Dean pulled into the empty motel parking lot just as the clock turned 11:54 pm. They suspected they had a case in Wellington, Ohio so they'd spent the day on the road. Dean put the car in park and looked in the back seat to see Milly fast asleep, her head resting against the seat. Sam gave him a subtle nod, letting him know he'd get the bags. So Dean got out and opened her door quietly, maneuvering her so he could unbuckle the seatbelt. He slid an arm under her knees and the other behind her back before lifting her out of the car. He carefully shut the door with his knee, causing her to stir slightly and move her head to rest just above his heart.
He followed Sam inside and slowly placed Milly on one of the beds, deciding he'd take the couch. The girl was still passed out so he untied her sneakers and slid them off carefully. Fortunately, she was far too tired to be bothered.
Sam stopped in the bathroom doorway and watched his brother gently place a blanket over the girl's shoulders. He brushed away a few strands of hair hanging over her face before standing to face Sam who smirked at him.
"Shut up."
"I didn't say anything..." Sam chuckled.
"Your face says enough," Dean grumbled, unzipping his bag.
"It's just cute, that's all." Sam shrugged teasingly, knowing he was getting under his older brother's skin. Dean grimaced at the word "cute" and turned away from Sam.
"...shut up."
The next morning Milly and Dean sat on the edge of one of the beds watching tv while Sam finished getting ready. The doctors on the show got on the elevator and Dean immediately brought his hand up to cover Milly's eyes when they began making out.
"What are you watching?" Sam asked in amusement, coming out of the bathroom, buttoning the cuffs of his sleeves.
"Hospital show. Dr. Sexy, MD. I think it's based on a book." Dean replied as Milly pushed his hand away.
"When did you hit menopause?" Sam joked and the girl looked between the brothers in confusion.
"It's called channel surfing," Dean grumbled, changing the channel to cartoons for Milly.
"What's menopause?"
Sam laughed softly to himself before grabbing his suit jacket and Dean ruffled her hair a little.
"Ask again in fifty years. We'll be back as soon as we can."
"Okay," she replied as Dean grabbed his keys and they left. Milly got up to lock the door behind them and sat back on the bed. She grabbed her stuffed elephant, holding it in her lap as she watched the tv.
After the incident with Cas showing up the week prior, Milly had a thousand and one questions, none of which she seemed to be able to find the answers to. Why did she get so tired after using her powers? How was she able to hide herself without even knowing she was doing it? Why did it shut off when she fell unconscious? Why was it rumored that she was going to kill Zeus? Why did she have a necklace that hid her from people like her? Bobby had said Milly was basically a walking mystery and she couldn't agree more. She just wished she had more clues to solve it.
Dean came back a couple hours later, while Sam went out to take a look at the crime scene. They both sat at the table, Dean looking into the victim's background while Milly colored. The girl had been just about silent since he got back, which he was coming to understand with her, meant something was wrong.
"Whatcha thinking about kiddo?" Dean asked, glancing up at her for a moment.
Milly didn't reply immediately, keeping her eyes on the page in front of her.
"Was my mom pretty?"
Her question took Dean by surprise, although he wasn't sure why. She was Milly's mother after all.
"She was beautiful. Why do you ask?"
"I don't know what she looked like."
"Milly, she could still be alive."
"I don't think that would make me feel better," she replied quietly, the sadness evident in her voice. He could understand that feeling of being abandoned, but not for the reason she had been. He couldn't imagine what went through her head on a daily basis.
Dean closed the laptop he was using and turned his attention to the girl.
"Well, she was the most beautiful woman in the room." Dean began and Milly lifted her eyes to meet his.
"She had long brown hair and blueish grey eyes. Her nose looked like yours, and you've got her smile too. You could just tell she was smart by looking at her."
"How?" Milly asked in interest.
"By the way she walked, how she carried herself and talked to people."
"Did you love her?"
"No, I only knew her for a couple hours." he chuckled.
"Was she nice?"
"She was."
Milly was quiet after that and Dean stood up.
"Sammy's gonna be gone a little while longer, why don't we get outta this room?"
"Where would we go? He has the car."
