aaaand we're back! ^^

before you read this, you MUST MUST MUST read "Love and Sad Cherubs" first. it is imperative to your true understanding of the plotline! (you'll find it in my account.)

anyway, lil bit of a short chapter for the first chapter, but that will get better, i think, as this story progresses. :)

I DO NOT OWN SUPERNATURAL IN ANY WAY, ONLY MY OC - AUBREY MILLIGAN.

Aubrey hated morgues. She really did. Unfortunately, her job involved strolling into one at least five times a month. She didn't know why she hated it so much. She had stabbed monsters' eyes out, made heads roll; hell, she'd even cut someone—something's tongue off. What was so frightening about morgues?

The walls are white, and I hate white—except when I'm wearing a cotton shirt. With that, I can make an exception.

It was quiet; too quiet, for her taste. She hated quiet as much as she hated white. And aside from that, the fact still remained that dead bodies were practically stored inside the walls. Who wouldn't find that completely disturbing? But, as she told herself time and time again, her job required her to journey into one every now and again, and the case she was working on called for exactly that.

She read the victim profile again. Who the hell starts bleeding and turns into liquid, bloody mush in the ready room of a police department? Putting that together with how the bones and dense tissues turned into blood as well, Aubrey could safely say that that just wasn't normal.

The coroner who had come in with her cleared his throat, and she looked up, immediately asking, "Anything else out of the ordinary happen with any of the other officers?"

"Well…" The man thought for a moment, scratching his head. "There was this one guy. They brought him in just a few hours ago, completely full of boils."

Aubrey gagged. "Boils?" She hated those too. "Full of, as in…"

"Covered from head to toe," the coroner stated. "In his throat, organs… Found some large ones in his stomach—"

She cut him off, holding her hand up to his face. With pursed lips, she forced out a smile. "And where'd you say he was found?"

"Dead in his patrol car outside of town, by a speed trap."

Possibly a witch. "Doesn't any of this seem odd to you?" she asked the coroner.

"Could have been an allergic reaction," he said, sighing. Aubrey raised her eyebrow at him and he shrugged. "Hell, we're all stumped."

"Fair enough." She exhaled. "Could you bring out the body, the one with the boils?" She took a large step back, pursing her lips as she didn't want to breathe in the toxic smell of Decomposing Body. The coroner slipped past her and opened the small door at the lower right of the metal wall. He pulled out the metal slab, and the acrid stench immediately filled the room, even though the body was still covered up with a white sheet. Aubrey wrinkled her nose, but otherwise remained professional. She didn't need the coroner questioning her expertise. "Thanks," she said as soon as it was completely out. "I'll take it from here."

Thankfully, he didn't question her, only nodding before walking out the door. Aubrey did not watch him leave, her eyes trained on the body in front of her. Reluctantly, she pulled the sheet down to his stomach, revealing his face and torso. As expected, they were covered in boils. She forced herself not to look away, focusing on his face. It was a bad idea, and she ended up staring at the floor. Witch business would have been possible. Police officers gained tons of enemies with the job they had. Officer Toby Gray could have easily killed a husband, or a son, or a brother, or a boyfriend. Witch would get angry and place a hex bag in the poor man's house… or car, since that was where he died.

Footsteps echoed down the hall outside, accompanied by two voices in conversation. Aubrey tensed and looked up.

Dean stepped into the room first, holding two files in one hand and his (fake) badge in the other. He was in his black suit and tie. Aubrey found that almost nothing had changed about him… physically. She found that odd considering that it'd been over a year since they'd last seen each other.

When another familiar face followed him through the door, she was speechless.

"Sam?"

He's dead, she thought. He's supposed to be dead. But there he was, hair slicked back and as tall as she remembered him. He was wearing a black suit just like his brother, and Aubrey found the sight bringing back memories.

"Aubrey?" one of them gasped. She wasn't sure who. In a second, she had taken out her bottle of holy water—one she'd started keeping with her at all times for emergencies—and spilled the liquid onto the taller man's face. She held her breath, waiting for his skin to sizzle and boil, but nothing happened.

Sam pursed his lips and blinked, before wiping his face with his sleeve. "Yeah, okay, it's me."

She glanced at Dean, who was looking as surprised to see her as she was with Sam, but he grinned and nodded his head. Immediately, Aubrey threw herself to Sam, hugging him as tightly as he could. Her chin was pressed against his shoulder and her arms wound around him tight. She heard him groan against her and he shifted his legs, probably trying to balance himself. She laughed out loud before realizing that he should not have been there with them.

Aubrey pulled away, albeit reluctantly, and looked him in the eye. "How are you back?" she demanded.

Sam sighed. "We don't know."

Aubrey peeked over his shoulder and found Dean puffing his cheeks. He shrugged his shoulders, and she looked back to Sam. "W—What are you guys doing here anyway? I thought you'd retired." She nodded at Dean. Her thoughts were muddled up; she was barely able to form that sentence, as millions of questions flooded her brain, in need of answering.

"Working a case," Dean answered. "Same case you're working on, apparently."

"Apparently." Aubrey stepped away from Sam and crossed her arms, ignoring the fact that Dean had utterly evaded her question about his retirement. She chuckled lightly. "After we solve this—"

"We're going for a beer."

Aubrey grinned, looking at the older brother who had finished her statement for her. "Exactly."

Honestly, Aubrey liked Dean's car more than Sam's new one. She didn't know why. And that was why she laughed when Dean raced up from behind Sam's, beating him to the block. They both pulled up, Aubrey not too far behind. As much as she loved the boys, she didn't want to be involved in anything else with cars and accidents.

The boys stepped out of their cars at the same time, and closed their doors at the same time. Aubrey took her time parking hers (new as well) before stepping out, biting down the smile itching to show.

