Chapter 09 — Clap Your Hands If You Believe
"Of course it's not UFOs, it's fairies," Marion tells them. She was one of the many people they had talked to since arriving in the small farm town. UFOs snatching people up had landed right in their laps.
"Fairies," Dean incredulously repeats. Marion nods. "Okay. Uh, well, thank you for your input."
"What? Flying saucers not insane enough for you," Sam replies.
"What newspaper did you say you worked for," Marion replies.
"Look, if you want to add glitter to the glue you're sniffing, that's fine. Don't dump your wackadoo shit all over us, we'd rather not step in it."
Addison shoots Marion an apologetic look, as she pushes Sam away. "Thank you for your time."
"The only thing you're missing is a couple dozen cats."
"Yeah. It's a blood sugar thing," Dean lies, yanking Sam down the street. "Our apologies."
Addison and Dean shoot Sam annoyed looks. "What?"
"'What?' You gotta ask?" Sam stares back and Dean sighs. "Right, yes. You do have to ask."
"Look, I'm sorry, but this is all a big joke, right. We're actually not taking this UFO shit seriously, are we?"
"No, man, ET is made of rubber, everybody knows that. But there are four legitimate vanishings in this town. Something's going on. Sam, by the way, it's not the lady's fault she took the brown acid."
"Yeah? So?"
"Sam, there is this thing called empathy. It helps make people think you're not a giant asshole," Addison says.
"I mean, the old Sam would have gave her some wussified, dew eyed shit," Dean continues.
"Old Sam had a soul," Sam counters. "Was a soul. Whatever."
"Right. Yes. And - but you don't. Or aren't. Whatever."
"Right."
"Right."
"You don't care."
"Well—"
"You have to care."
"About what exactly?"
"About everything, man! About being human, at least."
"Look, Dean, you guys obviously care a lot and that's great. But I can't care about what - what I can't care about, you know? What do you want me to do, fake it?"
Dean snaps his fingers. "Yes. Absolutely. Fake it. Fake it till you make it."
"What happened to you wanting me to be all honest?"
"Hey, you wanna be a real boy, Pinocchio, you gotta act the part."
"I was faking it, Dean. Ever since we got back on the road together. I was picking every word. It's exhausting."
"Okay. All right. But until we get you back on the soul train we'll be your conscience, okay," Dean says, motioning between himself and Addison, who raises an eyebrow.
"So you're saying you guys will be my Jiminy Cricket."
"Shut up. But, yeah, you fucking puppet. That's exactly what I'm saying."
"Mr. Brennan," Addison asks as the trio enters the clock store. A middle aged man was sitting at a counter, working on a clock. Cuckoo clocks and various other clocks covered the shelving around the store.
Mr. Brennan glances at them. "We're with the Mirror, we'd just like to ask you—" Sam says
"What," Mr. Brennan interrupts. "Is this about Sean? Sean's gone."
"Missing, right, yes. That's what we wanna talk to you about," Dean replies.
"Now your son was the first to disappear," Sam states.
"First to be taken," Mr. Brennan corrects.
The trio exchanges a look. "Taken," Addison repeats.
Mr. Brennan pulls off his glasses and stands up. "Get out. Out."
"Mr. Brennan, who do you believe took your son," Dean asks as they follow the man towards the door.
"You people can't help me. My boy is never coming back."
"You sound awfully sure," Sam points out.
"Excuse me?"
"Like you know something you're not talking about."
"Sam," Addison quietly warns.
"You know what they say, seventy-two hours," Mr. Brennan tells them. "After that, the odds of finding a missing person drop to nothing, right?"
"Well, every case is different," Dean argues.
"It's been weeks."
"Right." Dean reaches into his jacket and pulls out a business card. He places it on the desk. "Listen call us if anything comes to mind. Come on."
"What do you think," Sam asks as they exit the store.
"He's differently hiding something," Addison responds.
"Why don't you guys stay, watch the watchmaker. See what happens when the sun goes down," Dean says. "I'll go check out the crop circles."
"Okey dokey," Sam replies.
"But do not engage with, maim, or in any way kill Brennan," Dean tells Sam. "In fact I don't want you making any judgement calls whatsoever. Ads, you're in charge. Anything happens, call me."
