Part 5: Best Laid Plans

--

Dean woke with distinctive heat and weight all along his right side, including the presence of an arm, long and possessive as it clung to him like a child clung to a teddy bear. At least the arm lay across Dean's stomach and not his chest where the wounds were still sore. The body next to Dean was snuggled in tight though, scrunched smaller and shorter than it actually was.

"Personal space, Sammy," Dean mumbled, groggy and blurry of vision still as he turned to the figure in bed with him and gave a half-hearted push.

The body stirred and Dean suddenly realized that he was blinking at strikingly red hair and soon locked tired gazes with bright blue eyes. "Did you just call me Sam?" Sasha asked in a sleep-roughened voice, his expression bearing a crooked smile, "Is there something you need to tell me Dean," he joked.

Yesterday rushed back to the front of Dean's mind, last night especially, and Dean realized how strangely tingly his body felt, not surprisingly either. He kind of liked it actually.

Dean also felt absolutely ridiculous for thinking Sasha was Sam, but he couldn't help grinning anyway. Much better than waking up to his brother and definitely better than waking up alone.

"First off, gross," Dean said, his voice also rough from sleep, "And second, there are two reasons why I hate sharing a bed with Sammy. He either kicks or he snuggles, neither of which I want anything to do with."

Sasha's face fell into an almost pout and he started sliding his arm across Dean's stomach to pull it away.

"From Sam," Dean explained, grabbing Sasha's hand before it could get too far, trapped warm and firm right on Dean's belly, "You kick me though and you're sleeping on the floor."

A laugh spilled from Sasha's lips to replace his look of disappointment, and he slid his arm back around Dean's stomach, holding tight. "I told you once before, Dean. I'd never kick you out of bed. I still think it was funny when Sam did though."

"I know there's a reason I put up with you," Dean said, mock thoughtful, "What is it again…?"

As if to answer that query, Sasha slithered closer and fit his face between Dean's jaw and shoulder, kissing Dean's neck softly just below his right ear.

Dean shivered. "Oh yeah…" he said as if just remembering, "That's why."

"Are you saying you only love me for the sex?"

"It certainly helps."

Sasha laughed again. "Jerk."

There was something strangely fitting about the two most important people in Dean's life both calling him that like an endearment. "That's me, baby," Dean said, enjoying the warmth of Sasha against him, especially now that he knew it wasn't just a clingy Sam, "Good to know everyone's reached a consensus on that one."

Sasha was silent for a few moments, his fingers trailing lazily up and down Dean's side. Finally, he said, "Should I take it as a good sign that you're lumping me in with your car?" His voice was humor-filled but also serious.

It took Dean a moment to understand what Sasha meant. Baby. He had only called Sasha that once before and equally unintentionally. At the time Dean had blamed it on the endorphin rush of making out in the backseat of the Impala—easily dismissible and understandable; he could have been talking about the car after all. This time Dean didn't have those same excuses.

Adjusting himself to better face Sasha, the incubus being on his stomach with his arm draped over Dean, a smile quirked on Dean's lips as he met blue eyes again.

"Well, Red, what should I call ya? Coz 'honey' and 'sweetie' just ain't happening."

Once again Sasha laughed, but when he spoke there was that edge of seriousness. "You told me once that the Impala was like home for you. Sammy is too, right?"

Dean caught Sasha's drift fairly easily; he nicknamed the things that mattered most to him. Always had. Made them feel closer. His. "And an incubus makes three," he said softly, "Funny how that doesn't seem so weird really."

Light filled Sasha's eyes immediately because that was exactly what the incubus wanted to hear and Dean was wholly sincere in saying it.

Then, not surprisingly, Sasha was pressing his lips to Dean's, a relatively chaste kiss what with both their mouths probably tasting like sour sleep right now. It carried all the right emotions though and Dean lifted a hand to trail along the arm thrown over his stomach, finally reaching Sasha's back where he clung.

Sasha shifted onto his side but he wouldn't let Dean pull their bodies too close together, still wary of Dean's wounds. So Dean just held Sasha as close as he could. When their lips parted, Dean kept his eyes closed. They had to be closed for this.

"Sasha…" Dean said like an exhaled breath, "I do, you know? It's crazy and scary and…a shit ton of other things, but…I do."

Sasha's breath was warm on Dean's face. "I know you do, Dean."

Slowly, Dean opened his eyes, and there was so much—Dean had to admit it—love there that it made Dean's whole body feel hot under the covers.

A sudden knock at the door made Dean jump though and he almost growled he was so mad to be interrupted yet again. There really was some cosmic conspiracy against him. Had to be.

