All day staring at the ceiling
Making friends with shadows on my wall
All night hearing voices telling me
That I should get some sleep
Because tomorrow might be good for something
Hold on
Feeling like I'm headed for a breakdown
And I don't know why
But I'm not crazy, I'm just a little unwell
I know right now you can't tell
But stay awhile and maybe then you'll see
A different side of me
I'm not crazy, I'm just a little impaired
I know right now you don't care
But soon enough you're gonna think of me
And how I used to be...me
TALL TALES
Springfield, Ohio
Present Day
It had been a really, really long week. I was sprawled out face first on Dean's and my bed watching some ridiculous soap opera in Spanish – somehow it helped to drone out the incessant whining that Dean and Sam had been doing for the last few hours. If it was in Spanish I didn't have to pretend to try and understand it, and the constant chatter inside my head could just go on like the white noise that it was.
"Beth, Beth you want any of these?" Dean asked, munching loudly away on chilli cheese fries from Sam's bed.
"Noooooo." I moaned from my comatose position, not even moving my mouth to answer.
"You sure? They're really good!" Dean said shovelling some more into his mouth as he flipped through a copy of Weekly World News.
"I'm sure... thank you." I said. Dean shrugged and continued munching away.
Sam looked up from his position on the couch where he was currently doing research, flipping through a multitude of books.
"Dude," he said in an annoyed tone. "You mind not eating those on my bed?"
Dean smirked. "No. I don't mind," he said, and shovelled anothing couple of fries in to his mouth. "How's the research going?"
"You know how it's going? Slow! You know how it would go a heck of a lot faster? If I had my computer!" Sam retorted, harping on for the tenth time in the last hour about how Dean had supposedly stolen his computer.
Dean nodded at him sarcastically. "Mhmmmm," he agreed. Research did tend to go a lot faster with a computer, that was true.
Sam frowned over at me, rolling his eyes at the television. "Can you turn that down please?" He asked. I sat up and looked at him, he'd been nothing but a major pain in my ass for the last week and it was starting to get downright annoying.
"Yeah, sure thing Sammy." I said, taking the remote and turning the volume up higher. I got up and went to plant myself on his bed next to Dean, grabbing a chilli cheese fry and putting it in my mouth. Dean nodded approvingly at me, Sam just watched us, mouth open and frustrated.
"You know what? Maybe, uh, maybe you guys should just go somewhere for a while." Sam said. Dean reached over and grabbed the remote, turning the television off.
"Hey, we'd love to. That's a great idea. Unfortunately, may car's all screwed to Hell!" Dean snapped at him, fire burning in his eyes.
Sam glared at his brother. "Dean, I told you, I had nothing to do with..."
He was interrupted by a loud knocking at the door. I bounced off the bed, crossing to the door and peeked out the peephole. I sighed with relief when I saw who it was, and opened up the door to reveal Bobby.
"Bobby, thank God you're here," I muttered, waving him into the room.
"Hey Beth, it's good to see you again so soon," Bobby said, giving me a quick kiss on the cheek. He watched as Dean and Sam both got to their feet.
"Thanks for coming Bobby," Sam said. Dean reached forward and shook Bobby's hand vigorously.
"Good to see you man," he said with a smile.
Bobby looked a little uncomfortable at the attention we were giving him. "So um, what didn't you want to talk to me on the phone about?"
"It's this job we're working. We weren't sure you'd believe us." Sam said to him, taking a seat at the table.
"Well, I can believe a lot," Bobby said.
"Yeah, yeah it's just... we've never seen anything like it," I said to Bobby, going to get him a beer out of the fridge. Dean looked at me longingly and I rolled my eyes, grabbing him one too, earning me a smile.
He cracked the beer open when I handed it to him and looked at Bobby. "Not even close..." he said, agreeing with Sam for the first time all week.
"And we thought we could use some fresh eyes," Sam finished.
Bobby nodded, taking a sip of his beer. "Well, why don't you begin at the beginning." He took a seat on Sam's bed, grimacing at the empty box of fries. Dean and I settled on the other bed.
"So, it all started when we caught wind of an obit. See, a professor took a nosedive from a fourth story window, only there's a campus legend that the building's haunted. So we pretexted as reporters from the local paper." Sam said, starting the story.
Local Bar
1 week ago
Sam's POV
I was sitting at the table opposite who appeared to be one of the campus jocks, and an attractive, yet dipsy looking girl with brown hair. I put the recorder down on the table, and peered across at them.
"Yeah, we both had the professor for Ethics and Morality," said the guy, Curtis, taking a big mouthful of beer and swallowing it with a grin.
"Yeah?" I asked, "so why do you think he did it?"
"Who knows?" The girl, Jen, said. "I mean, he was tenured, wife and kids. His book is like a really big deal. Then again..." she leaned across the table conspiratorially at me, raising an eyebrow. "Who's to say it was suicide?"
Curtis scoffed looking over at her. "Jen, come on..."
I feigned surprise at the comment and looked between them both. "Well what else could it be?" I asked.
"Well, you know about Crawford Hall?" She asked, curious.
"No, I don't, actually," I said to her, shaking my head and leaning toward her.
"It's a bunch of crap, it's a total urban legend," said Curtis, looking sceptically at her.
"Yeah, well, Heather's mom went to school here, and she knew the girl?" Jen said, turning her gaze to Curtis.
"Wait, what girl?" I asked, surprised.
"Thirty years ago, this girl was having an affair with some professor. He broke it off, she jumped out the window and killed herself." Jen said, completely serious.
"You know her name?" I asked, leaning in to her. She smelled like strawberries. I shook my head and sat back a little, I had to focus on the job.
"No," the girl said with a smile. "But they say she jumped from room six-six-nine." She looked at me expectantly. "Get it? You turn the nine upside down...?" I looked at her and nodded, as if I was totally buying into her story. Curtis laughed at her, rolling his eyes.
Jen threw him a frustrated look, and leaned even closer to me. "So now, she haunts the building. And anyone who sees her? They don't live to tell the tale," she said.
"Well if no one lives to tell the tale, then how does the tale get told?" Curtis laughed, shaking his head.
"Curtis! Shut up!" Jen snapped at him, and then she hit me with a flirtatious smile. My eyes locked on to the scene playing out a few yards away, and I sighed internally. I sat back from Jen, and she looked sad at my withdrawal, but I had to be professional, I was working a case. Unlike some people, I thought, as raucous laughter went up from over at the bar.
"You know what? Uh, thanks a lot guys. Excuse me." I got up, heading toward my two hedonistic siblings.
The bartender was filling six shot glasses with some dark bluish-purple liquid. Dean was sitting on a stool with Beth perched on his lap, holding on to him as she giggled away. I watched with narrow eyes as they looked at each other with stupid grins, and then nodded. Within seconds they had slammed down three shots each in quick succession.
