Traffic on the mainstreet was what made them lose the stark white truck with the tinted windows, as soon as it rounded the corner, exiting traffic far in front of them Dean hit the steering wheel with the bases of his hands.
"This is bull, if I say it's my dog then it's my damn dog!" he snapped, brows furrowed deeply as he gripped the steering wheel tightly.
"Did you see that? They almost strangled her!" he argued, turning to Sam for just a second, as if when he looked back at the road it would be clear.
Sam knew if he responded Dean would only go on more. He knew Dean was looking for Sam to back him up, to support his anger. But Sam knew, or hoped… everything would be fine.
"I'm sorry, but that pup's already been picked up." the woman at the front desk gave them a tightlipped, smile, a clearly weak attempt at an apologetic expression.
"What do you mean?" Dean didn't need her to explain, didn't need her to apologize, no.
"Uh…." her mouth opened, Dean's voice clearly having conveyed he was serious about getting his damn dog back.
"I mean we have a lot of really good pups here." she put on a new faux smile, too bright to ever be real. "Maybe you should take a loo-"
"No, lady, listen. I want my dog." Dean pointed a crooked and tense finger at his chest as he raised his voice.
Sam stepped in when the woman took a step back despite the counter separating them.
"Maybe you could give us the address of whoever you gave her to? I'm sure we could work this out." he smiled politely.
Dean hated it, oh god could he feel anger bubbling up inside of him when he sat with a cup of damn tea in a fancy house.
"Oh so she was yours?" The woman with the silvery and silky blonde hair looked at them innocently. Genuine, too, which only pissed the older brother off more.
"Is, ours. Is." Dean corrected with a clearly fake polite smile.
"But my boy has already bonded so much with Dutchess…." the woman frowned, nearly pouting as she looked down at the cup of tea on her lap.
"D-Dutchess?" Dean looked like he had just bitten into a lemon.
"You've had the dog for what, an hour?" Dean composed himself.
The woman bit her lip, before standing up. "Come on." She motioned for them to follow with a hand over her shoulder.
The brothers exchanged lockjaw looks, before standing up and following her. The sun at its highest point embraced them when they stepped into the large backyard to find a boy, no older than five. Dean couldn't help but roll his eyes, and breathe steam through his nose when he saw the boy sit on the back of his damn dog, tugging at her ears as he attempted to hop on top of her, or with her, Dean didn't care. She was laying there, head on her paws.
"It would break my heart to take her away from him…" The woman rested one elbow on a crossed arm, cupping her face with a hand, leaning into it.
"That dog is not a toy, ma'am." Sam said respectfully.
"Oh I know, I would've gotten a smaller one. A puppy, I mean they're only really cute when they're young, right? But… my husband wanted a guard dog." she muttered casually.
"Dana, c'mere." Dean patted a hand on his thigh, urging her to come, getting her attention from the other end of the yard.
As her head turned the child still held on to one of her ears, making an eye of hers close as if in pain, but both Sam and Dean knew she was simply being melodramatic.
"Dana? But that's a people name…." the woman muttered disapprovingly.
"Well it's a smart dog…." Sam commented. "I think… a golden retriever would be the perfect dog for your family, ma'am. You know they have this thing called soft-mouth it-"
"Oh I hate those." she waved Sam off, as if disgusted, closing her eyes for a moment as she watched her child.
Meanwhile Dean had a staredown with Dana, something was wrong. Dean knew she should've gotten up, ran up to him, left the child to fall off her back and begin to cry. But she simply looked at him. And as the child clumsily climbed off her back to fall onto his ass in the grass she stayed, turning her head as he fell as it worried.
"Can we… have a moment in private, please?" Dean heard that, when Sam asked her, and she nodded politely, heading back inside.
"Maybe we should let her stay. Nice family, mom, dad, kid's gonna get older, appreciate her a lot." Sam muttered, but sighed when Dean rolled his eyes.
"Oh please, it's not a dog, Sammy. You forget that?" he snapped, turning to look at Sam.
But Sam was watching Dana and the child in the distance. She was standing behind it now, as it pulled at the grass and made little heaps of torn grass. She was sniffing its hair, gently moving her snout up and down as she towered over the boy.
"I still think she'd be happy here. Happier than with us." Sam shrugged a single shoulder.
"No." Dean said simply and began marching towards the child.
Sam watched as he knelt down in front of the boy, a kind, and a true smile on his face as he spoke to it, with the occasional glances up at Dana.
Sam smirked slightly when Dana's tongue went up the entire side of Dean's head and he cringed, rubbing at the wet skin with a disgusted expression, and the toddler laughed audibly. When Dana licked the toddler's cheek too it mimicked Dean, squealing with amusement.
It took a few more words between the boy and Dean, until the boy held onto the fur on Dana's shoulders, pulling himself onto his feet. He held onto her collar, and she walked dutifully beside it towards Sam, Dean following the two.
"Your dog's really nice." The boy said nervously, craning his neck to look up at Sam who slowly bent his knees to look the boy in the eye, still holding on to Dana's collar.
"My dog?" Sam placed a hand on his chest, giving the boy a kind smile.
"I'm sorry my mom took your dog." the child muttered, pouting.
"It's fine. Did you have fun with her?" Sam smiled brightly.
The child nodded quickly, smiling.
"Look." Sam reached into the pocket of his jacket, pulling out a hand-sized red ball.
"You wanna throw this for her? She'd love it if you did." he grinned holding the ball out to the boy. He immediately let go of Dana's collar, grabbing the ball out of Sam's loose hand.
He chucked it, and it hit the ground almost immediately, thankfully it bounced a few times as Dana began sprinting, catching it while it was in the air.
"Dana, bring it to the boy." Dean commanded with a soft voice.
"Daniel." the turned around to give Dean a pouty glare, which made Sam laugh.
"Dana, give the ball to Daniel." Dean muttered amused.
They didn't even need to say it as she trotted back to the boy almost immediately.
The boy held out a flat, open palm all fingers spread. She placed the ball in his palm perfectly, but it rolled off. Both brothers gasped when they saw Dana's jaw open so wide it almost unhinged as she caught the ball just before it hit the ground. The child only chortled with amusement, shoulders shaking with his laughs, relieving the Winchesters when he simply took the ball out of her mouth.
"Hey, Daniel." Sam said just as he was about to throw it again.
"Hmmm?" The child hummed questioningly as he threw the ball once more.
"You can keep the ball, but we'd like to take Dana home now. The… shelter is a really scary place, you get that, right?" Sam looked at the boy as he turned to look at him.
The child nodded sadly. "Keep the ball, I'm sure your mom will get you your own dog, and then you can play with it. And it'll grow up with you. Like Dana grew up with us." Sam looked up at Dean when he lied through his teeth.