Chapter Sixteen

You guys are dying to know what color Dean's scales are, aren't ya?

Dean jumped up from the pooled water on the floor. "Oh, this is just great."

Lizzie rolled her eyes. "It's not that bad, you know."

"I don't really have the time to be a merman right now," said Dean, checking to make sure he wasn't sprouting scales or a tail.

"Don't worry," said Lizzie. "The Elders will heal you."

Sam looked at her. "Really?"

Lizzie nodded. "You two have things to do…It's your job. I'll talk to them and see if there's a cure."

"Thank you," said Sam.

They both dried themselves off and got to their feet.

"Come on," said Sam, heading to one of the guards. "We gotta go."

They grabbed the clothes off of the two guards, put them on, and the three of them ran out of the building and to the Impala. They pulled up to the motel room and headed inside.

"Lizzie!" Lori exclaimed, immediately drying herself off and jumping off the bed.

The two girls hugged each other tight, laughing.

"I can't believe you're here!" said Lori. "Are you okay?" She pulled back to see if her sister was hurt or anything.

"No, I'm fine," said Lizzie. "Dean was a real hero."

"Me?" said Dean. "What about you with that water cannon? You knocked them all out."

"I wouldn't have been there to do that if you hadn't come to Sam's rescue in the first place," said Lizzie.

"Okay, let's stop blowing smoke up one another's private places," said Bobby. "Let's just get these girls back home."

"Yeah, we've gotta get these boys cured," said Lizzie.

Lori and Bobby both looked at her. "Boys?"

"Yeah, uh, my bad," said Sam. "Dean kind of…got turned."

"He what?" said Bobby.

"It was an accident!" said Sam. "Honest!"

"Well, we can get you both cured," said Lizzie.

"Are you sure?" asked Lori, giving her a look.

"Yeah," said Lizzie, looking up at Sam. "Yeah, I'm sure. They have family business to take care of. They need the cure."

Lori nodded. "Alright. Let's get back home."

Dean sulked the entire car ride back to Myrtle Beach. Sam kept glancing at him from the passenger seat. Dean hadn't said a word in five hours.

"I didn't mean to, you know," said Sam.

"Don't," said Dean. "Don't say it."

"Come on, man," said Sam. "We're gonna get cured."

"Maybe, Sam," said Dean. "Maybe. Who knows if these Elder people even have a cure."

"Then we'll figure something out," said Sam.

"Oh, yeah, 'cause we've only been trying to do that for the past two weeks," said Dean.

"Then we'll just live with it," said Sam. "We can still hunt down Lillith and break your deal like this."

"And the second we spill holy water on us, we change," said Dean. "Or try to put down a line of salt and dry up. Oh, yeah, that'll really scare 'em."

Sam looked back at the road, shaking his head. Nothing he said was gonna get Dean to change his attitude. He opted for just sitting in the car the rest of the trip.

When they got back to the city, they dropped Lori and Lizzie off at the dock and headed back to the motel. Dean plopped down at the table, grabbing the laptop to pass the time.

"I'm gonna head to the bathroom, in case Lizzie and Lori get the cure," said Sam.

Dean nodded noncommittally at the table.

"Look, I know you don't want this whole merman thing, but if you don't get in the water before the end of the day, you're gonna dry out," Sam told him before heading to the bathroom.

Dean stared at the laptop as Sam closed the door, feeling a tickle in his throat. He got up from the chair and headed to the sink, filling a glass of water. He drained three or four of them before setting the glass down on the counter, staring at his hand. Glancing in the direction of the bathroom, Dean turned the faucet on and slipped his hand underneath it. The scales immediately appeared on the back of his hand.

"Huh," said Dean, turning the water off. He stared at the scales. "Interesting…"

"Whatcha doing?"

Dean spun around, shoving his hand into his back jeans pocket. "What?"

Sam stood in the entrance to the kitchen area, arms crossed and a smirk on his face. "Were you just looking to see what color scales you have?"

"No," said Dean, leaning against the counter. "I was getting a drink."

Sam smiled, stepping closer. "So, what color?"

"I don't know," said Dean. "I was getting a drink."

"Come on," said Sam. "Blue? Green? Black?"

"Sam, I told you, I don't know," said Dean, shoving his hand further into his pocket.

Sam's eyebrows rose. "Pink?"

"What?" said Dean. "Dude, no, they're not pink!"

"So you do know what color," said Sam.

Dean rolled his eyes. "They're red, okay? They're red."

Sam shrugged. "Cool."

"I thought you were waiting for news from the girls," said Dean, heading back to the laptop.

