Thank you all for sticking with me after the long time it took for me to update. I had a friend pass away from an overdose at the end of February and I took some time off. Alas, I am back, and ready for more fun to come!

XOXO Ally Layne

Holy Water

Chapter 12: CougarTown

The recovery was smooth.

Luckily the boys were able to get Persie out of the hospital quick enough so she could heal herself with what Dean referred to as her "fishy powers." She refused to try and do that in the view of doctors, as the last thing she wanted was to be locked up and studied for the rest of her life.

The Winchesters, for their part, understood her hesitation.

And they also understood her hesitation to tell her Uncle Bobby just what happened on the hunt, and the three decided to keep her hospital visit a little secret between themselves.

"Does this mean we're some sort of secret alliance, now?" Persie asked them as they drove through the night after another lead that Sam had ready as soon as she was healed.

Dean snorted. "Don't know what you mean."

She popped her fruit-punch flavored tootsie pop in her mouth and rolled her eyes before moving the large sucker to the side as it bulged in her cheek. "Well, when people share secrets, they normally have to form an alliance with each other."

Sam looked back at her with an odd look. "And who told you that?"

Persie shrugged as she pulled the sucker out of her mouth with a loud "pop."

He rolled his eyes and turned to face the front, but she caught Dean's smirk through the rearview mirror. "What?"

Dean's smirk widened. "You like sucking on that?"

She blinked. "Excuse me while I'm trying to answer the long-sought-after question of how many licks it takes to get to the center of a tootsie pop."

Sam snorted into the water bottle he was drinking.

"As long as you excuse me when I try to answer the question of how many licks it will take me to get to the center of you," Dean said seductively.

Sam face palmed while Persie pulled the sucker out of her mouth again.

"Boo! That was definitely a 1 out of 10, 10 most likely to get in my pants," she announced, gestures and all.

He laughed. "That was at least a two."

She shrugged. "I've heard two's that were far better than that, Winchester."

Dean let out a low huff, before giving her a wink through the rearview mirror, a twinkle shining in his green eyes. "I'll show you two, sweetheart."

Persie snorted, popping the sucker back in her mouth as she raised her brows at him, putting her hands out in a "prove it" gesture.

"You're going to wish you didn't do that," Sam warned her, but she smiled secretly at the man as Dean was distracted during the drive.

There was something going on between the brothers, and she had known since the day they left the hospital. Dean was mad about something that Sam must've done, and he was going to explode about it sooner or later.

She just hoped it would be when she wasn't in the impala, too.

"She's going to wish she didn't do what, Sam?" Dean asked, something sounding prickly in the innocent question.

The younger Winchester looked over at his brother, who had tensed in his hold on the wheel. "Uh…"

"Just like I wish you wouldn't keep going around and ignoring every damned thing I keep tellin' you!"

Ah, there it is.

Persie just sunk back in the seat and watched the fight occur like a tennis match.

Dean's knuckles had turned white, his lips drawn together in a sour expression. "Do you really think I wouldn't notice a bullet missing in the Colt, Sam?"

The sucker came out of Persie's mouth with an audible "pop."

She definitely didn't know about this.

"Dean…" Sam tried.

"You went after her, didn't you? The Crossroads Demon? After I told you not to."

"Well, yeah," Sam admitted, "But-"

"You could've gotten yourself killed!"

"But I didn't!"

"And you shot her-"

Persie threw her hands up. "What in Hades's name is wrong with you, Sam?"

Both Winchesters looked back at her in a mix of shock and curiosity. However, that could also be them thinking she was just crazy, but she wasn't too sure about how sane she was either.

Sam sighed. "What did I do?"

"Well," She started, pointing her sucker toward him for emphasis, "You didn't invite me, for starters-"

"Oh, come on!" Dean yelled, cutting her off. "You can't condone this!"

Persie rolled her eyes. "You can't keep controlling your brother, it's a free country, hotshot."

