Dean Winchester (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
hasperkynipples) wrote2009-03-29 09:36 am
hasperkynipples) wrote2009-03-29 09:36 am
Entry tags:
[Fiction] The Magical Ballet Slippers
[Cowritten with ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
likely_evil. Is some serious crack that resulted from a miscommunication and the resulting conversation. We decided the boys were in need of it.]
It was a job. That was all Sam kept telling himself as he stood outside the dance school, a gym bag over his shoulder. He gulped, then turned and looked at his older brother who was leaning against the side of the Impala.
Over the years, John had made the boys do some very embarrassing things for jobs because he needed access to places. Sam remembered the time he had feigned being lost at the mall so Dad could look at security footage. The school play that Sam had been in where he dressed up as a clock - he was sure Dad had pictures somewhere of that - and the one time Sam had gone to a tea party with a neighborhood girl at the time and came home covered in sparkly stickers.
But he wasn't a kid anymore. He was twenty six, and was not liking the fact that Dean had just enrolled him in Ms. Fran's World of Dance so that they could get inside and check out the basement to find what might be causing the string of suicidal ballerinas.
"Dude, are you serious?" Sam looked at his brother with the most pathetic face he could muster. Which wasn't hard because he was really feeling it at the moment.
"It's our only in, Sam," Dean replied, pointing to the sign that was the dance version of Authorized Personnel Only. Shockingly, it hadn't been hard to get Sam into the class, and Dean was ready to just go in, poke around and see what there was to be seen, and then get the hell out. Sam could handle one day in a dance class. Right? "Besides -- dancers have this whole kind of secret in-circle thing. They're not going to talk to us if we just hang around outside."
"Then why don't you do it? You're the one who would enjoy spending time staring at girls in tights. I have two left feet! Anytime Jess tried to take me to a club, after ten minutes she'd sit me in a booth and massage her toes."
Dean had an answer for that, before looking back at his brother with a confused look. "You actually went to a club?"
Sam just gave his brother a defeated look. Going to the club had been one of many things that Sam had done for Jess in her attempts to turn him into someone who actually understood how a normal person acted, and not just a bookworm.
"There has to be another way, Dean..."
"Sorry, Sammy. This is the only way to get in. Don't you think I would have considered all the options before forcing you to do this?"
"No, I think you would go for the factor that would give you the most amusement and still get the job done." He sighed and hiked the bag higher up on his shoulder. "I've never been this cruel to you on a job before."
"Awww, c'mon, it's not that bad," Dean said with a smirk. "Think of all the chicks in tights -- the hot, flexible chicks in tights." He paused for a minute, considering something before continuing. "Just don't think to hard -- in tights that could be kind of embarassing."
Sam had tilted his head a bit, trying really hard to look on that bright side... then he opened his eyes wide and pulled the bag off his shoulder and looked in it in horror. he hadn't thought about it when Dean had tossed the bag at him... "Dude, no, forget it. I'm not doing this."
Dean groaned slightly, letting his head drop back. "Come on, Sam. Think about the bigger picture here." He paused, before pointing to the door of the dance studio with as sober a look as he could manage. "Think about those poor innocent ballerinas being screwed with by a spirit. They never did anything wrong -- at least, nothing wrong enough to deserve something like this." He paused again, before looking pleadingly at his brother. "All they want to do is dance, Sammy. Can't you just help them dance?"
Sam just pointed his finger at his brother menacingly. "Fine, I'll do this. But if you take a single photo or say one word about this to anyone - I will kill you."
"You got it," Dean said with a grin, before continuing to head towards the door. "Don't worry, Sam. It's for the greater good."
Putting the bag back over his shoulder, Sam followed like a puppy who didn't want to go to the vet. But as they got inside, there were a few girls already stretching in the hallways. One girl - about Dean's height with reddish-blonde hair up in a bun, was stretching her left leg up in the air while keeping her balance on the beam with her right. Her leg... was going higher than Sam's head. Sam blushed a bit and looked away because of the angle he was getting on her profile, and she saw him and smiled before closing her eyes and continuing her stretch.
Dean just chuckled at his brother, before turning and looking around the rest of the room, trying to see if there were any signs of spirit activity -- and checking out the girls as he went. It was a few minutes, before the instructor left her office, and Dean turned to duck inside, wanting to check the room out for EMF without being disturbed.
The teacher came over and gave Sam a nice look over. "You must be Sam. Welcome, sweetheart. Your brother told me all about your accident, and I'm hoping we can get you back up on your feet again soon."
"Accident?" Dean had forgotten to mention this accident to his brother.
"Oh, it's ok, precious. I know that we all do stupid things in our youth. But the fact that you're trying to get back this part of your life shows remarkable courage and spirit. I promise we won't push you too hard until you find your rhythym again. Now, the boys locker room is right over there. Go on, get dressed and stretched and we can start in a few minutes."
"... ok." Sam watched the teacher go to talk to a few of the dancers his age, then sighed deeply and headed into the locker room to change.
Ten minutes later he returned wearing the dreaded pink tights that he had seen in the bag along with the black leotard and the white overshirt that had in big, red letters "I (HEART) DANCING!" with a ballerina in a graceful leap overtop the words. And he was in black dance shoes that just barely fit his feet and he crunched his toes against the ground to keep them from cramping.
"There he is... class, I want you to meet our newest student, Sam Winchester." The teacher came over, running her hand along his arm and back as Sam tried not to look embaressed at all and give a little wave. "Sam was at Julliard a few years ago, one of the top students even, until one night he and a few friends were in New York and tried to save an old lady from a street gang, and they broke both his legs during the struggle..."
Sam's smile was very set and he licked his lips. Oh Dean, you're so dead...
Yes, Dean was dead. But he was one of the kings of bullshit, so stories like that were to be expected. He finished sweeping the instructor's office for EMF and came up empty, and stepped out of the room quietly. As he did, he looked down the hallway and caught sight of his brother standing there, in all the dance gear he had brought him, and it took everything in his power not to just fall over laughing. He gave his brother a grin and a thumbs up from where he was standing in the doorway, before moving across the hall to check one of the other rooms.
Sam shot his brother a dirty look, then snapped back to pay attention to Ms. Fran and her instructions. He had no idea what the hell she was saying. (insert fancy Ballet terms here)?! Then she matched up the three guys - who were wearing dark blue and black tights - with a few of the girls to mark out the steps. The girl from the hallway was in Sam's group, and she walked over to him. "Don't look so afraid," she whispered. "It takes time to relearn this all. Just follow my lead."
"I haven't danced in a few years," Sam whispered back as he watched the other group start the dance on the main part of the floor.
"It's like riding a bicycle. It'll come back." She smiled. "I'm Allie."
Dean finished sweeping that room as well, and was a little confused when he wasn't even coming up with a trace. Generally if there was some kind of spirit somewhere in a building, he would at least get traces in the other rooms. Regardless, he kept doing what he was doing, moving from room to room, and occasionally glancing down the hallway to see how Sam was doing and what he was up to.
"Nice to meet you, Allie."
"Group three!" Ms. Fran called. Allie pulled Sam onto the floor with the other group of girls. They did certain steps as he danced clumsily with Allie. He tried to follow the other men and how they had moved, but his body really wasn't built for that, nor was he that flexable. However, when it came to the lift, he was actually able to do that, his hands holding allie carefully on her hips as he held her above his head easily, and then she slowly came back down, sliding down his body as he carefully turned in a circle to the time of the music. When Allie was on the ground, she smiled at Sam. "Wow. I didn't even feel your arms tremble. That year in the wheelchair must have really made you strong."
Sam just shrugged. Ms. Fran clapped her hands. "Good, good! Now why don't we work on this in our little groups for awhile. And take a break if you need to. In twenty minutes, I want to see a lot of improvement."
Dean finished sweeping all the empty rooms and coming up empty, before returning to the main room where the dancers were. He was starting to think that this wasn't a spirit, but he wasn't sure what it was. Making his way to the doorway, he just leaned to the side slightly -- EMF reader in his pocket and on, just in case -- and scanned the room carefully, now more on the job than there to mock his brother.
Sam was working with the other male dancers, trying to learn how to do these dance steps. One of them - Kyle - looked over his shoulder and saw Dean, then smiled at Sam. "Your boyfriend is beautiful," he stated.
Sam's eyes widened. "Oh Dean? He's not my boyfriend. He's my brother. Kinda helping me out to get back on my feet, so to speak."
"What a sweetheart," Kyle exclaimed, helping adjust Sam's head just that bit. "So no boyfriend then?"
"Me?" He chuckled a bit. "No offense, but just not my preference."
"Too bad," Joey on the other side said, leaning over Sam's other shoulder. "I could just eat you up. And your brother looks oh so scrummy."
Sam smirked a bit. "Well, my brother's totally available. He's a bit shy, though. He just came out awhile ago to me. Poor guy feels he has to keep it a secret because he was afraid I would shun him. But he just can't get the courage yet to actually flirt with guys in public. I think he's a bit embaressed and unsure about if he's attractive to men."
"The poor baby," Kyle said, looking at Dean again. "If you want, Joey and I can take him under our wing. Give us a few days and he'll blossom like a beautiful rose at it's perfection."
"That might be good for him, but don't push too hard," Sam said, acting concerned for his brother's feelings. "I don't want to push his confidence level back."
"We'll be gentle," Joey nodded. "Now let's work on your arms. We can't have loose arms when dancing, Sam..."
Dean, completely oblivious to Sam's conversation, continued to scan the room, looking for any sign of supernatural activity, when his eyes landed on a woman wearing a stern look and staring right at his brother. Dean wasn't really sure if that was a look that Sam would appreciate, and started to make his way over to her slowly, trying to get the measure of her before he spoke.
"Alright darlings." Ms. Fran clapped her hands, getting their attention. "Let's run this a few more times, and from here I will be able to see which of you will do this dance at the recital."
"Wait, recital?" Sam's eyes opened a bit.
"Oh, yes. We have a wonderful little community that donates a lot of money to the school. So at the end of every month, we have a free show for them to come and see what we're working on."
"That reminds me, Ms. Fran. Joey and I are not going to be able to make it," Kyle stated. "You know we'd hate to miss a show, but my sister, bless her heart, is getting married the next morning and we're driving to Cinncinati that night."
"Oh, don't worry boys. I'm sure Sam will be able to handle the male role for this."
Sam's eyes widened and he tried to find Dean but he wasn't looking at him. "I'm... I don't think I'll be ready for stage by then, Ms. Fran."
"Nonsense. You're putting too much pressure on yourself for one little show, Sam. You'll do just fine, and if you mess up, I'm sure the ladies will still enjoy the effort." Her eeys were looking Sam over again in that way which made Sam know exactly what all those little old ladies would be looking at. Flashbacks of Gertie came to mind and he tried not to audibly wimper.
"Now Allie, since you worked so well with Sam, why don't you two pair together for this. And I want it to look like you two are really in love and into each other. After all, dancing is all about lovers. And you can help Sam show off all those Julliard skills he's just holding back as to not embaress the rest of us."
"That's be my pleasure, Ms. Fran," Allie said, leaning back against Sam's chest and taking his arm to put it around him. "I'm sure we can find time to work on his motivation." She looked up at Sam and winked, and he smiled back, blushing a bit.
"Good. Now let's get started..."
Dean watched the woman carefully for a moment, before nodding out towards the dancers. "So -- they look pretty good, huh?"
