Welcome to the Freak Show
Dean had heard about places like this, places where they kept mutants who hadn't made it to The Island in cages, and put them on display for the whole world to laugh at and ridicule. It made him feel a little sick as he watched a man with green, scaly flesh curled up in a ball in the center of a cage, those sitting around the outside of the bars laughing and throwing balled up popcorn bags at him. He wanted to stand in front of the cage and scream at them to stop, that it wasn't right, but he also didn't want to lose his brother. Sam, who had come to the Freak Show looking for a girl from school, was starting to get a little green, but the determination on his face was like nothing he had ever seen, and so he followed, where he usually led.
Sam ducked around a cage in which there sat a young girl, small and ill proportioned, who kept fading in and out of visibility, unable to control herself, and vaulted forward, through a tent flap and into the behind the scenes of the operation. Dean followed closely, knowing this was dangerous, more dangerous than any of the other silly, stupid stunts they'd pulled in their lifetime, unable to bring himself to stop his brother.
"What did you say this chick's name was again?" he asked roughly.
"Jessica. Her name is Jessica, and she's not just a chick, Dean. She's my girlfriend," Sam replied, his voice dropping in pitch as well as volume.
"Back off, Sammy," Dean snapped.
Sam elected not to reply, but not because he was, in fact, backing off. No, it was because he spotted Jessica with a pair of bolt cutters, flying around the corner. He lurched forward, gangly limbs moving with astounding grace, and ducked around the corner after her, Dean close behind. He grabbed her shoulder and pulled her back, simultaneously covering her mouth.
"Don't scream," he commanded.
Jess nodded, turning around. "What are you doing here?"
"I followed you. You can't do this. Cutting these guys loose means federal jail time," he whispered.
"And leaving them here means a lifetime of slavery and ridicule, and I won't stand for it, dammit!"
Jessica ripped herself away from Sam, and cut off the lock on one of the cages.
Sam was surprised, however, to hear a second lock clang to the ground.
He turned, looking at Dean, and registered the bolt cutters.
"Look, we help her, and it gets done faster. It gets done faster, we get out of here faster, and we don't get caught."
"They'll shoot any that they find, Dean," Sam barked.
He felt the overwhelming and astounding presence of the mutant classified as a Shade moments before it fully registered in his mind what had been in the cage Jess had opened. He whorled and backed away, but the Shade made no attempt to come closer.
"It is a risk we are all willing to take," she whispered.
Shades are known for three things; their incredible intelligence, their variety of powers and mutations, and their almost spooky ability to cause anyone to fall into their thrall. It was rare for Shades to be in female form, the DNA structure which caused the Shade Phenomenon usually occurring in those with Y chromosomes, but not unheard of. It did, however, present an interesting problem.
Female Shades tended to "burn" their mutations and powers hotter and brighter for longer periods than male Shades. Burning powers referred to the ability to use a power continuously, and burning hotter and brighter meant females were statistically more dangerous than males.
All of this flitted through Sam's mind in rapid succession before he decided it would be best to follow both his brother and his girlfriend. He went around behind them, coaxing mutants out of their cages, herding them toward the Shade.
When they were all free, she spoke again.
"Those who are able bodied will distract the keepers of this damnable zoo. The rest of you follow the humans out of the tent and to freedom. Once you are outside, head south, toward the Keys. Find the one they call Balthazar. He will offer you safe passage across to the Island," she announced. "Godspeed, and good luck."
Dean, Jess, and Sam led the younger mutants and some of the older ones who couldn't fight out through the back, Jess falling further and further behind the eldest Winchester, until she and Sam were the last ones inside.
"We can't just leave them here. We have to help," she whispered.
Sam sighed, but pulled her close. "Go out with Dean and the others. I'll make sure they make it out of this place."
Jessica hesitated, and Sam gently pushed her toward the exit.
She turned and headed for the tunnel, while Sam put his back to freedom.
He should have taken a look over his shoulder. He would have, if he had known that it would be the last time he saw her alive.
