~*****~

"You know, I could get us out of here..." I mention irritably from my cell across the hall. There's a delirious cackle behind me and I roll my eyes. "Anything to get away from... Miss Crystal, if you know what I mean."

Dean rubbed at his brow. "Yeah, and you'd probably make the front page with all those cameras."

I grimace as Miss Crystal starts patting at my hip, and asking if I have any. I don't respond. "Maybe I could become rich and famous, you know, healing the poor and making the blind see. The whole she-bang." I express through my teeth.

"You three." Our heads snapped towards the cop sauntering down the hall. "You're very lucky. Charges were dropped. You're free to go." He opens up my cell first and I physically wriggle away from Miss Crystal and start swiping at my body. Sam and Dean are smirking at me as we hurry out of the precinct.

We find Jay at the same hotel and confront him. "Jay," Sam greets. "Thanks for dropping the charges."

"You mind telling us why you did it?" Dean asks.

"Yeah, not that we're not grateful, or anything, but uh, I have a sneaking suspicion that it happened again." I explain.

Jay is silent for a moment before nodding. "We have to talk." We made our way to a bar, where Jay began sipping at his whiskey immediately after receiving it. After a moment of silence, he explained what had happened after his act. "I was just a kid when we first met." Jay explains. "All I knew was how to cheat at cards. Charlie got me out of more scrapes than I can count. Hell, I would have been dead by the age of twenty if it hadn't been for him." Jay heaved out a tired sigh. "He was more than my friend. He was my brother."

"I'm sorry, Jay." Sam says softly.

"Look, I should have listened to you guys when you told me that my show was killing people." Jay expresses.

"Well, you weren't the one pulling the trigger." I mention.

"Yeah, but someone did, and I want to find out who did this to Charlie, so I'll do whatever you guys say. Just tell me what to do." Jay says fervently.

"Jay, whoever's doing this... They like you." I say delicately. "They're probably close to you. Did Charlie and Vernon get along?"

"No." Jay says after a moment. "No, it's not Vernon."

"He's the only one that makes sense." Dean says.

"Charlie and Vernon were your family, Jay." Sam mentions.

"And now Charlie's gone."

"Yeah, but... they butted heads sometimes, but Vernon could never do something like this." Jay explains.

"See, the thing about real magic, is it's a whole lot like crack." I explain. "People do surprising things once they get a taste of it."

Jay shakes his head. "You better be damn sure about this. Vernon's all I got left."

~*****~

With the plan laid out, Jay called Vernon's room to lure him away. We break into his room. "Wow. It's like a... magic museum." Sam mentions.

Dean and I snort. "You must be in your actual wet dream, Sam." I mention.

Sam gives us his bitch face. "This guy doesn't travel light." Dean states.

"He's been on the road his whole life. Probably everything he owns is in this room." Sam states.

"Well, let's get started." I sigh. We tear through the room but there's nothing in here. "What is all this crap?"

"It's just a bunch of old timey magic crap, that's what it is." Dean retorts.

"No herbs, no candles, and no tarot cards." Sam states.

I kick at one of the chairs before sitting down on it. "I'll be damned." Dean says.

"What?" Sam and I perk up. Dean shows us the poster he'd picked up. We stared long and hard for a moment.

"Look like anyone we know?" Dean asks.

I purse my lips and grumble. "Oh, shit."

We hurry out of Vernon's room and hurry to the three men speaking. "Not so fast!" Dean shouts. "I ain't Guttenberg, and this ain't cocoon." We approach them, where Vernon and Jay are backing up, their hands raised. Dean flicks his gun to the side on them both and they scurry. "Immortality. That's a neat trick."

"It's not a trick." Dean lets out a grunt as he and Sam are hoisted up into the air by a noose. "It's magic." Charlie hums.

I fire my gun and Charlie spits it out. "Hey, bullet catch. I've been working on that." He chimes before tossing it into the air.

"Get him!" Dean grunts from above.

"Hey, let him go!" I shout at Charlie as I advance on him.

"Just leave me and my friends alone." Charlie sighs.

"I said let him go!" I snap again.

"All right, I will give it up-- the spells, the hexes. This is the last time, I promise." Charlie mentions. He disappears from sight and I whirl around just in time to feel his palms press against my chest and shove me backwards. I grunt loudly as I hit the cold table and snap my eyes up. Restraints latch onto my wrists and ankles. I start struggling, and end up breaking my legs out just as Jay lets out a grunt of pain. My gaze swings over to him before I snap a wrist free. Jay pulls out the tarot deck and shows Charlie. "Jay..." He breathes delicately as he retrieves a card from his pocket. "You picked these strangers over me?" He falls the ground, releasing Sam and Dean from the noose. I quickly roll off the table, knocking it over as the slab of swords come crashing down. I heave out a sigh of relief as I fiddle with the remaining cuff and free myself.

"You guys all right?" I ask breathlessly, my hands grasping at their jackets.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm all right." Dean breathes heavily.

Sam coughs and settles on his butt for a minute before nodding. "I'm good, too." He wheezes.

~*****~

The next day, we meet Jay at the same bar. He's shuffling a deck, but he's not as dexterous as he once was. "Hey, Jay." Dean greets softly to the sad old man. "We wanted to thank you for what you did yesterday."

Jay sighs through his nose. "I killed my best friend yesterday, and you want to thank me?" Jay chuckles.

"Where's Vernon?" Sam asks.

Jay shrugs. "Oh, he's gone. He said he didn't want to speak to me again after what I did to Charlie."

"Listen, Jay. You know Charlie was never gonna give up what he was doing." I mention softly. Jay nods. "Ever. You did the right thing."

"Are you sure about that?" Jay asks. "You know, Charlie was like my brother. And now he's dead... Because I did the right thing. He offered me a gift, and I just threw it back in his face. So, now I have to spend the rest of my life old and alone." Jay sips the rest of his drink and stumbles towards us. "What's so right about that?"

A waitress approaches the table and hums. "Jay. Your cards." She reminds him with a friendly smile.

Jay shakes his head with a sad look on his face. "Throw them away." He stumbles out of the bar.

Dean sighs and tugs me to his side. "Well, I don't know about you, but... I could go for a beer."

Sam doesn't say anything for a moment before he sighs. "I'm gonna take a walk." He leaves Dean and I in the bar. We share worried glances before taking a seat at the bar.