A/N: Here's Chapter 4! I really hope you guys enjoy this! Thanks for all the reviews and views and please keep them coming!
Chapter 4: Provenance
"You can't be serious."
"I'm dead serious, Dean!"
"You actually-"
"Shut up, you guys!" Sam snapped in irritation.
Ever since they'd hit the road that morning, all Dean and Mia did was bicker nonstop.
"Can't you two go ten minutes without arguing?" Sam asked in exasperation.
"NO!" Dean and Mia shouted in unison.
Sam pinched the bridge of his nose as he attempted to zone out of whatever argument they were currently having, this time it was something about Mia's favorite band.
"You actually think Coldplay is better than Zeppelin?" Dean snorted in disbelief.
Mia crossed her arms in frustration.
"Of course! At least Coldplay is still relevant today! Unlike those stupid rock bands, you listen to nonstop. I swear if I have to listen to Thunderstruck one more time I'm gonna-"
Just then, Dean turned up the radio, which was blasting Shoot to Thrill by ACDC until it drowned out Mia's complaints.
"THAT'S IT!" Mia shouted as she pulled out her iPod and plugged in her headphones before cranking up the volume to the max.
Now Sam was stuck with rock music blaring on the radio as his brother sang along, and the blasting pop beats coming from Mia's headphones. He sighed and stared out the window in defeat. They really needed a case.
Later that day, they decided to hit a bar for a drink and dinner. Dean spent his time there hitting up some chicks, while Mia played darts and Sam rifled through local newspapers to see if he could find them something.
"Uh, Mia, wanna take a look at this?" Sam called as he found an intriguing headline.
Mia put down her darts and took a swig of beer before she sat down beside Sam.
"Couple found with their throats slashed. Hmm, it doesn't sound like something supernatural so far," Mia mused as she scanned the article.
Sam pointed at a particular point, "I know but get this; it says that the doors and windows were locked, no sign of break-in, no prints, and no murder weapons."
The brunette's eyes flashed in interest, "Okay, that definitely sounds weird."
The boy nodded in agreement and glanced across the bar to where his older brother was flirting with two girls. Sam waved Dean over, but Dean ignored him.
Sam continued to flag down his brother but to no avail.
"Unbelievable," the younger Winchester grumbled.
Mia took another long sip of her beer before standing up, "I've got this."
She waltzed over to Dean and smacked him across the face.
"That's for giving me herpes you, jerk!" She shrieked before turning on her heel and walking back to Sam, who was laughing so hard he could barely breathe.
Dean looked utterly horrified by Mia's actions and so did the blonde and brunette girls he had talked to.
"Ladies! It's not true, I swear! I'd never sleep with her!" Dean scrambled, but the damage was done, and the two women walked away, shaking their heads in disgust.
Dean furiously stomped over to Sam's table and gave Mia the dirtiest look he could manage.
"What the hell was that?!" He shouted at the tipsy girl.
"What? You weren't paying any attention to us, and I figured without them distracting you, we'd be able to get you to look into this new case."
The heated fury building within Dean was unrelenting, but at the words 'new case', he calmed down a little.
"What new case?"
Sam cleared his throat, "Um, I found this newspaper article, about a couple whose throats were slashed in New York, there were no prints, no signs of break-in, and no murder weapons."
The girls who were still staring at Dean in revulsion, prevented him from focusing on his brother's explanation.
"Dude, just let it go," Sam groaned at his brother's expression.
"Yeah yeah, but if drunky here hadn't acted like a psycho, I would've gotten dates for both of us," Dean responded with an evil glare at Mia.
Sam rolled his eyes, "I can get my own dates."
"But you don't," Dean shot back.
"The case, Dean, focus. Anyways, I was looking through Dad's Journal and I found out that it's not the only thing that's happened in upstate New York. He's listed similar incidents here that occurred in 1912, 1945, and 1970. They all have the same MO; doors locked, throats slit, so much time has passed between the murders that no one's seen a pattern, but Dad did."
Dean nodded in agreement. Usually when John was involved, he was more on board with a case. "Alright, I'm with you, we'll check this out first thing, but for now I'm gonna take another shot at getting a date for tonight."
Mia smiled mischievously, "Good luck, I think the little herpes incident has basically spread across the bar."
He looked up and saw almost every girl in the room giving him a dirty look.
"Have I mentioned how much I don't like you?" He snarled at her.
Mia pretended to check her watch, "Not since four."
The next morning the three of them were up at the crack of dawn and ready to investigate the house where the young couple had been murdered.
