Episode 67: Reunions and Resolutions - FINAL EPISODE OF SEASON 1!

Aubrey Lance, S.S. (Supernatural Sleuth) -- Season 1, Episode 67: Reunions & Resolutions

Chloe’s dad stumbled in shock as he watched the helicopter go down, then he spun away from the water, toward the dunes behind us. “This way!” he yelled to his men.

But the moment he took a step in that direction, a whole contingent of armed men stood up from behind the dunes, aiming massive guns at him and the goons that held us. Maybe they were some kind of soldiers? I wasn’t sure, but their guns looked like something out of a science fiction movie. More of them poured out from beyond the pier a moment later, aiming weapons at the Vorcos men scattered across the beach.

“Oops, wrong way.” A man in a suit stepped out of the row of armed men, then looked right at Chloe’s Dad. “It’s over. Tell your men to put down their guns.” 

Chloe’s dad’s eyes fell shut in frustration, then reluctantly, he raised his hands in defeat.

“Do what he said,” he told his men. 

They lowered their weapons to the sand. 

“Hands on your heads. No one takes a single step further.” He looked at Emery. “Except you.” He smiled at her. “You can go back to your family.” 

The moment the goons dropped their grip on Emery, she took off running back toward us, falling into my dad’s protective hug. 

“Now,” the man in the suit said, and looked right at me. “Mind calling off that elemental so my men don’t get crushed?” 

I looked back to find Ryan thrashing about in the surf, slinging the helicopter around like it was a toy. His huge mouth was open in a roar of fury so deep it sounded like thunder. 

I turned around. “Ryan!” 

The roar cut off, and the elemental paused, just for a moment, then went back to thrashing the helicopter. The seaweed that had covered his eyes the first time I’d seen him had gotten shoved aside in his thrashing, and I could see two massive, dark eyes above his gaping mouth.

Emery ran up beside me. “Ryan!” she yelled with me. 

He paused mid-helicopter swing and turned. 

The moment he saw us, the expression on his massive face shifted from rage to confusion. 

“Ryan!” I yelled again. “Ryan!” 

He stared at us, and recognition sparked in those big, dark eyes. He stepped back and set down the helicopter. 

I ran toward him. 

“Aubrey, wait!” my dad yelled, sounding worried. 

But Ryan was back in control of himself, and standing entirely still. 

When I reached him, he peered down at me in concern. 

“You did great, Ryan!” I smiled up at him. “You stopped them. You helped us get free!” 

Emery ran up next to me. “You kept them from taking me away again,” she said, then ran right out into the surf and threw her arms around his massive leg in a hug. “You saved me.” 

The elemental shuddered, and then… melted. Or something close to that. A moment later, I was looking at Ryan’s human form. 

Emery jumped back, realizing she was suddenly hugging a shirtless guy. “Oh!” She blushed, but smiled politely at him. “Sorry. But… Thank you. Seriously.” She held out her hand. “I’m Emery.” 

Ryan took her hand. “I’m Ryan, but I guess you knew that.” He smiled, still holding her hand. “It’s so nice to finally meet you.” 

“Come meet the rest of us?” I offered. 

After a moment of hesitation, he nodded. 

We led him back to the rest of the group. 

The man in the suit was waiting there for us, his men still holding Chloe’s dad and the others at gunpoint. 

“Now that we’re all back…” He smiled at Ryan. “I didn’t think you’d want to miss this next part.” The man in the suit pulled out a pair of handcuffs and turned to Chloe’s dad.  “Albert Pennybaker, CEO of Vorcos Industries, you’re under arrest for kidnapping, murder, and just generally being a horrible human… among other things.” He looked at his men. “Take them all.” 

A group of men hurried forward, swarming Albert’s righthand woman and the goons, and slapping cuffs on all of them, too.  

“Albert Pennybaker?” Collin muttered under his breath, looking shocked that was the guy’s name, then he turned to the man in the suit. “Where did you even come from?” 

“Heard a friend needed help,” he said, smiling at Trenchcoat Man. “But trust me—” He nodded toward the handcuffed Albert. “This was also my pleasure.” He glanced down the beach, at the rods, then turned to his men. “Dismantle those, too, will you?” 

A group of them rushed off to do it.  

Trenchcoat Man approached Chloe’s dad, now cuffed and held tightly by two soldiers.

“That’s the difference between me and you, Albert,” he said. “I understand the importance of friends.” 

The man in the suit gestured to his men. “Get him in the vehicle.” 

They marched Albert away over the dunes, presumably to some out-of-sight vehicle.

The man in the suit turned to Trenchcoat Man. “Sorry it took me so long. I got caught up at the warehouse.” He clapped Trenchcoat Man on the shoulder. “We found fifteen elementals—all alive.” 

Trenchcoat Man exhaled, like a weight had lifted off of him. 

The man in the suit smiled. “Looks like both of our Missing lists just got a lot shorter.” 

“Praise God,” Trenchcoat Man said, his eyes slipping shut in a quick prayer of gratitude.

I stared at the man in the suit. “Who are you?” I asked, not able to hold my question any longer. 

“What are you?” Collin chimed in. “Are you like FBI or something?” 

“Or something,” the man said with a smirk, then turned to me. “You can call me Steve.”

He looked at Emery. “And don’t worry about Albert. Where he and his crew are going, you won’t have to worry about them for a long time. Like… ever.” He smiled, then turned around—and walked right away through a split in the air. 

The air snapped shut behind him. 

We all stared at the empty air for a moment, then Collin exploded with questions. 

