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foreverwayward · 6 years ago

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“Wayward Hearts” Season 2 Chapter 7: Night Shifter

Summary: After the sudden death of John, Sam and Dean, along with Riley, continue their quest for vengeance. As Sam and Riley’s powers continue to grow, the three young hunters find themselves closer to the Yellow-Eyed demon than ever before. The strength within themselves and their loyalty to each other will be tested as they are left to fight their families’ lifelong war alone, unaware that unimaginable evil will lead them to face darkness itself as they carry the weight of their fathers’ legacies.

Masterlist

Word Count: 8,045

Content Warning: language and violence

DISCLAIMER: any words or phrases in bold in the story are not my own and are credited to the writers of Supernatural.

**GIFS ARE NOT MY OWN**

On the live evening news, a brunette news reporter held onto her Channel 8 microphone. She was in front of a group of onlookers as officers tried to clear the scene. Sirens wailed and the flashing colors of blue and red danced on the buildings around them. Other cops had barricaded themselves behind their squad cars with their weapons ready and aimed.

“We're here downtown in front of the City Bank of Milwaukee, and though a short exchange of weapons fire occurred just minutes ago, police and SWAT teams maintain position as we enter the third hour of this intense standoff. Authorities estimate as many as ten hostages are being held inside the bank; no word as yet on the identity of the suspects, or, uh--” The reporter stopped mid-sentence to a commotion coming behind her. “Something's happening. I think they're opening the door. Roger, are you getting this?” she asked her cameraman.

Police and others nearby shouted over each other as the camera refocused to the front door of the bank.

A man emerged from the building, terrified as he was pushed out by someone holding an automatic weapon. “Don’t shoot! Please! Don’t shoot!”

“No, no, no, no, no, don't even think about it! I said get the fuck back!” the voice behind the hostage yelled at the incoming officers.

As the camera zoomed in, there with the hostage and a military-grade gun, was Dean Winchester.

------

Two days prior, Dean, Riley, and Sam sat parked in Baby on a dark suburban street of Milwaukee. It was raining as the hunters went over their research. All three were dressed in suits, posing as federal agents.

A woman who was respectable and loved by family and friends killed a night guard at the jewelers’ where she worked. After stealing everything she could from the shop, the woman went home and committed suicide in her bathtub. There was no motive and nothing that pointed to the dead woman being anything other than an upstanding citizen.

“Alright,” Riley started, looking over her file. “The Milwaukee National Trust was hit about a month ago--same M.O. as the jewelry store and an inside job. Longtime employee as a teller, that was the 'never-in-a-million-years’ type, robbed the bank and then went home to kill himself.”

“So, there’s a pattern,” Dean said with his body shifted in her direction.

“Definitely. Bummer is, cops already took the surveillance video from the jewelry store, so we’re shit outta luck on that one.”

Sam looked out the window at a small house nearby. “Yeah. That’s why we’re here. This guy, Resnick? He was a security guard at the National Trust the night of the heist. The teller beat him unconscious before taking off.”

“Yikes.” Riley closed up her folder and grabbed her blazer to throw it on. “Well, hopefully, this guy can give us more than the jewelers’ did. We got jack to go on right now.”

The three got out of the car and the Impala’s doors squeaked before being slammed shut. Going up the front steps, they all straightened up before knocking on the door.

“Mr. Resnick,” Sam called out. “Ronald Resnick?”

At the large hunter’s request for the man inside, a large floodlight turned on next to the door. Riley and the Winchesters grunted out at the blinding light and covered their eyes.

“Son of a bitch,” Dean groaned.

A younger man, around Dean’s age, came to the screen door. He was of a thicker build with curly hair that met his shoulders. His face was naïve and showed his clearly awkward demeanor.

Riley kept her eye closest to the light slightly closed. “F.B.I., Mr. Resnick.”

Approaching hesitantly, the man nervously demanded, “let me see the badge.”

Sam, Dean, and Riley all pulled out their identification badges from their jacket pockets before planting them on the screen door in almost total unison.

The man inside squinted to read and study their authenticity. “I already gave my statement to the police.”

“Yeah, listen, Ronald, um--” Dean went to put his badge away. “--just some things about your statement we wanted to get some clarification on.”

“...you read it?”

“Sure did.”

“And you’ve come to hear what I have to say?”

Riley could feel the nervousness coming from Mr. Resnick. She knew he felt strongly about what he had seen and was still afraid to share his story. “Of course, Mr. Resnick. That’s why we’re here,” she added gently.

Ronald gave her an awkward, partial smile before nodding and opening the door. “Well, come on in.”

Following him into his home, the three walked through a narrow hallway and then into a cluttered room. The wood-paneled walls were covered in alien photos and conspiracy theory paraphernalia. Strung out maps, newspaper clippings, and random photographs hung above his messy desk.

“None of the cops ever called me back--not after I told them what was really going on. Uh--they all thought I was crazy.” Ronald’s words grew a little faster with a sense of purpose and urgency. “First off, Juan Morales never robbed the Milwaukee National Trust, okay? That, I guarantee. See, me and Juan were friends. He used to come back to the bank on my night shifts, and we'd play cards. I--I was the one that let him in after-hours. But that thing that I let into the bank? Wasn’t Juan. I mean, it had his face, but it wasn't his face. Uh--every detail was perfect but too perfect, you know? Like if a doll maker made it--like I was talking to a big Juan-doll.”

