AN: Yes, I'm back again, lmao.
A quick word about my most recent Deanlena oneshot, all i know is a new found grace: since most of the reviews I got asked this question, I figured I'd just answer it all at once (and arrogantly assume everyone who read that story is also reading that one) simply put: no. In other words, no I'm not gonna make it a full length story. For so many reasons but most importantly that I can barely handle one full length story at a time, let alone two. I'm not saying I'll never write a sequel, just that I have no plans to.
Anyway, here's the next chapter, enjoy!
Addendum
(n.)
A thing to be added; an addition.
Chapter Nine
Bugs
aka
Little Boxes Made of Ticky-Tacky
Oasis Plains, Oklahoma: March 2018
Sam is perfectly content to sprawl on the hood of the Impala and read the newspaper while Elena and Dean wreak all kinds of havoc inside the biker bar. However, when Dean comes outside chuckling in self-satisfaction at the stack of twenties he'd just made hustling pool or playing poker or whatever, Sam can't resist.
"You know, we could get day jobs every once in a while."
Dean glances up from counting his cash.
"Hunting's our day job, and the pay is crap."
"Yeah, but hustling pool? Credit card scams? It's not the most honest thing in the world, Dean."
Dean rolls his eyes.
"Well, let's see: honest, fun and easy," he counts off on his fingers. "It's no contest."
Now it's Sam's turn to roll his eyes.
"Besides, we're good at it. It's what we were raised to do."
Sam shakes his head.
"Yeah, well how we were raised was jacked," Sam replies lightly. "What's Elena's excuse?"
Sam knows now that Elena's ability to lie translates over to a nearly flawless poker face.
Dean shoots him a look. "Yeah, says you," Dean says, referring to his complaints about their childhood. Then, adding, "Elena is good at everything she does, Sammy."
Sam nods. "Yes she is." He keeps his tone light, but it's still hard to forget the way she'd sounded leaving that message for their dad.
"We got a new gig or what?" Dean asks, back to counting his money.
"Maybe," Sam says, hoping off the Impala. "Oasis Plains, Oklahoma. Not far from here. Gas company employee, Dustin Burwash supposedly died from Creutzfeldt-Jakob."
While he talks, Sam circles the car to stand next to Dean and show him the article.
"Huh?" Dean asks.
"Human mad cow disease," Elena says, coming up behind them.
Dean looks back at her.
"Mad cow? Wasn't that on Oprah?"
Elena rolls her eyes.
"Forever ago," she replies.
Sam on the other hand, is distracted by something else.
"You watch Oprah?" he asks Dean.
"Who hasn't?" Elena retorts before Dean can answer.
Dean turns to point at her, then does a double take.
"What happened?" Dean asks.
Sam looks at her too, trying to see what Dean is referencing, she looks completely fine to Sam. She doesn't even look upset.
Elena shrugs. "We should probably go," she admits. "Like now."
"What's the hurry?" Sam asks, still confused that Dean assumes something is wrong.
"I may have broken some guy's fingers."
"What?" Sam says, alarmed.
Dean just looks at her, waiting for an explanation.
"His hand should not have been on my ass, okay?"
Sam is still digesting this when a very angry looking biker comes out of the bar, clutching his wrist with his good hand, his fingers in the air like Tetris pieces.
Dean is surprisingly calm.
"Is that him?" he asks Elena.
She nods. "It's kind of insulting that he's not even attractive." She doesn't say it quietly, so the biker definitely hears them.
Dean laughs and nods in agreement.
He's only a yard away when Dean lunges forward, throwing a perfect right hook, knocking him out with one hit. More than a few people have poured out of the entrance to watch the show.
"Okay we can go now."
Dean and Elena move to get into the Impala. Sam looks up at the sky.
"I hate you guys so much."
"We know, Sammy, now get in the damn car."
In the car, Sam knows he should finish explaining the case, but first. "Did you really have to punch him in the face? Elena already broke his fingers."