“Whoaaaa, wait a minute.” He spun toward Trenchcoat Man. “Who was that? Who does he work for? Is he a supernatural? How did he do that? How long have you known him? Does he work for the government? He used a portal. Those guns looked like space-guns.” His eyes widened. “Does the government have portals and space guns?” 

Trenchcoat Man laughed. “Steve works for an organization that’s… let’s say interested in supernatural happenings. He tries to keep a low profile, and he’s pretty busy with his own missions, but he’s a good friend to call when things go horribly wrong.” 

Collin stared. “Wait, like… a government organization? So I was right? Is there a government organization that knows about supernaturals? Is this like X-Men? Or, wait, is it like Men in Black? Do they flashy-thing people? I bet Steve’s not his real name, is it? What’s the organization called?”

Trenchcoat Man sighed, but he looked amused. “I’m tired, Collin. It’s been a long… three days?” He raised his eyebrows. “I think I should get you all home.” He looked at Emery, then gave my Dad a gentle smile. “Some of you have been away from it for far too long.” 

“My mom!” Chloe gasped beside me, and when I turned to her, her eyes were wide. “I need to call her and let her know I’m okay.” 

“She needs that phone call more than you might know, sweetheart,” my mom said, pulling her into a hug. “We’ll call her the moment Marshall portals us home and then take you right to her, honey, okay?” 

“Gather in,” Trenchcoat Man said, then reached up to clap—but nothing happened. He huffed a sigh. “Ward-dart hasn’t worn off yet.” He looked at the cheer hawks. “Did any of you bring the SUV?” 

****

Most of our phones were busted or waterlogged, but we managed to find a working phone inside the empty beachside diner to call for rides for some of us, while the cheer hawks flew back to town to fetch the SUV for them and Trenchcoat Man, who had slipped out to chat with Rupert and Anglemoor on the deck.

We let Chloe use the diner phone first, though—to call her mom. 

I could hear the relieved sobbing on the other end of the phone, and when Chloe hung up, her eyes weren’t dry, either. 

She walked over to my parents. “The phone’s free. My mom’s on her way.” 

My mom gave Chloe a tight hug, then headed to the phone to call a taxi for the rest of us.

I walked over to Chloe. “Are you okay?” 

She drew a long breath. “I will be.”

We stood in silence for a moment, then Chloe sighed. “I told my mom I’d explain everything when she got here, but…” She looked up at me, at a loss. “What do I even tell her?” 

I grabbed her hands. “The truth. It might be hard, and it’ll sound crazy, but you tell her the truth, Chloe. It’s no good trying to hide things from the people who care about you. You might think you’re trying to protect them, but the truth is what it is. It’s almost always better for them to know, and then you can deal with it—together.”  

She looked at me for a long moment, then smiled. “When did you get so smart?” 

I chewed my lip. “Um… yesterday.”

She laughed, then pulled me into a hug. “I love you, Aubs.” 

“I love you too, Chloe. I’m so glad you’re back.” 

Chloe pulled away. “Speaking of which…” She looked over at Emery, who was talking quietly with Mom and Dad, explaining her side of what she’d told me on the dream-beach. “It’s so wild. This is what you dreamed and prayed for, all those years.” She looked at me. “I can’t even imagine how you must feel to have her back.” 

I watched Emery, full of life like she’d always been, gesturing animatedly as she talked to my parents. 

She’d been locked away for two years, mostly alone—but it hadn’t managed to break her spirit. 

“It feels good,” I said, smiling. “It feels really good.” 

I looked around. Ryan sat nearby, contentedly sipping a soda he’d bought from the vending machine outside with some spare change one of us had given him. He was watching Emery, too—with admiration. 

“And him?” Chloe asked, nudging me and then glancing toward where Collin and Lockley sat talking in the corner. “I was kind of surprised to see him with you when you found me.” She raised an eyebrow. “I’m assuming something changed from that day in the cafeteria?” 

I laughed. “A lot changed—oh!” I’d suddenly remembered about Devin. “The guy at the ProScoop, the one you liked?” 

She blushed a little. “Yeah….?”

“He told me he has a crush on you.” 

Her eyes widened. “Are you serious?” 

“Oh, and he’s also a fire elemental.” 

Her mouth dropped open. “What?” 

I did my best to summarize what had happened at ProScoop—including that it had burned down, how Devin had helped us, and what he’d told me in our conversations. 

“He’s obviously not going to be working at ProScoop for a while,” I told her, “but Trenchcoat Man may still know how to find him.” 

When I finished, she shook her head. “It seems silly now, you know? The crush?” She bit her lip. “But after this all settles, maybe…” 

I squeezed her hand. 

A door slammed outside, then Chloe’s mom came running into the building through the side door. “Chloe? Chlo—Oh!” She rushed toward Chloe, grabbing her in a hug—and they both started sobbing. 

Suddenly, I was crying, too. 

A shoulder nudged mine. “You okay?” 

It was Collin. 

“Yeah, yeah,” I said. “It’s just—I’m—” I pressed my lips together. 

He pulled me into a hug that smelled like cedar and spice—and a little like sweat, but I didn’t mind.

“Good tears or bad?” he asked.

“Good. So good,” I said.

He rubbed my back. “Then let them come.” 

He held me gently as I leaned into his shoulder, my tears soaking his shirt. 

Emery looked up and smiled at me from where she, Lockley, and Ryan were now all sitting with Mom and Dad, giving Chloe and her mom a private space for their reunion. 

There was still so much to put back together, so much lost time to make up for, so many questions still to answer, but just then, in that moment… it felt like my world had been set right again.

THE END

***

AUTHOR NOTE: 

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