Sam was at a table, surrounded by books, scrolling through a source on his lap top when Hannah walked in. "The boys are finally asleep." She told him walking closer, "So, anything here that can help Po?"
"Po?" Sam repeated.
"Our little mermaid friend's name." Hannah explained, "They've been calling her Thesis, after sea nymph, but that's her real name according to Samson."
"Okay," Sam responded, storing that information, "So get this. According to the Men of Letters documents mermaids, while they do have gills, eventually need to come up for air, but they can go for days, even weeks without coming up. After a few altercations with human they got smart and would only surface when in isolated places, certain that no one's around, which explains why Mermaid sightings have gone down instead of up, unless you believed that Animal Planet hoax." After a beat he added, "I still can't believe there was an actual mermaids exist hashtag. Anyway, apparently when a female gives birth the offspring stays with their mother for the rest of that mother's natural life even into adulthood, sorta like orcas. Apparently, an injured adolescent was captured off the coast of Italy during the 1920s and taken one to the lab that the Italian Men of Letters had. She wasn't doing too well, so one of the men had the idea to bring his sister down and she held her, cuddled her, even stripped down so they had skin to skin contact, she recovered almost immediately, as long as they kept her stimulated, but not so much that they over stimulated her, all was well. Mostly. I mean, she never thrived, but she lived."
"Did they ever let her go?" Hannah asked, afraid of the answer, "Did she ever see her family again?"
"According to the records efforts were made to locate pack, but none could be found." Sam answered, "It was speculated that whatever had inured her, had slaughtered the pack, or caused them to flee the area. And the injury to her tail fin was so served that had the Men of Letters been inclined to release her back into the wild it's doubtful she would survive long before she was eaten or starved to death because she would be too slow to catch prey or escape predators."
"What eats a mermaid?" Hannah wondered aloud.
"Sharks apparently." Sam answered, "Larger squid. The more predatory whales, dolphins and seals. Speaking of which, apparently if they go far enough north polar bears will mistake them for seals. But mainly sharks."
"I can see what Samson meant by it not being good for them to be alone." Hannah commented, "Any luck on a location spell?"
"Yeah, ah, I found one that night work, but I'm going to need some sort of DNA sample." Sam answered, "Blood, or a piece of hair preferably with at least part of the root attached, even a scale in this case."
"That's going to an enjoyable experience to get." Hannah snarked, as she doubted Po would be very cooperative.
When Hannah went back to the House of Oddities, Po was outback in large above ground pool with clear slats in the material so that one could see below the water. She seemed in better spirits today, playing with the plastic whale Cas had gifted her, as well several small plastic fishes and balls that had been put in the water.
Hannah was just standing there, watching the Po play, when Samson walked up beside her. "She seems to love that thing." He told her, "The whale Castiel gave her, I mean. Barely stopped playing with it to eat or sleep." After a beat, he changed the subject, "Any news?"
"Sam has a spell that can track a person's nearest living relative." Hannah explained, "Which in this case, would presumably be a member of her pack. But it needs a piece of DNA to work."
"DNA?" Samson repeated.
"Some blood or hair." Hannah responded, "It's probably not going to be a pleasant experience for her, but it's the only way."
Fifteen minutes later Po was thrashing in the washtub, trying to get away from Sam and he tried to find somewhere to inject the needle.
"It's alright, my love." Katerina soothed, trying to hold Po down along with Samson, Hannah and Gordo. The young mermaid got in a punch at Katerina, sending her flying, then slapped Gordo with her tail, sending him flying across the room, as she screamed, "No!"
"Did I mention that mermaids' bones and issues are much denser and stronger than humans, as an adaption against the higher pressures in the deep ocean?" Sam asked, "Which makes them a lot stronger?"
"No," Hannah called out through gritted teeth, applying a bit more pressure, "You forgot to mention that." Then addressing Samson, she asked, "Can't you just—talk to her, explain what's happening?"
"We tried that, remember?" Samson reminded her.
"Not in her language!" Hannah pointed out.
"Too bad none of us actually speak it." Katerina lamented, rubbing her head as she got up.
As if on cue, Samson began making a series of clicks ,grunts and squeaks. As he spoke, Po calmed down, and she nodded her understaning.
"You can speak mermaid?" Sam asked in surprised.
"Yes, so can she." Samson informed him, pointing to Hannah, "We speak all the languages of the world. Including animals and monsters."
Managing to rise up, Gordo lamented, "Why didn't you tell us?"
"It didn't come up." Samson reasoned, letting go of Po.
