November 3rd, 2008 - Concrete, Washington
Dean pulled the Impala into the parking lot of Tall Totem Lodge. They had found a case involving a ghost appearing in women's showers, and Dean had been all too happy to check it out.
"Alright, let's go talk to the vic," Dean decided after they had tossed their bags into the room.
Sam stopped him from walking out. "Uh, how about you go check out the fitness center?" he suggested. "Amy and I will go."
Dean looked offended. "What?"
"Dean, you're a little too excited about this case, okay? I think it'll be better if Amy and I go talk to Candace Armstrong. You see if you can find out anything else that can help us."
"Sammy-" Dean started to protest.
"Dean, we have to be professional about this!"
"I am professional!" Dean shouted.
Sam gave his brother a look.
Finally, Dean gave in. "Fine. I'll go check out the showers while you guys talk to Candace."
Amy chuckled slightly at Dean. "So, where are we meeting Candace?" she asked Sam.
"Lucky Chin's Chinese Restaurant," Sam replied. "I told her we were writing a book about encounters like hers. We're meeting her in an hour."
Amy nodded. "Alright. Cool."
An hour later, Dean reluctantly dropped Sam and Amy off in front of the Chinese restaurant. The two of them walked in and looked around, spotting a woman sitting by herself at a booth.
"Candace Armstrong?" Sam asked, walking up to the woman.
The woman looked up. "Yes, that's me."
"I'm Sam, that's Amy," Sam introduced. Amy waved. "We spoke on the phone?"
Candace nodded. "Yes, I remember. Please, sit down."
Sam and Amy sat down on the bench across from Candace.
"I'm not surprised the spirit world chose to make contact with me," Candace admitted. "I'm something of a... natural sensitive."
Sam nodded. "I can sense that about you, Candace," he said slowly, "that whole... sensitive thing."
Candace smiled. "So, what did you say you're calling your book?"
"Oh, well, um..." Sam tried to think of a title.
"Supernatural," Amy cut in. "It's a working title, but it's the best we've got right now."
"Yeah," Sam agreed. "We've been crossing the country, gathering stories like yours. But, anyway, you were telling me about your encounter."
"Yes. Well..." Candace sighed, "once I saw the apparition, that's when I started to run."
Amy noticed Sam get distracted by a couple kissing at a booth next to them. She hit him on the arm, bringing his attention back to the reason they were there in the first place.
"And you said the ghost chased you?" Sam asked Candace.
"Not just that. It knew my name," Candace whispered. "It kept yelling, "Mrs. Armstrong! Mrs. Armstrong!" And that's when I hit the stairs and fell."
"I thought you said you were pushed," Amy recalled.
"Oh, I don't – I don't know," Candace admitted. "I mean, I think it did. Maybe."
"Did you feel like it meant to hurt you, like it was violent, or..." Sam asked, trailing off.
Candace scoffed. "It was a ghost. I'm lucky to be alive. Anyway, I was at the bottom of the stairs, and that's when it got weird." She chuckled slightly. "It helped me up."
Sam and Amy looked at each other in confusion. "Say again?" Sam asked.
"Yeah. It helped me up," Candace repeated. "And it kept saying over and over, "Please, don't tell my mom."."
"Yeah, that's weird," Sam agreed.
"Um, was there anything else you might be able to tell us about this... encounter, Mrs. Armstrong?" Amy asked.
Candace shook her head. "No, I think that's it."
Sam closed his notebook. "Okay, well, thank you for your time," he said.
Amy followed Sam out of the restaurant. "Okay, we can both agree that that was weird, right?" she asked.
"Yeah," Sam agreed. "Very weird."
Sam and Amy walked down the street towards the Fitness Center. When they arrived, Dean was sitting on the steps, reading a newspaper.
"Well, you pick up anything?" Sam asked.
"No EMF in the shower or anywhere else," Dean said. "This house is clean."
"Yeah. I'm not surprised," Sam said, scoffing slightly. "I kind of got the feeling back there that crazy pushed Mrs. Armstrong down the stairs."
Dean sighed, standing up. "I got to tell you, I'm pretty disappointed."
Sam let out a breath. "You wanted to save naked women," he said as they started walking towards the car.
"Damn right, I wanted to save some naked women."