He let out a low bark of dead laughter. "Yeah, some country this is."

"Dean…" Sam started, but trailed off at his brother's still pissed-off expression.

"Was she annoying?" Persie asked Sam. "Most of the time the monsters usually are quite annoying before I slice them up."

Sam looked like he thought about it for a second. "She was a smartass."

"So that's why you shot her?"

"Yep."

"Huh."

She put her sucker back in her mouth and turned to look out the window, staring out at the trees that flew by. The shadows from the night falling over the horizon had darkened the forest considerably, but she still could feel the tranquility of the woods deep inside.

"So," Dean coughed, causing Persie to look back over to the driver in question. "Does this mean that I'm out of my deal?"

"Don't you think that I would have mentioned that if you were, Dean?"

Sam sounded tired.

Persie blinked. "Then who do we have to kill to get him out of the contract?"

He let out a sigh, leaning his head back against the seat rest in what looked like defeat from where she sat. "She wouldn't say."

Dean shook his head, his jaw clenching in disdain. "Well, we should find out who, of course, our best lead would be the Crossroads Demon." He paused, before eyeing Sam knowingly. "Oh, wait a minute…"

"That's not funny, Dean," Persie said, just as she felt something clench in her chest at the thought of Dean's deal coming to an end. "We're just going to have to figure it out from another angle."

"No, it's not funny, Seph!" He agreed, rather loudly for her taste. "It was a stupid freakin' risk, and Sam shouldn't have done it!"

Sam's head whipped off the backrest and turned to Dean quicker than what Persie though humanly possible. "I shouldn't have done it?" he asked, his voice completely disbelieving. "You're my brother, Dean. And no matter what you do, I'm gonna try to save you. And I'm sure as hell not gonna apologize for it, alright?"

Persie kept her mouth shut, seeing the love Sam had for Dean in a new light.

He wasn't trying to go on a demon-murdering rampage for kicks, he was just doing it to try and save his brother. How sweet, her internal voice cooed.

Dean, for his part, just shook his head and eyed the road in front of him.

And Sam, on the other side, mimicked his brother and turned away to stare out the passenger window, nearly putting his back to Dean completely.

Persie sighed and continued to lick the tootsie pop. These boys were going to need some serious help, and it seemed that she was the new number one prospect who was going to do it.

Poor Uncle B, she realized. He must've had to deal with these two children for years.

It's only been a few weeks and she's exhausted.

.

.

.

.

The unlikely trio stood in a parlor of an older home the morning after the little showdown in the impala. Dressed in their detective gear, the three were standing in front of an older woman donning a pearl necklace and who wore no ring on her finger.

Something that Persie was sure she was trying to make it obvious about.

The woman was holding a picture of a beautiful young woman who had just died under mysterious circumstances. It was her niece.

A niece, who had drowned in a shower.

A shower.

Somehow Persie found something fishy about that scenario.

"But I don't understand," The older woman crooned. "I already went over this with the other detectives."

"We're with the sheriff's department," Persie cut in, but the older woman was obviously not too interested in anything she had to say. "They were in a different department, and we're just covering all of our bases."

"Right," Dean agreed, shooting her a grateful look.

Persie had to hide her face from the older Winchester, tilting her head just enough for her hair to cover the side of her face, falling down her shoulders in sleek beach waves that came naturally for the daughter of Poseidon.

The last thing she wanted him to see was the blush that flittered along her cheeks.

"So, Mrs. Case," Sam continued

"Please," she cut him off, her eyes widening in what was probably supposed to be a seductive look. "Ms. Case."

Both Dean and Persie raised their brows at how obvious this woman, Ms. Case, was being with Sam. She slowly eyed him up and down, stopping just below his waist with a grin.

They were both enjoying the awkward smile Sam had plastered on his face as he was practically undressed under the woman's hungry gaze.

