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(4.1) ─ Phantom Traveler

𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫:
‧⁺˚*‧☾ 𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐤𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐝 ☽‧*˚⁺‧

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Dean and Carmen slept on to the two beds. The door creaked open, Dean opened his eyes still laying on his stomach, reaching under his pillow for the large knife. Turning on his side to be met with Sam, holding a drink holder.

"Morning, sunshine,"

"What time is it?" Dean asked, continuing the quiet tone, both not wanting to wake up Carmen. "Uh, it's about 5:45,"

"In the morning?" The oldest groaned, getting a 'yep' in response. "Where does the day go?" He remarked sitting up. He raised his brow at Sam, "Did you get any sleep last night?" He asked just as Carmen rolled over in her sleep, both brothers watching to see if she was awake. "Yeah, I grabbed a couple hours," He replied after the moment of silence passed.

"Liar." The tried voice of their sister broke through. "I was up at 3 and you were watching a George Foreman infomercial," Dean added, rubbing his eye. "Hey, what can I say? It's riveting TV," He lied. "When was the last time you got a good night's sleep?" The oldest asked, putting on the big brother tone. "I don't know, little while, I guess. It's not a big deal," He tried to play it off. "Yeah, it is." Both siblings told him making him let out a sigh, "Look-"

He was swiftly cut off by Carmen loudly turning on her stomach trying to go back to sleep. "Come on Carmen, it's time to get up." She groaned, "Five. Morning. Sleep. Hush." Pulling the blanket around her as her brother shook their heads letting out a small laugh. Sam turned back to Dean, "Look, I appreciate your concern-"

Dean idmently cut him off. "Oh, I'm not concerned about you. It's your job to keep Carmen and my ass alive, so we need you sharp."

Sam just shrugged, sitting next to Carmen trying to wake her. "Do you still have nightmares about Jess." He just sighed and turned to his sister, "Carmen come on your chocolate milkshake is melting," She slowly pulled the blanket down norwaring her eyes at him, "With extra whipped cream?"

"Yes, with extra whipped cream."

She slowly sat upright, "You know the way to a girl's heart." She said with a small smile getting up and going to the bathroom to brush her teeth. "You never answered him!"

"Yeah. But it's not just her. It's–everything. I just forgot, you know? This-it-gets to you."

"You can't let it. You can't bring it home like that," He said, taking a sip from his coffee. "So, what? All this it... never keeps you up at night?" Dean shook his head, "Never? You're never afraid?" He repeated, "No, not really,"

Carmen, who was brushing her teeth leaning back to see the two, mumbled something making Dean shoot her a look already knowing what she said. "Really," He said as Carmen moved towards the sink to spit. Sam gave a small chuckle, reaching under Dean's pillow, pulling out the large hunting knife.

"That's not fear. That is precaution." He told him taking the knife back.

"Right, so you having a handgun under your pillow when I was little, that was precaution?" She stated walking out of the bathroom and towards her milkshake on the dresser.

"All right, whatever. I'm too tired to argue." The younger brother stated. Carmen blew the straw wrapper towards him before stabbing it into the cup.

Dean's phone suddenly ringed, "Hello?"

"Dean, it's, uh, it's Jerry Panowski. You and your dad helped me out a couple years back." Jerry Panowski said on the other line. "Oh, right, yeah. Up in Kittanning, Pennsylvania, the poltergeist thing. It's not back, is it?" He asked. "No. No. Thank god, no. But it's something else, and...uh, i think it could be a lot worse," Jerry replied. "What is it?" He questioned. "Can we talk in person?" Dean looked between his younger siblings before replying, "Sure."

💾

"Thanks for making the trip so quick," Jerry Panowski said as the three WInchesters walked behind him. "I ought to be doing you guys a favor, not the other way around." He then turned to Carmen and Sam. "Dean and your Dad really helped me out."

"Yeah, he told us. It was a poltergeist?"

"Poltergeist? Man, I loved that movie,"

"Hey, nobody's talking to you. Keep walking," Jerry quickly ordered. "Damn right it was a poltergeist, practically tore our house apart. Tell you something." He quickly turned to the oldest, "If it wasn't for you and your Dad. I probably wouldn't be alive."

