[There's No Place Like Home]
Inside a house, a man screamed. "Aah!"
The man ran down the stairs while crashes followed him. He ran outside to the back of the house as he said to Charlie, "Please... I-I don't know anything else."
"I know," Charlie said. "I'm gonna torture you anyway. 'Cause who doesn't love a little torture?"
BUNKER
Sam was sitting at the table talking on the phone. "All right, well, just -- just keep me posted, okay? Yeah, you got it. Wait, Cas. You there? Hey, thanks. Yeah." Sam hung up the phone as Dean threw down an omelette in front of Sam, and one in front of Natalia's spot. "You made egg-whites?"
"Yeah. Breakfast of Champions -- you know, if you're a dork like you."
Natalia appeared with messy hair and bacon in hand as Sam said, "And you slept past 7:00. Hey, Nat."
"Yeah, well, until we get answers on this Mark of Cain, I am on a 12-step problem not to backslide."
"12 steps?" Natalia asked in a groggy voice. "Oh. Sounds great."
"Yeah. Hey, if Cain found a way to live with it after going dark side, then I just got to find a way to keep it in check, so haven't had a drink in a week, eight hours of rack time every night, and... now this masterpiece."
"That's three steps," Sam noted.
"Shut up and eat."
Sam took a bite of the omelette. "Wow. That's -- that's awesome."
Natalia ate hers and frowned. "No. It's not awesome. Ech."
"It's crap," Dean said. "Ugh. God. Soon as we get rid of this demonic tramp stamp, Nat and I am back on the booze, burgers, and... more booze. Tell us you got something."
Later, the siblings were doing research in the library. Dean gave Sam a green smoothie, took one sip, then pushed it away. Sam and Natalia were watching something on his laptop.
"What the hell?" Sam frowned.
"Cain or Crowley?" Dean and Natalia questioned.
Sam looked up at them. "Charlie."
"Is she back from Oz? She didn't call?"
"Yeah, um... She's been pretty busy."
"What the hell are we looking at?"
Sam glanced at Dean. "So, you know, I was looking into the news, checking for anything weird, right? I found this story about a torture vic. Apparently, some kid videotaped this at his next-door neighbor's house."
Natalia frowned. "What are you saying, Charlie tortured someone?"
"Uh..."
"Our Charlie?" Dean said. "Yea high, wouldn't hurt a Hobbit, practically sparkles?" Dean pulled out his phone and dialed a number. "Come on, Charlie, pick up."
"The guy she went all Jack Bauer on -- uh, Peter Harper."
Dean hung up. "She's not answering."
"District attorney in Topeka. According to this article, he wasn't the only person in town that was hit. Uh, a court stenographer was assaulted the night before."
"Well, you know, Charlie would go off on someone without a reason."
Still looking at the screen, Sam said, "Yeah, I wouldn't think so either, but look at the video."
YOU ARE READING
Fight Fire With Fire
Mystery / ThrillerDean and Natalia are demons. It's up to Sam, Rae and Cas to save them... And to remove the Mark from them both. But removing the Mark costs a price so great that it threatens the world. One from their past reveals his true nature. One no one thought...