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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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Liam was sitting beside Sam in the library when Dean came in with a tray full of omelets. “What’s this?” Sam was intrigued as his brother set one in front of both of them.

“Breakfast,” Dean answered as if it was obvious before he sat with his own plate of food.

“I can see that,” Sam responded looking amused. “But since when do you cook? Hell, since when do you sleep in?”

“It’s part of my plan,” Dean explained. “Like you said, Cain learned to live with this thing, so I need to find a way. I haven’t had a drink in a week, I’m eating healthier, and I’ve been getting a full night’s sleep every night with my teddy bear.”

“If it helps that’s good.” Sam took a cautious bite of the omelet. “That’s actually not bad.”

“You act like that’s some kind of miracle,” Dean was slightly offended. “I’ve only watched Liam do it a couple hundred times. Cooking isn’t that hard.”

“Thanks for that,” Liam mumbled as he ate.

“Not what I meant,” Dean shot him a look. “I meant simple stuff. You’re awesome at cooking, and you’re gonna have to teach me the secret to your french toast.” He took a bite of his own omelet. “Soon as we get rid of this demonic tramp stamp, I am back on the booze and burgers. Tell me you got something.”

Liam tossed another book out of his way with a sigh. “One, I don’t know how much you drank before you met me, but it’s still too much. And two, I feel like we’ve been over all of this a hundred times already.”

“But we’ll go over it again in case we missed something,” Sam said with determination. “And we’ll expand our search.”

Hours passed, and Dean brought out a green smoothie while Sam was poking around on his laptop. Dean took a sip and made a face. “I think you might be taking the health thing a little far,” Liam commented. “Even I won’t touch that crap.”

“Yeah, well, I’m trying everything I can think of to keep myself sane,” Dean pushed the smoothie away.

“What the hell?” Sam mumbled while he was watching something.

“Cain or Crowley?” Dean asked.

“Charlie.”

Dean went over to where Sam was. “Is she back from Oz? She didn't call?”

“She’s been busy,” Sam showed his brother and Liam the video.

It was a video of Charlie beating on some guy in his yard. “What the hell am I looking at?” Dean blinked.

Sam turned to his brother for a minute. “So, you know, I was looking into the news, checking for anything weird, right? I found this story about a torture victim. Apparently, some kid videotaped this at his next door neighbor's house.”

“What are you saying, Charlie tortured someone?” Dean didn’t believe it. “Our Charlie? Yea high, wouldn't hurt a hobbit, practically sparkles?” He picked up his phone to call her, and then hung up after a minute. “She’s not answering.”

“The guy she went all Jack Bauer on, uh, Peter Harper,” Sam did some more digging. “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 wouldn't go off on someone without a reason,” Dean tried to rationalize it.

“Yeah, I wouldn't think so either, but look at the video,” Sam motioned to the screen.

“Oh, I'm looking at it. But you know what we do, taken out of context, it doesn't look that much different. She could be hunting. Why don't we go talk to this asshat and see what's going on?”

“Okay,” Sam agreed.

“I agree with you that Charlie is cool, or she was when she left,” Liam said as they headed to their room to pack. “But we have to prepare ourselves for anything. We don’t know what happened in Oz.”

“No, we don’t,” Dean agreed. “But if she’s in trouble, we have to help her.”

Liam gave his husband a little smile. “Glad to see that a part of you is still good at least.”

“I told you I’m trying. I don’t want to put you and Sam through any more than I already have, you especially. Thank you for staying with me.”

“Just keep the good streak going.”

They left and started their investigation. They learned quite a bit about what happened. Then they sat down with Peter Harper in his home to try and get a better understanding of what was going on. “Now, did you notice anything odd before the attack, any, uh, strange smells, weird noises?” Sam fished for details.

Peter shook his head. “No, nothing. I was just at home here, getting ready for bed, and that crazy bitch jumped me. All she wanted was to know was about some case that I worked on years ago, drunk driver T-boned another car, killing the driver, and the passenger was declared brain dead on the scene.”

