"I'm hungry" Dean complained again as the trio kept walking
"I know, I am too, but theres nothing I can do" Abby sighed
"You know what I could really go for right now? A double bacon cheeseburger, fries and a chocolate shake" his thoughts made his expression one of bliss before his stomach gurgled in protest
"You couldn't have kept that to yourself?" Abby asked her own stomach starting to grumble
"No" he stated with little apology "Yo Haystack, know a place we can eat round here?"
"Hey Dean!" Abby called suddenly causing him to turn to see her pointing "Apples"
"I aint Sammy, apples don't really do it for me" he pouted as she walked up to one and plucked one off the tree
"Hey!" Abby exclaimed as the tree slapped her hand and took the apple back
"What do you think you're doing?" the tree asked
"What do you think you're doing?" Dean glared as he stood in front of Abby "What's the matter with you? We were walking, we're hungry"
"She was hungry" the tree gestured to another tree "How would you like to have someone come along and pick something off you?"
Abby stood gobsmacked as her mouth tried to form words making her look like a fish.
"Come along Abby, you don't want any of those apples" the scarecrow stated taking her arm and leading her away
"What do you mean, she doesn't want any of those apples? Are you hinting my apples aren't what they ought to be?"
"Oh no, its just that she doesn't like little green worms" he ran from the tree as it grabbed at him
"I'll give you little green worms" the tree stated
"I'll show you how to get apples" the scarecrow told them
"You can't do that to me I'll show you!" the tree began throwing apples at them "You can't do that, you can't do that! Hey!" it called as the scarecrow dodged about
"Oh I got this" Dean ran over "Hey over here you fugly son of a bitch" he waved his arms and apples came flying towards him hitting him.
"Oh" Abby hissed as he dropped to the floor
"I'm okay" he stated his arm up in the air before dropping down again
x
"I guess that did it, help yourself" the scarecrow smiled
Abby had been collecting the apples together "You okay?" she asked Dean as she crawled over, apples gathered in the pinafore
"Just great" he grimaced slowly sitting up "Jesus, see this is why I don't do apples"
"I'm sure you'll be fine"
"Yeah, like you know what this feels like" he glared standing awkwardly "Damn it"
Abby chuckled as he hobbled away to sit down and her eyes caught sight of something silver, she crawled over and found it was a foot, scrambling to stand she saw the tin man.
"I found a tin man" she called
"What?" the scarecrow asked walking over
Dean had his head dipped and a pained expression on his face as he looked at her expectantly
"A tin man" she signalled to him
"Oil can... Oil can" the tin man squeaked
"What did he say?" Dean asked
"Oil can"
"Oil can what?" the scarecrow asked
"Oil can" Abby looked around "Here it is" she held it up as the scarecrow examined him "Where first?"
"My mouth! My mouth!" the tin man squeaked out again
"He said his mouth" the scarecrow stated
"Okay" Abby dropped some oil on the tin mans mouth
"The other side"
"There we go"
Dean pulled a face as the jaw of the tin man worked side to side, Abby and the scarecrow pulling the arm holding the axe down from its position
"M..m...my, my, my, my goodness. I can talk again" the tin man exclaimed
"Whoop-de-friggen do" Dean sighed
"Oh oil my arms, please. Oil my elbows"
"Give me that" Dean yanked the oil can from the scarecrow's hands and oiled his joints as Abby lowered the right arm
"Oh" the tin man sighed
"Did that hurt?" Abby asked
"No, it feels wonderful" he smiled
"Oh that's a shame" Dean muttered
"I've held that axe up for ages"
"How did you get in this state?" Abby asked rotating the tin mans elbow
"Well about a year ago, I was chopping that tree" he signalled in front of them "Minding my own business when suddenly it started to rain" as they listened Dean oiled "And right in the middle of a chop, I rusted solid. And I've been that way ever since"
"Well you're pretty much perfect now" Dean announced
"My... My neck. My neck" Dean oiled it "Perfect? Oh bang on my chest if you think I'm perfect. Go ahead bang on it"
Abby anxiously did as he said
"Beautiful, what an echo" the scarecrow nodded
"It's empty" the tin man said with a frown "The tinsmith forgot to give me a heart"
"No heart?" Dean and Abby asked
"No heart" the tin man nodded
"All hollow" he stopped Abby and the scarecrow from helping him as he broke into song
Dean could only throw his arms up and sigh deeply before dropping to sit on a tree stump
x
"When a man's an empty kettle, he should be on his mettle. And yet I'm torn apart. Just because I'm presumin' that I could be kind-a human, if I only had a heart..." he danced around "I could stay young and chipper, and I'd lock it with a zipper if I only had a heart" as the song finished and Abby oiled his knee joints when it stuck he eventually fell over, close to Dean, causing Dean in turn to fall off the tree stump.
"I'm afraid I'm a little rusty yet" he sighed
x
"You okay?" Abby asked Dean as she tugged him up
"Just great" he stood and dusted himself off "What about Hetfield over there"
"What?" Abby asked a strange expression
"You know, tin man. Metallica – James Hetfield" Dean explained
"Oh, gotcha" she said with a hint of sarcasm before she turned to the tin man "That was great" she smiled "You know, why don't you come to Emerald City with us to ask the Wizard of Oz for a heart?"