But Dean, who had somehow managed to sleep with a girl from that bar last night, fell asleep on the ride over. It was up to Sam and Mia to check out the home.
"Anything?" Sam called after a few minutes of walking around the empty house with the silent EMF.
Mia sighed disappointedly as she checked her own EMF, "Nada. Maybe there is no case after all, just weird coincidences."
Sam shook his head, "There are no coincidences in this job. Trust me. Come on, let's not give up just yet."
They headed back to the Impala where Dean was sleeping in the passenger seat.
"Wanna really mess with him?" Sam asked Mia with a big smile.
She nodded enthusiastically.
The boy reached his arm through the driver's window and slammed his hand down on the horn causing it to go off and startle Dean.
"Dude!" He called out in irritation.
Sam just laughed and Mia joined him.
"Did you find anything in the house?" Dean grumbled to his brother as he sat up.
"Nope, and I researched the history of the house last night while you were… out. Still nothing."
"Then maybe it's some sort of cursed object or hex," Dean replied dismissively.
"Yeah maybe, but there's nothing in the house. It's completely empty," Mia retorted.
At her words, Dean's eyes widened in alarm. "Where did all their furniture and stuff go then?"
"A charity auction," Sam replied.
As soon as they got to the auction house, Mia knew they did not belong there.
Everyone wore fine dresses and suits while she, Sam, and Dean were still wearing their hunting clothes, consisting of jeans and hoodies. Even their car looked out of place among the various Ferraris, Lamborghinis, and Mercedes's parked in the lot.
The moment they walked into the auction Dean began shoving fistfuls of appetizers into his mouth.
"Hello I'm Mr. Blake, can I help you?" An older-looking man wearing a fine suit asked.
"Yes, I'd like some champagne," Dean asked with a mouthful of mini quiche.
"Dean, he's not a waiter," Mia hissed at the older Winchester.
Sam reached his hand out to the man, "I'm Sam Connors and this is my brother Dean and our sister Mia. We represent Connors Paintings."
The man refused to shake Sam's hand and scrutinized each one of them carefully. It was obvious that he didn't believe a word Sam had said.
"Gentlemen, and Lady, this is a private auction and I don't remember seeing your names on the guest list," Mr. Blake countered rudely.
"It's there Chuckles, just take a look," Dean responded before taking a glass of champagne and heading off with Sam and Mia behind him.
"You are so embarrassing, you're gonna get us kicked out," Mia whispered harshly at Dean who chugged his champagne as though it was beer.
He scoffed at her accusation, "Me? What about you, you're the accident-prone one, one trip and we're ten thousand G's in debt."
Sam rubbed his temples, "That's why I said Mia's our sister because you two fight like a brother and sister!"
They all shut up and wandered around the auction for anything that looked 'spooky,' as Dean put it.
"Hey look, it's the Addams Family," Dean snickered when they came across a creepy-looking family portrait.
"A fine example of American Primitive, wouldn't you say?" A young woman's voice called to them.
The three hunters turned around to see a young woman with brown hair and a black dress descending a spiral staircase towards them.
Sam frowned, "Well I'd say, it's more Grant Wood than Grandma Moses, but you already knew that and you wanted to see if I did."
Mia and Dean, who had no idea what was going on, exchanged confused looks. Dean shoved another mini quiche into his mouth to Mia's annoyance.
"Guilty," The young woman replied, smiling at Sam, "and clumsy, I'm sorry. My name is Sarah Blake, and you are?"
"I'm Sam, this is Mia and that's…" He paused as Dean grabbed yet another appetizer.
"-my brother, Dean." He finally finished.
Sarah smiled at them politely but returned her attention to Sam.
"Is there anything I can help you with?"
"Actually, is there anything you can tell us about the provenances of the pieces from the Telesca estate?" Sam asked.
Sarah kindly opened her mouth to reply but was cut off by Mr. Blake, her father, who had re-checked the guest list and now wanted them to leave.
"Well, we don't need to be told twice," Dean sassed back as he munched on his mini quiches.
"Apparently, you do," Mr. Blake retorted vulgarly.
Sam stepped in, "It's alright. We don't wanna cause any trouble. We'll leave."
Dean angrily stormed out of the auction house followed by Mia who stole a glance at Sam and Sarah. The two of them were giving each other romantic looks and Mia beamed.
"Dad, that was rude," Sarah chided her father just before Sam and Mia walked out of earshot.
"Grant Wood? Grandma Moses? What the hell was that?" Dean chuckled.
They'd finally gotten a motel room and walked inside with their bags.
"Art history course," Sam shot back.
