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“Do you want to go get drinks with us?” Ben Roshia said at the end of the day. They had had a successful evening report. All that was left was the late one, and a few people stuck around just in case anything breaking happened overnight so they could have all the information for the morning newscast. Ben and a few of the others usually went out on Friday nights, since they weren’t the weekend help.“No, I think I’m just going to stay here and finish up this story I’m wanting to get in next week.” Declan Nelson responded. Ben shook his head.“Come on Declan, live a little.” Ben laughed. “Works gonna end up killing ya!”“But at least I’ll be famous.” Declan laughed. “Maybe next week, okay?”“That’s what you always say. And you know, there’s quite a few girls around here who wouldn’t mind getting to know a reporter.” Ben gave Declan a wink. “I’ll see you later. Don’t stay too late.” He patted him on the back before leaving. Declan went to his office. He was going through old film footage, so he was having to use the old machines they kept in storage.Declan carried the box of film canisters into his office, where the machine sat. He sat down and started feeding the film into the machine, watching for the right sections that he needed. Once he time-stamped and marked what he needed, he could send it off to the editors who could pull it out and put it in digital for him. The air got a little colder as he stared down at the images. He shivered a little.“Damn it, why is the AC on?” He asked. He turned around to look at the thermostat in his office. He saw a cloud come from his mouth from the cold. He rubbed his arms and went to look at the screen. It was set to 70. Why was it so damn cold in there?As he stared at the thermostat, tapping on it to see if it was broken, the film pulled through the machine. Like a snake, it slithered around in the air with ease. Declan turned around just as the film suddenly wrapped tightly around his neck and the machine started to rewind. Declan tried to pull and rip the film, but it was like it was reinforced. He tried to hold his ground, but the rewinding function was too strong and pulled him towards the machine.“Help!” Declan tried to scream, but the film seemed to tighten around his neck more. It pulled him roughly into the machine, smacking his face against it. It pulled tighter, cutting off his air slowly. Declan reached for the scissors on his desk, slapping at it, but he couldn’t find them.Soon, his hand went limp at his side as his body gave up. The film kept him tight against the machine for a bit long before laxing and letting his body slip to the floor.“Hey Declan, I lost my keys. You see them?” Ben asked, pushing open the door to his office with his arm around a girl.She screamed at the sight of Declan’s dead body resting against his desk.
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Dean could hear Sam’s alarm buzzing. He was laying in bed, listening to some records. He hadn’t really slept very good and had almost fallen asleep to the sounds of Robert Plant singing when he heard that damn alarm. Dean rubbed at his eyes. He knew Sam would be up and going for a jog soon. Dean never understood why you would run if you didn’t have to, but whatever.He heard Sam’s door open and close as he got up for the day. He would just love it if the kid would sleep in for once in his life. Dean wrapped himself up more in his blankets and tried to get back to sleep, successfully doing so for at least a few minutes. But finally, the need to get up got the best of him. He wrapped his robe around him and shuffled to the kitchen.“Hey.” Sam said, eating some toast.“Thought you’d be out on a jog ” Dean said. Sam shook his head.“It’s raining. I’ll hit the gym later if I feel like it.” Sam was typing away at his laptop. Dean looked at the coffee pot. It was cold and the coffee inside looked like it had seen better days.“You make fresh coffee?” Dean asked.“No. Didn’t want any this morning,” Sam told him, reading something. Dean rolled his eyes and rinsed the pot out before finding the coffee. He was going to break down and find himself one of those pod makers sometime. That way, he could have whatever flavor he wanted and didn’t have to decide with Sam on if they wanted a lighter, breakfast blend or a dark, almost charcoal roast.“So, a rainy Kansas day. Lovely.” Dean said, leaning against the counter as he waited for his coffee to brew. Sam just nodded, obviously deep into his story. “Does that mean we’re staying in to watch Netflix and braid your hair?”“Ha ha. Very funny.” Sam said. “Actually, I think I’ve got us a case.”“A case?” Dean asked. Sam nodded. “Okay, sell it to me.”“So get this,” Sam began. “A news station in Indianapolis, Indiana has had several deaths over the past few months. The most recent one was a guy was hanging by some film reels he was working on.”“Maybe he was just depressed. That stuff happens.” Dean said. Sam shook his head.“Before that, a sports reporter found at the bottom of the staircase. The surveillance for the stairwell looks like he was picked up and thrown down the middle of it.” Sam explained. “I’m looking into the history of the building now, but so far, nothing.”“They could just be unlucky, but it would make sense to go check for a hex bag or something.” Dean said. Sam looked up at him. He was expecting more of a fight, but they both just needed a hunt that didn’t involve some sort of Apocalypse. “And, I knew a girl from Indianapolis.” Dean winked at Sam.“Oh come on.” Sam sighed.“What? I’ve got needs man.” Dean laughed. “Let me get some coffee in me first, okay?”