“The Middletons,” Dean gave a little nod. “They had a daughter, twelve years old. They were on their way to pick her up.”

“Yeah, that's right. How did you know that?”

“Well, we do our homework at the FBI.”

“Okay, well, then you know the case never went to trial. Before I could even see the evidence, it was off the books. All the files were sealed.”

“Now, how is that even possible?” Sam wondered.

“I don't know, but I looked into it this morning. There's no record of that case anywhere, and the arresting officer has since passed away. There's nothing, except for this,” he slid a file across the table to them. “The social service file on the Middletons' kid. It's not very helpful to be honest with you. The kid has disappeared, until now.”

“Now, is there anything else you can remember about the case, any names you can think of?” Sam pushed.

“No. Like I told the police, it was so long ago. Look, I'm sorry.”

“Alright. Here's the thing. We talked to the other victim on the way here, the stenographer. Now, she said the attacker didn't let her go until she gave up a name, your name.”

“Okay. But what does that have to do with me being attacked in my own home, here?”

“What name did you give up?” Dean demanded.

“Look, I told you everything I told the police. This woman comes in here, beats the tar out of me, but there's no name to give up, so I don't know what else to-” Dean leaped at him and got in his face. “Hey, what are you doing?”

“Talk, you son of a bitch!” Dean shouted. Sam and Liam exchanged a worried look, but didn’t intervene right then.

“Hey, look, I'm the victim, here!”

Dean tipped his chair back some. “Talk!”

“Okay. Alright.” Dean righted his chair. “After the files were sealed I pushed, and, uh... They offered me money, a lot of money.”

“Give me a name.”

“The money kept on coming in from overseas accounts.”

“Give me a name!” Dean growled.

“I will be disbarred!”

“That'll be the least of your worries, I promise you that,” Dean used a very threatening tone.

“Councilwoman Barbara Cordry,” he finally gave up the name.

“What was that?” Liam asked as they left for the car.

“What? You mean me roughing the guy up a little?” Dean didn’t see the big deal. “Not the first time I’ve done that.”

“Yeah, but… Never mind,” the blond sighed as he got in the backseat.

Sam opened the file they had been given to look at it. “Celeste Middleton. That's Charlie's real name. Guess she's looking for the person who, uh, destroyed her family.”

“Can you blame her?” Dean responded. “You know, we just got to find her before she does something nobody can walk away from.”

They drove to Barbara Cordry’s home and knocked on her door. “Can I help you?” she asked when she answered.

Sam stepped forward showing his fake badge. “Yes. I'm Special Agent Gabriel. These are my partners. May we come in?”

“What's this about?” she seemed a little concerned.

“We have some questions about a drunk driving case from a while back involving the Middleton family.”

“I have no idea what you're talking about.”

“Ma'am, if we could just-” Dean started, but she cut him off.

“Sorry. I'm still on vacation. Feel free to schedule an appointment with my assistant. She'll pencil you both in.” She shut the door in their faces.

“Guilty much?” Dean commented.

They went back to the car and monitored the house because they were pretty sure Charlie was going to show up. Sam kept reading the file to find out more about their friend. “Anti-authority disorder, clinical depression, violent outbursts. Charlie was, uh...”

“Dude. If a shrink interviewed us at that age, you think the report would be all kittens and rainbows?” Dean came to Charlie’s defense. “Come on. She's a good kid. There's got to be an explanation for this, man. There's just got to be.”

“Like I said, we don’t know what happened in Oz,” Liam pointed out again. “We need to find that out.”

There was a loud crash from inside the house. The three men rushed in and found Charlie standing over Barbara in the living room. “Let her go,” Sam demanded.

“Who? Oh, her?” Charlie motioned down to Barbara.

“Don’t do this,” Sam’s tone was pleading.

“I just want answers.”

“Yeah? Since when do you start pounding on people for those? What the hell happened to you in Oz?” Dean asked.