"Emerald City? Why, that's a long and dangerous journey and it might rain on the way" the tin man told them
"But you've just been saying how much you want a heart" the scarecrow pointed out
"And we'll have the oil can" Abby added
"Well, suppose the Wizard wouldn't get me one when we got there?"
"But he will, we've already come such a long way"
"Yeah, and you know" Dean added pointing to his feet "These boots weren't made for walking, I've already had to skip, and well, I don't skip" he shrugged "It'll be fun" he added a tight grin towards Abby
"What's that?" the tin man asked as they heard a laugh
"I hate witches" Dean hissed tensing his jaw
"You call that long?" the witch asked form her perch on the roof of the small house "Why you've just begun! Forgotten about me eh? Well I haven't forgotten about you! Helping the little lady along are you my fine gentlemen? Well stay away from her" she pointed towards them looking at the scarecrow "Or I'll stuff a mattress with you!" she stated before looking at the tin man "And you, I'll use you for a bee hive" she laughed "Here Scarecrow, want to play ball" she threw a ball of fire at them while laughing as the tin man and Dean tried to put the fire out. "As for you my little Abigail I wish you luck with the Wizard of Oz and a happy journey back to Kansas" before disappearing in a cloud of smoke.
Dean stood up and walked to Abby after they had extinguished the fire
"What the hell is her problem?" he asked
"You haven't seen the movie have you?" Abby smiled sadly
"Can't say I have" he looked down at her "Care to fill me in?"
"Well, Dorothy winds up here, kills one witch with a house, the witches sister"
"Greeny McMeanie wherever she's gone?"
"Yeah" Abby nodded with a light laugh "She wants the shoes, and all Dorothy wants is to go home"
"Huh" Dean nodded knowingly "With plenty of singing and dancing thrown in"
"Yeah"
"Hey" he nudged her making her look at him again "We're going to get home. I'm serious we're going to get home, even if we have to make a deal somewhere, I'm not staying here, not with the singing" he sighed and tugged her closer "Come here" he hugged her to him "Nothing's going to happen Abs, I mean we're doing good so far, we got Haystack, we just found Hetfield, means there's not too much between now and the end right?"
"I guess" Abby sighed
"I'm not afraid of her" the scarecrow spoke up "I'll see you get safely to the Wizard now, whether I get a brain or not. Stuff a mattress with me! Ha!"
"I'll see you reach the Wizard whether I get a heart or not" the tin man stated as he sat beside the scarecrow "Bee-hive, bah! Let her try and make a bee-hive out of me, you know... What's that?"
Abby and Dean walked over as the other two stood. Dean started shaking his arm
"Woah" he exclaimed as he leapt around shaking his arm still "That's a big bee"
"Oh" the tin man exclaimed "They're, they're gone now"
"Did any of them sting anyone?" Abby asked
"I guess they tried to, but they bent their stingers"
"Dean?"
"Nah I'm good" Dean told her
"I hate bee's I don't know what I'd do if" she paused "Oh god there's one on me"
"I'll get it" the tin man announced reaching over and plucking it from Abby's skirt "Oh, see I killed it" he said sadly before crying "Oh, I killed that poor little honey bee. It's only a man without a heart who could do a thing like that. Poor little bee"
"Don't cry" Abby sighed sympathetically "Look, it was just an old drone bee, it would have died anyway"
"Yes?" the tin man looked at her
"Yeah" Dean nodded after Abby threw him a look "Yeah, you put it out of its misery"
"Oh"
"It's just that the Witch is so" Abby paused for a moment
"She's a bitch" Dean stated before putting his hands up in surrender at Abby's glare
"She's so... mean. I don't think you two should come with us, you'll just get into trouble"
"Oh you don't think we're going to stand by and let her get away with fireballs and bee's do you?" the scarecrow asked incredulously
"No sir" the tin man stated
"No sir!" the scarecrow nodded
Dean chuckled "No sir" he added
"Oh you guys" Abby smiled "You know it's weird but I feel like I've known you a long time. But that's crazy I couldn't could I? You get the same feeling Dean?"
"Weirdly enough yeah" Dean nodded "If this whole thing wasn't crazy enough"
"I don't see how, you weren't around when I was stuffed and sewn together, were you?" the scarecrow asked
"And I was standing over there rusting for the longest time" the tin man agreed
"I suppose, doesn't matter much anyway, we all know each other now" Abby smiled
"That's right" the scarecrow nodded
"We do" the tin man grinned
"Unfortunately" Dean added quietly before raising his voice to its normal volume "So what now?"
"To Oz?" the scarecrow asked looking at them all
"To...!" the tin man started to say enthusiastically
"Okay ground rules" Dean stated stopping them from moving "No more singing. You start singing, you're on your own, I do not sing"
Abby shot him a look
"To Oz?" Scarecrow asked again tentatively
"To Oz!" the tin man confirmed before they headed off in front walking quickly and humming as the four of them made their way further down the road