“Yeah, of course.” Sam closed his laptop. “I’m gonna get my gear together. Let me know when you’re ready to leave.” He headed to his room and shut the door, looking at the state of it. There were clothes on the floor, his bed was unmade. Normally, he was more up on the housekeeping of his space, but here in the past month, he just couldn’t find it in himself to care. He started looking through his clean clothes to get stuff for the trip.After he got packed up, he opened his laptop up again to create their cover story. Things had been a lot on him since Garth tried to stay on the down low recently, and since Bobby had died. He shot Garth a text, telling him that he was using him as his “in case of questions” person as he typed up the documents. Interns from the local Kansas affiliate. Sam just hoped that the story went over right. Dean came out of his room then; cleaned up, dressed, packed, and ready to go.“Hey, what’s taking so long?” Dean asked, earning a glare from Sam. “What?”“Nothing,” Sam said. “We’re interns from a small news station here in Kansas.”“Aren’t we a little old to be interns?” Dean asked.“Robert De Niro could be an intern for Anne Hathaway. I think we’ve got this.” Sam said. Sam looked up at Dean’s confused face. “Oh come on, we watched that movie together.”“Yeah, I think I slept through it,” Dean said with a shrug. “Okay, so we’re interns and we’ve been transferred to Indianapolis.”“Yes,” Sam said. “It’s pretty much an eleven hour straight shot from here to there, so we’ve got all that time to learn about the media stuff.” Dean groaned. “We just have to know the basics. We’re interns after all. And hey, you were that personal assistant or whatever that one time when we were on the set of Hellhazers 2.”“That was how many lifetimes ago?” Dean asked. “Okay, well, let’s get this show on the road.” Sam shut his laptop and packed it in the travel bag. Dean was already on his way to the garage before Sam even had a chance to grab his bags. With a bit of a sigh, Sam made his way towards the Impala. At least Dean was in a good mood instead of worrying about Mary and Jack. Sam settled into the passenger seat.“Okay, want me to start telling you about what our jobs will intel?” Sam asked.“No, no. Not yet.” Dean said. “I gotta have my tunes man. You should know this by now.” Sam rolled his eyes as Aerosmith started playing once Dean started the engine. Sam situated himself to be comfy to research while Dean drove.
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“So basically, we’re going to be their bitches.” Dean said as he drove on I-74 towards Indianapolis.“Yeah, pretty much.” Sam confirmed, stretching as much as he could in the confines of the car. “And Garth hasn’t texted me telling me they’ve called asking questions, so they must have accepted our story.” Sam typed through things. “So I found a 3-star hotel about fifteen minutes away that has rooms starting at $48.”“That seems a little sketchy, even for us.” Dean said. “But, cheap is cheap. And I’ve gotten a taste for the finer things in life.”“Dean, you refused to buy Miller Lite because it went up by like ten cents.” Sam said. Dean shrugged.“It’s the principal of the matter.” Dean told him. Sam sighed and went back to what he was reading. Dean drove them closer to the city and Sam gave him directions towards the hotel when they got closer.“This looks...nice?” Sam said, looking around at the neighborhood as they made their way.“Does the rest of the city look this pleasant?” Dean asked, pulling over to the side as four police cars went past. “Sam, I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore...”“We’re just used to doing hunts in small towns where the sheriff probably is probably married to the mayor,” Sam said. Dean found the place and pulled into the parking lot. It didn’t look bad, but the rest of the neighborhood left room to be desired.“So, here we are.” Sam said as they got out. They checked in and found their room. It was actually pretty pleasant. Not what Dean would think a 3-star should look like, but not bad. They got situated and their defenses set up.“So, what station is it again?” Dean asked. “So I can familiarise myself with their work.”“That’s actually what I was thinking. We could watch stuff on Youtube so we’re not total idiots.” Sam looked through the file of stuff he had. “It seems it’s the NBC station.” Dean was on his own laptop, Youtube up and ready.“I need call numbers man.” Dean said.“Go with WTHR.” Sam told him. Dean nodded and typed it in, a little surprised when he saw a very young David Letterman popping up on the screen. “Well, that’s something that’s nice to know.”“Dude, that’s David Letterman!” Dean said. “I remember staying up late and watching him because it was the only channel we could get in sometimes.”“He’s not that funny.” Sam said with a shrug as they watch some clips of old news broadcasts to familiarize themselves. If they were going to be interns, they were going to be the best damn interns that WTHR had ever seen. Dean turned and gave Sam a dirty look.“You watch your mouth. He is hilarious.” Dean said.“Jimmy Fallon is hilarious. Letterman, not so much.” Sam said. Dean shook his head.“It’s like I don’t even know you.” He mumbled. Sam rolled his eyes. He made notes, details, everything. He had worked for the paper at Stanford for awhile. If the law thing didn’t work out, being Clark Kent wouldn’t be bad. But neither of them worked out and now he was one half of Mulder and Scully, it was just debatable who was who.“Okay Sammy, what do you say? Beers before bed then we hit the studio bright and early?” Dean asked.“Nah man. I’m just going to research some more. I want to be prepared.” Sam said. Dean rolled his eyes.“God, you are such a nerd.” He grabbed his jacket and wallet. “There is a bar downstairs and I am going to check it out. See what there is to be seen.”“You do that.” Sam said, typing away to read and watch some more stuff.