Dean and Elena exchange a glance in the rear view mirror.
"Yup," they chorus.
Sam rolls his eyes.
He finds it weird that Dean knows when something is wrong with Elena even when she looks completely fine. It creates a paradox, Dean knows Elena that well, but Elena thinks she can only trust John with the truth about what happened in St. Louis. Dean doesn't know that Elena is still preoccupied with what happened to the shapeshift there.
"All right, the case," Sam says, straightening out his newspaper again before he goes back down the Elena Gilbert rabbit-hole.
"So this guy eats a bad burger, why is it our kind of thing?" Dean asks, recalling the original conversation.
"Mad cow disease causes massive brain degeneration," Sam explains. "It takes months, even years for the damage to appear. This guy, Dustin? Sounds like his brain disintegrated in about an hour, maybe less."
"Gross," Elena says from the backseat.
Dean nods in agreement.
"Gross and weird," he adds.
"So in two words: our job," Elena says dryly.
Sam laughs.
"Alright, Oklahoma," Dean says. He shakes his head. "Man, work, work, work, no time to spend my money."
"Why did we let her go out there alone, again?" Sam asks Dean.
They're sitting in the Impala, watching Elena talk to Travis Weaver.
"Because, it will take her about half the time it would take us to get him to talk to us, and I drove all night."
Dean isn't giving their conversation his full attention, he's tearing into a pack of Grape Vines candy like a little kid.
Sam gives a conceding nod of his head.
Elena seems to be finishing up, she reaches out to shake Travis' hand. She waits for him to get in his truck and drive away before she starts towards the Impala.
As soon as Elena is seated in the backseat, Sam turns to face her.
"Well?"
Elena reaches over to steal a couple of Grape Vines for herself. She shakes her head. "He didn't know much about what happened to my 'Uncle Dusty', just that he fell into a sinkhole and by the time Travis got back, Dustin was already gone. He looked completely fine-"
Sam interrupts.
"Completely Fine?"
Elena gives him a scolding look.
"Completely fine," she agrees, but continues. "Except for the blood coming out of his eyes, ears, and nose."
Dean makes a face. "Did you get a location?" he asks.
Elena nods, then makes a grabby hand gesture.
Dean rolls his eyes but pulls out an unopened box of Grape Vines candy for her.
Sam just shakes his head at them.
They park across the street from the taped off sinkhole. Elena is still chewing on her candy as they walk over to it.
"Huh? What do you think?" Dean asks generally.
"I dunno," Sam answers. "But if what Travis told Elena was right, it happened pretty damn fast."
They duck under the caution tape to get a closer look.
"So what? Some sort of creature chewed on his brain?" Dean theorizes.
Right on cue, Elena leans into Dean, chewing on her candy loudly in his ear.
He pokes her in the hip in mild annoyance and she grins cheekily.
Sam ignores their flirting to consider Dean's hypothesis.
"No, there'd be an entry wound." Sam points out. "Sounds like this thing worked from the inside."
Dean pulls a flashlight out and shines it down into the sinkhole.
They all crouch down to see better.
"Huh, looks like there's only room for one." Dean looks at Elena.
"Fuck you," she says instantly.
He shrugs. "You are the smallest, 'Lena."
Elena shakes her head. "Fuck. You," she emphasizes.
"Dean, we have no idea what's down there," Sam tells him, only partially on Elena's side.
Dean is already heading over to an abandoned hose.
"And we won't know if we don't check," Dean points out succinctly.
Elena bites into a grape vine, then shoves the box at Dean so he can put it in his coat pocket.
"For the record, I want you to buy me something really pretty for this," she tells him. "Really pretty and really expensive and you have to use your own money. Not a credit card, actual cash."
Dean squints an eye, considering her terms.
"I mean, you make twice as much as I do at that shit, you can always convince them to go in on way more cash than I ever could." He points out, trying to reason with her.
She shrugs. "I don't care, I'm the one going down into the dark, scary hole."
