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Entry tags:	fandom: supernatural, otp: dean/janis, otp: sam/nina, writing: supernatural

Wash Away My Sins: Chapter Four - Supernatural
Title: Wash Away My Sins
Authors: Aratocriel and Jade Blood
Rating: PG-13
Characters/Pairings: Dean, Sam, Dean/OFC, Sam/OFC, OC!villains
Disclaimer: Supernatural and it's characters belong to Kripke and the CW. Nina belongs to Aratocriel, and Janis belongs to me (Jade), so no using them without our permission. We make no profits from this and are just having fun!
Summary: A year after the events of "Unity in Duality", Janis and Nina are a bit savvier regarding the world of the paranormal, but the resurgence of old enemies has left them needing the help of the Winchesters once more.
Previous Chapters: 1 : 2 : 3



Chapter Four

The Impala pulled up to the curb, just outside the gaggle of police tape, cars, and uniformed officers. Dean twisted toward the backseat to face the Janis and Nina, giving them each a look that told them volumes about how much he didn't want them there.

"You girls remember the plan, right?" he asked. "We go in, you give us five minutes, come around to the side window, and we get you in."

"Yes, Dean, we know the plan,” Nina replied sarcastically. “We've only been over it a hundred times."

“Don’t forget to--”

“We got it, babe,” Janis chuckled. “Just go.”

Dean grunted and climbed out of the car with Sam a beat behind. Both of them adjusted the black suits they were wearing and headed towards the house. Flashing their fake FBI badges got them past the “Do Not Cross” tape and into the crime scene. It was apparent from all those milling about that the evidence had been collected, the work done hours ago, but the officers were still staring at the remnants of murder left in this man’s home and sharing bewildered glances. As Janis had known would be the case, these small town cops hadn’t seen anything of this caliber in their careers, and they couldn’t seem to break themselves of its presence.

“How did they find him?” Sam asked one of the officers with no introduction beyond that. He was slipping on rubber gloves as he spoke, preparing more for not leaving his own prints behind than any worry for disturbing the scene.

The officer he’d addressed started and turned. “Oh… The neighbors heard him screaming, called 911, and a cruiser was sent over. Found him…” The officer pointed to the ceiling, “pinned spread-eagle. He was real messed up. Coroner’s got the body.”

“Thanks,” Sam replied with a tense nod, trying not to imagine just how bad “real messed up” could be.

“Okay, party’s over!” Dean roared with enough authority that, though they looked shocked and miffed by the interruption, they didn’t question it. “FBI! We’ve taken over this investigation. My partner and I have to reassess the crime scene, so… Yeah. Clear out!”

They watched him vapidly for a moment, as if not believing what they’d just heard. Sam glanced between Dean and his blank audience then waved his hands in a gesture of dismissal. They moved en mass, grumbling and muttering about how the FBI always did this, just like in the movies, as they went.

Dean frowned at their retreating backs, then quirked his eyebrows at Sam. “Like sheep, man.”

“Important sounding acronyms tend to do that,” Sam snorted, then moved to the window. He peered out and saw Janis and Nina approaching around the back corner of the house. He unlatched the window and raised it, taking Nina’s hand and pulling her inside. Next up was Janis, who he steadied and almost didn’t release, realizing the gruesome sight would affect her most of all.

Janis pulled delicately away, her hand lingering in Sam’s for only a moment, squeezing then dropping from his tender grip. The ceiling was awash with blood, four holes punctured there to mark where Reg had been pinned. The bloody pool on the floor seemed to indicate that there had been more than just a maroon stain there earlier. Had they gutted him? Just how bad had it been? She turned toward the front door and noted that it looked as if it had been kicked in and hung awkwardly off its hinges. Furniture was overturned with streaks of blood adorning the walls as if someone had taken red paint and slashed in haphazard patterns. There were dried shoe prints in the carpet. So much blood she couldn’t fathom Reg having this much in his body.

“I guess that’s the catch,” Janis muttered. “It’s not in his body anymore.”

Placing a gentle hand on Janis's shoulder, Nina glanced over at Sam and Dean. "Alright, what do we need to do first?"

“First?” Dean fished in his pocket and tossed her a pair of rubber gloves. “No prints. We don’t usually worry about that as much as we would here, ‘cause…”

“They’re looking for a scapegoat,” Janis whispered more to herself as she was passed a pair, staring down at the thin rubber as if fascinated by it.

“Right,” Dean replied, watching her until she glanced up at him and then holding her gaze for a moment, as if trying to remind her that he was there and to stay strong.

"So what… we're looking for traces of sulfur?" Nina asked, slipping the gloves on her hands.