“A ‘Juan-doll’?” Sam asked skeptically.

“Look, this wasn't the only time this happened. Okay?” Ronald handed him a file folder. “There was this jewelry store, too. And the cops, a--and you guys, you just won't see it!”

Sam looked into the folder that was filled with Mr. Resnick’s own research. The complete profile was similar to a the work of a hunter.

“Both crimes were pulled off by the same thing.”

“And what’s that, Mr. Resnick?”

Ronald picked up a copy of a magazine called ‘Fortean Times’ and held it to his chest. The headline at the bottom read: ‘birth of the cyberman’.

“Chinese have been working on 'em for years and the Russians before that. Part men, part machine. Like the Terminator, but the kind that can change itself, make itself look like other people.”

Dean smiled at the man, “like the one from T2.”

“Exactly!” Ronald agreed enthusiastically.

At that same moment, Riley tried to shoot Dean a thought. “Nerd.”

Her boyfriend’s head snapped in her direction at her tease. Dean gave her a playful look of warning and she smirked.

Donald went on. “See, so not just a robot, more of a--a--man-droid.”

Sam’s eyebrow hooked up. “A man-droid?”

Riley stepped closer as the awkward man fumbled over his words. She searched his emotions and could feel how much this meant to him. Ronald whole-heartedly believed what he was selling. Telling him how far off base he was, wouldn’t do anything except hurt him. “Ronald how are you so sure that this is what’s going on?” she humored him.

With a wild and excited smile, he put up a finger asking her to wait. He scurried ‘to grab a V.H.S. tape that was labeled ‘M.N.T. Camera 4 - Juan’.

Quickly, he moved to put it into his television system and pressed fast forward as the hunters sat on his worn, plaid sofa. “Now watch. Watch. Watch him, watch, watch! See, look! Th--th--there it is!” Ronald paused the tape. “You see? He's got the laser eyes.”

On the screen, was Juan. As he faced the camera, there was a light-flare in his eyes.

Riley’s fist clenched immediately realizing it was a shifter as the boys shared a knowing look.

“Cops said it was some kind of reflected light. Some kind of ‘camera flare’. Okay? Ain't no damn camera flare. They say I'm a post-trauma case. So, what? Bank goes and fires me, it don't matter!” Ronald continued his rant even more fired up than before. “The man-droid is--is still out there. The law won't hunt this thing down...I'll do it myself. You see, this thing, it--it--it kills the real person, makes it look like a suicide, then it sorta, like,--morphs into that person. Cases the job for a while until it knows the take is fat, and then it finds its opening. Now, these robberies, they're--they're grouped together.” He gestured to the wall with all of his endless research. “So, I figure the man-droid is holed up somewhere in the middle, underground, maybe. I dunno, maybe that's where it recharges its, uh--man-droid batteries.”

Dean nodded, apparently impressed with how thorough Ronald’s intel was. The theory may have been completely off base, but the work was there.

Trying to force a fake smile, Riley didn’t know what to say. The poor guy had tried so hard to get answers for his friend. All the while, Sam was staring at the man intently, almost in judgment.

“Okay. I want you to listen very carefully,” Sam said calmly as they all stood from the couch. “Because I'm about to tell you the God's honest truth about all of this.” Riley and Dean both waited with curiosity to see what Sam would say. “There's no such thing as man-droids. There's nothing evil or inhuman going on out there. Just people. Nothing else, you understand?”

His partners were almost startled at his response and stood dumbfounded on how to move forward.

“But,” Ronald uttered desperately. “The laser eyes...”

“Just a camera flare, Mr. Resnick. See, I know you don't want to believe this. But your friend Juan robbed the bank and that's it.”

The anger and frustration that was building in Ronald, was enough for Riley to want to help calm him. He was so deeply hurt by how Sam had handled the situation. “Ronald--”

“Get out of my house! Now!” he interrupted in a demand.

------

Riley and the brothers had found their way back to their motel room. It was covered in tacky wall decorations that seemed to be obligatory to wherever they stayed.

“Man, that has got to be the kicker--straight up. I mean, you tell that poor son of a bitch that--what did you say, ‘remand the tapes that he copied? Classified evidence of an ongoing investigation’?” Dean laughed as he sat at the table with a beer. “That's fucked up.”

As Riley walked by, Dean’s hands snaked around her waist and pulled her close to sit her down on his lap.

Taking a sip from Dean’s beer before adding her thoughts, Riley looked over at Sam. “I gotta say, it’s a little scary how good of a Fed you are. The guy did some legit legwork though. Maybe you could have thrown him a bone, or at least been a little gentler with the guy.”

Sam scoffed, turning away from the television he was replaying the video on. “Man-droid?”

“Okay, except for that part,” she chuckled. “But I mean, I liked him.”

“Me too. I mean, he’s not that different from us if you think about it. People think we’re crazy.” Dean’s arms wrapped around Riley’s waist and his chin settled onto her shoulder while she traced outlines of sewers from town blueprints.