Dean only managed to see the too beautiful look of bliss on Sasha's face quickly vanishing before the door started to open, whoever was on the other side not bothering to wait for a response before entering.

"You two decent?" preceded Jo's far too chipper voice for however early in the morning it was. Her head peaked around the door before she entered fully. "Guess not," she smirked, eyeing the pair in the bed, "But Mom's calling for us to be early risers. No pun intended," she added.

Dean was almost certain that if he had been wearing something more than skin underneath the concealing comfort of the covers he would already be killing Jo with his bare hands. "I swear to God, Jo," he said dangerously, sitting up but keeping a hand on the blankets to make sure they didn't fall too far down, "If you pull out that camera phone again I will chase you butt naked down the hallway."

Naturally, Jo just smirked. "Tempting as that is…I was sent to wake you up. Can't kill the messenger."

"Wanna bet," Dean grumbled.

Jo ignored him, as well as Sasha's muffled laugh. "Five minutes," she said, "Then breakfast, briefing, and hunting down your furry little friend, Dean. Up and at 'em." Jo spun on her heel then and went back out the door, presumably to wake up Sam next since Dean dimly heard new knocking after she left.

"What time is it?" Sasha asked, arching his back in a stretch as he sat up next to Dean.

Dean grabbed his watch off the smaller dresser that worked as a nightstand and groaned. "Too fucking early. I can still take my drugs though, right?"

"Sore?"

"Not too bad," Dean shrugged, "But you're not keeping me out of this hunt. I owe that thing."

Apparently, Dean must have sounded serious something fierce, because Sasha held up his hands mock defensively. "Wouldn't even try to stop you, Dean. But you better take it easy. I don't want to replace any more stitches or wrap any new places in bandages, okay? At least for a little while." There was a touch of sadness in the inevitability of those words. Eventually, someone always got hurt.

"Just call me Wolverine," Dean smirked, wanting to fall back into the bliss of this so called vacation of theirs for as long as he could, "I've been hurt and considered dead so many times, it's almost a joke. Yet here I stand, err…sit. Now I'm gonna hop in the shower and redress these things," Dean said, gesturing to his bandages, "If I go over five minutes and Ellen comes up here to kill me, tell Sammy I left you the Impala. You'll appreciate it more." Dean winked while Sasha full out laughed, long and glorious this time, and then Dean climbed out of bed and moved slowly for the bathroom.

"Dean," came Sasha's gentler voice just before Dean reached the door.

Looking back, Dean could hardly miss how Sasha's eyes raked over every inch of his naked body. It was highly possible Dean blushed then and clear down to his toes too; Sasha's eyes were just so damn penetrating.

"I don't suppose you want company?" Sasha all but purred.

Fuck, that was a hot idea. Dean bit his lip thinking about it too, but he wanted to be healed more for something like that. He had to be too careful yet with his wounds as it was. "We'd never get downstairs in five minutes that way," he said, "Rain check?"

"I'll hold you to that."

Dean didn't doubt that at all. "And hey," Dean said, suddenly remembering, "I don't suppose you wanna help me get Jo back later? You know, for all the meddling and interruptions?"

Sasha was climbing out of bed himself now, all perfect unmarred pale skin save the scar over his heart that Dean kind of thought of as his. His scar. His heart. His. It was a sobering thought. And of course there were those fully revealed tattoos. Dean decided that the clover on Sasha's ass was his favorite. Definitely.

So enthralled with looking at Sasha, Dean almost didn't realize when the incubus answered him.

"Sure. But how do you mean?" Sasha said.

Dean snapped back to himself and allowed a notably sinister smile. "You know how Sammy and I were telling you about all those pranks we pull on each other?"

--

It was a wonder to Dean why Ellen wasn't a hunter out in the field; the woman definitely knew how to organize a party. But then that's what she did—got everyone else together to figure things out while maintaining a safe haven for them to return to. Really, Dean couldn't complain about that. It was kind of eerie though how taking Ellen's lead kind of felt like hunting with Dad. Dean had to stop himself from saying, "Yes, sir!" more than once.

They had originally split into three teams that planned to systematically raid the attic, hopefully herding the creature towards the center where they could then surround and finally kill or capture the thing. But it became apparent almost immediately that Evil Gizmo wasn't at home.

Each armed with a firearm, various types of metal weapons, and one person in each group hanging on to what Dean joked looked like butterfly nets, they split up once again to cover the entire building. The women were together, then Sam and Dean, and Sasha was alone. Dean didn't exactly like the idea of anyone being by themselves but he knew it helped them cover more ground.

"You know Sasha's gonna find it first," Dean commented as he and Sam took on the job of checking the kitchen pantry, one of the more likely places for the thing to be when not up in the attic.