"It's like I don't even know you," Dean sighed as they finally turned on the lights.
Mia's eyes widened at the design of the room. Someone thought it was a good idea to design the motel as a seventies party room, complete with a disco ball, black and white furniture, and a 70's stereo.
"Did we just go back in time?" Mia frowned.
Dean and Sam, however, seemed to brush it off. It probably wasn't the weirdest room they'd ever booked.
"What about that thing you were saying-the providence?" Dean asked as he unpacked his bags.
"Provenance. It's like a documented history of the art piece. I figure if we look through them, it can give us a look into the objects' 'creepy' pasts," Sam responded as he unpacked his own bag.
"Well, I don't think Mr. Blake will help with that, but maybe Sarah will," Dean jeered.
Sam brushed him off but Mia chimed in from her cot. "No, he's right, Sam. Sarah was totally into you, I could tell!"
"No way, Dean's the good one at pick-ups," Sam told her.
"True, but I'm not the one she kept checking out," Dean smirked.
Mia rolled her eyes at Dean's overconfidence, "She wasn't even looking at you because she was afraid that at any second you were going to explode from all the mini quiche."
Sam smiled at Mia while Dean stuck his tongue out at her, childishly.
"Let me get this straight, you guys want me to use her, to get the provenances?"
Dean handed him his cell phone, "Sometimes you gotta take one for the team. Now, call her."
Sam did call and although he stammered a lot through the conversation, he managed to arrange a date that evening with Sarah at a nice restaurant.
"Do me a favor. Don't kill each other while I'm gone," He begged them as he got ready to leave.
Dean and Mia who were on their laptops glanced up at him.
"I make no promises," Dean stated honestly.
Mia nodded solemnly in agreement with Dean before returning to her own devices.
Sam contemplated whether leaving them alone in the motel room was a good idea, then shrugged and chose to leave. He would not hold himself accountable if they ended up burning the motel to the ground during one of their heated arguments.
When Sam returned late that night, he found Mia watching videos on her laptop. Dean left shortly after Sam had, to hit the nearest bar.
"How'd it go?" Mia asked excitedly as Sam sank into his bed.
He smiled, "It went great, she's fantastic."
Mia cocked an eyebrow, "I need details, Sam."
"Umm, well she didn't make me pay for wine- we got beer instead, she told me that I wasn't the only one who hadn't been on a date in a while, and she told me she wanted to be an artist," Sam summarized with a small smile playing on his lips.
Mia grinned, "You really like her, huh?"
"She's very down to earth for a rich girl," Sam replied, refusing to deny or affirm Mia's statement.
The girl cheered, "I'm really happy for you!"
Just then, the door burst open to reveal Dean who looked mildly irritated.
"Man, these bars suck," he grumbled as he shut the door, "Oh hey Sammy! How'd it go?"
"Good-I got the provenances," Sam explained as he began pulling papers out of his pockets.
"She just gave them to you? I like this girl," Mia chimed.
Dean raised his eyebrows, "You didn't have to con her or anything? Pull a few tricks?"
Sam looked offended and Mia rolled her eyes.
"Would you get your head out of your ass?"
"Hey, you're still on my bad side from that bar incident," Dean shot back and Mia glared at him.
"Ahem," Sam coughed to get their attention, "I found something with the history of this painting. The names of the people who owned it, match with the names of the victims in Dad's journal."
He handed Dean the paper to verify his statement. "Yep, checks out. I guess the painting is haunted."
"What's next?" Mia asked as she put away her laptop.
"We bust in and burn it down," Dean answered as he grabbed some gear.
Late that night, the three of them headed to the charity auction house to break in and steal the painting to properly destroy it.
First, they needed to climb the ten-foot-tall brick wall that acted as a perimeter around the estate.
Sam leaped up and climbed over the wall, Dean followed his actions exactly, managing to propel himself up and over it. Mia attempted to copy them but couldn't manage to grab a good hold of the wall to propel herself up, as the Winchesters had been able to.
She repeatedly threw herself up against the wall but couldn't make it.
"Guys!" She called when she finally gave up.
From the other side of the wall she could hear muffled curses and what sounded like a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors. Eventually, Dean climbed back over to help her.
"Here I'll give you a boost, your highness," He said to her with dripping sarcasm.
Mia shot him an irritated look. It wasn't her fault she was too short to climb over.
Dean bent down and cupped his hands together in order to push Mia high enough for her to grab ahold of the wall and climb over it. She stepped her Converse clad feet onto his hands and rose her arms up in an attempt to grasp at something to steady her.