“Everything I wanted. An adventure. Even got my own little sword.”

“Charlie...” Sam was still trying to get through to her.

“Oh, Sam, you're adorable. You're not gonna hurt me. In fact, that's your problem, all good guy code, no bite. What a waste. And you...” she turned to Dean. “Always letting this albatross hold you back. If anyone understands me, it’s you, Liam. What do you say, help a girl out?”

“I do understand,” Liam answered her. “But this isn’t the way.”

“Okay, you know what?” Dean interrupted. “I don't know what's going on here, okay? But this is not you.”

She smirked. “Oh, it's me, alright.”

“Charlie, put the knife down. Let her go. We don't want to hurt you, kiddo, but we're not gonna let you do this.”

Charlie lunged at Dean, and the two struggled. Charlie seemed to have the upper hand before she ran. Dean chased after her. “Are you all right?” Sam asked Barbara.

“Yeah,” the woman nodded.

“What did she say to you?”

“She wanted the bank statements.”

“Oh, you son of a bitch!” Dean cried outside at an SUV driving away.

When Sam and Liam came out Charlie pulled up in her yellow car. “What's up, bitches? Right. Um we should probably catch up.”

“I’d say so, yeah,” Liam raised an eyebrow at her.

They all four went to a bar and Charlie gave them a summary of what was going on. “There two of you, one good, one bad?” Sam tried to make sense of it.

“Yeah, what, dick you is some sort of a ninja?” Dean asked.

“She is a badass, yeah,” Charlie answered.

“Hold on. Back up,” Sam was a little confused. “We were there for Dorothy, Oz, yellow brick road. But then...”

“War. The war for Emerald City. It was awesome, until not so much. We were gonna lose, so I made a deal with the wizard of Oz. Wears a hood and a creepy mask, kind of a jerk, good times. He said for us to win, I had to unleash my true darkness, which he meant literally. He used the inner key of Oz. It opens a door to your soul and lets the darkness out. Uh, we're still connected physically. If you hurt her, you hurt me. But bottom line, she's bad, and I'm good. And let me just tell you, being good is really annoying. Normally in a place like this, I'd be pounding Harvey Wallbangers and checking out the bartender's ass. Now all I want to do is sip club soda and send her to college.”

“That would really bite,” Liam commented as he sipped on his drink.

“Okay, uh... So, why is dark Charlie gunning for revenge?” Dean asked.

“She's trying to win me back. Dark Charlie won the war single handedly. But... She did some truly awful things. But I told her I didn't want any part of her near me again, ever. Going after the person who uh...Who took my parents away is her messed up way of showing me how close we are, or could be. I keep calling her she, but she's me. I'm the one doing this.”

“This is confusing, I need another drink,” Liam started to motion toward the bartender.

“No, you don’t,” Dean grabbed his hand. “Charlie, that's not who you are, okay? It's a twisted version of...”

“Me. I've been following her so I can catch her before she does something stupid and just lock her away forever.”

“That's not an answer,” Sam said.

“Sam's right,” Dean nodded. “We'll go back to Oz, and we'll get the key from the wizard of douche, and we'll put you back together.”

“Even if I did want her back... Look, dark me broke the key. There's no way to get back to the wizard.”

Sam thought about it a minute. “Okay, first thing's first. We need to find dark Charlie before she finds the drunk driver. So, we know Barbara gave up her old bank statements, right? That means dark Charlie will probably follow the money back to whoever made the payoffs.”

“That's what I would do,” Charlie agreed.

“We need you to hack into Barbara's bank accounts,” Sam reached for his laptop.

Charlie frowned. “I can’t.”

“What?”

“It's bad. I told you, being good is annoying.”

“How about this, how about you guide me through the process, and then I'm the bad one?” Charlie agreed to that, and they sat together to try and figure out who was paying everyone off. “Okay, so, Barbara's payments all came from offshore accounts, which were routed through dummy corporations, which have all gone belly up.”

