Deschutes County Medical Emergency and Examiner's Office

Is what the sign above the entrance to the large coroner's building read as Y/n, Cas, and Dean pushed open the solid metal doors with a loud screeching sound. The noise of her heels clicking against the tile floor echoed through the white brick halls, causing heads to turn towards the group and quiet whispers to commence in confusion of their presence.

Who are they?

Are they the Feds?

Why are they here?

Those were only a few of the questions that struck up numerous conversations as the trio walked into the head medical examiner's office. A blonde female doctor sat in a brown leather chair behind a sycamore desk, a shiny plaque labeled her as Dr. Angela Ziegler. She looked up from her papers when she heard the three walk in and tucked a blonde strand of hair behind her ear. "Hallå, god morgon. My name is Angela Ziegler, I'm the head medical examiner and nurse overseer. How may I help you?" Her voice was laced with a thick Swedish accent. Dean smirked at himself as he flipped open his FBI badge. "My name is Special Agent Gibbs, this is Special Agent DiNozzo," he nodded towards Cas, "And Special Agent David (Dah•vē•d)." He nodded lastly towards Y/n. Dr. Ziegler stood up and nodded to each of them with a smile as a sign of respect, and gave a close eyed smile when she sat back down. "It's a pleasure to meet you, all of you. What can I help you with?"

Dean placed the badge in an inside pocket hidden by his overcoat and glanced over at Cas, nodding to him with his head. "Agent DiNozzo?" Cas was reading Dr. Ziegler's thoughts, scanning them for information. "A man was murdered last week, Dewey Morris age 31, in your National Park. We need to examine his remains." Ziegler's blue eyes widened in surprise at Castiel's bluntness, but she nodded nonetheless. "Follow me."

They walked out into the hall once more and made a sharp right turn towards the clinic area. "Hey Doctor Mercy!" A young blonde haired, blue eyed patient laying in a hospital bed with a plaster cast over his torso called out to the blonde doctor, catching her full attention. Mercy? Y/n thought curiously.

"Hello Mr. Rodgers, how are you feeling today?" Genuine concern caked her voice in thick layers.

"My back is killing me, the nurses haven't given me my medicine in thirteen hours!"

"Well I'll have a talk with them. Meanwhile, Nurse Mitchell will get your medicine."

"Thank you, Doctor Mercy."

"You are very welcome."

Angela turned back to continue walking when she caught the arm of a male nurse. "Mitchell, make sure Steve Rodgers gets his morphine." The nurse nodded. "Yes Doctor Mercy."

She finally continued her journey to the morgue. "Why do the patients and nurses call you 'Mercy'?" Dean beat Y/n to the question that was nagging at her brain during the encounter between the good doctor and her patient. "I try to be as gentle as I possibly can while handling the patients. They say I'm very merciful, so the nickname 'Doctor Mercy' has stuck with me for ten years." She explained as they neared the steel door labeled 'Morgue', the halls getting colder as they traveled.

Cas glanced at a picture that was hanging on the wall, it was somewhere near a large waterfall. There were three hunters, two male and one female, a large grizzly bear lay between them. A faint blur was in the background at the tree line behind them.

He looked at another picture hanging on the wall, a framed newspaper article with the same picture from before. The headline read:

August 13, 1997
Local hunter found dead in national park.

Cas read into the article further:

Hunter Roy Wilson's body was discovered near a mine shaft close to Lava Lake in a National park in Deschutes County, Oregon. Wilson, age 32, mysteriously disappeared off a campsite somewhere in the park, only for his body to be discovered half devoured near the mouth of an abandoned mine shaft, which had been closed decades ago because of deadly toxins.

Medical examiner John Watson names this as a tragic result of a grizzly bear attack.

Other hikers in the area are warned to be on the lookout for-

"Agent DiNozzo!" Y/n shook Cas' shoulder roughly, snapping him out of his trance. He didn't realize he had stopped walking to read the article. "My apologies." The dazed angel muttered before regrouping with Dean and Dr. Ziegler, Y/n walking close behind him tailing his heels. "Let us continue."

The group walked through the door to an even colder room that had an area of about 16,900 square feet*. The far wall was lined with eighteen shining steel freezers about two and a half feet across and a foot tall. One the other wall hung numerous aprons and plastic face shields for autopsies. In the middle of the room were five sleek stainless steel autopsy tables seven feet in length and two and a half feet in diameter, each table had its own fluorescent overhead lamp.

Dr. Ziegler's lab coat swayed as she walked in front of the filing cabinet and pulled open the drawer labeled 'Di-Mo', meaning she filed her victim's last name before their first. "Here we are. Morris, Dewey aged 31 years. Died of massive blood loss due to multiple lacerations causing organs to be removed from his body." Y/n internally gagged but kept her cool on the outside, determined to stay strong even if she really felt like throwing up. Angela walked over to the rows of freezers, still carrying the manila folder in her pale hand. "Fourteen..." She spoke under breath and looked up at the doors, scanning the metal number plates above the cold slabs. "Here." Angela gripped the metal bar and yanked the freezer open. Then she pulled on the handle of the table and pulled that out, revealing a large plastic biohazard container. "That's him," she placed the container on one of the examining tables. "What's left of him anyway."