"Guys! Guys, what are you drinking?" I asked.
Dean burped and turned to look at me. "I don't know, man, I think they're called purple nurples?" He said, looking questioningly at Beth who nodded vigorously.
"What's up Sammy?" Beth asked, her arm wound tightly around Dean's neck as she balanced precariously, trying to turn and look at me.
"Uh, nothing." I paused and looked at them, feeling sad. It was clear as day that they were completely and utterly lost in their grieving and fuelling it with alcohol to drown out the sorrow. I sighed. They needed help. "Look, I think maybe we should go check out the professor's office."
Beth had started kissing her way along Dean's neck, her hand found its way under his shirt, stroking at his abs and then sliding up to pinch his nipple.
I looked at them incredulously, what the hell was wrong with them?
"Oh, no, no, no – we can't right now, we've got some... you know, things to catch up on." Dean said, moaning loudly as Beth continued to nip away at his neck and play with his nipple. "But hey..." Dean said breathlessly. "We've been talking to this feisty little wildcat, and we were about to – zzzzzp – reel her in for you. Here, I'll introduce you..." Dean leaned around Beth, who was still giggling away and working on giving him what looked to be the biggest hickey in the northern hemisphere.
"Starla!" Dean called out, and a buxom blonde in a mini-skirt and fishnet stockings turned around, knocking back one of the purple nurples like Dean and Beth had just been drinking. She leaned on the bar and cast an appraising eye over at Dean.
"Starla, hey. This is my shuttle co-pilot Major Tom. Major Tom, Starla." Dean said to introduce us. Starla draped an arm around Dean and Beth, leaning into Beth's back and held up her empty shot glass with an attempt at a seductive smile.
"Oooh... enchante," she said lasciviously.
"She's cute," Beth said, looking up from Dean's neck. "And she has a sister if you want to have some real fun." I stared at Beth and rolled my eyes. What the hell?
Starla started to gag, covering her mouth, then after a moment she got herself under control, looking up at us all grinning.
"Sorry. Just trying to keep my liquor down!" She said and Beth patted her on the back.
"Yeah, good job darlin'." She said encouragingly.
Motel Room
Present Day
Beth's POV
I stared at Sam, and Dean was holding out his hand, shaking his head. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold on a minute!"
"What?" Sam asked, looking at us.
"Come on dude, that's not how it happened," Dean said and I shook my head in agreement with Dean.
"No? So you guys never drank a purple nurple?" Sam countered.
Dean and I grimaced, looking at each other.
"Yeah, well maybe that," I concurred, thinking about the splitting headache Dean and I had both had the next day.
"But do you see a hickey on Dean's neck?" I said, pulling at Dean's collar to reveal unmarked skin. "I don't do hickeys!" I added with a frown, where the hell had he gotten that from?
"Yeah, and I don't say things like feisty little wildcat, and her name wasn't Starla," Dean added.
"Then what was it?" Sam challenged.
Dean frowned, and looked at me. I shrugged, I didn't remember either. "I don't know," I said, tilting my head to the side.
"But she was a classy chick," Dean said and I nodded in agreement.
"She was a grad student, anthropology and folklore. Totally up Sam's alley, which is why we were talking to her. Trying to get her to check him out." I looked at Sam. "He could use a little loosening up once in a while."
Dean started to tell his side of the story.
Local Bar
1 week ago
Dean's POV
Beth was wearing this sexy little black halter dress, one of my favourites, coupled with black stockings and black heels, her shiny dark brown hair fell in waves around her shoulders. There was no comparison to any other girl in the bar, although this folklore student was looking pretty fine for Sammy, if he'd ever pull that stick out of his ass and come meet her. I looked Beth over again and smiled, how did I get so lucky?
The bartender had introduced us to the purple nurple cocktails and so we were trying them out. I held my shotglass and Beth chinked hers against it.
She smiled at me and I couldn't help but smile back. "Here's to..." she said.
"Here's to us," I finished, tipping my drink back and letting it wash down my throat. Beth did the same, licking a couple of spare drops from her lips.
"God you're gorgeous," she said to me with a smile, leaning in and wrapping her arms around me, trailing soft kisses along my neck.
I grinned, sliding my hands along her waist. "Mmhmm, you're not so bad yourself." I kissed her lightly on the neck just below her earlobe. "But! No time for that now. We need to talk to this girl about the urban legend. Lives are at stake," I said, stepping back, and Beth threw her head back, nodding.
"Yes, you're right, the job must come first... it's just...I just... can't even concentrate." Her eyes stared adoringly at me. "It's like staring... into the sun." She reached up and pulled my head in for a kiss, brushing soft lips along mine and I moaned, leaning into it, drinking of her slowly.
Sam's voice sounded shrilly from behind me, and I couldn't help but roll my eyes at his tone of voice, while I continued to make out with Beth. I slipped my hands down around her hips to her lower back, pulling her in close.
"Guys!" Sam's prissy voice said, "What do you think you're doing?" He said all persnickety.
I turned back to him and smiled. "Sam, please. If you wouldn't mind, give us five minutes here..."
"Dean! This is a very serious investigation. We don't have time for you two to start your usual blah blah blah blah," I moved back to kiss Beth with a smile.
"Blah blah blah blah. Blah blah blah. Blah!" Sam's voice droned on in the background.
I kissed her like it was our last night on earth, it had been so long since we had a chance to just enjoy ourselves, and we needed it now more than ever. After a month, she was starting to come out of the dark place she'd been in. It was good to see her enjoying herself, smiling for a change.
Sam continued blahdiblahing behind us, and I groaned when Beth slipped up to me sliding her knee between my legs, pressing against my groin.
"Blaaah!" Sam said protestingly.
Motel Room
Present Day
Beth's POV
"Dean!" Sam said protestingly, interrupting Dean's version of events.
"What?" Dean asked, confused.
"Right, and that's how it really happened?" Sam said sarcastically to us both. Dean shrugged, turning a wicked grin toward me.
"I don't sound like that Dean!" Sam said in a whiny voice.
"You sound like that to me," Dean said with a smirk.
Bobby was staring at us all. "OK. What's going on with the three of you?"
"Nothing." Sam said. "Noth... it's nothing." He shrugged and tried to dismiss the obvious tension that was going on between us all. I chewed on my lip, thinking about that night and how it had been nice to just get out with Dean for a change. Nice when we didn't have Sam hovering over us like a mother hen, anyway.
"No, come on. You're bickering like the three Stooges," Bobby said. Dean stood up and crossed to the kitchenette.
"No, see, the three Stooges got a break from each other occasionally! We're more like... uh... Siamese twins."
"Triplets!" I added, flopping back on the bed.
"Triplets, right," Dean said with a nod.
"It's conjoined twins!" Sam said in his usual I know more than you tone.