****The alarm on Sam’s phone went off bright and early the next morning. With it being their first day, they didn’t have to be there until about 8 or so, but after that it was up in the air. Sam got up, looking over at Dean’s bed to see him passed out and snoring. Sam smacked his arm.“Get up.” He demanded. “Won’t look good on us if we’re late.”“We don’t even have to be there until 8.” Dean groaned, wrapping himself up in his blankets.“Dean. Up. Now.” Sam made his way to the bathroom to relieve himself, shave, and shower. By the time he came out, Dean was at least sitting up in bed.“Man, it’s only 5:30.” Dean groaned. “Why are we up so early?”“Gotta be used to it if we have to go in earlier.” Sam said. “And we need to prepare ourselves for the day.” Dean got up to use the bathroom next, copying Sam’s routine. As Dean showered, Sam dressed himself in some of his business casual clothes. He was adjusting his tie as Dean came out with his hair plastered to his head from the shower.“I always look weird in these clothes.” Dean said, holding up his shirt for the day. “God, I hope this case doesn’t take too long.”“It might be fun.” Sam told him, letting him get ready for the day. “We’ll snag some breakfast before we go. I bet it’s going to be a long day.”They found themselves having breakfast at the hotel, which killed some time and they were off towards the studio not long after. It was coming up on 8 when they pulled into the parking lot. Dean was complaining the entire time.“Traffic here sucks. If it’s not potholes, it’s construction. They’re lucky the Indianaians haven’t revolted.” Dean grumbled.“Hoosiers.” Sam corrected. Dean looked at him. “People of Indiana are called Hoosiers.”“Dude, you are so a damn nerd.” Dean sighed. They made their way inside to the receptionist, who look like she had just settled in for the day. Dean leaned against the counter and gave her a smile. She looked up at them.“Can I help you?” She asked. The boys could tell that she didn’t want to be there this early either.“Uh, we’re new interns from…” Sam started.“Names?” She asked, bringing up something on her computer.“Sam Murrow and Dean Jennings.” Dean said. The slid a clipboard over to them.“Sign here.” She said as she grabbed a label maker and made up some badges for them. “These are your temp badges. You’ll get your real ones later on.” Dean and Sam took them and put them on their shirts. “You’ll go down the hall and to the left. There, you’ll be with a couple other interns and they’re going to assign you two to your departments.” She answered her phone then, cutting off any chance of Sam or Dean asking anymore questions.“I guess this is the hallway.” Sam said. They made their way down and took a left, and sure enough, there were two other interns sitting in a longue. The other two did not seem to be in the mood to talk, so Dean and Sam sat on the opposite side of the room from them.“What have you gotten us into?” Dean whispered.“This was the only way we could get in and investigate.” Sam hissed. Dean shook his head. That’s when a young woman walked in, her hair up and a clipboard in hand.“Hello. Welcome to Indianapolis.” She said with a smile. “My name is Vanessa Bertin. I have your assignments. Terri Harding, you will be working with Katrina Greystone with traffic. Luke Michaels, you will be with Dusty Lisson with sports. Sam Murrow, you’re with Ben Roshia. Good luck. And Dean Jennings, you’re with me.”“Why did she tell me good luck?” Sam asked, a little worried. Everyone stood and followed Vanessa as she gave them a brief tour of the building and a little overview of everything. She dropped Terri and Luke off at their departments.“Okay Sam, here’s Ben’s office.” She offered him a smile before knocking to tell him who was waiting and then taking Dean with her back to her office. Sam stood in front of the door as it opened.“So, you’re the new intern?” Ben asked. Sam nodded. “Fantastic. Start by taking this to the dry cleaners for me.” He handed him a couple suits. “And make it snappy. I don’t have all day.”
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“So what is it that we’ll be doing?” Dean asked as he followed Vanessa around the studio.“Keeping the talent happy.” She said, rolling her eyes. “Because if they aren’t happy, no one is.” Dean nodded, following her back to the office she had. She threw herself into a desk chair, sliding across the floor some. “Take a seat.” She pointed at a chair over in the corner. “One perk of doing this is you don’t have to dress up like a CPA.”“T-shirts and jeans?” He asked. “Really?”“I came in last week wearing a Johnny Cash flipping off the camera t-shirt and jeans. All I got was a high five from the cameraman.” She laughed. “Just wear clothes and you’re fine.” There was a knock at her door and Dean looked up to see Sam standing in the doorway.“I need your keys.” Sam said.“What? Why?” Dean asked. Sam sighed.“I’m being sent on a dry cleaner and Starbucks run.” Sam told him. Vanessa couldn’t stop the smile that she had. Dean handed Sam the keys to Baby and waited until his brother was gone from sight to look at Vanessa, who started laughing.“What’s so funny?” Dean asked.“He’s dealing with Ben Roshia. He’s not exactly the best guy to work with.” She sighed some. “It was a shame that he had to find Declan though.”“Declan?” Dean asked, playing dumb. He knew exactly who Declan was.“He was a field reporter. We started out in the same intern group, but he worked his ass off and to climb in the ranks. It was such a shame that he killed himself…”“I think I read about that online.” Dean said. Vanessa nodded. “He wasn’t the first, was he?”“No. Since I’ve been working here, there’s been four.” She rubbed the back of her neck. “Dusty’s predecessor, James Willey was found at the bottom of the stairs. Kristin McMann, a heavy piece of equipment fell on her. Holly Ford, they say she jumped off the room of the building. Then Declan.”“Damn.” Dean said. Vanessa shrugged.