“Alright, skip to the end, dragon tattoo,” Dean was getting a little impatient. “They all lead back to who?”

“Russell Wellington. And according to his personal records, he had a car that was reported stolen the week of the accident, a car that was never recovered. And after the supposed theft, he went on a sabbatical from work for two weeks and returned to work with bruises and a broken ankle.”

Charlie looked at the picture on the screen. “So this is him. This is the man who, uh...”

Dean closed the laptop. “And you’re done. Sam, Liam,” he motioned for the two other men to join him off to the side.

“Dudes. Secrets are bad,” Charlie looked a little upset.

“Charlie, I don't think you should be anywhere around this piece of crap salesman,” Dean told it to her straight.

“And I don't think that finding dark Charlie and locking her up is gonna work. I mean, she may be dark, but she's still a part of you,” Sam added.

“I agree,” Liam added his two cents. “People weren’t meant to be completely good, or completely bad. You need to be you again; whole.”

Charlie let out a deep sigh. “You're right. I hate it, but you're right. Okay. Let's go to the bunker. Baum used the key to Oz. Maybe there's something in the Men of Letters' files about the key. If we fix it, we can get back to Oz.”

“Alright, you guys dig into that. I'm gonna keep an eye on Russell and, uh, wait for dark Charlie to show up,” Dean said.

“Dean, maybe I should be the one...” Sam was concerned.

“I got it,” Dean insisted. It's, uh, I just can't believe I have to protect this piece of crap.”

“No, you got to protect them both. I mean, if dark Charlie gets hurt, then...”

“So do I, so, be careful,” Charlie finished the sentence.

“Got it,” Dean started to leave. Liam got up to follow, but Dean put a hand up to stop him. “I know I usually take you with me, but maybe you should stay with Sam this time. You can help with the research.”

“So you can do what?” Liam asked, rather hurt. “You aren’t exactly yourself, and now you don’t want me with you? What are you thinking of doing?”

“Nothing for you to worry about,” Dean tried to assure him. “All I gotta do is keep dark Charlie from doing something really bad. Getting back to Oz is the important part so she can be made whole again. You don’t have to worry, even though I know you will anyway.” Dean gave the blond a quick soft kiss before leaving.

“Is he okay?” Charlie asked Sam.

“I'll tell you on the way. Come on,” Sam ushered everyone back to Charlie’s car.

The three of them went back to the bunker and started digging through the old records. “I’m sick of going through all of this stuff,” Liam grumbled. “It seems like that’s all I ever do anymore.”

Sam gave him a pat on the shoulder. “Research is part of the job, hobbit. I know we’ve been through everything like five times trying help Dean, but it’ll be worth it in the end.” He picked up what seemed to be the right file and opened it. “Okay, here we go. Clive Dillon. He is the Man of Letters that first discovered the key to Oz. So, according to this incident report, Clive went to Oz, but he left the key on earth, and then L. Frank Baum found the key and went to rescue Clive in Oz.”

“That's when Dorothy snuck along for the ride and got stuck there,” Charlie commented.

“Right. And then after Baum rescued Clive, Clive came back and retired.”

“You can retire from the Men of Letters?” Charlie was surprised by that.

“Well, apparently, they put him in some sort of, like, uh, witness relocation program.”

“Where did he end up?”

“Let's find out.”

They dug further into the file. “The Men of Letters gave Clive a new name, a new house, both of which are still listed. I think Clive might be still alive,” Charlie was excited by that prospect.

“How?” Liam was confused and looking over her shoulder. “He’d have to be over a hundred years old by now. I don’t think...”

“Time passes differently in Oz,” Charlie informed him. “It's close by. Let's go look. If he's still kicking, he is the only person who might be able to fix the key to Oz.”

“Let’s go,” Sam got up.

They were on their way to the address when Dean called Sam’s phone. “Dean. Hey, hold on. I'm putting you on speaker. What happened?”

“It’s over,” Dean answered.

“What do you mean it's over?” Liam asked.