"What makes you say that?" Sam said.

"The person at the most disadvantage always runs into the bad guy first. That's why you're not supposed to go anywhere alone in horror movies. Quickest way to end up dead. Didn't you watch Halloween?" Dean asked incredulously.

Sam peaked his head around a corner of the shelving; it was a very large pantry. "I vaguely remember being held down and forced to watch it when we were kids, yeah."

"So you see my point," Dean stressed.

"Well Sasha has had a lot of sex," Sam smirked back at him, "That's one of the horror movie cardinal sins, right? Geez, how the hell have you managed this long?"

Very funny. Dean was about to make some snappy comment about how of course the virgin would say that since they're the one who always survives the horror movie, when there was a rustling from the corner and Sam jumped instinctively back beside Dean. They both positioned their guns—silent, waiting. Sam had the net ready in his off hand, but Dean really wanted to just kill the thing.

"There!" Sam shouted as a blur of fur, rounder but no larger than a tomcat, rushed towards their feet.

By the time Dean had a clear shot he would have been picking off his own toes more likely than hitting the creature. It scurried between Dean's legs and Sam thwapped Dean's in the shins with the net trying to catch it. Their momentum was all off and the space was too tight. Even trying to move unbalanced the brothers and suddenly Dean was falling. He landed hard on his back with barely enough time to flinch at how Sam would soon be on top of him.

That more painful impact never came though, Sam having managed to shoot his arms out and catch himself with hands braced on either side of Dean's head. That would have hurt.

"Nice reflexes," Dean gasped out; falling to the floor like that had still hurt a little. So much for thinking horror movie rules applied to real life.

"Sorry," Sam grimaced. Dean assumed he meant for the net and how that was pretty much the catalyst for their tumble.

"Forget it," Dean said, "Where'd Gizmo go?"

Sam looked up past Dean back towards the entrance. "Out. Come on," he said, getting to his feet and helping Dean back onto his feet as well, "Damn, this guy's fast."

"Told you," Dean grumbled as they raced back out into the kitchen. At least now Dean wasn't the only one who had been made to look like a fool.

"Over there!" they heard Jo yell from out in the hallway. Sam and Dean immediately picked up their pace.

"It's too fast! Shoot!" Ellen called just as Sam and Dean burst out into the main hallway. Dean saw the ball of fluff skitter across the floor right for the stairs, probably hoping to escape back up into the attic somehow.

They had all aimed their guns by the time it reached the first step, but Sasha appeared suddenly up on the landing, a net in one hand and his gun in the other. He didn't have time to even aim let alone fire and the other couldn't fire now unless they wanted to riddle the incubus with bullets.

The creature's too fast feet flew up the stairs and reached Sasha in seconds and there was nothing anyone could do but watch as it started climbing adeptly up Sasha's body.

Sasha froze, a look of sudden panic on his face, completely unsure of what to do. But the creature wasn't biting and Sasha didn't look at all in pain just startled.

"What's it doing?" Sam asked.

Dean had been wondering the same thing, but after a moment he suddenly realized that there was nothing to worry about. "It's hiding," he said as he realized it, "Not exactly enemy number one behavior." Dean had expected some kind of fight.

True enough, the creature had climbed all the way up to Sasha's neck where it curled around his shoulders, shivering in fear and cowering behind the incubus' head.

Dean couldn't help laughing and he was the first to drop his gun. The thing really did look like Gizmo from the Gremlin movies upon closer inspection, only it was entirely grey like a tabby cat—often mistaken for raccoons—and had tiny human-like hands that gripped either side of Sasha's head. It didn't look quite as vicious during the day; it just looked scared.

"Dude, I think you made a friend," Dean teased Sasha. This thing may not be anything normal but it was still just a scared little animal in the end, that was more than obvious.

Jo, Ellen, and Sam had dropped their weapons by now too, though smartly they were all still a little wary.

It was Sasha who made the next move, having remained silent. Letting the net drop from his hand, Sasha tucked his gun into his jeans and slowly began to reach up and coax the creature down from around his neck with gentle pets and soothing noises. Eventually, he got it down into his arms, though it clung to him tightly, still shaking.

"What is that thing, Sasha?" Jo asked.

Not a fucking raccoon, Dean wanted to say, but he refrained. Besides, the reason Jo had asked was because Sasha's expression had turned from startled to somewhat pleased and then finally to recognition. There seemed to be something about the incubus that the creature liked too, at least enough that it went to Sasha as a protector and not one of the others, and it didn't just simply bite and claw like it had done to Dean.

