Dean's bed was shaking. He didn't know why, and he didn’t care, but he did want it to stop. He opened his eyes to find Caleb standing over the bed. "What the-"
Reaves stopped moving the bed. "Bobby called, wants us to do a job. We're leaving in ten."
Dean hugged the pillow and called after Caleb's retreating back. "We're leaving in thirty, Damien."
Five minutes later his feet were on the ground. He brought some clothes into the bathroom and took a quick shower. With hair still damp, he went downstairs to the kitchen.
Sam was waiting for him at the table. A mug of steaming coffee sat on the table and Dean claimed it for himself.
"Where's . . ."
"Not here," Sam replied. "They should be here when we get back."
"So what's going on?" Dean carried his coffee to the refrigerator, foraging for some breakfast.
"Bobby said there’ve been some problems by Calhoun's in Knoxville. Possible possession. Caleb's packing the car." Sam grinned. "He wants to leave in five minutes."
Dean smiled. "I think I'm in the mood for some eggs. How about you, Sammy? Scrambled or sunny side?"
"That's going to take longer than five minutes." Sam stated.
"I know."
"You two are such asses. Fuckin' eggs." Caleb groused. The Winchester brothers were enjoying a restful breakfast while he had been packing up the car. He took out his 9 millimeter. "To the car. Now."
"Hey, it's the most important meal of the day." Dean chuckled as he took one last spoonful of eggs and washed it down with the rest of the juice. Sam folded his toast in half and brought it with him. Caleb holstered his gun.
Dean slid into the driver's seat of the Impala. "So what else did Bobby tell you?"
"Told me I was his favorite hunter after the way you two have been acting." Sunglasses covered Caleb's eyes. "Then he went on about the riverfront in Knoxville and some guy harassing people."
"You said Bobby mentioned a possession, not a drunk and disorderly," Sam commented from the backseat where he stretched his long legs.
"You better hope there's something there." Dean flicked his eyes towards Caleb, then back to the road.
Reaves dropped his sunglasses down towards the bridge of his nose. "Threatening me, Deuce?"
Sam ignored the immature twosome in the front seat. They fed off each other's smartass remarks. "So, we're not going to talk about anything - right?"
Caleb turned around to face the youngest Winchester. "Right. I'm still processing."
"Processing?" Sam grinned.
Reaves pushed his sunglasses back up. "Yep, and I'm hungry too. I'm thinking barbecued ribs because I didn’t eat breakfast."
Somewhere over the state border they stopped for ribs before making their way to Knoxville.
Once at Calhoun’s, they spoke to Bobby's friend, Tim, who was worried about a homeless man who seemed to change overnight.
Tim was a waiter, a long timer for a place where the wait staff was made up mostly of college students from the University of Tennessee. "Rich was a nice guy. I mean he had his problems, but he used to come by at closing, help clean up and we'd give him some food."
"Do you know where he is now?" Sam asked, trying to keep his voice low despite the clanging from the kitchen. Tim had taken the three men to the prep area for a private conversation.
"Used to camp on the other side of the river."
"We'll check it out," Dean replied. He started to walk away, followed by the other two hunters.
"Be careful," Tim warned. "Like I told Bobby, he's been mean, yelling at people, pushing them around. Probably going to have to call the cops if it keeps up."
"Okay, thanks." Caleb gave a slight wave of acknowledgement.
The hunters returned to the car. One side of the river had restaurants and bars, the other side had electrical towers and green grass. They crossed the bridge, and spent an hour locating the homeless man's camp.
"This must be his set up." Dean crouched down at a well worn pan, butane stove top, and pieces of wood that may have been furniture.
"Do we know anything about this area?" Caleb scanned the area with an EMF detector. "Any disturbed spirits?"
"We can go to the library or wait for him to come back," Sam suggested, looking down at the river.
"We know he's going to go back to the waterfront tonight." Caleb shut the scanner off. "As senior hunter," he pointed to himself with a smile. The Winchester brothers rolled their eyes. "I say we do some research and see what we can figure out."
"You paying for dinner, senior hunter?" Dean raised his eyebrows.
Reaves snorted. "Don't I always?"
Dean kicked off the dirt on his boots as they started to trek back to the car. "No. Remember that time in Idaho?"
"Idaho?" Caleb frowned. That was one state where they hadn’t spent a lot of time hunting.
"Yeah, there was that stand. . ." Dean added to jog his friend's memory.
Caleb's mouth dropped open at the vague recollection.
"It was a militia rally,” Dean said. “A free pancake breakfast to raise money."
"So, what's your point?"
"I made a donation." Dean pointed to himself, mimicking Caleb's previous action. "I paid."
Sam walked ahead of the other two hunters. "You guys attend militia rallies? You’re both starting to scare me."
"Hey," Dean called out to his brother. "Where do you think your gun comes from? Best source of weapons in the USA."
Sam shook his head. Sometimes he liked to ignore the underbelly of their living.
The University of Tennessee was nearby. The three men entered the library, quickly finding two computers available. Caleb and Sam sat down, the youngest hunter immediately logged on to Google. He glanced at the site Reaves brought up.
"What are you doing?" Sam knew the older hunter could do no research on yahoomail.
Caleb shrugged. "Checking my e-mail."
Dean had pulled up a chair next to his brother and settled back, his hands folded in his lap. "Watching you research."
Sam exhaled loudly and pinned both men with a withering look. "Go do something."