“Yeah, except he’s not a hunter, guys,” Sam almost snapped back. “He's just a guy who stumbled onto something real. If he were to go up against this thing he'd get torn apart. Better to stay in the dark and stay alive.” Sam then paused the video where the shifter’s eyes reflect back at him.

Sighing, Riley replied, “I guess so.” Her eyes went up as she saw the flaring eyes on the tape again. “Shapeshifter.”

“God I hate those fucking things,” Dean added in annoyance.

“Oh, and I don’t?” Sam asked.

“Yeah, but one didn’t turn into you and frame you for murder.”

Riley almost slammed the pen down with a scoff. “If we’re having a pissing contest here, remember one of those bastards literally murdered me.”

The brothers looked at each other realizing their mistake.

“Touché,” Dean surrendered.

“Anyway, Ronald was right. It’s like the one we killed in Missouri and it lays low in the sewers.” Sam got up to look at the map as Riley went on. She traced her pen over her marks. “Now, all the heists have been connected. And if you line those up with the sewer main layout, there’s one more bank laid out on that path.”

------

Over their regular clothes, the trio wore blue jumpsuits as a bank security guard led them into the surveillance room. Undercover as technicians, their suits read: ‘Securiserve Guard Service’.

Riley had her hair up with what looked like silver chopsticks.

“You guys usually send three people to deal with a small glitch in the system?” the guard asked curiously.

“Oh--” Sam said through a breathy laugh. “She’s in training. Gotta shadow us on the job.”

Satisfied with that answer, the security guard nodded. “Alright, you guys need anything else?”

Riley smiled. “We’re all set here, sir.”

“Okie-dokie,” he replied as he left the room.

With a chuckle, Dean beamed. “I like him. He says ‘okie-dokie’.”

------

Sam, Riley, and Dean sat in front of the monitors reviewing the bank’s footage. It had been at least a couple of hours of searching for any more eye flares on the camera’s logs.

“Anybody got any popcorn?” Dean jested.

In one of the frames, the security guard that had let them in sat quietly by the front door. When his eyes didn’t reflect, he was officially off the hook.

“Well, looks like mister okie-dokie is...okie-dokie.”

As Riley scanned a different screen, a middle-aged man walked in front of the camera as his eyes flared. She sat up straight as she paused the footage to get a closer look. “Bingo. Got him.”

The brothers leaned over to see as Dean said, “Hello, freak.” The three got up to leave before Sam and Riley could hear Dean utter, “oh shit...”

He was looking at another monitor and they joined him to look. There, locking up the bank with a chain and lock while holding an automatic weapon, was Resnick.

“Hello, Ronald,” Dean commented with a look of discomfort.

With worry and a sigh, Riley muttered his earlier words in agreement. “...oh shit.”

------

The large and polished bank was several stories tall. It was ornately decorated with beautifully designed ceilings and large tile flooring. Slate-colored marble pillars and counter tops were effortlessly woven throughout.

As automatic gunfire came from the main lobby of the bank, the hunters hurried down the halls in its direction.

Dean shook his head and spoke to Sam with snark. “And you said we shouldn’t bring guns.”

“Well, I didn’t know this was gonna happen, Dean.”

“Look,” Riley started as they reared another corner and people fled in their direction. “Whatever we do here, Dean and I do the talking. Because he does not like you Agent Johnson.”

Ronald held a key on a chain up high for everyone to see. His hostages had all gone to the ground by his orders. “There’s only one way in or out of here and I chained it up. So, nobody’s leaving, understand?”

The Winchesters and Riley made it to the lobby as they calmly walked in with their hands slightly raised in surrender.

Resnick’s eyes were large and panicky as sweat fell from his face like bullets.

“Hey, buddy,” Dean called. “Just calm down, okay? Calm down.”

Riley felt dizzy from all the confusion and fear that came from the nervous man.

When he saw the hunters, his mind automatically connected them to the ‘man-droid’ conspiracy theory.

Knowing things were about to escalate, Riley tried to get through to Ronald. “Mr. Resnick--”

“You!” Shaking, he yelled at the three as he pointed his weapon. “Get down! Get on the ground!”

Nodding nervously with an awkward smile, Riley slowly went down to her knees, as did the brothers. “Yeah--no. That’s cool. We can do that. Let’s just not shoot anybody okay? Especially not us.”

“I knew it. As soon as you three left. You ain't FBI! I mean, you are way too pretty to be a federal agent,” Ronald admitted without noticing.

“Aww--” Riley immediately stopped being flattered before looking at Sam. “Wait, did he just compliment me or was that a jab at me being a woman?” Only a second passed before she tilted her head with an accepting look. “Eh--I’m gonna say it was a compliment.”

“Who are you? Who are you working for, huh? The men in black? You working for the man-droid?”

“We’re not working for the man-droid!” Sam replied in annoyance.

Ron continued to shout as he waved the gun around. “You shut up! I ain’t talking to you! I don’t like you!”

Both Riley and Dean turned to Sam with an “I told you so”-look.

“Fair enough.”

Giving an order to one of the hostages, Resnick demanded that a middle-aged man frisk down the hunters for weapons. When the man got to Dean’s boot, the hunter closed his eyes in frustration as a silver knife was pulled from his boot.

Dean gave Ronald a face of innocence as Riley was next. The hostage patted her down clean, but the anxious man with the gun pointed at her hair.