The woman made a face slightly before looking back at him. "I've never seen a more clumsy performance in all my life."
"Hey, I wouldn't go so far as to say that," Dean said with a shrug. "They're a little rough, but they got time before the recital."
"My Allie deserves better," she said, and Dean could almost swear he saw her nose raising a little higher. "Especially when it comes to her partner. I mean really, where did they find him? He dances like his feet are made out of brick."
Dean frowned, before looking back over at Sam. "So he's a little rusty? What's the big deal?"
The woman raised an eyebrow at him. "He's abysmal."
At that point, Sam went to turn Allie around, but his arms messed up and she ended up getting tangled around his arms and against his chest. Both of them laughed, then Sam bit his lip and let her go so they could try again.
"You can do this, Sam. And one..." she started her step, raising their clasped hands together, "...and two..." she did a bow, then Turned under his arm before he curled his arm around her to pull her to his chest, "...and dip..." She tipped forward, arm stretching out while her leg lfited behind her, "... and lift." Sam's hand came to gently run along her thigh, supporting her and lifted a bit to do a circle while she lifted her other foot up to point.
"He's not that bad," Dean said with a shrug. "Give him a break. He was in a wheelchair for a year." How Dean remembered the cover story he'd given him, he didn't even know, but at least he was somewhat paying attention.
The woman snorted again. "He should have stayed in it."
Joey and Kyle started to show Sam how to do a graceful movement, focusing on his arms and trying to arch his back in a certain way. "Come on, Sam. Relax. Imagine you're a leaf on the wind. Glide around and feel the music."
"You sure you're not mistaking me for the tree." Sam was fitting in fine with the dancers now that he was able to see them just as people. The group laughed, and Ms. Fran clapped her hands. "Ok, lovelies. That's it for today. I will see you all here tomorrow to continue."
"Hey Sam, we're going to Sir Pizza to catch a bite to eat. You want to join us?" Kyle asked. "See if your brother wants to tag along?"
"I'll see. I don't think we have plans." He looked at Allie. "What about you?"
"I can't." Allie grabbed her bag. "My mom's here, and after every rehearsal, she takes me home to practice more."
"That's a bit ambitious, don't you think?"
"We aren't all Julliard material, Sam." She got on her toes easily and kissed his cheek. "See you tomorrow?"
"I'll be here." He watched her walk to her mother, then went to get his bag.
Dean was fixing the mother with a look, before turning back to his brother and stalking back towards him. "What a bitch."
Sam pulled his jeans on over the tights because it was faster, and he tossed the shirt into the bag, grabbing his button-up. "Allie's mother? She's a bit of a control freak from what Allie says." He watched as Allie's ear was talked off as her mother gestured while all but dragging her out of there. "Oh, we've been invited to get some pizza with Joey and Kyle." He motioned to the two men who smiled and waved at Dean.
Dean gave them a thin smile and waved back before looking back at Sam. "Yeah, well -- we got a problem because whatever this is? It isn't a ghost. I was going to head over and talk to some of the parents of the vics, see if they were acting weird before they died."
"You sure you don't want to join us?" Sam gave a sigh. "I figure I can ask them about a few of them. How they saw their classmates."
"Good idea, Sammy," Dean nodded, clapping his brother on the shoulder. "You bond with the classmates, I'll go talk to the parents. Maybe we can finish this out before the end of the week if we're lucky."
"The sooner the better. I can't do this recital." Sam started to make his way over to Kyle and Joey. "I'll meet you in a few hours. Call if you need me."
"Same here," Dean nodded, before turning and heading back out to his car.
***
Dean returned to the motel room a few hours later, loosening the tie around his neck as he went. He'd come up with almost nothing from the parents, but almost nothing wasn't quite nothing. Not at all. He pushed open the door to the room, before glancing around for his brother, wondering if he was back from his pizza outing. "Hey, Sammy! You around?"
All that Dean got back was a groan from the floor between the beds. Sam's legs were sticking out past them as the younger Winchester was on his back, pillow under his head and his arms just flopped to the side. Now that he wasn't at the studio and his body had relaxed, his muscles were very sore from being used in ways they never had before. Especially his arms and legs. "Down here," he moaned, not moving.
Dean tilted his head to the side slightly, moving over to stand in front of his brother and giving him a look. "Having fun there, Sam?"
"Have I told you how much I hate you today?" Sam opened his eyes and glared at his brother in a pitiful way. "I'm hurting in places I didn't think it was possible to hurt in."
Dean rolled his eyes. "Suck it up, you'll get used to it." He paused, moving over to sit on the bed next to his brother. "You managed to get anything out of your two boyfriends?"
"Beyond the fact they think you're 'scrummy'?" Sam smirked a bit. "A bit. Not sure how it fits in, but the victims were all girls who were being given lead parts for these little recitals. And Joey mentioned something about how they seemed to be the types that were never really in it... they did it for fun, not for anything more like competitions and such. So he didn't understand why they would feel so pressured when they got the parts."
He pointed to his computer. "I also started to try and track the deaths. They started about three years ago, and they all happen from March until July of each year."
Dean got up and crossed over to the computer, talking to Sam over his shoulder as he went. "Yeah, well -- the parents were just as helpful. Said the girls were perfectly happy right up until their deaths. For most of them, it pretty much came out of nowhere. Which makes it seem like it's definitely something up our alley, but the question is what."
"And there was no EMF at all?"
"None," Dean sighed. "I went over that whole building from top to bottom -- not even a blip."
"So we're looking at a Phantom of the Opera..." Sam sat up, then instantly regretted it and leaned against the bed.
Dean paused for a minute, before turning to look at his brother. "A what?"
"Phantom of the Opera. It's a book by Gaston Leroux." Sam slowly pulled himself up onto the bed. "Basically the gist revolved around the idea of how most theatres are haunted, but this theatre in France actually had a man who lived in a grotto below the theatre who was disfigured, and he believed that he owned the theatre. He then fell in love with a minor actress in the company and started to kill people in the theatre who tried to overtake her roles as he tutored her in singing, or people who just got in his way of 'running' the theatre."
Sam ran a hand through his hair. "You remember that shape shifter in Pennsylvania... what if it's another kind of demon that has decided they want to run the dance company?"
His brother was such a geek, but he had a point. Dean considered that for a moment, before tilting his head back and forth slightly. "Could be. But I didn't smell and sulfur or anything -- didn't see any signs of a shifter. Everything seemed clean." He paused again for a moment, before tilting his head to the side slightly. "Maybe there's a link in one of the dancers? Who stood to benefit from those girls losing out on the parts?"
"The girls who took over, I'd imagine." Sam pointed at his computer. "I ran those dates through the calandar of events in the area... it seems that the time period matches up with the summer stock and touring company auditions."
"So this girl was probably looking to beef up the resume, before heading out to do the real deal."
"But one girl doing this for three years? She'd have been checked out by the cops by now as a suspect, I'm sure. There isn't any talk about that." Sam shrugged. "Unless there's a tutor behind the scenes who's doing it without the dancer knowing."
"I looked into the autopsy results for the most recent ones, and they all checked out as suicides, so why would they even think to consider other suspects? But you do have a point." Dean paused for a minute, tilting his head to the side for a moment, before turning back to look at Sam. "It could have been a really bitchy stage mom?"
"It could." Sam shrugged. "I mean, look at moms at children beauty pageants. Some of the most ruthless women in the world are there. I wouldn't put it past one of them. But how is she doing it to make the girls commit suicide?"
Dean shrugged. "Cursed object, hex bags -- hell, we met a woman who put a leash on a reaper in order to get what she wanted. There could be any number of ways that she could be doing this and getting away with it."
"I guess we'll have to find out what students started three years ago and have taken over for the girls."
"Maybe they have old programs or something?" Dean said with a shrug. "We could go through them, see who picked up the slack."
"Maybe. You'll have to break into the office. I can barely lift my arms."
Dean rolled his eyes slightly, before getting to his feet. "Yeah, I'll do it." He glanced down at his watch before starting to shed the outer layers of the suit he was wearing. "I should go do that tonight while they're closed."
"Good idea. And in the morning, we're going to a dance store because I am not wearing the pink tights tomorrow."
Dean just flashed his brother a grin back over his shoulder. "Aww, c'mon Sammy. Pink is totally your color."
"Technically, Joey and Kyle think it's more yours." Sam returned the smirk.
Dean took that, considering it for a moment. "Tell me you didn't."
Sam just smiled. Ah, revenge was sweet.
"You're dead, Sammy. Just so you know."
"Let's just say we're even then."
Dean glared back at his brother, and finished changing into his street clothes, before starting to head towards the door. "This ain't over yet." If his brother wanted to play hardball, he'd play hardball.
Sam just shook his head and laid back on the bed as Dean walked out. "Here we go again..." he muttered to himself, then painfully got up to take a shower. The hot water would help his muscles, and it was the last time he would be sure there wasn't dye in the water, or Nair in his shampoo.
***
Dean had spent hours pouring over the various programs. They all kept coming back to the same person, and he had a feeling that Sam wasn't going to like it. He'd had a hunch though, and apparently, for once, the hunch had paid off. He paused for a moment, placing the flashlight in the corner of his mouth while he reached for his phone, dialing Sam's number and placing the phone to his ear as he went, waiting for his brother to pick up.
Sam heard the phone and lifted his head from where he was laying on the bed. He had been skimming the internet trying to get more information and had just fallen asleep. He rubbed at his face as he grabbed the phone and put it to his ear. "What'd you find?"
"Allie," Dean replied. "The girl who replaced most of the dancers for the lead was Allie. Almost every time."
"And she started three years ago?" Sam rubbed his eyes.
"Yup -- or at least, that's when she started replacing people."
"So what do you want to do? You might be able to get into their place while dance class is going on."
"That works. When's your next class again?"
"Wednesday at 5. Enough time to heal before I'm in pain again."
"Oh, would you relax?" Dean rolled his eyes, before starting to put everything back where he found it. "You'll be fine."
"You're not the one having to do the grande jette into a pirouette."
"A what into a what?"
"Exactly."
Dean sighed slightly, before shaking his head. "I'm heading out. Should be back in a bit."
"I'm not going anywhere. Bring back some coffee, kay?"
"Yup," Dean nodded before hanging up the phone and heading back out the way he came.
***
Wednesday came around and Sam was back in the dance class. Kyle and Joey were working on stretching Sam's back out. "I've never seen someone with this many knots in a back, ducky. You really should get yourself to a massage parlor. Nice little thing, some oil rubbing down your back..."
"Kyle, stop. None of us need to embarrass ourselves while dancing," Joey laughed.
"Hello boys," Allie said as she walked by, bag over her shoulder. She went to the bar to start stretching as her mother walked by, glaring at Sam before finding her way into the "silent" watching room.
"Oh, the ice witch has a new victim," Kyle laughed.
"Witch?" Sam's eyebrow raised as he looked at the male dancer.
"Oh yeah. Allie's mother was a prima. One of the best. Then she ended up getting knocked up by her leading man one night and 9 months later, Allie was in the world, and her mom could never dance again. Ever since then, she's pressed Allie into everything. I've been dancing with her since we were in third grade. And when Allie wasn't accepted into Julliard, I swear you would have thought that everyone in her family had died in a natural disaster."
"So she's the kind who would do anything to make sure Allie was the best?"