Dean put on latex gloves and opened the box, then he sifted through the smaller boxes and pulled out a large bag.

Inside were the ripped up remains of Dewey's left arm.

Y/n couldn't hold back her bile, and she ran to the nearest trash can to empty the contents of her stomach. Cas ran to her and pulled her h/c hair out of her face.

"It's her first day on the job." Dean whispered to Angela as Y/n kept retching into the trash can. "Understandable." She simply said. Angela walked to a small cabinet attached to the wall and opened it to show the various medicines kept on its shelves. She pulled open a tiny cardboard box and picked up a small thin plastic container, then walked over to the vomiting person at the trash bin. "Break this open near your nose and inhale, it'll ease your nausea I promise." Y/n grabbed the vial from the doctor and quickly broke open the container, inhaling its contents and breathing heavily. She wiped her mouth and spat in the bin before turning back to the group, embarrassed. "I'm sorry." She whispered as her face heated up to a bright red. "No need." Angela waved it off like it was nothing. "That was a mixture of lemon and ginger essence, it is very helpful to ease any kind of nausea. My own personal recipe."

"Don't you have like Vic's or something to block out the smell?" Dean asked as his blueish-green eyes squinted at the doctor, she laughed and raised her eyebrows. "Are you crazy, that would make it so much worse! The Vic's would open the nasal passages and let more smell in." Dean opened his mouth in a slight 'o' and turned his attention back to the remains. "Cas- er- DiNozzo, stay with David while I continue to her examine the remains. Go talk to the nurses about Dewey and his medical history." Cas nodded his head in Dean's general direction before leading Y/n out the door by the small of her back.

"Come Y/n," he said quietly. "We have much work to do." Y/n nodded and walked with Castiel out of the morgue.

Angela smiled as Cas led Y/n out of the door. "Are they a thing, because they're very adorable together." She asked Dean without hesitation. The elder Winchester smirked and crossed his arms. "Yeah, poor sucker was bitten by the love bug. He's changed a lot since they've been together, he seems happier, acts like he has more emotions now." Angela frowned slightly and looked up at Dean. "What do you mean?"

"When I was first partnered up with him, he had the resemblance of a statue. No emotion, never smiled." Dean looked down at his shiny shoes. "But since he met her, I've never seen him show so many emotions in my life." He slowly looked up at the grey ceiling tiles. "She's good for him though, I can see how much she's helped him." He stared off into space for a minute and shook his head, chuckling meekly. "She's got him good, anyone could look at them and say that."

Angela smiled at Dean's heartfelt thoughts.

- - - - -

Y/n and Cas walked down the hallway and Y/n's curious eyes fell upon the newspaper article on the wall. "What's this?" She rhetorically asked as she went closer to the framed thin paper. "It's a news article about one of the hunters that we are investigating, Roy Wilson." Cas explained as Y/n's eyes read over the printed words. "We should talk to this medical examiner, John Watson." Cas nodded his head in agreement.

"Let's go." He ushered Y/n out of the slim hallway and out of the examiner's office towards the county's hall of records, which was in the county's square.

- - - -

About an hour later Y/n walked out of the record hall, covered in dust, and clutching a dog-eared Manila folder in her right hand. "Finally!" She exclaimed as Cas followed behind her, also covered in a layer of dust with his dark brown locks disheveled. "That took forever!" She over exaggerated. "We were in there for an hour." Cas said cooly, Y/n turned to say something to him and saw a small, but noticeable, dust bunny sitting on Castiel's head, and started laughing quietly, stifling the laughter with her hand. "I do not understand," Cas tilted his head to the side just about a fraction of an inch. "What's so funny?"

Y/n waltzed up to him and plucked the ball of dust off with her index finger and thumb, pulling it down out of Cas' hair for the angel to see. "You've got a dust bunny in your hair!" His blue eyes squinted as he looked at the ball in Y/n's hand.

"That is not a rabbit?" He said confusedly.

This made Y/n laugh even harder, and she held her sides as her body shook. Her laughter sounded like bells pealing; each time her body shook was a melody. She stood and wiped a tear from her face. "Let's go visit this Dr. Watson." She grasped Cas' hand and dragged him to find Sam and get the car.

- - - -

After Y/n found Sam and told him about the old medical examiner, he let her borrow the Impala; Sam, of course, took a few things from the trunk and glovebox before letting Cas drive off in Dean's car. He grabbed the box of fake ID's, three pistols with extra magazines, a small plastic baggie filled with salt, a pocket-sized bottle of water (Y/n didn't know why he couldn't just buy some water, but whatever), and his wallet.

- - - -

Cas stopped the car in front of a three story house that was painted light blue, the doctor's house, and parked the car on the curb. "This is it." Cas and Y/n patted their pockets to make sure their FBI ID's were in them, then when they were sure they stepped out of the car.