After a few moments of cradling the creature in his arms to be sure it was stilled and harmless, Sasha looked up finally and started a slow descent down the stairs towards the others. He was smiling, though he retained a certain level of amazement over the whole thing.

"It's a chimera familiar," Sasha said, holding the thing in one arm while his free hand pet gently over its furry head.

"It's a what now?" Dean asked. He knew the words 'chimera' and 'familiar' but he had never heard of those two things together.

"Aren't those things usually a lot…bigger and more dangerous?" Sam said, effectively leaning away from Sasha when the incubus got close to them.

"If the spell's done right, yeah," Sasha said, "I guess her master either didn't know what they were doing or something went really wrong. You have to be a powerful sorcerer or sorceress to pull off a familiar summoning for a chimera."

Great. Witchcraft, Dean thought. But one thing else had caught his attention. "Did you say her?" he asked Sasha. The creature looked genderless as far as Dean was concerned.

"Yeah," Sasha smiled, petting the chimera even more tenderly so that little contended purrs like a cat's were emanating from the thing, even though it still had its head buried in the crook of Sasha's arm to hide, "It's female."

"So that's why it likes you," Dean had to grin.

Sasha chuckled a little and shrugged. "I don't know how I know. I can just tell it's a girl. Must be an inc—" Sasha broke off sharply, glancing up at Jo as if suddenly remembering she was there and that she supposedly didn't know his secret.

Well, Dean was plain fed up with secrets. "An incubus thing?" Dean said loudly, to which Sasha turned wide eyes on him as if Dean had just stabbed him in the front. Dean groaned, turning to smack Jo in the arm since she was close to him. "Newsflash. Jo knows. Everybody knows. Can we be adults for a change and get over ourselves?"

Even Sam gave Dean a slightly impressed look over that; it was rare that Dean was the one calling others on being immature.

Meanwhile, Sasha was busy gaping at Jo, who was biting her lip sheepishly.

"You know? For how long? You never said anything."

"I wanted to wait for you to tell me," Jo explained, "It's not like I care. You're still…Sasha."

That seemed to be the right tactic because Sasha just smiled. He had been worried about others knowing he was an incubus for so long it must have been weird suddenly having everyone he really cared about in the know. It must be nice, a great relief, Dean thought, because Sasha's expression proved the incubus wasn't anywhere close to chewing Jo out for not telling him sooner.

Dean was actually interested in the how Jo knew part, but everyone's attention turned quickly back to the creature as Sam started speaking again.

"This thing could still be dangerous though, right?" the younger Winchester began, obviously still distrusting of the thing, "They're the most powerful kind of familiar, used back in the Dark ages as guardians against dragons, for crying out loud. I know it's tiny, but…"

"Don't worry," Sasha said, looking like he was really enjoying being able to snuggle a small fury creature since most of them didn't like him, "It looks like the spell was disrupted right after the different parts were combined, before she could be imbued with any real power or a mission. She's just a scared child really."

"But what is a chimera?" Dean asked. He hated when the others talked like everyone should know these things already.

"A chimera in science is pretty much the same as what they are supernaturally," Sam—college boy extraordinaire—answered, "A being with genetic traits from three or four different creatures all together in one. Summoning a normal familiar as a witch isn't too hard because things like cats exist everywhere. But transfiguring three or four different creatures into one for use as a familiar is tricky stuff. Doesn't the witch have to give up part of her own soul to complete the summoning?" Sam asked Sasha.

The incubus nodded. "I'm guessing that's where the spell went wrong. Probably killed the witch and left our little friend here unfinished."

"Wait," Jo said, unable to hold back a smile as she reached out and touched the shivering bundle of fur, "She has a soul? Like a person?"

"Completely autonomous from her maker," Sasha smiled, "Not like the witch is trapped inside or anything."

"Fun as this is, children," Ellen broke in, her gun just as tucked away as everyone else's despite her unreadable expression, "What I want to know is whether or not this thing is gonna be any trouble. It's been stealing food and taking things from around the Roadhouse for months now. I can't have some witch's familiar having the run of the place with hunters as boarders."

That was certainly true. If any of the normal hunter crowd caught this thing it'd be shot dead without a second thought. Sure it had taken a good bite out of Dean's leg, but it was angry and scared. Dean kind of thought of it as cruel to just kill the thing, and it wasn't as if they could set it free out in the woods.

Now that Sasha had been stroking its fur for some time, gently with those long soft fingers of his, along with Jo petting it too, the little chimera peaked its head out finally to look at the rest of them, big round eyes that Dean saw now were bluish grey and very human looking, not black as they had looked the other night.