“She got to Russell. She killed him.”

“Oh my god,” Charlie was a little shaken.

“Charlie, if you can hear me, I'm so sorry.”

She shook her head. “It's not your fault. It's mine.”

“No. don't say that. This is not on you.”

“And how are you?” Liam asked, a little worried.

“Feeling like an idiot, but otherwise fine. I told you you didn’t need to worry. I mean, I didn’t stop her, but I didn’t, you know… Did you guys find a way back to Oz?” he changed the subject.

“Maybe,” Sam answered. “Uh, look, the Man of Letters who originally found the key, he's still alive. He lives in Junction City under the name Michael Carter. I'll text you the address. Just come meet us.”

“Alright, I’m on my way,” Dean hung up.

They pulled up to the address and they all got out. Charlie knocked on the door, and an older man answered. “Clive Dillon?” Charlie asked hopefully.

The man shook his head. “No. My name is-”

“Michael Carter, right,” Sam interrupted. “But it was Clive Dillon, wasn't it? Back in the Men of Letters? Back in Oz?”

“You seem to be confused. There's no Clive Dillon here. And Oz? That's just a fairy tale. It's best left on the bookshelves where it belongs.”

“So you've never seen this before?” Charlie held out a piece of the broken key.

The man’s eyes widened. “Where did you get that?”

“Long story. Thing is, I need it fixed, and we thought maybe you could help.”

“This is something better discussed inside,” he ushered them all into the house.

Sam’s phone rang. It was Dean again. “Hey. Where the hell are you?” Sam answered.

“Dick Charlie just hot wired Baby. She thinks she's on her way to you.”

“What?”

“I told her the wrong town, so I probably bought you a little time, but, uh, just be on the lookout. I'll be there as soon as I can jack a ride.”

“Hurry,” Sam hung up and turned his attention back to Charlie talking to Clive.

“The six keys of Oz were forged from Oz steel. They can only be repaired in that magical realm,” Clive said with a frown.

“So there's no going back? I can't put my darkness away?” Charlie was upset.

“I’m sorry.”

“What happened to you in Oz?” Sam asked curiously.

“It's in my report.”

“Your report just said you were kidnapped. By whom?”

“Bad people,” was all Clive would say.

“I know that look. You're lying,” Charlie pressed. “And lying is-”

“Bad. Yes, I know. What happened to you, my dear, happened to me.”

“What?” Charlie was surprised.

“A coven of witches grabbed me. They used the inner key on me, unleashed my ID. He was awful. He killed all the witches and went into a tantrum. Was power hungry, crazy. He became the wizard of Oz.”

“Now that’s an interesting turn of events,” Liam mumbled.

Charlie was a little freaked by the revelation. “Frank's daughter, Dorothy, runs Emerald City now. The wizard, dark you, he is right by her side. If she's in trouble...”

“Well, without the key to Oz, there's no way we can get back to the wizard. But there may well be a way to summon him here.” He pulled a gun out of a drawer.

“Right,” Liam nodded. “Charlie said that when of them gets hurt, so does the other, so it would only stand to reason...”

“There has to be another way,” Charlie didn’t like that idea.

“What he has done is my fault. After all, he is me, and I am him, so... Maybe it's time that both of us answered for our sins. It's the good thing to do, right?”

“Logically,” Liam agreed. “But it still sucks seeing as how you didn’t go along with it willingly. Here, let me do it,” Liam pulled out his gun. Clive stood ready. “This is gonna hurt.” Liam shot him in the chest and he fell.

A green light emitted from the mirror, and then it shattered outward. A man stepped through it, a seemingly younger version of Clive, and he looked down on his good half in disgust. “What have you done, you fool?” Liam took aim at the wizard, but was quickly tied up in magical rope. “You had but one task, stay alive, and you couldn't even manage that.”

Charlie suddenly cried out, blood dripping from her lip. She continued to jerk and whimper as if someone was beating the hell out of her, but no one was beside her. “Dean,” Liam grumbled as he struggled against the ropes.

