Dearest Readers,

I hope you continue to enjoy reading this story just as much as I enjoy writing it. This is seriously going to be epic, so stay tuned for this chappy and the ones to follow ;)

XOXO Ally Layne.

Holy Water

Chapter 29: The Improved Scooby Doo Gang

The magical trio of monster hunters ended up becoming a quadro, or whatever the word for 'four badasses' would be.

Annabeth demanded she come along after Christmas, and Persie was starting to realize why. At least, from the way her best friend has been shamelessly flirting via research and books with the youngest Winchester, it was becoming painfully obvious.

Her favorite Wise Girl had felt left out of the action, so she brought herself back into it.

And maybe she had a crush on Sam, but of course for Annabeth that would be secondary.

They were now working a case that involved a gruesome murder- at least, that's what it looked like when reading about it in the newspaper and the local news stations. Of course, something like that would definitely be getting plenty of coverage.

In fact, it was actually Nico who had heard of the case from the ghost vine before anything else, and he immediately told Persie about it.

"I figured it is more along the lines of something that you guys deal with," he had told them, as Sam searched for the case on his laptop. They were staying in a hotel in Pennsylvania, after Persie had her time with her family.

"Women don't normally cough up blood and spit out teeth," Sam had admitted, reading through the gruesome reports.

Persie scowled. "That sounds like a nasty sort of hex."

"You're not going without me," Annabeth said, crossing her arms at the other demigod. "The last thing we need is you getting murdered by crazy witches."

Dean raised a brow. "Who said you could come with?"

She flicked her blonde ponytail back behind her shoulder with a smirk. "I can't remember an investigation you had with Persie that I didn't help you on, so I might as well just join your little Scooby Doo gang."

That left both the brothers gaping.

Dean, in shock. Sam... Persie had a feeling it was likely something completely different.

And thus, Annabeth joined the team.

But she was right, if they had Nico and Mrs. O'Leary tagging along, they probably could've been just like Scooby Doo and Mystery Inc. That made Persie wonder whether or not that would even be possible because it sounded way too good to be true.

But alas, Nico worked alone and Mrs. O'Leary was not meant to be a pet... some of the time.

As for being a group of four, Persie and Dean were happy to have someone keep Sam busy. If only because now they could be busy themselves and not feel any sense of remorse or wonder it was a good idea to leave Sam alone.

Not to mention, Persie was happy that there was another girl with her. She had been drowning in testosterone.

Dean and Persie were standing in the Dutton household, questioning Paul Dutton about the odd death of his wife.

"She was so scared," Paul Dutton said, from where he sat on the chair. Persie could see the far away look in his eye as it seemed to happen again as he spoke. "I couldn't help. I couldn't do anything to stop it."

Persie crossed her arms, ignoring the restriction of the black pantsuit as Dean wrote notes about Paul's recount. "I-I've talked to the police and I've talked to the medical examiner and no one can explain it."

"Well, that's why they put in a call to us, Mr. Dutton," Dean told him, looking up from his notes briefly. "But the CDC, that's the disease control, right? What do you think, it's some kind of virus?"

Annabeth closed the door to the bathroom where the woman died to take a closer look at things with Sam. She was wearing her navy suit with a white blouse, her hair tied back tight in a low bun. "There has to be something hidden in here," she told Sam quietly.

He nodded in agreement, using his flashlight to try and see if there was anything in any dark corner that could have gone unnoticed before. "This is where it happened."

She got down onto her knees with a huff of breath, and started to search lower. "Well, here goes nothing. Hopefully I don't find any spiders..."

Sam snorted. "Spiders?"

She looked up at him with a raised brow. "Oh, Winchester, you have no idea."

On the other side of the door, Persie continued the questioning. "We're not ruling out anything yet. Mr. Dutton, did Janet have any enemies?"

Paul's eyes widened. "I'm sorry?"

Dean continued, "Anyone that might have a reason to hurt her?"

"Wait," he stood up to his full height, blinking in shock. "Are you saying that someone poisoned her?"

Persie straightened out her jacket. "We have to cover every base, Mr. Dutton. Like we said before, we're not ruling anything out."

She noted the band of sweat that started to form on his forehead. His eyes, wide, and his defensive stance.

This man was hiding something.

Paul slowly started to nod before taking a few deep breaths. "Well, I mean, what kind of poison? You think a person could have done this?"

