Dean took a deep breath and folded the drawing to put it in his pocket. He'd have to do some research, and by research, he meant talking to Cass. Staring over the table he gazed at the other two drawings. The one Oliver had given to Sam was happy, with a smiling sun and a house that Dean assumed was supposed to be the one they were currently in. One stick figure was obviously Sam, the others Oliver and Linette, and Sam and Linette were drawn holding hands. The interesting thing about this picture though, was the odd pink lines around the two holding hands.
"That must be the glow that Oliver was talking about, only it appears that Sam has it too." Dean smirked as Linette lifted Oliver into her lap.
Sam rolled his eyes, fighting the smile that threatened to show. "It's crazy how kids can sense that sort of thing!"
Dean sat back in his chair, running a hand over his head. "Yeah, real crazy."
"What did Oliver draw you?" Linette looked genuinely interested, but Dean didn't want to worry anyone so he lied a little.
"He drew me driving the Impala."
"That was sweet of him!"
Dean tried not to grimace as he smiled, "real sweet. What did he draw you?"
Linette handed him the last drawing, "It's Oliver and I and the lady who lives downstairs. He calls her Grandma." Oliver put his sippy-cup onto the table and slid from Linette's lap.
"I wan' see Gramma!"
Linette laughed, "Maybe later, sweetheart." She then stood and went to the refrigerator. "I think dinner is going to have to be postponed boys, it's getting late." Sam and Dean looked at the clock on the microwave; 7:50 PM. "Shall we have lunch tomorrow instead?"
Sam stood, smiling, "Sure. Lunch sounds great! Where should we meet?"
Linette thought for a moment. "I don't work tomorrow, so I'll be here with Oliver, but I do have some errands to run… How about we meet at that diner on Eighth and Teller? Around one o'clock, say?"
Sam grinned, "Perfect! So we'll see you tomorrow then?" He took one of her tiny hands in both of his.
Linette blushed, smiling. "Yes, I'll see you tomorrow. Don't get into too much trouble within that time! I'd hate to bail you out of jail on your second day in town!" She laughed and Dean smirked. He really did like her. He just hoped that she wasn't a witch, like he half suspected; he'd seen fewer plants in a greenhouse, and all of those unmarked bottles and jars were making him even more suspicious.
Dean smiled at her before turning to look down at Oliver. He'd been watching quietly as Dan and his brother had risen from their seats, his thumb in his mouth again. Dean crouched down in front of the small boy, putting out his hand. "You know kid," he said, smirking. "For being abnormally creepy at times, you're really kind of adorable. I hope you and I can get along in the future…" Dean ran his outstretched hand through his hair when Oliver didn't move.
Suddenly, an idea came to him and he looked over his shoulder at Sam and Linette. They were still saying their sickeningly cute goodbyes, so Dean pulled out the drawing from his pocket and unfolded it. He pointed to the crooked girl and said, "Do you know who this is?"
Oliver's eyes narrowed slightly before he spoke around his thumb. "She good." Dean nodded, but before he could say anything else, Oliver dropped his hand from his mouth with a pop. He pointed to the girl and said, "Billy." Then he pointed to Dean's chest, directly over his heart. "Billy yours."
If Dean was creeped out by this kid before, he was now terrified out of his mind. There was something really off about this kid and the sooner he could talk to Sam about it in private the better, preferably in the presence of Cass. Dean stood and said thanks to the boy before telling Linette thanks and goodbye as he walked out of the door and down the stairs.
Sam kissed Linette one last time before waving goodbye to Oliver and following after his brother. He was starting to get a little worried; Dean had been acting strange ever since he'd had that lemonade. Sam mentally shrugged. Sometimes, you never really knew what was what with Dean. He sighed as he climbed into the Impala, careful not to hit his head on the door frame. "Everything OK?"
Dean looked over at his brother and took a deep breath. "Yeah… Yeah everything's just peachy." He handed the drawing to Sam and started up the car. "If you'd call a death predicted by a psychic two year old 'peachy'."
"He predicted someone's death? How do you know that?"
"Are you not looking at that drawing?! There's a girl in the corner that looks like her back's been broken in half, lying in a puddle of what appears to be her own blood. What kind of two year old draws that sort of thing? And in such detail!" Dean rubbed at his chin as he pulled into their motel parking space. He turned off the ignition and got out, closing the door gently behind him. "And not only that, he told me the girl's name is Billy, and that she's a good guy and somehow belongs to me."
Sam followed Dean into their room and tossed his jacket onto his bed. "That's strange, but kids say strange things all the time; you can't seriously believe that there's something up with him, do you?"
Dean flopped backwards onto his bed, running his hands over his face in thought. "I don't know man, but whatever this is, it's giving me the willies and I have no idea why."
"So you're not normally afraid of creepy two year olds that predict the death of a future girlfriend?" Sam was smirking, but Dean only glared at him.
"This isn't funny! This may be just one more thing that's tied into this case. Hell, for all we know, this kid could tell us what this thing is."
"You, skeptic of all psychics and prophets, thinks that a two year old that draws abnormally well can tell us what it is we're hunting?"
"We've dealt with weirder."
"True. But Oliver isn't a psychic."
"And how do you know that?"
"…"
"Exactly, we don't, so let's call Cass, just to be sure and so that he can summon that cupid thing and then we can move on." At Sam's look of incredulity, Dean put up a hand. "I just want a third opinion, one that actually has two feet in that world instead of our single toe."
Sam sighed. "Fine. But I'm starving. I'm going to the burger place down the street, do you want anything?" He stood and put his coat back on.
"Bacon cheeseburger and a coke."
"Got it."
"Thanks."
"No problem." Sam walked out, shutting the door behind him with a soft click. Dean immediately sat up and started to call Cass.
"Castiel… Cass, man, we need an angel's opinion on something." Dean waited a few seconds, looking around the room. Sighing when he didn't see the trench-coated angel, he laid back on the bed, only to be startled by a gruff voice.
"You called?" Castiel was sitting in one of the kitchen chairs, his appearance as rumpled as ever.
"Cass…" Dean was silent for a moment, staring at the newly occupied space before starting and closing his dropped jaw. "Will I ever get used to that?"
Cass' head cocked to one side. "I'm not sure what you mean."
"Uh, never mind… You, uh, know anything about the little Cupid running around these parts?"
"Another Cupid? I didn't know, but I can find it if you need to question it." Cass started to get up but Dean waved for him to sit.
"Thanks, but that can wait. What I really want to know is if you know anything about this little boy named Oliver McGuffrey."
"I can't say I do… But again, I can ask around for information. Why?"
Dean paused, contemplating whether or not he wanted to tell the angel the truth. In the end, he pulled out the drawing and handed it to Cass. "Oliver drew me this."
Cass took the paper and turned it this way and that before looking up at Dean. "What's so wrong about a child's drawing?"
Dean rolled his eyes. "Look at the bottom right corner. See anything unusual?"
"I see a dead girl."
"…"
"Oh." Cass ran a finger over the drawing of the girl. "I see why that would cause worry."
"Yeah… He also told me the girl's name, as well as who she belongs to?"
"Belongs to?" Cass handed Dean the drawing. "I thought humans couldn't belong to other humans unless they were slaves."
"Well, I don't know how this chick belongs to me, but her first name is Billie."
"Billie? Are you sure she's a female?"
"Oliver said so. The drawing even has her wearing a bow in her hair, so I'd say she was female."
"I see… Well, I'll see what I can find. Do you still want to question the Cupid?"
"Sure. Just bring him here, but make sure he knows that I just want to talk." Cass nodded and disappeared with the flutter of feathers.