"Dean stop shaking, I'm gonna fall," She exclaimed, as she windmilled her arms out to keep herself steady.
"Maybe if you stopped moving around so much, I wouldn't be shaking!" He called back in annoyance.
Suddenly, Mia found a grip, "Got it!" and just as she was about to pull herself up her fingers slipped and Dean let go of her which resulted in her falling hard on her back.
"OWWW!" She cried out in pain as she clutched at her lower back, which would soon be colored with bruises.
"I thought you had a grip!" Dean exclaimed in genuine surprise.
"Shhhhh!" Sam called, "Dean, help her over already."
Dean glared at the girl in front of him before holding out his hands again. He practically threw her up by her feet this time. Mia caught the top of the wall and was able to climb over to Sam.
"Next time, you're helping her." Dean hissed at his brother once he had made it over the wall again.
They worked quickly and efficiently. Sam used a handheld device to disarm the alarm system, Dean picked the lock on the door and Mia found the painting on the upper level.
Dean cut out the painting from its frame and they burnt it outside.
"If you ask me, we're doing the art world a favor," He remarked.
"Amen," Mia nodded, while they watched the canvas burn and shrivel up.
That next morning, Dean was feverishly searching the motel room while Sam and Mia were packing up. He was frantic because he couldn't locate his wallet and was worried he left it at the warehouse.
The three of them decided to head back to check and see if they could find it before anyone else could.
Back at the warehouse, the three of them searched everywhere until Sarah arrived, taking them by surprise.
"Hey guys!" Sarah called with a big smile when she recognized them.
"Oh hey," the three of them replied with awkward smiles.
"What're you guys doing here?" She asked in happy confusion.
Sam stammered "Umm, we're leaving town and wanted to say goodbye-"
"Leaving town? Nah, we're gonna stay here a few more days. By the way, here's that twenty bucks I owe you," Dean interrupted as he pulled out his wallet from his back pocket.
Sam decided to look annoyed and unsurprised as he took the twenty bucks.
"Well, I guess we'll be going then," Dean said smiling at Sarah as he grabbed Mia's arm and dragged her away.
"Have fun!" Mia called back as Dean practically pulled her out of the door.
"So you lied about your wallet to get Sam and Sarah together." She said to him as they walked to the Impala.
"Yep."
"I may not like you Winchester, but I do respect your thinking," She said with a half-smile.
Dean smiled back at her, "Thanks."
He gave her a hard friendly pat on the back, right where she'd fallen the night before.
"Ow! Nevermind, I take it back!" She cried out in pain.
Almost moments after they climbed into the car, Sam came racing out of the auction house.
"Dean! Mia! It's still there!" He shouted in shock.
He jumped into the backseat of the Impala, "I just saw that painting again, in its frame. It just, came back!"
"But we burned it!" Mia replied in surprise.
"Thank you Captain Obvious! Great, we need to figure out a new way to destroy it," Dean groaned, "Any ideas?"
"Well, in all the lore I've read about haunted paintings it's usually the subject of the painting that haunts it right? So we gotta find out all we can about that family," Sam answered.
"Off to the library then," Mia sighed.
A very helpful and excitable librarian helped them find out everything they could about the 'Isaiah Merchant' family, whose likenesses were immortalized in the painting. Their deaths had, apparently, made front-page news the same day the Titanic sank, to Mia's amusement.
"The story goes, Isaiah was a barber, and one day, he just snaps. He takes his razor blade and slits his wife's throat, his kids' throats, and finally his own," The librarian explained with great enthusiasm.
"Why'd he do it though?" Sam questioned.
The man continued, "It says that Isaiah was a very stern, controlling man over his family and that his wife was going to take their two sons and adopted daughter, and leave him so he…he gave them a shave."
At his last line, the man began laughing and Dean joined him while Sam and Mia frowned.
"What about the bodies?" Mia asked.
"They were all cremated, I think I have a picture of the family somewhere. Hang on…" The man said as he fished through some more books.
Mia, Sam, and Dean released a heavy sigh. Cremated bodies were not helpful, they needed something to burn.
Mia began wondering if it was the frame that was haunted, when the librarian pulled out a photograph of the portrait they had tried to burn, but with one key difference.
"Sam," Mia whispered to her friend, "what's wrong with this picture?"
Sam studied it closely and Dean leaned over to see it as well.
"Isaiah," Dean finally said, "in this picture, he's facing the front but in the other painting-"
"He's facing the side," Sam finished for him. He then asked the librarian for a copy of the picture and the three of them left.
