Day at the Beach

Sam and Dean went to go talk to the victim's families while Ashley agreed to check out the beach. Ben happily went along and agreed to watch Justin and Tara. As she toed the sand around where the two people miraculously drowned, she couldn't help but think about how nice it was here. Aside from drowning on solid land, this beach was nice and safe- Ashley could just see how life would be if they moved here. Tara would be running after Justin while she watched from the porch. Ben most likely would have picked up surfing, all while her brothers were still roaming the country looking for the next Jefferson Starships.

That fantasy brought a smile to her face, but was interrupted by her big toe colliding with something other than sand. "Hey, Ben" Ashley called over, turning her back towards the breeze coming off the ocean.

"Yeah?" he answered. His eyes caught the wind blowing her hair and thin sweater tighter across her body. Ben had never seen Ashley look this relaxed and at ease before, even when she was spending time with him or Justin or Tara. "W-what's up?" he managed out around his thoughts.

"Call Sam, I think I found something." Ben walked over to where Ashley was standing to see a half-dozen hex bags popping up out of the sand. "We got something big on our hands."

The look on Ben's face must have been one like Ashley had never seen before because she instantly started laughing. "The hell is so funny, Ash?" Ben gawked as he continued to stare at her feet.

"Just call Sam" Ashley said as she kicked one of the hex bags up into her hand before walking back to where her children were playing in the sand.

"So, how many hex bags?" Dean asked as he loosened his tie and took his jacket off.

"Um about 20" Ashley replied from the bathroom where she was trying to clean all the sand off Tara.

"So what? One per victim?" Dean yelled back to her.

"I don't know" she said stepping out of the bathroom with her hair wrapped in a towel along with a puffy eyed baby girl. "But I brought one back, in pieces of course. Here, take grumpy" she said handing off the damp bundle.

Dean reluctantly took Tara from Ashley while she went over to where she last put the diaper bag. "But I am in my fed suit" he whined as he balanced Tara on one hip. She automatically latched onto his neck while Ashley only shrugged as she threw a fresh diaper over to Dean. "Don't tell me you put the bag next to the wipes" he chuckled as he put Tara down on the bed.

"Ran out of pockets" she jeered with a big smile.

"So, what's in it?" Sam asked as he walked through the connecting door leading to the children's hotel room with a freshly washed Justin.

"Bunch of crap meant to kill, but this one's already been called on" she informed her brothers.

"Some look older, more weathered maybe?" Dean asked as he put Tara's clothes on as well.

"Yeah" Ashley shrugged as she set out Tara's dinner.

"Like 10 years of sand and water, weathered?"

"Possibly, why?" Ashley asked now fully invested.

"These two families, multiple members have died this way- going back to early 2000s" Sam replied as he handed a police file over to Ashley.

"No shit" she whispered as she thumbed through. "So what are you thinking?"

"One old ass witch-"

"- and a fricken strong one at that" Sam finished for his brother. "Other than that, we have no clue."

"What about rough reaper with a thing for this family" Ben suggested as he came back with dinner for everyone but Tara.

"But the hex bag?" Sam asked at the same time.

"Could be following orders, like uh- that one in Nebraska" Dean recalled.

"But that was black magic."

"Come on, Sammy" Ashley chuckled as she sat down to feed Tara her peas and chicken pieces. "you should know black magic can be used through a hex bag. You okay?"

"Yeah, just tired I guess."

"Eat" Ashley and Dean ordered at the same time.

In the morning, Ashley rolled away from Sam's side to see Dean perched on the side of his bed facing the door. It was way too early for Dean to be horizontal and scared Ashley enough to take a look at his energy. She held out her hands and began to gauge what her brother was feeling. His energy was angry and tormented, yet the colors were gray muddled with blue tones around is head. He's really messed up Ashley thought to herself. I can feel his energy, but his aura says he's depressed and trying to stay strong all by himself.

It broke Ashley's heart to see Dean's shoulders so tight and yet slumped. She couldn't keep her thoughts to herself any longer, so instead she quietly padded over to where he was sitting. "De?" she whispered "you're not okay. Please let me help you."

Dean looked up from his calloused hands. His eyes were puffy from lack of sleep and his hair was messy from constantly running a hand through it. "How do you know?" he growled in a voice almost animal like with how deep it was.

"I have my ways" she replied, unsure if she actually should be standing right next to Dean right now. "Let me try something, please? I think it'll help."

"I can practically smell the fear on you. Why?"

"Because I can't predict your next move anymore. Just-please just trust me?" Ashley squeaked.

"Fine, but not here" he said getting up from the bed as he gestured towards Sam's bed.

"Where are your keys?" she asked as she grabbed her jacket.