"I charge ten bucks an hour per child, along with food expenses for all babysitting jobs," Addison says and receives two unamused looks in return.
"You know, Jiminy, Ads and I were on our own for a whole year," Sam says. "We did fine without you."
Dean chuckles. "Yeah, I don't wanna know your definition of fine."
Addison shoots the waitress a thankful smile as a basket of chicken fingers and fries is placed front of her. She and Sam had followed Mr. Brennan to a local bar after spending the day watching his store. "What," Dean's voice says over Sam's phone.
"Only thing this guy's up to is alcoholism," Sam answers.
"Good."
"You know, maybe I should go talk to him again. I mean, you're the ones who said he's hiding something."
"No," Addison says.
Dean shushes them. "What? You see something," Sam asks.
Addison frowns and leans forward. "Dean, everything okay?"
"Hang on a second," Dean tells them. "Holy...UFO. UFO!"
"Oh, dude, stop yelling. You're breaking up. I didn't catch that last part," Sam replies.
"Close encounter! Close encounter!"
Addison stands up and pulls on her jacket. "Close encounter," Sam repeats. "What kind? First? Second?"
"They're after me!"
"Sam, come on," Addison snaps, but Sam doesn't move. "Sam!"
"Third kind already. You better run, man. I think the fourth kind is a butt thing," Sam says.
"Empathy, Sam," Dean shouts. "Empathy!"
Addison rolls her eyes when Sam asks a passing waitress to bring by another beer. "They still after you?"
"Dean, just fight 'em off. We're on our way," Addison tells him and silence is heard. "Dean, you okay? Dean?" Sam hangs up his phone as the waitress bring by his beer. When he checks out the waitress, Addison turns and marches out of the bar.
Sam's gaze drifts over Addison as they walk back to where the Impala was parked. They had searched the cornfield, but had found no sign of Dean other than his flashlight on the ground. "Okay, so, let's go talk to the UFO fanatics and see if we can figure out a way to get Dean back," Addison says. She moves to open the door of the Impala when Sam grabs her arm. In the blink of an eye, her back is against the Impala and Sam's lips are on hers. She places a hand on his chest, intending to push him away when he sets her on the hood of the Impala. His lips trail down her neck while he expertly undoes the button on her jeans. "Sam," she gasps, when he lightly strokes her. Addison curls a fist in his shirt and takes a shuddering breath. "Stop."
He ignores her as his lips cover hers once more. She jerks back, falling back onto the hood. She wraps a hand around his wrist and Sam looks at her. "Dean's just been abducted—"
"And we can pick up the search in the morning," Sam interrupts. He curls a finger inside her and smirks when she lets out a low moan. His lips brush the sensitive spot under her ear as he picks up his pace.
"Fuck," Addison moans when she climaxes. Sam removes his hand and she takes the opportunity roll off the hood. Sam frowns when Addison moves away from him. "As much as I would like to continue, we can't."
"Why not? You want this, I want this."
"Because Dean just got abducted by fucking aliens, Sam!" Addison takes a deep breath. "I'm gonna stay here and look for clues or whatever. And you're gonna go do research." She grabs the flashlight she had dropped earlier and quickly disappears into the corn field. Sam stands there for a moment, then he shrugs and climbs into the Impala before driving off.
Addison sighs as she searches the dark corn field. She rubs her face, trying to fight off the exhaustion that was slowly setting in. She knew that she should call Sam to pick her up, but she didn't want to be around him at the moment, much less alone with him in the motel room. A bright light and gun shots causes Addison to take off running. "Dean," she shouts, running into one of the circles. Dean spins around, gun ready, and Addison quickly holds up her hands. "Dean—" She's cut off when he walks over and tightly embraces her. And Addison can't help but relish the hug.
After a moment, she pulls back and Dean looks around. "Where's Sam?"
Addison tenses. "We split up—"
"Ads, you're supposed to keep an eye on him. He doesn't—"
"I'm sorry that I didn't want to be around your soulless asshole of a brother after he shoved his hand down my pants and wouldn't listen when I said to stop."
Dean frowns and blinks. "Wait, Sam did what?"
Addison shakes her head and pushes past him to starts towards the road. "It doesn't matter. Let's just get the hell out of here."