“What about those?” Ronald asked. “Take those out of her hair. They look--‘stabby’.”

The man removed the sticks from Riley’s hair as it fell down onto her shoulders. “Damn, a girl can’t even accessorize anymore?” she asked somewhat grouchily.

They were pure silver sticks; not that sharp, but still something she could easily sneak in undetected.

Sam turned to his partners with a look of irritation.

“What?” Dean challenged. “It’s not like we’re just gonna walk in here naked.”

The hostage handed Resnick the items before the captor took them and dropped them into a deposit box.

“No, no, no, no!” Riley and Dean begged in unison before the weapons clattered inside and they winced.

“Look, Ronald...we know you don’t wanna hurt anyone,” Dean said hoping to appeal to his softer nature. “But that’s exactly what’s gonna happen if you keep waving that cannon around. So, why don’t you let these people go?”

“No! I already told you. If nobody's gonna stop this thing, then I've got to do it myself.”

“Hey, we believe you, okay? That’s why we’re here.” Dean paused before signaling Ronald over. “Come here.” When the captor hesitated, the older Winchester kept his hands up. “Hey, I’m not gonna try anything. You got the gun, boss. You’re calling the shots. I just gotta tell you something.” When Ronald allowed the hunter’s suggestion, he leaned in as Dean whispered, “it’s the bank manager.”

“What?”

"He’s telling the truth, Ronald,” Riley said softly. “Why do you think we’re dressed like this? We’ve been monitoring the cameras. We saw the bank manager...we saw his eyes. It’s him.”

“His laser eyes?” he asked eagerly.

“Yes. Wait--what? No. No, Ronald, we’re running out of time here. If we don’t find him soon, he’s gonna change into someone else and we won’t know who. We’ll be screwed.”

“Why should I trust any of you? You’re a bunch of damn liars!”

Dean slowly stood, still in a state of submission. “Take me.”

With fear in her eyes, Riley sent a thought to Dean. “What the hell are you doing?”

“It’s okay. He's not gonna hurt me.” There was a pause as the hunter waited for Ronald to look less tense. “Take me with you. Take me as a hostage. But we gotta move fast. The longer we stand here, the more time he has to change. You’re not crazy, okay? I believe you. There really is something in this bank.”

“Alright,” Ron relented with a small smile. “You--you come with me. But everyone else gets in the vault.” His voice raised to a shout once again as he waved the weapon.

Gasps and cries came from the other hostages in fear.

------

Further into the bank, Resnick ordered the hostages into the large vault. “Come on! Move! Get in there.” When Dean was the last to follow, Ronald stopped him. “You, lock it up.”

“Everyone, just stay cool, alright?” Dean gave Riley and Sam an apologetic look before closing the vault.

They both sighed as the door slammed and was locked.

“Who was that man?” a woman asked from behind them. She was a teller at the bank with long and curly strawberry-blonde hair with a name tag that read: Sherry.

With a tone of worry, Sam replied, “my brother.”

“Oh,” she swooned. “He is so brave.”

Riley rolled her eyes and muttered under her breath, “oh, for fuck’s sake.”

------

With his uniform disguise finally removed, Dean went through the multiple hallways of offices with Ronald in tow.

“So, uh--” Ron stuttered nervously. “That girl you guys are with...is she--is she seeing anybody?”

Dean stopped dead in his tracks and spun to give Ronald a firm look. “Yeah. Me.”

Realizing he had just stepped in it with the large hunter, Resnick cleared his throat. “Oh, yeah that’s--that's great. You two make a beautiful couple,” he chuckled awkwardly.

The two went into the bank manager’s private office and the hunter looked around as Resnick went behind the desk.

With a cry out, he slipped and fell onto his back. He was lying on something wet and slimy that appeared to be flesh-like. Seeing what he had been touching, Ronald began to scream before standing up in a panic.

“What--what the hell is that?”

“Oh great.” Dean walked over to the pile of flesh and knelt to look. “When it changes form, it sheds its skin. So, now it could be anybody.” He sighed. “Alright, let’s get one thing straight, it’s not a man-droid. This thing is a shapeshifter.”

“Shapeshifter?”

“Yeah. I mean, it's human; more or less. Has human drives and in this case, it's money. But it generates its own skin, it can shape it to match someone else's features--you know, taller, shorter, male... And it doesn’t always kill the ones they shift into. I don’t think it really matters to them.” As Dean stood, he searched the desk before finding a letter opener and sighing in relief.

“What’s that for?”

“Remember old werewolf stories? It’s kind of the same thing with these guys. Silver’s the only thing I’ve seen that hurts them.” Dean began to stride out of the room as he flipped the blade in his hand. “Come on, Ronald.”

------

The two headed down a wide corridor as Ron began to chuckle to himself in joy while smiling ear to ear.

Dean looked at him skeptically. “What the hell’s wrong with you? You nuts?”

“That's just it. I'm not nuts. I mean, I was so scared that I was losing my marbles. But this is real! I mean, I---I—I was right! Except for the man-droid thing. Thank you.”

“Yeah, don’t mention it.”

Dean and Ron took only a few more steps forward before the power went out. It went completely dark before a few dim backup lights turned on.