"So the painting changed," Sam concluded when they returned to their motel room. The three of them huddled over the kitchen table and stared at the photograph.
"I think Daddy Dearest is haunting the painting and giving out Columbian neck-ties to anyone who owns it, just like he did to his own family," Dean theorized.
Sam agreed, "Seems like it, but how are we going to kill him if he's already been cremated."
"Maybe more things in the picture changed like Isaiah, it might give us some sort of clue," Dean suggested as he studied the photo.
Mia tilted her head at him, "You mean like a Da Vinci code sort of thing?"
Dean actually looked flustered at her words, "I uh, I'm still waiting for the movie on that one."
Sam, who had also read the book, nodded at Mia, "Yeah, it'll be like that."
The young woman beamed and stood from the table, "Then we've got this covered."
"We'll head back to the auction house after dinner, it'll give Sammy more time with Sarah," Dean teased.
Mia headed to the bathroom to take a shower but as she was getting ready she could hear snippets of an argument between the brothers.
Something about; being with Sarah and something else about moving on from someone named... Jessica?
Mia didn't know what to make of it but she really did like Sarah and she could tell Sam did too. She hoped they would date if it made her friend happy.
Moments after Mia stepped into the shower she heard loud banging on the door.
"I just got in here," Mia grumbled, thinking it was Dean needing to use the toilet.
"MIA GET OUT NOW, THIS IS AN EMERGENCY!" Sam shouted.
At Sam's urgent tone, she quickly hopped out of the shower and redressed herself as fast as she could. Half of her hair was wet but at the rate, Sam and Dean were freaking out, it didn't matter.
Sam tossed her gear while Dean explained that while on a phone call with Sarah, Sam discovered that some idiot bought the damn painting and they had to get it back before anyone else was killed.
By the time they got to the painting owner's house, Sarah was there waiting for them.
"Sam, what's going on? You sounded so panicked on the phone?" she demanded as she followed them up to the house.
"I told you, you shouldn't have come," Sam replied sadly as he, Dean, and Mia began pounding on the front door.
"It's not budging," Mia exclaimed and Sam tried the windows while Sarah tried to wrap her head around what was happening.
Dean picked the lock and the four of them burst into the house.
"Evelyn?" Sarah called out to her friend.
The four of them found Evelyn sitting in her tea chair.
"Evelyn. It's Sarah Blake," Sarah said softly as she reached out to the old woman.
Unfortunately, Sam didn't grab her in time and as Sarah reached out to touch the old woman, Evelyn's head lolled back to reveal that her throat had been slit.
Just then, Isaiah's form in the painting moved to look right at them.
Sarah and Mia both screamed at the painting. Sam had to drag both of them out of the house.
Dean stared at the painting that seemed to mock them for being unable to save the old woman.
Sam, Dean, and Mia headed back to the motel and continued researching the people in the painting, as they awaited Sarah's return the next morning.
When she came back, she was hysterical and demanded that they tell her who was killing the painting's owners or she'd call the police on them.
Sam shot Dean a look and Dean nodded. He then looked to Mia who twisted her necklace anxiously.
"What. It's not who's killing those people, it's 'what' is killing those people," Sam started.
"Sarah," He continued gently, "you saw that painting move."
"No," she denied, "I was scared, I was seeing things. That's too crazy."
"Welcome to our world," Dean interjected from Sam's laptop.
"I know you think it's crazy, but that painting is haunted. Think about it, Evelyn, the Telesco's… Everywhere that painting goes, people die. We're just trying to stop it," Sam elaborated calmly.
"You're joking," Sarah said with tears in her eyes, but at their silence, she realized, "You're not joking."
"It's the truth," Mia added.
"Okay, then you're gonna have to show me because I'm going with you," Sarah said as she took a deep breath.
"What? No! It's too dangerous. I don't want to see you get hurt," Sam refused but still Sarah pressed on.
"Look, if you're right, then me and my Dad sold a painting that got people killed. Besides, I'm not gonna pretend I'm not scared; believe me, I'm terrified. But I'm not gonna run and hide either," Sarah said confidently as she began to walk out of the motel.
Mia smiled at her bravery. Sarah took the news of the supernatural just as she had. She didn't want to hide in the dark, she wanted to face it head-on. Sarah had become, ten times greater than she'd already been in Mia's eyes.
"Dude," Dean piped up once Sarah went outside to wait for them, "marry that girl."
For once, Mia couldn't agree more with Dean.
They took Sarah to the scene of the crime, to her discomfort. Then Sam, Dean, and Mia began playing Spot The Difference with the painting versus the photograph the librarian gave them.