Dean runs a hand over his face and follows her. It takes them about an hour to make it back to the motel room. When they make it back to the room they find Sam and the hippy UFO chick they had met the day before, having sex. "Dean, Addison," Sam greets.
"What the hell," Dean demands.
"Oh, that's Dean," the hippy chick asks. "Sam, they brought your brother back."
Addison glances at Dean and finds that he's slightly dumbfounded. "Okay, well, this isn't awkward at all," she mutters. She elbows Dean and he blinks.
"You should go," Sam tells the hippy chick, after getting a glare from Dean. Addison sits down at the table and Dean stays by the door as Sam and the hippy chick get dressed.
"It's all right, Sam. I so totally understand. You need time as a family," the hippy chick says. She stops at the door and turns back. "But it's just - what were they like?"
Dean glares. "They were grabby, incandescent douchebags. Good night."
"Too soon."
Dean slams the door shut as the hippy chick leaves. He stares at the door. "You're upset," Sam states.
Dean turns around. "I was abducted and you were fucking patchouli."
"I didn't think she smelled that bad."
"I was abducted by aliens!"
"I was looking into it."
"Looking into it. I was gone for like an hour."
"An hour?"
"And most of that was walking back to town with Ads!"
Addison walks over to Dean. "You were gone all night. They must've screwed with your watch."
"What are you talking about? No, I haven't." Dean looks up to find two cell phone screens in front of him, both with the exact time. "Four a.m.?"
"Uh huh."
"UFO time slip," Sam says. "That actually falls in line with a lot of abduction stories."
"'Falls in line,'" Dean murmurs. He starts to sit down on the nearest bed, but stops remembering that had been the one Sam had been using. "Nothing's 'falling in line.'" He sits down on the unmade bed as Sam hands him a glass of whiskey, which he drowns in one gulp.
"Yeah. Now. Come on. Talk to us. What happened?"
Addison and Sam sit on either side of Dean. "Well, uh, there was this, uh - God help me, there was this bright white light."
Sam pats Dean's knee. "It's okay. Safe room."
"And - and suddenly I was, uh, I - I was in a different place and there were these beings and they were too bright to look at. But I could feel them pulling me towards this sort of table."
"Probing table."
"God, don't say that out loud!"
"Right. Uh, so, what did you do?"
"I went crazy. I started hacking and slashing and firing. They actually seemed surprised. I - I don't think anybody's ever done that before. I had a close encounter, guys, and I won."
"You should take a shower."
"I should take a shower." Dean stands up. "I - I'm gonna take a shower now." Addison falls backwards onto the bed as Dean walks into the bathroom. Sam sits down on the bed next to Addison and places a hand on her thigh. She lets out a huff and pushes his hand off.
"So on top of all the demons and the angels and ghosts and the skinwalkers, it turns out that there's - so if aliens are actually real, what's next, huh? Hobbits? Seriously," Dean says. They were sitting the bar, finishing up breakfast. Dean frowns, noticing Sam wasn't listening. He glances at Addison and sees the tired look on her face. He watches as Sam nods at the passing waitress. "You just gave her the silent 'how you doing?'"
Sam frowns. "What?"
"Our reality is collapsing around us and you're trying to pick up our waitress?"
"Yeah. Okay. Look. That brings up a question. So say you got a soul and you're on a case and your brother gets abducted by aliens."
"Yeah, you do everything you can to get him back."
"Right. You do. But what about when there are no more leads for the night? I mean, are you supposed to just sit there in the dark and suffer even when there's nothing that can be done at the moment?"
A disbelieving look appears on Dean's face. "Yes!"
"What?"
"Yes. You sit in the dark and you feel the loss."
"Absolutely. But couldn't I just do all that and have sex with the hippie chick?"
"No."
"It would be in the dark."
"No, you couldn't because you would be suffering. And you can't just turn that off for the night."
"Thanks, guys," the waitress says, placing the bill down on the table. Dean stares in disbelief when Sam grins at the waitress.
"What if I did that and had sex with Addison instead," Sam asks.
"What," Addison disbelievingly asks. She shakes her head. "No. I'm not having sex with you ever again. That door is closed to you."
Sam smirks. "So, you're not thinking about me bending you over this table and burying my—"
"Sam," Dean angrily snaps. "If you had a soul, your soul wouldn't let you.
