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Hunting Humanity IX	By : greenwizard11 Category: Supernatural > Slash - Male/Male Views: 1362 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Supernatural universe. No monetary gain is coming from this story.

Chapter List
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Dean started gathering up the cards on the kitchen table. “Alright, boys, time to get ready for bed,” he said to John and Nathan. “Go on. Your mom won’t be happy if I keep you any longer.”

The boys scampered off upstairs and Liam rested his chin in his palm. “You don’t seem happy.”

Dean shrugged as he put the cards back in the box. “Yeah, well, this visit wasn’t for me. It was for Sam, and for you.”

“For me?” Liam didn’t understand.

“When you went out to the car for water, Cole and I were talking about you. He didn’t see your appeal. While I was trying to explain it, I kind of realized you’re happier here, in a home, not chasing monsters.”

Liam let out a soft sigh and leaned back in the chair. “I can’t deny that. Games of Go Fish are a whole lot more fun than getting thrown into a table. I like the quiet, at least every once in a while.”

Dean got up to put the cards back in a drawer. “Yeah, looking after rugrats is more of a you and Sam thing. When he leaves the bunker to come visit, you’ve been staying and looking after me. I just want you both happy.”

Liam took his husband’s hand when Dean sat back down beside him. “I’m happy that you’re still you.”

“I know,” Dean squeezed his hand and looked down at the table. “But don’t think I haven’t noticed how much it’s stressing you out just waiting for it to happen. It’s hard on both of you, hence this nice visit where we get to be normal for a little while.”

“But you’re itching to take a case, I can see it.”

“I am. I want to focus on doing the most good. If I can talk you and Sam into it, I think I found one too. Up in Massachusetts there have been a string of gory suicides in the past two weeks. It could be some kind of curse.”

“Maybe. Do these victims have anything in common?”

“Not that I’ve found yet. I really would like to go check it out.”

“I’ll talk to Sam before bed. Just so you know, the kids are gonna raise a fuss over him leaving, and he hates it.”

“He shouldn’t let it get to him. He’s an awesome dad when he’s here, which I know isn’t a lot lately.”

“And now you’re feeling guilty about keeping your brother away from his family.”

“A little. I mean, at least he has a wife and kids to come see. Don’t...” Dean frowned when he saw Liam’s expression at those words. “Don’t start down that rabbit hole. I love you, maddening quirks and all. I was meant to be with you. The family thing, that wasn’t meant for me, and that’s just how it is. Despite how I act sometimes, I wouldn’t trade you for any woman. I like to look, but I’m content with who I fall asleep next to at night.”

A small smile appeared on the blond’s lips. “I wouldn’t trade you either. You get on my nerves sometimes too, but I don’t want anyone else. So, as soon as Sam is done putting the kids to bed, I’ll go talk him into taking a case.”

The next afternoon they were coming out of a police station after they had a chat with the officers about what was going on. “Alright so what do we got?” Sam asked as they headed toward the car. “Terry Sloan, ordinary guy, not a lot of friends, but no known enemies, no relation to the other victims.”

“Well, not necessarily. He’s Catholic, and so are the other two,” Dean pointed out.

Sam scoffed at that. “Dean, this is Massachusetts. There are a lot of Catholics in Massachusetts. You think this is a case?”

“Who kills himself with a candlestick?” Dean argued. “There’s about a billion better ways.”

“Yeah, but he did kill himself.”

“You gotta admit, it is a little strange,” Liam took Dean’s side. “Three people who showed no signs of depression before hand just offing themselves in very painful ways so close together. I know you wanted to stay home, but let’s just check this out.”

“Okay,” Sam sighed. “Any thoughts?”

Dean thought about it a moment. “Alright, so, it was not a witch. There was nothing hexy found on him. Uh, possession? Could have been a demon?”

“Yeah, but the point of a demon possession a living thing is to, you know, possess a living thing,” Sam pointed out.

