RtN - Sam & Ruby - Virginia Hunt

Who: Sam Winchester & Ruby Eliot, Demon.
When: May 25, 2008
Where: Petersburg, VA.
What: Sam needs a bit of help on a ghost hunt. And admits it. Gasp.
Note: We would just like to say we started this log BEFORE the crazy sailor brothers came in and crashed the spirit parade. You hear that Kripke?! OUR CONCEPT. Our... one... concept. That was ours. Cough. Okay, carry on.

The problem with this job was that between the heart-stopping terror and the deadly peril, there was a lot of dusty research and dead ends. Par for the course. Yet the frustration that was a symptom of the job was starting to wear on Sam. Regardless of what Dean liked to preach, no hunter Sam knew managed to keep from bringing the job home, from making it personal. At this point, with the whole family filling the roles of victim, instigator or casualty (sometimes all at once), there was no way it could be more personal to the Winchesters, and Sam would personally punch anybody who told him that his quest to find a way to save Dean was becoming a dangerous obsession. Dean was one of those people. So, to keep from hearing the "leave it alone, Sammy" speech, and to keep from clocking his semi-suicidal brother, Sam was keeping his present activities a secret.

As far as his brother and his father were concerned, he was still with Alex, and hopefully nobody was going to call her up to confirm it. In fact, Sam was about as far from Durango as he could get. Virginia, in fact. It wasn't a pleasure trip: there had been reports of possession in the area, and Sam was desperate for more information from any demon he could get his hands on. So far, the most informative demon was the one that was trailing him cross-country, and the one he had to be very careful to keep his hands off. Ruby's cooperation extended as far as she cared to take it, and though Sam debated the merit of an exorcism daily, he knew Ruby would let him banish her back to hell before she said a word under duress.

Which left Sam looking for other sources.

Petersburg was absolutely crawling with spooks. The Civil War had split a bloody crack through Virginia, and this area was one of the most war-torn--and haunted--places in the States. Most of the ghosts here were more concerned with reenacting their deaths than bothering anyone else, but right now it appeared as if something was making an exception. Sam had guessed demon since the violent murders had begun right after the Devil's Gate opened, and radical changes in the murderers' behavior had been documented in the police reports.

But once he got there and started digging, the chances he was going to find a demon kept getting smaller. It turned out a few graveyards got moved in the same time span, and the pattern (a sibling killing a brother, systematically within a certain area) was more spirit behavior than demon. Still, just because this hunt wasn't what he was looking for didn't mean he was going to let a few more families get shattered before another hunter came along. Talking to the sole survivor of one of these attacks, a teenager with a confederate flag tattooed on his arm and a traumatic memory of his brother turning a shotgun on him, left Sam feeling vaguely sick. Tired and disappointed, Sam had resigned himself to the inevitable and tracked down a name within twelve hours. Robert Thurman was a union soldier who had been shot a mile away from the Petersburg siege on the eve of the Battle of Jerusalem Plank Road, and it looked as though his spirit had been disturbed enough to start killing modern-day confederate sympathizers through their siblings.

Except that last night, Sam had salted and burned Thurman's bones, and five hours ago, on his way out of town, Sam heard on the radio that there had been another murder. A u-turn later, Sam hit one of the dead ends that made hunting such a bitch to wake up to in the morning. He was facing three options: this wasn't Thurman's spirit, Thurman had some other tie to this world, or it was a demon after all. He had nothing else on Thurman, about ten thousand other possible spirits, and no way of knowing whether or not the nasty electrical storm in the last week had been a demonic portent or plain old bad weather.

He needed help.

Dad and Dean were not an option. Even if he wanted to explain what he was doing in Virginia, Dean had mentioned in his last call they were going to be driving through a mountain range, which effectively put them out of contact. Bobby wasn't an option, either, because last they spoke Sam had assured him he was sticking to research and staying out of trouble. Poor Bobby, to have friends that were such damn good liars. Ellen would rat him out before he had a chance to hang up the phone. Giving his location to other hunters would be just plain stupid.

Oh, god. He was going to have to ask her.

A concerned parent looking for their child usually made cell phone companies real cooperative. Sam had Ruby's general location in about twenty minutes, and in forty he was at the door of the cheap motel room she was staying in. Sam could have picked this lock in his sleep, and the door was swinging open before he bothered to consider his justification. Getting any sort of information on the demon that called herself Ruby was worthwhile in Sam's book, and if she was up to no good by unearthly means, there might be evidence in the room.

On the average day, the chance of finding Ruby in her motel room was about one in ten. She was not a homebody; in fact, it was one of the big draws of living as a hunter (the other one was the actual killing of demons). The only reason she was inside that day was because she had needed a shower - an idiot waiter had spilled a tray full of food on her, and as much as she liked fries, she didn't want them on her.

