"You mind telling me why we're still here," Dean asks, waking Elizabeth from her cat nap. Zane and Archer had hit the road a few hours ago, but Sam had insisted on staying put. He'd also threatened to flush the only key for the Impala. So here they are, parked outside their old house like stalkers.
"I don't know," Sam says. "I-I just…. I have this feeling that things aren't done yet."
"Can the bad feeling wait until tomorrow," Elizabeth asks, sitting up and pressing her cheek against the back of their seat. "Cause when I pictured tonight, I pictured doing it in a bed with my feet against Dean's hairy man legs to keep them warm."
"Exactly," Dean agrees. "Missouri cleared the place, Sam. It's as clean as it's going to get." Sam doesn't say anything, continuing to stare out the window at the house and bite at his thumbnail. Dean leans his head back next to Elizabeth's on the bench seat, a chaste kiss pressed to the very tip of her nose.
"Just got a feeling," Sam mutters. "And that dream is still happening."
"Come on, man. I could be sleeping in a bed right now with Liza's cold lady feet pressed against my legs to keep them cool." Elizabeth's eyes are just beginning to drift closed again when Sam's shooting upright, clawing his door open.
"Guys!" Elizabeth's instincts kick into high gear as she climbs out of the car, her and Dean sprinting towards the front door. Jenny's standing in an upstairs room, banging her fists against the window as she spots the hunters. The boys slam violently against the closed door until it finally gives way, the jamb splintering under the force.
"You two get the kids, I'll grab Jenny!"
"I'll get the baby," Elizabeth yells. She'd seen his room earlier on the way to Sairie's, right across from Sam's old nursery and painted a bright green. The door's stuck when she makes it up the stairs and she only needs to picture her niece to get that extra boost of adrenaline needed to kick the door open. Ritchie is screaming in his bed as it continues to jerk and shake, the metal frame rattling as it crashes repeatedly against the wall.
"Up," the baby cries, clutching tightly at his blanket. "Up, please!"
"It's okay, sweetie." She forces herself to use a calm tone, keep her voice steady in order to calm him down. Elizabeth picks him up and holds him tightly against her as she sprints back outside, meeting Dean and Jenny by the car. Dean has his hands on her shoulders the second she passes Ritchie to his mom, making her meet his gaze as he looks her over.
"Are you okay," he asks.
"I'm fine." She wriggles her way out of his grasp and turns to face the house, waiting impatiently for Sam and Sairie to come out. It's another three excruciating minutes before the little girl comes running out, tears wet on her cheeks and Sam nowhere to be seen. "Oh God…." Elizabeth doesn't wait for an explanation, charging forward and barely making it inside the house before the door slams shut behind her. "Sammy!"
"Liza," he shouts. She goes to follow the sound but doesn't get far before something kicks her feet out from under her, dragging her into the kitchen and letting the momentum carry her across the floor until her side connects with the wall. She grunts at the impact, watching through bleary eyes as Sam is picked up and thrown across the room.
"I don't think those juju bags worked," she groans, attempting to sit up. The Poltergeist focuses back on her and throws her against the refrigerator hard enough to daze her. She drops back to the floor as Sam is tossed against the wall, both of them pinned in place and unable to do much more than complain. She can't even wiggle her toes, stuck tight by a suffocating force that she can't fight against.
"I want a fucking refund."
Just when Elizabeth was thinking that it can't get any worse a figure consumed by flames decides to stroll into the kitchen for a midnight snack. Elizabeth struggles harder than she ever has, letting out a scream of frustration when nothing seems to help.
"Sam," Dean's shouts from somewhere near the front of the house. "Liza!" He comes sliding around the corner with a weapon in each hand, a sawed-off shotgun and an axe that has wood dust coating the edge. He raises the shotgun, fully prepared to blast the spirit with rock salt.
"No," Sam yells. "Don't shoot!"
"What? Why?"
"Yeah, why," Elizabeth adds angrily.