"Yup. And it's worse this time of year with the summer stocks."
"You boys talking about my mom again?" Allie sat on the floor right across from Sam, stretching her legs out and leaning forward. She smiled up at Sam. "Don't listen to them. My mom's got a big mouth, but she just means well."
"They usually do." Sam smiled. Allie reached her arms out, and Sam took them. He had seen a few of the dancers doing a joint stretch where one dancer pulled on the others arms to stretch them out more. "So I was doing a bit of research into these recitals they do here and you've been the lead in most of them."
"Yeah, a lot of times it was because of other girls dropping out." Allie sighed. "I'm just happy dancing, but it's nice getting a lead every now and then."
"So you don't want to be a prima like your mom?"
Allie laughed. "No. I actually want to be a fashion designer. I'm doing this online course right now, and I'm trying to move out to New York."
"I thought the move to new York was to get away from Erik." Joey stated from where he and Hyle were stretching.
"Erik?" Sam looked at Allie as he took his turn to pull her forward.
"My ex. He used to dance here a few years ago, but was kicked out because he the other girls didn't like the way he touched them on the lifts. We dated, he pulled some moves on me, and I sent him packing last year. He still sends me flowers at every recital, and I changed my cell number to get him to stop texting me."
"Sounds like the move will be good for you in a lot of ways then." Sam stated.
"Until she finds her mother moving into the apartment next door and trying to get her to audition down at Lincoln Center."
"Oh god, that's not funny Kyle."
The two men laughed, then stood up. "No, but you know it's going to happen, Love." They walked off and Allie let Sam's hands go to start another stretch.
"So, Sam, I was thinking that perhaps we could spend a little time after class today working on our parts. You looked a bit clumsy, but I'm sure if we just keep working on it, we'll be ready for Friday."
"I'm just hoping I don't end up tripping you up."
"I've danced with worse. You'll be fine." Ms. Fran went to walk into the room. "How about we meet for dinner at 8, then I'll show you to my place. When I moved in, my mom put a small dance studio into my loft, so we can do some work there."
"And your mother won't mind?"
Allie grinned and leaned forward. "You really don't think I live with my mother still?" She gave him a playful grin, then stood up. "Don't forget to get my address before we go."
Sam just looked up at her and smiled, then worked to stand up and get ready for the class.
***
Sam walked into the motel room after class, heading straight for the shower. Even if he and Allie were going to spend most of the night dancing, Sam didn't want to stink of the sweat he had already made in the last 2 hours.
Dean wasn't in the room when he got there, so Sam sent him a text message letting Dean know he needed to talk to him about what he had learned before he rushed back out. He'd be able to get a lot more details out of Allie while at dinner which should help them figure out a bit more of the young dancer's role in this case, if any. A ten minute shower would get him out of the bathroom by the time Dean came back, at least he hoped so.
And Sam planned on using the hotel sealed shampoo and soap that he had snatched off the cleaning lady's cart on his way in. He didn't trust his brother at all when he was in a prankster mindset.
Dean arrived in the room a few minutes later, hearing the shower going and collapsing down on the bed. He didn't know how long his brother was going to be, so he just closed his eyes for a minute and relaxed, figuring that Sam would get his attention when he got out of the shower, and he could talk about what he found at the stage mom's house.
Sam was only a few minutes longer, and he came out still rubbing his hair dry. He saw his brother sleeping and shook his head. "Dean."
"Hmmm?" Dean said, his eyes opening almost immediately. "What'd I miss?"
"Well, the stripper I ordered for you ran out because you wouldn't wake up from dreamland." Sam smirked, sitting on the other bed. "What'd you find out?"
"Nothing," Dean sighed, sitting up more and kicking his legs over the side of the bed so he was facing his brother. "The house was a friggin' shrine to ballet, but other than that it was clean. Nothing supernatural, no altars, no hex bags -- nothing."
"It makes sense. Allie doesn't want to spend her life in ballet either. She's actually studying fashion design. So I highly doubt it's her either."
"So -- who?" Dean said with a frown. "You've been talking to the girl -- does she have anyone close to her that would pull something like this?"
"Well, not that I know of." He reached for what was his good shirt and pants. "But I'll see what I can find out tonight."
Dean smirked slightly. "What, you two have a date?"
"We're going to grab a bite to eat, then go back to her place and work on our dance routine." The words were out of his mouth the moment he realized what they sounded like and he just glared at his brother. "For the recital," he added with that look.
"Uh-huh," Dean grinned, ignoring the glare. "Sure you are."
"Give me a break, alright? This lets me get to find out more about her life and who else might have influences in it. Work my way into seeing how her relationships with the other girls were."
"And get yourself laid, Sammy, you sly dog."
The glare was back. "I'm not looking at this to get laid," Sam growled, getting up to go and get dressed. "I'm not like you."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Dean said with a smirk. "Sure, you're not."
"Stop confusing reality with porn," Sam stated as he disappeared back into the bathroom.
Dean rolled his eyes, before flopping back onto the bed again.
***
Allie was laughing as she opened the door to her place, then tossed the keys down on the table by the door. Sam followed behind, resting his jacket and dance bag on the chair. "You really should tell Joey and Kyle the truth about your brother," she stated. "They'll get the joke, and even help you with it, but it's not nice to tease them like that."
"I can't help it if everyone thinks my brother is gay," Sam chuckled. "So I can't help but tease him about it every now and then."
"Well, just as long as you're not, that's all that matters." She sat on the edge of the couch, her legs crossed but the edge of the skirt hitched up a bit as she smiled at him.
Sam paused a moment, confused and then his eyes widened and he blushed. "No, I'm not, but... Aliie, I'm not..."
"You really think I would have invited you to my place if I just wanted to practice dancing?" She smiled, taking off her sweater jacket and letting it fall to the ground, revealing almost bare shoulders and making Sam rub the back of his neck. "Every time I see you in class, especially when you're touching me, I just want to know more about you, Sam Winchester. See just what's under those tights and what other kind of dancing you might have learned outside of Julliard."
"I don't usually do this kind of thing..." Sam stated, his face turning a brighter shade of red.
"Maybe you should then." She got up and walked over to him, pressing her body against his as a hand went to wrap around the back of his neck. "Unless you're saying that you're not attracted to me..."
"Oh no, it's not that..." Was it getting warmer in here? Sam was having a hard time breathing suddenly but he didn't take a step back for some air. Part of him - a big part - didn't want to.
"Then what is it? We're both adults, we both want it, and this is a good way to work on flexibility and learning how each other's bodies move. And we have all night long." One leg started to slide up along his calf as she smiled at him. "Trust me, you won't regret it. I'm very flexable."
Sam gulped, remembering how high Allie's splits had been when he had first seen her. Then he didn't have a chance to think any further as she got up on her toes and kissed him, both hands holding his head to keep him connected there. After that, it was a smooth glide backwards onto the couch as she wrapped both her legs around him. Sam gave into her temptations, and just let her lead in this intimate dance between the two of them.
Outside, unknown to either of the occupants in the living room, a bush in front of the window shifted and moved as someone witnessed the event through the crack in the almost-closed curtains, and then took off.
***
Dean looked down at his watch as he worked through his breakfast, before leaning back against the headboard of the bed again. Dean actually didn't have to be up before the sun, considering that Sam wasn't around to annoy him, but it was getting close to noon and Dean still hadn't heard from his brother. Tossing the wrapper from his breakfast sandwich into the trash, he kicked his legs over the side of the bed and picked up his phone, getting ready to call his brother and see what was up.
At that moment Sam walked in. Disheveled and looking way too tired for someone coming home at noon. He dropped his bag on the floor and then carefully crawled into his made bed. "Sorry I'm late," he muttered into the pillow.
"Mmm-hmmm," Dean said, watching his brother as he climbed into bed. "Have fun?"
"Didn't know dancing was that involved."
"Oh, c'mon, Sam. You've done the horizontal mambo before." He clapped his brother on the back before kicking back on his bed again and turning back to the TV.
Sam turned his head to look at Dean, a very satisfied smirk on his lips. A I did something awesome smirk he rarely wore. "She can put her legs behind her head."
Dean just laughed. "Atta boy, Sammy! I knew you had it in you."
"Don't you wish you took the class now," Sam rolled onto his back, the smile still on his face. "And it was her idea. I need to get some sleep before class. Oh, I need you to look into something. She had an ex, Erik. He used to be a student until he got kicked out because he was a pervert. She broke up with him when she learned the truth as well. Really freaky guy from some of the stories he told me last night."
He rolled over in bed to look at Dean. "And get this... the other leads who died? Were some of his other obsessions."
Dean frowned slightly, before crossing his arms in front of his chest. "So you think Allie might be next?"
"She'd be the next logical target. I did a search of her place while she was in the shower and didn't see any hex bags though."
"Okay. Got a last name on the guy?"
"Smorph." Sam waited, since the name was pronounced way too much like tiny blue cartoon characters.
"....Smurf? His name is Erik Smurf?"
"... yeah. Not spelt that way though." He spelled it out for his brother. "Recital is on Friday, so you've got 48 hours. Well, more like 12, since it happens the night before usually."
"Alright, alright," Dean said with a sigh as he started to get up. "I'm on it."
"Have fun. I'm going to sleep for a few hours. I have another rehearsal session tonight after class, so I need the rest."
"You horn dog," Dean smirked, before heading out to the car, shaking his head at his brother as he went.
Sam just smiled as he curled back up to get some sleep.
---
Finding the kid's place hadn't been all that hard. He was listed in the phone book, for crying out loud. Breaking into the house wasn't all that hard either. It was actually finding what he was looking for that took some time. The kid knew how to hide his mojo. Dean searched pretty much every room in the house before he headed down to the basement, mag light in hand as he started to sweep the room for any sign of what he was looking for.
On first glance, the basement seemed pretty normal. Odds and ends, a few old boxes, nothing to really cause any kind of alarm. It was the second glance that had Dean worried. The one where he found various books on mind control via ingested beverage, and the pictures of all the fallen ballerinas littered about the room. He made his way over to one of the tables, one covered with candles and a picture face down in the middle of it. Dean knew that that was obviously the next target, so he wanted to know who it was so that he could get out, get to whoever's house, and stop it before it could happen. Flipping over the picture, he moved the beam of light over the face, trying to get a good look at it.
When he did, he dropped it to the ground and took off like a bat out of hell.
***
After waking back up, Sam had gone across the street to get something to eat at the diner before heading back to the motel room. He was still sipping his drink as he sat down on the computer to work on some things until Dean got back.
After about ten minutes he felt like something was watching him. He thought he saw something move in the corner of his eyes and turned to look at the window, but there was nothing there. Shaking his head, he finished off his drink and went back to working.
After a moment, his fingers stopped as he heard a voice softly in his head. He turned to look at Dean's bag, then got up and walked over. He was careful, looking for something - there. Dean's gun. Why was he holding it? Oh yeah, that's right. He couldn't be in the recital. It wasn't his place. He had sex with Allie and that was wrong and he needed to kill himself now.
Carefully he put the tip of the gun to his chin.
"Hey!" Dean pulled up in time to someone waiting at the window. He knew in a heartbeat who it was, and was prepared to chase after him when the guy bolted, but that was before he'd gotten a good look in the window and saw what was going on inside. Plans changed very quickly, and he headed for the door to the motel room, kicking it down quickly and running over to his brother.