"Triplets!" I called out, throwing my arms in the air. Why was I being ignored?
"See what I mean?" Dean asked, glancing back at Sam.
Sam sighed. "Look, it... it's been a hard month, we've just been on the road for too long. Tight quarters, all that. Don't worry about it."
"Ok..." Bobby said, not sounding convinced.
"So, anyway," I said. "We figured it might be a haunting, so we went to check out the scene of the crime."
"Right," Sam said, taking over the story again.
Crawford Hall
Springfield University
6 days ago
Sam's POV
I'd made Dean and Beth dress up in the electrician's outfits, the same as I had on. I don't know why it was that no one ever questioned the need to have three people on a simple electrical job, but we always managed to pull it off, tonight was no different.
We were talking to the janitor who had been kind enough to let us in.
"So, how long have you been working here?" I asked him as we walked up the stairs.
"I've been mopping this floor for six years." He answered and opened the door to the room where the professor had taken a nosedive from. "There you go, guys."
I pulled out an EMF reader and the janitor looked at it curiously. "What the heck's that for?"
"Just to find a wire in the walls," I murmured at him, taking a look around.
"Huh. Wow. Not sure why you're wiring up this office. Not gonna do the professor much good," he said to us, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall.
"Why's that?" Dean asked, feigning ignorance.
"He's dead," the janitor said bluntly. We all pretended to look surprised.
"Oh. What happened?" Beth asked curiously.
"He went out that window. Right there." The janitor pointed to a large two-paned window overlooking the courtyard below.
"Yeah? Were you working that night?" I asked.
"I'm the one who found him," he said, nodding.
"You see it happen?" I asked him.
Dean had found a bowl of nuts on the side table and as usual, was helping himself. He'd shoved so many nuts into his mouth his cheeks were filled out like a hamster. It was ridiculous – how I managed to work alongside this guy day in and day out without killing him was beyond me.
"No, I just saw him come up here... and well..." he looked down at his feet with a bit of a smile.
"What?" I asked.
"Well... he wasn't alone..." the janitor said with a wink. I gave him an appropriately timed Oooooh look and nodded appreciatively. Beth rolled her eyes.
"Who was he with?" Dean asked around a mouthful of nuts.
"He was with a young lady. I told the cops about her, but uh, I guess they never found her," said the janitor.
"You saw this girl go in, huh? Did you ever see her come out?" I asked, curious.
"Now that you mention it, no." The janitor said thoughtfully.
"Have you ever seen her around here before?" Beth asked, standing over by the window looking down on the courtyard.
"Well, not her," the janitor said with a conspiratorial grin to Dean and I.
Beth looked up with a frown on her face, coming to stand by Dean who was still shovelling peanuts into his mouth. "What do you mean?"
The janitor tried to make himself look like he was a nice guy, and not a sleaze, but he failed. "Look, I don't mean to cast aspersions on a dead guy, but uh… Mr Morality? He brought a lot of girls up here. Got more ass than a toilet seat."
Dean laughed delightedly, bits of peanuts going everywhere. Beth frowned and hit him upside the head, hard. "Ow!" Dean said, glaring at her. She stormed off toward the window again.
The janitor grinned at Dean. "Those work relationships can be a bitch eh?"
Dean nodded, watching Beth carefully, "You have no idea man."
I cleared my throat, bringing things back to task. "One more thing. This building, it only has four stories right?" I asked.
"Yeah," the janitor confirmed.
"So there wouldn't be a room six-six-nine?" I asked, just to be sure.
"Of course not. Why do you ask?" The janitor said with a confused look.
"Ah, just curious. Thanks." I asked dismissively.
Sam's POV
Beth was a bit sullen on the way back to the motel room, come to think of it she'd been like it all day. I put it down to her being hungover from the night before, after all, you don't just slam down that many purple nurples after how many months of being abstinent from alcohol and expect to slip back into the same old routine you used to have, do you? I decided I'd have to have a discussion with her later about getting some help, for both her and Dean. They really needed it – drowning their sorrows in alcohol was not going to fix anything!
"Well, no traces of EMF, that's for sure," I said as we got into the room. Beth went straight to the bathroom and shut the door. Dean shrugged and went to the fridge, getting a beer out for both of us.
"And the room six-six-nine is a load of crap," Dean said.
"So what do you think? The professor's just a jumper? A legend's just a legend?" I asked, would make for a strange change with us.
"I don't know. I mean, the uh, girl the janitor described, that's pretty weird." Dean said with a frown.
"Yeah." I agreed.
"We ought to check out the history of the building. See if any co-ed ganked herself there." Dean suggested.
"Yeah, you're right." I looked up as Beth came out of the bathroom, she looked a little pale, it concerned me. I smiled at her, and opened my laptop. The screen was frozen and I hit a few buttons to try and get it to refresh or something. Nothing.
"Are you kidding me?" Beth muttered, looking at the screen.
I looked at Dean, a frown on my face. "Dean. Were you on my computer?"
"No…" Dean said, looking too innocent for it to be real.
"Oh really?" I asked. "Because it's frozen now. On uh, bustyasianbeauties . com," Beth's eyes narrowed at Dean and he winced, retreating toward the bathroom.
"Seriously?" Beth asked, and he looked confused.
"Dean! Would you – just – look don't touch my stuff anymore, ok?" I said angrily. Silently wondering whether he'd royally screwed up my computer.
"Why don't you control your OCD?" Dean said to me. What? What did my OCD have to do with this? I don't have OCD!
Beth shook her head and stormed off, grabbing her jacket.
"Hey, whoa, whoa, where are you going?" Dean asked, following her. "Beth?"
"What does it matter Dean? You don't seem to need me around here cramping your style," she said, reaching for the door.
"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" He asked, grabbing her arm, pulling her back into the room. She struggled against him, yanking her arm free.
"Whatever you want it to mean!" Her eyes were pissed, and I flinched at the anger behind her words.
"You seriously think I was on that website?" Dean asked, looking a little hurt.
"Well it's not something Sam would go on is it?" She asked, rolling her eyes.
They both turned to look at me, I pretended to be engrossed in the computer, maybe they'd finally start talking.
"Hey, what's going on with you?" Dean asked gently, gripping her elbows in his hands as Beth crossed her arms in front of her chest.
"Nothing." Beth said quietly.
"Pull the other one sister, I know you better than that." Dean said, reaching out to touch her face softly.
Beth sighed, and turned troubled eyes to Dean. "I just need some time," she said softly, chewing on her lip.
"Time for what?" Dean asked, dumb as usual.
"For, you know… before … it's just – I know, it's been a while." I raised an eyebrow, still pretending to ignore them. It sure hadn't seemed like they were having any issues in the bedroom the other night.
"What? You think I'm worried? Beth, geez…" Dean said, pulling her into his arms. "You're ready when you're ready…"
Present Day
Motel Room
Beth's POV
Bobby frowned and interrupted Sam's story.