“I’m trying to stay positive.” She said, smiling at Dean. “Come on, I’ll take you down to our cafeteria and show you around. And, our chef makes some of the best pie in Indianapolis.”“You had me at pie.” Dean laughed, following her to the cafeteria.****“I officially hate this city.” Sam grumbled to himself as he walked out of Starbucks with Ben’s order. Traffic was awful, and it seemed like every street he needed to turn down was closed or backed up. Gas was about the same price it seemed, but the gas stations were so hard to get in and out of that it didn’t even seem worth it.He made his back to the studio, upset that a six minute drive, according to Google Maps, was taking well over ten. He finally parked the car and made his way back inside to where Ben was. He was sitting on the desk in Kendra Beeson’s office, smiling and flirting with her.“Here’s your Starbucks.” Sam said, handing him the coffee.“About time.” Ben said, rolling his eyes. “I left a list of things for you to go over. It’s on my desk.” Sam glared at him. All it would take was one bullet…“Okay.” Sam growled, leaving. Kendra watched him walk away.“Think he’s single?” She asked, licking her lips some.“Oh come on, that guy? I’d be surprised if he’s ever had a girlfriend.” Ben said, shaking his head.“I dunno Benny boy. I wouldn’t mind if he churned my butter.” Kendra laughed, making Ben glare at where Sam had been.****“Dude, I love this place.” Dean said as he met Sam in the cafeteria. Ben had left Sam a long list of chores and he had decided to take a moment for lunch. Ben was over with the other big shots and Sam was planning on avoiding going over there.“I’m glad you do.” Sam said, yawning. “I can’t wait to be out of here.” Dean motioned for Sam to follow him after they got their food. He sat across from Vanessa, Sam taking the chair by him.“So, Sam, how is your first day with Ben?” She laughed. Sam’s bitch face was priceless.“It’s fantastic.” He said in the most monotone, sarcastic sound tone he could manage. Vanessa laughed harder.“You can handle it big guy.” She said, reaching over and patting Sam’s hand. “I bet Dean here is just miserable working with me.”“Oh yeah, it’s a total nightmare.” Dean laughed.“Well, today was easy. Wait until Mr. Ben scares off your friend here and we’re having to cater to his every need and want.” She shivered some. “That man is a registered asshole.”“I can tell.” Dean and Sam said at the same time. Vanessa smiled at the in sync speaking.“Well, Sam, you better eat up. Because that devil and his posse are going to run you ragged.” Vanessa took a sip of her drink. “Good luck.”****It was after the news broadcast. Ben had a shine on his face as he made his way back to his office. He stopped to check himself in the glass windows for the trophy case. He was on his way to change out of his suit and get ready to head home.As he walked away from the trophy case, he shivered and saw his breath in front of him.“What the hell?” He asked. He looked and saw nothing out of the usual, minus the mop bucket sitting down the hallway. He started to walk towards his office when he felt himself being pushed backward. The invisible force just kept hitting him in the chest, over and over again. But then it stopped.“Okay, whoever is playing me better stop right now.” Ben announced. He turned around in circles, trying to figure out who was messing with him. That’s when someone appeared in front of him, flickering and staring at him with deep eyes. “Who are you?” He asked. It was a woman, that was for sure. She was dressed like she was pulled straight from the early 70’s.Instead of talking, she stared at Ben. Then, before he knew it, she disappeared. And the pushing started again. This time, he lost his balance and fell right into the trophy case that he had been looking into. The glass impaled him in multiple places, leaving him drowning in his own blood. The woman appeared again, staring down at Ben.“H-help m-me.” He begged. She slowly shook her head and pushed him farther onto the glass, silencing him. She disappeared as quickly as she had appeared, but the mop bucket from down the hall moved down towards him and tipped over, making it look like he had tripped.Kendra was heading down the hall, planning on trying to convince Ben’s cute intern to go out with her for drinks. She turned the corner and all she saw was Ben’s body, impaled on the shattered trophy case, blood and water mixing on the floor.And she screamed before she fainted.****“Did you hear that?” Vanessa said as Dean and Sam were about to head out the door for the day. The boys looked at each other before they went running down the hall, Vanessa following them. After years of hunting, the boys were pretty good about tracking down sounds. And soon enough, they found the source of the scream.“Oh my god!” Vanessa gasped, staring at Ben’s body. Sam immediately knelt by Kendra, checking her pulse. She came to as Sam’s fingers were on her neck.“What happened?” Dean asked, walking towards Ben.“I...I’m going to go call for help.” Vanessa said, running towards someone, anyone with a phone. Soon, more people had joined the mob. It was obvious Ben was gone, but no one wanted to move him.“I just came down here and found him like this.” Kendra cried, holding on to Sam. Dean stood back with Vanessa and some of the others while the police and paramedics took care of Ben’s body.“By any chance, are there security cameras around here?” Dean asked. Vanessa nodded and pointed to a black dome in the corner of the hallway. “I can’t remember how much of the hallway it picks up though. It’s been awhile since Carl and I have watched the anchors doing stupid stuff on the cameras.”“Do you think there’s a way I could get in there?” Dean asked. “I’ll buy you dinner if you can.”“Are you asking me out on a date?” She asked, giving Dean a smirk. “You know that office romance is usually frowned upon, right?”