He took the wrist holding the gun in one hand, before slamming a punch across his brother's face with the other, hoping that would break him out of whatever trance he was in.
Sam went down hard, falling to the ground while his hand with the gun was held up in Dean's tight grip. He blinked, then looked around. The last thing he remembered was working on the computer. How had he gotten here? He looked up at his brother in confusion. "What happened?" he asked, then rubbed his jaw with his free hand. That had hurt.
"The guy duped you," Dean sighed, shaking his hand out lightly before taking his gun from his brother and letting his wrist go. Yeah, that had hurt. He was afraid Sam was going to blow his brains out. "You were about to off yourself -- thankfully I managed to get here in time to save your ass."
"I don't remember that. I went to the diner to get something to eat and was doing a bit of research. Then it all gets fuzzy." Sam pulled himself up. "I thought I saw something in the window... maybe..."
"There were books all over the kid's place. Psychic control through certain liquids." Dean moved over to sit on the edge of the bed, sliding the gun into the back of his pants as he went. "That's how he's been getting to the other girls."
Sam's eyes widened and he went for his computer. "How long does it take liquid to go through a body?" he asked, eyeing the cup next to his computer warily.
Dean gave his brother a look. "Do I look like I know the answer to that question?"
"Anywhere between an hour to four," Sam muttered at his google search, then went to the mini-fridge and pulled out the "complimentary" bottle of water in it and started to chug it. If it wasn't going to pass immediately, he was going to dilute the hell out of it.
Dean rolled his eyes, before kicking back on the bed. "So what're we gonna do about him? I have a feeling that we can't just convince him to give us the books and never do a bad thing again."
"We can't kill the kid either..." Sam thought a moment. "Oh... wait... no, this is too easy." He stopped drinking. "We frame him."
" -- we what?" Dean blinked, starting to lean forward slightly.
"I'm the next target. He's not going to stop. You know where he lives. We can set up something at his place, then frame him trying to kill me again. The police can arrest him, they will search his place and find satanic stuff all over with pictures of dead dancers, and lock him up."
Dean considered this for a moment, nodding. "Could work. Let's just make sure he won't actually kill you, alright? Been there, done that -- don't like the t-shirt."
"Trust me, I don't plan on going there either." He finished off the water, then stopped. "Just... give me a few minutes and we can go." He started to head towards the bathroom.
Dean ran a hand over his face, before shaking his head slightly as he got up and started to pack his gear. "This is gonna be a long night."
***
While Sam was in class, Dean had gone and set up all the "satanic" ritual stuff. The good thing about being a hunter is that you really knew what the rituals looked like so you could set them up to be believable. It was the night before the performance, and Allie once again had asked Sam to come over to work on their moves a bit. After talking to Dean over the phone, Sam agreed - knowing that Dean would be trailing behind them.
Of course, Sam knew that he and Allie were not alone as they left the ice cream shop on their way back to her place. All the water he had drank finally passed, so he wasn't peeing every five minutes - that had gotten annoying during class - and felt easy about drinking again. He watched from the corner of his eye the dark shadow that kept following them down the street.
"Allie, I need to tell you something," Sam said softly as they kept walking.
"What's that?" She smiled at him, licking some ice creme from her upper lip.
"We're being followed. Don't turn around."
Her smile left her face. "Who is it?"
"I think it's your ex. He's been following me for a day already, and Joey described him to me.
"We should call the cops then."
"My brother is watching. He's probably doing it already, but we need to confront him. I need you to stay behind me, alright?"
"Sam, we don't have to... we're almost at my place."
"He's not going to stop. We have to." Sam looked down at her, his eyes serious. "Trust me, alright?"
Allie took a deep breath, then nodded. They started to walk again, into the foyer of her apartment complex, then stopped and hid in the stairway. A moment later, Eric entered and headed right for them.
"You know, for a stalker you're not really good," Sam stated, stepping out of the stairway.
"You're supposed to be dead." Erik grabbed a charm from his pocket and rubbed it.
"Wait, you were trying to kill me?" Sam asked. "What did I ever do to you?"
"You were touching her! Trying to make her fall in love with you!" Erik looked past Sam at Allie. "Everyone wants to touch her, but she's mine!"
Allie pressed against Sam's back. "Erik, I told you it was over."
"NO! You're my angel, and no one else can have you!" With that, Erik pulled a gun out, holding it out at Sam. "But instead you're going to do it yourself. "Allie, take the gun, and shoot him. Then you're coming with me."
At that, Allie started to leave Sam and walk over for the gun. He grabbed her, trying to stop her from moving and held her close. "This isn't the way, Erik. Let her go."
"She's my angel, and I will NOT have someone like YOU come in and defile her." The gun turned in Erik's hand and he pointed it at Sam. "And if you won't do it, then I will!"
Which is when the Calvary arrived. Dean came running towards the guy with a couple patrol cops behind him, and as soon as they spotted the gun they had their guns drawn, starting to talk Erik down, while Dean moved between Sam and Allie, and the guy with the gun pointed at him.
Erik was shocked to see the cops but put the gun down slowly, being dragged away by the cops. Sam held Allie carefully, pinching her to wake her up from the trance she was in. He looked at his brother and nodded. "Thanks."
"No problem," Dean said with a nod, before turning back to the girl with a wide grin. "Hi. I'm Dean. I don't think we've been properly introduced."
"Hi. Allie." She relaxed a bit into Sam's arms. "I remember Sam talking about you. Kyle and Joey wanted to take you out for drinks if I recall."
Dean paused, frowning slightly. "Kyle and Joey?"
Sam just smiled at his brother.
"I don't want to know, do I?"
"They think you have a nice ass."
"Fantastic," Dean replied dryly, before shaking his head.
***
Word about Erik's arrest got around the dance school by the time that Sam got there the next afternoon. He went to "withdraw" and just to say goodbye.
But as Sam walked back into the motel, he rubbed the back of his neck and looked at Dean. "We can't leave just yet."
Dean raised an eyebrow slightly at Sam before responding. "We can't?"
"I kinda still have to do the dance. There's not enough time to train a replacement. So... I said I would stay to do the dance." He looked like he was suffering.
Dean, however, was almost gleeful. "Really?"
"I'll be back when it's over and we can go. Just a few hours."
"We can just leave from there, dude. No need to make an extra trip."
Sam raised an eyebrow. "Since when have you been interested in ballet?"
Dean flashed his brother a grin. "Awww, c'mon Sammy. This is my little brother's ballet debut. You really didn't expect me to miss this, did you?" A beat. "I think Bobby's in town too."
"Dude. No."
"I'll give him a call on the way there -- make sure we get there in time to get seats."
"Dean, come on." Sam gave his brother a very suffering look.
Dean wasn't listening, he was too busy pulling up Bobby's number as he went to climb into the car, and turned back to his brother as he placed the phone to his ear. "C'mon, Sammy! You're gonna be late."
"Why me?" he whimpered, getting into the car and sulking in his seat.
***
Dean settled into his seat -- front row center, right where he should be -- before glancing over at Bobby with a grin. "Man, I should have brought popcorn."
"You really got no shame, boy, do ya?" Bobby sat back in his seat.
"Aww, c'mon, Bobby. You know you're just as amused by this as I am." He gave the older man a grin, before tilting his head to the side slightly. "Maybe we should have gotten him flowers."
"Yea, but the boy's in this because'a you. You could give him some slack. And put that damn recorder away."
"Bobby. This is my baby brother," Dean said with a smirk. "What kind of older brother would I be if I didn't record this for blackmail reasons? You know he'd do the same thing to me."
Bobby just shook his head, then the lights went down. As the curtain came up. The girls came in, dancing, the few guys in the background dancing with them for the lifts and pairings. Then Sam and Allie came out. Sam was in a very dark green color of tights. He and Allie danced, and he actually did very good - much better than you would expect a guy who had only been dancing for 5 days to do. His fight training taught his body to move in certain ways, all of which came in handy as he glided along the stage.
"You sher that's yer brother up there?" Bobby asked. "An' he ain't possessed?"
"Pretty positive," Dean said with a slight chuckle. "Not bad, huh?"
"Boy's missing his calling I think." Bobby settled down in his chair to watch the rest of Sam's dance.
"Dad shoulda sent him to dance school," Dean said with a nod. "Soccer did absolutely nothing for him."
"Yer daddy woulda shot him before sending him to a dance school. You and I both know that."
"Yeah, I know," Dean chuckled. "Well, if I had realized -- " A bit of a pause. "Well, I would have mocked him to the end of the world and bought him girly presents for the rest of his life. No saying I won't still do it now."
"Be careful or you might end up with a horse's head or something in yer bed one night." Bobby chuckled as the dance ended, clapping for Sam as he took a bow. Sam was avoiding all eye contact with his brother and the older man as he held Allie's hand up in the air and helped her bow again.
Dean whistled slightly as he clapped as well, tempted to give his brother a standing ovation, but decided that he wasn't that much of an asshole.
"Remind me again why I don't kill him in his sleep?" Sam asked Allie through a clenched teeth smile.
"Because he's your brother and you love him." She replied in the same manner.
"The second part is debatable."
***
Sam was about to leave the studio when Allie pulled him back into the doorway for a final kiss, slipping a piece of paper into his back pocket. "Stop by and see me sometime if you're back in town."
"I will." He knew he wouldn't, and part of her would know it too. But it wasn't a thing you said. Instead, he just kissed her again, then slipped away. He walked to where Dean and Bobby were waiting, bag over his shoulder.
"So how long you two going to hold this over me?"
"Come on, Sam. You should be proud'a yerself. Yer brother would have looked like an idjet up there trying to do that. You did good." Bobby was smiling. "Almost cried when that swan died."
"We weren't doing Swan Lake..." Sam raised an eyebrow.
"Was it the one with the giant mice, then?" Dean asked, smirking back at his brother. "Because I think in that one, somebody got ganked too."
"We weren't doing the Nutcracker either. Did you guys even read the programs?"
"Did we need to?" Dean blinked. "I figured we'd figure it out as we went along?"
"Dean, you need cliff notes for any movie that isn't porn or action." Sam rolled his eyes, and Bobby snorted a bit in laughter.
"I do not!" Dean said, giving him a look.
"Do too." Bag in the trunk, Sam walked over to where they were on the same side of the car. "We going? otherwise if you're going to continue ripping on me, I'd appreciate us doing it somewhere that I can get something to eat. I'm starving."
"Yeah, let's go," Dean said with a sigh, before starting to slide into the car. "You comin' to get something to eat, Bobby?"
"Nah, I'm gonna check in on my friends. And Dean, next time? Seeing yer brother in tights is not an emergency. Got it?"
Dean laughed, before nodding. "You got it."
"See ya, Bobby," Sam waved, getting into the Impala. He waited until Dean was in, then turned to look at him. "You told Bobby it was an emergency?"
"Think about it, Sammy -- how often was he going to get to see you hopping around in tights?"
"This is revenge for the photos with you in the lederhosen, isn't it?" Sam rolled his head to look at his brother.
Dean looked back at him with a smirk. "Did you really think I was just going to let that go?"
"I'm going to get you back."
"Like to see you try." Dean smiled and turned the Impala on, watching as Bobby pulled away before he could get out of his spot.
Sam smirked a bit. "You should try the tights, Dean. I mean, it's because of them that I got the girl this time, after all. And you, left alone with the porn every night."
