Breathe Life Into Me

By the time we had got to the morgue we…I…had finally explained everything to Mel (for the third time). I just summed up everything in quick short sentences when things started to get awkward though. Luckily the car ride was faster than usual…it was probably because of Mel’s excessive talking and babble. It was really good to have her back.

“Coroner said his heart was ejected from his body. Got some air, too. Found it in a sandbox” the detective explained to us as he brought us to a dead body under a long sheet.

“Any idea what happened, Detective?” Sam asked.

“A lot of people are thinking drugs. An assload of drugs”

“There are no narcotics in that man's system. His molecules are all wrong” Cas whispered to us.

“But you don't think that, huh?” Sam continued.

“Never seen an eightball do that” she pulled the sheet back and we saw a cleanly cut heart shape coming right out of his chest.

“Wow…and who called this in?” Mel asked. I eyed her carefully.

“Friend of his named Olivia Kopple. She saw the whole thing” Her phone began to ring. Ah, crap. I have to take this. Here's everything we got. Knock yourself out” she walked out and Dean gave her a card with his number on it

“I can't sense any EMF or sulfur. Mr. Freleng's arterial health is excellent” Cas said and then leaned over to smell the damn corpse. I made a face at him. “He did recently suffer from a…mild…what is that? Bladder infection?”

“Cas, stop smelling the dead guy” Dean and I both pulled him back.

“Why? Now I know everything about this man. So we can…”

“Do you know he was having an affair?” Mel smirked, holding out the guy’s file.

“What?”

“Strike one, Sherlock” Dean grinned at her.

“According to Olivia, they would meet at the park every Thursday at 12:45, walk to the Moonlight diner, where she always ordered a Caesar salad, dressing on the side. They would chat about everything, and she'd be back on the road by 1:30”

“You don't think she's telling the truth”

“It’s too much detail. Sounds rehearsed” Sam said.

“Plus, we drove past the Moonlight diner on the way into town. It's attached to the Moonlight motel” I added.

“Okay, well, let's say that, uh, Gary here's on the prowl, but he's playing it safe because…” Dean started the scenario.

“The dude's married. Doesn't want anyone to see his ride parked out in front of a by-the-hour fleabag” Mel continued, gesturing to the wedding ring on his finger.

“So he stashes his car at the park across the street, meets Olivia there” Sam goes on.

“His wife probably found out about it, and it broke her heart” I added.

“So she breaks his. Sounds witchy” Mel finished.

“Yes, it does. Guy was living a lie, and it came back to bite him in the ticker. But nice job on the bladder infection” Dean complimented Cas sarcastically.

Dean’s POV

“I…I don't understand. Gary had a heart attack. Why would the FBI…” Mrs. Freleng sobbed.

“The parks are government property. We just got a few questions for you” Dean urged.

“I’ll handle this. I‘ve done research. I can crack her” Cas said to us. We all exchanged a look and then Cas turned back around to face her.

“Now, Ms. Freleng, I don't want to bother you. I really don't. But I do have just one question for you…” He slammed his hands down on the table causing us all to jump. “Why did you kill your husband?!”

“Agent Stills. A word, please” I intervened quickly so he walked back over to me.

“What? I was being bad cop” he said innocently.

“No, you were being bad everything”

“Please forgive our partner. He’s uhh…going through some stuff” Brit explained as she and Sam sat down in front of Mrs. Freleng.

“Just listen to what Sam and Brit say okay?” Mel encouraged.

“What he was trying to ask is…is there any way Gary might have had secrets…something he was hiding?” Sam asked.

“Hiding? Like what?”

There was a knock at the door and a woman let herself in. “Deb?”

“Olivia” The two woman embraced each other, crying.

“As in mistress Olivia?” I leaned toward Mel. She made a face.

“This is awkward” Cas commented.

“I'm sorry. What did you think Gary was hiding?” Mrs. Freleng asked us.

“That he was sleeping with her” Cas said blatently.

I shot him a look. They both shifted in their spots. “I know” she spoke and our eyes shot back at her.

“You know?” Sammy and Brit both asked.

“Gary and I…we had an arrangement. He was seeing Olivia, and I was spending some time with our neighbor P.J”

“I'll, uh put this in the kitchen” Olivia went to put a casserole away.

“I'll help” They both walked out.

“Frigging suburbs, man” I shook my head.