Sam chuckled slightly. Rapid footsteps approached, and all three hunters looked up to see some bullies chasing another boy.
"Run, Forrest, run!" Dean called after them in a Southern drawl.
Sam let out an amused noise. "Sorry, Dean, but I don't think anything's going on around here."
"So, now what do we-" an argument could be heard on the pier next to them, cutting Amy off.
A ranger was talking to a man who seemed to be getting worked up. "How the hell was I supposed to get a look at it?" the man asked angrily. "It grabbed me from behind and threw me into a tree!"
"Something's going on," Dean muttered. They started walking over.
"Yeah, okay, Gus. I understand you got shook up. Anyone would be," the ranger said, trying to calm the man down. "But don't you think it – don't you think it had to be a bear?"
"I know a damn bear track when I see one!" Gus yelled. "This thing didn't leave bear tracks! Its feet were huge!"
"Now, Gus..."
"It was Bigfoot, Hal!" Gus insisted. "The Bigfoot!"
"Bigfoot?" Amy asked in a whisper. She began to pull out her badge, along with Sam and Dean.
"Gus, you're not talking sense here."
"There's a Bigfoot out there, damn it," Gus continued insisting, "and he's a son of a bitch!"
"Excuse us," Sam interrupted Gus. They flashed their badges. "FBI."
"What?" the ranger asked, studying them.
"Yes, sir. We're here about the... that," Sam said, motioning to Gus.
"About Bigfoot?"
"That's right," Sam said, trying to sound confident. "Sir, can you tell me exactly where this happened?"
"Yes, I can." Gus pointed behind him. "Just up that trail."
"Thank you." They started walking in the direction Gus had pointed.
Amy followed behind Sam and Dean as they hiked up the trail.
"What the hell's going on in this town?" Dean asked. "First, there's a ghost that's not real, and now a Bigfoot sighting?"
"Well, every hunter worth his salt knows Bigfoot's a hoax," Sam said.
"So, then what the hell is going on?" Amy asked.
"Maybe somebody's pumping LSD into the town water supply," Dean suggested.
Amy nearly collided with Sam and Dean as they stopped in their tracks. She looked down to see large footprints that led away from the trail.
Okay. What do you suppose made that?" Dean asked.
Sam didn't seem to know what to say. "That, uh ... is a big foot."
"Okay..." Dean trailed off.
They followed the tracks out of the woods, coming up on a liquor store. Muddy footprints led to a wooden door that had been torn off its hinges.
"What the hell?" Amy repeated. She followed Sam and Dean into the store.
"So, what – Bigfoot breaks into a liquor store, jonesing for some hooch?" Dean asked, studying the broken bottles on the ground. "Amaretto and Irish cream," he read. "He's a girl-drink drunk." He took a bottle of something off the shelf, stuffing it into his pocket.
"Hey. Check this out," Sam called them over to the back of the store.
Amy and Dean walked over to him. "He took the whole porno rack?" Dean asked. Sam noticed something between the shelves and pulled it out. It was a massive tuft of fur. "Well, I'll say it again. What the hell is going on in this town?"
"Crazy," Amy said decidedly. "Crazy is going on."
Amy followed Sam and Dean out of the store, grabbing a bottle of coke from the fridge on the way out. They sat down on a bench right outside, sitting in silence for a while.
"I got nothing," Dean finally said.
"Me either," Amy agreed, opening her drink.
"It's got to be a joke, right?" Sam asked. "Some big-ass mother in a gorilla suit?"
"Or it's a Bigfoot," Dean suggested. "You know, and he's some kind of an alcoholo-porno addict. Kind of like a deep-woods doucher-y." Dean looked at Amy. "What do you think?"
Amy sighed. "I'm as lost as you guys."
A little girl rode up on a bike with a basket strapped to the back. A magazine fell off the end, and Dean picked it up, looking at it curiously.
"Why does a little girl have... that?" Amy asked, looking at the porno magazine.
"A little young for busty Asian beauties," Dean said.
They walked around to the back of the liquor store, peering around the corner. The little girl was walking her bike down the trail away from the store. They made their way to the steps to see the crate from the back of the girl's bike. Porno magazines and liquor bottles were inside, along with a note that said, "sorry."
"Come on," Dean whispered.