“Dammit. No, no, no, no, no.” Dean looked around with worry. “Shit. They cut the power. Probably their way of saying hi.”

“Who?”

“Cops.”

Ronald’s anxiety grew as he followed his newfound partner onward. “The cops?!”

“Well, you weren't exactly a smooth criminal about this, Ron. I mean, you didn't even secure the security guard. He probably called them.”

“Oh my god. I didn’t--I didn’t even think to--”

Interrupting him, Dean put out a hand asking him to calm down. “Alright, hang on, hang on. Let's just take a breath here for a second. They’ve probably got us surrounded. They've cut the power to the cameras, so there's no way of telling who the shapeshifter is.” The hunter took a deep breath and ran a hand over his face. “It’s not looking good, Ron.”

A clattering noise came from nearby and the two turned towards it. Ron jumped and pointed his rifle.

“Did you hear that?” Dean asked in a hushed voice.

------

Inside the vault, the hostages had tried to make themselves comfortable on the floor while they waited. Sam lightly paced as Riley leaned up against the safety deposit boxes with her arms folded. They had both slipped out of their fake uniforms and had tossed them off to the side.

Shelly, the teller already infatuated with Dean, spoke over Sam’s shoulder. “So, has your brother always been so--” she giggled. “Wonderful? I mean, staring down that gun. And you know the way he played right into that psycho's crazy head, telling him what he wanted to hear. I mean, he's like--” the girl smiled, “a real hero or something.”

“Alright,” Riley interrupted, obviously annoyed. “That’s enough outta you, Strawberry Shortcake. Why don’t you just go have a seat with the others?”

Sam laughed to himself as Riley went back over to him.

The vault door slowly opened as Dean stood in the doorway with a handgun.

Grinning with excitement at the sight of the older brother, Shelly jumped a little. “Oh, my god! You saved us! You saved us!”

“Actually, I got a couple more. Alright, people let’s go, let’s go.”

Staring in puzzlement, Shelly watched as several people were herded inside, including the security guard.

“What are you doing?” she asked brittlely.

“Hey, uh--Sam? Rye? Ronald and I need to talk to you.”

The two followed him out of the vault before Dean closed it and sealed it behind them. They walked away from the sealed room as red and blue lights flashed through the blinds.

“It shed its skin again.”

“Oh fuck...” Riley said pinching her nose. “It could be anyone. It could be up in the halls; hell, it could be in the vault.”

“Great,” Sam replied with a scoff. “You know, Dean, you are wanted by the police. So even if we do find this damn thing--how the hell are we gonna get out of here?”

Dean sighed and shook his head softly. “One problem at a time, little brother. I’m gonna go do a sweep of the whole place, see if we can find any stragglers. Rye, you come with.” Handing her another letter opener he had found, Dean then turned to Sam. “Once we get everyone together, we've got to play a little game of ‘find-the-freak'. Now stay here, make sure Ronald doesn't hurt anybody, okay? Help him manage the situation.”

Sam’s voice raised in outrage. “Help him manage? Are you insane?!”

Alerted by Sam's raised voice, Ronald looked over.

Dean gazed past Sam and gave Ron a grinning thumbs-up. Quietly, he spoke under his breath to his brother. “Look, I know this isn’t going the way we wanted...”

“Understatement!”

“He’s right,” Riley interjected. “If we let the cops in right now, Ron gets arrested, we get arrested, and we’ll probably never catch the shifter. Sammy, I am not about to let that happen.”

The hunters turned to see Resnick in plain view to the cops with his weapon raised as Sam gestured at him in exasperation.

Riley rolled her eyes before whispering firmly. “Ron! What are you doing, man? Get out of the light!”

“Seriously?” Sam asked.

“Yeah, Ron's game plan was a bad plan,” Dean admitted. “I mean, it was a bit of a crazy plan, but right now crazy's the only game in town, okay?” He slapped Sam on the shoulder and took Riley’s hand as the two hurried off to finish their search.

There was an awkward silence as Sam stood there alone with Resnick. “...hi, Ronald,” he said obviously fake and forced. When he got no response but an uncomfortable look, Sam headed back to the vault. He opened the door and looked inside. “I'm going to leave this open--give you guys some fresh air, all right? But no one leaves this vault.”

A nearby phone began to ring and Ronald jumped at the noise. Without thinking, he went to pick it up. “H--hello?” There was a pause as he listened to the other end. “Demands? What do you mean demands? No, no, no--I--I'm not a bank robber.”

Sam looked in his direction and scolded him to hang up.

“--kind of a crime fighter I guess.” Ronald listened to the caller. “No, I’m acting alone.”

In a huff, Sam rushed over to him and slammed the phone back on the hook. “Ronald, the less the cops know, the better.”

In the vault, an older security guard began to yell for help saying he thought he was having a heart attack. The others were shouting that he needed help.

“Great, could be our guy,” Sam sighed. “Go guard the door.” After Sam gave Ronald the order, he picked up the phone to make a call. “Look,” he spoke to the other end of the line. “One of our people could be having heart trouble. You need to send in a paramedic.” There was a pause as Sam listened before shouting. “Just send in a paramedic and don’t try anything else. Please!” Hanging up, Sam ran his hands over his head. He knew they were in trouble.