"It's so cute," Dean said before he could stop himself. He grunted at the curious looks and raised eyebrow saying that granted him. "What? I can't like cute? Nothing unmanly 'bout that. Not such a bad little guy, are ya?" Dean said to the creature, inching his hand towards her fur-covered face, "Sorry about the other night, but you got me pretty good, huh? What say we call it even?"

Its lips and face were definitely more like an ewok, Dean decided, as she sniffed his hand and blinked up at him. A little mewling purr started again and Dean decided they must be in agreement. The chimera's fur was as soft as anything Dean had ever touched when he stroked her head.

"Aww, Ma, can't we keep it?" Dean grinned over at Ellen, "There were a lot of dead rats up in that attic and none down here. She's better than any cat."

"And as soon as Jackson Creedy or some other aged and experienced hunter catches sight of her, its goodbye and good riddance," Ellen said, though Dean would have sworn he saw something of motherly affection pass over Ellen's face while looking at the thing in Sasha's arms, "I'm just saying," she said with all the others' eyes on her, "How can we keep this…failed familiar like a pet without hunters spotting her? I doubt they'd buy that it's the Roadhouse's new mascot."

Dean wasn't oblivious to how ridiculous this all was and he doubted the others were thinking any differently. Dean certainly couldn't bring the thing along with them when they left, and if Ellen kept the chimera in the Roadhouse it would eventually be noticed by other hunters and the results after that could only be bad.

Jo managed to charm the thing out of Sasha's arms and into her own, scooping it up like cradling a baby. She smiled down at it and then turned furrowed eyebrows on her mother. "We can't just kill her. She's got a human soul. Not her fault she got left all alone."

At first Ellen didn't respond. She didn't seem to be paying attention for a moment and then suddenly her eyes narrowed. "Jo, get my rifle," she said coldly.

Dean saw how the looks on Sasha, Jo, and even Sam's faces all fell into expressions like crushed five-year-olds and he imagined he probably looked the same way.

"Realtors," Ellen continued with a snarl, "Told me the owner was close to foreclosure when she up and died without a reason. Failed to mention that that owner was a practicing witch."

Dean and the others managed to relax long enough to realize Ellen wanted the rifle for the realtor not the chimera. Then Dean processed what Ellen had actually just said. "Mysterious death surrounds the previous owner and you just let that little detail go?" he questioned. It was pretty standard stuff after all.

"Course I didn't," Ellen defended, "Looked into it right away to be sure there was no fowl play or anything supernatural about the place. Couldn't find a damn thing, not even a blip on an EMF to suggest an angry spirit. Wasn't about to pass up on as good of a deal as I got this place for though."

"Foreclosure…" Sasha said slowly, "That was probably it. She couldn't have been all that practiced as a witch then and she just panicked. Thought summoning the best familiar possible would protect her somehow."

"And all it really did was leave behind our innocent little fur ball," Dean added, "Though it did give you quite a nice setup here for a new Roadhouse, Ellen. Might see it as a…sign even." Dean threw Ellen his best charming, swaying smile.

Ellen didn't look swayed or charmed. She crossed her arms over her chest and stared at the creature now curled in Jo's arms. "I'm not one for putting down any creature that doesn't deserve it, but you better have some idea of what to do with it other than hoping for the best and leaving it to live up there in the attic."

While they all stood there for a few minutes trying to think of things, Dean reached over and took the bundle away from Jo. He would never admit it aloud but he had always been more of a cat person. He loved things he could cuddle, that feeling of soft fur on his skin. Dean figured it for a comfort thing, something he never really got so he took what he could get whenever the chance presented itself. He had long forgotten by now that this little creature had been the cause of his fall and the bandages wrapped around his ankle. It had only been defending itself after all.

Apparently, the thing was pretty sorry about that too since it sniffed at Dean's chest as if it could smell his wounds and made that purring noise again, touching its little human hands to Dean's chest gently in apology.

Truth be told, Dean didn't like little kids. They kind of freaked him out. It had been different back when Sammy was little because Dean had been pretty little then too. Now babies Dean liked, thought they were cute and all, but he still shied away from them, thinking they were too fragile for someone like him to hold. But this little creature, it was soft as a cat, human as a baby, and certainly not fragile if it had gotten the best of Dean once before. Twice if he counted that fall in the pantry.

"I'm not sure if it would work," Sasha was saying suddenly, "But I might have an idea. Ellen, will you hold off the judge's verdict at least until the three of us leave in a week or so? By then I might be able to manage something."

Ellen's lips were pursed to express her overall disapproval, but she couldn't help giving in when her three adoptive children as of late were giving her the same pathetic looks as her real life daughter. "Alright. But you're responsible for keeping her out of sight if any other hunters should come calling before then," she added, as if to say she wasn't going to be completely accommodating to the thing she had set out to hunt down and kill today.