"Yeah," Sam nodded. "We're pretty sure it was demons, but this will just help assure us."

She moved to the other side of the room, careful to step around the splatters of blood on the floor, her eyes looking for anything that might prove helpful.

Janis stayed in basically one spot and turned to look about her. They’d asked for her to mention anything out of the ordinary, but that was everything at the moment. Her eyes couldn’t seem to settle on anything that wasn’t signs of a struggle.

It was Dean who chanced moving toward the front door where he was within sight of the officers outside. He crouched and ran a finger across the carpet, then inspected the tip of his glove, taking a short whiff of the yellow powder there. “Found it,” he called out. “Sulfur.” He rose again, moving back across the room toward Janis. “Anything?”

“I’d have to get a look around,” she murmured. “The other rooms, maybe?”

“Yeah, I’ll follow you,” Dean nodded, pulling his gun out and motioning ahead of himself with it.

The kitchen was untouched, as was the hallway, and they moved through each space quietly with the sort of gradual ease of a pair that expected the worst to come pouncing on them. They peeked into Reg’s study only to find it in perfect condition. They stopped just in front of the bedroom, and Janis felt her stomach lurch. Of course she’d known this would be the logical place to find something specifically for her or Nina if they were going to.

Dean put his arm out, sweeping her behind him as he kicked at the door. It snapped open, the knob cracking against the wall from the force of his entrance, but there was no one to meet them. Janis pushed her way in beside him, then halted in mid-step, clinging to his arm.

The wall above the bed held a short message, painted in drippy, dark red letters. “A hand for a hand.” Janis glanced down at the angry, nearly black stain on the bedspread.

“How much you wanna bet his hand was right there?” Janis asked softly, yet her voice still shattered the silence.

“I’d take that bet, but I know I’d lose,” Dean growled, turning with her and ushering her out of the room, pulling the door closed as well as he could.

Within the living room, Sam had done all he could by way of investigation. Nina continued the search, and he smiled softly at her efforts. He couldn’t help thinking that she’d make a good hunter if given the chance. She had the tenacity.

His reverie was broken when he heard one of the higher ranking cops in the yard shouting at a rookie, asking why he’d not thought to check those badge numbers. He then went on to roar that even an idiot should be able to tell that “Agents May and Mercury” were obvious aliases. Had he never heard of Queen before?

“Oh shit,” Sam huffed. “Nina, come on…” He took her arm and began dragging her to the back of the house, where he was intercepted by Dean, who was dragging Janis in the opposite direction.

“Hey, what--?” Dean began.

“They checked up on our names,” Sam replied hurriedly. “We gotta move.”

"Everyone out the way Janis and I came in," Nina turned, taking the lead and moving back towards the window. It was just out of sight of the door, but they could hear a ruckus outside as the cops were preparing to come in after them.

Nina slipped through the window with Sam, Janis, and then Dean bringing up the rear.

"The car's where I told you to put it, right?" Dean asked, taking a quick look behind him to make sure they hadn't been spotted as they made their way across the backyard.

"No, drove it to the gas station down the road and left it there," Nina replied tersly, slipping over the chain link fence and into the backyard of Reg's neighbor.

“For your sake, I hope your kidding,” Dean growled.

Janis could hear the thump of footsteps inside Reg’s house and gave a last glance back at the place, then turned to run when she felt Dean tugging her arm. The Impala was safely parked one street over, and they needed only cross the next yard to reach it. They did so at a hurried pace, each of them taking a door and hurling themselves inside.

“Keys!” Dean shouted, reaching into the backseat. “Janis?”

“Nina drove,” Janis informed him.

“I told you to do it!” Dean yelled.

“Give him the keys before he bursts a blood vessel,” Janis sighed, rubbing her temple and leaning against the window. “I am really not in the mood for this…”

Nina flung the keys at Dean who caught them and jammed them into ignition. The Impala roared to life and sped off. Dean took a few side roads, making doubly sure that they hadn't been spotted before heading back to the girl’s house. The car ride was quiet, and Nina kept an eye on Janis, who stared blankly out the window for the duration of the short trip.

When they reached the house, they all hurried inside, each relaxing visibly when the door was locked shut behind them and the salt replaced in front of it.

"Did you guys find anything in the back of the house?" Nina asked, seating herself on the couch. Sam took a seat beside her and looked up expectantly.

Dean glanced at Janis, then seated himself in a worn-in, comfortable chair off to the side. Janis stayed where she was, feeling somewhat cut off as she gathered her thoughts. She wanted Dean’s support, but perhaps she should be strong on her own. She was the one crowing about how she was different, more independent now. Perhaps it was time to put her money where her mouth was rather than run to him at the first signs of distress.