Dean sighs. "Fine, deal."
Elena finishes her candy while Dean ties the rope around her waist.
"Why doesn't Sammy have to buy you something pretty?"
Elena arches an eyebrow at Dean.
"This isn't Sam's idea, Dean. This is your idea, one that he's questioned. So just know that if you dangle me down there and some monster comes to eat my brains, you're the one I'm going to haunt."
Sam can't resist. "Aw, not even death can part the two of you."
Elena rolls her eyes at him.
Dean on the other hand, nods his head. "Damn right it can't," he mutters. He double checks his knots around Elena's waist, then looks at her. "You ready for this Gilbert."
"Every time you try to get laid I'm gonna cockblock you from beyond the grave," Elena says cheerfully.
Dean nods gravely. "As you should, now get your perfect ass in the hole, Gilbert."
"Aww, you think my ass is perfect."
"Sam stop playing with Elena's beetles."
Elena stops pouting long enough to snicker. Luckily the weather had been kind enough to wait to start drizzling until after Elena's descent underground was over.
"Dirty," Sam says before Elena can.
"Yes it was." Her voice is dry, no longer distracted by Dean's bad joke.
Sam decides to get back on topic.
"Elena didn't seen any tunnels or tracks or any evidence of any other creatures down there," he looks into the backseat for support.
Elena nods reluctantly. "Nothing but beetles."
Sam throws a pointed look at Dean who ignores him to keep his eyes on the road.
"You know, some beetles do eat meat," Sam says after a pause. "Now it's usually dead meat, but-"
Dean interrupts. "How many did you find down there, 'Lena?"
She makes a face at him. "Ten, maybe?"
Dean addresses Sam again. "It would take a whole lot more than that to eat out some dude's brain."
Elena considers this. "Dirty," she says.
Dean snorts.
"Really, Elena?" Sam asks.
She shrugs. "You stole it from me last time," she reminds him.
Sam shakes his head but jumps back to the topic. "Maybe there were more than Elena saw," he suggests.
Dean is reluctant to agree. "I dunno, sounds like a stretch to me."
"We need more information on the area, the neighborhood," Sam counters.
"If something like this has happened before," Elena adds.
Sam nods. "Exactly."
Dean catches sight of something out the window.
"What?" Sam asks.
Dean points out a cluster of red balloons tied to a mailbox. "I know a good place to start."
A little ways down the road there's a sign.
"I'm kinda hungry for a little barbecue, how about you guys?"
Sam gives Dean a look at the same time that Elena says, "Absolutely yes."
"What we can't talk to the locals?" Dean asks innocently.
"And the free food's got nothing to do with it?" Sam retorts.
"Sam, free food is always the answer," Elena answers. "We're multitasking, it's an admirable skill."
Dean grins and nods.
He pulls the car over and parks it at the curb.
Elena leans forward draping her arms around Dean's neck for a second, to stop him from getting out of the car. Sam stops too to see what she has to say.
"I'm thinking a new leather jacket," she tells him.
It takes him a second to remember what she's referring to, but when he does he laughs and nods.
"Got it," he says agreeably.
Elena grins and releases him, stepping out of the car.
"Pretty and practical," Sam says.
Elena nods. "Exactly."
Dean gets out. He throws an arm around Elena's shoulders, dragging her with him up onto the sidewalk.
"We should get you one that matches mine," he muses while they walk.
Sam trails after them, rolling his eyes in fond amusement.
"Vintage?" Elena snarks.
Dean shoots her a look. "Are you calling me old, Gilbert?"
Elena shakes her head. "No, just old-fashioned, that's all."
He laughs at that. "Well if it ain't broke, don't fix it."
Sam finally pipes up. "Dean you constantly have to fix your car because it's older than you."
"Screw you, Sammy," is Dean's instant retort. "Have some respect for your elders," he adds.
Elena just giggles.
Dean looks around the neighborhood a bit.
