JEALOUS

"Who the hell was she?" Elena asks Sam after Meg left.

"I don't really know. I only met her once. Meeting up with her again? I don't know, it's weird." Sam says.

Dean realizes something. "And what was she saying? I treat you like luggage? What, were you bitchin' about me to some chick?" He asks.

"Look, I'm sorry, Dean. It was when we had that huge fight when I was in that bus stop in Indiana. But that's not important, just listen—" Sam starts.

"Well, is there any truth to what she's saying? I mean, am I keeping you against your will, Sam?" Dean asks angrily.

"No, of course not. Now, would you listen?" Sam asks.

Dean sighs. "What?" He asks.

"I think there's somethin' strange going on here, Dean." Sam says.

"Yeah, tell me about it. She wasn't even that into me." Dean says as Elena rolls her eyes.

"No, man, I mean like our kind of strange. Like, maybe even a lead." Sam says.

"Why do you say that?" Elena asks him.

"I met Meg weeks ago, literally on the side of the road. And now, I run into her in some random Chicago bar?" Sam says. "I mean, the Same bar where a waitress was slaughtered by something supernatural? You don't think that's a little weird?"

"I don't know, random coincidence. It happens." Dean points out.

"Yeah, it happens, but not to us. Look, I could be wrong, I'm just sayin' that there's something about this girl that I can't quite put my finger on." Sam says.

Dean smirks. "Well, I bet you'd like to. I mean, maybe she's not a suspect, maybe you've got a thing for her, huh?" Sam rolls his eyes and laughs. "Maybe you're thinkin' a little too much with your upstairs brain, huh?" He points to his head and grins.

Sam becomes serious again. "Do me a favor. Check and see if there's really a Meg Masters from Andover, Massachusetts, and see if you can't dig anything up on that symbol on Meredith's floor." Sam says.

"What are you gonna do?" Dean asks.

"I'm gonna watch Meg." Sam says.

Dean begins laughing. "Yeah, you are." He says.

"I just wanna see what's what. Better safe than sorry." Sam says.

"All right, you little pervert." Dean says.

"Dude."

"I'm goin', I'm goin'." Dean crosses the street and leaves Sam and Elena.

"You comin'?" Sam asks Elena.

Elena didn't want to go. In fact, she'd rather go with Dean than watch Sam ogle at some girl. She turns to where Dean was just standing. "Hey Dean, wait up." She says as Dean stops.

[ ☾]

ean is on the computer, researching Meg and the symbol. Elena paces around the room. "That was pretty harsh what you did to Sam you know." Dean says to Elena while staring at the screen.

"What are you talking about?" Elena asks.

Dean smiles. "It's obvious that you like him." Elena stops pacing.

"We're really talking about this right now?" Elena asks.

Dean laughs and picks up his cell phone and dials a number. Sam picks up. Sam is parked outside Meg's apartment. "Hey." He answers.

"Let me guess. You're lurkin' outside that poor girl's apartment, aren't you?" Dean asks and watches as Elena rolls her eyes.

"No." Dean waits for another response. Sam rolls his eyes. "Yes."

"You've got a funny way of showin' your affection." Dean says.

"Did you find anything on her or what?" Sam asks.

Dean shakes his head. "Sorry, man, she checks out. There is a Meg Masters in the Andover phonebook. I even pulled up her high school photo. Now, look, why don't you go knock on her door and, uh, invite her to a poetry reading, or whatever it is you do, huh?" He asks.

"What about the symbol? Any luck?" Sam ignored.

"Yeah, that I did have some luck with." Dean looks down at his research. "It's, uh—turns out it's Zoroastrian. Very, very old school, like two thousand years before Christ. It's a sigil for a Daeva."

"What's a Daeva?" Sam asks.

"It translates to "demon of darkness". Zoroastrian demons, and they're savage, animalistic, you know, nasty attitudes—kind of like, uh, demonic pit bulls." Dean says.

"How'd you figure that out?" Sam asks.

"Give me some credit, man. You don't have a corner on paper chasin' around here."

"Oh, yeah? Name the last book you read." Sam asks.

Dean is clearly defeated. "No, I called Dad's friend, Caleb. He told me, all right?" He says.

"Yeah." Sam glances up at Meg's dark bedroom window.

"Anyway, here's the thing—these Daevas, they have to be summoned, conjured." Dean says.

"So, someone's controlling it?"