"Were you, uh…" Sam started as they strolled up the sidewalk. "Were you racing me?"

"No," Dean said. "I was kicking your ass."

"Very mature, guys," Aubrey piped up from behind them. They both stopped to look at her, and she slipped past the two with ease. As much as she wanted to look serious, she was positive that she was smiling.

When they were up the steps and at the door, Dean knocked five times. "Hello? Officer Colfax!"

The 'witness' answered immediately. He opened the door, already in his officer uniform. Aubrey asked herself why it was that he hadn't headed out yet. His face was pale, not to mention beaded with sweat.

"Looking sharp, Kojak," she remarked, eyeing him warily.

His eyes were wide and bulging out from their sockets when he asked, "Who the hell are you?"

"We're the FED, Ed," Sam said as they took out their badges from their pockets. Aubrey smiled slightly at the obvious pun but kept her cool. Again, she didn't need to be compromised. Sam continued, "We're here to ask you a few follow-up questions about your partner's death."

Colfax shook his head. "Don't worry about it. It's nobody's business," he said, his voice shaky.

Aubrey smiled pleasantly, taking a single step forward. "Officer Colfax—"

"Don't worry about it!"

The door slammed shut in her face and she had to throw her head back so that her nose wouldn't get broken. She growled in frustration, pounding on the door a few more times though it was obvious that the officer wasn't going to answer. Beside her, Sam sighed; right before kicking the door open. Aubrey yelped, moving away. The door flew open and the younger brother strode inside, ignoring Dean's complaint. What the hell? Sam had never been like that. Most of the time—actually, all the time, it was Dean bashing doors in and Sam complaining. What was up with the two?

She followed them inside, and was instantly greeted by picture frames on the walls. There wouldn't have been anything odd about them, except that the faces were white and completely scratched off. She was wondering why anyone would be pushed to do such a thing when they reached the end of the hall, where Colfax was sitting in his desk, scratching away at another one of his poor photographs.

"Officer Colfax?" Sam said, standing rigid beside her.

Aubrey stepped forward. "You alright?"

"Don't worry about it," Colfax replied, his voice totally void of emotion. He looked absolutely fixated by the picture he was scratching away at.

"Right," Dean drawled out. "Look, Officer Colfax—Ed." He raised his hand in a gesture of friendliness. "We think that your partner died of unnatural causes." He stopped and watched, frowning, as Colfax scratched his head, even though there was still a cop hat blocking it from his reach. Aubrey frowned, and Dean continued. "Did he have any enemies that you know of?"

Colfax sighed. "You might say that."

Wow, that was the most intellectual answer we've heard with you, Aubrey thought. "Oh yeah? Who's that?"

"They both had it coming," Colfax replied. "Me too." And, back to square one. "I'll be the next to go, and then it'll be over. And God will be satisfied." Aubrey froze.

"Why does God want you all dead?" Dean asked.

Aubrey walked to the side of the desk and leaned over it, watching the officer place his cup down with scepticism. "'Cause of Christopher Birch," he answered. Just then, his bottle of alcohol (Aubrey thought it was whiskey) tipped over. Amazingly, it didn't roll to the side and fall. It stayed at its place, spilling its golden contents onto the floor.

Colfax groaned slightly. "Oh, dammit."

"Who's Christopher Birch?" Sam asked, but the officer only seemed to be half listening.

"He has no face," Colfax said. His eyes were trained on the bottle by the side of his desk, watching with disturbing fascination as the liquid poured out.

Sam stepped up. "Ed?"

No reply came, and Dean stepped forward as well. "Officer, you alright?"

That was when Colfax picked up the bottle and put it right side up again, though his eyes were glazed over, and Aubrey suspected that it wasn't because of the alcohol. "Who is Christopher Birch, Ed?" she repeated firmly, her eyes flickering to the bottle.

"Ed!" Sam said, raising his voice. Aubrey jumped at the sudden loudness, but was satisfied to know that they had once again caught the attention of their witness.

Colfax raised his chin slightly, but it didn't make him look any less ill. "Christopher Birch is a kid with no face," he said. "And a planted gun."

Aubrey licked her lips, and was just about to ask more of him when a trail of blood streamed down the side of his face. It came from inside his hat, and reached his jawline.

"Uh, you, uh…" Dean trailed off, frowning. He gestured to the man's cheek. "You got a little something…"

The officer's hand went up and he touched his cheek, exactly where the blood was. "Yeah," Dean finished.

They all watched as Colfax pulled his hand away. He stared at the blood on his fingertips, his eyebrows rising and a small smile on his face. "Damn," he said, sighing. "My head's been itching like a dirty jock."

You don't know the half of it, Aubrey said to herself, but her thoughts were stopped dead on their tracks when the officer collapsed onto his desk, his hands beside him and the blood still running down his face. "Ed?" She started forward before placing her middle and forefingers on his neck. No pulse. "Dead," she confirmed, looking to Sam and Dean and pursing her lips.

They both sighed heavily, but the older brother tilted his head. "You hear that?" he said. Aubrey frowned, but concentrated, and true enough she heard the sound of buzzing.

It seemed to be coming from Ed, specifically from his head. Aubrey took a deep breath, already having a hunch on what they were going to find. Reluctantly, she pulled the hat off of Colfax's head. Right at the top, there was a gaping hole from where hair and skin and bone were supposed to be. Crawling out of the hole was a swarm of fully-grown locusts.

Aubrey looked away, groaning. "That's disgusting." Sam and Dean nodded in agreement.

In the end, all of them decided it best to take some of the locusts as samples. They placed them in a jar, and for some reason Aubrey was afraid that they would break the glass, but the logical part of her knew that locusts weren't smart enough to do that. Or are they? She shivered and shook the thought away, following the brothers out of the house.

reviews are always appreciated! :)