Dean just shot him a look. "Bitch."
Sam's smirk just grew. "Jerk."
likely_evil. Is some serious crack that resulted from a miscommunication and the resulting conversation. We decided the boys were in need of it.]It was a job. That was all Sam kept telling himself as he stood outside the dance school, a gym bag over his shoulder. He gulped, then turned and looked at his older brother who was leaning against the side of the Impala.
Over the years, John had made the boys do some very embarrassing things for jobs because he needed access to places. Sam remembered the time he had feigned being lost at the mall so Dad could look at security footage. The school play that Sam had been in where he dressed up as a clock - he was sure Dad had pictures somewhere of that - and the one time Sam had gone to a tea party with a neighborhood girl at the time and came home covered in sparkly stickers.
But he wasn't a kid anymore. He was twenty six, and was not liking the fact that Dean had just enrolled him in Ms. Fran's World of Dance so that they could get inside and check out the basement to find what might be causing the string of suicidal ballerinas.
"Dude, are you serious?" Sam looked at his brother with the most pathetic face he could muster. Which wasn't hard because he was really feeling it at the moment.
"It's our only in, Sam," Dean replied, pointing to the sign that was the dance version of Authorized Personnel Only. Shockingly, it hadn't been hard to get Sam into the class, and Dean was ready to just go in, poke around and see what there was to be seen, and then get the hell out. Sam could handle one day in a dance class. Right? "Besides -- dancers have this whole kind of secret in-circle thing. They're not going to talk to us if we just hang around outside."
"Then why don't you do it? You're the one who would enjoy spending time staring at girls in tights. I have two left feet! Anytime Jess tried to take me to a club, after ten minutes she'd sit me in a booth and massage her toes."
Dean had an answer for that, before looking back at his brother with a confused look. "You actually went to a club?"
Sam just gave his brother a defeated look. Going to the club had been one of many things that Sam had done for Jess in her attempts to turn him into someone who actually understood how a normal person acted, and not just a bookworm.
"There has to be another way, Dean..."
"Sorry, Sammy. This is the only way to get in. Don't you think I would have considered all the options before forcing you to do this?"
"No, I think you would go for the factor that would give you the most amusement and still get the job done." He sighed and hiked the bag higher up on his shoulder. "I've never been this cruel to you on a job before."
"Awww, c'mon, it's not that bad," Dean said with a smirk. "Think of all the chicks in tights -- the hot, flexible chicks in tights." He paused for a minute, considering something before continuing. "Just don't think to hard -- in tights that could be kind of embarassing."
Sam had tilted his head a bit, trying really hard to look on that bright side... then he opened his eyes wide and pulled the bag off his shoulder and looked in it in horror. he hadn't thought about it when Dean had tossed the bag at him... "Dude, no, forget it. I'm not doing this."
Dean groaned slightly, letting his head drop back. "Come on, Sam. Think about the bigger picture here." He paused, before pointing to the door of the dance studio with as sober a look as he could manage. "Think about those poor innocent ballerinas being screwed with by a spirit. They never did anything wrong -- at least, nothing wrong enough to deserve something like this." He paused again, before looking pleadingly at his brother. "All they want to do is dance, Sammy. Can't you just help them dance?"
Sam just pointed his finger at his brother menacingly. "Fine, I'll do this. But if you take a single photo or say one word about this to anyone - I will kill you."
"You got it," Dean said with a grin, before continuing to head towards the door. "Don't worry, Sam. It's for the greater good."
Putting the bag back over his shoulder, Sam followed like a puppy who didn't want to go to the vet. But as they got inside, there were a few girls already stretching in the hallways. One girl - about Dean's height with reddish-blonde hair up in a bun, was stretching her left leg up in the air while keeping her balance on the beam with her right. Her leg... was going higher than Sam's head. Sam blushed a bit and looked away because of the angle he was getting on her profile, and she saw him and smiled before closing her eyes and continuing her stretch.
Dean just chuckled at his brother, before turning and looking around the rest of the room, trying to see if there were any signs of spirit activity -- and checking out the girls as he went. It was a few minutes, before the instructor left her office, and Dean turned to duck inside, wanting to check the room out for EMF without being disturbed.
The teacher came over and gave Sam a nice look over. "You must be Sam. Welcome, sweetheart. Your brother told me all about your accident, and I'm hoping we can get you back up on your feet again soon."
"Accident?" Dean had forgotten to mention this accident to his brother.
"Oh, it's ok, precious. I know that we all do stupid things in our youth. But the fact that you're trying to get back this part of your life shows remarkable courage and spirit. I promise we won't push you too hard until you find your rhythym again. Now, the boys locker room is right over there. Go on, get dressed and stretched and we can start in a few minutes."
"... ok." Sam watched the teacher go to talk to a few of the dancers his age, then sighed deeply and headed into the locker room to change.
Ten minutes later he returned wearing the dreaded pink tights that he had seen in the bag along with the black leotard and the white overshirt that had in big, red letters "I (HEART) DANCING!" with a ballerina in a graceful leap overtop the words. And he was in black dance shoes that just barely fit his feet and he crunched his toes against the ground to keep them from cramping.
"There he is... class, I want you to meet our newest student, Sam Winchester." The teacher came over, running her hand along his arm and back as Sam tried not to look embaressed at all and give a little wave. "Sam was at Julliard a few years ago, one of the top students even, until one night he and a few friends were in New York and tried to save an old lady from a street gang, and they broke both his legs during the struggle..."
Sam's smile was very set and he licked his lips. Oh Dean, you're so dead...
Yes, Dean was dead. But he was one of the kings of bullshit, so stories like that were to be expected. He finished sweeping the instructor's office for EMF and came up empty, and stepped out of the room quietly. As he did, he looked down the hallway and caught sight of his brother standing there, in all the dance gear he had brought him, and it took everything in his power not to just fall over laughing. He gave his brother a grin and a thumbs up from where he was standing in the doorway, before moving across the hall to check one of the other rooms.
Sam shot his brother a dirty look, then snapped back to pay attention to Ms. Fran and her instructions. He had no idea what the hell she was saying. (insert fancy Ballet terms here)?! Then she matched up the three guys - who were wearing dark blue and black tights - with a few of the girls to mark out the steps. The girl from the hallway was in Sam's group, and she walked over to him. "Don't look so afraid," she whispered. "It takes time to relearn this all. Just follow my lead."
"I haven't danced in a few years," Sam whispered back as he watched the other group start the dance on the main part of the floor.
"It's like riding a bicycle. It'll come back." She smiled. "I'm Allie."
Dean finished sweeping that room as well, and was a little confused when he wasn't even coming up with a trace. Generally if there was some kind of spirit somewhere in a building, he would at least get traces in the other rooms. Regardless, he kept doing what he was doing, moving from room to room, and occasionally glancing down the hallway to see how Sam was doing and what he was up to.
"Nice to meet you, Allie."
"Group three!" Ms. Fran called. Allie pulled Sam onto the floor with the other group of girls. They did certain steps as he danced clumsily with Allie. He tried to follow the other men and how they had moved, but his body really wasn't built for that, nor was he that flexable. However, when it came to the lift, he was actually able to do that, his hands holding allie carefully on her hips as he held her above his head easily, and then she slowly came back down, sliding down his body as he carefully turned in a circle to the time of the music. When Allie was on the ground, she smiled at Sam. "Wow. I didn't even feel your arms tremble. That year in the wheelchair must have really made you strong."
Sam just shrugged. Ms. Fran clapped her hands. "Good, good! Now why don't we work on this in our little groups for awhile. And take a break if you need to. In twenty minutes, I want to see a lot of improvement."
Dean finished sweeping all the empty rooms and coming up empty, before returning to the main room where the dancers were. He was starting to think that this wasn't a spirit, but he wasn't sure what it was. Making his way to the doorway, he just leaned to the side slightly -- EMF reader in his pocket and on, just in case -- and scanned the room carefully, now more on the job than there to mock his brother.
Sam was working with the other male dancers, trying to learn how to do these dance steps. One of them - Kyle - looked over his shoulder and saw Dean, then smiled at Sam. "Your boyfriend is beautiful," he stated.
Sam's eyes widened. "Oh Dean? He's not my boyfriend. He's my brother. Kinda helping me out to get back on my feet, so to speak."
"What a sweetheart," Kyle exclaimed, helping adjust Sam's head just that bit. "So no boyfriend then?"
"Me?" He chuckled a bit. "No offense, but just not my preference."
"Too bad," Joey on the other side said, leaning over Sam's other shoulder. "I could just eat you up. And your brother looks oh so scrummy."
Sam smirked a bit. "Well, my brother's totally available. He's a bit shy, though. He just came out awhile ago to me. Poor guy feels he has to keep it a secret because he was afraid I would shun him. But he just can't get the courage yet to actually flirt with guys in public. I think he's a bit embaressed and unsure about if he's attractive to men."
"The poor baby," Kyle said, looking at Dean again. "If you want, Joey and I can take him under our wing. Give us a few days and he'll blossom like a beautiful rose at it's perfection."
"That might be good for him, but don't push too hard," Sam said, acting concerned for his brother's feelings. "I don't want to push his confidence level back."
"We'll be gentle," Joey nodded. "Now let's work on your arms. We can't have loose arms when dancing, Sam..."
Dean, completely oblivious to Sam's conversation, continued to scan the room, looking for any sign of supernatural activity, when his eyes landed on a woman wearing a stern look and staring right at his brother. Dean wasn't really sure if that was a look that Sam would appreciate, and started to make his way over to her slowly, trying to get the measure of her before he spoke.
"Alright darlings." Ms. Fran clapped her hands, getting their attention. "Let's run this a few more times, and from here I will be able to see which of you will do this dance at the recital."
"Wait, recital?" Sam's eyes opened a bit.
"Oh, yes. We have a wonderful little community that donates a lot of money to the school. So at the end of every month, we have a free show for them to come and see what we're working on."
"That reminds me, Ms. Fran. Joey and I are not going to be able to make it," Kyle stated. "You know we'd hate to miss a show, but my sister, bless her heart, is getting married the next morning and we're driving to Cinncinati that night."
"Oh, don't worry boys. I'm sure Sam will be able to handle the male role for this."
Sam's eyes widened and he tried to find Dean but he wasn't looking at him. "I'm... I don't think I'll be ready for stage by then, Ms. Fran."
"Nonsense. You're putting too much pressure on yourself for one little show, Sam. You'll do just fine, and if you mess up, I'm sure the ladies will still enjoy the effort." Her eeys were looking Sam over again in that way which made Sam know exactly what all those little old ladies would be looking at. Flashbacks of Gertie came to mind and he tried not to audibly wimper.
"Now Allie, since you worked so well with Sam, why don't you two pair together for this. And I want it to look like you two are really in love and into each other. After all, dancing is all about lovers. And you can help Sam show off all those Julliard skills he's just holding back as to not embaress the rest of us."
"That's be my pleasure, Ms. Fran," Allie said, leaning back against Sam's chest and taking his arm to put it around him. "I'm sure we can find time to work on his motivation." She looked up at Sam and winked, and he smiled back, blushing a bit.
"Good. Now let's get started..."
Dean watched the woman carefully for a moment, before nodding out towards the dancers. "So -- they look pretty good, huh?"
The woman made a face slightly before looking back at him. "I've never seen a more clumsy performance in all my life."