"I've got an idea, get your shoes," he told her, grabbing their jackets off the back of the chairs.
They walked from the motel across the street to the old music store he'd spotted when they drove in the night before. When they walked in, Milly looked around at the small store filled with CDs, vinyls, and cassette tapes. It had an old dusty smell, but it wasn't unpleasant. Dean led her to the back where there were boxes filled with old cassette tapes and gestured to the sofa.
"Have a seat."
While she sat down he began digging around through the boxes, everyone once in a while handing her another tape to hold. When he finally decided he had enough he picked up a little cassette player and sat across from her.
"Alright. Today you're going to learn about music. Good music. There's a lot of crap out there so you gotta be careful whose opinions you listen to about music because despite what most people say, there is a right and wrong taste in music. Sam, for example, nice guy, but awful taste."
"Really? What about yours?"
"I have the best."
"Woah. The best?"
"Yep. So therefore you must as well. Sam is a lost cause but you are not."
"Poor guy." Milly sighed, genuinely sad for him, causing Dean to have a hard time keeping a straight face.
"Agreed. Okay, these guys are first. One of the greatest bands of all time." Dean began, putting a Led Zeppelin II tape in the player. He played her one of his all-time favorite songs Ramble on.
For the next half hour, he introduced her to other bands such as Metallica, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Black Sabbath, and AC/DC.
"So, what did you learn?" Dean asked her, as they walked back to the motel.
"Zeppelin rules, anything involving Justin Timberlake is trash."
"Atta girl."
They'd been back for all of ten minutes when Sam walked through the door.
"Hey." he greeted.
"Find anything?" Dean asked
"Well, uh, I saw the house."
"And?"
"And there is a giant eight-foot-wide hole where the front door used to be. Almost like-"
"A Hulk-sized hole." Dean finished.
"Maybe. What do you got?" Sam asked.
"Well, it turns out that Bill Randolph had quite the temper. He's got two counts of spousal battery, bar brawls, and court-ordered anger management sessions. You might say you wouldn't like him when he's angry." Dean explained, from what he found earlier.
"So a hothead getting killed by TV's greatest hothead. Kinda sounds like just desserts, doesn't it? It's all starting to make sense."
"How is it starting to make sense?" Dean asked in confusion.
"Well, I found something else at the crime scene." Sam continued and he pulled a handful of candy wrappers out of his pocket, dropping them on the table.
"Candy wrappers. Lots of them."
"Just desserts, sweet tooth, screwing with people before you kill 'em—we're dealing with the Trickster, aren't we?"
"Sure looks like it."
"What's a trickster?" Milly asked, from the table.
"Real nasty guy, messes with people's lives for fun. He can manipulate reality." Dean explained and her eyes widened. She didn't understand what manipulating reality meant, but it didn't sound good.
"I've wanted to gank that mother since Mystery Spot," he added, turning back to Sam.
"You sure?"
"Yeah, I'm sure."
"No, I mean are you sure you wanna kill him?" Sam reiterated.
"Son of a bitch didn't think twice about icing me a thousand times."
"No, I know, I mean, I'm just saying—"
"What are you saying? If you don't want to kill him, then what?"
"Talk to him?"
"What?"
"Think about it, Dean. He's one of the most powerful creatures we've ever met. Maybe we can use him."
"For what?"
"Okay, Trickster's like a Hugh Hefner type, right? Wine, women, song—maybe he doesn't want the party to end. Maybe he hates this angels and demons stuff as much as we do. Maybe he'll help us." Sam suggested.
"You're serious."
"Yeah."
"Ally with the Trickster."
"Yeah."
"You hearin' this?" Dean asked in disbelief, turning to Milly, who held her hands up.
"Don't pull me into this."
Dean returned his attention to Sam and gave him a pointed look.
"A bloody, violent monster, and you wanna be Facebook friends with him? Nice, Sammy." He said, crossing his arms.
"The world is gonna end, Dean. We don't have the luxury of a moral stand. Look, I'm just saying it's worth a shot. That's all. If it doesn't work, we'll kill him."
"How are we gonna find the guy, anyway?" Dean asked.
"Well, he never takes just one victim, right? He'll show."