"Don't I get any credit? I figured out that it was a poltergeist." Carmen stated wanting credit for one of the few cases their father let her help on.

"And trust me I do." Jerry said, making her smile before turning towards Sam. "Your Dad said you were off at college. Is that right?"

"Yeah, I was. I'm–taking some time off, " He replied stuttering slightly. "Well, he was real proud of you. I could tell. He talked about you all the time," This took Sam by surprise. "He did?"

"Yeah, you bet he did. Oh, hey, you know I tried to get a hold of him, but I couldn't. How's he doing, anyway?" All three gave each other the same glance, before Dean spoke up. "He's, um, caught up in a job right now."

"Well, we're missing the old man, but we got Sam and Carmen. Even trade, huh?" the four laughed a little, "No, not even on a blue moon."

"I got something I want you guys to hear." He told them opening the door to his office.

The three sat down while Jerry pulled out a CD case. "I listened to this, and well, it sounded like it was up your alley," He explained putting and starting the CD. "Normally I wouldn't have access to this. It's the cockpit voice recorder for United Britannia flight 2485. It was one of ours."

"Mayday! Mayday! Repeat! This is United Britannia 2485--immediate instruction help! United Britanis 2485, I copy your message--May be experiencing some mechanical failure..."

A sudden loud whooshing sound ended the sound as the three exchanged a look. "Took off from here, crashed about two hundred miles south. Now, they're saying mechanical failure. Cabin depressurized somehow. Nobody knows why. Over a hundred people on board. Only seven got out alive. Pilot was one. His name is Chuck Lambert. He's a good friend of mine. Chuck is, uh...well, he's pretty broken up about it. Like it was his fault,"

"You don't think it was?" Carmen spook up as he quickly shook his head. "No, I don't,"

"Jerry, we're gonna need passenger manifests, um, a list of survivors," Sam said.

"Right, and any way we can take a look at the wreckage?" Dean asked.

"The other stuff is no problem. But the wreckage...guys, the NTSB had it locked down in an evidence warehouse. No way I've got that kind of clearance,"

"No problem,"

💾

The two youngest Winchesters waited against the car outside a 'Copy Jack'. Watching as Dean exited the shop only to get distracted by a woman walking into the shop. He was smiling while walking the few feet to them. "You've been in there forever," Sam informed as Dean held up two IDs for the two of them.

"You can't rush perfection,"

Sam took one of the IDs, "Homeland Security?" He asked with a frown, giving Carmen a look. "But isn't that illegal, even for us." She asked after looking over the ID before handing it back to Sam.

"Yeah, well, it's something new. You know?  People haven't seen it a thousand times," Dean said as he walked around the car. All climbing, "Alright, so, what do you two got?" He asked as Carmen leaned forward. "There's definitely EVP on the cockpit voice recorder. Listen," She played the tape, which has been edited to pull out a scratchy voice;

"...No survivors..."

Dean frowned, "'No survivors?' What's that supposed to mean? There were seven survivors,"

"Got us,"

"So, what are you thinking? A haunted flight?" Dean asked as Carmen sighed sitting back in the back seat. "There's a long history of spirits and death omens on planes and ships, like phantom travelers," Sam informed. "Or, maybe it's like flight 401?" She suggested. "Right. The one that crashed, the airline salvaged some of its parts, put it in other planes, then the spirit of the pilot and copilot haunted those flights," Dean added.

"Right," Sam agreed as Dean added a 'yep'. "Maybe we got a similar deal," She suggested moving some of the stuff around in the backseat. "Alright, so, survivors, which one do you want to talk to first?" Dean asked. "Third on the list: Max Jaffey," Carmen read off.

"Why him?" Dean asked looking back at her.

"Well, for one, he's from around here. And two, if anyone saw anything weird, he did," Sam added. "What makes you say that?" Dean asked. "Well, I spoke to his mother, and she told me where to find him," He replied before the Impala pulled off.

💾

Max was walking with a can between Sam and Dean, "I don't understand. I already spoke with Homeland Security," Carmen walked up from behind them to Dean's side, "Right, but, some new information has come up. So if you could just answer a couple questions..." He trailed off before Max agred. "Just before the plane went down, did you notice anything..unusual?"

"Like what?"