They followed the little girl to her house. Her bike sat outside on the front lawn.
"What's this, like a "Harry and the Hendersons" deal?" Dean asked as they walked to the front door. He knocked on the door.
A moment later, the door opened, and the little girl appeared. "Hello?"
"Hello!" Sam greeted. "Um, could we ... You know what? Are your parents at home?"
"Nope," the girl declared.
"No," the hunters repeated.
"Um ..." Dean began, "have you seen a really, really furry ..."
"Is he in trouble?" the girl asked.
"What?" Amy asked in confusion. "Is who in trouble?"
"My teddy bear," the girl replied. She lowered her voice to a whisper. "I think he's sick."
Amy exchanged a glance with Sam and Dean. "Wow. Uh ... amazing," Dean began. "'Cause you know what? We ... are, uh... teddy bear doctors," he decided. They pulled out their health inspector badges, showing them to the girl.
"Really?" the girl asked excitedly. "Can you please take a look at him?"
Sam nodded. "Sure."
"Sure. Yeah," Dean agreed.
They followed the little girl into her house. She led them upstairs to a room.
"He's in my bedroom," she told them. "He's pretty grumpy." She knocked on the door. "Teddy? There are some nice doctors here to see you."
The girl opened the door, and Amy had to blink a couple of times to make sure she was seeing things correctly. A giant teddy bear was sitting on the bed inside, watching television and drinking from a bottle.
"Close the friggin' door!" the teddy bear ordered.
The little girl closed the door, turning back to the hunters. "See what I mean?" she asked.
"Uh..." Amy said, trying to think of something to say.
"All I ever wanted was a teddy which was big, real, and talked," the girl explained. "But now he's sad all the time – not "ouch" sad, but ouch-in-the-head sad – says weird stuff, and smells like the bus."
"Um, little girl..." Dean began.
"Audrey!" the girl corrected exasperated.
"Audrey," Dean repeated. "How exactly did your teddy become real?"
"I wished for it," Audrey declared.
"Where did you wish for it?" Amy asked.
"At the wishing well," Audrey explained.
Dean reopened the bedroom door.
"Look at this," the teddy bear said, gesturing to the television. "You believe this crap?"
Dean shook his head. "Not really."
"It is a terrible world." the teddy turned to Dean. "Why am I here?!" it shouted.
"For tea parties!" Audrey yelled.
"Tea parties?" the teddy repeated. "Is that all there is?" it began to cry as gunshots were heard firing on the T.V.
Dean slowly walked out of the room, his eyes wide.
"Audrey, give us a second, okay?" Sam asked. They took a few steps away to talk in private.
"Okay. Are we... should we..." Sam stumbled, trying to find something to say. "Uh, are we gonna kill this teddy bear?"
"How?" Amy asked. "It's not like we can shoot it. It's made of stuffing. I don't even think it has a heart."
"Burn it?" Dean suggested.
"Both?" Sam asked.
"Okay, and when none of those work and we have a giant flaming teddy bear to deal with, then what?" Amy asked.
"Yeah," Sam agreed. "Besides, I get the feeling that the bear isn't really the, you know, core problem here." He turned back to Audrey. "Audrey. Where are your parents?" he asked.
"My mom wished they were in Bali, so I think they're in Bali," Audrey guessed.
"Okay, well," Sam said, "I'm really sorry to break this to you, but... your bear is sick. Yeah, he's – he's got..." he looked at Dean and Amy, trying to come up with something.
"Lollipop disease," Dean said decisively.
"Lollipop disease," Sam repeated, relieved.
"It's not uncommon for a bear his size," Dean continued. "But, see, it's – it's really contagious."
Sam nodded. "Yeah, so, is there – is there someone, maybe a grown-up, that you can stay with while we treat him?"
"Mrs. Hurley lives down the street," Audrey replied.
"Perfect," Dean said.
"Good, yeah, good," Sam agreed. "Uh, we'd like you to stay there for a few days, okay?"
"Okay." Audrey started walking away.
"Oh, and, Audrey?" Dean asked. "Where is this wishing well?"
"At the Lucky Chin's restaurant," Audrey told them.
"Okay," Sam said with a nod. "Thank you."
Amy followed them out of the house. "Lucky Chin's?" she repeated. "We were just there."