"Growing up a place like this would freak me out," he says in undertone.
"Why?" Sam asks.
"The manicured lawns, how-was-your-day-honey?, I'd blow my brains out."
Elena snorts. "Dean, you've seen my childhood home, don't make fun of me," she says archly.
He squeezes her shoulders. "And look how far you've come."
She rolls her eyes at him.
"There's nothing wrong with normal," Sam pipes up.
"I'd take our family over normal any day," Dean replies.
Elena shakes her head. "In my experience, just because something looks normal, doesn't mean it is," she says. "I thought I was a normal girl, I thought I lived in a normal town. I didn't know anything. You never know what's below the surface, Dean."
Sam can't speak for Dean, but hearing her say that gives him chills. He has no idea what's below the surface on the seemingly perfect façade that is Elena Gilbert. He has no idea how much of it his brother knows or sees. He does know that he never for a second thought she was a normal girl.
Like he's reading his mind, Dean speaks up. "Elena, you were never normal."
She shrugs, sliding out from under his arm as they turn up the driveway.
"I know that now."
At the front door Dean places Elena front and center, the brothers behind her, and then he knocks. Elena tosses him one amused look over her shoulder before the door opens.
"Welcome," the man opening the door says.
"Is this the barbecue?" Dean asks with significant enthusiasm.
Sam tries to pretend his smile isn't pasted on.
"Yeah, not the best weather, but, uh, I'm Larry Pike, the developer here, and you are?"
Larry Pike has his focus on Elena, as to be expected.
She reaches out to shake his proffered hand.
"Elena, and this is Dean and Sam."
He shakes both brothers' hands too.
"Nice to meet you all. So you all are interesting in Oasis Plains?"
Elena shrugs lightly. "We might be," she says coyly.
Larry Pike raises an eyebrow. "Playing it close to the chest, be careful with this one, gentlemen," he says lightheartedly.
Elena's smile gives nothing away.
Larry glances between the three of them, a slight edge of confusion on his face. It doesn't take a genius to realize he's trying to figure out the relationship dynamics, and who he should be targeting for his sales pitch.
In his head, Sam can see Dean throwing his arm around Elena's shoulders as they walked up the driveway not even two minutes ago, but also the ease with which he'd pulled Elena down into his lap at the frat house back in Iowa. Sam knows exactly what he's doing when he opens his mouth.
"Elena and Dean just got engaged," Sam explains. "I'm her future brother-in-law."
The two of them shoot him looks, but don't contradict him as Larry offers them his congratulations.
Larry invites them in and Elena makes sure to step on Sam's foot. Almost immediately after Dean elbows him in the ribs. He also puts his hand on Elena's lower back to guide her through the house.
Sam limps into the house, rubbing his undoubtedly bruised ribs, feeling very satisfied with himself.
"You said you were the developer?" Sam asks.
Larry instantly launches into his pitch. "Eighteen months ago I was walking this valley with my survey team. There was nothing here but scrub brush and squirrels." Larry is literally walking backwards to give them his pitch.
"And you know what? We built such a nice place to live that I actually bought into it myself. This is our house." He gestures to the house. "We're the first family in Oasis Plains." He puts his arms around a blonde woman. "This is my wife, Joanie."
Sam is the first to greet her, Dean and Elena have fallen a little behind, and Sam is so focused on making a good impression that he misses what they're doing. He catches a glimpse of a concealed motion between the two of them out of the corner of his before he's focusing on Joanie Pike.
"Hi there," she says, smiling broadly as she shakes his hand.
"Hi, pleased to meet you."
"This is Sam," Larry says. "And Dean and Elena here are engaged."
Joanie has a little extra pep in her smile for them.
"Congratulations, you two are a beautiful couple."
Sam has to admit it, this right here is exactly what he's been waiting for. A time where someone tells them they're a perfect couple and neither of them can laugh or brush it off.
Elena smiles, her face shining like a girl in love. "That's so kind of you to say," she says, sounding almost shy.
