"If we're going to go see Vince Vincente's publicist, we can't go looking like this", Sam said, gesturing at himself and Dean.
Dean looked down at his shirt, "I don't look like a lumberjack!"
"I didn't say you did!"
"I look like a hunter!"
"Exactly - we look like hunters, not potential rockstar clients."
Dean rolled his eyes. They were sitting in the car in a pay by the hour carpark just off Sunset Boulevard.
"Well where the hell do we buy rockstar clothes? What even are, "rockstar clothes"?" Dean smoothed down the front of his shirt and grumbled.
"Leather. I don't know. Stop grumbling. And probably somewhere around here….or, maybe somewhere like Melrose Avenue?"
"Like the TV show?" Dean frowned at his brother.
"That was Melrose Place Dean, and you liked that show way too much."
"Heather Locklear was hot."
Sam laughed as he looked at his phone, flicking through pages searching for stores, "It says Melrose has some cool vintage places."
"Second hand you mean."
"Well, yeah, but they call it vintage here."
"Freakin' L.A." Dean grumbled. "All right let's get this over with". He started the car. "Where to Bon Jovi?"
The brothers walked down Melrose Avenue peering into shop windows and side stepping an array of people. Dean nodded at a passing girl, flicking her a carless smile. She did a double take.
"That chick just checked me out", he said, smirking at Sam.
"Probably never seen a lumberjack", Sam said, not missing a beat.
"I don't…whatever."
Sam smiled to himself.
"What about that place?" Sam indicated over the street to a large store called American Vintage.
"Dude, I'm not wearing someone's old, sweaty cast offs."
"They wash them, Dean!"
"Whatever, I'm not buying some has-been's old clothes!" Dean had stopped still and was glaring at Sam. "If we're gunna do this crap, let's at least do it properly."
People were walking around them as they argued, basically taking up the entire footpath.
"What about that place?" Dean pointed at a colourful store on the corner, as a tiny woman tutted him. "It's got skulls and roses on the wall, that looks pretty rock and roll, right? I mean, you're the big Vincente expert."
"I'm not…. Let's just go check it out."
Dean smiled to himself.
Dean pushed the shop door open and stopped short.
Sam crashed into him, shoving them both inside with a stumble. "Dude!"
"Ahhh, I don't think this is the right place."
Sam looked around, "Oh ahhhhh".
"Can I help you gentlemen?" a young woman asked, as she held a pair of barely there, lacy women's panties in her hand.
"Ahhhh" Sam stammered.
"Looking for something for your girlfriends or….?" She looked them up and down.
Dean shook his head and held up his hand in a, just stop right there motion. "No, errr sorry sweetheart, we have the wrong store. We saw skulls and thought…." He trailed off.
The woman laughed. "What are you looking for?" she asked, as she watched Dean checking out a lace bodysuit, flicking open the clasps in the crotch. She raised her eyebrows. He dropped it, smirking, looking not even slightly embarrassed. Sam slapped Dean's shoulder.
"We're looking for men's clothing, maybe leather jackets, something a bit….", Sam hesitated, "…err rock and roll?" He literally shrank two inches as the question came out.
"Something…rock and roll?" The girl couldn't quite stifle a giggle. Grinning at them both she asked, "I take it you're not from around here?"
"Kansas." Dean said matter of fact. "We have to go to this shindig and need the appropriate gear. Apparently we look like lumberjacks." Dean shrugged.
"I don't know, plaid is pretty in these days….team it with a pair of skinny jeans and…"
Dean held up his hand again…."Never gunna happen."
The girl laughed. "Okay, okay Kansas. Head down the street and take a right at the next corner, there's a store just up a bit, I can't remember the name, but it's pretty old school…errr…rock and roll. I have a feeling it's more your speed."
"Old school. That sounds about right. My brother here loves Vince Vincente" Dean slapped Sam on the chest.
"Dude I…."
"Vince Vincente?" The girl chipped in, "My mum loves that guy!"
"Well now I feel old." Dean smiled at her.
"Nothing wrong with older men…."
There was a beat of silence as everyone let that settle.
Sam cleared his throat, "Right, well, thanks so much for your help. We'll go and check that place out."
"No problem, have a good time at your….shindig!" The girl laughed again.
"Thanks", Dean said as he started to follow his brother out the door.
"Oh and Kansas?" the girl called out…
Dean stopped and turned around.
"I own that bodysuit…if you ever want to…take a closer look."
Dean glanced at the body suit and back at the girl. He smiled at her, holding her gaze long enough that she had to look away, and went out the door.
Sam was standing on the footpath shaking his head.
"L.A.'s growing on me, dude." Dean said, as he walked down the street.
'Yeah, I'm sure it is." Sam half laughed, half groaned.
The store the girl recommended was perfect. Zeppelin's 'A Whole Lotta Love" filled the air. There were Hendrix posters mixing it up with Poison and Good Charlotte. Dean loved it immediately.
A kid looked up from behind the counter as the brothers walked in.
"Cool store!" Dean yelled out to him over the music.
