AN: Okay, so here's the next chapter. Hopefully some lighthearted fun after that mid-season finale. Won't put any spoilers on here for those of you who haven't seen it but just…Damn! Went from being stressed to shocked to scared to worrying back to shocked. Also, pretty sure I screamed when that whole thing happened in the end and then was in shock over it. And, of course, I ended in tears. Don't think I can wait till January, but I guess according to Jensen the first five or ten minutes is supposed to be a real tear jerker on that one. Anyways, on with the story.
Dean and Gracilynn are walking towards the Dodge they stole in a car park. Dean's on the phone with Bobby, arguing.
"I don't want another hunter, Bobby. Why can't you do it?" Dean says. He and Gracilynn climb into the car. "Ugh! Fine. What's his name?"
Dean hangs up the phone and throws it in the seat next to him, only Gracilynn's sitting there so the phone hits her.
"Ow, hey!" she complains.
"Sorry," Dean mutters the apology.
"What did Uncle Bobby say?" Gracilynn asks.
"He can't come down to help. He's sent another hunter down to help us," Dean says, making a face.
"Another hunter?" Gracilynn asks, eyebrows raised.
"Yeah. Supposedly his name is Garth," Dean says, starting up the car and peeling off.
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Dean and Gracilynn walk through a restaurant, clearly looking for someone. They come upon a table with a small, brunette man, small in height and weight. He looks up at them, from where he's slurping a milkshake.
"Hey. You Dean and Gracilynn?" he asks. "Hm. I thought you'd be taller."
"How much taller do you want him to be?" Gracilynn asks. "Not everyone's the Jolly Green Giant."
"True," the man says. Dean guides Gracilynn into the seat opposite Garth and slides in next to her.
"I assume Bobby filled you in on the road?" Dean asks.
"He told me three things. One, he's tangling with a major-league nest up in Oregon territory. Numero dos, he said you'd be all, uh, surly and premenstrual working with me. But, hey, man, sticks and stones," Garth says, then looks at Gracilynn. "And three, he said you'd be really sarcastic and snarky the whole time."
Dean puts down a newspaper on the table between him and Garth.
"Think I found a case," Dean says. Gracilynn clears her throat and Dean rolls his eyes. "Okay, she found a case. Check the headline."
"First things first," Garth says. He grabs the newspaper and flips through it. He finds what he's looking for and reads something, letting out a laugh. "Oh, Marmaduke, you're crazy!"
"Dude," Gracilynn whispers to her dad. "Is Bobby seriously having us work with this guy? We'd be better off with just the two of us."
"We need an extra hand on this Gracie," Dean whispers back. "We've got two cases we're working here."
"Fine, but if he starts singing Kumbaya I'm throwing his ass out the car," Gracilynn grumbles, crossing her arms and leaning back in the booth.
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Dean, Gracilynn, and Garth are all sitting on a couch in front of a desk. At the desk there is a receptionist and an angry brunette lady named Marsha.
"Are you trying to humiliate me? It's Marsha with an 's-h-a', not a 'c-i-a'," Marsha scolds angrily, walking away from the secretary. Sam and Becky walk out into the waiting area and Dean and Gracilynn make a face. Becky is taking notes in a notepad.
"Thanks again," Sam says to the secretary.
"Hey, is that your…" Garth begins, but Dean cuts him off.
"Yes."
"Awkward," Garth says. Dean and Gracilynn walk over to Sam and Becky, Garth gets up but hangs back slightly.
"Hi," Dean says. Becky sends Dean a glare and begins to walk away. Gracilynn shoots her a glare, which Becky notices. Gracilynn takes a step towards her as Becky walks out the door and Dean nonchalantly grabs her arm and pulls her back, still looking at Sam. "Okay. So…"
"So, uh, no point in going in. Guy's clean," Sam says to Dean.
"You sure?" Dean asks.
"Yeah. Positive. Becky grilled him like a pro. She's a real natural," Sam says. Gracilynn snorts.
"Huh," Dean says.
"What's with the scrawny guy?" Sam asks, nodding towards Garth.
"Temp," Dean answers. Sam nods and walks past them and out the door.
"You're not gonna take their word for that are you?" Gracilynn asks.