Dean opened the car door to get in. “Okay, agent, why don’t you get that cellphone back to the bureau’s crime lab, get it hacked like you told those guys, and, uh, we’ll figure out what’s going on with Terry Sloan.”

“Probably nude selfies,” Sam mumbled as he got into the passenger side.

“I’m feeling good about this,” Dean said as he drove back to their motel.

That night a woman murdered her husband. It turned out that the couple went to the same church as the suicide victims, so they decided to go check out the church. “I just can’t believe Lisa McCarthy would murder her husband,” Father Delaney was shaken by the fact as he showed them around.

“Right, well, his blood was all over her body. And her prints were all over the pair of scissors that butchered him,” Sam said.

“That’s terrible.”

“Now, we also have some questions,” Dean spoke up. “Um, for starters, she has no memory of it. The last thing she remembers is being here. Frank had gone to confession. So, if he happened to say anything in the confession about, you know, maybe problems with the wife...”

“I’m sorry. The nature of confession is confidential.”

“Even after death?” Liam asked.

“Since the soul never dies...”

“Ah. Well, my father… He was a man of the cloth, until he met my mother anyway. His opinion was a little different.”

The priest gave him a small smile. “If he left the church for a woman, one could say he was a little different.”

“You got me there.”

“Father, all of the victims attended your church. Um, could you at least tell us if they had recently been to confession?” Dean asked, getting back to topic.

“Yes. These men were fairly regular, but then, so are the majority of the folks here.”

“Father?” a nun came over to them.

“Agents, Sister Mathias is our Director of Social Services. I’ve asked her to show you around and answer any questions,” Father Delaney said before he left them.

“Sister, you’re aware of the recent string of deaths, right?” Sam asked her.

She nodded. “Yes, a terrible tragedy. But I’m confused as to why you’re here. These were all suicides, weren’t they?”

“Well, possibly not.”

“Murders?” a look of horror crossed her face.

“Well, the actual method of killing was all identical,” Dean informed her.

“Ah, the MO.”

“Yes, indeed the MO.”

“I’m going go, uh, have a look around. Uh, excuse me, sister,” Sam excused himself.

Dean turned back to Sister Mathias. “Uh, Sister, did you notice, um, any change in the McCarthy’s lives? Fighting, drinking, cheating? You know, the usual.”

“The usual. A bit cynical, Agent?”

Dean chuckled softly. “Well, you know, scissors to the gut really, uh, bring out the Grinch in me. So… Now Lisa McCarthy said that they were very devoted to each other. Was that true?”

“That always appeared to be the case.”

“But…?” Dean could sense there was something more.

“We’re looking for a motive aren’t we?”

“We are. An earlier victim’s cellphone showed some angry texts between he and his girlfriend because he had been fooling around.”

“There were rumors,” she finally came out with it.

“So, Frank cheated on Lisa. So, she lied to me. Or, she didn’t know.”

“My sources are excellent. And you didn’t hear it from me.”

“I got a question. How does someone, uh, like you end up, you know…?”

“Cloistered away from the world?” She chuckled. “Are you making fun of me, Agent?”

“No. I, uh… I guess I’m just wondering how somebody quits one life for something completely different, and then believes in it so much.”

“Well, in my case, I felt I had no choice. My life had become painful. There was hopelessness. I felt I had to find something larger than myself to focus on. A kind of mission, I guess. You have no idea what I’m talking about, I’m sure.”

“Don’t be sure.”

“Sister, I got a question,” Sam joined them again. “Is there a cemetery nearby?”

“You could say that. The entire church is built over burial crypts.”

“Oh. Have you ever, uh, heard or felt anything strange or unusual?”

“Unusual how?”

“Like, uh, spots in the building that suddenly get cold, or maybe you feel like you’re not quite alone?” Liam could tell what Sam was thinking.

“Rattling chains and teacups that fly across the room?” Sister Mathias seemed slightly amused. Really? The FBI believes in ghosts? I’m afraid I don’t. If you’ll excuse me, Agents, I have to get back to work.”