"So, what?" Dean asked. "This town has a wishing well that actually works?"
"I don't know," Sam said. "Should we check it out?"
"Yeah." They got in the Impala, driving towards the restaurant.
Five minutes later, Dean pulled the Impala up in front of the restaurant. He got out and led them in.
"Think it works?" Dean asked as they approached the well.
Sam scoffed. "Got a better explanation for teddy back there?"
"Well, there's one way to find out," Dean said, pulling out a coin.
"What are you gonna wish for?" Sam asked.
"Shh!" Dean shushed as he tossed the coin in. "Not supposed to tell."
A moment later, the doors to the restaurant opened, and a sandwich delivery guy entered.
"Somebody order a footlong Italian with jalapeño?" the delivery guy called out.
Sam and Dean slowly looked at each other.
"That'd be me," Dean announced, raising his hand. The delivery guy handed Dean the sandwich before leaving.
"Out of every possible thing you could have wished for, you wish for a sandwich?" Amy asked.
Dean led them over to a table, and they sat down. Dean took a bite of his sandwich.
"I think it works, dude," Dean said in between bites. "That was pretty specific."
"The teddy bear, the sandwich..." Sam listed off.
"Mm. I'm guessing this." Dean pulled out a newspaper, showing an article that read "Local Man Wins $168M Lottery."
"Probably that, too," Amy continued, nodding towards a couple making out at the next table.
"Well, that definitely goes on the list," Dean agreed. "What are we supposed to do, huh? Stop people's wishes from coming true? I mean, it sounds like kind of a douchey thing to do."
Sam sighed. "Yeah, maybe. But come on, man. When has something like this ever come without a price tag? And usually a deadly one."
Dean shrugged. "I don't know. It's a damn good sandwich." He took another bite of the sandwich. At Sam's look, he reluctantly put it down. "All right. Fine. We'll put a hold on the wishing till we figure out what's going on."
The restaurant manager walked over to them. "Uh, excuse me," he said. "I'm sorry. We don't allow people to eat outside food here."
"Well, I am certainly not gonna eat the inside food here," Dean said, his voice raising authoritatively. He started to pull out a badge, starting to open it, before putting the apparently wrong I.D. back. He pulled out the correct I.D., showing it to the manager. "Health department. You, my friend, have a rat infestation. We're gonna have to shut this place down under emergency hazard code 56C."
"Rats?!"
"Yes, rats," Dean repeated confidently. "We need this restaurant cleared and, uh, that fountain drained."
Five minutes later, Amy stood in front of a drained well inside the empty store. Dean took a broom, sweeping the coins around with it.
"Typical fountain, plaster Buddha," he declared. "Nothing I can see."
"Yes, nothing," the manager agreed. "We keep a clean place here."
Sam turned to him. "Sir, I'm gonna have to ask you to leave during the preliminary investigation, okay? Thank you."
The manager nodded and moved back several steps.
Dean picked up a penny. "Oh, come on. Aren't you a little bit tempted?" He tossed Sam the coin.
Sam chuckled. "No." He handed the coin back. "Wouldn't be real. I wouldn't trust it."
"I don't know," Dean said with a shrug. "That bear seemed pretty real." he turned to Amy. "What about you?"
"I don't even know what I would wish for," Amy said, shaking her head.
"Come on," Dean said, nudging his brother, "if you could wish yourself back, you know before it all started... Think about it. You'd be some big yuppie lawyer with a nice car and a white picket fence."
"Not what I'd wish for," Sam admitted.
"Seriously?"
"It's too late to go back to our old lives, Dean. I'm not that guy anymore."
"So, what would you wish for?" Amy asked.
"Lilith's head on a plate," Sam declared. "Bloody."
"Okay," Dean said, looking slightly disconcerted. He spotted a large coin in the well. "What is that?" he asked, bending down.
"Some kind of old coin. I don't recognize the markings."
Dean tried to pick the coin up, but it was stuck. "Damn."
"Lift with your legs," Sam joked.
Dean tried again to lift the coin, but it wouldn't budge. "Is that little mother welded on there?" Dean asked. He stood back up. "Okay, I've got some tools in the trunk. Amy, wait here, we'll be right back."
