I could have sworn this was expanded from an Apricity sentence titled "authority," but I've searched through documents and am not finding the original idea? I may have finally lost it guys XD

For Phanniemay15's first prompt: "Portal." Also using this to double dip for the last prompt of superphantom week which was "Fenton Tech" and, yes, I am completely aware was an event that ended over a year ago but I didn't have anything for the last day and I wanted to be able to claim that I actually finished some kind of phandom event once in my life, ahahahahaha.

More Than Bullets

May 4, 2015

Dean pulled up to the curb a block or two away and turned the key. They weren't expecting the need for a quick getaway, so this would give them some space to scope out the neighborhood before knocking on the Fenton's door. Plus, it would be one less thing that anyone could link to them in case things somehow went south.

They got out of the car and straightened jackets and adjusted ties in the side view mirrors. Then, a quick trip to the trunk let them grab a handgun and silver knife between them. Dean also refilled his flask with holy water and Sam grabbed a handful of salt and assorted herbs to stuff in one of his jacket pockets.

They weren't expecting any trouble, though, and didn't want to attract any unnecessary attention, so they only took the barest necessities out of their impressive arsenal. Because if there was one thing their job taught them, it was that you never go anywhere completely unprotected, even if, by all rights, you shouldn't be facing anything more dangerous than a suspicious homeowner. The bad guys never played fair.

Satisfied with their gear, Dean grabbed choice IDs out of their box and decided they were all set. Sam closed the trunk and the brothers started off down the sidewalk toward the address Bobby had given them.

It was an impressive structure, filling up their entire view as they turned the corner. Sam's eyebrows rose to his hairline and Dean let out a low whistle.

"These guys really aren't fooling around, are they?"

"Let's just hope they have something for us," Sam replied.

They covered the pavement at a leisurely pace, taking in details about the houses they were passing.

"I'm thinking a futuristic bazooka," Dean said.

"Bazooka, Dean, really?" Sam asked.

"Space blaster?" he tried again.

Sam started shaking his head with a laugh.

"Stun gun, at least!" He gestured to the building ahead of them. "I mean look at that place. Look at the… the spaceship on top! Bobby sends us here for weapons and, man, if the outside of their house looks like that, I'm betting their guns are just as good."

"Well, let's hope so. I'd hate to tell Bobby this place was actually a bust. He seemed pretty excited."

"Yeah," Dean grinned. "Because he knows this is our best bet for adding a pocket laser to the standard hunting arsenal." He nodded sagely as they crossed the street. "And that would be the best thing since personal sized pie."

Sam pulled up. "I thought you wouldn't like single serve pies."

Dean turned around in a moment, face a picture of shock. "Why not? They've got the proper crust to filling ratio, Sam. Everyone knows that. You get the flaky crust on every bite."

"Because, dude, they're… small."

Dean snorted. "That's why you have four," he huffed as he walked up the steps to the front of the house, grumbling good-naturedly about how effective college educations were.

Sam considered that and made a mental note to pick up a fun-size pie (or two) the next time he saw one at a gas station. Then he joined his brother on the front porch and they waited for someone to answer the doorbell.

They both startled as the door was whipped open by a man that towered above even Sam.

Dean blinked and then pulled an exaggerated face as he stared down a seeming wall of bright construction orange.

The man beamed at them without noticing Dean's antics. "Hi," he said with an overenthusiastic rumble. "Welcome to FentonWorks! My name's Jack. Jack Fenton. Can I help you boys?"

Dean winced and Sam finally nudged him in the ribs as he said, "Uh, yes. At least, I hope so. My name's Sam and this is my brother Dean. We'd love to talk to you about your inventions, if that's alright with you."

"Absolutely! Come right on in! I'd love to blather on about the portal!"

Sam and Dean looked at each other as they ducked inside the door. They'd come here after ghostly weapons. No one had mentioned a portal.