"Hey, I wouldn't go so far as to say that," Dean said with a shrug. "They're a little rough, but they got time before the recital."
"My Allie deserves better," she said, and Dean could almost swear he saw her nose raising a little higher. "Especially when it comes to her partner. I mean really, where did they find him? He dances like his feet are made out of brick."
Dean frowned, before looking back over at Sam. "So he's a little rusty? What's the big deal?"
The woman raised an eyebrow at him. "He's abysmal."
At that point, Sam went to turn Allie around, but his arms messed up and she ended up getting tangled around his arms and against his chest. Both of them laughed, then Sam bit his lip and let her go so they could try again.
"You can do this, Sam. And one..." she started her step, raising their clasped hands together, "...and two..." she did a bow, then Turned under his arm before he curled his arm around her to pull her to his chest, "...and dip..." She tipped forward, arm stretching out while her leg lfited behind her, "... and lift." Sam's hand came to gently run along her thigh, supporting her and lifted a bit to do a circle while she lifted her other foot up to point.
"He's not that bad," Dean said with a shrug. "Give him a break. He was in a wheelchair for a year." How Dean remembered the cover story he'd given him, he didn't even know, but at least he was somewhat paying attention.
The woman snorted again. "He should have stayed in it."
Joey and Kyle started to show Sam how to do a graceful movement, focusing on his arms and trying to arch his back in a certain way. "Come on, Sam. Relax. Imagine you're a leaf on the wind. Glide around and feel the music."
"You sure you're not mistaking me for the tree." Sam was fitting in fine with the dancers now that he was able to see them just as people. The group laughed, and Ms. Fran clapped her hands. "Ok, lovelies. That's it for today. I will see you all here tomorrow to continue."
"Hey Sam, we're going to Sir Pizza to catch a bite to eat. You want to join us?" Kyle asked. "See if your brother wants to tag along?"
"I'll see. I don't think we have plans." He looked at Allie. "What about you?"
"I can't." Allie grabbed her bag. "My mom's here, and after every rehearsal, she takes me home to practice more."
"That's a bit ambitious, don't you think?"
"We aren't all Julliard material, Sam." She got on her toes easily and kissed his cheek. "See you tomorrow?"
"I'll be here." He watched her walk to her mother, then went to get his bag.
Dean was fixing the mother with a look, before turning back to his brother and stalking back towards him. "What a bitch."
Sam pulled his jeans on over the tights because it was faster, and he tossed the shirt into the bag, grabbing his button-up. "Allie's mother? She's a bit of a control freak from what Allie says." He watched as Allie's ear was talked off as her mother gestured while all but dragging her out of there. "Oh, we've been invited to get some pizza with Joey and Kyle." He motioned to the two men who smiled and waved at Dean.
Dean gave them a thin smile and waved back before looking back at Sam. "Yeah, well -- we got a problem because whatever this is? It isn't a ghost. I was going to head over and talk to some of the parents of the vics, see if they were acting weird before they died."
"You sure you don't want to join us?" Sam gave a sigh. "I figure I can ask them about a few of them. How they saw their classmates."
"Good idea, Sammy," Dean nodded, clapping his brother on the shoulder. "You bond with the classmates, I'll go talk to the parents. Maybe we can finish this out before the end of the week if we're lucky."
"The sooner the better. I can't do this recital." Sam started to make his way over to Kyle and Joey. "I'll meet you in a few hours. Call if you need me."
"Same here," Dean nodded, before turning and heading back out to his car.
***
Dean returned to the motel room a few hours later, loosening the tie around his neck as he went. He'd come up with almost nothing from the parents, but almost nothing wasn't quite nothing. Not at all. He pushed open the door to the room, before glancing around for his brother, wondering if he was back from his pizza outing. "Hey, Sammy! You around?"
All that Dean got back was a groan from the floor between the beds. Sam's legs were sticking out past them as the younger Winchester was on his back, pillow under his head and his arms just flopped to the side. Now that he wasn't at the studio and his body had relaxed, his muscles were very sore from being used in ways they never had before. Especially his arms and legs. "Down here," he moaned, not moving.
Dean tilted his head to the side slightly, moving over to stand in front of his brother and giving him a look. "Having fun there, Sam?"
"Have I told you how much I hate you today?" Sam opened his eyes and glared at his brother in a pitiful way. "I'm hurting in places I didn't think it was possible to hurt in."
Dean rolled his eyes. "Suck it up, you'll get used to it." He paused, moving over to sit on the bed next to his brother. "You managed to get anything out of your two boyfriends?"
"Beyond the fact they think you're 'scrummy'?" Sam smirked a bit. "A bit. Not sure how it fits in, but the victims were all girls who were being given lead parts for these little recitals. And Joey mentioned something about how they seemed to be the types that were never really in it... they did it for fun, not for anything more like competitions and such. So he didn't understand why they would feel so pressured when they got the parts."
He pointed to his computer. "I also started to try and track the deaths. They started about three years ago, and they all happen from March until July of each year."
Dean got up and crossed over to the computer, talking to Sam over his shoulder as he went. "Yeah, well -- the parents were just as helpful. Said the girls were perfectly happy right up until their deaths. For most of them, it pretty much came out of nowhere. Which makes it seem like it's definitely something up our alley, but the question is what."
"And there was no EMF at all?"
"None," Dean sighed. "I went over that whole building from top to bottom -- not even a blip."
"So we're looking at a Phantom of the Opera..." Sam sat up, then instantly regretted it and leaned against the bed.
Dean paused for a minute, before turning to look at his brother. "A what?"
"Phantom of the Opera. It's a book by Gaston Leroux." Sam slowly pulled himself up onto the bed. "Basically the gist revolved around the idea of how most theatres are haunted, but this theatre in France actually had a man who lived in a grotto below the theatre who was disfigured, and he believed that he owned the theatre. He then fell in love with a minor actress in the company and started to kill people in the theatre who tried to overtake her roles as he tutored her in singing, or people who just got in his way of 'running' the theatre."
Sam ran a hand through his hair. "You remember that shape shifter in Pennsylvania... what if it's another kind of demon that has decided they want to run the dance company?"
His brother was such a geek, but he had a point. Dean considered that for a moment, before tilting his head back and forth slightly. "Could be. But I didn't smell and sulfur or anything -- didn't see any signs of a shifter. Everything seemed clean." He paused again for a moment, before tilting his head to the side slightly. "Maybe there's a link in one of the dancers? Who stood to benefit from those girls losing out on the parts?"
"The girls who took over, I'd imagine." Sam pointed at his computer. "I ran those dates through the calandar of events in the area... it seems that the time period matches up with the summer stock and touring company auditions."
"So this girl was probably looking to beef up the resume, before heading out to do the real deal."
"But one girl doing this for three years? She'd have been checked out by the cops by now as a suspect, I'm sure. There isn't any talk about that." Sam shrugged. "Unless there's a tutor behind the scenes who's doing it without the dancer knowing."
"I looked into the autopsy results for the most recent ones, and they all checked out as suicides, so why would they even think to consider other suspects? But you do have a point." Dean paused for a minute, tilting his head to the side for a moment, before turning back to look at Sam. "It could have been a really bitchy stage mom?"
"It could." Sam shrugged. "I mean, look at moms at children beauty pageants. Some of the most ruthless women in the world are there. I wouldn't put it past one of them. But how is she doing it to make the girls commit suicide?"
Dean shrugged. "Cursed object, hex bags -- hell, we met a woman who put a leash on a reaper in order to get what she wanted. There could be any number of ways that she could be doing this and getting away with it."
"I guess we'll have to find out what students started three years ago and have taken over for the girls."
"Maybe they have old programs or something?" Dean said with a shrug. "We could go through them, see who picked up the slack."
"Maybe. You'll have to break into the office. I can barely lift my arms."
Dean rolled his eyes slightly, before getting to his feet. "Yeah, I'll do it." He glanced down at his watch before starting to shed the outer layers of the suit he was wearing. "I should go do that tonight while they're closed."
"Good idea. And in the morning, we're going to a dance store because I am not wearing the pink tights tomorrow."
Dean just flashed his brother a grin back over his shoulder. "Aww, c'mon Sammy. Pink is totally your color."
"Technically, Joey and Kyle think it's more yours." Sam returned the smirk.
Dean took that, considering it for a moment. "Tell me you didn't."
Sam just smiled. Ah, revenge was sweet.
"You're dead, Sammy. Just so you know."
"Let's just say we're even then."
Dean glared back at his brother, and finished changing into his street clothes, before starting to head towards the door. "This ain't over yet." If his brother wanted to play hardball, he'd play hardball.
Sam just shook his head and laid back on the bed as Dean walked out. "Here we go again..." he muttered to himself, then painfully got up to take a shower. The hot water would help his muscles, and it was the last time he would be sure there wasn't dye in the water, or Nair in his shampoo.
***
Dean had spent hours pouring over the various programs. They all kept coming back to the same person, and he had a feeling that Sam wasn't going to like it. He'd had a hunch though, and apparently, for once, the hunch had paid off. He paused for a moment, placing the flashlight in the corner of his mouth while he reached for his phone, dialing Sam's number and placing the phone to his ear as he went, waiting for his brother to pick up.
Sam heard the phone and lifted his head from where he was laying on the bed. He had been skimming the internet trying to get more information and had just fallen asleep. He rubbed at his face as he grabbed the phone and put it to his ear. "What'd you find?"
"Allie," Dean replied. "The girl who replaced most of the dancers for the lead was Allie. Almost every time."
"And she started three years ago?" Sam rubbed his eyes.
"Yup -- or at least, that's when she started replacing people."
"So what do you want to do? You might be able to get into their place while dance class is going on."
"That works. When's your next class again?"
"Wednesday at 5. Enough time to heal before I'm in pain again."
"Oh, would you relax?" Dean rolled his eyes, before starting to put everything back where he found it. "You'll be fine."
"You're not the one having to do the grande jette into a pirouette."
"A what into a what?"
"Exactly."
Dean sighed slightly, before shaking his head. "I'm heading out. Should be back in a bit."
"I'm not going anywhere. Bring back some coffee, kay?"
"Yup," Dean nodded before hanging up the phone and heading back out the way he came.
***
Wednesday came around and Sam was back in the dance class. Kyle and Joey were working on stretching Sam's back out. "I've never seen someone with this many knots in a back, ducky. You really should get yourself to a massage parlor. Nice little thing, some oil rubbing down your back..."
"Kyle, stop. None of us need to embarrass ourselves while dancing," Joey laughed.
"Hello boys," Allie said as she walked by, bag over her shoulder. She went to the bar to start stretching as her mother walked by, glaring at Sam before finding her way into the "silent" watching room.
"Oh, the ice witch has a new victim," Kyle laughed.
"Witch?" Sam's eyebrow raised as he looked at the male dancer.
"Oh yeah. Allie's mother was a prima. One of the best. Then she ended up getting knocked up by her leading man one night and 9 months later, Allie was in the world, and her mom could never dance again. Ever since then, she's pressed Allie into everything. I've been dancing with her since we were in third grade. And when Allie wasn't accepted into Julliard, I swear you would have thought that everyone in her family had died in a natural disaster."
"So she's the kind who would do anything to make sure Allie was the best?"
"Yup. And it's worse this time of year with the summer stocks."
"You boys talking about my mom again?" Allie sat on the floor right across from Sam, stretching her legs out and leaning forward. She smiled up at Sam. "Don't listen to them. My mom's got a big mouth, but she just means well."