"Uh, that's enough of that Sam. You think you could have a little damn consideration and not listen in on a private conversation like that, what are you twelve?" He chided the young man in front of him.
I was gaping, not aware that he'd been listening in on that very, very private conversation. I mean, that wasn't even the half of what we'd talked about. He'd been completely engrossed on the other side of the large room, and we'd talked quietly, sitting on the couch. I shuddered, I mean Sam was our little brother and he knew us better than anyone, but some things just weren't meant to be shared with him.
Dean was looking mortified and chugged the rest of his beer. Heart-to-hearts didn't really do much for his image, and he looked embarrassed that any of that had gotten out to Bobby.
"Did you dig up anything about the building? Or the suicidal co-ed?" Bobby asked, changing the subject.
"No. History's clean." Sam said, looking suitably chastised.
"Then it's not a haunting," Bobby said, getting up to pace across the floor.
"Maybe not. Tell you the truth, we're not really sure." Dean said and I nodded.
"What do you mean, you're not sure?" Bobby asked, looking confused at us.
"Well it's weird." I said joining in all the pacing. All of us were on our feet now. I wrung my hands, thinking about the whole week's events and just struggling with them in general.
"What's weird?" Bobby asked.
"This next part, we uh, we didn't see it happen ourselves exactly, but it's pretty damn weird, even for us." I said, and started to tell the story about how Curtis, the jock from the night we'd been at the bar had been walking alone through the campus.
"He heard a noise and turned around, but there was nothing there. Then he heard another noise and looked straight up this time. Suddenly a bright light shone down on him and chased him as he ran through the campus. Then he was sucked up by a tractor beam!"
Bobby looked at me sceptically when I finished talking. "Aliens?"
"Yeah," Dean said nodding.
"Aliens?" He asked again, looking incredulous now.
"Yeah!" I said, nodding vigorously.
"Look, even if they are real, they're sure as Hell not coming to earth and swiping people." Bobby said with a frown.
"Hey, believe me. We know." Sam snorted with a laugh. Dean and I exchanged a look. Top of our things to do before we die list was going to Roswell to see if there was any truth to the alien rumours. Unlike Sam, we hadn't actually ruled one way or another on the idea yet.
"My whole life I've never found evidence of an honest-to-God abduction. It's all just cranks and pranks," Bobby said.
"Yeah, that's what we thought," Sam said, lumping the three of us all in the same basket.
"But we figured we'd at least talk to the guy," I said with a shrug. Actually it had been my idea – I was dying to know if aliens really existed.
Local Bar
4 days ago
Beth's POV
Dean was seated next to Curtis, I was sitting on the other side of the table with Sam, who had been ghosting me for the last day or so wanting to talk about my feelings. It was seriously starting to cheese me off, this Dr. Phil routine.
Curtis had three full shot glasses lined up in front of him, I fought back the urge to retch, remembering our over indulgence of the Purple Nurples a few nights ago. Curtis downed a shot and Dean grinned at me before looking back at Curtis.
"Hey, you ought to give those purple nurples a shot," he said with a chuckle.
"So what happened Curtis?" Sam led the questioning because he'd already met the guy once.
"You won't believe me. Nobody does," Curtis said sullenly.
"Give us a chance," I said to him, leaning forward.
"I do not want this in the papers," Curtis said, looking suspicious and shaking a finger at Sam.
"Off the record then," Dean offered and Curtis nodded.
"I, uh… I blacked out, and… I lost time, and when I woke up I don't know where I was." He shuddered. "I was on a medical table, bright light shining in my eyes. A blurry alien face, like in the movies? It looked down at me!"
Sam sat forward a little straighter. "Then what?"
"Uh, they did tests on me, and, uh… they uh…" Curtis took another shot and drank it down. "…they probed me." He was slumped over his drinks at the table, huddled into himself, looking disturbed.
Sam tried not to laugh, I was gaping at him. Dean looked a little horrified.
"They probed you?" He asked.
"Yeah, they probed me. Again and again and again." He took another shot, slamming the empty glass down on the table. "And again, and again, and again…and then one more time." His voice dropped off and he looked ashamed.
"Yikes!" Dean said, grimacing at me.
"And that's not even the worst of it," Curtis said, looking up at us.
"It can get worse?" I asked, surprised.
"How could it get any worse?" Dean asked smirking. "Some alien made you his bitch."
Curtis glared at him and Dean stopped smirking.
"They…they made me… slow dance!" He looked completely horrified at the idea and described a glittering disco ball, under which the alien had its arms wrapped around his waist, slow dancing to the melodious tunes of Chris de Burgh's Lady in Red.
Motel Room
Present Day
Beth's POV
"You guys are exaggerating again, right?" Bobby asked, looking at us sceptically.
"No!" Sam and Dean said in unison, looking up at Bobby earnestly.
Bobby smirked. "Then this frat boy's just nuts!"
"We're not so sure..." Dean said, and resumed telling the story.
University Campus
3 days ago
Dean's POV
So we were standing in the middle of one of the campus common areas, right where Curtis said he'd been abducted. And there, right on the ground, burned into the grass was a big ass freaking scorch mark in a perfect circle.
"I'm telling you Dean, this was made by some kind of jet engine," Sammy said to me, looking stunned.
"You mean some saucer-shaped jet engine?" I asked, looking furtively around.
"What else could it be?" Beth asked from beside me. We were doing a little better since the other night, but not perfect. We were a long way from being perfect, but I knew we'd get there. I really wanted to just pull her into my arms and take her away from here for a bit, but the situation was just too weird to leave to Sammy on his own. I settled for slipping my arm around her waist and holding her next to me.
"What the Hell?" I asked shaking my head in confusion.
"I don't know," Sam said quietly.
"Seriously dude – what the hell?!" I said again, feeling myself getting annoyed.
"I don't know!" Sam repeated, annoyed as well. "I mean, first the haunting, now this? The timing alone – there's got to be some kind of connection."
"You mean between the angry spirit and the sexed-up E.T?" Beth asked with a grin. "What could the connection possibly be?"
There was only one thing we could do – keep on digging. We hung around the campus a bit, talking to anyone who wanted to talk.
"So you and this guy Curtis – you were in the same house?" Sam asked the young fella in front of us.
"Yeah," he said nodding.
"You heard what happened to him right?" Dean asked.
"Yeah, he says it was aliens, but, you know, whatever." The guy gave us a bit of a disbelieving look.
Sam was giving him a great big puppy dog look, doing his Dr Phil thing. "Look, man, I – I know this all has to be so hard," Sam said to him, fighting back empathic tears.
"Um, not so much," the guy said, looking a little confused.
