"Halfway done," Lizzy smiles to the two men next to her once the shapeshifter's lifeless body is tossed into the pit they dug. She's trying to lighten the mood that she noticed turned quite sour as soon as they began digging. It's been yet another tough run for them all, especially Sam and Dean as she's only been around more recently. They're tired. Very tired. Possibly to the point of near burnout.
"That much closer to the beer that's calling my name from the fridge then," Dean quips while popping the lighter fluid top and pouring it generously onto the Bobby look-a-like. "And to sitting my ass on the couch in front of the TV for a nice couple of hours uninterrupted."
"And to a hot shower," Sam smiles slightly with the thought as he generously dumps in the rock salt from the opposite side of the grave.
"God, that sounds so awesome right about now," Dean agrees.
Lizzy looks between the two of them troubled and saddened. For the Winchesters, a hot shower and a cold beer amounts to sheer heaven. That was the kind of thing they craved when for the rest of the world that is just another day. She hates what this life does to them and in the moment she's fed up. Something needs to be done and she sees the perfect opportunity to make her previously thought of suggestion. "Hey, ah, guys. What do you say we take a few days off?" She watches their faces for a response, but both keep their scowls in place.
"Yeah, sure, L. We should do that," Dean says with obvious sarcasm. "I'm sure the coming Apocalypse would love to wait a few days while we relax." Sam huffs a laugh under his breath, making it clear that he agrees.
"Fuck the Apocalypse," Lizzy angrily responds while pulling the matchbooks from her back pants pocket. "I'm tired of not being able to run my own fucking life, aren't you?"
"Sure," Sam says simply as he caps the salt container and steps back. "But there really isn't much we can do about it."
"Well I say fuck that too," Lizzy tells him as she lights one entire matchbook with another, letting it burn for a few seconds. "I want to have some fun for a few days. I want to remember what it's like to smile again."
"I remember you smiling quite a lot last night," Dean smirks. "That wasn't enough for you?"
"Ha-ha, you know what I mean," Lizzy rebuts while tossing the flaming matches into the pit, the corpse lighting up immediately. "I think we need to get away for a few, have some real, honest-to-God fun before we lose all sanity."
Sam sighs as both he and Dean take pause to look over at her with hesitation in their expressions. Lizzy can feel the 'no' coming so she pushes a little more.
"Guys, you're killing me here! I've been working with you a ton lately and I've been patient, I really have…"
"Please don't make me remind you that you knew what you were getting into with us," Dean cuts in.
"Still more than well aware, darling. Thanks," Lizzy spits back with an acrid tone. "But I'm the one who has to deal with both of your negativity that, I want you to know, is a bit too fucking much as of late. You two are miserable."
Neither respond to her comment, knowing just how true what she says is. The rift keeps growing between them no matter how hard Lizzy tries to stop it. She can't take having to watch them get worse every day, but she also can't help but be suspicious of Sam much like Dean is. What a disaster. They need to get back to their roots, back to a place where they still were not just brothers but friends.
"I say we take it easy tonight, pack it up tomorrow and head to Vegas for a few," Lizzy's eyes light up as she says it. She's been itching to go back so badly and sees her opportunity to make it happen.
"Yeah, I don't know about that," Sam responds with a head shake as he watches Dean take a seat on the hood of the nearest rusted out two-door.
"All I ask is that you consider it for a quick second before shutting the idea down," Lizzy pleads. "Come on! Booze! Gambling! Laying out in the sun with women all around and big-titted servers bringing us drinks!" She wags her eyebrows.
"The world ending while we selfishly have fun…" Dean adds to her list, reminding her of what is most important. Sam nods unconsciously, agreeing one-hundred percent with his brother.
"Dude, Cas would tell us if something was wrong while we're there," Lizzy tries again to rationalize. "We don't have a hunt lined up right now and if we're needed he'll swoop in at the most inconvenient and embarrassing time as per usual to let us know and we'll leave immediately. It'll only be for a couple days."