That would just have to be good enough.

Dean looked down into the chimera's face and felt a growing attachment for the thing—actually felt it, like he had become some silly little girl cooing over a cute…something. He decided it could be equally blamed on the extra emotional morning he had had and the combination of drugs in his system.

Blue eyes were sparkling over at Dean when Dean looked up. He handed the creature back to Sasha, more than willing to give her up since Sasha just looked so needy to be liked by an animal what with dogs and cats always shunning him. Seeing how Sasha's face lit up when the chimera snuggled into him made Dean certain of one thing—he was definitely fond of cute and cuddly.

--

"How exactly am I supposed to get anything done like this?" Sam asked as they left the main hallway for the bar area. The chimera was currently curled halfway around his head.

"Be glad she likes you," Dean teased, reaching up to pet her as they walked. The chimera used Dean to climb her way over to Sasha again and her cat-like purr started all over again. "Not hard to figure out who she likes best though," Dean added with a smirk.

Sasha just smiled, holding the little creature close and stroking her back. "I think she's definitely part cat," he said, "Maybe part tanuki, those Japanese squirrel things, and…hmm." Sasha lifted the creature with both hands, holding her out in front of him.

"Part koala?" Jo offered with a snort, walking a little ways ahead of them as she grabbed a stool at the bar and Ellen stood leaning against the counter.

Of course Sasha had to chuckle a little at that too. "Maybe. There's also a little more human in her than usual since the spell went wrong. I think she might be able to understand us even."

"Oh, she totally can," Dean chimed in, taking the stool next to Jo, "Figured that one out the first night already."

"Good," said Ellen before turning suddenly to address the chimera in Sasha's arms, "Then there'll be no more stealing food or stealing of any other kind. You are not allowed on or behind this bar or on top of any tables. And I don't even want to know how to toilet train the thing," she finished with a sigh.

Dean shrugged. "Litter box?"

There was a small spattering of laughter at that but then suddenly the chimera was climbing down off of Sasha and climbing up Ellen instead. She visibly tensed but couldn't help but give in and hold the thing when it snuggled up into her arms.

"See, smart. She's apologizing," Dean nodded, "She knows who the boss is."

Ellen tried to hold back a strained smile but found she couldn't. After all, she wasn't a cold woman. Stern maybe, and disciplined, but not cold.

"And hey," Dean said, slapping the counter, "She needs a name, huh? Nothing too girly or stupid though," he said, pointing none too subtly at Sam and Jo, "I know, how about we name her after the Flash," he suggested, "She's fast enough."

While Sam and Jo blinked at him dumbly, Sasha came to stand more directly in front of Dean and laughed as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Dean, the Flash's real name is Wally West. We're not calling her Wally."

"Why not?"

"It's a boy's name."

"So?" Dean countered, "You have a girl's name."

The smile on Sasha's face immediately fell into a petulant pout. "It's not a girl's name. Sasha is Russian for Alexander. A boy's name."

Apparently, this was a sore spot. Dean couldn't resist. "Dude, why do you think Sam and I thought we were meeting up with a girl hunter when we first met you? Totally used more as a girl's name."

"Is not."

"So is."

"Is not."

"Hey," Sam broke in, since he knew firsthand how juvenile these kinds of arguments could become, "Seriously, guys, come on. And anyway," he said, shrugging, "I kinda like Wally."

It took a moment for Dean to realize what Sam had just said. Once he did realize he couldn't help beaming; it was rare that Sam actually agreed with him on anything. Sam was standing next to Sasha and Dean reached out to pat Sam's shoulder. "Guess you do come through sometimes, eh, Sammy?" Dean turned to Jo then. "Jo?"

Jo glanced at Sasha and then over at the chimera currently sitting up on her mother's shoulder. "Wally is kind of cute," she admitted.

There was barely any room for the rest of Dean's features he was grinning so wide. "You gotta give in, man. Majority rules," Dean said to Sasha.

Unable to keep from smiling as well, Sasha walked over to Ellen and the chimera immediately jumped over to his shoulder instead. She really was a nimble little thing, not just fast. "What do you say, Wally?" he asked the creature, scratching behind one of her large bat-like but still furry ears.

The noise the chimera made in response sounded more like a chirp of some kind than a purr, though Dean doubted there was any bird in her. The noise had definitely been affirmation though.

Sasha smiled at Dean, albeit a little crookedly. "Okay. Wally it is."

Once that had been settled it wasn't long before Ellen was reeling everyone back in from the excitement and explaining sternly that they had wasted enough time and that there were chores in need of being done.