"The blade, it's open in the painting but closed in the photo," Mia deducted.
"Why are you looking for differences?" Sarah asked in confusion.
"If the spirit is changing the painting there must be a reason behind it," Dean explained patiently to her.
"Check it out," Sam called, "the painting within the painting, it's different."
In the painting, the background picture depicted some sort of mausoleum with the name Merchant on the top while the photograph showed a flowery background.
"There's our clue," Mia said with a small smile, "find that crypt."
After a long search of local cemeteries, they finally found the corresponding family crypt.
"Now that is the creepiest thing I've ever seen," Sarah exclaimed when she found a doll entrapped within a glass case along with four urns within the crypt.
"Can't argue with that," Mia mumbled in agreement.
Sam explained to her that at the time it was a tradition to preserve the kid's favorite toy along with the child when they died.
"Notice something off?" Dean asked.
"Where do I start?" Sarah joked, and Sam grinned.
"There's only four urns. Daddy Dearest isn't here," Dean stated.
"Then where is he?" Mia asked in bewilderment.
The four of them checked the local archives to find out. Or rather, Dean and Mia did while Sam and Sarah chitchatted outside about their feelings for one another.
Dean and Mia snuck in pretending to be FBI agents and went through the death certificates for 'Merchant' circa 1912. It took them forever but finally, they came close.
"Mercant, Merchance, Merchant!" The young girl exclaimed in excitement as she flipped through files.
Dean came over from his shelf to read the file Mia had uncovered.
"Isaiah, where are you…" Dean mumbled as he flipped through the names.
"Aha!" Mia cried out in triumph when she found the death certificate.
Dean's eyes scanned it quickly, "Buried, out in the cemetery-this is great! We've got something to burn."
Mia grinned but noticed there was a note attached, "Hey wait, it says… he was supposed to be cremated with his wife and kids but his relatives refused to honor his wishes out of shame so they gave him to the county and he was given the pauper's funeral; pine box burial."
"Well, they could've saved us a lot of trouble if they'd just cremated him, huh?" Dean beamed as they began to head out of the archives.
Mia nodded and grinned, "You know... We make a great team when we're not at each other's throats."
The older Winchester nodded dismissively and his demeanor changed from happy back to somber.
"You don't think we make a good team when we work together?" Mia asked, wondering what Dean was thinking.
He rolled his eyes, "Yeah sure, whatever. Let's just focus on this case, okay, I don't have time for any of your chick flick moments."
Mia sighed dejectedly. No matter what she did or said, she always managed to make Dean angry or upset with her. Usually, she didn't care but sometimes she wished he didn't hate her so much.
"Would you hurry up? Jeez, by the time you get out of here, there'll be more people dead." Dean called back in irritation.
Mia hurried and held her tongue from cursing back at him.
"Why do you hate me so much? What did I ever do to you?" Mia finally asked just as they left the archives.
Dean groaned in annoyance, "Are you serious? I just said no chick flick moments, we don't have time for this. If you wanted to be all touchy-feely why didn't you just stay home, or is that why you left in the first place? Your family got sick of you?"
That struck a chord with Mia, especially the last part. Although she tried not to think about it, being kicked out by her foster mother was still a fresh stinging pain, and Dean had just reopened the wound by saying what he did.
The brunette began to shake as she tried to keep her building emotions at bay but they grew and grew until suddenly she couldn't take it anymore.
"You ASSHOLE!" She screamed furiously as she leaped from the top steps of the archive entrance onto Dean's back. She tightened her arms around his neck in a chokehold, and pure, stinging anger was her only guide.
Dean, who was completely surprised by her attack, leaped into action and slid her off his back like he was brushing off a spider.
Filled with blind rage, Mia ran at him to punch him but he caught her fists in midair.
"What the hell is the matter with you?" He exclaimed.
Mia let out a growl of anger before attempting to deliver a smack across his face but Dean again caught her hand in midair and gently pushed her backwards. Mia lost her balance and fell on her ass on the soft grassy lawn.
"Would you quit it?! What are you five years old, use your words!" Dean shouted at her.
She glared up at him angrily, "I hate you!"
Dean rolled his eyes, "Drama queen."
He left her to cool down and went over to tell Sam and Sarah, who were still flirting, about Isaiah Merchant's grave.
"Dean, what happened to you?" Sam remarked as soon as his brother appeared.
Dean realized his clothes were disheveled and his hair was messed up. He struggled to adjust himself properly.
"Nothing. Uh, anyways... We found out Isaiah was buried, not cremated and I know where," Dean explained.