"So you're saying having a soul equals suffering," Sam reasons.
"Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying."
"Like the million times you almost called Lisa. So you're saying suffering is a good thing."
"I'm saying it's the only game in town," Dean counters, standing up.
"Okay. So how do we deal with the little green men?"
"Research," Addison says, sliding out of the booth. "There's about a century's worth of UFO lore for us to catch up on. And we don't have time—"
"What's up with that guy," Dean interrupts.
"Who?"
"Guy by the window, giving me the stink eye."
"You mean the cop," Sam asks.
"No, not the cop. The guy. He's right - well, now he's gone."
"Dean, who's gone," Addison questions.
"Can we please just get out of here?"
"What's wrong with you," Sam asks.
"Before I hit you."
"Okay. Jeez."
Addison raises an eyebrow as she stares into the empty microwave with Sam. They had spent the afternoon at the library, doing research on aliens and UFOs. She looks at Dean. "What are we supposed to be looking at," Addison questions.
"Don't you see it," Dean replies.
"See what," Sam asks.
"See - see what? See the blood. See all - all the bleh."
"Sorry, man. I'm not seeing it."
"Ditto," Addison agrees.
"You don't see the gunk? It's right here," Dean insists.
Addison places a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Dean, let's go with you see it and we don't. What was it?"
Dean lets out a frustrated sigh and slams the microwave door shut. "It was a - a little naked lady, okay?"
"A...a little naked lady?"
"It - it was a little, glowing, hot naked lady with nipples and - and she hit me."
"I'm not supposed to laugh, right," Sam asks and Dean glares at him.
"Dean, you, um, you haven't drunk a large amount of absinthe by any chance have you," Addison questions and he turns his glare to her. "Okay, sorry. Did this little naked lady have wings?"
Dean frowns. "What the hell made you say that?"
"She did, didn't she?"
"Yeah, how - how did—"
"One of the theories that we came across—"
"It's actually what crazy crystal lady was yammering about," Sam interrupts, sitting down at the table with his laptop. "What if these abductions have nothing to do with UFOs?"
"What," Dean asks, looking between Sam and Addison. They join Sam at the table.
"Okay, say these encounters have been going on for centuries. Not with extraterrestrials, with ultra terrestrials. I mean, people nowadays say space aliens or whatever. But they used to call them-" Sam turns his laptop to face Dean.
"Smurfs?"
"Fairies," Addison corrects. She pats Dean's shoulder. "Congratulations, Dean, you just murdered Tinker Bell."
"Fairies? Come on."
"There's a straight line between ETs and fairies," Sam says. "Glowing lights. Abductions. It's the same UFO shit under a different skin."
"You guys seriously think the secret with UFOs is—"
"Hey, you're the one who pizza rolled Tinker Bell. We're just doing the math."
"This is a good thing," Addison says. "It's a lead."
"A lead where, Ads?"
"Fairies. Sprites and spriggans, bogarts and brownies, the little people have many names," Marion says, placing a plate of cookies on the table. Dean, Addison, and Sam were squeezed into a small booth in Marion's RV.
"Well, that's, uh, that's her. That's the little..." Dean says, staring at a porcelain figurine. More figurines were displayed around the RV. "Anyway, I, uh, I get that Tinker Bells are fairies. But, uh, but what about the tiny Santa Claus and the troll and—"
"Oh, that's a garden gnome and that's a large goblin and that—"
"But they're all fairies?"
"Yes, fairy comes in many shapes and sizes. Magical, mischievous beings from the realm next door."
"The fairy realm?"
Marion nods. "So it's like another dimension," Sam asks.
"Another reality, yes," Marion replies. "Only people who have been there and returned to our world can see the fairy here."
"Marion, why are the fairies abducting people," Addison questions.
"There is much theory and little fact. We know they only take first born sons. Just like Rumpelstiltskin did. Personally, I think they're taken to Avalon to service Oberon, king of the fairy."
Sam and Addison glance at Dean. "Dean, did you service Oberon, king of the fairies," Sam asks.
Dean glares at Sam. "Marion, um, let's say fairies are real, okay? What can we do about them?"
Marion frowns. "Sorry?"
"I mean, how can we-"
"Interact with them?"
"Yes, yes. Forcefully interact."
"Well, if you want to win a fairy's favor, leave a bowl of fresh cream. They love cream."