"No way," Dean replies, leading Gracilynn and Garth into the CEO's office.
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"Throw a rock, hit a reporter these days, eh?" the CEO says after Dean introduces them and the three hunters take a seat.
"Well, your story's a big deal over at the, uh, the Actuarial Insider," Dean replies.
"Go ahead. Shoot," the CEO says.
"All right. Uh... how'd you get the gig?" Dean asks.
"Board came to me. Asked. Said yes," the CEO answers.
"Just out of the blue?" Gracilynn asks.
"Pretty much," the CEO replies.
"Huh. And, uh, any idea how the board landed on you over your supervisors?" Dean asks.
"Um, they didn't say," answers the CEO.
"Could you tell us what specifically excited the board about your actual qualifications?" Dean asks.
"Say what's with the third degree?" the CEO asks.
"Oh, uh, no offense. We were just wondering if you got here by nefarious means," Garth tries to clear up.
"Whoa! Garth!" Dean and Gracilynn say.
"Oh. Uh, I-I didn't mean, of course, uh, corporate backstabbing… I'm sorry. I meant more like, uh, you know, black magic or hoodoo," Garth explains. Gracilynn lets out a nervous laugh.
"Ha ha ha ha! Oh! He jokes. He's a…he's a jokester. Let's, uh, rewind. Why don't, uh, why don't you tell us what it felt like when your big dream came true?" Dean says, trying to do damage control.
"Look, on the record, it's great," the CEO says.
"Off the record?" Dean asks.
"It's not my big dream," the CEO replies.
"Wait. You didn't want this job?" Garth asks.
"Hell, no. I'm a sales guy. I was good in sales," the CEO answers. Marsha appears in the doorway.
"Your secretary's an idiot. I'll be at the printers this afternoon," she says to her husband.
"All right, dear. See you at dinner," the CEO says, dismissing the 'idiot' comment.
"Just have the idiot make a reservation. Here's a tip…remind her she works for the CEO. One more screw-up, she's fired," Marsha says. She turns and leaves the room, the three hunters looking after her. Garth speaks up first.
"Your, uh, wife seems pretty stoked on the promotion, don't she?" Garth asks.
"Honestly, I've never seen her happier. I have no idea how I'm gonna tell her I have to resign. The news is just gonna," the CEO replies.
"Kill her?" Garth asks. The three hunters thank the CEO and hurriedly escape the office.
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"Mrs. Burrows? Hi," Dean says as the three hunters catch up to Marsha on the stairs. Marsha turns to face Dean.
"Can I help you?" she asks.
"Yes, we're, uh, we're doing a story on your husband's promotion. Wanted to ask you a few questions," Dean says.
"I'm sorry. I can't today. If you schedule it with his girl..." Marsha says, turning to leave. Dean puts a hand on her shoulder to try to stop her from leaving.
"Okay, you know what? I'm trying to save you from a really bad accident," Dean says.
"Are you threatening me?" Marsha asks, not backing down.
"No," Dean says, quickly taking his hand off her shoulder. "No, I-I-I'm pointing out a pattern. Why do people keep thinking I'm threatening them?"
"Because it sounded exactly like a threat, dude," Garth answers. Gracilynn quickly steps in between her dad and Marsha.
"Look, for your own good, what did you do to get him promoted?" Gracilynn asks Marsha.
"I have no idea what you're talking about. Now leave me alone. Or do I have to call security?" Marsha says. The hunters don't say anything and Marsha turns and leaves quickly.
"Dude, as much as I don't like her we have to do something," Gracilynn says.
"Come on," Dean says, taking off down the stairs. Gracilynn and Garth follow after him. They run through the halls until they get to the entrance hall, coming to a stop. Marsh is on the phone, stopped in the middle of the room. Gracilynn looks around, her eyes, falling on the light fixture above her. The light starts wobbling and Gracilynn's eyes grow big.
"Dad," she says, swatting his arm to get his attention. Dean looks up in time to see the light come undone. Without thinking, Dean bolts towards Marsha and crashes into her, knocking her out of the way as the light hits the floor where Marsha was just standing.
"You okay?" Dean asks, looking over at her.
"How did you know?" Marsha asks, shaken.
