you were the shadow to my light

Sam nodded to her suggestions, looking forward to the idea of it, but he felt a pit in his stomach that made him worry it wouldn't come to be a reality. "We'll get to relax a bit before we look for another case," he offered up anyways, managing a small smile as he tried to convince himself. When he heard the knock, he rubbed Rosie's back and nodded. "Ready," he assured her, kissing her forehead before he pulled from the embrace. Sliding an arm around her waist, he moved to the door to open it.

Alice listened quietly, hopeful that exhausting every effort they could would help them in the end. Seeing his offered hand, she reached to clasp his hand in hers, her fingers linking through his as she gave his hand a squeeze, relieved for the contact, for the reminder that he was there. Seeing the door open, she offered a small smile to the others. "Morning, guys," she greeted gently.

“Good morning.” Rosie forced a smile, which was unnatural for her in itself. “Let’s get going, the faster, the better.” They grouped together, and Rosie trailed behind slightly as they started the ten minute walk back to where Baby was resting, in the parking lot of the diner. Making sure she had her FBI badge, she held Sam’s hand, but she just didn’t want to speak, not finding the situation necessary for any conversation.

Dean looked down at Alice, trying to shake off the feeling of uncertainty. “Remember, one pm, back at the motel. Call if you’re running late.” He instructed. Dean’s walls had gone back up, stronger than ever. “You girls aren’t too far from the police station, so remember to look in every hidey hole you can find.” He kissed Alice’s head as they approached Baby; reluctantly letting go of Alice’s hand to get behind the wheel.

Sam gave Rosie's hand a squeeze as they walked to the car. He couldn't help but to look at her every now and then during the walk, wanting to see her as much as possible before they really got into this case. Moving to open the door, he motioned for her to get in first as he watched her. "Be careful with all of this," he told her gently, "Stay together, don't stray too far from each other. Just... Be careful."

Alice nodded, looking up at Dean. "We'll keep it all in mind," she promised quietly, offering a small smile. "Really. We'll check everything, as many times as we have to, to make sure we don't miss anything. And, if we do start running late with all the investigating, we'll let you know immediately." She didn't want him to worry, after all. Moving to the other side of the car, she opened the door and slid in.

Rosie nodded silently as she got into her usual seat — behind Dean. She watched Sam as he got in; and she smiled at the sight of him in a suit. “Stop worrying.” She murmured to him as she leaned over to help him with his belt, her hands shaking slightly as she leaned back into her seat, trying to calm herself.

Dean kissed her hand as he took it suddenly, making Alice jump slightly. “We can do this, team.” Dean let go of Alice’s hand as he started driving, glancing at her every once in a while as he made his way to the cul-de-sac where the first victim was killed. He parked outside the house, cornered off with police investigation tape. Dean brought Baby to a complete stop, one half of him wanting to scream, tell the girls and Sam that there was another hunter out there who could do the case. The other half, the more curious half, urged him to continue on. He turned towards Alice, cupping her cheek with his large hand, kissing her softly.

Sam caught sight of Rosie's shaking hands and he reached to take one in his hand, giving it a squeeze, his thumb running over the back of her hand as he watched her. Even with her requesting for him to stop worrying, he couldn't. He was all too aware of how often he and Dean lost people they cared about and nobody meant more to Sam than Rosie did, so he feared that just that put her more at risk. When the car came to a stop, he shifted, reaching over to take her face in his hands, running his thumbs over her cheeks for a moment. "I love you, Rosie," he reminded her gently, "I'll see you at one, okay? Just... Be careful." He couldn't help but to stress that, his concern still growing, and he leaned closer, pulling her closer to himself to kiss her gently, hopeful that everything would be okay.

Alice was caught by surprise with feeling Dean's hand on her cheek, but she leaned into the kiss, returning it almost desperately, because she was worried about how this would all turn out and she didn't want to lose this moment. Her hand reached to rest over his, her fingers curling around his hand, and she pulled back to rest her forehead against his, her eyes closing over as she tried to steel herself for separating from him. "I love you," she reminded him quietly, "I'll see you soon, I promise." She said it firmly, hoping that the determination would help, that it would make her feel more confident about the situation, but it really didn't.