------

The couple had been actively searching before they found their way into another office. With flashlights in hand, they scanned the area.

“You know,” Riley started. “This would go a lot faster if we split up.”

Dean shook his head and spoke adamantly. “No way. I’m not letting you out of my sight.”

When he looked up, there was a ceiling panel slightly askew. “Here,” he said handing her his flashlight. Dean picked up a coat rack nearby and used it to move the panel above them.

As he dislodged it, a naked man’s body fell to the ground.

“Lovely,” Riley added sarcastically.

When Dean turned the body over, they could see it was one of the men in the vault.

“Oh,” she added. “Well, that’s not good.”

------

Dean and Riley had hurried back to Sam and a still jumpy Ronald. Whispering to his little brother, Dean told him that they had found.

When they all looked into the vault, the man that was holding up the aged guard, was the copy. It was the shifter. He was persistent in getting the older man out to get him some help.

Sam went to the weak guard and helped him out of the small space. “It’s alright, sir. We’re gonna get you some help.”

“Yeah, let me help you,” the shifter pressed.

Staying cool as to not let the creature know they were onto him, Sam just shook his head with a calm face. “Nah, it’s all good. I got him.” He began to walk the hostage away towards the lobby.

Dean and Riley kept their gaze locked on the shifter. “Hey,” Dean motioned for him to come their way. “Can we talk to you for a second?”

“Sure, man. You’re the one with the gun.” The shifter walked out of the vault as Riley pulled out her letter opener and stepped forward, ready for a fight.

As soon as he noticed her challenging stare, the creature grabbed Riley by the wrist before hitting her hard and knocking her to the ground.

Dean growled in fury as he charged at the shifter. Punches were exchanged and the Winchester took a good blow to the face that made him stumble.

The disguised creature took his opportunity and fled.

Without any thought, Ronald hurried after it. “Hey! Stop!”

Dean stabilized himself and helped Riley up. “You alright?”

“Son of a bitch!” she gritted. As soon as she was on her feet, she took off in pursuit.

“Riley!” he yelled out as he chased her.

Ronald had followed the shifter into the main lobby. As it went to duck behind a marble counter, Resnick raised his automatic weapon to fire.

Riley and Dean ran in and skid against the tile as they halted to a stop. To their horror, Ron was out in the open again as a laser sight found his back.

“Get down, Ronald!” she shouted.

At the sound of the gunshot through the windows, Dean grabbed Riley with his whole body and threw them down to the ground to hide behind another counter. He balled them up together hoping to shield her from any other shots.

Sam had been on the stairs taking the guard to safety as he watched the terrible scene unfold.

After a second or two, which felt more like unending minutes, they turned to see Ronald. Feathers that had popped out from his puffy vest fluttered to the ground around him as his eyes were wide with shock. He dropped to his knees and then flat onto his stomach, his arm falling into the shadowed area by the couple.

Riley pulled away from Dean and crawled on the floor to where the counter ended. She laid flat on her belly and held Ronald’s hand in both of hers. Their eyes met as she forced her abilities to work.

She focused as much as she could and sent the dying man a feeling of comfort before her voice went into him as his final thought. “I got you, Ron. You did good, buddy. Juan would be proud.”

Ronald’s face softened and a slight curl went up on his lip as he felt peace consume him. The blood in his mouth dripped onto the floor as Riley felt a breeze through her hair. She closed her eyes and allowed herself to feel Ron’s spirit and to let him know he wasn’t parting this world alone.

When she opened her eyes, that small hint of a smile stayed frozen on his face. He was gone.

After leaving the guard at the top of the stairs, Sam fled to his partner’s sides. Riley was still on her front, holding on to Ron.

“Riley,” Dean whispered. “Rye, we gotta go.”

She sniffled before grabbing Ron’s rifle and pushing herself back towards the brothers. Wiping her eyes quickly, she looked at Sam and Dean before giving the older brother the weapon.

Sam handed Dean the chain with the key on it to the outside. “You guys get the guard out, I’m going after the shifter.”

“No,” Riley told him. “I’m coming with you.”

The young Winchester nodded at her request as Dean looked at her with worried eyes. He couldn’t help but think she would be reckless or that history would repeat itself. “Just stay with me.”

Riley put a hand to the side of his face and kissed him gently. “This is something I gotta do. I promise, I’ll be alright.”

Dean squeezed the hand at his face and she and Sam got up to hurry back into the dark hallways. He looked around furtively and with anxiety before making a dash towards the guard.

Holding onto their flashlights, Sam and Riley vigilantly made their way through the darkness.

Sam put his hand out as if asking for the letter opener. She slapped it away and shot him a look of irritation. Anyone watching would have believed they were real siblings as they silently exchanged “give it to me” and “no” through annoyed facial expressions.

Sam scoffed and rolled his eyes as he gave up asking.

As the two came around the next corner, there was the teller, Sherry with another employee. They both froze in terror and put their hands up as the hunter’s flashlights lit them up.

“Please,” Shelly begged. “Don’t hurt us.”

Having already been exasperated with the woman, Riley sighed with frustration. “What the hell are you doing out here? Get your asses back in the vault. It’s not safe!”

The two women’s heels clicked on the tiles as they scurried away.

Sam gazed down at his surrogate sister with a hooked eyebrow.