"Yeah, that's what I'm sayin'. And, from what I gather, it's pretty risky business, too. These suckers tend to bite the hand that feeds them. And, uh, the arms, and torsos." Dean says.

"So, what do they look like?"

"Well, nobody knows, but nobody's seen 'em for a couple of millennia. I mean, summoning a demon that ancient? Someone really knows their stuff. I think we've got a major player in town. Now, why don't you go give that girl a private strip-o-gram?" Dean says playfully.

Elena rolls her eyes again. "I'm going to the bathroom." She says and leaves.

"Bite me." Sam says later.

"No, bite her. Don't leave teeth marks, though—" Sam hangs up. "Sam? Are you—?" He hangs up his own phone.

Back at the car, Sam glances back up at Meg's window. A few seconds later, a light turns on. Meg enters her bedroom, wearing a black lace bra. Sam looks around uncomfortably, then continues to watch Meg.

She puts on a T-shirt. Sam is interrupted by someone clearing their throat. He turns and sees a woman standing outside the car, looking annoyed. She gestures to the window.

"Oh, no, no, no, I'm just—"

"Pervert." She walks away angrily. Sam is stunned.

A second later, Meg leaves her apartment, now wearing a sweatshirt and jacket as well. She walks across the street, briefly glancing at the parked car. Once she is gone, Sam, who had been hiding, sits up. He gets out of the car and follows her.

Meg stops at a graffiti-covered wall. She looks around before pulling open a door, which seems to be part of the wall. When she is inside, Sam peers out from behind a building. He also walks to the wall and enters through the camouflaged door.

Sam enters and walks up a flight of stairs. He reaches a door at the top, which he attempts to open, but it is locked. He looks around and sees a broken down elevator gate. He enters the gate and begins to climb the side of it, using different bars as footrests.

When he reaches the top, he is able to peer through the gate into a dimly lit room. There is a black altar in the middle of the room.

Sam sees Meg enter and walk over to the altar. He keeps watching silently while hanging on to the bars of the gate.

Meg reaches the altar and picks up a silver bowl filled with blood. She swirls her finger around in the liquid and speaks an incantation in an ancient language.

She then begins to speak to someone neither the audience nor Sam can hear. "I don't think you should come...Because the brothers, they're in town, I didn't know that—...Yes, sir...Yes, I'll be here—waiting for you."

Sam looks confused. Meg sets down the bowl and blows out the candles at the altar, then leaves the room. Once she is gone, Sam moves to the wall, where there is a space through which he can crawl. He hoists himself up and climbs into the room. Sam walks to the altar and observes it.

He sees several human hearts on the table, along with other ancient items. In the middle of the altar is the Zoroastrian symbol, drawn in blood. "What the hell—?"

ack at Motel Room, Sam enters and looks around for Dean. They see each other. "Dude, I gotta talk to you." They say in unison.

Later, Sam and Dean are talking. "So, hot little Meg is summoning the Daeva?" Dean asks.

"Looks like she was using that black altar to control the thing." Sam says.

"So, Sammy's got a thing for the bad girl." Dean Chuckles. Sam rolls his eyes. "And what's the deal with that bowl again?"

"She was talking into it. The way witches used to scry into crystal balls or animal entrails. She was communicating with someone." Sam said.

"With who? With the Daeva?" Dean asks.

"No, you said those things were savages. No, this was someone different. Someone who's giving her orders. Someone who's comin' to that warehouse."

Dean thinks for a moment and glances at some files on a nearby table. He sits down at the table and looks through them. "Holy crap." He says.

"What?" Sam asks.

"What I was gonna tell you earlier—I pulled a favor with my–" Dean clears his throat. "-friend, Amy, over at the police department. The complete records of the two victims—we missed something the first time."

"What?"

Sam comes over to look at the records. "The first victim, the old man—he spent his whole life in Chicago, but he wasn't born here. Look where he was born." He points to something on the page.

"Lawrence, Kansas." Sam says.

"Mmhmm." Dean picks up the second file. "Meredith, second victim—turns out she was adopted. And guess where she's from."

The paper reads "Lawrence, Kansas". Sam sits down across from Dean, clearly shocked.

"Holy crap." Sam says.

"Yeah."

"I mean, it is where the demon killed Mom. That's where everything started. So, you think Meg's tied up with the demon?" Sam asks.

"I think it's a definite possibility." Dean says.

"But I don't understand. What's the significance of Lawrence? And how do these Daeva things fit in?" Sam asks.

"Beats me. But I say we trash that black altar, grab Meg, and have ourselves a friendly little interrogation." Dean offers.