Reaves laughed, and pointed to the computer screen. "This is pretty funny. . ." Someone had sent him a humorous email involving twins. Dean read over the psychic's shoulder and began to laugh too.
Sam stood up, reached over and clicked the mouse, closing the email program. "Pick me up in an hour." Research would go much faster without distraction.
"You sure, ‘cause we don’t really mind. . ." Dean held his hands up in what was supposed to be a calming action.
Sam waved them off and focused on what the search engine had brought up. "I mind. Go."
Reaves pulled the older Winchester brother towards the exit. They went through the glass doors, and squinted at the warm sun still high in the sky.
"It's too easy." Dean said, slipping on his sunglasses. "We can check out the Body Farm."
Caleb grinned. "Ooh, a forensic anthropology cadaver testing ground. Maybe we can find you a date."
"Isn't that where you met your last girlfriend?" Dean retorted.
Dinner time found the hunters at Calhoun's sitting at a table on the porch overlooking the river. Caleb and Dean had talked their way into the Body Farm with some fake ids. Sam had been less successful.
"There is nothing connected to this area. There's Baker Peters Jazz Club with a ghost from the Civil War. Same story with the Bijou Theater. The local high school had an incident with a guy killing his girlfriend. Then there's the asylum and nursing home hauntings."
"Those places are just magnets," Caleb added, swirling his glass of red wine before taking a drink.
"Anything else?" Dean prompted, spreading butter on a warm roll.
Sam thought a moment, remembering two other ghost sightings. "A local subdivision and the women's residence at the University of Tennessee."
Dean took a bite of his roll. "Okay, so, we wait."
"Not long." Reaves gestured with his glass. "I think that's our man."
Sam waved down Bobby's waiter friend. "Tim, is that him?" The youngest hunter pointed to a large, disheveled man wearing an overcoat.
He was standing near a park bench, heckling the wary passersby. "You bring ruination!"
"That’s Rich." Tim confirmed, shaking his head in disappointment. "Think you can help?"
"Only one way to find out." Caleb drained the glass of wine and stood up.
The other two hunters followed, Sam grabbing a roll before leaving the table. . "How we going to handle this?"
"We need to isolate him. There are too many people around." Dean looked at the college students and others who were out on the riverfront.
"We need confirmation first. Stay here," Caleb said. He walked towards Rich. The homeless man growled at Reaves. "Cristo," the older hunter said and received an immediate reaction. Rich's eyes darkened. Caleb backed away towards the other hunters.
"So, our kinda problem." Dean stated. "Split up and corner him."
Sam circled around, Caleb was behind him and Dean was point. They moved the crowds along, pushing people along so that they kept their distance from Rich.
The possessed man moved further down the river walk. He kept looking around, sensing he was being followed. They just needed him to move into a more secluded area.
Suddenly, Rich reached out for a woman. She shrieked and batted him away.
"Heathens! Wanton! You all need to be scourged," he yelled, and backed away into the railing.
Caleb ran forward. "Give him some room." He tried to disperse the crowd that was gathering around the man.
"You should really keep moving." Sam suggested to some others. He hated that people were attracted to watching a train wreck. "Nothing to see here."
Dean used the distraction to get closer to the possessed man. But, as Dean stepped forward the man opened his overcoat to reveal wires and what seemed to be a bomb strapped to his body. Dean scanned the crowd, looking for Sam or Caleb but saw neither. He couldn’t risk innocent lives while waiting for back-up.
"Buddy, you don’t want to do this."
The possessed man climbed up on the railing. "This place needs to burn."
"Bomb!" Dean yelled out, hoping to save as many people as possible with a warning. Instinctually he should have backed away too. Instead, he lunged forward, hoping to get Rich off balance.
The possessing spirit preemptively pulled the wire and a thundering sound rumbled. Screams intermingled with smoke and the scent of burned flesh.
Caleb had lost sight of Dean and Sam. After the blast, he pushed through the crowd in a desperate attempt to locate them. He tried to use his abilities but the general panic around him was interfering. He worked to help people settle down. There didn’t seem to be any injuries. He made his way back to the Impala, knowing the boys would go back as a mutual meeting place.
He sat on the hood of the Chevy for ten minutes before seeing Sam making his way up. The youngest hunter waved. "Cops came. They're handling it now."
"Where's Captain Whatever?" Caleb asked using a cannibalization of Sam's childhood nickname for his brother. Reaves narrowed his eyes to see if he could make out Dean in the distance.
Sam turned around, glancing at the riverfront. "I thought he was with you. Can you sense him?"
Caleb took a moment and shook his head. "How about your Spidey sense?"
Sam also shook his head. "We need to look for him."
They returned to the scene of the incident. Police and firefighters had swarmed the area and had the crowds well-sorted. Media crews were also around interviewing victims who were all talking about a "crazy man."
Caleb and Sam split up, taking in the faces in the crowd, looking for Dean. They met up again, both at a loss.
"If he was near the blast. . ." The younger hunter walked to the point where Dean had last been seen. Yellow tape contained the area, but the hunters ignored it, and peered over the edge.
There was debris on the docks below, some cement and the wood of the docks had been damaged too. Luckily, there were no boats docked below the blast point.
"If he went into the water. . ." Sam rubbed his forehead. If Dean had gone into the water unconscious. . . "Caleb!" Sam called out, spying some stairs and running down.
"Damnit," Reaves growled, seeing the legs dangling in the water and
torso covered by debris. "Dean!"