“What?” she asked. “The girl gets on my nerves.” Riley began to walk on and Sam chuckled to himself as he followed.

------

Holding the guard in front of him and the rifle in his other hand, Dean approached the front door slowly. Outside, several paramedics pulled a stretcher out of an ambulance while the S.W.A.T. team set up on the steps ready to shoot.

Dean stood behind the hostage and spoke gently to him as he guided him forward. “This’ll all be over soon. Everything’s gonna be alright.” He unlocked the door and guided the guard a step outside.

The guard shook in fear as he yelled, “please! Please don’t shoot!”

As the officers began to advance, Dean shouted firmly. “No, no, no, no, no. Don't even think about it!” The hunter looked around at the media frenzy and number of first responders that surrounded them. It was in that moment that Dean truly began to worry if they would be able to get out of there that night.

“Son of a bitch,” Dean whispered before yelling again. “I said get the fuck back! Now!” After a pause ensuring the situation was going according to plan, he told the guard to go.

As the weak man stumbled out, Dean hurried behind the doors and latched them once again. “We are so fucked,” he muttered.

His phone rang and he fumbled to get it out as he answered slightly out of breath. “Sammy?”

“Yeah, it slipped its skin again. This bastard shifts fast--faster than the one from St. Louis.”

“Shit,” Dean hissed as he ran a hand over his head. “God, it's like playing the shell game. It could be anybody. Again.”

“Yeah, I think most of the employees are out of the vault by now.”

“Alright, you search every inch of this place, I'm gonna go round everybody up. And Sam--watch out for Riley,” he added before hanging up.

------

Tired and completely on edge, Dean ushered the hostages back into the vault. He sighed heavily as Sherry was the last one to go in.

She turned to face him. “I thought you were one of the good guys.”

“My name’s Dean,” he told her gently.

Hesitating before she spoke, the teller said, “I’m Sherry.”

“Hi, Sherry. Everything's gonna be all right. This will all be over soon, okay?” Trying to give her one last look of comfort, Dean closed the vault and spun the lock.

Just then, the phone rang. Dean sat his handgun down to answer. “Yeah?” he asked firmly.

“This is Special Agent Victor Henriksen.”

“Yeah, listen, I'm not really in the negotiating mood right now, so--”

The agent interrupted him with obviously no time for his games. “Good. Me neither. It's my job to bring you in. Alive's a bonus, but not necessary.”

“Whoa. Kinda harsh for a Federal Agent, don't you think?”

“Well, you’re not the typical suspect, now are you Dean?”

Horrified that the agent knew his name, Dean stood frozen before Henriksen spoke again.

“I want you, Sam, and Riley out here, unarmed--or we come in. And yes, I know all about Sam and your girl, Riley. Your little brother and the Bonnie to your Clyde.”

Dean smirked at the reference knowing Riley would have loved it too. “Yeah, that part’s true. But how did you even know we were here?”

“Go fuck yourself, that’s how I knew. It’s apparently become my entire job to know you three. I’ve been looking for you for weeks now, Dean. I know about the murder in St. Louis and I know about the Houdini act you pulled in Baltimore. I also know about the desecrations and the thefts. I also know about both your dads.”

“You don’t know shit about our dads,” Dean replied trying to contain his anger at the comment.

“Ex-marine raised his kids on the road, cheap motels, backwoods cabins--real paramilitary survivalist type. I just can't get a handle on what type of whacko he was. White supremacist, Timmy McVeigh, to-may-to, to-mah-to. And then there’s Riley’s old man. Now, that one stumped me a bit. She was raised the same way you and Sam were, but the guy was a mechanic in his earlier years. I’m assuming he was involved in whatever bullshit your own father was.”

“You got no right talking about our dads like that. They were heroes.”

“Yeah. Right. Sure sounds like it. You have one hour to make a decision or we come through those doors full-automatic.” The line went dead as Henrikson hung up on Dean.

The hunter softly pounded the phone into his forehead in irritation before slamming the phone back onto its hook.

------

Sam and Riley were still searching the halls when they saw blood on the floor in front of a closet.

As Sam quickly threw the door open, the half-dressed body of Sherry fell out. Her throat is slit, her face grey and empty.

Riley cringed and felt herself nearly sick at the sight. Blood and gore didn’t affect her in the slightest. Though seeing that woman with her throat cut open by a shifter was enough to bring her back to memories she was still trying to suppress.

She gulped hard as she finally stared down at the body. “Fucking bastard.”

Turning fast on her heels, Riley spun around and began to jog back to the vault. Sam hurried to be at her side.

When they finally reached the vault, Riley steadied her breathing. “We got a problem,” she told Dean.

“Yeah, we got a bit of a problem outside, too.”

“It’s Sherry. The teller.”

Dean made a face of ‘dammit’, before opening up the vault. The scared hostages all flinched and stared back in fear. “Alright, Sherry, we’re gonna let you go.”

“What? Why me?”

“Sign of good faith, okay?” Riley tried not to snark.

Nervously and almost stammering, Sherry stood with the hostages. “I, uh--I think I'd rather stay with the others.”

Riley bit her lip in anger as she struggled to control her rage and walked over to the woman. “I’m afraid we’re gonna have to insist.”