"But I want you to know... I'm here for you. You brave little soldier. I acknowledge your pain." Sam fought back tears and then held out his arms. "Come here," he said, engulfing the guy in a big bear hug. "You're too precious for this world."
Motel Room
Present Day
Beth's POV
"I never said that!" Sam exclaimed, frowning at Dean.
"You're always saying pansy stuff like that." Dean retorted, rolling his eyes.
Bobby was staring at the boys, open mouthed and speechless as they continued the back and forth banter that had been my entire existence for the last week.
"This crap has been going on all week Bobby!" I groaned, running my hands over my face.
"The kid that Sam was all "I love you man" with, he told us that Curtis was a total dick and had it coming. Pledge master, put the new recruits through hell. Kind of a fitting punishment for his crimes really." I said ignoring Dean and Sam who were still arguing.
"Then we get back to the motel and these two..." I gestured to Dean and Sam who were now standing up, facing off over some other comment that just seemed to be getting out of hand. "...well let me just say, it's not been good!"
I continued with the story.
Motel Room
3 days ago
Beth's POV
"Still doesn't make a lick of sense. But hey, at least there's one connection," Dean said, plopping into the armchair in the room with a sigh; Sam and I paused in the motel room to look at him, curious.
"Between what?" Sam asked.
"The victims," Dean said. "The professor and the frat guy – they're both dicks."
"That's a connection?" Sam asked sarcastically.
"You got anything better to go on, I'd love to hear it," Dean challenged, looking at him with steely eyes.
Sam was looking in his bag, looking perplexed.
"Where's my laptop?" He asked, looking up at Dean.
"I don't know," Dean said with a shrug. Sam continued to look around the room, getting more and more frustrated.
"Think about it," Dean continued, walking over to me. "A philandering professor gets a dead girl. A pledge master gets hazed." I nodded, he did kind of have a point, I just didn't know what kind of a monster would get its kicks from doing that.
"I left it in here," Sam said absently, not really listening to the conversation, hell bent on finding his laptop.
"You obviously didn't," Dean said, frowning at Sam.
"These punishments – they're almost poetic," I said thoughtfully, sitting on the edge of the ottoman that Dean had his feet up on. "Actually, it'd be more like a limerick, but still ..."
"OK, hilarious! Ha ha. Where'd you hide it?" Sam asked, approaching us. We both started at him, confused.
"What, your computer?" Dean asked looking puzzled.
"Yeah, where'd you hide it?" Sam accused.
"Why would I take your computer?" Dean asked, shrugging.
"Because no one else would, Beth doesn't mess with my things. We keep the door locked. We never let any maids in..." Sam said, throwing his arms in the air in annoyance.
"Looks like you lost it, Poindexter," Dean said with an infuriatingly smug grin, not really helping the situation.
"Dude, you know something? I put up with a lot from you..." Sam started, and Dean scoffed.
"What are you talking about? I'm a joy to be around," he replied. I rolled my eyes and plopped down on to the couch. Neither of these guys were much fun to be around right now.
"Yeah?" Sam said, amused. "Your dirty socks in the sink, your food in the fridge."
"What's wrong with my food?" Dean asked.
"It's not food anymore Dean! It's Darwinism! All I ask from you, the one thing, is that you don't mess with my stuff!" Sam was fuming, his chest rising and falling quickly as his breath shortened, he was pacing around waving his arms in the air.
"You done?" Dean asked, his face turning impassive.
"You know, how would you feel if I screwed with the Impala?" Sam countered, and I stopped breathing.
"Geez Sammy, it'd be the last thing you ever did," I muttered and he looked at me, frowning.
Motel Room
Present Day
Beth's POV
"Did you take his computer?" Bobby asked Dean. We were all seated around the kitchen table. Dean was working his way through a beer, Sam just looked fed-up.
"Serves him right, but, no." Dean said. Bobby looked questioningly at me and I shook my head. I didn't know where the damn thing was.
"Well I didn't lose it. 'Cause I don't lose things," Sam said with angry eyes.
"Oh that's right, 'cause he's Mr Perfect," Dean said, rolling his eyes.
"OK, OK. Why don't you just tell me what happened next?" Bobby said, interrupting and looking at me.
I sighed, and leaned my elbows on the table, resting my chin in my hands. "There was one more victim." I started, looking up at Bobby. "Now, we didn't see this one ourselves, either. We kind of put it together from the evidence. But this guy – he was a research scientist. Animal testing."
"Yeah, you know – a dick, which fits pattern," Dean supplied, looking at Bobby who nodded.
"Cops didn't release the cause of death, because they had no idea what the cause was." I said, "So we checked it out ourselves."
Morgue
Earlier Today
Dean's POV
Sam had a small knife at the window and was working the window latch, wasn't long before we had access to the room and Sam crawled through the window.
"Hey," I said, tossing him my flashlight. I helped Beth shimmy down into the room and then climbed through myself. Getting my light back off Sam, I opened the body drawer closest and shone my light in.
What I saw was pretty damn gross, even by our standards. "Well, this ought to be quick," I said, looking up at the others. Beth helped me pull the draw out and I watched as she went a bit pale.
"You ok?" I asked and she nodded unconvincingly.
She reached out and pulled back the blood-soaked sheet that was covering the remains.
"OK. That is just nasty," she breathed, swallowing hard. I watched her as she pulled herself together, shoving down all the crap that came to the surface whenever you saw something like this. I smiled, always surprised by something she did every day, even if it was as simple as kissing me when I didn't deserve it.
"Uh, yeah," Sam agreed with her and I nodded.
"Mutilated?" I asked.
"Looks to me like something was hungry," Beth said with a frown, picking through the remains with gloved hands.
"They identify him yet?" I asked no one in particular.
"Yeah. A research scientist at the college." Sam said. "Guess where his office was, by the way. Crawford Hall, same as the professor.
"That's right where the frat boy had his close encounter," I pointed out, curious.
"Yeah," Beth said, frowning as she used her sense of touch to guide her. I knew first hand how amazing that touch was, didn't look so great in the middle of mangled remains though. "Hey, grab me that thing, would you?" She asked, nodding at the lighted magnifying light. I slid it over to her, turning it on, and she peered through at the body.
"What is it?" I asked, trying to see what she was.
"Looks like... a... belly scale?" She said, puzzled.
"A belly scale, from what?" Sam asked, coming to stand by the table.
"Uhhhh," Beth examined the scale a little longer, "an alligator?"
"An alligator in the sewer," I scoffed at her. "Come on."
"Well, Dean, it's a classic urban legend. Kid flushes a baby gator down the toilet, and it grows huge in the tunnels." Sam said.
"But no one's ever really found one. They're not real," I said with a sigh.
"Neither's alien abduction, but something chomped on this guy," Sam said, frustratingly correct.
"This couldn't get any weirder," Beth said with a grown. I slid my arm around her with a kiss to her temples.