Rosie smiled into the kiss, pulling away reluctantly. Pressing her forehead to Sam's for the final time, Rosie locked her gaze onto his. "I love you, Sammy." She murmured against his lips, jokingly tugging his hair to lighten the atmosphere. "I'll see you at one, on the dot." She smiled the most over-exaggerated grin at him, opening her door to exit the car as gracefully she could in the cheap FBI skirt. Looking back to where Sam was sat, Rosie grinned. "I solemnly swear that I'll be careful. Alice and I have each other's backs." She pressed a kiss to her pointer finger's tip, placing it on Sam's cheek gently, before stepping away and shutting the door.

Dean nodded, kissing Alice softly once more. "I love you so much. I'll see you in a few hours. Just, please, for the love of God, be careful." He urged. "Call me if you run into any trouble, and I'll come and pick you both up." Dean, although every intuition he had told him not to, pulled away from Alice, tapping the steering wheel in an attempt to look upbeat. "Sam, you coming to ride shot gun?" He looked desperately into the rear view mirror, secretly needing his brother's comfort, now more than ever. Although Dean Winchester would never admit that out loud.

(switching the parts for flow)

Alice offered as much of a smile as she could manage to Dean's words, and nodded. "We'll be careful. You guys should worry about yourselves - out of all of us, who has more of a record for getting into trouble?" she mentioned lightly, squeezing his hand, "So you two, be careful, okay?" For a few moments, she watched him before she pulled away to climb out of the car and looked to Rosie. "Ready?" Really, Alice herself wasn't sure she was ready for this, not with all the concern radiating off the group. She wasn't used to Dean worrying as much as he was - he worried, of course, and she knew that, but he was usually far more subtle, so for him, of all people, to be worried about this case so much, it made things a little harder.

Sam watched Rosie with concern, unable to really hide it, even though he was trying his best. This case just didn't sit well with him in any way and he worried about what could happen. "Be careful," he repeated to her gently before his gaze went to Dean and he nodded to his brother's words, leaning forward to pat his brother's shoulder. Climbing out of the car, he moved to kiss Rosie one more time, and he watched her, stroking her cheek, before he pulled back to climb into the front seat. Settling into his seat, he looked at the girls. "I love you," he reminded Rosie again, "Be safe. Be smart. Be careful. Get the information you need, then meet us. We'll see you soon." He hoped, anyways. God, he hoped so much that everything would be okay.

Rosie looked at Sam with a reassuring smile, blowing him a kiss. Turning to look at Alice, Rosie nodded her head. "I'm ready." She grinned, putting on a confident front as to not worry Sam, Dean or Alice further. "We'll see you two troublemakers later, alright?" She winked, she placed a reassuring hand on Alice's shoulder, guiding Alice to turn to walk up the garden path of the first victim's house.

Dean exhaled heavily, looking at Sam with an almost doubtful look. "Man, I wish I could be a fly on the wall." He muttered, putting Baby in reverse and backing out of the little cul-de-sac, hidden from view from the rest of the world. "Alright, I guess we're heading to the police station, it shouldn't be too far from here. Keep an eye out for it." Dean stayed silent for a moment, before sighing heavily. "Oh god, Sammy, I've not been this nervous in a long time. Like, a really long time. Like, saying no to Zachariah kinda long."

Alice looked over her shoulder to watch the car leave before she sighed and looked ahead as they made their way up to the house. "We just... Have to stick to the plan and everything should be perfectly fine," she said quietly to Rosie, hoping that it was true. But, she worried about unexpected surprises, or about something throwing them off and leaving them left to fumble for what to do. Shaking her head to rid herself of the thought, she headed up to the door, being careful of the tape around it, and busied herself with opening it.

"It sure would make our lives easier," Sam admitted, shaking his head slightly as he leaned back in his seat, doing his best not to look out the back window to watch the girls disappear from sight. He couldn't, not when he didn't want that to be the last view he'd have of Rosie, if something happened. He nodded, though, looking for the police station during the drive. "I don't like this at all," he admitted in agreement to his brother, frowning to himself, "Even with the few details we know about this case, it just doesn't feel right at all. I hate it."

"That's all we can do," Rosie spoke gently, squeezing Alice's shoulder to reassure her, doing what Rosie did best. Following Alice's footsteps and ducking under the tape, Rosie handed Alice a bobby pin to help her pick the lock, looking over her shoulder to make sure there was no one watching them, tapping her pocket to make sure she had her FBI badge, just in case. The door made a satisfying click noise, indicating it had unlocked. "Ladies first," Rosie winked, letting Alice enter before herself.