As Gordo, Katerina and Samson began to argue, Sam found a vain and stuck the needle in. Po let out a whimper, and Katerina jumped on it, giving the mermaid her hand and letting her squeeze it to the point it almost broke. The syringe quickly filled with a reddish-brown liquid, and Sam removed it.
"Home?" Po asked pointing as the syringe.
"That's the hope anyway." Sam told her.
Two hours after that, Sam, Hannah, Samson and the boys where in the bunker, surrounding a table with serval ingredients that Sam was mixing in a bowel, including the blood. Setting the bowl on a map, he said, "Ah, you might want to get the kids back."
Hannah pulled the boys back as Sam began to read. "Inveniet quod familia quod habet fuit perdita, inveniet quod familia qoud habet fuit perdita, inveniet quod familia quod habebet fuit perdita…."
Suddenly the map caught fire, causing everyone but Sam to start to panic.
"Don't worry." Sam assured them, "It'll stop burning when it gets to where the pack is."
The map finally stopped burning at a spot off the Jersey shore. "This," Sam began picking it up, "Is there they'll be."
And so, the Winchester found themselves the lead in a caravan of trailers and cars, going down the hideaway towards the Jersey shore.
"I can't see her." Hannah said worriedly, peering out the window.
"That's because she's inside one of the trailers, in the tub, remember?" Sam reminded her, "The full pool doesn't travel well."
That was when Dean asked, "Daddy, what's a pool?"
"It's something, people will put water in that's bigger than a tub." Sam explained.
"Why?" Dean asked.
"Because if you can swim, it's fun." Sam answered, worried about the many different rabbit wholes this could send them down.
"What's swim?" Dean spoke up.
However, before Sam could try to explain it, Cas spoke up. "Daddy, why is Mommy sticking her head out the window?"
Sam glanced and saw that, yes, Hannah head was out of the widow and her upper body was heading in that direction. "What the—" He began, nearly cursing in front of the kids as he pulled her back in.
"What is going on up there?" Reason asked, watching as Hannah was pulled back in the car.
"I'm not even sure I want to know." Serena Joy admitted behind the wheel.
"Mommy, is the mermaid going to be okay?" Maudie asked in the back.
Reason turned to look at her. "Of course, baby. She's gonna be fine."
In the trailer behind them, Po was shifting back and forth in the tub in apprehension.
"Don't worry, my love." Katerina said, crouching down in front of her, "We'll be there soon."
"What if…what if…." Po began.
"What if what, lichen?" Katerina asked.
"Don't…want….me…" Po got out.
"Well, of course, they're going to want you." Katerina assured her, "I'm sure she misses you much."
"Angel?" Joy was saying in her and Sorrow's trailer, "Samson is an angel?"
"Well, if mermaids are real, why not angels?" Sorrow reasoned, "Keep your eyes on the road."
"I am." Joy assured her
Meanwhile, in the car behind, Gordo was nursing his head with an ice pack.
"Are you sure you don't need to see a doctor?" Phoebe asked, glancing over to him from where she was driving.
"If I was going to go into a coma, I would have gone into one by now." Gordo assured her.
In another trailer, Aron was lamenting the rejection of his human piranha act to his roommates, Renetta Dr. Blockhead.
"I mean, really how different can it be from expertly putting sharp metal down my throat?" Arron was saying.
"Aron, please, shut up." Dr. Blockhead pleaded.
Meanwhile, in a pale gray car all by herself, Lissie, the girl with the tail, was driving, singing along to Hunter Hayes. "I hear love songs playing on the radio, people slow dancing everywhere I go. I'm a good slow dancer but you'd never know. Cause everybody got somebody but me…."
At last they arrived at the beach, parking in a row that wasn't neat, but wasn't too chaotic. "Are you sure they're still here?" Hannah asked, as they got out of the car.
"I'll do the spell again while they're getting her ready." Sam said, getting out as well.
By the time they had Po lifted from the tub in a trap glued to a length of rope, Sam had completed the spell. "Alright," He began, walking over to where everyone was gathered, "They're still here."
"You hear, that Po?" Samson asked, "Still here."
Katerina leaned over and gave to Po a side-hug. "Goodbye ,my sweet girl."
"You be careful out there, kid." Dr. Blockhead told her, "Not everyone's as nice as us."
"Thank …you." Po got out. "Goodbye." Then picking up the whale, she handed it to Cas, making serval clicks and grunts. Cas took the whale into everyone surprise, made several clicks back.
"Cas, how do you know how to speak Mermaid?" Sam asked, slowly.