“I...uh…”“But I’ve never been one to follow the rules. Come on.” She waved for Dean to follow her. They snuck away from the group. As they did, Dean sent a text to Sam telling him to go ahead and go back to the hotel for the night and he would text him later. She led him down the halls to the security room. She knocked three times and no one answered.“No security?” Dean asked as Vanessa pulled out a key and unlocked the door.“It gets kinda lax around here.” She said with a shrug. “And the benefits of sucking up to everyone is they usually don’t get too upset if I go places I shouldn’t.” She let Dean in and shut the door. “So, what are we looking for?”“Everything that led up to Ben’s death.” Dean said. Vanessa raised an eyebrow.“What kind of intern are you?” She asked.“Uh, Sam and I like true crime.” Dean said, which was only half lying. Vanessa nodded and rewound to the time that she knew Ben had left the set to head back to his office. They watched him walk down the hallway, stopping to check his reflection in the trophy case he just died on. Not long after, they watched as Ben was shoved repeatedly. There was no sound, but they could see him talking.That’s when she appeared.“Oh my god.” Vanessa gasped.“Do you know who she is?” Dean asked. Vanessa shook her head.“She looks slightly familiar, but I can’t place it.” Vanessa told him. Dean watched as the scene played out, with Ben being impaled on the glass and the mop bucket sliding over next to him. The pair set back and watched as Kendra arrived on the scene. Vanessa paused the video.“That...that was a ghost.” She said.“I’d say so.” Dean said. “A pretty pissed off one too.” Vanessa pushed herself back from the video monitor.“Were they all killed by this ghost?” She asked. Dean shrugged.“I’m thinking so, but I can’t give you a definite answer.” Dean told her.“You’re not really an intern, are you?” She asked. Dean smiled sheepishly.“We’ll just go with yes for now and talk over that later.” Dean told her, which seemed to satisfy her for now. “So, how about that dinner I promised you?”“Well, we can go to Steak n’ Shake. Or White Castle. They’re both open late.” Vanessa suggested.“White Castle? Isn’t that just a restaurant in the Harold and Kumar movies?” Dean asked. Vanessa stared him down like he had committed a crime. “What?”“Come on. We’re going to White Castle.” Vanessa said, pulling him out of the room.
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Sam looked up from his laptop as Dean came through the door. Vanessa had dropped him off after splitting some sliders with him. Sam could smell the onions on his breath as he walked in and it made him cringe a bit.“Dude, your onion breath reeks,” Sam said. “Where did you go?”“White Castle is real and I love it.” Dean said, flopping down on his bed and taking off his boots. “And Vanessa, god she is a firecracker.” Sam rolled his eyes. “Hey, I found out some important information thanks to her. I know that a ghost killed your little buddy.”“A ghost huh?” Sam asked. “Well, I think I can narrow it down from there then.”“Watchya got?” Dean asked, standing behind Sam.“Well, for starters I have some breath mints in my jacket.” Sam said. Dean glared and sat away from Sam. “Okay, well, there was a woman named Caroline DuPont that worked for the station back in the 60’s and 70’s. Back when it was called WLWI. I think she might have worked with your precious David Letterman.”“He is a national treasure.” Dean told Sam.“Agree to disagree.” Sam mumbled. “Anyway, what I’ve read is that she had an affair with one of the anchors named Harold Tracy. One of her friends said he promised to get her more airtime, even making her a co-anchor.”“Okay, all news stations have co-anchors. Or most do at least.” Dean said.“At the time, they didn’t. Or if they did, they were all men. Think Anchorman.” Sam explained. Dean chuckled a little, thinking of all the jokes on there. “Well, he either started seeing someone else or refused to leave his wife. The details are a little uncertain. But I guess that her story was cut from the lineup for the evening broadcast and she went to her office. The next morning, they found her on the floor from a self inflicted gunshot wound.”“Okay, so where is she buried?” Dean asked.“She wasn’t. Cremated.” Sam explained. “And the studio she’s haunting isn’t even the same studio she died at. That place was torn down back in the 80’s.”“So she’s got to be attached to something in the studio then.” Dean said.“Yeah, but the question is what. A lot of the equipment has been changed since then and everyone she worked with has either moved on to better careers or died.” Sam looked back at his laptop. “Except for one.”“Who?”“Our friend Harold Tracy.” Sam explained. “He’s the head of all of it.”“Well, I’ll be damn. Think she’s attached to him?” Dean asked.“Could be. We’ll have to cleanse him or something if she is.”“So I guess this means another day at the office to try to figure it all out?” Dean asked. Sam nodded. “Hey, at least you don’t have to work for that dick anymore.”“Dude, he just die,” Sam looked at the clock on his computer. “Four hours ago.”“Yeah, but I didn’t say it four seconds after he died this time.” Dean laughed. “Come on. We should get to bed.” Sam nodded. He was pretty tired from the day’s events, but he wanted to get to the bottom of this. But the tough part was going to be figuring out what Caroline DuPont was attached to.****They repeated the process the next morning, except now Sam was supposed to help Kendra. They had memorial service set for Ben that night, just like had done for Declan, except this time, Kendra would probably be handling the broadcast alone. Dean made his way towards Vanessa’s office when he stopped, hearing someone talking with her.“I just think it’d be better, and safer, if you transferred to the Ft. Wayne or Evansville NBC station.” Dean heard a man say.