𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 ❂ j. kline

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧

DEAR JACK,
People are what determines the fate of the universe.
Leave it to humans to choose between good and bad
All at the same time judging some as monsters,
Not even knowing the journey that had turned them.

❂

SAM HAD BEEN STOPPED OUTSIDE MIA'S OFFICE BY ROSE. Something about charging in with guns out felt wrong to her. Mia has seemed genuine in her actions and attitude towards the group, and based off of Dean's behavior, she was very tolerant. "You always say we question first."

"Just in case she attacks," he clarified.

"It's four to one."

A huff had escaped Sam's lips. Though he had understood, he still had felt uneasy walking in with nothing in hand. "We found where she shedded her skin. We can't take any chances."

Nodding her head, Rose pushed open the door, allowing Sam to charge in first since he was already armed and ready. Following in behind him as he had explained, she motioned for Jack to come stand with her while the Winchesters had their guns drawn on Mia.

Instantly, she held up her hands as she spoke quickly. "No! No, no. I am what you say, but I never killed anyone."

Unconvinced, Sam questioned her in return. "Then what are you doing here?"

"I'm helping people. My patients. I shift into the people that they've lost so that they could see them one last time, so that they can say goodbye."

"Well, Wes Bailey... Gloria Simon... they're both dead. Gloria was killed by her son, or at least someone who looked like him." Dean had informed Mia of this, but he still was certain that the woman that was standing before him was a cold hearted killer that knew exactly what he was talking about.

"Three nights ago, Wes was killed by somebody who looked like his dead wife," Sam added on. Taking in the news, Mia exhaled sharply, trying to wrap her head around what she was hearing. "Okay, I have an alibi for Wes," she said. "I volunteer at the women's shelter downtown. I was there that night. You can call them. I know you guys are hunters but please, I am telling you the truth."

Uncertain what to believe, Sam began to lower his gun as he turned to his brother. With a quick glance, Dean let out a sigh of annoyance. To him, they should kill her and move on to something new, but that would not fly with Sam and Rose. Huffing, he lowered his gun as he pulled out his phone to check with her alibi.

❂

IT HADN'T BEEN LONG FOR DEAN TO COME BACK WITH NEWS HE HAD BELIEVED WAS FRUSTRATING. Mia's alibi had cleared her which had caused another set back for the group trying to put a stop to all of this.

Mia had cared for her patients deeply and to now know that someone was killing and giving good reasons for hunters to believe it be her, she was furious. There was not a moment she had stopped rattling around her brain in hopes of trying to come to some solution on where they could look next. That's when she remembered the only other shifter that she had known besides her mother. Her ex boyfriend Buddy had seemed like the exact person to go out of his way to hurt people, after all, he had been fine hurting someone that had loved him.

Dean had taken Jack to check out Mia's assistant in case he had been the shifter, Sam and Rose were left to scrub the security tapes for any eye flare ups. The work they had done had been mainly quiet as Mia had watched over their shoulder, her own curiosity spiking up as well.

This was the type of silence that Jack Kline had wished he had. The car ride with Dean had been uncomfortable and when they had reached Mia's assistants house, Jack was given instructions to stay, despite his want to help.

"Sam told me about the plan for your mother," he had spoken. It had seemed like a way to create an open communication with Dean, showing he was a team player.

Dean swallowed roughly. "Well, there's something you should know. Sam's plans don't always work out." When he had looked to Jack, he saw the way that Jack had been eager to speak more on it. "And don't go telling me Rose thinks it'll work too. She just wants Sam to feel good. Stay in the car."

Dean's demand to stay had caused Jack to seal his lips tight as he sat back in his seat. The defeat was written all over his face as he felt his lips twitching into a frown. He knew he was good, but Dean's doubts had told him he was only lying to himself. And if he couldn't save Mary, then he wasn't sure what he could do for the Winchesters.

❂

SAM AND ROSE HAD DISCOVERED THE SHIFTER ON THEIR OWN AND HAD NOT CALLED DEAN. On the car ride back, Sam had peeled his eyes off the road long enough to check on her. As he had expected, she was watching out the window, lost in her own mind and seemingly uninterested in any conversation. The absence of music had made the silence even more unbearable.

"So," he spoke, clearing his throat soon after. "I told Jack about this plan..."

Picking her head up, she looked over to Sam with a nod of understanding. "He told me. About saving Mary, right? I think it's a good plan."

"Do you?" he questioned. There was a part of him that wondered why he believed in the plan himself. Dean hadn't and if his own brother didn't, he wasn't sure anyone should follow him. "I mean, it's a long shot. If Jack can even open a doorway, there's still trying to find her..."

"I think a lot of what we do is a long shot." A chuckle had came from her lips as she spoke. "The only thing that makes me uneasy about it all is you. You're doubting all this because of Dean, but Jack and I, we believe in you. If that's not enough..."

Sam jumped in quick. "It's enough."

"Then let's stop talking about it," she shrugged. "Right now, we got a shifter to find and keep each other alive, right? First, we kick his ass, then we kick Dean's."

A bubble of laughter had came from Sam. There was a smile that came to his face as he looked out to the road in front of him. Even in the middle of a hunt, one that was so far not going their way, he had found a reason to smile. His grief and his pain that he held on to, it all disappeared just for a short moment in a car that wasn't even his.