"Maybe we should get some help. I'll call Bobby. Maybe he's run into something like this before," Sam said.
"Oh, I'm sure he has. Just your typical haunted campus, alien abduction, alligator-in-the-sewer gig. Yeah, it's simple." I said sarcastically at Sam.
Sam rolled his eyes at me, throwing his hands up in the air. We decided to search the sewer even though I wasn't convinced we'd find a giant gator down there.
Dean's POV
We made our way back to the manhole which exited into the alley where we'd left the Impala. Beth was splashing alongside me, bitching about her favourite boots being all soaked. I chuckled, and she stopped.
"What?" She said, looking at me.
"You, you're funny." I said to her, stopping as Sam brushed past us.
"You reckon?" She asked, eyes narrowing.
I pulled her to me and ran my lips along her neck. "Mhmmm," I said into her skin. "You can be so … boyishly hunter-like in one moment, kicking ass. Then the next you're this soft, vulnerable, incredible woman... complaining about her boots being soiled." I grinned at her, hoping it wasn't going to set off another one of her weird moods that she'd been in lately.
Beth looked at me, a sad smile twitching at her lips. She reached up, catching my face in her hands and pulling me in for a kiss. I pulled her against me, moaning softly as I angled her head to deepen the moment.
When she pulled away Beth looked a little conflicted. "I'm just a woman Dean," she said softly. "I don't feel like much of a hunter these days."
I sighed, brushing a stray piece of hair out of her eyes. "You'll get back into it, it's just going to take some time." I said to her.
"Do I have time?" She asked, double meaning behind her question.
Her eyes were vulnerable and I thought back to that conversation from the other night.
"Beth it's been barely a month, I'm surprised you're out here at all." I said, in all seriousness. "Maybe we shouldn't be, do you want to take some time off?"
She shook her head. "No, it helps, it helps to just be doing something, not sitting around wallowing..." She trailed off then looked up at me again. "Are you getting what you need?"
I groaned. "Don't worry about me, ok?"
"But I do worry Dean! All the time! I worry that maybe this time we've hit that wall, that one thing which is the breaking of the camel's back. And if it's not this, then hey, just wait, because it won't be long and no doubt something else is going to come along to try and get in our way." She wrung her hands out in front of her as she talked, eyes glittering unshed tears.
"Stop it!" I said sternly, taking her arms in my hands and forcing her to look at me. "Just stop it. I don't know how often I have to say this to get through your beautiful stubborn head... but I am not going anywhere, you hear me?"
She looked at me forlornly. I stared her in the eyes.
"Repeat after me," I instructed and she rolled her eyes, but curious just the same.
"Dean won't leave me," I said to her, looking at her expectantly. She sighed. "Come on, say it!"
She laughed nervously. "OK... Dean won't leave me," Beth repeated, and I smiled.
"Dean loves me," I said to her, raising my eyebrow.
"Dean loves me," she said, smiling at me. I nodded approvingly.
"You're enough, you're more than enough, you're everything, ok? And I know I don't say it enough, hell half the time I don't say it at all. But you know me, you know me better than anyone. And everything about us is enough, ok?" She looked at me sceptically, and I knew what she was talking about.
"Look, ok maybe it's not ideal, we both know that, but baby... it's only been five weeks. You take as long as you need." I pulled her in for another kiss. "And it's not as if you've left me high and dry..." I raised an eyebrow, getting a chuckle out of her. "You don't even have to do that if you don't want... although, you know, I'm not complaining at all. You have the most amazing mouth... wherever you put it." I kissed her again and got a laugh out of her.
"OK?" I asked, checking she was all right. She nodded, smiling at me. That was what I wanted to see. "Come on, let's go get something to eat," I said, slipping my arm around her neck and pulling her with me as I walked.
I followed her up the manhole, climbing out, I took her hand – something I never did usually, and pulled her around the corner with me... stopping short.
My baby, my beautiful baby, she had been desecrated! Beth was staring as I dropped her hand, looking frantically at the Impala. Someone had let down the air in all four of her tires.
"Son of a bitch!" I cursed, circling the car. Beth had stooped down, something catching her eye. I looked at what she'd picked up, it was a silver money clip with the initials S.W. engraved on it.
"SAM!" I yelled, heading for the motel room. I was gonna kick his ass!
Sam was reading a book as I entered the motel room.
"You think this is funny?" I asked him, angry.
"It depends," Sam said infuriatingly calm. "What?"
"The car!" I yelled at him. Beth had followed me, and was watching calmly from the door way.
"What about the car?" Sam asked innocently.
"You can't let the air out of the tires. You're gonna bend the rims!" I yelled at him, did he know nothing about cars? What a dumbass!
"Whoa, wait a minute. I didn't go near your car." Sam said.
"Oh yeah? Huh. Then how'd Beth find this?" I asked, snatching the money clip out of her hand and holding it up for Sam to see. Sam patted his pocket, standing up.
"Hey, give me back my money," Sam said.
"Oh, no, no. Consider it reparations. For, uh, emotional trauma." I said, shrugging out of my jacket.
"Guys..." Beth groaned at us, shaking her head.
"Yeah, very funny. Now give it back!" Sam said, reaching for the money.
"No," I said, stubborn as all hell.
"Dean, I have had it up to here with you," Sam said to me, holding his hand above his head.
"Oh yeah? Well right back at you!" I said grumpily.
Sam reached for the money again, I avoided him, waving the clip in the air. Sam wasn't giving up. He grabbed at me again, tackling me to the bed where we struggled together.
"Guys! Guys!" Beth yelled, running up to the bed. "Cut it out!"
"Get off me!" I yelled as Sam tried to reach around me from behind, almost piggy backing. He had a leg and arms wrapped around me, trying to get to the money clip.
"Give it back!" Sam yelled, struggling.
Motel Room
Present Day
Beth's POV
Bobby interrupted Dean's story telling. He'd glossed over the conversation we'd had in the sewers, throwing a secretive smile at me, but other than that he had it pretty much on the money.
"OK, I've heard enough," Bobby said, shaking his head and standing up to look down at the three of us still seated at the table.
"You showed up a few hours after that," Dean said.
"I'm surprised at you three. I really am. Beth, first off – Dean was not off watching porn while you were in the shower, picking up food, or whatever else you were doing when you weren't with him." I frowned at him, but I knew better than to argue with Bobby Singer.
"And Sam – Dean did not steal your computer." Bobby said to Sam.
"But I -" Sam started to protest loudly.
"Shh, shh, shh, shh!" Bobby said loudly, quieting our younger brother as he held out his hand.
"And Dean, Sam did not touch your car," Bobby said, receiving a stern look of disbelief from Dean, who sat at the table, beer in hand.
"Yeah," Sam muttered at Dean who was scowling.
