9

Jungle Fever

"What in the world..?" He looked around frantically, turning in circles. Sam was looking around as well, but for whatever creature might show up.

Castiel was leaning against a tree, breathing heavily in the thick air, looking worn.

"Cas, what are we lookin' for?" Sam asked. The angel lifted his arm, gesturing to the brush next to them.

"Oh-kay," Patrick smiled, "you're good, I mean you guys are really, really good." He was still looking around. Sam, however, was rooted to the spot. And Patrick soon learned why.

"Damn it, Cas, I said not dangerous!"

Lurking next to a tree a few feet away was a horrible looking creature. It stood about three feet from the ground, its skin leathery and dark brown, spines running down its back. It's lips were pulled back into a snarl, sharp teeth bared, forked tongue darting in and out.

"Sam?" Patrick said quietly. "Wh-what is that?"

"That's a we need to get the hell out of here," Sam said, grabbing his arm and hauling him toward Castiel.

The angel grimaced and sighed before touching each other their heads again just as the little imp dove toward them.

Castiel fell onto Patrick's couch when they appeared back in the station. Both Cho –the only agent present in the room- and Dean's eyes grew when the trio suddenly materialized.

Sam looked from his brother to the agent, wide eyed and worried. Patrick had a hand on his forehead, sitting down next the wheezing angel, paled.

"I don't know what the hell just happened," Cho said. "But if you guys say I didn't see anything I'll believe you."

"You didn't see anything," Dean said quickly.

"Good enough for me," he said and bent back over the file in front of him.

"What was that?" Patrick said, looking up at him. "I mean what the hell was that?"

"A chupacabra," Sam said.

"You saw a what?" Dean exclaimed from his cuffed spot on the bench. "What the hell, Sam, where you tryin' to kill him?"

"No!" Sam retorted. "I told Cas not dangerous and then he takes us to the freakin' Amazon right next to one!"

"My apologies," Castiel gasped. "It was the first thing that came to mind. It was hard enough getting us there in the first place."

"You alright?" Sam asked. Castiel didn't answer. He simply shut his eyes and leaned his head back.

"Alright I want to know how you did that," Patrick said, standing.

"I told you, this stuff is real," Sam explained.

"No, I want to know how you got us from Sacramento to Argentina!" He was beyond freaked out. But that was the usual reaction.

"Well…" Sam began, looking at Dean, who gave a "what the hell, why not?" shrug. Sam took a deep breath. "Castiel is… isn't exactly-"

"He won't believe you," Castiel said without opening his eyes. "Despite what he just saw happen there is no way he'd believe you. I'd save your breath." Sam frowned.

"What?" Patrick asked, looking between the two. "What won't I believe?"

"Uh, that, um, that-"

"That Cas is an angel," Dean said, cutting off his brother's stammering.

"We should get everyone else in here," Cho said, standing and walking toward the break room. "This is absolutely insane and I didn't see you appear out of thin air right in front of me but I think everyone should hear this so you three can plead insanity."

Patrick was sitting at Van Pelt's desk now, staring at Castiel and shaking his head.

"No," he said firmly. "I saw that creature; I know we were in that place. But he is not… he can't be… there's no such thing!"

"Told you," Castiel grumbled.

"But you believe us about the whole 'mythical creatures are real' thing, right?" Dean said. "I mean, you get it now? You get that these murders aren't us?"

"Do I have a choice?" He said, looking horribly exasperated. He ran his hands over his face, his weariness finally showing through.

"Okay," Lisbon said, walking into the bullpen with Cho, Rigsby and Van Pelt in tow. "What the hell is going on?"

"This is insane," Lisbon said, elbows on her knees. Van Pelt nodded. "This is absolutely insane."

"I know this goes against everything you guys think is true," Sam said. Dean nodded, agreeing with him. "But you have to trust us. We can get these murders to stop, but you have to let us go."

"No," Rigsby said. "You guys are nuts. There's no way we're letting you lunatics out of here!" He looked over at Lisbon. "Right, Boss?" Lisbon said nothing. She kept her eyes on her hands. "Boss?"

"If Jane believes them… I mean, if he's says they're telling the truth…"

"You can't be serious!" Rigsby exclaimed.

"Lisbon, we-" Van Pelt began.

"Has he ever steered us wrong? Ever?" She asked. Patrick looked up. No one said anything. "I'm not saying that I can wrap my head around this, or even totally believe it or... I don't know. I just don't know. But I do know that if Patrick says that he believes them, then so do I."

She went to Dean, taking the handcuffs from his wrists.

"Boss, you –"

"I've got five people with the same testimony. That doesn't happen often and when it does, it is, undoubtedly the truth. If this were a normal situation what would we do?"

Van Pelt and Rigsby eyed Sam, Dean and Castiel suspiciously before looking at Cho and Patrick with worry.

"I want proof," Van Pelt said firmly, frowning. The brothers exchanged glances.

"We can get it. We just need time," Dean said. "Give us a little bit, alright?"

"There's a condition to this," Lisbon said. Sam and Dean frowned. "You have to work with us, we get to know what you know and visa versa. This may be over our heads but I want to do this as by-the-book as we can, alright?"

"If you say so, sweetheart."

"Get us some proof," Lisbon said. "For the rest of us, anyway. Without that, I can't believe you guys."

"Can do," Dean said. "We need to get our stuff though."

"And how do we know-"

"They won't go anywhere," Patrick assured, cutting Rigsby off.

No one said anything or moved for a beat.

"Then we'll be back in a minute," Dean said, walking out of the bullpen.

Patrick was staring at the floor, slowly gaining his composure back. His lack of sleep was wearing on him, and this was only making it worse.

But what he couldn't take, what was driving him absolutely mad was that his wife and daughter followed him wherever he went. They were standing next to him right now, and it took everything he had not to scream at the top of his lungs that he couldn't take it anymore.