"They usually do." Sam smiled. Allie reached her arms out, and Sam took them. He had seen a few of the dancers doing a joint stretch where one dancer pulled on the others arms to stretch them out more. "So I was doing a bit of research into these recitals they do here and you've been the lead in most of them."
"Yeah, a lot of times it was because of other girls dropping out." Allie sighed. "I'm just happy dancing, but it's nice getting a lead every now and then."
"So you don't want to be a prima like your mom?"
Allie laughed. "No. I actually want to be a fashion designer. I'm doing this online course right now, and I'm trying to move out to New York."
"I thought the move to new York was to get away from Erik." Joey stated from where he and Hyle were stretching.
"Erik?" Sam looked at Allie as he took his turn to pull her forward.
"My ex. He used to dance here a few years ago, but was kicked out because he the other girls didn't like the way he touched them on the lifts. We dated, he pulled some moves on me, and I sent him packing last year. He still sends me flowers at every recital, and I changed my cell number to get him to stop texting me."
"Sounds like the move will be good for you in a lot of ways then." Sam stated.
"Until she finds her mother moving into the apartment next door and trying to get her to audition down at Lincoln Center."
"Oh god, that's not funny Kyle."
The two men laughed, then stood up. "No, but you know it's going to happen, Love." They walked off and Allie let Sam's hands go to start another stretch.
"So, Sam, I was thinking that perhaps we could spend a little time after class today working on our parts. You looked a bit clumsy, but I'm sure if we just keep working on it, we'll be ready for Friday."
"I'm just hoping I don't end up tripping you up."
"I've danced with worse. You'll be fine." Ms. Fran went to walk into the room. "How about we meet for dinner at 8, then I'll show you to my place. When I moved in, my mom put a small dance studio into my loft, so we can do some work there."
"And your mother won't mind?"
Allie grinned and leaned forward. "You really don't think I live with my mother still?" She gave him a playful grin, then stood up. "Don't forget to get my address before we go."
Sam just looked up at her and smiled, then worked to stand up and get ready for the class.
***
Sam walked into the motel room after class, heading straight for the shower. Even if he and Allie were going to spend most of the night dancing, Sam didn't want to stink of the sweat he had already made in the last 2 hours.
Dean wasn't in the room when he got there, so Sam sent him a text message letting Dean know he needed to talk to him about what he had learned before he rushed back out. He'd be able to get a lot more details out of Allie while at dinner which should help them figure out a bit more of the young dancer's role in this case, if any. A ten minute shower would get him out of the bathroom by the time Dean came back, at least he hoped so.
And Sam planned on using the hotel sealed shampoo and soap that he had snatched off the cleaning lady's cart on his way in. He didn't trust his brother at all when he was in a prankster mindset.
Dean arrived in the room a few minutes later, hearing the shower going and collapsing down on the bed. He didn't know how long his brother was going to be, so he just closed his eyes for a minute and relaxed, figuring that Sam would get his attention when he got out of the shower, and he could talk about what he found at the stage mom's house.
Sam was only a few minutes longer, and he came out still rubbing his hair dry. He saw his brother sleeping and shook his head. "Dean."
"Hmmm?" Dean said, his eyes opening almost immediately. "What'd I miss?"
"Well, the stripper I ordered for you ran out because you wouldn't wake up from dreamland." Sam smirked, sitting on the other bed. "What'd you find out?"
"Nothing," Dean sighed, sitting up more and kicking his legs over the side of the bed so he was facing his brother. "The house was a friggin' shrine to ballet, but other than that it was clean. Nothing supernatural, no altars, no hex bags -- nothing."
"It makes sense. Allie doesn't want to spend her life in ballet either. She's actually studying fashion design. So I highly doubt it's her either."
"So -- who?" Dean said with a frown. "You've been talking to the girl -- does she have anyone close to her that would pull something like this?"
"Well, not that I know of." He reached for what was his good shirt and pants. "But I'll see what I can find out tonight."
Dean smirked slightly. "What, you two have a date?"
"We're going to grab a bite to eat, then go back to her place and work on our dance routine." The words were out of his mouth the moment he realized what they sounded like and he just glared at his brother. "For the recital," he added with that look.
"Uh-huh," Dean grinned, ignoring the glare. "Sure you are."
"Give me a break, alright? This lets me get to find out more about her life and who else might have influences in it. Work my way into seeing how her relationships with the other girls were."
"And get yourself laid, Sammy, you sly dog."
The glare was back. "I'm not looking at this to get laid," Sam growled, getting up to go and get dressed. "I'm not like you."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Dean said with a smirk. "Sure, you're not."
"Stop confusing reality with porn," Sam stated as he disappeared back into the bathroom.
Dean rolled his eyes, before flopping back onto the bed again.
***
Allie was laughing as she opened the door to her place, then tossed the keys down on the table by the door. Sam followed behind, resting his jacket and dance bag on the chair. "You really should tell Joey and Kyle the truth about your brother," she stated. "They'll get the joke, and even help you with it, but it's not nice to tease them like that."
"I can't help it if everyone thinks my brother is gay," Sam chuckled. "So I can't help but tease him about it every now and then."
"Well, just as long as you're not, that's all that matters." She sat on the edge of the couch, her legs crossed but the edge of the skirt hitched up a bit as she smiled at him.
Sam paused a moment, confused and then his eyes widened and he blushed. "No, I'm not, but... Aliie, I'm not..."
"You really think I would have invited you to my place if I just wanted to practice dancing?" She smiled, taking off her sweater jacket and letting it fall to the ground, revealing almost bare shoulders and making Sam rub the back of his neck. "Every time I see you in class, especially when you're touching me, I just want to know more about you, Sam Winchester. See just what's under those tights and what other kind of dancing you might have learned outside of Julliard."
"I don't usually do this kind of thing..." Sam stated, his face turning a brighter shade of red.
"Maybe you should then." She got up and walked over to him, pressing her body against his as a hand went to wrap around the back of his neck. "Unless you're saying that you're not attracted to me..."
"Oh no, it's not that..." Was it getting warmer in here? Sam was having a hard time breathing suddenly but he didn't take a step back for some air. Part of him - a big part - didn't want to.
"Then what is it? We're both adults, we both want it, and this is a good way to work on flexibility and learning how each other's bodies move. And we have all night long." One leg started to slide up along his calf as she smiled at him. "Trust me, you won't regret it. I'm very flexable."
Sam gulped, remembering how high Allie's splits had been when he had first seen her. Then he didn't have a chance to think any further as she got up on her toes and kissed him, both hands holding his head to keep him connected there. After that, it was a smooth glide backwards onto the couch as she wrapped both her legs around him. Sam gave into her temptations, and just let her lead in this intimate dance between the two of them.
Outside, unknown to either of the occupants in the living room, a bush in front of the window shifted and moved as someone witnessed the event through the crack in the almost-closed curtains, and then took off.
***
Dean looked down at his watch as he worked through his breakfast, before leaning back against the headboard of the bed again. Dean actually didn't have to be up before the sun, considering that Sam wasn't around to annoy him, but it was getting close to noon and Dean still hadn't heard from his brother. Tossing the wrapper from his breakfast sandwich into the trash, he kicked his legs over the side of the bed and picked up his phone, getting ready to call his brother and see what was up.
At that moment Sam walked in. Disheveled and looking way too tired for someone coming home at noon. He dropped his bag on the floor and then carefully crawled into his made bed. "Sorry I'm late," he muttered into the pillow.
"Mmm-hmmm," Dean said, watching his brother as he climbed into bed. "Have fun?"
"Didn't know dancing was that involved."
"Oh, c'mon, Sam. You've done the horizontal mambo before." He clapped his brother on the back before kicking back on his bed again and turning back to the TV.
Sam turned his head to look at Dean, a very satisfied smirk on his lips. A I did something awesome smirk he rarely wore. "She can put her legs behind her head."
Dean just laughed. "Atta boy, Sammy! I knew you had it in you."
"Don't you wish you took the class now," Sam rolled onto his back, the smile still on his face. "And it was her idea. I need to get some sleep before class. Oh, I need you to look into something. She had an ex, Erik. He used to be a student until he got kicked out because he was a pervert. She broke up with him when she learned the truth as well. Really freaky guy from some of the stories he told me last night."
He rolled over in bed to look at Dean. "And get this... the other leads who died? Were some of his other obsessions."
Dean frowned slightly, before crossing his arms in front of his chest. "So you think Allie might be next?"
"She'd be the next logical target. I did a search of her place while she was in the shower and didn't see any hex bags though."
"Okay. Got a last name on the guy?"
"Smorph." Sam waited, since the name was pronounced way too much like tiny blue cartoon characters.
"....Smurf? His name is Erik Smurf?"
"... yeah. Not spelt that way though." He spelled it out for his brother. "Recital is on Friday, so you've got 48 hours. Well, more like 12, since it happens the night before usually."
"Alright, alright," Dean said with a sigh as he started to get up. "I'm on it."
"Have fun. I'm going to sleep for a few hours. I have another rehearsal session tonight after class, so I need the rest."
"You horn dog," Dean smirked, before heading out to the car, shaking his head at his brother as he went.
Sam just smiled as he curled back up to get some sleep.
---
Finding the kid's place hadn't been all that hard. He was listed in the phone book, for crying out loud. Breaking into the house wasn't all that hard either. It was actually finding what he was looking for that took some time. The kid knew how to hide his mojo. Dean searched pretty much every room in the house before he headed down to the basement, mag light in hand as he started to sweep the room for any sign of what he was looking for.
On first glance, the basement seemed pretty normal. Odds and ends, a few old boxes, nothing to really cause any kind of alarm. It was the second glance that had Dean worried. The one where he found various books on mind control via ingested beverage, and the pictures of all the fallen ballerinas littered about the room. He made his way over to one of the tables, one covered with candles and a picture face down in the middle of it. Dean knew that that was obviously the next target, so he wanted to know who it was so that he could get out, get to whoever's house, and stop it before it could happen. Flipping over the picture, he moved the beam of light over the face, trying to get a good look at it.
When he did, he dropped it to the ground and took off like a bat out of hell.
***
After waking back up, Sam had gone across the street to get something to eat at the diner before heading back to the motel room. He was still sipping his drink as he sat down on the computer to work on some things until Dean got back.
After about ten minutes he felt like something was watching him. He thought he saw something move in the corner of his eyes and turned to look at the window, but there was nothing there. Shaking his head, he finished off his drink and went back to working.
After a moment, his fingers stopped as he heard a voice softly in his head. He turned to look at Dean's bag, then got up and walked over. He was careful, looking for something - there. Dean's gun. Why was he holding it? Oh yeah, that's right. He couldn't be in the recital. It wasn't his place. He had sex with Allie and that was wrong and he needed to kill himself now.
Carefully he put the tip of the gun to his chin.
"Hey!" Dean pulled up in time to someone waiting at the window. He knew in a heartbeat who it was, and was prepared to chase after him when the guy bolted, but that was before he'd gotten a good look in the window and saw what was going on inside. Plans changed very quickly, and he headed for the door to the motel room, kicking it down quickly and running over to his brother.
He took the wrist holding the gun in one hand, before slamming a punch across his brother's face with the other, hoping that would break him out of whatever trance he was in.