------

Back where Sam and Riley had found the woman’s body, the three guided Sherry to it and shoved her into the room. When she saw the replica of her body, dead on the ground, Sherry began to scream hysterically.

“Is that community theater or are you just naturally that good?” Dean teased.

Riley’s eyes grew slightly dark with hate as she got closer to Sherry. “I’m gonna make sure you never turn into anyone else ever again.”

Sherry screamed and wailed in response.

In that instant, Riley could hear the woman inside. She wasn’t a monster, she was truly just a terrified woman.

But before she could tell Sam, Sherry fell to the ground and fainted. Riley ran a hand through her hair. “Shit.”

Sam looked at her, confounded. “What?”

“It’s not her.”

“Of course, it’s her.”

“No...” she groaned. “She may be annoying as hell, but she’s not a monster. I could hear her thoughts...finally.”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake...” Dean uttered under his breath as he went to check the hallways again.

Riley crouched beside the body they had found, perplexed. As she turned to look at Sam, the eyes of the body opened and stared up at her. It was the shapeshifter.

The creature grabbed her by the throat and Riley fought back. With the letter opener in hand, Riley struggled and stabbed at the shifter.

Sherry woke up, terrified once again and screaming. Sam went to her side but then looked back at Riley unsure of what to do.

“Get her out, Sam! Now!” Riley demanded in the scuffle.

With hesitation, Sam complied and took the woman out of the room.

Finally escaping Riley’s grasp, the shifter kneed the hunter in the face sending her onto her back before fleeing. Riley practically growled in anger as she got up to go after it.

Sprinting in its direction, she rounded a corner and the shifter hit her in the face, hard. Riley stumbled and then stood tall. Cracking her neck, she got into a fighting stance and eyed the creature. “Bring it on, bitch.”

She swiped at it with the silver blade and it avoided the attack before retaliating. The two tussled as the monster got in two good head butts.

Riley slashed at her again and the shifter grabbed her wrist and wrenched it up. The hunter grasped ‘Sherry's’ forearm as the monster’s skin slipped off stickily. “Ugh...” she groaned. “Fuckin’ gross.”

Riley kicked her hard and then hit her several times in the face. She grabbed her leg and wrenched it back, shoving her against the wall. They struggled like that for a moment before the hunter managed to ram the silver blade into her chest. The creature groaned and Riley let its body slide to the floor.

Panting from the fight, Riley knelt down to look at the disguised monster to ensure it was dead. It felt so good to see another shapeshifter wasted. And it felt even better that she was the one to do it.

A noise came from nearby and she flinched in its direction.

It was Dean. “Rye, what the fuck happened?”

She chuckled. “Bitch was a fighter.”

Dean crouched beside Riley and looked her over for serious injuries. “You alright?”

“Yeah. I’m good.” She looked at the creature one more time with satisfaction. “I’m good.”

Lights came from around the corner as the S.W.A.T. team stared them down. They panted nervously looking at the officers that had found and cornered them.

------

After the feds and S.W.A.T. team had made their way inside, they cleared each hallway. Along the way, they found the body of the man that had fallen from the ceiling and the body of the Sherry duplicate.

“Sir?” an officer said to Agent Henriksen. “My team said it's secure. They're gone”.

“You tell your team to tear it apart!” the agent shouted. “The ducts, the ceilings, the furnace, everything!”

“I don't think that's necessary.”

“Why the fuck not?”

The officer took Henriksen to a broom closet where other officers had gathered. Inside, there were three men stripped down to their underwear and handcuffed to each other on the floor.

Henriksen’s head fell in defeat and humiliation as he realized the three had gotten away.

------

Three figures in S.W.A.T. armor with weapons had exited the bank and were running up the stairs on the outside of a building. They left the stairs and turned into the deck of a parking garage and walked towards a car--it was the Impala.

As they get into the Chevy, the three in uniform pulled off their helmets and masks. It was Sam, Dean, and Riley. They all were still shaking after having only just barely escaped.

Riley’s hair fell and she brushed a hand through it as they sat in silence.

Their situation was bad and they knew it. The hunters, of course, had experienced their fair share of run-ins with the law, but now the feds were on their tail. How the Winchesters and Riley were going to con their way out of that nightmare, was beyond them.

“We’re so fucked,” Dean admitted.

His partners both nodded their heads minutely.

With nothing left to say, it was time they got out of there. Dean started Baby up and hurried them out of the parking structure. The only way to stay safe for the time being was to get as much distance between them and Milwaukee as they could.

Sam leaned forward and turned on the stereo to beat the uncomfortable quiet. Styx’s song ‘Renegade’ came through the speakers and the brothers and Riley looked at each other, slightly shocked by the odds of it playing. But, as no one spoke up, the song played on as they disappeared down the road.

“Oh, mama, I’m in fear for my life from the long arm of the law. Lawman is pullin' into my runnin', and I'm so far from my home. Oh, mama, I can hear you a-cryin', you're so scared and all alone. Hangman is coming down from the gallows, and I don't have very long...”

------

S2 Chapter 8: Born Under a Bad Sign

SIDE BAR: I LIVE for the love and reblogs, but since big things are happening, maybe don’t put spoilers in the reblog comment section and leave them just in the regular comments lol Love you ALL!

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