“A message,” she answered Nina at last. “Written in blood. Hand for a hand. And a spot on the covers where… there must have been a severed hand. So not much of a question as to who was behind it. As if there ever was.” She rubbed the back of her neck wearily and shut her eyes.

Nina closed her eyes as well, leaning back into the sofa as a pit formed deep in her stomach. She felt completely responsible for Reg's death. If only she'd had more control over herself… She was pulled from her thoughts by Sam's hand gently squeezing her leg, reassuring her as though he knew exactly what she was thinking.

"We need to trap them and exorcise them," Nina said matter-of-factly. "There are enough devil’s traps in this house that if we pull the salt away, something is bound to get caught."

Dean shook his head. “That one at the front door? Mrs. Fix-It with the hammer? Saw the trap. They won’t just walk in here like that.”

“There’s nothing else we could use against them?” Janis asked helplessly.

“Anything else would be… a moot point,” Sam answered her. “Exorcising them is all we have. We could always lure them somewhere else. Unfamiliar ground.”

“That would be just as unfamiliar to us,” Dean countered. “Nah, I’m not resorting to that just yet.”

Janis felt her mouth quirk with a hesitant smirk as she asked softly, “Those wheels turning?”

Green eyes cut her way, and he really took her in for the first time since their morning had taken a dark turn. She was spread thin, trying to be braver than she felt, debating with him because she didn’t want to be the scared little girl in this equation. All because she wanted him to be proud of her efforts, to view her as someone equal to him instead of a burden. The way her eyes begged him for some kind of reassurance while her body language was stiff and guarded told him all this. If there was one thing he could do well, beyond any doubt, it was reading people. She needed him now, had since the beginning, and he was starting to feel he’d dropped the ball.

Janis felt scrutinized but said nothing, since she could ask for no finer set of eyes to be so locked on her. His hand rose, his fingers flicking toward himself as he bid her near. Her head dropped to watch her feet as they moved her closer.

“It’s just that Reg was a friend,” she was saying as he caught one of the belt loops on her jeans and tugged. “I bet you already knew it might come to this, but even after all this time, my head isn’t wired to think of these things…”

“Hey, s’all right,” Dean muttered, finally sliding his arms around her and pulling her down into his lap. Her legs were draped across his, and she was huddled against his chest, hiding her face in the crook of his neck. “I’m sorry about Reg…” He found it hard to feel any deep sympathy, since the guy was obviously after her affections and Dean had never known him beyond that sad fact. But he could at least say that by way of comforting her.

“He was annoying sometimes,” Janis muttered. “That’s a fucked up thing to say right now, but he was. He was always asking me out on dates, trying to get in my pants, but he meant well. I’d never have wished that on him. I didn’t.”

“This is not your fault,” Dean growled, nearly angry that she should feel the need to shoulder such a burden.

"Honey," Nina spoke up. "This is not something you can in any way blame yourself for. Reg being your friend doesn't make you responsible."

Janis raised her head and snapped, “I should have told him! Warned him about what we knew. Keeping this to ourselves is as bad as murdering him. So yeah, it is my fault.”

“Yeah, and what then?” Dean asked, drawing her attention again. “You think he’d actually believe that demons are holding you two hostage in your own house? Let me tell you from experience, darlin’… He wouldn’t have bought it. Wouldn’t have changed a thing.”

“That doesn’t make it right that I stayed silent,” Janis whispered. “I could have saved him, Dean.”

Her eyes were filling, and Dean found he couldn’t stand to see that. He pulled her tight against him, his fingers tangling in her hair. “You think Sam and I haven’t lost people before? Hey, it happens.” She was crying softly, unable to help herself. “Aww, babe, don’t…”

Nina bit her tongue against the words she wanted to say to Janis. She wanted to tell her she hadn't let him die, that this wasn't her fault. That if Janis wanted someone to blame, then she should blame her, since it was her recklessness that pissed the demon off in the first place. She knew the words would only bring about an argument that would end in Janis being more distressed than she already was, and Nina didn't want that.

With a weary sigh, she pushed herself up off the couch and walked to her bedroom, laying down on the bed and burying her head under her pillow.

Sam watched her go at first, unable to believe how the day had turned so dark within the space of a couple hours. He hoped he wasn’t stepping over any lines as he rose and went after her. He loosened his tie as he went, shedding his blazer. When he entered her room, he draped the jacket over her dresser then eased himself onto the edge of the bed, his hand pressing into her back. For a moment, he simply allowed the warmth of his touch to linger in her as he found the right words.