“So she's not a witch” Cas stated.

“Just the best wife ever” Mel shoved me and I grinned at her as she smiled back, rolling her eyes.

“Then what killed her husband?”

“Who gives a…”

“Dean” Brit scolded me.

“What?”

“Something’s still not right”

“She’s right…the way the hole was perfectly shaped in that man’s chest and the fact that it literally popped out…stuff like that doesn’t just happen” Mel added as Sam excused us and we all headed back outside right as I got a phone call….

~

“Looks like suicide” Sam noted.

“It was. Guy left a note. He invested everything in Roman Industries and lost it all when they crashed and burned last year” Detective Glass (from the morgue) informed us.

“So why call us?” I asked her.

“Because I have two witnesses who swear that Madoff here floated in mid-air for a good 10 seconds, then he looked down, and splat. Not sure I buy that, but the way they're talking, it sounds like something straight out of a…”

“Cartoon” Mel filled in for her. An officer called her over.

“You said you wanted weird”

“Thanks” I nodded at her and she walked off.

“She's right, you know. I mean, the whole heart jumping out of the guy's chest, the delayed fall-that's straight-up Bugs Bunny” Brit said.

“So we're looking for some sort of insect-rabbit hybrid? How do we kill it?” Cas asked.

“No, Cas. We don’t. Bugs Bunny is just a character” Mel told him.

“Yea, like Woody Woodpecker or Daffy Duck” Sam added with his goofy smile.

“They're little animated movies. You know, the coyote chases a roadrunner, and then the-the anvil gets dropped on his head” I laughed and Sam chuckled as the girls rolled their eyes at us.

“Is it supposed to be funny?” Cas wondered. My smile dropped.

“No” Mel and Brit answered. “It’s hilarious” I said.

We got back to the motel to get to doing some research. Sam and I were at the table while the girls were on the bed and Cas had his eyes glued to the TV screen. Whenever I glanced up I saw Mel’s eyes on me so she’d smile and look back down. Then she would look back up, I’d wink at her and then look back down.

“Okay you two are like a couple of seventh graders” Sam hissed at me from over the table. I leaned forward.

“Mind your own business, Sammy” I hissed back.

He smiled, amused. “Why are you so nervous?”

“I’m not”

“Oh yea? Okay. Fine” he backed off.

“Stay tuned, kids! We'll be right back!” We all looked to the TV as Cas laughed and then turned it off. “Oh how I’ve missed Television”

“Have I mentioned that it’s so good to be back” Mel chuckled.

I smiled a little to myself. “I understand. The bird represents God. And coyote is man, endlessly chasing the divine, yet never able to catch him. It's…hilarious”

We exchanged a look and then just looked back down. “I got no idea what we're hunting. Maybe it's a Tulpa. Maybe it's some crazy god who watched too much Robot Chicken. I mean, is there a link between Heartbreak Hotel and Free Fallin?” I quipped.

“Not that I can find”

“Us either” the girls sighed and walked over to us. “All right, well, I'm gonna call it” I slammed the book shut and rubbed my face tiredly.

Then, I looked up at Cas. “Cas, you gonna book a room or what?”

“No, I'll stay here”

“Oh, okay. Yeah. We'll have a slumber party, braid Sam's hair. You and the girls can have your very first pillow fight. Where are you gonna sleep?”

“I don't sleep”

“Okay, well, I need my four hours, so…” Mel stretched and walked back toward the bed. I watched her and felt my heart race….

“I'll watch over you”

“Yea…that’s not gonna happen” she smiled smugly.

Suddenly Cas froze up and placed a hand to his temple. “Something's coming across the police band”

“Wait, you can hear that?” Brit asked.

“It's all waves. A bank has been robbed. It sounds loony”

“Define ‘loony’” I said.

I watched Mel start to get to her feet and I stood quickly. “Maybe you should stay here…”

“What? Why?”

“Well…you just said you were tired didn’t you?”

“Not exactly…Dean, I’m fine. Stop being so weird” she tried to get passed me but I stepped in front of her.

She tried again and I side stepped. She did a fakey, spun around and quickly got behind me. “What’s wrong with you?” I just sighed and followed her outside.

Brit’s POV

We got to the bank and things were…definitely loony. “A 1-ton anvil was standing right in the middle of the bank and underneath it was a bloody mess. “Agents. I was just about to give you a ring. Got to ask: do you guys chase the crazy, or does the crazy chase you?” Detective Glass came over to us.