Sam coughs. She's laying it on thick, and he's living for it.
Joanie beams. "Now, show me the ring," she all but demands.
Sam has a split second of panic before he remembers this is Elena, she can handle a neat little brush off. Much to his surprise, Elena holds out her left hand, a completely legitimate looking engagement ring sparkling on her finger.
Sam blinks while Joanie gushes over it.
"You have exquisite taste, Dean."
Dean gives a modest smile, looking over at Elena with easy affection. He doesn't look surprised by the ring, so he must know how exactly she managed to produce one out of thin air between the door and the backyard.
"Well I like to think my taste in women makes that point for me."
Sam almost chokes on that one.
Elena smiles dreamily at Dean, wrapping both arms around his bicep as she leans into him.
Joanie coos over them.
They really are disgustingly in love, it's gonna drive Sam crazy someday, but right now he's just gonna enjoy knowing how hard they're both trying to pretend that this is pretend. Pretend his ass, they might as well move to Oasis Plains and start popping out adorable little hunter babies immediately.
Larry is talking now, in a joking pretend undertone to his wife. "Tell them how much you love the house, honey. And lie if you have to because I need to sell some house."
Elena and Sam laugh right on cue and Dean smiles like it's just as charming and personable as Larry intends to be.
"If you'll excuse me," Larry tells them, intent on chatting up more of his guests now that he's content that they're in good hands.
Joanie clasps Elena's hands in both of hers earnestly. Amused, Elena gives the older woman her undivided attention.
"Don't let his salesman routine scare you. This really is a great place to live."
Out of nowhere another woman pops up over her shoulder. Sam tries to pretend he's not startled but Dean gives him a side glance that clearly says he found it freaky too. All Sam can see of Elena is the back of her shiny dark hair, but he'd bet big that she appears completely unphased by the other woman, it's just in her nature.
"Hi, I'm Linda Bloom, head of sales."
Elena glances over her shoulder, giving Dean a little knowing look. One of their many little quirks that makes literally everyone they meet mistake them for a couple.
"And Linda was second to move in," Joanie is saying. "She's a very noisy neighbor though."
With that, Joanie leaves them.
Linda chuckles. "She's kidding, of course." She glances between the three of them, settles on Dean and Elena.
Sam wants to tell them their body language says they're in a relationship. He saves it for later.
"Newlyweds?" she asks.
"Engaged," Dean answers.
Sam very nearly splits his face in half when he grins at him, but he figures Linda will just write it off as him being happy for them.
"Ooh, ring please."
Sam is immediately very glad that Elena somehow managed to produce a diamond ring out of thin air.
Elena obliges and Linda makes all the appropriate noises about how stunning the ring is, Dean's excellent taste, and what a beautiful couple they are. Elena and Dean are every inch the beautiful couple they're pretending to be and Sam wishes desperately he could take pictures.
"So I take it you two are interested in becoming homeowners?" Linda finally asks once the appropriate pleasantries are out of the way.
Elena plays coy like she was born to do it.
"Possibly."
"You got three choices. Carpet, hardwood, and tile."
Larry had been all too eager to give Dean and Elena a tour. They follow him down the stairs, trying not to look at each other so neither of them laugh at his duck walk or his well-rehearsed spiel.
On an end table at the base of the stairs there are more than a few mini aquariums full of bugs. Elena edges away from them, behind Dean, still a little traumatized from her descent underground earlier.
"Whoa, someone likes bugs," Dean says.
Larry's reply comes reluctantly. "My son, he's into insects."
Something in his tone or stance must set Elena off because she cocks her head to the side and flashes him a charming smile.
"That's very interesting, you must be proud to have such an intelligent son."
Dean can blatantly see the challenge in her smile that Larry misses. It seems to be everyone's mistake, they take one look at that beautiful surface and never wonder what's beneath it. Dean is of the opinion that what's underneath is a whole helluva lot more interesting than the sparkling façade.