"And if you three had bothered to pull your heads out of your asses, it all would have been pretty clear..." Bobby said to us. I stared at him, confused. What would have been obvious?
"What?" Dean asked, voicing the same question I had.
"What you're dealing with," Bobby said, shrugging. The three of us looked at each other, shrugging and looking uncomfortable. We'd been at this a week, a whole week and come up with nothing. How is it that Bobby had figured it out in a couple hours' worth of storytelling?
"Uh..." Sam shook his head at us. I shrugged.
"I got nothing," I said to Bobby, a little embarrassed – researching weird obscure creatures was kind of my thing.
"Me neither," Dean concurred with me.
"You got a trickster on your hands." Bobby said to us.
Dean snapped his fingers and smiled. "That's what I thought," He said without missing a beat. I snorted.
"What?!" Sam said, looking at Dean incredulously. "No you didn't!"
"I got to tell you... you kids were the biggest clue." Bobby said to us.
"What do you mean?" Sam asked.
"These things create chaos and mischief as easy as breathing, and it's got you so turned around and at each other's throats, you can't even think straight," Bobby explained to us.
"The laptop," Sam said.
"The tires," Dean said.
"The porn," I groaned, hitting my head.
"It knows you're onto him, and it's been playing you like fiddles." Bobby said with a nod.
"So, what is it - Spirit, demon, what?" Dean asked.
"Well, more like demigods, really. There's Loki in Scandinavia. There's Anansi in west Africa. Dozens of them. They're immortal, and they can create things out of thin air. Things as real as you and me. Make them vanish just as quick." Bobby explained to us.
"You mean like an angry spirit or an alien or an alligator?" I asked.
"The victims fit the M.O., too. Tricksters target the high and the mighty, knock them down a peg, usually with a sense of humor - deadly pranks, things like that." Bobby said.
"Bobby, what do these things look like?" Dean asked. Now there was a good question.
"Lots of things, but human, mostly." Bobby said.
"And what human do we know who's been at ground zero this whole time?" Dean asked both Sam and I. We looked at each other and thought about it. Sam and I got it at the same time.
"The Janitor!" We said in unison.
Crawford Hall
Present Day
Beth's POV
The Trickster, still in the guise of the janitor, was showing Dean and I up to the third floor under the pretense that they needed to check some wiring up there.
"Sorry I'm dragging a little ass today, boys. Had quite the night last night. Lots of sex, if you catch my drift," I overheard the Trickster say as I hid down another corridor.
"Yeah," Dean said, "hard not to." I smirked and shook my head, I still did kind of wonder if he really meant what he said to me sometimes, or whether he was just telling me what I wanted to hear.
The trickster looked around and raised an eyebrow. "Just the two of you today?"
Dean looked smug and grinned. "Yeah, she had quite the night too... if you get my drift," he said, mirroring the Trickster's amusement.
"Well all right bro!" He said back to Dean with a high five. Dean chuckled, it was almost like he liked this guy.
"Listen, we won't be long. We just need to check a couple of offices up on three." Sam said, trailing behind them, shaking his head.
"No problem." The Trickster said with a cheerful nod of his head.
Once they were out of sight I hurried down the stairs to the locked gate. It led to the employee locker storage area, pulling my lockpicking tools out. It was an easy enough lock to pick and I was in within seconds.
I rummaged through the lockers, looking for any evidence of the Trickster but there was nothing to be found. I got to his locker, there was a copy of Weekly World News, but that was it. I sighed. Nothing.
I met Sam and Dean at the front of the building when they came back out.
"Anything?" Dean asked, I shook my head.
"No, a copy of Weekly World News but that was it," I said.
"Hmm..." Dean mused. "Well I still think he's our guy."
"Just 'cause he reads the Weekly World News doesn't mean he's our guy. You read it too!" Sam said to Dean, frowning.
"I'm telling you, it's him." Dean said crossly.
"Look, I just think we need some hard proof. That's all," Sam said, trying to reason with Dean.
Dean looked about, thinking. "Well, another thing Bobby mentioned was that these suckers have a metabolism like an insect, a real sweet tooth."
"I didn't find any candy bars or sugar." I said, shaking my head. "Not even Equal."
Dean frowned. "You probably missed something," he said. I gaped at him.
"I don't miss things Dean," I said angrily, eyes narrowing.
"Oh right, 'cause you're Miss Perfect? Don't make mistakes?" He asked, turning steely eyes to me.
"What? Are you really still pissed at me over that porn thing?" I asked, crossing my arms at him.
"Well, if the shoe fits. You know me better than that, have I ever done anything like that with you around? No!" He said, his voice dripping with anger, and something else... hurt.
I sighed, and glanced up at the Crawford Hall windows. The Trickster was watching us. I turned away so he couldn't see what I was saying.
"Look, just... stay here and keep and eye on the Janitor. Beth and I can go to his place and see if we can find any actual evidence before you go barging in and staking the man!" Sam said, staring at Dean.
"Yeah, just wait until we get back, ok?" I said, pleading with Dean to see reason.
Dean looked long and hard at me, assessing what I had to say before sighing.
"OK?!" Sam asked, annoyed.
"OK!" Dean conceded and ran a hand across his face in frustration.
Sam and I left him to it. I looked back about a block away and saw him still out the front of the building, pacing.
Crawfold Hall
Several Hours Later
Dean's POV
I waited for Sam and Beth to return for hours. After a while I gave up and decided to look around. A little peek wouldn't hurt. It was dark so I got my flash-light out of my jacket and entered cautiously into the building. The stairways were empty. I put the flash-light away and pulled out the wooden stake Bobby had told us to use.
As I moved to go up the last flight of stairs I thought I heard something behind me. I turned, tucking the stake back in my jacket. There were double doors leading into an auditorium, or theatre. I pushed them open, working my way down the stairs.
On the stage was a round bed with a tacky canopy and rotating disco ball. Lights were flashing in all different colours from the row lights above me, and Barry White's Can't get enough of your love played over the speakers. Probably most surprising was getting a look at Beth in the ever elusive Princess Leia bikini, laying seductively on the bed.
I tilted my head to the side, raising an eyebrow and walked down to the stage.
"I've been waiting for you Dean," Beth said, crawling toward me to lie on the bed as if she were sitting beside Jabba the Hutt himself.
I paused, I liked how this guy rolled, I really did, and damn that outfit was really doing it for me. But..
"Y-y-you're not real," I practically stuttered out, fighting with myself over whether or not that really mattered right now.
Beth paused and smiled at me salaciously. "Trust me, sugar, it's gonna feel real."
"Huh..." I laughed nervously, thinking about what Beth would say to that.
"Come on..." fake Beth said to me. "Let me give you a massage..."
I took a deep breath, thinking it over. "You know, I'm a – I'm a sucker for Beth and her happy endings. Really, I am, but … I'm – I'm gonna have to pass." I said regretfully, that outfit did look really, really good.