"Okay. Uh, and more forcefully?"
"Well, all fairy hate iron. And the dark fairy burn when touched with silver. What else? Oh you could spill sugar or salt in front of them. No matter how powerful, the fairy must stoop to count each grain."
"Well, all righty. That's - wow. A lot to absorb. Uh, thank you."
"Oh, stay. Finish your tea."
The trio each picks up their tea cups and takes a sip. "I gotta say, I love the feel. It's, uh, it's—"
"It's like Sedona, Arizona took a shit in here," Sam murmurs.
"Unique," Addison says, with a smile. "It's a unique collection you have. And very glittery."
Marion laughs. "Do you have bigger cups," Sam asks.
After finishing their tea, the trio leaves Marion's and walk towards the Impala parked down the street. "God. Is it on me," Dean asks, brushing invisible lent off his jacket. "I feel like I've got the crazy on me."
Addison looks him over and smirks. "You have glitter on your ass."
Dean brushes the glitter off. "Makes me wanna believe in UFOs again."
"Doesn't give us a next move, I'll grant you that," Sam says. "We can always put the call to Bobby."
"Hey." Dean motions to across the street where Mr. Brennan is putting crates full of cream into the back of his station wagon. "I'll be damned. Isn't that the watch guy?"
"Yeah," Addison replies.
"They love cream," Sam says. They climb into the Impala and follow Mr. Brennan to his watch shop. He unloads the cream and carries it into his shop.
"All right, you guys stick with half-n-half. I'm gonna go check out his store," Dean says. He starts to climb out of the Impala, but turns to Sam. "And no hippie chicks."
Sam stares in disbelief at Addison when music starts coming her phone. She scrambles to pull it out as the music continues playing. "Shut up," she snaps, putting the phone on speaker. "Hey. What's up?"
"Fucking full of Keeblers here. Just full of them," Dean tells them.
"What," Sam asks.
"It's like the story with the shoe guy and all the elves. Hey, you think Brennan made a deal with a bunch of fairies?"
"Let us get back to you," Sam tells him. He grabs Addison's phone and hangs up on Dean.
"Sam," Addison says, when he stands up. She tries grabbing his arm, which he easily dodges and walks over to where Mr. Brennan is sitting at on the other side of the bar. She quickly catches up with Sam
"So, Mr. Brennan, hello again," Sam greets and the man looks at them.
"Leave me alone," Mr. Brennan replies.
"Did I ever mention have beautiful your work is?"
Mr. Brennan frowns. "What?"
"The watches. Just stunning but what I can't figure out is how one man can put out that much product. I mean, hell, if I didn't know better I'd say you have a bunch of elves working for you." Mr. Brennan stares at them. Sam grabs his arm and Addison steps forward. "Except I do know better. And you do have a bunch of elves working for you."
"You're insane."
"So tell us, how does a father decide to trade his son for a bunch of watches? I mean, I'm assuming you have a soul, so, what's your excuse?"
"You don't understand. It wasn't like that."
"Mr. Brennan, can you tell us what happened," Addison asks.
Mr. Brennan sighs. "I supported my family for thirty years making those watches. It's the only thing I know how to do. But the Parkinson's - I was losing my hands. I was losing everything. My grandmother, she always used to say that they were real. Told me all these stories when I was a kid about how to summon them, how to get favors from them."
"So you learned how to work a spell," Sam says.
"I mean, honestly, I doubted it would even work. I was just desperate. But she'd left me this book. So I did the ceremony in my back office two months ago. And this man appeared. Said he was a leprechaun."
Sam stares. "A leprechaun."
"I asked him just to cure my hands, but he said he would do even better. He'd make me more successful than I'd ever been. He told me he'd bring a crew of workers that could save my business, save my name."
"And what did he want," Addison questions.
"He just wanted a place for them to rest. To take of the fruit and fat of the land. I - I said yes. I wasn't thinking."
"And the fruit and fat was," Sam questions.
"My first born. And not just mine. There's been others. They're not stopping. They're not going to stop."
"There has to be way a way to reverse the spell," Addison says.
"There is. But the book is - it's in a safe in my shop. They won't let me near it. It's been a nightmare."
"So you can see the fairies," Sam asks.
"Yes."