"Yeah…..they're going for the retro vibe", the kid yelled back. He eyed Dean up and down. "Seems like it worked." he looked back down at his comic.
Dean frowned. He was going off L.A. again.
Sam went up to the counter. "We're looking for a couple of t-shirts, leather jackets, maybe some jeans, definitely some boots." He looked down at his desert boots noticing a small spot of blood on the suede.
The kid sighed and closed his comic. It was Batman.
"I love Batman", Dean said nodding towards the comic. "Got a few comics at home still, from when I was growing up." Dean smiled with pride.
"Oh yeah?" the kid replied."Must have been cool to get some of those early books, when Batman was first around."
Dean stared at him. "Dude, I was born in '79, not '39."
The kid shrugged. "Okay."
Dean sighed.
Yep. He hated L.A.
"So…" The kid eyed Dean up and down again, "What are you, like an extra large?" He turned and checked out Sam, "And dude, you're huge, what are you like triple extra large…."
"Double is fi…" Sam started
The kid didn't stop, "….I don't know we have much in your size…" he moved toward a rack of jackets. "Ahhh there might be a few on here, I don't know….anyway, here are the jackets, t-shirts over there, jeans are on the wall there…boots there…. go crazy." He walked back to the counter and started reading.
Sam and Dean looked at each other.
"Wow" Sam said.
"Millennials man." Dean replied.
"What?"
" know…the Me generation?"
"What?!"
"What?"
"Okay dad."
"Shut up."
Dean poured through the jackets. "Have you seen the prices on these?" He whispered to Sam.
"Don't worry about it…not like we're actually paying" Sam hissed back.
"That's not the point" Dean hissed in returned.
"You guys okay?" The kid yelled out.
"Awesome" Dean said.
The kid raised his eyebrows and went back to his comic.
Dean rolled his eyes.
"This one's pretty cool." Dean pulled a jacket out and showed Sam.
Sam shrugged.
"Or this one!" Dean held up a classic biker jacket with quilted shoulders. "Yeah this one…. what d'you think?"
"Whatever dude, just buy one." Sam wandered off to another rack.
Dean unwittingly pouted.
The brothers took their selections to the counter.
"Change rooms?" Sam said.
The kid got a key from under the counter and unlocked the door.
"We have to share?" Dean looked at the kid.
"Dude, it's just one huge room, everyone shares." the kid rolled his eyes.
"Great, thanks" Sam said, shoving his brother through the door before he exploded.
"We should just wear the clothes out of here" Sam said pulling his new t-shirt over his head. "We'll get the kid to cut off the tags."
Dean reached down to his discarded jeans and pulled a knife out of the pocket. "Turn around." he said, and sliced the tags off Sam's t-shirt and jeans.
"You need another white t-shirt?" Dean said, as he grabbed his new t-shirt an pulled it on.
"I don't have a clean one with me." Sam looked at his brother, "You need another black t-shirt?"
"It's a v-neck, I don't got a v-neck." He grabbed the leather jacket and slipped it on, eyeing himself in the mirror.
He turned to Sam, arms out, "Huh?" he looked at his brother expectantly.
Sam nodded, "Pretty good. You look…rock and roll."
Sam slipped on his jacket, and opened his arms out.
Dean nodded, "Pretty good."
They both took a moment to check themselves out in the mirror.
"Okay, we done?" Sam asked.
"Just one last thing." Dean said. He reached down and picked up a pair of sunglasses off floor. He put them on and looked at Sam. "Now we're done."
"You're gunna wear sunglasses inside?"
Dean gathered up his hunter clothes, "Hey, when in L.A."
Postscript
Dean looked over at his brother. Sam was gazing out the car window. Quiet.
"We'll get him dude, I promise."
Sam nodded his head, but didn't turn around.
"Sammy….look at me"
Sam looked at Dean.
"We will get him. I promise."
Sam sighed. "How. We don't know where he is. We don't know who he is. We don't know what he even wants. At least last time he had a plan…we knew his plan…now…."
"And last time we beat him. We beat him. And we'll do it again."
Sam looked down at his lap.
Dean watched his brother.
"We will Sam", Dean added quietly, "And he won't get you, not this time…never again. We'll bring him down, we'll bring him down our way, on our terms…we will win. Okay? Sammy. Okay?"
Sam nodded, "Okay Dean." he looked back out the window.
Dean chewed his lip as he drove; the sun was just starting to rise.
Dean pulled the car into the car park.
"What're you doing?" Sam looked at his brother, jerked from his revere by the sudden turn.
Dean drove into a space and switched off the engine He turned and smiled at Sam. "Come on", he said, opening the car door and getting out.
Sam looked out the windscreen at the sea. "What are we doing here, Dean?" Sam watched as Dean bent down and undid his boot laces. He got out of the car himself.
"Dean?"
Dean looked up and smiled.
Sam smiled quizzically in return.
"Deannn?"
Dean stood up and stretched, taking a lung full of the sea air, he turned and looked at his little brother and smiled again, "Sand between our toes, Sammy. Sand between our toes."