Ruby had gotten out of the shower about three minutes before Sam broke into the room; a visit from him was the last thing she had been expecting. Her wet hair was still dripping down her back, and she was dressed only in a tank top and jeans. She normally would have heard Sam breaking in a mile away, but she had been distracted by the conversation she had been having on her cell phone. Whoever was on the other line seemed to be rather incensed, and Ruby was trying to calm them down. Sam's arrival, however, cut the conversation short.

"Well this is certainly unexpected." Ruby wasn't big on pleasantries. She snapped her cellphone shut and dropped it on to the bed in front of her. "If you were expecting to catch me in the shower, you're a little too late."

Sam had time to glance around the room before she noticed his presence (or he really noticed hers), and was disappointed to see absolutely nothing of interest in the room. Just bare motel fixings, and Sam of all people knew what a motel room looked like when it wasn't really lived in. Sam pocketed the wallet with his lockpicks in it and only looked slightly guilty as he fought to pretend Ruby in a damp shirt was the same as Ruby in any other state.

Damn demons had a knack for picking a body that would unhinge a hunter most, usually young and pretty.

He almost didn't pick up on the cellphone conversation until it was too late, but he got his mind back in the right place with a wrench. "Who was that?" As usual, he ignored the greeting and the comment. (Tactically the best move, especially since he was trying very hard not to think about what he would have seen if he would have arrived a 'little too' early.) He didn't like playing Ruby's games any more than he absolutely had to. That was probably why he felt a sense of satisfaction in the darker parts of his mind: taking her by surprise put him on higher ground by default.

"My psychic. She told me it would be at least another week before you came running to me." Ruby paused to look Sam up and down. "Maybe I should get a refund." Sam might have caught her by surprise, but she wasn't the one getting distracted. In fact, if she had even the slightest inclination of just how hard a time Sam was having focusing, she might have tried to milk it a little more. The truth was that the conversation she had been having was still on her mind, and a part of her was actually worried for the person on the other end. Apparently Ruby was was more human than she seemed.

Ruby sat down on one of the beds and looked up at Sam. "So. Is there a reason you decided to break into my room, or did you just really miss me? Not..." her mouth twisted into a smirk, "that I mind, of course. I'll finally be able to let that terrible psychic go."

For some reason, Sam didn't feel like he had the higher ground when she gave him such an obviously measuring look. That irritated him more than anything, and he was not good enough to hide it. Not to say he wasn't eying her back--to see if she was lying. His past with his father made Sam peculiarly suspicious about almost everyone despite his apparently open personality. He still didn't know Ruby's real motives, which meant he pretty much assumed she was lying and hoped she wasn't every time he spoke to her. "Oh yeah? And who is your psychic?" Sam wouldn't mind a name that he could verify, just to give himself a solid 'lying' or 'not lying.'

Fat chance.

"Miss Cleo." The reply was almost instantaneous. She wasn't about to give him anything; it looked like Sam would learn how to trust her the hard way. "She has a good sales pitch, but the product just doesn't quite cut it." A beat. "Not quite like yours did, anyway."

Sam had news for Ruby, but she never seemed to quite get it: he wasn't ever going to trust anything that belonged in hell. She hit a nerve with her psychic comment and Sam flinched. "That's funny." His tone said the opposite. He pushed away a childhood memory of calling the crazy psychic lady on the television when he was still too young to follow John out the door and into the night; she hadn't been able to tell him where his dad was, only that he was safe. John had been pissed about the phone bill.

Ruby didn't quite care that Sam believed he would never trust her; she was convinced that she would make him do it someday and she could be stubborn as, well, hell. His deadpan reaction amused her more than a belligerent one would have, because it meant that she was getting to him enough to make him have to hold his reaction in. "Oh I know," she nodded, wide-eyed, "I'm a regular riot."

Sam chose to stand. He folded his arms in a way that he must have picked up from John, probably without realizing it. "I'm on a hunt," he said shortly. Asking for help like this was murder on his pride. He was having difficulty approaching it. "I thought there might be a friend of yours in town, demon maybe?" This was such a general inquiry that he must be hoping for her to take it and run with it.

Ruby picked at one of her nails out of seeming boredom. "Mmhmm. Yeah, I'm not friends with very many demons." And for maybe the first time since Sam had met her, Ruby was being completely honest. It was in her eyes too, this time. "Seems to me like you're barking up the wrong tree...." She raised her chin as the reason for Sam's impromptu visit became clearer to her. "Ah. You're here for my help. That's really sweet of you, Sam."

Obnoxious? Ruby? Never!

As usual, Sam tried to ignore most of what Ruby said. She was too good at getting under his skin just for the sake of seeing him squirm. Damn her, anyway. "Then it's spirit possession." Sam glanced at the blank motel television. "You have been watching the news, right? They think it's some kind of cult recruiting people to kill their brothers." It was obvious what Sam thought of this theory. Disgust splintered his voice. "As if any of them could have been talked into doing it."