Sam shakes his head. "No, we can't. We shouldn't tip her off. We've gotta stake out that warehouse. We've gotta see who, or what, is showin' up to meet her."

"I'll tell you one thing. I don't think we should do this alone." Dean says.

Sam looks around, confused. "Where's Elena?" He asks. She was nowhere in sight.

"Oh, she left about an hour ago." Dean says.

"Why?" Sam asks.

"Dude, you actually don't know." Dean says. "She just needed to cool down, that's all."

"I don't know. She's out there all alone." Sam says.

Dean sighs. "She was jealous. You went to go see Meg and she felt threatened so she left."

"Oh." Sam looks confused, but not in the bad way.

ater, Dean is leaving a message on John's voicemail. While he is talking, Sam enters the room with bags full of weapons. "We think we've got a serious lead on the thing that killed Mom. So, uh, this warehouse—it's 1435 West Erie. Dad, if you get this, get to Chicago as soon as you can." Dean hangs up.

"Voicemail?" Sam asks.

"Yeah." Dean gestures to the bags. "Jesus, what'd you get?"

Sam Chuckles. "I ransacked that trunk. Holy water, every weapon that I could think of, exorcism rituals from about a half dozen religions. I'm not sure what to expect, so I guess we should just expect everything." Sam says.

Dean nods, and they begin loading their guns silently. "Big night." Dean says.

"Yeah. You nervous?" Sam asks.

"No. Why, are you?" Dean asks.

"No. No way." They are silent for a few seconds. "God, could you imagine if we actually found that damn thing? That demon?" Sam asks.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves, all right?" Dean says.

"I know. I'm just sayin', what if we did? What if this whole thing was over tonight? Man, I'd sleep for a month. Go back to school—be a person again." Sam says.

"You wanna go back to school? What about Elena?" Dean asks.

"Yeah, once we're done huntin' the thing." Sam says. "Maybe Elena wouldn't have a problem going to college." He says.

Dean scoffs. "Huh." He says.

"Why, is there somethin' wrong with that?" Sam asks.

"No. No, it's, uh, great. Good for you." Dean says.

"I mean, what are you gonna do when it's all over?" Sam asks.

"It's never gonna be over. There's gonna be others. There's always gonna be somethin' to hunt." Dean points out.

"But there's got to be somethin' that you want for yourself—" Sam says but Dean cuts him off.

"Yeah, I don't want you to leave the second this thing's over, Sam." Dean walks over to the dresser.

"Dude, what's your problem?" Sam asks.

Dean is silent for a while, then turns back to Sam. "Why do you think I drag you everywhere? Huh? I mean, why do you think I came and got you at Stanford in the first place?" Dean asks.

"Cause Dad was in trouble. 'Cause you wanted to find the thing that killed Mom." Sam says.

"Yes, that, but it's more than that, man." Dean returns to the dresser and is silent again, then once more turns to Sam. "You and me and Dad—I mean, I want us....I want us to be together again. I want us to be a family again." He says.

"Dean, we are a family. I'd do anything for you. But things will never be the way they were before." Sam says.

Dean looks heartbroken. "Could be." He says sadly.

"I don't want them to be. I'm not gonna live this life forever. Dean, when this is all over, you're gonna have to let me go my own way." Sam says and he and Dean share a look.

[ ☾]

am and Dean climb the elevator gate and reach the top room. Meg is standing at the altar, speaking in an ancient language. Quietly, Sam and Dean squeeze through the space between the gate and the wall. They draw their guns and move to the other side of the room, hiding behind some crates.

"Guys." She says. Sam and Dean look at each other, stunned. "Hiding's a little bit childish, don't you think?"

"Well, that didn't work out like I planned." Dean says.

Meg turns around to face them. "Why don't you come out?" She asks. Sam and Dean come out from behind the crates. "Sam, I have to say, this puts a real crimp in our relationship."

"Yeah, tell me about it." Sam says.

"So, where's your little Daeva friend?" Dean asks.

"Around. And where's yours?" Meg asks, referencing Elena. She looks at Dean's gun. "You know, that shotgun's not gonna do much good." She says.

"Oh, don't worry, sweetheart. The shotgun's not for the demon." Dean says.

"So, who is it, Meg? Who's coming? Who are you waiting for?" Sam asks her.

"You."

The shadow demon begins to form on the wall. It knocks Sam to the ground and throws Dean into the crates. A claw-like scratch appears on Sam's face.