Dean was declared fit enough to at least paint one of the last remaining smaller rooms, Jo would be painting a different one, while Ellen cleared out the back storage room a bit for when Sam and Sasha started hauling in leftover wood. Ellen had requested that they put up some shelving in a few of the less finished looking rooms and asked if they would also sand an old table or two.

It didn't go unnoticed that Ellen took Wally with her, presumably to keep the chimera from distracting everyone else, but Dean had his suspicions.

Since Dean's room was so small he had it finished in just over an hour and decided to check on Jo. He still hadn't quite figured out what prank would be fitting enough for the blonde huntress, but he was sure it would come to him.

"Spilling time, Joanna Beth," Dean said boldly as he entered the room she was working on. Jo was just about done with her room too, a fine amount of work between the two of them, especially since it wasn't even lunch time yet. "Now I want to know," Dean continued, despite the glare that had been thrown back at him, "How'd you find out about Sasha anyway? I've noticed how you keep conveniently leaving that detail out."

Jo's glare disappeared and this time Dean could have sworn he saw a blush.

"Come on. Can't be all that bad," Dean pressed.

With a short, slightly uncomfortable laugh, Jo returned to painting, her face conveniently hidden as she said, "Fine, I'll tell you. But keep in mind that I was young and very stupid and cannot be held accountable for my actions."

This out to be good.

"The first night Sasha ever stayed over at the Roadhouse," Jo started in, "Not too long after we'd met him actually…well, Sasha was just eighteen—"

"Which means you were sixteen," Dean supplied, not having to stretch his imagination too far to know how big of a crush Jo probably had on the hot, older redhead back then.

"Yeah," Jo admitted, still slowly painting for distraction with her back to Dean as she spoke, "Anyway…that night…I…may or may not have managed to spy on Sasha in the shower."

"What!" Dean belted out a laugh before he knew what hit him.

Suddenly, Jo spun around to face Dean, completely defensive. "I know, okay? Why do you think I never told him? And keep in mind that my nice eyeful of incubus ass came fully with a view of horns, wings, and really freaky claws to a teenager, even if I am a hunter's daughter. I was so scared I couldn't even tell Mom about it, even though I kept thinking all night that he was going to come into my room and eat me or something. It wasn't until the next day when I saw him all…well, normal and Sasha-like that I couldn't even fathom him being a monster. After he left, I did some research using what I had seen and…I figured it out."

"That actually could have been pretty dangerous and stupid, ya know," Dean had to say, "Not that I'm not ecstatic you chose not to run screaming into the night for every hunter in the vicinity to attack, but…what if Sasha had been a baddie in disguise?"

Jo sighed, the smallest smile managing to sneak back onto her face, her paintbrush hanging loosely in her hand now. "Scared as I was, to be really honest with you…that thought never even crossed my mind."

Yeah, Dean thought, Sasha had a way of doing that. Still, the devious part of Dean was running rampant right now and he just had to grin as he said, "You know I'm gonna have to tell him about this, right?"

"Dean."

"I mean, it's really just too good a story," Dean went on, slowly starting to back out of the room.

"Dean…" Jo said again, warningly.

"Betcha I get to him first," Dean said, and then he turned and sprinted, fast as he could. He had just downed his next dose of meds right before joining Jo in the other room; he could so outrun her right now.

"Dean Winchester!" Dean heard called after him. What could he say? There were just some days Dean really loved being Dean.

--

As it turned out, Dean did reach the room Sam and Sasha were building shelves in before Jo did, but he didn't say anything. He just questioned casually about lunch until Jo charged in after him. Her flustered look was absolutely priceless.

Dean also managed to get Sasha alone for a few minutes after they had all stopped and gathered for a quick lunch a little later. He couldn't help noticing and being momentarily distracted by how Sasha was shirtless again and had a glow about him from the sweat of working. Or maybe it was because the incubus was freshly fed. Either way Dean liked what he saw.

"Think of anything?" Dean asked in a whisper, hoping Sasha had come up with some ideas for pranking Jo since he kept coming up blank.

The curl of Sasha's lips was wonderfully sinister as he told Dean his idea.

"Nice," Dean grinned in approval, "But I think we can do things one step better."

The hard part was timing. Jo would already be in the bar replacing light bulbs, but Sasha would have to make up some excuse to slip away from Sam. Dean couldn't handle the technical part on his own, and there was no way they were filling Sam in. He'd just say something logical about how they were supposed to be helping Ellen and Jo out not goofing around.

Nerd, Dean thought.

