."

"And today wasn't?"

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The yelling had started in the middle of the afternoon. Felix was downstairs, but he would have had to be deaf not to hear Mark, Matt, and Ryan arguing upstairs. Felix couldn't hear everything that was said, but he could hear what it was about. Something work related that Mark didn't approve of.

About half an hour later, Matt and Ryan stormed out of the house. Felix chose not to get involved and was glad Amy hadn't been around to see or hear any of it.

It was evening now and Mark finally came downstairs to get something to eat.

"I ordered pizza," Felix said. "If that's okay." After today, he wasn't sure what would set Mark off. He told himself that Mark's attitude came from spending so much time in the hospital when he didn't have to. Yeah, that had to be it. He had never heard Mark yell at his friends like that before.

Mark looked relieved. "It's fine," he said, helping himself to a couple of slices. "One less thing I have to deal with."

Felix decided it was time to get involved because he could no longer sit by and say nothing. "They did a lot of work to keep your channel going while you were in the hospital," he said. "You didn't sound grateful today."

Mark gave him a look that said it was none of his business. Felix didn't budge. The two stared each other down for what seemed like hours, but it was only about a minute. "I don't want to talk about this," Mark said then took his pizza and left the room.

Felix left his half eaten slice and followed after Mark. "Despite my better judgment, I'm making it my business," he said. "How could you say those things you said to them today behind the scenes, but then practically praise them for saving your ass in your vlog?"

Mark stopped at the bottom of the stairs and turned back to Felix. "I don't need a lecture," he said. "Especially from you."

Felix had heard worse, so there was nothing Mark could say now that would wound him. "They're your friends," he said. "Maybe you need a lecture."

Mark said nothing then turned and headed upstairs.

Felix started forward, calling up to him: "Don't let it get worse."

There was no response from Mark.