“Grandpa, I’m fine.” Vanessa argued. “I’m not scared of no ghost.”“And there you are again with this ghost talk. I thought you grew out of it.” He sighed. “Look, I know you’ve been through a lot and you’re thinking up these things to help your brain cope…”“That footage of James literally shows him floating in midair!” Vanessa said. “I’m not making things up!”“Vanessa, that’s enough. I’m going to make a few calls today. I’d love if you could stay in the city, but I know you have a thing against Fox, and ABC and CBS aren’t taking new interns right now…”“You can’t do this!” Vanessa said.“I’m the head of this organization and your grandpa. I want to keep my employees safe and you are my employee and my granddaughter. I bet your mother would agree with me on this one.”“Well mom’s in Sarasota. She’s not here.” Vanessa said. “Grandpa, please…”“I’ll talk to you later.” He looked over at the door. “Your helper is here.” With that, he left, leaving Vanessa looking heartbroken. Dean stepped inside the room. Vanessa painted a smile on her as she looked up at Dean.“Hey. Didn’t see you come in.” She said softly.“That’s your grandpa?” Dean asked. She sighed.“Yeah. Harold Tracy is my grandpa. I don’t like to announce it though because people think I just got the job because of him.” She explained Dean nodded. “Well, we’ve been tasked with boxing up Ben’s office.”“Already? I mean, the guy just died yesterday.” Dean said. Vanessa nodded.“Harold already has someone coming in to fix the trophy case. And, despite the footage we saw, he’s still marking it down as an accident with the mop bucket.”“That’s cold.” Dean said, following her towards Ben’s office.“You should see him at the holiday’s.” She sighed. They passed Kendra’s office, where she was sitting, sipping on a coffee from the cafeteria that Sam had got her. Dean and Sam made eye contact, talking without actually speaking, before Dean went into Ben’s office.“Wow.” Dean said, looking around at everything. “He looks like a frat boy.”“He was. He went to Harold’s alma mater, Butler. Pretty sure they had even been in the same frat house.” Vanessa explained, picking up a picture of Ben with his family. “Honestly, I think he liked Ben more than he liked me.”“What do you mean?” Dean asked.“Well, I have a degree in journalism, but I didn’t go to Butler like Ben did. I went to Ball State, studied out of buildings paid for by Letterman. I thought that would’ve impressed Harold, but it didn’t. When it came time for Scott Presley to step down, he didn’t even consider me and went right for Ben.”“I see.” Dean said. They worked in silence for a little bit, packing everything up. “Hey Vanessa, have you ever heard of Caroline DuPont?” Dean asked.“Yeah. She was a reporter at WLWI back in the day. I think she killed herself or something like that.” Vanessa explained. She paused for a second. “Wait. Do you think that’s her killing everyone?” Dean just shrugged.“Just looking into all possibilities.” Dean said. They finished packing up the rest of Ben’s stuff to give to his family. Kendra released Sam to do some errands while she worked on her notes for the night. Sam caught up with Dean and Vanessa over by where Ben had been killed.“Dean I’m gonna check...oh, hey Vanessa.” Sam said, stopping himself from saying anymore. He hid the EMF detector in his pocket.“Does he know?” Vanessa whispered to Dean. “About the Casper?”“Sam, she knows about the ghost.” Dean said. “She’s the reason I found out.”“Oh.” Sam pulled the EMF back out and started to scan the area. It was buzzing like crazy. Vanessa watched with fascination.“That is awesome.” She said softly. “You two are like the Ghostbusters or something.” Dean smirked a little. “So the noise means it was a ghost?”“Yeah.” Sam said. “We just don’t know what she’s attached to.” Vanessa nodded. She looked at her watch. It was meeting time and soon, they would be going on the air. “There’s got to be some sort of connection as to who she is picking.”“Sam?” Kendra said then as she stepped out of her office. Sam turned to look at her. “Um, can you do me a favor?” Dean and Vanessa and Sam walked over to Kendra. “Can you go to...the CVS a few blocks down? And get me this?” She handed Sam the note she had wrote a couple things out on. Sam read it, nodded, and left. Vanessa and Dean looked at each other.“Wonder what was on the note.” Dean said, helping Vanessa make her rounds to see what everyone needed. She avoided going near Harold’s office. Knew he was making calls to get her sent to another city. Indianapolis was her home. She wasn’t ready to leave it yet.****Sam came back later, having stopped to get a couple extra things for Kendra since she had been so upset. He remembered some of the things that Jessica had liked, like chocolate, when she was upset. It might have been lifetimes ago, but he was trying to be caring. And Kendra appreciated it.“You’ll be on set cheering me on, right?” She asked.“Uh, sure.” Sam said with a shrug. She smiled and hugged him. Dean walked by and rolled his eyes. Sam glared at him. Kendra didn’t notice and gave Sam a hug, burying her face in his chest. Dean walked away and went to Vanessa, who was sitting in her office. When Dean walked in, she jumped and hid something. But upon seeing it was Dean, she sat it back on her desk. A bottle of wine.“Is wine allowed?” Dean asked.“I’ll say it is.” She pulled out another plastic wine glass. “Shut the door and I’ll share.” Dean shut the door and moved to the chair in front of Vanessa’s desk. She had her feet up on the desk. She poured him a glass and slid it over to him.“When did you start bringing wine to work?” Dean asked.“When Harold started promoting everyone over me.” She sighed. “But, funny thing is, they’re dying left and right.” She drained her glass quickly and refilled it.“What do you mean?” Dean asked.