Sam and Dean left the restaurant, coming back in with a crowbar and a hammer. The manager gave them a look that said, "what the hell?" before following them back to the well.
Dean tried using the crowbar to lift the coin.
"Damn, that's stuck on there good," Amy declared.
"Hey, hey, hey, what is this?!" the manager shouted. "You are gonna break my fountain!"
"Sir, I don't want to slap you with a forty-four slash sixteen, but I will," Sam threatened. The manager reluctantly left them alone. "All right, thanks."
"Let me see that," Dean said, gesturing to the hammer Sam was holding. "I got an idea."
Sam handed over the hammer. Dean stuck the crowbar under the coin and lifted the hammer above his head, swinging it down onto the crowbar. Instead of the coin moving, the head of the hammer broke off, flying across the room.
"Ho!" the manager yelled as the head of the hammer landed at his feet.
"Damn!" Dean said, looking at the broken hammer.
"Coin's magical," Sam said decisively.
"No shit, Sherlock," Amy said, rolling her eyes.
"Boy, I'd say," Dean said, tossing the crowbar aside. Sam pulled a piece of paper from his notebook and started tracing the coin. "I think it's hoodoo that's protecting the well. I don't think we can destroy this."
Sam handed Dean the tracing of the coin. "All right, here. You two got to look into this."
"Where are you going?" Dean asked.
"Something just occurred to me," Sam stated before walking away.
Amy and Dean watched Sam leave. Dean chuckled nervously at the manager before clearing his throat.
"Well, it looks like this place is clean," Dean declared. "I'd say it's safe to let people eat here again."
Amy followed Dean out of the restaurant.
"What about the rats?" the manager shouted after them.
Amy and Dean walked down the street towards the library. Dean led her towards the computers, handing her the tracing.
"See what you can find online," Dean instructed. "I'll see if any books will help."
Dean walked off and Amy sat down at a computer, opening up Google.
Amy began typing anything she could think of that might work into the search bar. Snake coins gave her several collectors archives about ancient coins, many of which seemed to be Babylonian. She erased the search and typed in Babylonian snake coins. The first result was a Wikipedia page about a creature named Mushkhushshu. She clicked the link, scrolling through the page. Nothing matched what she was looking for, so she clicked out.
Amy sighed, looking at the tracing again. 'Maybe it's not a snake,' she thought. She erased the word snake replacing it with dragon, erasing coins as well. Enter.
The first result was for Mushkhushshu again, but underneath that, was a Wikipedia article for a goddess named Tiamat. She clicked the link.
"Find anything?" Dean asked, approaching the computer.
"I think so," Amy said indecisively. "I did a search on snake coins. Most were Babylonian so I ran a search on Babylonian snake coins, but none were what we were looking for, so I replaced snake with dragon. I found this article before you came up. Tiamat, the Babylonian dragon goddess."
Amy typed Babylonian coin Tiamat into the search bar. "This is it," she declared, pointing at the screen. "Ancient Babylonian accursed coin."
"Hmm." Dean walked off, coming back a few moments later with some photocopies of something, his face twisted in a strange expression. "Let's go."
"You okay?" Amy asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Dean replied. "Let's just get to the motel."
Amy had to practically sprint to keep up with Dean as he hurried towards the motel. He stopped for a moment, clutching his stomach as he doubled over.
"You better run!" a boy yelled. Amy looked up to see the kid who was being chased earlier now chasing the bullies. The boy turned towards them.
"You got a problem?" the boy asked.
"What? No," Dean said, shaking his head.
The boy ran off and Dean groaned, clutching his stomach tighter.
They reached the motel room. Dean immediately ran into the bathroom. Amy heard a retching noise and screwed up her face.
"Amy?" Dean called out.
"Uh, yeah?"
"The wishes turn bad."
Five minutes later, Sam entered the room. More retching could be heard in the bathroom and he turned towards the door.
"Dean? You all right?" Sam asked.
"The wishes turn bad, Sam," Dean declared, voice strained. "The wishes turn very bad."
"The sandwich, huh?" Sam asked.
Dean flushed the toilet and walked out of the bathroom. "The coin was Babylonian. It's cursed. Amy figured it out." He turned towards the bathroom, gagging. "I'm good."