“Nina,” he rumbled gently. “I know you feel responsible, but that’s just as ridiculous as Janis trying to carry this, and you know it.”

A small smile passed over his face when he heard her try to say something, the words completely muffled. "Sweetie, pillow." He plucked the pillow from the top of her head and set it aside. She rolled over onto her back, staring up at him.

"Sorry." She gave him a soft smile. "What I said was, it is more my fault then Janis's, because if I had controlled my temper, then I wouldn't have gone and pissed off a demon. And he wouldn't be here right now."

“I was there,” he reminded her. “There was no ‘controlling yourself’. We did everything we could, all of us, and those powers proved stronger. The thing that’s most unfair about it is precisely how innocent you both are. Neither of you deserve this.”

"I don't suppose we could tell the demons that? That it was some freak accident, and we didn't mean to. We're sorry, and can we please just forgive and forget?"

“Uh…” Sam laughed. “We could try, but I think your white flag would just burst into flames.”

Nina sighed, adjusting herself so that her head was snuggled into Sam's lap. "There is so much I want to do, yet so little I really can do."

“Definitely add ‘convincing demons they’re mistaken’ to the list of things no one can do,” Sam assured her, his hand moving through her dark hair, pulling stray strands away from her face. “But there are other things we can do. We’re not helpless.” His jaw tightened with anger when he thought of the position they’d been put in. “Trying to corner us was their first mistake. We’ll see to it that it’s their last. I promise.”

The sudden darkness in Sam's eyes made Nina remember that beneath the gentle face and soft hands was an experienced hunter. One who had been through so much, scarified so much, and was willing, yet again, to put his life on the line to help her.

She snaked an arm up and around Sam's neck, pulling him down to her lips. "We should check on Janis and Dean, see what the game plan is for the remainder of the day," she said when they parted.

Sam nodded his agreement and rose with her to make their way back into the living room. They entered in time to see Janis nod to something Dean was relating in a low, intimate voice, something that carried a reassuring air as his hand brushed over her cheek.

“I’m not pissed at you,” Dean murmured. “Okay? I got no reason to be. I just… get mad when shit happens I can’t control. Has nothing to do with you, baby.”

“Okay,” Janis whispered back, her fingers teasing their way into the gaps between the buttons of his shirt. “I don’t mean to be so timid like this…”

“Timid?” Dean smirked. “You walked right into that room with more balls that I’ve seen on most guys. Don’t talk to me about timid.”

Janis snickered at this, then peeked up at Nina. “Hey…” she said softly, a little embarrassed at being caught in such an intimate conversation with Dean, and yet she felt that both Sam and Nina were welcome to know about whatever went on between them.

"Hey," Nina replied, smiling at her friend. "Feeling better?"

“Yeah, I am,” Janis huffed, though her eyes were still red, her tear tracks spread across her face. There were also wet marks against Dean’s shirt. Yet they both ignored them. It was a moment they had shared, and it had passed. Her hand tugged absently at the Dean’s tie as she replied, “And you? I noticed you left…”

"I'm fine," she assured her. "If Sam is willing to go with me, I'd like to run to town." She glanced at Sam who nodded. "I want to stop by the shop, check on people, and we need some things from the store. The demons probably won’t chance anything else today, and we still have a few hours before dark. Should be fine."

“Yeah, okay,” Janis nodded. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to stick around the house. That sort of drained me.”

"Of course. You need anything from the store? Some moose tracks ice cream?" Nina grinned.

“Oh, you know me too well,” Janis laughed. “That would be great, actually.”

“Hey, you gonna share?” Dean asked with a bright smile.

“You are such a giant child,” Janis giggled. “But yes. I will. Wait a minute…” She squinted at him. “You’re not going to argue the point? Just gonna let them go?”

“Chances are, the… pack, for lack of a better term, is laying low and plotting their next move,” Sam answered for him. “Reg was just another scare tactic, like the animals they killed before.”

“They’re working their way up the food chain,” Dean agreed. “And if you ask me, they haven’t learned any new tricks. Even if they did want to attack you, broad daylight in a grocery store would be too risky. Demons are dangerous, but even they have a self-preservation streak they can’t ignore. They wouldn’t out themselves in public like that. Besides… It’s beer.”

Janis rolled her eyes, then smirked up at Nina. “Thank you.”

"Not a problem, and Dean, I'll make sure to bring back extra beer for you." She smirked at him as his grin widened. "See you before dark. Call my cell if you need anything else." With that, she snatched up her keys and purse, and she and Sam headed out.

To Be Continued...