"Because I know who it is," Sam answers, a sad sort of calm softening his features. "We all do. You can see her if you're patient." Elizabeth looks back at the ghost and surprise blooms in her chest as the flames begin to coalesce into a real person, the yellow dulling and changing into long hair and the pale material of a nightgown.
"Oh, sweet Jesus…." It's Mary Winchester that's standing in the kitchen, giving her boys a sweet smile and hardly seeming to notice the way Dean lowers the shotgun. Elizabeth watches her with wide eyes, seeing the pretty blonde woman from all those old pictures standing right in front of her.
"Mom," Dean asks, more a rasp than anything. Tears make his eyes shine as Mary moves closer to him, her smile widening.
"Hello, Dean," she says. "And Sammy." She turns her gaze to her youngest son, still so calm despite the fact that he's trapped by a Poltergeist. "You boys grew up to be so beautiful." She turns her gaze to Elizabeth next, perplexed for a moment before realization sets in. "Elizabeth, good to know you're looking after them." Elizabeth can feel the tears stinging her eyes, a selfish part of her wishing she could see her mom just once.
"Well, someone has to," Elizabeth says, choking the words out. Mary's fond smile changes to something that makes Elizabeth's chest ache, an extreme sadness choking the light from the room.
"I'm so sorry, kids."
"For what," Sam asks, his voice hoarse. She doesn't say anything, walking with the strange jerky movements of ghosts until she's in the middle of the room and glaring up at the ceiling. There's a steely resolve in her eyes and a stubborn angle to her jaw that's all Dean.
"You get out of my house," she demands, a threatening growl that rumbles throughout the entire house. "And you let go of my babies." She goes up in flames without warning, her hair flying wildly until it's consumed too. Mary burns brightly, the flames shooting up and disappearing into the ceiling with Mary vanishing with them. It's not even a full second later that the weight is gone, Elizabeth able to move again and Sam's feet hitting the ground.
"Mom," Dean asks again, a plea. But she's gone and so is that other thing, a sense of peace washing through the house like bright sunshine after a week of rain. There's nothing left behind as proof of what just happened, not even the smell of smoke.
Only peace.
Elizabeth leans against the Impala, watching Dean as he looks through the old pictures that Jenny had found in the basement. "Thanks for these," he says, pausing on a picture of Dean holding an infant version of Sammy. It's a good picture, taken in a hospital room with Sam still swaddled in a light blanket the hospital had provided.
"No need to thank me," Jenny says with a shrug. "Those pictures belong to you." Dean nods and hands Elizabeth a picture that makes her heart clench. Dean and Dana are sitting on the steps of the Mayson house, Sam and Elizabeth resting in their laps; Sammy is giving the camera a smile with one tooth showing and Elizabeth is busy eating her foot. It's the only picture Elizabeth has of her older sister.
"You good?" She glances up at Dean and gives a nod, hiding the picture in her favorite book for safety. "Sam, you ready to head out?" Sam is reluctant to move away from Missouri, but he nods and stands up. "Bye, Jenny. And thanks again for the pictures." She nods and gives the pair a smile, patting Dean's arm before walking back to her house. "Liza…."
"Yeah," she asks. He flounders for a moment, like the words he wants to say are stuck in his throat and he can't force them out. He gives up with a flailing shrug and shakes his head.
"Ah, it's nothing. I'll tell you later." Elizabeth just brushes it off and pushes off the car, ready to curl up inside and read for a little while.
All three of them are just about to open their doors when Missouri calls out. "Don't you kids be strangers."
"We won't." Missouri looks unconvinced but lets it go all the same. Elizabeth has her number if they ever need help or feel like checking in. It's not like they'll never see her again.
"See you around." Elizabeth gives her a smile and a nod before taking up her usual spot in the backseat, curling up with her back against the closed door. She brings her picture back out and runs her finger over her sister's smiling face.
As Dean pulls away from the curb, Elizabeth lets herself smile as well.
When I want you in my arms/when I want you and all your charms/whenever I want you/all I have to do is dream/dream/dream/dream/when I feel blue in the night/and I need you to hold me tight/whenever I want you/all I have to do is dream