"Seriously?" Dean exasperatedly asks Lizzy before looking to Sam for some backup. Sam just shrugs and keeps his mouth shut, letting Dean deal with her. It was the perk of not dating someone so determined and sometimes pigheaded like Lizzy. "Am I the only one here who remembers what happened the last time we tried to take time off!" he questions, referring to the Laraje ordeal. "That was fucking awful! Time off isn't something we get to have."
"Dean, knock it off," Lizzy returns with frustration, stepping closer to him and farther away from the flames as they grow. "There's no way that kinda shit would happen again. Plus, didn't you two just a few months ago travel a whole day for a Judas concert? What the fuck is the difference?"
"What if we stick around Bobby's for the day tomorrow and rest?" Sam tries, seeing her distress grow and hoping to dissuade her. "Or if you're burned out, it's really ok. You can go back home for a little bit if you need to. We would understand."
"No," she quickly and sternly says, not seeing that as a viable option. "I'm fine. I just…" She scrunches up her face, knowing she has to tell them the real reason for her suggestion. "Alright, I'll level with you two. It's been almost a year. My Louie's been gone for an entire fucking year."
Sam's expression softens almost immediately. He's more than well aware of the big one year anniversary of Lou's passing in just two days. It's something he'll be aware of for the rest of his life, just like the day his mom died, his dad died, Jessica died….
"We used to stop into Las Vegas all the time. If we were even remotely in the west, you better believe we were hitting the strip before going east again. It was our favorite place. We loved to let go and have some serious, dirty, crazy fun. After several hunts in a row, it was the best way for us to get back to being ourselves and remember who we really were."
Dean stands back up, watching the sadness wash over her face. He takes a step closer to her out of instinct, always feeling compelled to be by her side whenever she's sad.
"I want to spend her one year in our favorite place, getting wasted and doing it with the most important people I have left in my life. And gambling. Oh, and then drinking some more." She unknowingly rubs at her left forearm over the fairly new tattoo commemorating her friend. It was a new habit she'd formed since finishing it a month ago. Whenever Lou came up, she found herself running her fingers over the image of her with the emotional pit that her death left.
Dean and Sam share a look. It's a newer look, one they never used before Lizzy became such a prominent part of their lives. It was a look of complete defeat. When the hell did they become so soft?
"Lizzy," Sam starts, peering at her with a loving look. "You really want to do that? Vegas for Lou's one year?"
"Definitely," Lizzy explains quickly, her true want showing through clearly. "And I know it will do you both well to have some time away from this shitty life, so two birds with one stone."
Sam looks back over to Dean, the puppy look in place. He wants to go for Lizzy and he asks his brother silently to be on the same page as him for this one, something they haven't been able to do for a very long time. Dean rolls his eyes, knowing he's already lost the battle.
"Why didn't you just tell us why you wanted to go in the first place?" Dean questions while moving to stand next to her.
"Because it's hard to," she states simply. "I miss her. So much." Lizzy's voice cracks a little at the end and Dean knows what that means. Tears. Well, shit. He hugs her tight and glances Sam's way once more.
"Alright," Dean concedes in a surrendering tone. "We can leave in the morning."
Lizzy looks up and smiles brightly. "Yeah?"
"Yeah," Dean gives her a lopsided smile.
"Lizzy, you really don't ask for too much from us… ever," Sam adds. "It's totally not the time for a trip, but we can probably swing it. Just for a couple days though! Then, back at it."
"And if we have to leave early, then we have to leave early," Dean tacks on one more stipulation. "Cas comes to get us, it's over, ok?"
"Absolutely. Thank you," she grins to Dean before turning back to Sam. "Seriously, thank you."
"No problem," Sam responds.
"Ah, you did the teary-voice thing." Dean pushes her away playfully. "No one wants to hear that."
Lizzy smiles down to the ground and picks up her shovel again. She stands and looks into the flames. Thankfully her tough, grizzled, world-worn hunters were just a couple of teddy bears deep down. She silently promises to never let the rest of the world know that little nugget of information as she lets out a small grin.