better man/worse than nicotine » arthur ketch

twenty-five: no one knows where she is.

"Joy?" Dean tries not to shout, but the panic in him has been at a fever pitch ever since he heard the voicemail his little sister left three days ago.

            Sam and Dean search the room, finding nothing but some of Joy's clothes in a dresser and a freshly made bed, most likely courtesy of the cleaning staff.

            "Well, looks like she hasn't been here in a while."

            Sam's eyebrows furrow. "Yeah...did she say she was going to stay on the base permanently or...?"

            "No, I told you what she said," Dean replies. "She said, 'Call me, we've got a big problem.' And then that was it. She didn't sound happy." He pauses, muttering, "Or safe."

            "Well, when she's not here she's probably at the base, so maybe—"

            "Well, dude, I've called Mick like six times. He's been radio silent ever since they sent him to London." Dean sighs, knowing his only other option is the man Joy has been dating. Ketch is bound to know where she is. "Ketch, calling to see is my sister is with you...It's Dean. Winchester. Because I'd like to speak to her, that's why. No, I'm not being terse. Look, if you haven't seen her, do you know where she is? The two of you are attached at the hip anyway. No, I'm not being curt either. Look, I don't have time for Manners 101 from you, okay? If she's with you, I wanna know about it. Fine." He promptly ends the call, shaking his head. "Such a dick."

            "And?"

            "He swears he hasn't seen Joy in over a week. Said she got mad at him and took some time away."

            "But if Joy left for a week, she would've told us. Right?"

            "If he made her mad enough to run off, I'm sure the first place she'd go is the bunker."

            "So..."

            "He's lying," Dean clarifies. "There's no way she's not with him somewhere. Even if she did leave, where would she go? Jody's?"

            "Jody would've called us."

            "Exactly."

            "Great—" Their conversation is interrupted by Sam's phone ringing. He looks at the screen, chuckling. "Speak of the devil. Hey Jody."

            "Hey Sam." She replies, but she also sounds far from happy.

            "Hey, real quick, have you seen Joy?"

            "Not recently, why?"

            Sam shakes his head to relay the message to Dean. "Just wondering. What's up with you?"

            "Have you heard?"

            "No, what?"

            "An Eileen Leahy...she was found dead."

            "No. Uh..." Sam breathes. "No, we hadn't heard. When? What the hell happened? Oh, no. No. I-I...Yeah. Thanks for letting me know. Bye." Sam ends the call, unable to do anything but stare at his phone.

            "Who?" Dean asks immediately, his concern clearly showing as his brother looks to be near tears.

            "Eileen."

            Dean closes his eyes. "How?"

            "She was, uh, mauled by a wild animal. In a wooded area that doesn't have animals that do that. In South Carolina."

            "I thought she was in Ireland?"

            Sam throws his hand in the air for an answer, not knowing what else to say as he turns away from his brother. That was the last piece of news he ever expected to hear today...or ever.

            "Sam."

            "Dean, that's the second Hunter death we've heard about in two weeks."

            "I know. But two doesn't make mean a pattern."

            "Three would."

            Dean furrows his eyebrows. "Meaning?"

            "Joy is a Hunter."

            "Not anymore."

            "But she was. And no one knows where she is."

+++

The boys race to South Carolina to check out Eileen's death. All that they find is that a Hellhound killed Eileen. But that makes no sense.

            They call up Crowley. He's an asshole about it as always. Swears he has no idea about any missing Hellhounds, nor of an Eileen Leahy. And then says he knows Hunters are dying, and he doesn't care about it one bit.

            At the Post Office, Dean says words that only further break Sam's heart.

            "We got a letter. From Eileen."

            "Eileen?"

            "She sent it four days ago. It went snail mail because she thought that her phone and her computer were both hacked. She left Ireland because she was scared."

            "Scared of what?"

            "Well, after she accidentally killed that – that Brit douche Renny, she thought that the British Men of Letters were on her." Dean hands Sam the letter then, letting him read it over.

            Sam feels the tears stinging his eyes. "I know they're following me, watching me. They tapped my phone. I found a microphone in my room." He takes a deep breath. "I hate to be all girly, but could I bunk with you guys for a few days until I sort this out? I'll keep Joy company."

            "You think the Brits were watching her?" Dean asks.

            "If Eileen says they were—"

            "Then maybe they're the ones that killed her."

            Sam doesn't want to admit that he knows Dean is right. But as soon as they return to the bunker, they search for microphones.

            And they find one. Right under the table in the map room.