Sam turns to Addison and she sighs. "Let's go find Dean," she says. "Don't worry, Mr. Brennan, we'll cover you while you do the ritual."
When Sam, Addison, and Mr. Brennan catch up with Dean, it's only to find him being handcuffed and lead to a police car "Dean, hey. Dude, what happened," Sam shouts.
"Sam, Ads. Hey," Dean replies.
"What are we supposed to do?"
"Fight the fairies! You fight those fairies," Dean yells as he's forced into the back of the police car. "Fight the fairies!" Addison pinches her nose and shakes her head in disbelief.
After retrieving some weapons from the Impala's trunk, Sam and Addison follow Mr. Brennan into his watch store. "Are they here," Sam asks, looking around. A spilt bowl of cream was lying on the floor in front of them.
"Yeah," Mr. Brennan replies. "But it's all right. Cream hits them like tequila." Addison raises an eyebrow and moves further into the store with Sam bringing up the rear. They stand guard as Mr. Brennan opens his safe and takes out a book. He starts chanting, then suddenly he gasps. He wooden stake had been shoved into his chest.
"You," Addison disbelievingly states. "You're the leprechaun?"
"Indeed I am," Wayne, one of the UFO nuts they had talked to a couple of days ago, replies. "Sorry about the mess, but your friend here went back on his deal."
"Well, you weren't very clear with him on the terms," Sam replies.
"I told him there was a price. Once we come, we come to stay."
"You take first borns and then what," Addison asks. "You just sit back and watch while they cover up the abductions for you with UFO stories? Which you then help encourage. But your cover's blown, Wayne."
"Blown? To whom? Brennan's dead. Dean? He's marked. Been to the ranch. He's ours now."
"Yeah. Well, then there's us," Sam tells him.
"You? But you can only see me if I let you." Wayne disappears and they look around.
"True. But you'll have to get near us eventually and I have very good reflexes."
"You're not like the rest of them, are you?"
They spin around to find Wayne. "Nope."
"No, I could see that right off. You're missing a certain piece right in the center, ain't cha?"
"Says who?"
"We fairy folk are all about energy and the human soul gives off a certain...perfume. Your soul is far away but not completely out of reach."
"That so?"
"Sam. I can get it back for you, for a price."
"That's adorable. It's locked in a box with the devil."
"Your devil. Not mine."
"There's no fucking way a leprechaun can do what angels cannot."
"Angels. Oh, please." Wayne vanishes and appears on the other side of the room. "I'm talking about real magic, sonny. From my side of the fence. Got a way of getting in back door."
"So you're my blue fairy? You can make me a real boy again?"
"When you wish upon a star."
Sam looks at Addison and she stares back. He turns to Wayne. "I got a wish." He fires his shotgun and hits Wayne in the chest.
"Iron. Painful...but not a deal breaker."
Sam fires once more and Wayne vanishes. Addison digs through her jacket pockets. Wayne slams his cane into her back and she falls to the ground. Sam readies his shotgun, but Wayne hits him in the side with the cane. Addison pushes herself up and takes out a shotgun shell. "Hey," she shouts. Wayne turns to her and she pulls open the shotgun shell, pouring the salt out. Wayne glares at her as he sits down and starts counting each grain of salt.
"Why didn't I think of that," Sam asks aloud.
Addison shrugs and walks over to the Mr. Brennan's desk. She reads the spell out of the book and Wayne, along with the other fairies, vanishes in a small flash of light.
"So, here's to the tiniest DA. Thanks for dropping the charges," Dean says, holding up his beer bottle. He and Sam were sitting on the hood of the Impala. Addison laughs and clinks her bottle against his before they each take a swig.
"Little big man," Sam says.
"I was wondering something."
Sam glances at him. "Yeah?"
"You think Lucky Charms really could have returned soul to sender?"
"Come on. That's crazy to think. He did talk a good game though."
"You said no. Why?"
"It was a deal. When's a deal ever been a good thing?"
"I'm just trying to figure out how it works in there."
"Dude, I do still have all my brain cells. If anything, my brain works better now."
"I'm just making sure that's where your head's at. You know, that you're not having second thoughts about getting your soul back."
"Oh."
"You're not, are you?"
"No." Silence settles over the trio as they each become lost in their own thoughts.