"Okay," Sam cleared his throat. "Um, Ms. Case…" He tried to get her to look him in the eye instead of directly at his, well, we all know what she was looking at. "You were the one who found your niece in the shower?"

"Drowned?" Dean guessed.

"So the coroner says," Ms. Case sighed. "Now, you tell me, how could someone just drown in a shower?"

Persie shrugged. "I've seen odder things, believe it or not."

Dean coughed to hide the laugh that broke through, and Sam looked away to try and hide the amusement that lit up in his eyes. However, he quickly shook his head, clearing up the amusement before turning back to Ms. Case.

"How would you describe Sheila's behavior in the days before her death?" He asked. "I mean, did she seem frightened? Maybe she said something out of the ordinary?"

Ms. Case looked up at him in suspicion before a wide grin broke through her serious facade. "Wait a minute, you're all working with Alex, aren't you?"

Dean looked between Sam and Persie before shrugging half-heartedly. "Yep, absolutely," he told Ms. Case. "That's… Alex and us, we're like this." When he crossed his fingers, Persie definitely found a headache starting to appear in her temples.

Men. Can't do anything on their own, can they?

"Well, why didn't you say so?" Ms. Case asked, laughing in relief. "Alex has been such a comfort. But I'm sorry," she paused, taking a moment to sit down on the armchair behind her. "I thought the case was solved?"

"Well, no," Persie stated, looking down at the older woman in what she hoped was sympathy. "Not yet, at least. We're just doing some finishing up."

Ms. Case's lips pursed. "I see."

"So, anyway, we were talking about your niece," Sam prompted, and like magic, the woman immediately perked up at his attention.

She swore this woman must've been a cat or something in her past life because she was practically purring under his affections.

"Well, yes, Sheila mentioned something quite strange before she died," Ms. Case admitted. "She said she saw a boat."

"A boat?" Persie and Dean asked in perfect unison, and she could feel Dean's stare on the side of her face as she tried to keep her cool and definitely not look in his direction.

Don't let him see you blush, don't let him see you blush-

"Well that is just adorable," Ms. Case cooed at the two of them.

Automatically, Persie's eyes shifted over to Dean, who was still looking at her with an unreadable expression. She blushed.

Dammit.

"Yes, yes, they're quite cute, I agree," Sam said off-handedly, before jumping back into the conversation. "You were talking about a ship?"

Ms. Case nodded, but her eyes were dancing in amusement at Persie and Dean's stunned expressions. It was as if lightning had just struck them both in an instant.

"Yes, one minute it was there, the next it was gone," She explained. "It disappeared right before her eyes. You think it was a ghost ship?"

They all exchanged glances over Ms. Case's head, as Persie and Dean seemed to be shaken out of whatever funk they were in after hearing her words.

"Alex thinks it could be a ghost ship."

"Well…" Persie started slowly, "It could be."

Ms. Case nodded, seemingly satisfied with the answer. Her eyes darted back over to Sam. "Well, let me know if there's anything else I can do for you," she told him, standing up and taking a step toward him as she did so.

She reached a hand out to stroke his own, her thumb trailing along the length of Sam's index finger… repeatedly. Persie felt her mouth fall open as Sam, who looked wildly uncomfortable, took a step back from the older woman and placed his hands behind his back with a stiff nod.

"Anything at all," Ms. Case repeated, eying Sam once again like he was her favorite brand of candy.

Sam nodded, looking over to his brother first for help, but Dean was trying and definitely failing to hide his laughter behind his hand.

And when Sam looked over to Persie, she definitely mouthed, "She just jacked you off!"

Sam cleared his throat, which seemed to force Ms. Case from her musings, at least, for the time being. Persie wouldn't be surprised if after they left she took some time for herself, well, and perhaps a little friend, too.

Wink, wink.

Sam took the opportunity to quickly make his way for the door, Dean and Persie following behind, Dean guiding her out as he reached her side with a hand softly placed upon her back.

Sam wasn't the only one who left the house with a red face, that day.