“James started after me. I didn’t really want to do sports, but when Dave retired, they promoted him over me, which was okay with me. Kristin had been here a year longer than me and was in charge of the camera crew. She was like the stage manager and that’s what I wanted to do, but she got the job. I understood it was because of seniority. Holly had only been here three weeks when she got promoted to be the sub for the traffic anchor when she was off. Declan was in the same group I was in and he got field reporter quickly, because Harold said he had balls of steel. And Ben. Damn Ben.” Vanessa wiped at her eyes. “Harold chose all of them over me. Never gave me a reason besides I wasn’t ready for it. Bull shit.”“Vanessa…” Dean said softly.“I’m not my drunk mother. I’m not going to have a breakdown and move to Florida. Why can’t he see that?” She sighed. “Sorry to dump this on you.”“No, Vanessa, I think you’ve helped me.” Dean drank the wine and grimaced at the bitter taste. “Caroline DuPont is killing people. And I’m starting to think that she’s attached to you.”“Me? Why me?” She asked.“I don’t know. Revenge against your grandpa?” He asked.“W-well, how do we stop her?” Vanessa asked. “Am I going to die?”“No. Not if I can help it.” Dean looked around. “We cleanse you with sage. That should break any attachment she has to you and without anything to hold on, she’ll move on.”“Like the spice or what?” Vanessa asked.“Usually have to get what looks like a small bale of hay. Burn it and you bathe in the smoke and it should help break her attachment.” Dean explained. “Not sure if incense would work. I think I’ve got sage out in my car.” Vanessa nodded. “Be right back.”“I’m going with you.” She said, stumbling a little. “Ghost bitch is attached to me after all.” Dean laughed a little and led her out to the parking lot where Baby was sitting. “I’ve been admiring that car from the window. I didn’t realize it was yours. She’s beautiful.” Dean smiled and unlocked the trunk.“Now, what you’re going to see, you can’t tell anyone about.” Dean told her, a little surprised in himself for showing her. She nodded and watched as Dean opened the trunk.“Oh my god, is that a grenade launcher?” Vanessa asked, ignoring the charms, guns, and knives that laid around. She ran her fingers over it delicately.“Yeah, it is.” Dean said proudly. He rummaged through things, finally finding the bag of sage. “Might be best to do it outside unless you want your office to smell like it for months.” Vanessa nodded.“Good idea.” She stepped back as Dean shut and locked the trunk. He found a grove of trees close to the studio, looking a little out of place in the busy area of Meridian Street. Vanessa sat on the picnic table, watching as Dean lit the sage and let the smoke flow over her. “This stuff stinks.”“I know, but it works.” Dean said. They stayed there for awhile, letting the smoke cover her, before Dean poured water on it to put it out. “There.”“I don’t feel any different.” She said.“She should be cut off from you now.” Dean explained.“So, you’ll be moving on?” She asked, frowning slightly.“Well, yeah.” He said.“Then maybe we should have dinner together tonight,” She leaned in close to him. “And breakfast tomorrow?” Dean was about to close the space and kiss her when the reminder on her phone beeped. She looked at it. “Crap! The evening broadcast.” She went running back towards the studio. It was her job to make sure that everyone working it was happy. Dean sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He was getting too old for this.****Sam stood in the control studio, watching as Kendra did the broadcast solo. Normally only the weekends went solo, but they decided to do it tonight. Kendra was doing great, even though her mind was elsewhere. Dean and Vanessa stood outside the glass windows, watching. They had set up this news studio with glass walls and doors to help with noise from the other studios in the building. This was the main one that was use the most often.“She’s good.” Dean said. “She didn’t get promoted over you, did she?”“No. She was transferred here from Nebraska. Her grandma is sick and she’s been taking care of her, and she did so good that the higher ups, higher than Harold, put her in there.” Vanessa explained. Dean nodded. Kendra finished off the broadcast and smiled until the cameras were off.“Thank god it’s over.” She said to Sam. “Let’s go grab a bite to eat?” She walked to the door and tried to open it, but it wouldn’t budge. She looked at Sam, who tried, getting the same results.“Dean!” Sam yelled, his voice muffled through the glass. Dean saw Sam waved and came over, trying to open the door himself. Dean motioned for Sam to stand back. Him and Kendra moved back as Dean tried to hit the door with his shoulder, but no luck.That’s when Caroline appeared between Sam and Kendra, and the door.“Oh my god!” Kendra gasped. Sam moved her behind him, standing between her and Caroline.“I thought you said the cleanse would work!” Vanessa said to Dean.“You must not be who she’s attached to.” Dean told her. Vanessa and Dean watched as Caroline looked at the teleprompter. Words started to appear.“Do it again.” The screen said, over and over.“Do what again?” Sam asked. “The broadcast?” Caroline nodded. She stared at the screen.“You join her.” She said. Sam and Kendra looked at each other. Vanessa’s eyes were wide.“She wants them to redo the broadcast?” She asked.“Won’t that mess up everything?” Dean asked. Vanessa stood there for a minute, thinking.“No.” She said. “Because when Caroline died, Indiana was still on Central time, not Eastern.” She said. Dean gave her a strange look. “And we’re in daylight savings right now, which means that in the Central time zone, it’s six, but here, it’s seven. So if she thinks they’re on the air, then they should be good.” She wrote everything done on a piece of paper and held it in the window for Sam and Kendra to see. “That buys us at least an hour of her distracted.”