"'Cause you're not the first. Come on," Dean says, standing up and helping Marsha up as well.
"You want to tell us what's up here?" Garth asks when he and Gracilynn meet up with Dean and Marsha.
"I was having lunch with friends. This guy heard me bitching. Next thing I know, he's making me an offer," Marsha explains.
"An offer?" Dean asks.
"Craig's job for my soul. I know. Hilarious. I mean, what have I got to lose?" Marsha says.
"Well, your soul," Gracilynn says sarcastically.
"What kind of demon deal is this? Timeline's whack," Garth says.
"What are you talking about? Demon?" Marsha asks.
"Let me back up here. You made a deal with a demon in exchange for your everlasting. Except those are 10-year contracts. Why's the bill coming due so fast?" Garth says, thinking out loud.
"I don't know, but I got a bad feeling about who's next. We got to find Sam, pronto," Dean says.
"All right, all right, all right. Uh, here's the plan. I drop this lady at my cousin's. He'll stop anything trying to get her. We, uh, find Sam, hopefully fix this, everybody's home in time for 'America's Got Talent'. Now, you…you'll be living with a tri-racial paraplegic sniper until this all blows over, okay?" Garth says.
"What?" Gracilynn mouths at her dad, who just rolls his eyes.
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Dean, Gracilynn, and Garth enter Becky's apartment, guns drawn. Garth walks past the Winchesters and moves into the bedroom. Dean and Gracilynn share a look before looking around the room and putting their guns away. They walk towards the bedroom and Dean notices a framed wedding picture of Sam and Becky and shakes his head. He sees a pile a mail on the table below it and begins flipping through it.
"Anything?" he asks Garth and Gracilynn.
"Nothing," Gracilynn says from the kitchen. Garth is sitting at Becky's laptop which is opened up to her twitter page.
"Uh, she's got 11 Twitter...ers. Last post – 'Going on romantic trip with hubster!' Three exclamation points. I guess she got excited," Garth answers. Dean holds up a picture of a young Becky holding a fishing rod and fish in front of her parent's cabin. Gracilynn raises an eyebrow.
"That look romantic to you?" Dean asks them.
"Not even close," Gracilynn says.
"Oh, hell, no. But I got this thing about fish. Dead eyes, man," Garth replies, earning identical eye rolls from Dean and Gracilynn. Dean takes off the back of the frame and reads the writing on the back of the picture. It reads 'Becky's 1st fish! Loon Lake Family Cabin 1994'.
"Huh," Dean says.
"Can we go kick her ass now?" Gracilynn asks. Garth gives her a look.
"Someone's got some pent up anger," he replies. Gracilynn glares at him.
"And if you don't shut up I'll take it out on you," Gracilynn growls before turning and walking away. Garth looks over at Dean whose smirking. Dean grabs the picture and follows after his daughter.
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Dean quietly opens the cabin door and the three hunters sneak inside, their guns drawn yet again. They hear voices coming from the back of the cabin and they make their way back there.
"Becky. Becky, you're better than this," Sam's voice says. The three hunters sneak up to the door to the bedroom.
"That's sweet, but... I'm not so sure," Becky says. Gracilynn narrows her eyes and puts her gun in the back of her jeans, before walking forward. Dean reaches out to grab her, but she dodges him.
"Hey, Supercreep ninety-ninety," Gracilynn calls. Becky turns around only to have Gracilynn punch her in the face. Becky's head flings back and she falls to the floor. Becky shakes her head and looks up to see Gracilynn glaring at her.
"Okay, Garth, grab her," Dean says, stepping in and gently pushing Gracilynn towards the wall and untying Sam. Garth helps her up and leads her as far away from Gracilynn as he can without actually leaving the room. Becky's holding her nose which is bleeding.
"I can't believe you her," Garth says to Gracilynn.
"That's the least she deserves," Gracilynn growls. Sam climbs off the bed and gives her a look, putting a hand on her shoulder to calm her down.
"Becky," Sam says, turning to face Becky. "We need to stop this guy. Are you going to help?"
Becky looks at Sam for a moment before nodding her head.
"Good, then let's get going," Dean says, grabbing Gracilynn and gently pushing her past Becky and through the cabin to the door.
AN: Please review and give me your thoughts on it!