Epilogue.
"Here," came a pleased sounding voice to their right, catching them off-guard as they stared across the railings at the zebras, "Chocolate."
As a packet of brown ice cream was thrust under his nose Dean turned to Katie with a grin of delight, snatching the treat from her hands and ripping off the plastic without even pausing for breath. Sam rolled his eyes, watching as the keeper extended one in his direction too,
"You sure you don't want one Sam?" she asked, double-checking.
"Uh, no thanks," he replied with an almost bashful laugh of apology. It was interrupted by a speed attack from Dean, his hand shooting out to snatch his brother's refused dessert even with his own sticking out of his mouth. Sam stifled a sigh, sharing a look with Katie.
"You'll have to forgive him," he offered with a grin, "He doesn't meet people very often."
Dean shot him a look in return, the severity of it marred only by the onset of brain-freeze.
Watch it Sam. I can and will get you back.
Sam's gaze narrowed,
Whatever dude.
Standing beside them not privy to their silent conversation, Katie coughed hesitantly, smiling as she watched two surprised faces tip in her direction.
It had been a week since she'd woken up on the way to the hospital in the back of a vintage Chevy, the sound of it's roaring engine screaming in her ears and two strange men sitting in the front. Only they weren't strangers, not really, because she could just about remember them from…well, from when whatever had been in her body had been in her body. The two men in the front of the car had saved her, they had fought the creature that had banished her to the fringes of her own consciousness, they had…well, they'd wrecked the aquarium.
It had taken quite a bit of convincing before they'd managed to get her to stop screaming for the police, and even longer to explain the whole demon/possession/animal control situation. They'd got there in the end though, helped by the arrival of Bobby and his no-nonsense approach to the situation, as well as his surprisingly copious supplies of alcohol. God had she needed that.
They'd been pretty convincing though, so much so that by the time they'd walked her into the ER – not even abandoning her in the car park which was sweet of them – she'd been offering not only to cover their tracks back at the zoo but also complimentary passes for a day out when Dean had mentioned in an off-hand fashion how much he'd enjoyed seeing the animals. That had earned him an astonished look from Sam before he'd clarified the statement. He meant the ones that hadn't tried to rip his head off. Obviously.
Bobby had refused the free entry-pass, muttering something about a 'pair of children' and throwing his eyes skyward, probably in a silent appeal to their father or any other relative that happened to be looking down, praying for some sort of sanity. When none had been forthcoming he'd mumbled a final few parting insults and clambered into his truck trying to hide his grin of fond amusement.
Those two –
It had taken Dean over twenty years, but he was finally having a proper, normal day out at the zoo, and he was going to make the most of it.
"So," Sam began in the pause that followed, watching as his brother started to attack the second ice cream with a hunter's ferocity, turning himself and Katie nonchalantly away from the scene, "What's the official word on what happened here?"
He kept his voice low, eyes flicking round for other members of staff. Katie too shifted awkwardly,
"Break-in," she whispered back, the explanation seeming unsatisfactory given the chaos they had caused. Sam frowned,
"They think burglars broke into the zoo, smashed up the aquarium and released the polar bears?"
Katie shrugged,
"They don't know what else to say, but it fits in with the burnt-out alarm."
"What about all the salt?"
"A prank? I don't think they really know what to make of that," Sam listened with a silent nod. He didn't blame them. Katie suddenly smiled, clearly amused, "But the police have issued a mock-up of one of their chief suspects though, they think he was probably the look-out,"
Sliding a hand into the pocket of her uniform she pulled out a sheet of paper, unfolding it and handing the image across. It was a professional police sketch of a man with a beard, frown and an old cap. Sam stifled a grin looking up as Dean wandered in – all ice-creamed out for the day – and peered over his shoulder,
"Hey," he chirped, brows knitting together in puzzlement, "That Bobby?"
Katie smiled despite herself,
"They're calling him the Wolf Man."
"Oh man, is he gonna love that!" Dean grinned back, reaching over and plucking the paper from his brother's hands. Sam blinked across at him,
"Probably not."
"No," Dean agreed with a shrug, the grin never slacking once, "But can you imagine the look on his face when we tell him?"
He had a point.
As a keeper walked past them in the distance, turning and beckoning to Katie before pointing at his watch in a clear break's overgesture, the khaki-clad blonde turned to them with a bashful smile, hands digging deep into her pockets with sudden awkwardness.
"Well, that's me. I gotta get back to work."
Sam nodded, his expression warm,
"Sure."
Don't worry about us. That one she could interpret.
"Thanks…" she began, tailing off as her gratitude failed to quite sum up what she and the park's many visitors, animals and staff members owed them, "…for everything."