"I know, Sammy, trust me. No one knows more than me, and I hate it too." Dean looked at his younger brother. "But, the girls, they know what they're doing. They kick ass and get shit done, I think we've met our match with these two." Dean smiled, trying to put Sam at ease. Seeing the police station, Dean pulled in, parking Baby in the closest spot. "C'mon, let's do our thing. It's not long before we see them again."

Alice nodded in response, though she offered an amused look at her friend. "Always spoiling me," she joked lightly before she made her way into the house, looking around a bit. There didn't really seem to be any signs of struggle in the house at first glance, which left Alice a little surprised. There was a tape outline of the body on the carpet floor, and Alice knelt to get a look at it, though she figured this definitely wasn't the victim who'd combusted into flames, since there weren't any scorch marks. "Alright, so... Time to check the nooks and crannies?" She looked over to Rosie as she stood up.

Sam couldn't help but to let out a slight chuckle, though it came out tense, and he nodded. "I definitely wouldn't want anybody besides the three of you watching my back," he said honestly, amused, shaking his head. "Rosie's a force to be reckoned with." He smiled fondly to himself with the thought of it, but even that didn't ease his worries too much. Looking at the police station once they'd parked, he cleared his throat and climbed out of the car, nodding. "Right. And, once this is all over, we'll laugh at how ridiculous we seemed with all of our concern." Straightening out his clothes, he looked to his brother. "So, let's get started, so we can get this over with."

"Of course I always spoil you." Rosie chuckled. "Who else do I have to spoil?" She pouted, looking around at the framed pictures on the walls. "Right, you take the upstairs, I take the downstairs. If you find anything, call me. If I find anything, I'll call you. Remember, no stone unturned." Rosie smiled at Alice, trying to remain her usual, optimistic self. "Let's go." Rosie started humming the mission impossible theme song, all in hopes to make Alice laugh.

"Got your FBI badge, Mr Bikini Inspector?" Dean laughed, remembering that mishap all those years ago, shaking his head as he walked up the steps with Sam by his side. "Man, remember when Rosie gave me that black eye?" His eyes widened at the memory. "Alice didn't stop laughing for like, a week." He smiled at the thought of Alice's smile and laugh. "To be fair, though, I wouldn't want anyone else watching my back. My baby brother, my little sister, and my damn tough girlfriend." He grinned proudly, walking into the police station. "Hello sir, we are Agents Carter and Clay, we're here to ask a few questions about the murders that took place under mysterious circumstances?" He showed his badge, changing from funny to professional in the blink of an eye.

Alice couldn't help but to laugh quietly in response, rolling her eyes. "You and that damn song," she joked lightly, grinning at her friend, though it was nice to be able to be a little less stressed about everything. Even if it was just a momentary distraction, it was still a distraction, and she was relieved for that much. "Alright, I'll see you in a bit." She nodded before she headed upstairs to have a look around.

"Oh, please don't remind me about that," Sam complained, making a joking face before he shook his head. "You completely deserved that black eye and you know it." He smiled with amusement, unable to help it. It was a great memory, in his opinion, his girlfriend showing just how great she was by punching Dean hard enough to give him a black eye that he had definitely deserved. He straightened, though, when they approached, and held up his own badge.

The officer inspected the badges for a moment before he nodded slightly. "Right, well, what exactly are you wanting to know about them?" he asked.

"Hey, I just wanna feel like a real secret agent," Rosie laughed. "Instead of having to be a pretend one. See you later." Treading quietly into the kitchen, Rosie began opening the cupboards, seeing nothing but old tins of soup, ravioli, beans, everything of the sort. Pulling a face, she continued investigating, opening the door to the utility room, seeing a bowl of cat biscuits. "Huh," she murmured. Out of the corner of her eye, in the smallest corner of the room, Rosie saw it. A small, brown, tied up bag. "What th - Alice!" She called, stepping away from the hex bag for the moment being. "Alice, get down here, someone could still be up there!"

Dean looked at Sam. "Well first of all, we need to read the police reports. Were any witnesses spoken to? Was there anything... suspicious, apart from, you know, the human barbecue." Dean frowned. "It's not exactly natural. What did the coroner say?" He followed the officer to the back of the station, presumably where they kept the records. "Anything strange seen in the victims houses?" He looked at Sam through the corner of his eye.

Alice had been searching the bedrooms upstairs, checking under the beds, in the sheets, in the pillowcases, in the vents, in the closets, anywhere she could, though her attention was caught when she heard Rosie. Processing her friend's words, she tensed and pulled out her gun to make her way downstairs cautiously, but also her phone in case she needed to call Dean. Joining Rosie downstairs, she looked to her friend. "What do you mean?" she asked quietly, "What's going on?"