The Trickster's voice sounded from behind me. "She's a peace offering," he said, and I spun to look at him.
"I know what you guys do. I've been around a while. Run into your kind before," he said while lounging in the stadium seating.
"Well, then you know that I... can't let you just keep hurting people," I said to him.
The Trickster rolled his eyes at me, looking exasperated. "Come on! Those people got what was coming to them. Hoisted on their own petards. But you, and Beth, and Sam – I like you guys. I do. I know things haven't been so crash hot on the homefront lately with Beth... so here, treat yourself... long as you want. Just long enough for me to move on to the next town." He pulled out a candy bar from his shirt and started unwrapping it.
"Yeah, I don't think I can let you do that." I said, shaking my head.
The Trickster turned serious. "I don't want to hurt you. And you know that I can."
"Look man, I – I gotta tell you, I dig your style, all right? I mean..." I said, looking back at Beth lying all seductively on the bed with a flirtatious smile. "I do. I mean...that... and the slow-dancing alien..."
"One of my personal favourites. Yeah," said the Trickster with a laugh.
"But, uh, I can't let you go." I finished.
"Too bad," said the Trickster, looking at me. "Like I said, I like you. Beth and Sam, they were right. You shouldn't have come alone."
I raised an eyebrow at him. "Well, I'll agree with you there." I said to him, looking up at the back of the room.
The door slammed shut, and now instead of an empty room, there was Sam and Beth, and Bobby on the other side, each carrying their own stakes.
The Trickster looked at us all appraisingly, and shook his head. "That fight you guys all had outside – that was a trick?" He asked and I nodded. "Hmm... not bad. But you want to see a real trick?"
A masked man with a chainsaw suddenly appeared behind Sam and Beth swinging at them with his deadly weapon. They ducked, scampering out of the way, before engaging him. I swung my stake at the Trickster only to have it intercepted by the fake Beth.
I looked up to see the masked attacker swing his chainsaw at Sam, who dove across several rows of seats to escape, the chainsaw hitting the wall and making a huge mess. The Trickster laughed delightedly.
Fake Beth threw me clear across to the stage and I landed at the end of the bed with a thump. Within seconds she was on me again, and right hooked me in the jaw. Another scantily dressed Beth appeared before me, making it two and she hit me as well, picking me up from the ground like I was a feather pillow and tossing me across to the front row of chairs where I landed in front of the Trickster again.
"Oooh nice toss ladies!" The Trickster laughed.
Beth, the real Beth was ducking from behind the chainsaw man as Bobby and Sam grappled with his attacks. She caught my eye as the Trickster stood up, looking at me.
"Dean... Dean, Dean, Dean," he said to me, shaking his head. My stake had fallen across the room, it was nowhere near me, but it was near Beth. She was staring at her doppelgangers on stage and then looked at me. I glanced down as the Trickster talked and she saw what I needed. "I did not want to have to do this..." The Trickster said as Beth jumped over a few seats, grabbing and then tossing me the stake. I caught it, spinning around and using the momentum to stab the stake straight into the Trickster's chest.
"Me neither," I muttered to his shocked look of surprise.
As the stake ground in further, the fake Beth's disappeared, as did the chainsaw man. I pulled the stake back out and the Trickster fell back into the seat, dead.
Beth was almost instantly at my side, and I pulled her into my arms, kissing the top of her head. "You ok?" I asked quietly, and she nodded, wrapping her arms around my waist.
I looked over at Sam and Bobby as they walked up to us. "You guys ok?"
"Yeah. I guess," Sam replied with a shrug.
"All I got to say..." I said, with a grin, looking down at Beth. "He had style!" She laughed and shook her head. I groaned, and Beth reached up to tentatively touch the gash at the side of my head, grimacing.
"Come on, let's go," she said to me, pulling me toward the door. "So that's still your ultimate fantasy eh?" Beth asked, as we headed up the steps to the exit.
"You better believe it," I said with a grin pulling her to me and lifting her chin so I could look in her eyes. Bobby and Sam brushed past us, rolling their eyes. "Pity we couldn't save the outfit..." I muttered as I claimed her lips in a hungry kiss.
Outside Crawford Hall
Present Day
Beth's POV
We all felt a little awkward at how we'd been behaving recently, and it showed as we headed back to the Impala.
"Bobby, thanks a lot," Dean said as we reached the Impala where they were waiting for us.
"Hey, save it! Let's just get the hell out of dodge before somebody finds that body," Bobby said, brushing the gratitude aside.
Sam paused and looked across at us. "Look, guys, um... I just want to say that I'm, uh... ummm." He struggled to get the words out, apologies just weren't the Winchester way.
"Hey, me too," Dean said, interrupting him. I nodded by agreement.
"You guys are breaking my heart!" Bobby muttered, rolling his eyes. "Could we please just leave?" He climbed in to the back of the Impala and I joined him with a little smile.
Sam and Dean hesitated just a moment, having one of their silent brother bonding moments, and then joined us.
"So where to?" Dean said, looking in the mirror at Bobby and me.
"Well, I had to steal a car to get here," Bobby said gruffly, "you might as well give me a ride home!"
Dean laughed and nodded, putting the car into drive. It was going to be a twelve hour drive easy, if we didn't stop to get back to Bobby's. I settled in, putting my earphones in and laid my head back against the seat letting the music drain out any thoughts raging through my head. It would be good to go to Bobby's, maybe we could spend a few days there, recouperating. God knows we needed it.
AUTHOR'S NOTES
Song for this chapter is the Unwell by Matchbox 20, an oldie but a goodie.
Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter – I'm so glad you enjoyed it, even with the difficult content. I agree – it was heart breaking to do to them both, but it'll all work out in the end for them :) I will try and get individual PMs out in the next day – I hope you enjoy this little fun episode just as much!
To Sam (who left a guest review so I couldn't PM you) – thanks for your review and comments! I have taken them all on board, and yes, the Sam/Ruby thing will all be explained in due course :) A couple of your suggestions are already in the works, and there will be a flashback coming up sometime in the near future too :) You can check out some pre-relationship Dean & Beth courtesy of EarthhAngel's fan fic How to Save A Life too, she is incorporating them into her story in accordance with my timeline and I am just loving what is coming out – lots of angst between them both because it's just a few months before they get together. Plus – John smut! Lots of John smut! So do go over and check her story out too.
There is also a NEW CHAPTER up over at How To Save A Life so please go on over and check it out at EarthhAngel's fics – especially if you're interested in seeing some John smut, omg the man is hot! A really fun Dean & Beth moment in there too. Be sure to leave a review and encourage her to keep writing, I want to see this story get finished! :D
Next up, Dean and Beth get some alone time to deal with baby Patrick's death, and help out a young lady too, in Roadkill.
Please read and review! Mahalo :)