"Strange lights, weird noises, maybe. Voices,"

He was a bit hesitant before answering, "No nothing," Dean and Carmen exchanged glances knowing that something was wrong. "Mmm, Mr. Joffey-" The oldest started as they sat down in chairs in front of a table. "Jaffey," Max corrected. "Jaffey. You checked yourself in here, right?" Dean asked gesturing towards the hospital which he nodded, "Can I ask why?"

"I was a little stressed. I survived a plane crash,"

"Uh huh. And that's what terrified you? That's what you were afraid of?" The oldest asked. "I...I don't want to talk about this anymore," Max said, but Dean ignored him. "See, I think maybe you did see something up there. We need to know what."

"No. No, I was...delusional. Seeing things," Max protested in a tone like he was trying to convince himself more than them.

"Oh," Dean turned to his two siblings. "He was seeing things," Sam glared at him before turning to Max. "It's okay. Then just tell us what you thought you saw, please," Max thought about it,. "There was...this-man. And, uh, he had these...eyes- these, uh...black eyes. And I saw him-or I thought I saw him..."

"Saw him?" Carmen asked.

"He opened the emergency exit. But that's...that's impossible, right? I mean, I looked it up. There's something like two tons of pressure on that door," He explained still trying to wrap his head around it. "This man, uh, did he seem to appear and disappear rapidly? It would look something like a mirage?" Sam asked. "What are you nuts?" Max laughed in disbelief. "He was a passenger. He was sitting right in front of me."

💾

The Winchesters now stood in front of the house. "So here we are. George Phelps, seat 20C," Sam informed the two."Hmm. Man, I don't care how strong you are," Dean said. We climbed out of the car. "Even yoked up on PCP or something, no way you can open up an emergency door during a flight."

"Not if you're human. But maybe this guy, George, was something else. Some kind of creature, maybe, in human form?" Sam added.

Carmen brought her hand up to shield her eyes from the sun as she looked at the house. The perfectly normal, ordinary house. "I don't think this is a creature's lair,"

💾

"This your late husband?" Sam asked, gesturing to the photo of the late Mr. Phelps, as they all sat across from Mrs. Phelps. The woman nodded, "Yes, that was my George," Sam gently placed the photo back as Dean asked, "And you said he was a... dentist?

"Mm-hm. He was headed to a convention in Denver. Do you know that he was petrified to fly? For him to get like that..."

"How long were you married?" Carmen asked, "Thirteen years," Mrs. Phelps answered with a smile. "In all that time did you ever notice anything strange about him, or anything out of the ordinary?" She questioned matching the wifes smile. "Well...uh, he had acid reflux, if that's what you mean."

The three siblings looked at each other with the same look. Excusing themselves and walking the front stairs. "None of this makes any sense." She stated the obvious. "You know what we need to do, is get inside that NTSB warehouse, check out the wreckage." Dean suggested pointing at Sam, "If we're gonna go that route, we'd better look the part."

💾

Carmen leaned on the Impala outside of a 'MORT'S for style'. Sam and Dean walked out of the store- Dean giving Carmen a death glance as she was holding in her laughter while Sam was adjusting his collar. "Man, I look like one of the Blues Brothers,"

"No, you don't. You look more like a–"

"A twelve year old going to a middle school dance!" Carmen laughed out finally breaking. Sam broke out into a smile making Dean look down at himself. "I hate this thing." He groaned fumbling with his tie, losing it at the front of his neck.

"Awe, come on, you don't look...no it's so bad!" She teased grinning widely.

"Hey. You want to get into that warehouse or not?" Sam stated, making the oldest sigh before climbing into the car.

It was a long drive to the warehouse or minutes before Sam and Dean left Carmen in the car. She waited in the back seat, one earbud in listening to music as she kept an eye out. Everything was fine until she saw two people walking into the building. Both wearing black and white suites, looking more like official agents.

'Great. I guess I'll just have to save their ass again.' She thought. Pulling out her phone quickly calling Dean, "Yeah?" He answered. "Wee-oww! Wee-oww!" She screamed poorly ittminting a police siren. Slipping into the driver's seat, "Got it," Dean said, hanging up.