"Unfortunately, Mr. Dutton, this isn't something we haven't encountered before," Persie admitted, narrowing her eyes at his distress.

Dean raised his brows, catching on to the signs emulating from the other man. "Would anyone want to?"

Paul's eyebrows furrowed. "What? No, no, there's just no one that could've..."

Persie pursed her lips. "Are you sure? Anyone is capable of anything, Mr. Dutton." Her eyes narrowed at the drop of sweat that fell onto his collar. "Especially when under duress."

The door opened to their side, revealing Annabeth and Sam. Persie kept her eyes on Paul, who had started to stare off into space again.

"Mr. Dutton?" Dean asked.

"Uh, everyone loved Janet."

She nearly rolled her eyes. Yeah, that one was believable.

Sam nodded over at Persie and Dean, while Annabeth watched the man curiously.

Dean turned back to Paul. "Okay. Thank you very much, I think we've got everything we need. We'll get out of our way now."

They quickly made their way out of the house, Persie nearly storming out of there. Something about that guy was off, and she didn't know if she really wanted to know why. Annabeth, for her part, immediately knew something was off with her friend.

Annabeth let out a sigh when they walked outside to the sprinkling rain that had most certainly not been there when they walked into the Dutton's house.

Persie, on the other hand, was pretty pleased to see that there was some water dripping from the sky. After that man's mind games, she could probably use a bit of an energy boost. Sure, she could avoid getting wet if she really wanted to, but one had to admit it would look weird if people saw her body and clothes staying dry while everyone else looked like drowned rats.

"You okay, Seaweed Brain?"

Persie spared Annabeth a glance, smiling wryly at the worry in those gray eyes. "Is it just me or did that dude seem pretty evasive to you?"

Dean looked down at her knowingly. "He throw you off?"

"Well, it's not like I know," Sam spoke up. "I was under the sink."

Both Dean and Persie ignored the younger Winchester, as Dean pulled her close into his side. "You sure you okay, Seph?" He asked her lowly.

She nodded into the arm of his suit.

He sighed. That was going to have to be good enough.

Annabeth, on the other hand, heard Sam loud and clear before she smacked his arm. "Don't lie, you know it was me who found the thing."

Persie and Dean snapped their focus over at the other two. "What thing?" Dean asked.

Sam pulled out a small pouch from his pocket placing it into Dean's waiting hand. Persie grit her teeth at the sight of it and immediately slipped out from under his arm. Whatever it was emulated dark magic and evil, and she wanted no part of it.

They stopped walking down the path as Dean slowly opened the bag, revealing its contents.

"Hex bag," Annabeth said dryly.

"Awe, gross," Dean groaned.

Sam nodded, looking perturbed at the bag's contents. "Yeah, these are bird bones, rabbit's teeth. This cloth is probably cut from something Janet Dutton owned."

Dean glanced back over his shoulder at the house before looking back to Persie and the others and handed the bag back to Sam. "So, we're thinking a witch?"

Persie let Dean wrap his arm around her again as they started walking again toward the Impala. "Uh, yeah, and not some new-age wicked water douser, either," Sam said.

Annabeth nodded her agreement from Sam's other side. "This is some Old World black magic stuff," she added.

"Warts and all," Sam finished.

They climbed into the car, Persie sitting behind Dean while Annabeth took the seat behind Sam. Persie immediately looked over at Annabeth with a raised brow. "So you know Old World black magic, now?"

"So what? I spend time with Lou Ellen and start picking stuff up," she admitted, her arms crossing at her chest. "It also helps that I knew you would probably run into something like this. To be prepared, I looked into it and I found myself grossly out of my depth... so I of course had to ask for some information from the Hecate Cabin."

"Hecate Cabin?" Dean overheard, turning around in his seat to give Annabeth one of his signature what the fuck looks.

Persie shrugged. "After the first war, the children of Hecate were given a cabin of their own."

Sam's brows furrowed. "Children of Hecate? I didn't know-"

"That she was still getting around and doing the down and dirty?" Persie finished with a wry grin. "Yeah, well, she does. And her kids are talented at spells and all things magic. Lou Ellen, the counselor for the Hecate Cabin, is really cool."

Annabeth snorted. "You just like her because she can make things blow up."

She didn't even bother trying to deny it. "Well yeah, and she can make things levitate. Do you know how cool that is? Like imagine me levitating a sword and having a fight with myself." Persie let out a wistful sigh. "That's so cool."