“Depends on the day” Sam shrugged.

“Who's the pancake?” Mel asked.

“Security guard. He called in reporting a robbery, but by the time we got here…”

“A robbery?” I inquired.

“Looks like the “Black Hole” was trying to jimmy open a safe-deposit box when Mr. Rent-A-Cop found him. And, well…you know how that story ends”

“Black hole?” Cas repeated.

“It's our name for a burglar that's been running us ragged. He's a pro-no fingerprints, never any sign of forced entry-just a pair of those every time. Like he's signing his work. Perp's never done anything like this before, though obviously”

“You mind if I take a look at your files on those other break-ins?” Sam wondered.

“No skin off my nose. I'm headed to the station now if you want a ride”

“Perfect”

“Why don’t you go with him?” I suggested to Mel.

“Me? But…”

“I’ll see what’s up with Dean” I bribed. She sighed but nodded, followed Sam.

Don’t get me wrong I did love having Mel back…but it complicated things more. She’s used to being partnered up with Dean all the time and now that there’s four of us again…five counting Cas…there’s no reason for all of us to stay together like this…but I still get separation anxiety when I’m away from Dean…and when I’m apart from Sam I just feel…sad. I need to seriously get myself together.

“Hey. Can you lift this?” Dean asked Cas. He looked around and then easily lifted it up with one hand. Underneath, mixed in with the goop of red stuff assuming to be the guards body, was a big black X.

“X marks the spot. Well, whoever's doing this is playing by cartoon rules” I commented.

“Animation doesn't have rules” Cas objected.

“Sure it does. In Toontown, a pretty girl can make your heart leap out of your chest, anvils fall from the sky, and if you draw a door or a black hole on the wall, you can stroll right through it” Dean explained.

We headed over to one of the giant black circles that were placed on the wall. “So this is how the thief got in”

“And out” Dean added.

“And how they cracked the vault” I finished.

“Then why isn't it working now?” Cas wondered as he tried to put a hand through the hole but it was just solid wall. “I got no clue” Dean sighed. We were at a dead end.

“So what’s going on with you?” I whispered to Dean as we walked out of the bank.

“What are you talking about?”

“Ever since Mel got back you can hardly look at her, let alone touch her. The Dean I know would be all over her by now”

“I’m not talking about this with you…”

“Well you’re gonna have to” I grabbed his arm so he would turn to face me. “You need to stop treating her like she’ll break every time she steps outside, Dean. We fixed her. She’s back for real this time. It’s really her. You know Mel can take care of herself…”

“But you also know she holds back a lot. What if she isn’t ready to jump right in. You know as well as I do that if you aren’t fit to be hunting then you shouldn’t be doing it. You’ll get yourself killed”

“But this is Melissa we’re talking about…she can tell when you’re treating her like a child…you need to let her just be and find out if she’s ready or not on her own”

He ran a hand down his face. “Do you know she doesn’t have it in her anymore?” I asked him and he just looked at me. “It scares her…she doesn’t have the super hearing, she can’t sense when a demon is closing in, she’s just as normal as you and me. She has to relearn everything and that terrifies her. She’s doing her best to get by but you treating her the way you are isn’t helping any”

“Okay…okay fine”

I just nodded and we got back to Cas who was excitedly sitting in the front passenger’s seat. He was begging us to let him sit up front this whole time so I just let him sit there for the ride back to the motel.

Sam’s POV

“So…tell me about Emielia” Mel smirked from the passenger seat as we were heading back to the motel. I chuckled nervously.

“There’s…not much to tell…”

“Oh come on, Sammy! You lived with this girl for pretty much a whole year! She must have had you hooked…what was it about her?”

I thought about it. “She reminded me a lot of Brit” That made her back off a bit. “She had this tough exterior at first but once she let you in…it was different…we understood each other…and what the other was going through…we were two imperfect people perfect for each other…”

“So…what happened?”

I sighed. “Her supposedly dead husband came back to reconnect”

“Ouch, Sammy. I’m sorry” I just nodded.

I could feel her watching me for a moment…and then she sat back, lounging in her seat. “Well if that’s how it happened then you two just weren’t meant to be”

I glanced over at her. “And you believe that?”