She left them and they started back toward the car. “Alright, so, Frank cheated on his wife Lisa, alright? You know, the whole theme of this case seems to be about guys doing their women wrong. Notice that?” Dean said when they were outside.

“Yeah, but Lisa McCarthy was pretty convincing that she had no idea whatsoever she had killed her husband,” Sam pointed out,

“Oh, hot nun said that Lisa had no idea he was cheating on her. So, maybe she was controlled by someone who did.”

“Maybe it was a ghost possession,” Liam suggested, this time ignoring the hot nun comment.

Sam thought about it a moment. “Hard to say. I mean there’s EMF in the church, but it’s built on a burial ground.”

“You know that all the victims recently went to confession?” Dean started forming a plan.

“So you think Father Delaney’s involved?”

“Or maybe something surrounding the confessional. Sammy, how long has it been since my last confession?”

Sam couldn’t help a small chuckle. “You’ve never been to confession.”

“Well, that’s too long.” They turned around to go back into the church.

“Just remember, when you enter the confessional, you’re supposed to start off with ‘forgive me father, for I have sinned’.” Liam informed Dean.

“That’s good to know,” Dean gave him a little nod before going in.

Liam and Sam sat in a pew to wait. “I don’t mean to sound...” Sam started searching for a word. “What I’m trying to get at is that your childhood was such a horrible part of your life. Your dad turned into a real bastard. And yet, you still remember so much about the Catholic faith. That just puzzles me a little. Wouldn’t you rather forget it?”

“I would, actually,” Liam answered. “But when something is drilled into a young and impressionable brain for years and years, it tends to stick whether you want it to or not.”

Nothing more was said until Dean came out several minutes later. Sam stood up. “So, you think you had an eavesdropper in there?”

“Hope so,” Dean answered.

“You better watch your back. If we were right, jerks like you are just what our ghost is looking for,” Sam said as they left again.

They waited for something to happen, but nothing did. “You sure you said the right things in there?” Sam was a little skeptical.

“I’m sure,” Dean didn’t like being doubted. “I told the padre all about how I cheat on my wife when I travel for work. It should have worked.”

What they didn’t expect was a call from Sister Mathias. The woman who mocked them for believing in ghosts confessed that she knew of one that she now thought was behind the murders. They raced back to the church to meet with her, and she led them into the basement. “I never mentioned her to you because it didn’t occur to me she was connected with the murders. Ever since I’ve been here I’ve come across restless spirits of all sorts. They’re all kind of sad, harmless. And eventually, the poor things go to their final rest.”

“Wait a second. So, you’re just comfortable around ghosts?” Sam was a little surprised.

“As a spiritual person, I’ve accepted many planes of existence. And as I said, they’ve all been harmless. Isabella was my friend. We had a lot in common, including painful love lives. I wanted to protect her.”

“You said she showed up about three weeks ago when stuff from her home arrived?” Dean asked, looking at all the stuff on the table.

The sister nodded. “Yes, part of a shipment from a monastery in Tivoli. Her family’s treasures found their way to the church, as with many of the great houses of Europe.”

“You get that she got here just before the murders started happening,” Sam pointed out.

“I finally realized that. And then I heard the three of you, and it made me wonder. That’s when I read her journal. It was given to her father right after her death.”

“Vengeful spirit, just like we thought,” Dean confirmed.

“Yeah, but sixteenth century Florence. She’s probably buried in Florence,” Sam voiced his concern.

Sister Mathias handed Sam Isabel’s journal. “The journal ended right after her trial. Piero’s death was so horrific she was convicted of witchcraft. They sentenced her to burn at the stake.”

Dean gave a little nod at that piece of information. “Okay, well, if she burned, then so would her bones.”

“Yeah, but, Dean, something here is the tether that ties her to this place,” Sam motioned to all the items on the table.