"Any time," Dean replied, his smile so genuine that she instantly believed him, offering a final parting waggle of her fingers before turning and heading back to work. Sam watched her go, heaving a thoughtful sigh,
"It's nice isn't it?" he asked absently, eyes still on the disappearing figure as he continued, "When we get to save them. Usually they're so broken when we get them back that – ," he stopped suddenly as he turned into the face of a middle-aged woman, clutching a small child to her side and peering at him with worry. Quickly Sam looked around, his suspicions confirmed. Dean was not standing beside him anymore and he was, essentially talking to himself. He was a grown man standing alone in a zoo talking to himself. No wonder the woman seemed concerned.
Offering her an apologetic smile, Sam stepped away from them cursing inwardly and casting around for his brother. Dean was standing thirty feet away leaning across the railings to…Sam groaned silently, the capuchin enclosure. Great. It was as he started towards him however that his step faltered, slowing in amazement as he watched Dean look around and then slip over the railings, across the shallow ditch and towards the bars.
What was he doing?
"Dean!" the hiss came out in a combination of anger and confusion as Sam's feet caught up with his rapidly beating heart and carried him the rest of the way to the railings, hanging over them in order to get as close to his brother as he could without shouting, "Dean, what – ,"
"Sssh!"
The response caught him by surprise but he instantly shut-up, his puzzlement only magnifying as Dean dropped to his knees and pushed his arm in through the bars after something. Biting his lip to keep from shouting again Sam instead took watch-duty, peering around for any approaching figures. Luckily there were none and the nearest visitors were an elderly couple and their two young grandchildren, all four of them enraptured by the orangutans. Still, that didn't mean they were going to stay that way.
"Dean – ,"
"Got it!"
As the situation reached critical Dean suddenly sprang to his feet, face alive with pride and one arm raised above his head. Sam turned quickly towards the old couple as his brother's triumph rang out across the exhibit, exhaling as they turned unawares and headed off in the opposite direction. He sighed heavily, eyes swinging irritably towards his older sibling,
"Got what?" he snapped, his expression changing wholesale as he took in the item clutched in Dean's fingers. His wallet, admittedly with a few extra teeth marks, but most definitely still his wallet. Amazement overtook anger, "But how did you – where – ,"
Dean shrugged casually, the typically cavalier attitude he used for moments when he'd excelled himself, grinning as he tossed it through the air.
"Must have got bored of using it as a chew toy. Looks like you lucked out for once."
"Yeah," even more so, "All the cards are here."
Dean threw him a wink, vaulting back over the railings and dusting off his hands as he let out a wistful sigh,
"Just got to be patient," he sang cheerfully. He was pleased with himself; a newly completed case and a free day at the zoo. Good times, "You see Sam, where you went wrong the other night was trying to take that little banana-eating bastard on, it's an animal, sooner or later it was bound to get tired of the thing and throw it away. Your problem is you over-estimate them…"
Sam looked up, mildly amused by the impromptu speech until his eyes fell on the little capuchin from the night before, sitting on the platform behind them, something in his black little paws and, if he wasn't very much mistaken, a grin on its face.
"Uh…Dean?"
His brother wasn't listening,
"Animals are dumb Sam. Well, except for those dogs that play dead and the horses that can roll over, they're awesome, but apart from that – ,"
He tried again, firmer,
"Dean."
"What?" came the reply, clearly irritated by the lack of interest in his lecture and frowning harder as his little brother stepped in close, gripped him by the shoulders and spun him in the direction of the cage.
The blood left his face almost instantly, a hand shooting abruptly to his pocket as an icy pit of horror settled in the bottom of his stomach.
Behind him, Sam cleared his throat, keen to avoid the meltdown that was bound to follow.
"I'll go get Katie," he offered slowly, backing away. He wanted to be at least fifty feet away when Dean exploded, "Just stay calm okay? Like you said," he stifled the laughter threatening to creep past his lips, speeding up his pace a little as he headed in the direction of the keeper's area, "It'll get bored in a minute. Right?"
No answer.
Poor Dean, he really needed to take his own advice on this one.
After all, what could a capuchin monkey do with the keys for a 1967 Chevy Impala anyway?
Actually, it was probably best not to guess, not with the psychotic breakdown still pending. One thing was for certain though, Sam thought as he picked up his pace from a walk to a gentle jog of urgency.
They wouldn't be going to the zoo again.
Not for a long time.
Annnnd done!
I hope you liked it, and thank you so much for sticking with it and letting me know what you think!
Don't ask me how or why but if anyone at all is interested I've got another story ready for posting, not quite a goofy as this one – although I loved writing the quirkiness of this! Was going to start posting that one tomorrow or the day after so if you're bored please keep an eye out! I'm not sure about the title yet but basically Dean gets the flu, there's a nasty about and Sam has to try and keep the whole thing from unravelling (his turn to play hero!)
But for this one I can wholeheartedly say…
The End!