Amy turned to Sam. "It's Tiamat," she explained. "The Babylonian god of primordial chaos."
"They made the coin?" Sam asked.
"Seems that way," Amy said. "To sow the seeds of chaos."
"Whoever tosses a coin in the wishing well, makes a wish, it turns on the well," Dean continued. "Then it starts granting wishes to all comers."
"But the wishes get twisted," Sam said, nodding. "You ask for a talking teddy..."
"You get a bipolar nut job," Dean continued.
"And you get E. coli."
Dean glared at his brother. He sighed. "This thing has turned more than one town upside down over the centuries. It's even wiped a few off the map. I mean, one person gets their wish, it's trouble, but everybody gets their wish..."
"It's chaos," Sam concluded.
Dean nodded.
"Any way to stop it?"
"Yeah. One way," Dean explained. "We got to find the first wisher. Whoever dropped the coin in and made the first wish, they're the only ones who can pull it back out and reverse the wishes. So for now, we've got a couple of nutso dreams come true, but once the word gets out about the well, things are just gonna get crazier and crazier."
Sam picked up his laptop, moving to the desk. "I'll see if I can dig up anything else on this."
Amy yawned. "I think I'm gonna try and get some sleep. Night guys."
"Night, Amy."
November 4th, 2008 - Tall Totem Lodge
Sam shook Amy awake the next morning.
"What?" Amy asked sleepily.
"Hey, we think we figured out who made the first wish. Get dressed."
Amy sat up, stretching her arms. Within ten minutes they were on the road.
"So, who made the first wish?" Amy asked from the backseat.
"Guy named Wesley Mondale," Sam explained, handing Amy a newspaper. "His surprise engagement to a woman named Hope Lynn Casey was a month ago."
"Wow," Amy said sarcastically, handing the paper back, "true love."
Dean pulled up in front of a house. Amy followed them up the front steps and Dean rang the doorbell.
A moment later, a woman opened the door. "Yes?"
"Hi!" Sam greeted. "Are you Hope Casey?"
Hope nodded. Before Sam could say anything else, she gasped. "You're the florists!" she decided.
"Uh, yes," Amy said. Sam and Dean nodded in agreement. "We're here about the wedding."
Hope led them into the house. A man was inside, sitting in an armchair. "Wes! You didn't tell me that you called the florists for the wedding," Hope said with a smile.
"Huh?" Wes asked, confused.
"You're the best!" Hope kissed Wes on his forehead. "I'm gonna go get my folders."
"Uh, o- Okay," Wes said as Hope walked out of the room.
"Wesley, how's it going?" Dean asked.
"It's "Wes..." Wes began to correct, standing up. Dean took a step forward, and Wes sat back down. "...ss." Aren't you the guys from the health department?"
"Yeah," Sam nodded. "And florists on the side."
"Plus FBI," Dean continued.
"And teddy bear doctors," Amy finished.
"Huh?" Wes asked.
"It doesn't matter who we are," Dean said sternly. "What matters is what we know."
Sam nodded towards a coin display in the corner. "So, coin collector, huh, Wes?"
"Oh. Yeah. My," Wesley paused, looking distraught, "grandfather gave them to me."
"Looks like a coin is missing," Amy stated, gesturing to an empty slot.
"You didn't happen to lose it, did you, Wes?" Dean asked. "And by "lose," I mean drop into a wishing well at Lucky Chin's and make a wish on it?"
"No, I – I don't know what you're, uh, talking about," Wes denied.
Hope reentered the room, carrying several folders. "Okay, now. I have a lot of ideas, but, you know, we don't have all the money in the world," she told them. "Wes is between jobs right now. Means more time for me." Hope smiled. "You know, I'm thinking of a Japanese-y ikebana kind of thing."
Dean smiled. "Yes. I can see it."
"Yeah," Sam agreed. "So, Hope, uh, tell us how you two lovebirds met."
Hope sighed dreamily. "Oh, the best day of my life."
"I bet," Dean said.
Hope smiled. "Yeah! It's the funniest thing. We both grew up here, but I never really knew who he was. Not by name anyway. Until one day last month, it was like I just," she sighed, "I just saw him for the first time. He was just... glowing. Oh, just glowing."
"Uh, babe, can you – can you get us some coffee?" Wes asked.