“I guess we’re doing this.” Kendra told Sam. “Just follow my lead and we’ll get through this.” Dean watched as Sam and Kendra took their seats at the newsdesk.“Record, but don’t broadcast.” Vanessa said aloud as she wrote a note to the camera crew who were stuck in there. They nodded and started the record feature. Vanessa looked at Caroline, standing there in a dress and her hair down. And the side of her head showing obvious signs of a gunshot wound.“I think I might have an idea of her real attachment.” Dean said. “I hope so, at least.” He took off down the hall, Vanessa right behind him. They made their way towards Harold’s office.“You think she’s attached to my grandpa?” Vanessa asked.“Well, they were having an affair back in the day.” Dean said. They rushed to his office, Dean throwing open the doors and stopping suddenly, Vanessa running into the back of him.“Dean, what are you doing?” She asked.“I don’t think you want to see this.” Dean said. Vanessa pushed past him and stopped in her tracks, staring ahead.Because Harold was sitting at his desk, wrists slit, staring up at the ceiling.
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“Vanessa, look at me.” Dean said, watching as the younger woman paced and bit at her nails. “We’re going to figure this out.”“He’s dead.” She said. “I hated the man, but I didn’t want him to die.” Dean took her hand to stop her from pacing. “Dean…”“It’s going to be okay.” He said. “We’re figuring this out. I’ll keep telling you that until I do.” Vanessa buried her head in his chest. That’s when, what felt like a cold breeze went past them. Vanessa and Dean looked at each other. It was like something was telling them where to go. Towards the door the led up to the rooftop where the chopper parked.“Shall we?” Dean asked. Vanessa nodded, following Dean to the door and up the stairs to the roof. Against the setting sun, Dean and Vanessa saw Caroline standing there with someone else, someone much younger than he was the last time Vanessa saw him.“Grandpa.” She whispered.“You used me.” Caroline hissed. Vanessa looked up at Dean. He leaned down and whispered in her ear.“Ghosts make up their own rules. I don’t even try to understand them anymore.” Dean said. Vanessa nodded and watched as the younger version of her grandfather looked into Caroline’s eyes.“I didn’t mean to.” He said. “I loved you.”“Liar.” She hissed.“I put your name in for the bid to be my anchor. They promoted the head’s daughter instead.” Harold explained. “I went to leave Irene, but she told me she was sick. Cancer. I didn’t want to be the guy who abandoned his sick wife. It was after you died that I found out it wasn’t real. Caroline, I loved you.” Caroline looked over at Vanessa.“You hurt her.” She told him, her voice like an ice pick, stabbing and cold. Harold turned to look at his granddaughter.“I was trying to protect you.” He told her. “After everything life has thrown at you…”“But it was my life to mess up, not yours.” She told him. Harold nodded. He looked back to Caroline.“We’ve got to move on.” He told her. “We have to let them grow. We can’t let this happen anymore…” He held out his hand for her to hold. She stared at him, considering it, before she reached out and took his hand. Once their hands touched, the both disappeared in a bright light.“Is...is it over?” Vanessa asked, staring at the place where Caroline and Harold had just been.“One way to find out.” Dean said. They made their way back down to the newsdesk, where Sam and Kendra were just finishing up. Dean carefully pulled on the door. This time, it opened. Kendra and Sam glanced over his way.“It’s over.” Vanessa said, walking in. She put a hand on one of the cameraman’s shoulder. He took the signal and stopped recording. “We have to call the police. I don’t know what else to do.”“Sam and I have to get out of here then.” Dean told her. “It’s complicated.” Sam got up from his seat at the desk. “But can you send me a copy of his news debute?” Dean asked with a wink. Vanessa laughed and nodded.“I’ll call once you two are out of here.” She said. “I’m sure grandpa’s assistant will be going in there soon.”“You’re taking this well.” Dean said. Sam joined them.“I’ll breakdown tonight in my apartment, I’m sure of it.” Vanessa explained.“I don’t know what you two did, but thank you.” Sam told them. “I wasn’t sure I could even think of words anymore.”“You did great.” Kendra said, hugging him. “Thanks for everything Sam. I’ll remember it” She put a hand on her stomach and walked away. Vanessa’s eyes widened some.“That’s a change of events I wasn’t expecting.” She said. “It’s got to be Ben’s.”“So, what are you going to do?” Dean asked.“Once I can, I’m going to go down to Florida and see my mom.” Vanessa said. “Then, I think it’s time to spread my wings and leave Indianapolis behind. Who knows, I might end up in Kansas. Or wherever it is you two are really from.”“Well, let me know if you do.” Dean started to walk away with Sam, but Vanessa grabbed his hand and stopped him. She pulled him to him and kissed him, like they almost had earlier. Sam rolled his eyes and walked away.“Keep yourself out of trouble Dean.” Vanessa said, letting him go. Dean smirked.“You too Vanessa.” With that, him and Sam made their way to the Impala, pulling out of the parking lot as IMPD headed towards the studio. Sam looked over at Dean as they drove, heading back to the hotel to grab their stuff.“So, you like her?” Sam asked.“She’s cool.” Dean said. Sam felt a smile tug on his face. This was the Dean he remembered. Not one stressed about trying to break into the other place to find Jack and their mom. This was a Dean that he missed.He knew it would be a long time before he would see that Dean again, but it was like sunshine on a rainy day. Well appreciated and worth the wait.The End