Dean held up a hand. "I think that's cool."

She smirked and winked at him. "I knew there's a reason why I liked you, Hot Shot."

Sam rolled his eyes. "Okay, I thought things would be better now they are together but I think it's gotten worse."

Annabeth nodded. "Definitely worse."

Dean glared at his brother. "Bitch."

"Jerk."

He felt a small smile tugging at the edges of his lips, before turning to put his hands on Baby's wheel. However, it only took one moment for him to remember just what kind of conversation was taking place before Persie started flirting with him.

He shook his head, clearing the thoughts and focusing on their current case. "I hate witches," he said as he started the car and started to drive off. "They're always spewing their bodily fluids everywhere."

Sam let out a chuckle as Persie snorted. "Sounds like someone else I know."

"Pretty much," Annabeth agreed.

Dean ignored them. "It's creepy, you know, it's downright unsanitary."

"Yeah, well, someone definitely had it out for Janet Dutton," Sam said.

"Someone had to have snuck into that house to plant the bag," Annabeth pondered. "How would they have gotten in? Not a small enough town for the Duttons to leave their doors or windows unlocked, so perhaps whoever did it knows the Duttons?"

"It doesn't take much to break into a home unnoticed," Dean pointed out. "We could be looking for some old, craggy, Blair bitch in the woods."

"It could be anyone," Sam sighed, leaning back in his seat. "Neighbor, coworker, man, woman- that's the problem. They're human, they're like everyone else."

"They just also happen to practice black magic," Annabeth told him. "According to Lou Ellen, any dark magic like that will leave a residual energy that can be traced, we would just have to find someone who can do that."

Persie tilted her head. "Someone who can see through the Mist?"

She nodded. "The Mist usually acts as a cover-up for those kinds of things. You find someone who can see through it, we can track wherever it's coming from, or rather, who it's coming from."

Sam looked at the two over his shoulder. "So, this Mist, you say that the two of you can see through it because you're demigods?"

Persie scratched the back of her neck. "Most of the time, at least, when something isn't purposefully hiding itself."

He looked at Annabeth pointedly. "Is that why you knew to look under the sink?"

She gave him a small grin. "You got me."

"So the two of you going to use your super scent or whatever to find the hag that did this?" Dean asked, looking at the two through the rearview mirror.

Persie raised a brow. "We're not dogs, Hot Shot. What Annie means is that we can see who is doing it when they're in front of us, it'd be pretty obvious and unsettling."

"So how're we gonna find 'em, then?"

"I'd be willing to bet my life that Paul Dutton is hiding something," she said. "In fact, I know he is."

"An affair?" Annabeth asked.

She shrugged. "I wouldn't be surprised."

"So if we find his motive..." Sam started.

"We find the murderer," Dean finished.

Persie gave Annabeth a look before she reached out and grabbed Dean's shoulder, giving him a solid squeeze. "That's what we just said, babe."

Dean rolled his eyes at her in the mirror, but was unsuccessful at hiding the smile that shot to his lips.

Babe. That's definitely something he could get used to.

.

.

.

Persie was happy to get back to their hotel rooms and change into something more comfortable than those damned suits. Sure, her pants made her butt look hella good and she was sure Dean was definitely taking his time when he walked behind her, but they just weren't doing it for her on a comfort level.

And don't get her started about that suit coat. If she found herself in a fight, there were going to be some serious issues with how little she could move her arms.

Not to mention- no pockets? Seriously, where was Riptide supposed to go?

When she voiced those problems to Dean who was sitting on their bed and taking off his shoes, he looked confused. "What do you mean, you don't have pockets? What're those right there?" He gestured over at the two fake pocket openings.

Emphasis on fake.

She tried shoving her hands into them, and could barely fit her pinky fingers.

"What the fu-"

"Doesn't seem right, does it?"

He shook his head. "No, it actually seems counter intuitive really. Why no pockets?"

Persie looked at her butt in the mirror, eying the two fake pockets on the back of the slacks with disdain. "Probably not to take away from the assets." She looked over at Dean who was obviously checking her out, too. "And probably because men don't want women holding onto anything, either. Gives them more control."

Dean shrugged. "I wouldn't be surprised, to be honest."

Persie sighed, slipping out of her pants into some more comfortable jeans that definitely had pockets for her to stash Riptide.

"Nice, uh, panties, you got there."