"Yes. Yeah," Hope nodded.
"Okay. Okay. Okay. Mm-Hmm. Okay. Oh, okay. Oh. Mm-mmm, okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay," Wes said as he was repeatedly kissed by Hope.
"Yeah." Hope nodded as she finally left the room.
"Wes, we know," Sam said firmly. "So tell us the truth."
"My – my grandfather found the coin in north Africa, you know, World War II," Wes explained reluctantly. He took the coin display off the wall, showing it to the hunters. "And, uh, he brought it back. He, um, he said it was a real wish-granting coin, but that nobody should ever use it. Um... It was all I had, and when he died, I thought, "Well, you know what? Why not give the coin a shot?"?"
"So you decided to wish for someone to fall in love with you?" Amy asked, crossing her arms.
"Not just any someone," Wes declared. "Hope."
"Yeah, well, now you're gonna wish it back," Sam said.
"Oh." Wes chuckled slightly. "Oh. Haha, no, I'm not."
"If you don't stop it, something bad's gonna happen," Dean stated.
"But, knowing how quickly wishes have been turning," Amy continued, "I'd bet your wish already has."
"We really wish you'd come with us," Dean said, pulling out his gun.
Wes gulped. "Hope?" he called out.
Almost immediately, Hope came around the corner. "Yes, Wes?"
"I have to leave for a bit," Wes said. "But I'll be back."
"Yes, Wes." Hope pulled Wes into a long kiss.
When Wes finally broke free, they walked out to the car. Wes sat in the backseat next to Amy, his head resting against the top of the seat.
"I don't get it," Wes declared. "So, my wish came true. Why does that have to be a bad thing?"
"Because the wishes go south, Wes," Sam stated. "Your town is going insane."
"Come on. You're gonna sit there and tell me that your relationship with Hope is functional, that it's what you wished for?" Dean asked.
"I wished she would love me more than anything," Wes told them.
"Oh yeah," Amy said sarcastically, "that sounds like a great wish. How's it working out for you?"
"Well, it's a hell of a lot better than when she didn't know I was alive," Wes stated, leaning forward.
"You're not supposed to get what you want, man, not like this," Dean said, his voice rising. "Nobody is. That's what the coin does."
Wes sighed, leaning back against the seat again.
"It takes your heart's desires and it twists it back on you," Dean continued. "You hear of the whole, uh, "be careful what you wish for"?"
Amy reached for something to grab onto out of reflex as a loud thud was heard and the Impala seemed to drive over something. She looked behind them but didn't see anything.
"Did we just hit something?" Sam asked.
Dean shrugged. "I didn't see anything."
"Careful what you wish for," Wes mocked. "You know who says that? Good-looking jerks like you guys, the ones who've got it so easy because you happen to be handsome."
"Easy?" The hunters repeated simultaneously.
Wes nodded. "Yeah. Women – women look at you, right? They notice you."
Sam scoffed. "Believe us, we do not have it easy."
"We are miserable," Dean corrected. "We never get what we want. In fact, we have to fight tooth and nail just to keep whatever it is we got."
"But you know what?" Sam asked angrily. "Maybe that's the whole point, Wes."
"People are miserable," Amy added.
"Yeah," Dean agreed, "they're miserable bastards 'cause they never get what they really want."
Sam nodded. "Right, yeah, you get what you want, you get crazy."
"Take a look at Michael Jackson, hmm? Or Hasselhoff," Dean said.
Wes scoffed. "You know what? Hope loves me now – completely. And it's awesome." He gestured around the car. "Besides, look around. Where's all this, uh, insanity you guys were talking about?"
As soon as he said that, Dean pulled the Impala up next to a large van. The bullies from earlier were locked in, screaming in terror as the boy they had been chasing lifted the van like it was nothing.
"Well, that should cover it," Dean declared as they stared in shock while the boy tipped the van completely onto its side.
"That crazy enough for you, Wes?" Amy asked.
"Kneel before Todd! Kneel before Todd!" the boy shouted.
Dean quickly got out of the Impala as Todd started to rock the van back and forth. "Alright. I'll handle Todd. You guys get Wes to Lucky Chin's. Go!" He slammed the door shut.
Sam slid over to the driver's side. "Right."