"I was," said Sam. "I came back for a book to read."

"Oh," said Dean. "Psychic talk not interesting enough for you?"

Sam rolled his eyes. "Just go back to your porn." He walked back to the bathroom, closing the door.

Dean glared at the closed door. "It's not porn! It's research!"

"Right!" Sam called. "'Cause I totally believe that!"

Dean looked back at the laptop, closing down the window of the Busty Asian Beauties website. "It's not porn…"

Sam came out of the bathroom a half hour later. "So, the Elders say there is a cure."

"There is?" asked Dean.

"Problem is, the ritual can only be done during the spring equinox, which is in two days," said Sam.

Dean sighed. "So, we're stuck like this for two days."

"Looks like," said Sam. "So…I was gonna head down to the docks tonight. Wanna come with?"

"And get my swim on?" said Dean. "I don't think so."

"You're gonna have to get in the water anyway," said Sam. "Why not get some exercise out of it?"

"Dude, I'm not going," said Dean.

"Come on," said Sam. "It's more fun than it looks."

"I said I'm not going," said Dean. "Just because I'm stuck like this doesn't mean I have to enjoy it."

"Come on, just this once," said Sam.

Dean glared at him.

"You'll never get a chance like this again," said Sam.

Dean rolled his eyes. "If I go this once, will you shut up about it?"

"Definitely," said Sam.

"Fine," muttered Dean.

"In that case, we're gonna have to work on something," said Sam.

"Oh, yeah?" said Dean. "What?"

"Hydrokinesis," said Sam.

"Oh, come on…" muttered Dean, getting to his feet and pacing.

"You're gonna need to dry yourself off afterward," said Sam. "I'm not carrying you."

Dean huffed in annoyance. "Fine."

Sam got a glass full of water and set it on the table. "Go ahead."

Dean rolled his eyes again and concentrated on the water. After a few seconds, nothing happened.

"Satisfied?" grumbled Dean. "I suck."

"You're not concentrating," said Sam. "You're just humoring me."

Dean sighed deeply and, feeling really ridiculous, raised his hand and concentrated. The water immediately exploded out of the glass, hitting the ceiling and falling back to the table. Sam and Dean's eyes were wide as they stared at the empty glass.

"See…" said Sam, shocked. "You're a natural…"

"Whoa…" said Dean, staring at his hand. "How the hell did I do that?"

"You're a merman, remember?" said Sam.

"Yeah, but, it took you a while to learn how to do that," said Dean. "How did I do that so easily?"

"You got me," said Sam. "You must have a knack for this sort of thing."

"Alright, we practiced," said Dean. "Can we drop it now? I'm hungry." He grabbed his jacket, heading out the door.

Sam smiled, shaking his head, and followed Dean out.

**********************************************************************SPN***************************************************************************

"Alright, what'd you order for me?" asked Dean, walking back to the table from the bathroom.

"Your usual," said Sam.

He'd made sure to tell the waitress not to put any salt on their food whatsoever.

"Good," said Dean. "So…we're headed to the dock tonight."

Sam looked up at him, frowning. "Yeah…"

"Right…" said Dean, glancing at Sam real quick. "Listen, uh…what's it like?"

"What?" asked Sam.

"The whole…tail and…breathing underwater thing…" said Dean. "What was it like the first time?"

"Uh…weird, at first," said Sam. "I mean, it's not something a human being usually does…but it got easier…almost natural. I guess that's part of the merman brain, you know, making it feel natural."

"Right," said Dean, nodding. "Right."

Sam frowned. "Something wrong?"

"No," said Dean. "No, it's just…I have a thing about…the ocean…"

Sam's eyes widened. "You're kidding. First planes, and now the ocean?"

"Hey, there are a lot of dangerous things in the ocean," said Dean. "Sharks, for one thing."

Sam rolled his eyes. "Sharks, really?"

"Hey, sharks eat people," said Dean.

"In Jaws," said Sam. "They don't go after humans unless threatened. Besides, merpeople have a certain charm with animals. The fish and sharks and everything don't hurt them."

"Fine," said Dean.

The waitress brought their food over to their table. Dean grabbed the bottle of ketchup, putting some on his burger and plate. Sam dug into his salad. Dean tasted a fry and then grabbed the shaker of salt.

"Whoa, hey!" said Sam, grabbing Dean's arm about to pour some on his fries.

"What?" asked Dean, frowning.

"Salt, remember?" said Sam.

Dean shrunk a little in his seat. "Aw, man…" He put the salt down and went back to his meal.