Sam went down hard, falling to the ground while his hand with the gun was held up in Dean's tight grip. He blinked, then looked around. The last thing he remembered was working on the computer. How had he gotten here? He looked up at his brother in confusion. "What happened?" he asked, then rubbed his jaw with his free hand. That had hurt.
"The guy duped you," Dean sighed, shaking his hand out lightly before taking his gun from his brother and letting his wrist go. Yeah, that had hurt. He was afraid Sam was going to blow his brains out. "You were about to off yourself -- thankfully I managed to get here in time to save your ass."
"I don't remember that. I went to the diner to get something to eat and was doing a bit of research. Then it all gets fuzzy." Sam pulled himself up. "I thought I saw something in the window... maybe..."
"There were books all over the kid's place. Psychic control through certain liquids." Dean moved over to sit on the edge of the bed, sliding the gun into the back of his pants as he went. "That's how he's been getting to the other girls."
Sam's eyes widened and he went for his computer. "How long does it take liquid to go through a body?" he asked, eyeing the cup next to his computer warily.
Dean gave his brother a look. "Do I look like I know the answer to that question?"
"Anywhere between an hour to four," Sam muttered at his google search, then went to the mini-fridge and pulled out the "complimentary" bottle of water in it and started to chug it. If it wasn't going to pass immediately, he was going to dilute the hell out of it.
Dean rolled his eyes, before kicking back on the bed. "So what're we gonna do about him? I have a feeling that we can't just convince him to give us the books and never do a bad thing again."
"We can't kill the kid either..." Sam thought a moment. "Oh... wait... no, this is too easy." He stopped drinking. "We frame him."
" -- we what?" Dean blinked, starting to lean forward slightly.
"I'm the next target. He's not going to stop. You know where he lives. We can set up something at his place, then frame him trying to kill me again. The police can arrest him, they will search his place and find satanic stuff all over with pictures of dead dancers, and lock him up."
Dean considered this for a moment, nodding. "Could work. Let's just make sure he won't actually kill you, alright? Been there, done that -- don't like the t-shirt."
"Trust me, I don't plan on going there either." He finished off the water, then stopped. "Just... give me a few minutes and we can go." He started to head towards the bathroom.
Dean ran a hand over his face, before shaking his head slightly as he got up and started to pack his gear. "This is gonna be a long night."
***
While Sam was in class, Dean had gone and set up all the "satanic" ritual stuff. The good thing about being a hunter is that you really knew what the rituals looked like so you could set them up to be believable. It was the night before the performance, and Allie once again had asked Sam to come over to work on their moves a bit. After talking to Dean over the phone, Sam agreed - knowing that Dean would be trailing behind them.
Of course, Sam knew that he and Allie were not alone as they left the ice cream shop on their way back to her place. All the water he had drank finally passed, so he wasn't peeing every five minutes - that had gotten annoying during class - and felt easy about drinking again. He watched from the corner of his eye the dark shadow that kept following them down the street.
"Allie, I need to tell you something," Sam said softly as they kept walking.
"What's that?" She smiled at him, licking some ice creme from her upper lip.
"We're being followed. Don't turn around."
Her smile left her face. "Who is it?"
"I think it's your ex. He's been following me for a day already, and Joey described him to me.
"We should call the cops then."
"My brother is watching. He's probably doing it already, but we need to confront him. I need you to stay behind me, alright?"
"Sam, we don't have to... we're almost at my place."
"He's not going to stop. We have to." Sam looked down at her, his eyes serious. "Trust me, alright?"
Allie took a deep breath, then nodded. They started to walk again, into the foyer of her apartment complex, then stopped and hid in the stairway. A moment later, Eric entered and headed right for them.
"You know, for a stalker you're not really good," Sam stated, stepping out of the stairway.
"You're supposed to be dead." Erik grabbed a charm from his pocket and rubbed it.
"Wait, you were trying to kill me?" Sam asked. "What did I ever do to you?"
"You were touching her! Trying to make her fall in love with you!" Erik looked past Sam at Allie. "Everyone wants to touch her, but she's mine!"
Allie pressed against Sam's back. "Erik, I told you it was over."
"NO! You're my angel, and no one else can have you!" With that, Erik pulled a gun out, holding it out at Sam. "But instead you're going to do it yourself. "Allie, take the gun, and shoot him. Then you're coming with me."
At that, Allie started to leave Sam and walk over for the gun. He grabbed her, trying to stop her from moving and held her close. "This isn't the way, Erik. Let her go."
"She's my angel, and I will NOT have someone like YOU come in and defile her." The gun turned in Erik's hand and he pointed it at Sam. "And if you won't do it, then I will!"
Which is when the Calvary arrived. Dean came running towards the guy with a couple patrol cops behind him, and as soon as they spotted the gun they had their guns drawn, starting to talk Erik down, while Dean moved between Sam and Allie, and the guy with the gun pointed at him.
Erik was shocked to see the cops but put the gun down slowly, being dragged away by the cops. Sam held Allie carefully, pinching her to wake her up from the trance she was in. He looked at his brother and nodded. "Thanks."
"No problem," Dean said with a nod, before turning back to the girl with a wide grin. "Hi. I'm Dean. I don't think we've been properly introduced."
"Hi. Allie." She relaxed a bit into Sam's arms. "I remember Sam talking about you. Kyle and Joey wanted to take you out for drinks if I recall."
Dean paused, frowning slightly. "Kyle and Joey?"
Sam just smiled at his brother.
"I don't want to know, do I?"
"They think you have a nice ass."
"Fantastic," Dean replied dryly, before shaking his head.
***
Word about Erik's arrest got around the dance school by the time that Sam got there the next afternoon. He went to "withdraw" and just to say goodbye.
But as Sam walked back into the motel, he rubbed the back of his neck and looked at Dean. "We can't leave just yet."
Dean raised an eyebrow slightly at Sam before responding. "We can't?"
"I kinda still have to do the dance. There's not enough time to train a replacement. So... I said I would stay to do the dance." He looked like he was suffering.
Dean, however, was almost gleeful. "Really?"
"I'll be back when it's over and we can go. Just a few hours."
"We can just leave from there, dude. No need to make an extra trip."
Sam raised an eyebrow. "Since when have you been interested in ballet?"
Dean flashed his brother a grin. "Awww, c'mon Sammy. This is my little brother's ballet debut. You really didn't expect me to miss this, did you?" A beat. "I think Bobby's in town too."
"Dude. No."
"I'll give him a call on the way there -- make sure we get there in time to get seats."
"Dean, come on." Sam gave his brother a very suffering look.
Dean wasn't listening, he was too busy pulling up Bobby's number as he went to climb into the car, and turned back to his brother as he placed the phone to his ear. "C'mon, Sammy! You're gonna be late."
"Why me?" he whimpered, getting into the car and sulking in his seat.
***
Dean settled into his seat -- front row center, right where he should be -- before glancing over at Bobby with a grin. "Man, I should have brought popcorn."
"You really got no shame, boy, do ya?" Bobby sat back in his seat.
"Aww, c'mon, Bobby. You know you're just as amused by this as I am." He gave the older man a grin, before tilting his head to the side slightly. "Maybe we should have gotten him flowers."
"Yea, but the boy's in this because'a you. You could give him some slack. And put that damn recorder away."
"Bobby. This is my baby brother," Dean said with a smirk. "What kind of older brother would I be if I didn't record this for blackmail reasons? You know he'd do the same thing to me."
Bobby just shook his head, then the lights went down. As the curtain came up. The girls came in, dancing, the few guys in the background dancing with them for the lifts and pairings. Then Sam and Allie came out. Sam was in a very dark green color of tights. He and Allie danced, and he actually did very good - much better than you would expect a guy who had only been dancing for 5 days to do. His fight training taught his body to move in certain ways, all of which came in handy as he glided along the stage.
"You sher that's yer brother up there?" Bobby asked. "An' he ain't possessed?"
"Pretty positive," Dean said with a slight chuckle. "Not bad, huh?"
"Boy's missing his calling I think." Bobby settled down in his chair to watch the rest of Sam's dance.
"Dad shoulda sent him to dance school," Dean said with a nod. "Soccer did absolutely nothing for him."
"Yer daddy woulda shot him before sending him to a dance school. You and I both know that."
"Yeah, I know," Dean chuckled. "Well, if I had realized -- " A bit of a pause. "Well, I would have mocked him to the end of the world and bought him girly presents for the rest of his life. No saying I won't still do it now."
"Be careful or you might end up with a horse's head or something in yer bed one night." Bobby chuckled as the dance ended, clapping for Sam as he took a bow. Sam was avoiding all eye contact with his brother and the older man as he held Allie's hand up in the air and helped her bow again.
Dean whistled slightly as he clapped as well, tempted to give his brother a standing ovation, but decided that he wasn't that much of an asshole.
"Remind me again why I don't kill him in his sleep?" Sam asked Allie through a clenched teeth smile.
"Because he's your brother and you love him." She replied in the same manner.
"The second part is debatable."
***
Sam was about to leave the studio when Allie pulled him back into the doorway for a final kiss, slipping a piece of paper into his back pocket. "Stop by and see me sometime if you're back in town."
"I will." He knew he wouldn't, and part of her would know it too. But it wasn't a thing you said. Instead, he just kissed her again, then slipped away. He walked to where Dean and Bobby were waiting, bag over his shoulder.
"So how long you two going to hold this over me?"
"Come on, Sam. You should be proud'a yerself. Yer brother would have looked like an idjet up there trying to do that. You did good." Bobby was smiling. "Almost cried when that swan died."
"We weren't doing Swan Lake..." Sam raised an eyebrow.
"Was it the one with the giant mice, then?" Dean asked, smirking back at his brother. "Because I think in that one, somebody got ganked too."
"We weren't doing the Nutcracker either. Did you guys even read the programs?"
"Did we need to?" Dean blinked. "I figured we'd figure it out as we went along?"
"Dean, you need cliff notes for any movie that isn't porn or action." Sam rolled his eyes, and Bobby snorted a bit in laughter.
"I do not!" Dean said, giving him a look.
"Do too." Bag in the trunk, Sam walked over to where they were on the same side of the car. "We going? otherwise if you're going to continue ripping on me, I'd appreciate us doing it somewhere that I can get something to eat. I'm starving."
"Yeah, let's go," Dean said with a sigh, before starting to slide into the car. "You comin' to get something to eat, Bobby?"
"Nah, I'm gonna check in on my friends. And Dean, next time? Seeing yer brother in tights is not an emergency. Got it?"
Dean laughed, before nodding. "You got it."
"See ya, Bobby," Sam waved, getting into the Impala. He waited until Dean was in, then turned to look at him. "You told Bobby it was an emergency?"
"Think about it, Sammy -- how often was he going to get to see you hopping around in tights?"
"This is revenge for the photos with you in the lederhosen, isn't it?" Sam rolled his head to look at his brother.
Dean looked back at him with a smirk. "Did you really think I was just going to let that go?"
"I'm going to get you back."
"Like to see you try." Dean smiled and turned the Impala on, watching as Bobby pulled away before he could get out of his spot.
Sam smirked a bit. "You should try the tights, Dean. I mean, it's because of them that I got the girl this time, after all. And you, left alone with the porn every night."
Dean just shot him a look. "Bitch."
Sam's smirk just grew. "Jerk."
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Oh my god this was definitely worth waiting through 6.5 hours of work to read.
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