"I just do." Cas sensed, the after a beat asked, "Am I in trouble?"
"No," Hannah assured him, crouching down and hugging him, "You're just growing up." The language skills surely had to be some type of milestone, like when other toddlers learn to alternate feet or say word properly.
With that done Samson raised the tarp into the air, suspending it above the ocean then slowly lowering it down until Po could jump from it, which she did, happily.
All was silent for a moment then Aron spoke up. "How do we know it worked?"
Swimming further away from shore and deeper into the ocean, desperately searching for a sign of her pack. Then she heard something and swam towards it.
The pack, a group about a dozen male, female and child mermaids, swam in a tight group with the children in the certain surrounded by back hunters holding spears made of driftwood and sharped rocks they gathered on one of their trips to the surface. One female in particular with long string brown hair, hovered near the back of the pack a look of anguish that only revealed half of the pain she felt inside. Then she heard a sound that her perk her head up. Turning around her whole face changed at what they saw.
Po was flying towards the back in the open water. Suddenly her mother took off and met her daughter half-way, embracing her tiny pearls streaming from both their face.
On the surface, everyone was about to turn around and prepare to leave, when suddenly from what seemed like the middle of the ocean, two heads popped up. They were just closed enough to be recognized as Po and a woman who looked like her. Po waved at them.
"That's how we know." Katerina smiled.
The mermaids ducked their heads back in the water, swimming away. That was when the group saw two figures coming up the beach.
"I'm just saying, you know between-show snacks will ruin your appetite." A dark haired-girl, her body decorated with rune-like tattoos, holding some or of portable tertium was telling a man covered in jigsaw puzzle piece tattoos who was wearing nothing but a loin cloth and currently snacking on a raw fish. The man let a growl to which the young woman snapped, "Oh, lay off that, we both know you can talk." That was when they caught sight of the group on the beach. "Hey," She began awkwardly, "We crashing a party of something?"
That was when Sam noticed something. "Ah, is that a copper head in your tertium?"
"Yeah, I'm a snake charmer andTthe Perplexity here does a human Piranha act." The young woman explained, "We were part of a show that went up and down the coast. Unfortunately, some activities group got us shut down. So, now what are we gonna do? I mean, I could cover-up a bit and get a job at like a dime store or something, but what's he gonna do?" She gestured to The Perplexity.
Katerina smiled. "I have a few ideas." The waving the pair along with her hand said, "Come with me, we walk we talk."
"Well," Dr. Blockhead commented to Aron, "Looks like we're getting a human Piranha act, after all."
"Ah, shut up." Aron lamented.
When Katerina and the newcomers came back, Katerina announced, "Everyone I would like to introduce you to the newest members of our little band, Jennifer and The Perplexity . Jennifer, Perplexity this is the rest of the house of oddities."
"Hi, I'm Felicity." Lessie introduced herself, extending a hand for them to shake, "Well, most people call me Lessie.
Jennifer shook the offered hand and the Enigma took the hand and kissed it, to which Lessie laughed in a flirty tone.
As everyone introduced themselves, Katerina walked up to the Winchesters. "Thank you for your help?"
"Really?" Hannah asked, "I figured we wouldn't be your favorite people right not. We just cost you two acts."
"Thesis, or Po or whatever name was is better off in the ocean." Katerina reasoned, "And Samson agreed to stay till the end of the season, or at least until I can get some new adds done up. Plus, we got two new acts already to replace them." After a beat she added, "By the way if your little guy there," She pointed to Cas as Sam was putting him back into the car seat, "Still has wings when he grows up, tell him to give me a call. Pay's above minimum wage, just saying. "
"Plus, we can use all the acts that are actual freaks we can get." Joy said as she and her sister came over with Josh, "Twenty-first century genetic engineering will not only eradicate the Siamese twins and the dogfaced people, but you're going to be hard pressed to find, un, a slight overbite or a not-so-high cheekbone. "
"Oh, Joy, don't start." Sorrow pleaded.
"You see, I've seen the future and the future looks just like him." Joy continued in spite of her sister, pointing at Sam who looked up, wondering how the conversation had turned to him, "Imagine going through your whole life looking like that."
"So, what you're our physic now, too?" Sorrow quipped.
Several people smirked, and Katerina and Sam snickered. "Well, hopefully I'll see you in a few weeks." Hannah said, getting in to the passenger side of the car.
"You too." Sorrow agreed, waving.
And with that they drove off leaving the troupe to greet new friends and say goodbye to old.