"Umm, when you say 'portal…'" Sam began as Jack led them into his living room. "You mean…"

"The portal!" the man jumped in. "Our pride and joy. Took us twenty years to put together. The prototype landed my roommate in the hospital with a nearly deadly dose of ecto-acne and the full sized dealio down in the lab didn't start right away," he admitted. "Not until Danny had the accident."

"Danny?" Dean managed to ask.

"Our son. Got caught up in the blast of the portal when it just up and started one day. Just like Vlad."

"Vlad?" Sam asked.

"The roommate. My best friend until I ruined his life. But fortunately, Danny didn't get the ecto-acne. That would have been a shame to mess up his face because he looks like me! A Fenton!"

Jack sat down on the couch and swept out a hand inviting Sam and Dean to do the same. They stared at each other, though, trying to decide if the man was insane.

Dean tried to make his grimace look more like a polite face as Sam hesitantly lowered himself on the couch next to him. "So… you're saying that you have a portal…" he waved his hands, trying to figure out how to phrase this. "That's blown up twice, landed a guy in the hospital… and it's…?"

"That's right!" Jack said, bounding up out of his seat. "And it's in our basement, right next to the weapons vault." He crossed to the kitchen table where he picked up something before returning.

Both Winchesters watched his progress there and back again with wide eyes. Dean nearly choked when he came back with a tray filled with brown squares and said, "Want some fudge?"

"Ahh, no, no thank you," Sam waved away the candy for the both of them.

Jack shrugged and popped a piece of fudge into his mouth.

"So uh, this portal…" Dean began as he tried to wrap his head around this. "Just what kind of portal is it?"

Jack set the tray down on the coffee table and stared up at them like he'd just won the lottery. Dean kept a wary eye on his gigantic hazmat boots that kept bouncing up and down on the floor as he answered, "Well, it's a ghost portal, obviously!"

There was a moment when Sam and Dean both stopped, sure that they had heard incorrectly.

"I'm sorry, did you say ghost portal?" Sam asked.

"Yeah! A portal to the Ghost Zone! You know, the place where all of the ghosts live. Maddie and I are the only ones in the world to have a functioning portal. A door between the worlds! It's always been our life goal to study them, see what makes the evil suckers tick and now…! Tear a few apart molecule by molecule. We're able to do it in the comfort of our own home!"

"But…" Dean sputtered. "A portal is an open doorway! Anything in the world could come out of that thing!"

"I know! It's so exciting! We never know what's going to come out next!"

Sam leaned forward, eyes glinting with a hard edge now that he was suddenly in full hunter mode. No sympathy for the guy unleashing a supernatural force he couldn't hope to control. "You mean to say that things have already been coming out?"

"Absolutely! We've had a different ghost every week, seems like. We've already gathered data and started classifying over a dozen of them. It's been a scientist's dream come true!"

Sam and Dean looked at each other, confirming what they'd each already decided. The entire purpose of this trip had just changed. This wasn't a shopping trip for new gadgets. This wasn't even investigating a potential supplier for Bobby.

This was a hunt. There was an open doorway to another world right beneath their feet, letting a steady stream of undead creatures out to haunt and target unsuspecting members of this once-normal town.

They had to find it and figure out how to shut it down. Statum.

"I wonder…" Sam said. "Would it be possible for you to show…?"

"Honey?" a voice called from upstairs. The Winchesters looked up to see a redheaded woman in a teal jumpsuit coming down the stairs. "Jack, sweetie? I thought I heard voices?"

"That's right, Mads!" Jack beamed. "These guys are here to listen to me babble on about ghosts!"

The woman's face broke out into a wide smile as she rounded the banister to face them. "Really? Isn't that wonderful! Did you offer them some fudge? I can go grab our notes and be right back in a jiffy."

"Actually, ma'am," Dean said, stopping her in her tracks as he reached into a pocket.

He and Sam pulled out their leather bi-fold IDs at the same time and held them out at arm's length. "We're here to take a look at the machine in your basement."

*Statum. Latin for "immediately." Normally shorted to "stat," especially in hospital terminology.