Mia, still fuming, followed them to the car and sat beside Sarah in the backseat without a word. The trip to the cemetery was silent.
Sarah offered to help them dig the grave but Mia insisted that she hold the flashlight instead, to help them see. Mia knew that the poor girl was scared enough as it was, and there was no need to make her see the completely decomposed corpse.
"As you can see, this is the most glamorous part of the job," Mia joked as she continued to dig.
Sarah forced a laugh, "You guys are, uncomfortably, comfortable with this."
Sam shrugged, "This isn't our first grave. So, you still think I'm a catch?"
Sarah smiled at him and he grinned back.
"I found it," Dean called up from the grave as he smashed the coffin open.
Mia dumped the salt onto the body and Sam poured lighter fluid over it.
Dean pulled out a match and set fire to the body. Everyone heaved a sigh of relief that everything was finally over.
They returned to Evelyn's house, wanting to destroy the painting, just to be safe. Sam and Sarah went into the house together while Dean and Mia waited in the Impala.
"How's your tailbone?" Dean asked casually, but Mia only glared at him and said nothing as she was still extremely pissed with him.
"Alright," Dean huffed, "you're gonna play that game."
Mia still didn't speak as she tried to zone him out, knowing that acknowledging his presence would only make her angrier. She silently resented herself for choosing to ride shotgun to allow Sam and Sarah to sit together, as now she was stuck beside this idiot.
"I guess you don't mind if I blast some classic rock, then," Dean said as he blared Thunderstruck.
He knew she didn't want to listen to this song, and he was playing it just to screw with her. Mia took a deep breath and closed her eyes, she didn't want to fight with him again.
"YOU'VE BEEN, THUNDERSTRUCK!" Dean sang as high-pitched as he could to annoy Mia but she remained strong.
Don't do it, don't do it, Mia told herself as her mind continually told her to reach over and punch Dean in the face, but she knew that it would fix nothing and they'd just start fighting again, leaving her in worse physical condition than she'd been when they started.
Eventually, his singing got so vexing that Mia decided to give in and yell at him to shut up.
"I swear to God, Dean-" Mia began but stopped when she noticed the front door of Evelyn's house, which Sam and Sarah had left wide open, slammed shut of its own accord.
Dean noticed it too and he raced out of the car to investigate with Mia right behind him.
"Sam!" Mia shouted through the door, but it was soundproof.
Dean's phone rang and he put it on speaker for them, "Sammy, please tell me it was you who slammed the door."
"No, I think it was the little girl," Sam replied worriedly.
"Little girl? What little girl?" Mia asked.
"The girl from the painting, she's missing from the canvas now and I think it was her all along," Sam replied.
Dean handed Mia the phone as he tried to pick the lock.
"Wasn't the dad looking at her? Maybe he was trying to warn us," Dean theorized.
Sam impatiently shouted, "We can talk about this later, now just get us out of here!"
"I'm trying but the door won't budge," Dean cried out.
"Break it down!" Said Sam.
"Okay genius, let me just get my battering ram," Dean replied sarcastically.
"Stop! We don't have any time for this!" Mia shouted, "Spirits need a physical anchor right? If she was cremated what's keeping her here?"
"Calm down, just go get some salt and some iron, we'll figure this out," Dean instructed his younger brother.
Sam and Sarah began searching for pure iron and salt to ward off the ghosts.
"What kind of house doesn't have salt; low sodium freaks!." Sam cursed as he tried to find something to help protect himself and Sarah.
Suddenly, there was a scream on the phone and Mia freaked out. "Sam? What's happening?"
There was a long silence until Sam returned, "We're okay, for now. I found an iron rod to hit the ghost with but she'll be back."
"Sam," Sarah's voice came from the background, "at my auction house, we used to handle antique dolls."
"Fascinating, but is it really relevant?" Sam retorted to Sarah but she brushed it off.
"Back then, the dolls would be made in the kid's image exactly. The owners would use the child's actual hair to make the doll and everything," Sarah explained.
"That's what's keeping her, here." Mia remarked, "Dean! We've gotta burn that doll at the Mausoleum!"
The two of them ran to the car and Dean gunned the engine. He rode way over the speed limit, and Mia held to her seat for dear life.
He broke through the gates of the graveyard and parked the car right in front of the crypt before barging inside.
Mia ran to the trunk and grabbed an axe from one of the boy's gear bags before running inside. By the time she got there, Dean was trying to break the glass with the butt of his pistol.
"Move!" She commanded before swinging the axe and breaking the glass in one swift move.