“Stop this, please! Let me help my friend,” Sam pleaded.

The wizard gave Sam an evil smirk. “Your friend wanted to be a hero. And you know what happens to heroes? They die.” He started choking Sam with magic.

Charlie screamed as her arm was broken. But she managed to grab Liam’s gun that had gotten knocked out of his hand. “I’m sorry,” she whimpered as she aimed at Clive.

Clive only smiled at her. “I forgive you. We both do.”

Charlie shot him a second time, and when Clive died, so did the wizard.

Sam ran to Charlie. “Charlie, hang on. Hey, you okay?”

He picked her up and carried her outside. In the yard they found Dean, with dark Charlie lying in the grass looking very beat up. Sam laid Charlie down beside her evil twin. Dark Charlie turned to her twin. “You did it, didn't you? You killed the wizard. I knew it. The magic was in you all the time, Celeste.”

Liam handed Charlie the key he took from the wizard’s body. “Time to be whole again.” With a nod she took the key and used it to open her soul. Dark Charlie was sucked back in. “And now we get her some medical attention.”

Sam scooped Charlie back up in his arms and carried her to the car. “You don’t have to say it,” Dean said to Liam when he saw the way his husband was looking at him.

A few days later Dean was in the library doing more research, with Liam right next to him. Sam was on the phone with Castiel when Charlie came down from her room. “Hey. Uh, shouldn't you be resting up?” Sam said when he hung up the phone.

“I think sleeping for two days in a row is probably enough,” Charlie replied.

“So, are you…?” Sam asked.

“Good? Bad? I think I'll just settle for balanced. Anything about the mark?”

“Yeah, maybe. I found this book. It's a lore book, The Book of the Damned.”

“Sounds legit.”

“It's in a library somewhere in Tuscany. It might be a dead end, but I figured...”

“I'll go check it out.”

“Whoa...” Sam didn’t seem to like that idea.

“Look, there's no going back to Oz. And with the wizard gone, Dorothy will be fine.”

“So, does this mean no more adventure?”

“I think we have all the adventure we can handle right here.”

“I’ll second that,” Liam came over to say goodbye.

Charlie moved to give him a hug. “You just keep yourself going. And you were right, it’s really good to be whole again.”

Dean came over too. “Charlie, I...” he didn’t know what to say.

“We are going to fix this. I'm not letting what happened to me happen to you,” she insisted.

“But it's already happened,” Dean argued. “It seems like all I do lately is hurt the people I care about the most.” He glanced at Liam as he said that.

“Cain found a way to live with it,” Sam repeated the words that gave them a little bit of hope.

“Right. Yeah, after centuries of murder,” Dean didn’t seem like he had all that much hope.

Charlie just smiled at him. “Yeah, well, there's one thing that you have that he didn't. You're a Winchester. I forgive you, Dean.”

“Yeah, well, I don't.”

“I know. Kind of your move. How's that working out for you, huh?”

“I'm so sorry, kiddo.”

“Then prove it,” she pulled Dean into a hug.

“Be careful out there.” Sam hugged her too.

“Does that sound like either of me? If I find something, I'll call. If not, I'll just keep digging. Arrivederci, bitches.” She turned and left.

Sam turned to his brother. “She's right, Dean. You can do this. We can do this.”

“And I’ve been thinking,” Liam turned to face his husband.

“That’s dangerous,” Dean joked.

“Shut up. This is serious. We keep saying that Cain lived with it, so their must be a way. Don’t you remember? Cain quit for love. Maybe you were right about me being the key, that is, if you really do still love me.”

“I should smack you for that,” Dean shot the blond a little glare. “Of course I love you. Sometimes I have a hard time showing it, but I feel it.”

Liam leaned into his other half. “Then hold on really tight to that feeling. I need you to be at least mostly okay until we find something.”

Dean kissed the top of his head. “Then let’s get to work.”
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Hunting Humanity IX