"What the hell?" Wes asked as he leaned forward across the front seat, mouth agape at the sight outside.
"Like we said," Amy repeated, "crazy."
Five minutes later, Sam parked the Impala outside the Chinese restaurant.
"That – that – that kid turned over that car like – like it was nothing," Wes stuttered as he got out.
"You should have seen the teddy bear," Sam said with a scoff. "Now, come on. Fun's over. Time to pull the coin." Wes didn't move. "Wes!"
"Well, why can't we just get what we want?!" Wes yelled.
"Because the real world doesn't work that way!" Amy yelled.
"Because that's life, Wes," Sam said at the same time.
Amy suddenly felt an excruciating pain run through her entire body. She tried to move away, but couldn't. A brief moment later, her vision went black.
Amy didn't know how long she was out. Some time passed before she finally reopened her eyes. Amy looked over at Sam, who was also lying on the sidewalk next to her.
"You okay?" Sam asked.
"I think so," Amy said with uncertainty. "What happened? My whole body feels weird."
Sam looked around. "I think we died."
Amy didn't know how to respond.
Sam helped Amy up. A few moments later, Hope walked out of the restaurant, looking confused as she walked away.
Wes came out of the restaurant, reluctantly handing the coin over to Sam. After a silent nod, he walked away.
"So, the wishes should start going away now, right?" Amy asked.
"Hopefully, yeah," Sam agreed. He flipped the coin around in his hand. "Guess we should melt this thing down so no one can use it again."
The two of them got into the Impala and drove off. Sam called Dean on his cell.
"Dean?" There was a pause. "Hey, listen, we got the coin. Amy and I are on our way to melt it down now. Meet us at the pier."
"Where are we gonna melt a coin?" Amy asked. "And how?"
"You'll see."
Sam drove them back to the motel. They got out and Sam opened the trunk, pulling out a blowtorch.
"Of course there's a blowtorch in the trunk of the Impala." Amy sighed. "Why am I not surprised?"
It took several long minutes, along with Sam and Amy taking turns holding the blowtorch over the coin, but they finally got it melted down enough that it wasn't even recognizable as a coin.
"Well that took forever," Amy commented.
Sam laughed. "Tell me about it." He tried to pick the melted coin up, but it was already stuck to the ground.
"Leave it," Amy declared. "It's not like anyone can use it now anyway."
Sam drove the Impala to the pier with Amy in the passenger seat. When they arrived, Dean was sitting on a bench, reading the paper. Audrey walked by with her parents, who were severely sunburnt, and her now normal-sized teddy bear, which had a huge hole in the back of its head.
"Well, uh, the coin's melted down," Sam informed Dean. "It shouldn't cause any more problems."
"Audrey's parents are back from Bali," Dean noted, folding up the paper. "Looks like all the wishes are gone. And so are we."
Amy started to follow the Winchesters to the car. After a moment though, Dean stopped.
"Hang on a second," Dean said, stopping his brother.
"What?" Sam asked.
Dean hesitated before answering. "You were right," he stated.
"About what?" Sam asked, confused.
"I shouldn't have lied to you. I do remember everything that happened to me in the Pit. Everything," Dean admitted.
Amy let out a shaky breath and looked down, unsure of how to respond. She had no idea what hell was like, but anyone knew it wasn't sunshine and rainbows.
Sam sighed. "So tell me about it," he said quietly.
Dean shook his head. "No."
Sam looked at his brother in confusion. "Uh..."
Dean cut Sam off. "I won't lie anymore. But I'm not gonna talk about it."
Sam sighed. "Dean, look, you can't just shoulder this thing alone. You got to let me help."
"How?" Dean asked. "Do you really think that a little heart-to-heart, some sharing and caring, is gonna change anything? Hmm? Somehow... heal me? I'm not talking about a bad day here."
"I know that," Sam replied.
"The things that I saw... there aren't words. There is no forgetting," Dean said shakily. "There's no making it better. Because it is right here," he tapped his head, "forever. You wouldn't understand. And I could never make you understand. So I am sorry."
Dean ended the conversation there, getting into the car. Sam and Amy exchanged a glance, before quietly getting in as well. Without a word, Dean started the engine and pulled away, looking distraught as he stared out at the road ahead.