Damning Ruby wasn't going to do Sam any good, she wasn't afraid of hell. "It's the media, Sam. They get paid to report news that is as far from the truth as...humanly possible." She slid off the bed to continue getting dressed. Leather jacket, socks, impossibly high boots. "But you've been hunting for well over a decade. You know the deal...salt and burn the bodies."

Ruby finished zipping up her second boot and stood up. "It really is as simple as it sounds."

Sam scowled. He was not an amateur, and he didn't appreciate being treated like one. John could attest to that. "I did salt and burn the body. Well, the body of who I thought it was. But since there's a new guest down at the morgue with half his face missing, I guess I made a mistake, didn't I?" Despite the words, his tone was not flippant. Sam took everything to heart, and it was obvious even to total strangers, much less malevolent demon sidekicks: guilt.

Ruby crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. "Clearly, you did. Now let me say that again. Did you burn both of the bodies?" She could almost taste Sam's guilt, and it was delicious. Delaying her response even further, Ruby put on her belt and slid her knife into the scabbard on her right thigh. "You don't know what's going on here? With the brother pattern?"

Blink. "What do you mean, both the bodies?" Rhetorical question, because he answered it himself. "The spirit is connected to both of them? Oh, hell." He forgot about Ruby's presence long enough to look disgusted at himself. Another six feet to dig and another salted bonfire was on the schedule tonight. Not Sam's favorite activity in the world. He rubbed exhaustion out of his eyes. "That's perfect." Sam didn't want to talk about the brother pattern anymore. "...Fine. I'll take care of it."

Ruby got a sidelong look. "Would you know if there was another demon in the vicinity?"

She walked to the mirror over the bathroom sink to deal with her hair; Sam could follow her if he wanted. "Yep. I have - how shall I put it - senses more in tune with demonic activities than you do." She spun around and leaned against the sink. "Lucky for you, it's just me out here, Sam."

No, Sam really didn't want to follow Ruby in the bathroom, thanks very much. He took a couple steps so he had an angle if she came around the corner with something unexpected. (Not a good idea to let your enemy out of your sight, but Sam was trying to keep his mind on the job. The exhaustion was not helping.) "I think I had enough of being in tune, thanks," he snapped. "It wasn't all that fun."

"Well now, aren't you little miss sunshine today?" Ruby came back into the room and began to throw things into her bag without waiting for an answer. "Since you decided to come all the way here to ask for my help, I'll come with you." She smiled, sickeningly sweet. "Because I'm just an angel like that."

Ruby walked past him to the door. She paused, one hand on the doorknob. "So, you coming, Sam?"

God, he was tired. He was still processing what she had just said when she walked past him. "What? You're not coming!"

"You came here for help, Sam. So suck it up, and take it." There it was, that condescending tone Sam was sure to know and love by now.

"Now wait a second!" Sam had a long stride. Two steps and he was at the door, and he wasn't going to let Ruby parade out in front of him. He caught the door. "I don't need your help to burn a corpse. Unless you think there are any demons around." He gave her a suspicious look.

Ruby rolled her eyes, once again. He just didn't seem to get it. "No, Sam. No demons. I'm just not sure you'll find the corpse given your current," she looked him up and down, "state". She continued, her tone just a tad softer, "you look like you could use another pair of hands digging the thing up."

Sam stiffened defensively. His state. Like she knew anything about him at all. "I don't--" he couldn't even get a sentence out properly. He tried again. "I've done more than dig up a grave on less sleep. Thanks but no thanks."

An eyebrow quirked at Sam's assertion. "Should...I even ask?" She dropped her bag at her feet and looked Sam straight in the eye. He might tower over her physically, but the look in her eye now would have made a make a lesser man shrink away. "Look, Sam. You're the one who just broke into my room looking for an answer. If you didn't want me getting involved, you should have gone to a library. I'm coming, so whether or not you pout the whole way is up to you."

It was rare to see Ruby this worked up. She had taken it upon herself to make sure Sam didn't get himself killed a long time ago, but he was certainly making it hard. "Now. Let. Go. Of the door."

Despite himself, Sam straightened. His arm fell away, and the door was free to settle back out of Ruby's way. He didn't know what to make of Ruby's insistence, because it sure didn't seem like she gave a damn about the people this spirit was killing. In fact, she didn't seem to give a damn about anything at all--except what he was doing. That made Sam very, very nervous.

He pushed those thoughts aside. "Fine." The Winchesters liked to think they made the final decisions in everything. "It's not going to take long to get a location, anyway."

Sam might think he had made the final decision, but Ruby knew she had gotten the last word in. She picked up her bag and waltzed out of the door, without turning back. A set of keys were flung over her shoulder once she was already halfway down the hall. "Lock up, will you?"