“We’ll have to burn it all because it could be anything,” Liam didn’t seem thrilled with that task.

“It’s probably the journal, where she wrote about her life,” Dean guessed. He turned to Sister Mathias. “Why don’t we see if we can’t find Isabella, try to slow her down. Sam, burn all this stuff. Liam, help him.”

“Her journal? Is that necessary?” Sister Mathias was a little upset by that thought.

“Believe me, it’s necessary.”

Sam glanced around at all the boxes. “Well, I don’t know, Dean. I mean, there might be more in here.”

“Sam, burn it. Lets go,” Dean motioned for the sister to follow him.

With a sigh Liam started tossing things into the fireplace. “Are you going to help, or just stand there?” he turned to Sam after a minute.

Sam was looking at the journal. “I know what Dean said, but I really think I need to read this. There could be something in here that we need to know.”

“Maybe, but do we really have the time? He’s out there, and a shotgun with rock salt can only do so much.”

“And if we’re missing something and we burn it now, we’ll never stop her.”

Liam continued tossing everything else. “Just read fast then.”

“Here,” Sam pointed to the journal after several minutes. “She had Piero grind up part of her finger and mix it into the paint.”

“Yuck,” Liam gagged a little.

Sam looked around at all the boxes with labels on them. “We need to find the painting and burn it too. Still think I should’ve just burned the journal?”

“Shut up and let’s find the painting,” Liam started looking through the boxes.

Sam started looking too. “Found it,” he grabbed a crowbar and started prying the box open. “This has to be it.”

Sam put the painting in the fireplace on top of everything else and started dowsing it all with lighter fluid. Then he lit a match and tossed it in, and they watched as the painting went up in flames. Dean came down several minutes later not looking pleased. “How long does it take two people to burn a journal?”

“It was a good thing I read it first,” Sam pointed to the blackened frame of the painting in the fireplace. “Otherwise we wouldn’t have known that Isabella cut off part of her finger and had her lover grind it up into the paint.”

“Oh,” Dean didn’t know how to respond to that.

“You’re okay, right?” Liam asked him.

“Yeah,” Dean nodded. “Almost wasn’t, but if she was tethered to the painting, then you got it. Whatever it was, she’s gone now.”

“Good,” Liam kissed Dean’s cheek. Sister Mathias walked in on that. “Please, no lectures.”

She looked a little caught off guard, but gave them a small smile. “I’m just grateful that you were able to help Isabella move on.”

They said their goodbyes to her and got on the road to go back to the bunker. Dean was a little worn out, so he let Sam drive. After a few miles of silence he shook his head. “Who mixes their blood and bones into paint? No woman’s ever done that for me.”

“Don’t expect me to do it either,” Liam said from the back. “There’s me crazy, and then there’s...”

“Is this you thanking me for not doing what you told me to do?” Sam asked with a slightly smug expression.

“You know, if you would have burned the journal, then we wouldn’t know how to kill it, would we?” Dean responded.

Sam chuckled. “Yeah, you’re welcome. You know, you were in that confessional a long time. If you have anything you need to talk about, you have two people right here who will listen. I’m your brother, and Liam is your husband.”

“I know, Sammy,” Dean sighed.

“I heard what Sister Mathias was saying about, you know, hiding pain by taking on a mission, and I know that’s what you’re doing a little bit. And it’s okay. I mean, it’s fine. I get it. I’ve done it before too. But I don’t buy for one second that the mark is a terminal diagnosis, so don’t go making peace with that idea. There has to be a way. There will be a way, and we will find it. That’s what we do. So, believe that.”

“Okay,” Dean said, but he didn’t sound like he believed it much.

“Try again, and make me believe you,” Liam frowned. “It’s not like we don’t get it. We’ve been by your side the entire time, feeling just as frustrated as you. But if you want to lessen my stress, then don’t give up just yet.”

“Okay,” Dean nodded and reached back to take Liam’s hand.
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Hunting Humanity IX