An alarm suddenly sounded throughout the area. See her two brothers fastly walking, more like a jog, to the car. "How was the parent-teacher conference?" Dean rolled his eyes shutting the passenger door, "Shut up and drive."

💾

Jerry looked at the yellow stuff that the two found through his microscope. "Huh," He muttered as all three of their heads popped up, "What?" They asked in unison. "This stuff is covered in sulfur."

"You sure?" Sam questioned, frowning.

"Take a look for yourself," A sudden banging sound came from outside the office. "If you'll excuse me, I have an idiot to fire," He said swiftly walking out of the room, closing the door behind him.

Dean walked over to the microscope and looking into it, "Hmm. You know, there's not too many things that leave a sulfuric residue."

"Demonic possession?" Carmen suggested, naming the first thing that popped in her that would leave that type of residue. "It would explain how a mortal man would have the strength to open up an emergency hatch." He thought aloud. "If the guy was possessed, it's possible," Sam added.

"This goes way beyond floating over a bed or barfing pea soup. I mean it's one thing to possess a person, but to use them to take down an entire airplane?" Dean confirmed. "You ever heard of something like this before?" Sam asked as the oldest glanced at Carmen, who stayed silent, "Never." He answered.

💾

The three were now back at their motel. Sam was researching on his laptop while Dean and Carmen were reading books on either book having some piles next to them. "You should be glad that you didn't mess up my car."

Carmen raised a brow at him, "And you should be glad that you two aren't in jail." She remarked  not looking up from her book.

"So" Sam started, quickly changing the subject. "Every religion in every world culture has the concept of demons and demonic possession, right? I mean Christian, Native American, Hindu, you name it,"

"Yeah, but none of them describe anything like this."

"Well, that's not exactly true. You see, according to Japanese beliefs, certain demons are behind certain disasters, both natural and man-made. One causes earthquakes, another causes disease." Sam informed. Dean stood up from one of the beds, "And this one cause plane crashes? All right, so, what? We have a demon that's evolved with the times and found a way to ratchet up the body count?"

"Yeah, you know, who knows how many planes it's brought down before this one?" Sam thought as Dean snorted lightly, turning away.

"We aren't mind readers, tweety bird." Carmen stated knowing something was up with him.

"I don't know. This isn't our normal gig. I mean, demons, they don't want anything, just death and destruction for its own sake. This is big. And I wish Dad was here," He expressed. She stood up and walked over to him leaning her head against his arm, being too short to reach his shoulder. "Yeah. Me too," Sam added as his eyes softened. "I know," She soothed smiling softly at him.

Dean's phone ringing broke the moment, Carmen pulled her head off his arm as he answered. "Hello? Oh, hey, Jerry," Dean answered as his eyes quickly grew wide. "Wha-Jerry, I'm sorry. What happened?" Sam and Carmen looked at each other both matching the same confusion. "Where's this happen?... I'll try to ignore the irony in that. Nothing. Jerry, hang in there, all right? We'll catch up with you soon." He informed hanging up.

"Another crash?" Sam questioned as Dean just nodded in response. "Great, just what we needed." Carmen groaned, going for her jacket.

"Let's go,"

"Where?"

"Nazareth,"

💾

And just like that the three were standing right back at Jerry's office looking through a microscope, again. "Sulfur?" Carmen questioned making Jerry look away from the microscope and nodded. "Well, that's great. All right, that's two plane crashes involving Chuck Lambert. This demon sounds like it was after him. " Dean huffed.

"With all due respect to Chuck, if that's the case, that would be the food news." Sam considered.

"What's the bad news?" Dean and Carem asked in unison.

"Chuck's plane went down exactly 40 minutes into flight. And get this, so did flight 2485." Sam explained.

"40 minutes? What does that mean?" Jerry questioned looking at him.

"It's biblical numerology. You know Noah's ark, it rained for 40 days. The number means death," Dean started to explain. "I went back, and there have been 6 plane crashes over the last decade that all went down exactly 40 minutes in," Sam added. "Any survivors?" Dean asked. "No. Or not until now, at least, not until flight 2485, for some reason. On the cockpit voice recorder, remember what the EVP said?" Sam asked.

"No survivors," She repeated as her eyes quickly widened as if everything clicked for her. "It's trying to finish it's job. By going after all the survivors."