Walking up to the white door Y/n was nervous. This was the first time that she had been at someone's door as a fake federal agent. Cas sensed her tension, however, and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze before he knocked on the door. A young man answered the door, he had reddish brown hair, hazel eyes, and slight facial hair. "Are you John Watson?" Cas asked the man in the door. The man raised his eyebrows and opened the door so they could walk in. "That's my father, I'm John Watson II, everyone just calls me Johnny." He told them as they walked into the living room. He has a British accent. "What do you need him for?"

Y/n moved first, pulling open her overcoat and flashing her ID at him. "FBI Special Agents David and DiNozzo, we need to speak to your father about a case about twenty years ago, about Roy Wilson?" Johnny rubbed his nape with his hand. "He's in the basement, probably working in his wood burning workshop. I'll take you."

They walked through an open kitchen that had dark marble counters, the stove and sink were unusually short, to a light gray door. "Mind the ramp." Johnny muttered as he opened the door, which revealed a two foot tall wooden ramp with handrails. Around the wall, a faint smell of burnt pine wafted into the hallway. "Dad!" He called, taking a step onto the ramp and peeking his head around the wall to a desk. "Some agents are here to see you." Quiet rapid creaking was heard and then a man in a wheelchair wheeled around the corner to the edge of the ramp. He, like his son, had red hair, pale skin, and, unlike his son, a handlebar mustache. His upper torso was very muscular, especially in his arms. "Agents, what for?" He asked, also having a British accent, as he pushed himself up the ramp effortlessly. Y/n, Cas, and Johnny all backed up into the kitchen. That's why the stove and sink are so low. Y/n mentally cursed herself for not being smart enough to realize. "We need to discuss a case about twenty years ago, similar to the murder that happened just recently."

"Is this about Roy?" The man asked as he pushed himself further into the kitchen, stopping near the fridge. "Where are my manners?" He turned himself to face Cas and Y/n. "I'm John Watson." His lips curled up in a tight smile, his mustache moving with his face, sticking his hand out to shake Y/n's. His grip was very strong. "Special Agent David, this is Special Agent DiNozzo, can you tell me about that case?" John put the brakes on his wheels and pulled open the fridge to grab four cans of Coca Cola. "Well, I was just training to be a medical examiner then, only about fifteen. I was shadowing the old M.E. but that day he wasn't there. He never showed up after that body was put on the cold table." John cracked open the can and took a sip of the cool soda. "Let's get you guys a seat then we can continue, yeah?" He unengaged the breaks and went to place the can between his legs when Johnny went behind him to the back of the wheelchair and grabbed the handles to push his dad into the living room. "Come on Johnathan, I can push myself." John turned his upper body to look at his son. "No way dad, you've been working for hours downstairs. Let me push you. No, correction, I'm pushing you."

John crossed his arms and looked forward. "You know, if your uncle Sherlock were here, he'd pop you in the mouth for talking to me like that." Johnny gave a scoff as the group entered the living room and he pushed John next to the couch. "Uncle Sher? He's back in London, working on that case, remember?" Y/n and Cas sat on the couch opposite of John and Johnny, listening intently to their conversation. "Heh, yeah." John's lips morphed into that of a sad smirk.

"Bet he could help these agents out, don't you?"

"Yeah."

"Enough of my rambling, what do you want to know about Roy?" John turned his attention back to the 'agents' and gave a weary smile, Y/n returned it. "What condition was the body in when you found it?" She started thinking about questions you'd normally ask in something like this, referring, most of them anyway, from a TV show she liked called Bones. John thought for a moment then grimaced. "His legs and part of his lower torso were missing. It looked like something had gnawed it off, there were teeth and claw marks all over it." Y/n nodded her head and wrote a few notes down on a scratchpad she'd produced from her breast pocket. "And the environment?"

"Well it was bloody cold for being the middle of August, and rainy too. I nearly slipped multiple times just trying to get to his corpse." Y/n squinted at him as her eyes scanned over his figure in the chair. His legs were slack while he still sat up straight like a gentleman.

"If you don't mind me asking, what happened to your legs? You sit up straight even though it pains you." John's gaze fell to the floor, staring at a spot on the hardwood.

"You never truly appreciate something until it's gone, did you know that? I never thought anything about my ability to walk until about a year and a half ago, when someone broke into my home and shot my wife before shooting me. God I wish I had been the one to die." Johnny rubbed a hand across his father's back and stared down the agents. "Can we change the subject?" Cas nodded and took over the questioning.

When they left his house, they'd learned a lot of information. John said that he'd never seen claw marks like the ones on Roy's body, that the cuts were too thin and swift to be any kind of bear, but he had to mark it as an animal attack to give the people answers. He tried telling them that it wasn't a bear, but they just wouldn't listen, resulting in a search of the park, and two more hunters going missing. Their bodies were never found. "Let's get this info to Sam and Dean." Y/n suggested as hey walked back out to the idle Impala.

"I wonder what they'll make of this."