"No witnesses," the officer informed with a shake of his head, "Most of the deaths happened in people's homes - and the victims all lived alone, with occasional guests, but there were no guests in any of the homes at the times of the deaths." He led the way back to the records, pulling out a box of the files, though there wasn't much in any of them. "The coroner's at a loss of what happened to all of them - they have very clear deaths, but no way to explain how those deaths happened. So far, aside from the deaths and the states of the bodies, we haven't come across anything else strange, though. We haven't found anything to connect the victims yet, either."

Sam frowned with the information but moved to take the box from the man's hand, opening it to look inside. There were small files on each case, coroner's reports, attempts at talking to witnesses, but since nobody had seen what happened, they'd mostly focused on trying to get information on the victims overall. Shifting, he offered a file to Dean after he scanned through it. "The files are small," he mentioned as he looked to the man, "This is all the information you could get?" He didn't ask it in an accusatory tone, of course; the man had already explained the situations, but it still didn't help much.

"We got as much information as we could," the officer said honestly, "There just... Wasn't much to get, unfortunately."

Rosie put her finger to her lips, nodding towards the hex bag. Quietly stepping out of the utility closet, she looked around, pulling out her own gun for protection. Nodding for Alice to follow her, Rosie walked as quietly as she could to the living room; looking around the corner before she stepped in. "I think we're safe, but we need to get the boys here, now." Rosie whispered to Alice, twisting her mother's ring around her ring anxiously when she saw she didn't need to use her gun at that moment. "It's a witch."

Dean cleared his throat. "Well, with all due respect, it doesn't look like you tried." He frowned, throwing the folder down onto the table. "We've got a warrant to search the houses of the victims, and we've got two of our finest agents on the case. If you need confirmation from our boss, I can pass on his number." Poor Bobby Singer was always the one who saved their asses. "Well, we're going to head to the morgue and speak to the coroner, see if there was anything fishy over there." Dean nodded at the officer. "Thank you."

"A witch?" Alice asked, blinking with surprise. It made sense, though, considering how odd the deaths were. But, that didn't explain what was happening to the hunters and that worried her. "Right, yeah, I'll call them." She nodded slightly, breathing out, and she busied herself with pulling up her contacts to call the guys, pulling up Dean's. Before she could press call, though, she heard a noise behind them and, when she turned, she caught sight of a woman with a wicked grin before there was a sudden flash of light. Alice dropped her phone, blacking out.

"With how many deaths there have been with no explanation, we'll take all the help we can get on this," the officer said honestly, though he nodded before giving them directions to get to the morgue.

Sam listened to the directions before he led the way off with Dean, looking to his brother. "So, there's nothing to connect any of the victims, even the information the officers got from neighbors and family and friends doesn't really seem to amount to anything useful... We're just drawing blanks with all of this," he sighed out quietly, frowning gently to himself. It worried him all he more with so little information to go on.

"Alice!" Rosie gasped, dropping her mother's ring in shock. Taking a step towards the witch, but the woman, with greying hair and an unforgiving grin, blocked Rosie's path with the same flash of light that had hit Alice. As Rosie lost consciousness, the last thing she saw was the woman walking away as if nothing had happened.

Dean nodded at Sam. "I'm just worried now. After he said that all the deaths happened in the victims homes, it just..." Dean stopped walking, turning to face Sam. "What if something's happened to the girls?" He tried to shake off his negative feeling. "I don't know if I should call Alice to check in, or if I'm just being paranoid." He sighed, walking down the steps that lead him back to his Baby.

(dropping the girls until the guys find their things to have them wake up)

Sam watched his brother with concern, his own concern growing with the thought that something could have happened to Rosie and Alice. "They said they'd call if something happened. We just... Have to have faith in that," he said carefully, trying to convince himself more than anything. "But... Now that you bring it up, I can't help but to worry, too... But, if we call them, they'll think something's wrong here..." But he still couldn't help but to want to check on them.

Dean's intuition was calling out to him, screaming at him to do what was right. Dean hesitated as he got into his beloved car, sitting behind the wheel for a second. "Should we go and check, or?" His voice was meek, quieter than Dean's usual, boisterous self. His face had lost some colour as he felt nauseas just thinking of all the possibilities, things that could have gone right, but things that could have gone awfully, horribly wrong.