Dean extracted the doll and they ran outside to light it up but the wind prevented the lighter from igniting the doll.
Finally, he caught the hair of the doll on fire and the rest went up into flames.
"Phew," Mia sighed as the doll burnt to ashes.
Dean dialed Sam and was relieved to hear that both he and Sarah were alive and unharmed.
"Why," Mia managed to get out between heavy breaths, "were you trying to break the glass with the butt of your gun?"
Dean stared at her, "I was under pressure, what do you expect?"
"Yeah, but you're Mister Shoots-first-asks-questions-later. Why didn't you just shoot the glass?" She asked him curiously.
"Because… I don't know!" Dean laughed hysterically in spite of the situation and Mia started laughing too.
They both climbed into the Impala and headed back to Sam and Sarah.
The morning after, they returned the painting to the auction house and Dean did a little research to find that the little girl, Millie, was adopted after she'd killed her entire family, making it look like an accident. She then killed the Merchants and the incident was blamed on Isaiah.
"Where do you want us to move this painting?" One of Sarah's auction house movers asked.
"Take it out back and burn it," She commanded.
The two men stared at her as if she was insane.
"I mean it, guys."
They obliged her strange request and left the four of them to their privacy.
Sam and Sarah theorized why Millie would kill her family while Dean dismissed the entire psychological study, glad it was finally over.
"So I guess this means you're leaving," Sarah said sadly as she looked at Sam.
"We're gonna wait in the car," Mia announced, "goodbye Sarah, it was great meeting you."
"You too, but I wish the circumstances had been a bit different," Sarah replied with a kind smile.
Mia dragged Dean out with her as he said goodbye.
"I'm the one who burnt the doll and destroyed the spirit, but don't thank me or anything," Dean muttered to himself.
Mia began to laugh loudly at his comment.
"You!? You kept trying to break the glass with the butt of your gun! If anyone deserves to be thanked it's me for remembering we have a freaking axe in the trunk. Otherwise, Sam and Sarah would be dead, and you'd still be tapping at the glass," She replied with a playful smile.
"Hey! I'm the one who lit the doll on fire!" Dean retorted angrily.
Mia snorted, "Yeah, after ten tries… But you know what, you're right, you deserve an entire party, Dean. I'll book it into our schedule for next week."
Dean laughed mockingly then shoved her into a nearby bush as they were coming out of the parking lot.
"YOU JERK!" She cried as she climbed out of the bush and pulled twigs from her hair and clothes.
She was about to run at Dean when Sam and Sarah stepped out of the building.
She quickly walked to the car and prepared to climb inside but first, paused to watch Sam say goodbye to Sarah.
They awkwardly mumbled goodbye and Mia rolled her eyes at their total lack of passion. Instead of two people who had feelings for one another, they looked like awkward teenagers embracing in front of their parents.
Mia and Sam made eye contact and she gestured back towards the house, hoping Sam got that she was trying to tell him to go kiss her!
Luckily, he did get the message and ran back to Sarah to give a big smooch before heading back over to the Impala.
"That's my boy," Dean said to himself proudly just before his brother came back.
"Atta boy Sam!" Mia commended her friend once he showed up.
"Sammy, I'm so happy you did that, I'm gonna let you drive," Dean told his brother as he tossed him the keys.
Sam grinned even wider, "Thanks! Mia, you take shotgun."
"Wait, what?" Dean asked in horror, "Shotgun's mine."
Sam gave him a puppy dog look, "Let her sit in front; you can sleep in the back."
"First she forces herself into all of our hunting trips, then she tries to beat the crap out of me for no reason, and now you want me to give her shotgun?" Dean exclaimed in disbelief.
Sam raised his eyebrows at Mia, "Did you try to beat him up?"
She nodded, "I'm sorry, Dean. I just lost my temper."
Sam sighed. "Neither of you gets shotgun, you're both sitting in the back to make up."
Dean and Mia groaned in unison.
"I'm serious, if you guys are gonna act like kids I'm gonna treat you like kids, get in the back and work things out or no one gets shotgun."
"I've just realized, I really hate you too," Dean hissed maliciously as the engine started.
Mia shrugged indifferently, "I've just realized, I really don't care."
I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it! Pretty please, leave a review! Reviews feed my muse- and she's very hungry. I know the background information on Mia is very limited right now, but I want you all to get to know her a bit more as a character and see more of how she interacts with all of the Winchesters before I reveal more about her past. I promise I will soon, though!
Next up... Dean, Sam, and Mia meet up with John Winchester to hunt down some vampires.