“Sure” she shrugged. “Look, I don’t know who this girl is but she obviously made you happy and happiness sometimes comes at a price. Everyone deserves happiness, Sam. You had your moment and it came to be…not meant to be. There had to be a reason for it, right?” There was a slight hinting tone in her voice.

“Are you sure it’s really you in there, Mel?”

She chuckled. “Yea, I’m sure…just trying to have a new outlook on things…I have to now if I’m even going to get by ” she sighed.

I gave her a sad look. She was struggling so hard to get by every second of every minute just being normal. She didn’t even know where to start. I could never imagine what she was going through.

Brit’s POV

“Your father…had beautiful handwriting” Cas commented, going through John’s journal on the bed as Dean and I were at the table.

“How you feeling, Cas?” I asked him.

“I'm fine”

“Well…it’s just…I know when Dean and I got puked out of Purgatory, it took us a few weeks to…find my our legs”

“I'm fine” he repeated. I looked at Dean and shrugged.

“Don't get us wrong. We’re happy you're back. We’re freaking thrilled. It's just this whole mysterious-resurrection thing…it always has one mother of a downside” he tried.

“So, what do you want me to do?” Cas shut the book.

“Maybe take a trip upstairs” I suggested lightly.

“To Heaven?”

“Yeah, poke around, see if the God squad can't tell us how you got out” Dean said.

“No”

“Look, man, I hate those flying-ass monkeys just as much as you do, but…”

“Dean! I said no!” he spun to face us. I jumped by his sudden anger.

So I walked over to him and sat beside him as Dean sat on the bed in front of us. “Hey…talk to us” I urged.

“Dean, Brittney…when I was…bad…and I had all those things…the leviathans…writhing inside me…I caused a lot of suffering on earth, but I devastated Heaven. I vaporized thousands of my own kind, and I…I can't go back” he shook his head.

“'Cause if you do, the angels will kill you” Dean assumed.

“Because if I see what Heaven's become…what I…what I made of it…I'm afraid I might kill myself” I felt my chest tighten just from the thought of Cas feeling this way….

Sam and Mel came walking in. “Hey. We got something” Sam said. Cas stood to his feet. Good. Excellent. What?”

“So this black-hole guy-before he tried the bank, he robbed a house across from the park where Gary blew a gasket”

“So, uh, what…you think the house heist and Gary's corpse are connected?” Dean asked, trying to recollect his thoughts.

Mel came over to sit beside me, eyeing me carefully. “According to the file, they happened at pretty much the exact same time. Here. Check this out…” Sam pulled out a map.

“Okay. Here's the house, and Gary died across the street here. And that building from this morning, right there. The black hole hit that, too”

“Let me guess, where what's his name took a swan dive” Dean assumed.

“All right. I'll bite. What about the others?” I asked.

“Well, those are the places that stuff got stolen. But nobody got dead. Take away the graffiti, and these all look like just normal smash-and-grabs. But I made a few phone calls, talked to some people who are nearby-neighbors and whatnot-and they reported a whole lot of crazy” Mel said.

“Like?” Dean asked…still not looking at her. I pinched the back of his thigh and he grunted, glaring at me.

“Umm…like a jogger bumping his head and sprouting a four-inch lump. Or a kid walking into a wall and hearing birdies. Basically, for 50 yards around each robbery, people were living in a cartoon. But it didn't last long. I mean 5, 10 minutes at each place”

“About the length of time it would take a thief to get in and out” Cas said.

“Exactly. But whatever power he's using, it's not targeted. I mean, it's kind of like an area of effect. I mean, picture him in a bubble of weird, and anything that touches it gets daffy” Sam said.

“So this Animaniac can step through walls, can toss an anvil?” I wondered aloud.

“Yeah, but he's warping reality to do it. So if someone happens to be nearby meeting the girl of his dreams…” Mel started.

“His heart makes a break for it” Dean finished.

“Okay, so smashing the rent-a-cop-that was on purpose. But the rest of them…what, is that just collateral weird?” I asked.

“Maybe” Sam said.

“So we're looking for a thief” Cas said.

“And the deposit box he was after. Now, the house, the office – every place he's hit belonged to someone living at the Sunset Fields retirement home”

“So you think our guy's there”

“Worth a shot”

“All right. Well, let's gear up. It's wabbit season” Dean quipped.

“Umm I don't think you pronounced that correctly” Cas told him. We all just sighed and headed out.