Dean had already taken care of the other details before Jo secluded herself to the bar, and whatever excuse Sasha had come up with to ditch Sam, it must have worked because the incubus appeared right when he said he would, laptop in hand. Dean positioned himself close enough to one of the doors so that he could see Jo without her seeing him. She was up on a ladder switching out a bulb from one of the hanging overhead lights. Dean didn't want her falling and seriously hurting herself, so he waited until Jo's feet touched the floor again and then gave Sasha the signal.

You gotta fight!

Jo jumped a whole foot in the air as the Beastie Boys blared over the speakers from the jukebox.

For your right

To Party!

If Dean had known before that Sasha knew how to hack like this he so would have used that to his advantage earlier. Of course right now he was much more focused on trying not to burst into laughter as Jo stared wide eyed at the jukebox like it was possessed. She had taken all of two steps towards it when Dean signaled Sasha again.

She told me to

Walk this way

Walk this way

Again, Jo stopped. Anyone else might have immediately thought there was a short circuit of some kind, but this was the child of hunters, an aspiring hunter herself. Nothing had a simple explanation. Carefully, Jo began to back up towards the bar where there was a broom leaning against the counter. One of the first rules of hunting—always go for your weapon.

The heart of this plan hinged on them having guessed what Jo would do and how she would react. So far she wasn't disappointing. Jo didn't grab the broom, she reached back behind the counter and grabbed a shot gun Dean could only imagine was filled with rock salt—good for ghosts and humans when it came down to it. Dean signaled Sasha again

Janie's got a gun

Dean almost snorted this time at Jo's even wider eyed expression. He hated to repeat himself with two Aerosmith songs in a row like that, but it was worth it.

Jo's next move was just as predictable. "Mom!" she called to the ceiling. Dean didn't even need to signal Sasha for the next one.

Don't cry out loud
Just keep it inside, learn how to hide your feelings

A well-contained squeak slipped out of Sasha, but the music was loud enough that Dean was certain Jo couldn't possibly have heard him. Dean brought a finger to his grinning lips anyway and he could tell that Sasha was close to tears he was holding back so much laughter. Looking back again, Dean saw that Jo's eyes were narrowed now.

She stormed over towards the jukebox confidently.

I'm a model you know what I mean
And I do my little turn on the catwalk

Jo didn't even stop. She walked right up to the machine and smacked it with her hand.

Do that to me one more time
Once is never enough…

"Urrg!" Jo cried out, smacking the jukebox yet again—just like it had asked, Dean smirked to himself, "What the hell! Who's doing this!"

Dean grinned at Sasha as the incubus played the next song, one Dean hadn't known himself but that he had to agree was just about perfect.

You're gonna bust out on it-
Original Prankster

"Dean!"

Immediately, Dean jumped a little further away from the door in case Jo happened to head that way, but he knew he had pegged Jo right and instead she went for the main door, assuming Dean would be out there waiting to gloat. The one thing Dean and Sasha hadn't counted on though was for someone else to meet her halfway.

Dean spotted Sam just before the younger Winchester made the final turn to go into the bar area.

"Jo? What's going—"

The timing couldn't have been more perfect. Just as Sam was about to go into the bar, Jo came stomping out of it, triggering the classic placement of a bucket of water poised above the doorway. It tipped and poured its liberal amount of water all over Jo and Sam, and they were both so startled that they reached for each other only to unbalance and slip on the water that had spilled to the floor, knocking their feet out from under them to land hard on their backs, still half tangled up in each other.

No force on earth could have kept Dean's laughter at bay after that.

"Dean!" Sam yelled, spotting Dean and Sasha down the hallway easily now and using his 'I mean business' voice that almost would have struck fear in Dean's heart if he didn't know what a pussy his brother was most of the time.

Sasha was giggling so hard he had to stop and take breaths before continuing. They were practically falling over each other when they finally realized that Sam and Jo were getting up and heading towards them with murder in their eyes.

Okay, so maybe a little fear was struck in Dean's heart because he knew better than to get caught when his victims were still that freshly pissed at him.

"Dean?" Sasha said through stilling chuckles as he quickly gathered up his laptop.

Dean nodded. "This might be a good time to run." And just before Sam and Jo were upon them, they bolted down the hallway.

tbc...

A/N: Meh. Don't know if I like this chapter. I love the beginning, and Wally is just so cute, but...hmmm, it feels off to me. Thoughts? Did I try to do too much. This Arc has turned out longer than expected, you see. I'm thinking...two more parts. And again, you can be assured that this arc will end without any cliffhangers. The next Arc however, hehehe. So, yes, please review because I'm feeling iffy. Again, please check out the website and I'll try to be on top of updating it!

Someone guessed the tanuki part of our creature and I can't remember who without checking again. Do you want a prize? ;-) Yay for EVERYONE knowing the Gremlins reference last time, by the way.

Crim