She looked down at her unzipped jeans to see that she was wearing her Finding Nemo panties. She looked up at Dean with a raised brow. "Jealous?"

He let out a low chuckle as he unbuttoned his dress shirt and changed it out for one of his henleys. "You know it, babe."

Persie winked over at him as she zipped up her jeans and put on a long sleeve shirt her mom had got her for Christmas from some hiking store. It was nice, warm, and made her feel all cozy inside.

By the time she had finished changing, she looked over at Dean who was still sitting there in his henley and dress pants. "What?"

He shook his head. "You're just beautiful, that's all."

She grinned, and walked over to climb into his lap, pulling him in for a kiss. "That sounded very rehearsed, babe. But I'll let it slide."

"Was not."

"Oh, it definitely was."

.

.

.

"Why is this guy eating in his car?" Persie asked, looking at the lone figure in the vehicle across the street.

"Maybe he misses his wife," Dean offered, leaning back in his seat with a sigh. "Maybe it's just a good burger and he wants to eat it while it's warm."

Annabeth scoffed. "He's hiding from someone."

Sam's eyebrows raised. "How'd you know?"

She shrugged. "He's avoiding being caught in plain sight, he hasn't been home all day- his home is where his wife died. That's where he could be targeted, too," she explained. "But the problem for him is he didn't realize that he had an affair with a witch."

"Still going on with the affair idea?" Dean asked.

Persie nodded in tandem with Annabeth. "It would make sense."

"Why does the guy always gotta cheat on the chick, though?" Dean asked, looking at Sam with raised brows. "It seems like every time it's always the guy."

"Maybe Janet was getting some on the side with a taken man," Sam offered, looking back at Annabeth and Persie curiously. "And their spouse or girlfriend decided to get some revenge."

Persie shook her head. "Then why was Paul acting so cagey earlier?"

"Maybe he was in on it," Dean said, a small grin pulling on his features. "You have to admit, the whole plot you both configured is a little sexist."

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "It just makes sense with the situation, Winchester."

"Wait-"

"What is he doing?"

Looking out the window, Persie noticed that Paul had gotten out of his car and looked to be visibly choking on something.

This isn't good.

Dean immediately whipped Baby into gear and pulled up next to Paul's car, where Sam and Persie were out from their seats before he pulled into park.

"You got driver's side, Sammy, I got back seat!" Persie ordered, throwing the back door open to look for whatever the witch might've planted.

"I'll take the passenger side!" Annabeth called out, hauling ass to get to the other entrance.

The three frantically searched under everything, Annabeth nearly tearing into the seat to try and figure out if there was something underneath it. Persie looked over at Annabeth. "There's something here, I can feel it!"

"Focus, Seaweed Brain, do you know where it is?"

Persie looked over at Sam, "Check the steering wheel, it's oozing dark shit."

The sounds of Paul's retching and gasping for air made Sam purse his lips as he ripped off the guard of the steering column, and there it was.

"Sammy, you got anything?" Dean called out from where he was trying to help the flailing Paul.

"Got it!"

Sam grabbed the hex bag and took out his small torch before lighting the damned object on fire, dropping it to the ground as a blue and green flame started to bust out of it.

"Thank the gods," Persie sighed, as Paul was already starting to recover.

Dean helped him lean up against the car before wrapping an arm around Persie's shoulders and squeezing. She smiled up at him.

Annabeth walked around the car and looked at Paul quizzically. "Are you okay?"

His eyes were wide and they watched as he struggled to regulate his breathing. "What the hell is happening to me?"

Dean took his arm back from around Persie and looked down at the man seriously. "Someone murdered your wife and now they're trying to kill you, that's what's happening to you."

Paul started to shake his head. "That's impossible! There's no way-"

"If we hadn't been following you, you'd be a doornail right now," Dean deadpanned. "Now, who wants you dead?"

He blinked. "I... uh..."

"Come on," Persie tried to encourage him. "Think, you can do it."

"There's a woman..."

"A woman, okay?" Dean asked, egging him to give them more.

"An affair, a mistake." Paul let out a sigh. "She was unbalanced, she was blackmailing me and I put an end to it a week ago."

Annabeth raised a brow. "Was there anything else odd about her that you can remember?"

"What's her name?" Sam added, taking a step closer to him.

"What could she have to do with-"

"Paul," Dean interrupted him. "What is her name?"