Larry nods, mostly because Elena's tone is blatantly encouraging. It's a weird juxtaposition, real estate is the kind of job where if you don't have real charisma, you learn how to fake it early on. Larry the Salesman is conversing with the honest-to-God real deal. She might as well have invented the concept of charisma herself. Of course he seems like a phony standing in the same room as her.
"He's very inquisitive." He sounds exactly like a man who knows how to sell unfavorable qualities. He moves on briskly. "You know, this is a great neighborhood to start a family."
Elena almost loses her composure. Almost. Remembers all the tricks she knows about making her smile seem sincere, crinkled eyes, soft mouth, demure glance down.
Larry falls for it hook-line-and-sinker. She looks sweet and in love and not at all like she wants hyperventilate at the idea of having children with her supposed-fiancé-actual-best-friend.
She studiously doesn't look at Dean, she doesn't need or want to know what his reaction to Larry's statement looks like.
"Who can say no to a steam shower? I use mine every day."
Apparently Linda doesn't care that Sam is not in fact even pretending to be a home-buyer. He's tried to cut in a few times, an explanation about staying with his brother and sister-in-law when he's not in law school on the tip of his tongue, but Linda's on the hard sell.
"Sounds great," Sam says helplessly, knowing she'll cut him off he tries to get more in.
Sure enough, she's off again, chattering away. "You also have three different Whirlpool tubs to choose from."
Sam notices a creepy-crawly friend heading their way across the table Linda 'casually' has her hand leaned against. Linda is oblivious.
"The hardware for the tub include nickel, brass."
Sam catches a glimpse of a smiling teen in the crowd, the look of absolutely delighted mischief on his face makes him stand out.
Linda is still going on. She is very serious about sales.
"And when you see the kitchen, you can choose from–"
Sam decides to cut in.
"Excuse me." He moves forward like he'd like to get past her towards the food.
"Um, okay." Thrown off, Linda gets out of his way.
Crisis averted, Sam scoops the tarantula up into his hands before anyone notices and causes mass panic.
With a sigh, Sam brings it over to the now disappointed teen. "This yours?"
The boy accepts the proffered tarantula. The first words out of his mouth throw Sam for a loop.
"Are you gonna tell my dad?"
"I don't know. Who's your dad?"
The boy scoffs. "Yeah, Larry usually skips me in the family introductions."
Sam winces. "Ouch. First-name basis with the old man sounds pretty grim."
He looks up at Sam, a familiar look in his eyes.
"Well, I'm not exactly brochure material."
Sam can't help it, he empathizes deeply with this kid. "Well, hang in there. It gets better, all right? I promise."
The kid gives him a sardonic look. "When?"
Before Sam can say anything, Larry interrupts.
"Matthew." His tone alone says how pissed he is. He isn't nearly as good as Elena is at keeping his composure. He hurries over. "I am so sorry about my son and his pet."
Elena and Dean follow at a more leisurely pace, but Elena doesn't hesitate to step in. His tone alone referring to his son's interests earlier had bothered her, so seeing it up close and personal definitely made her feel more defensive of the kid.
"What a beautiful little darling, does he have a name? Or she?"
Sam and Dean exchanged an amused look, Elena doesn't like bugs, let alone tarantulas. She does, however, like kids, and hates passionately any parent who punishes a kid for being who they are.
Matthew stares at her dumbly.
"Really, it's fine," Larry starts to protest.
Elena tosses him a mega-watt smile that says, "don't fuck with me."
"Really, I'd like to know."
Larry shuts up, albeit reluctantly.
Matthew nods, then shakes his head a little, clearing his throat. "Elvira," he answers somewhat shyly.
Elena laughs at that. "I love it."
Dean and Sam nod appreciatively in a show a solidarity.
"Excuse us," Larry says between clenched teeth, already leading his son away. Matthew follows him in a daze. Elena turns very deliberately and tosses the kid another blinding grin.
Dean snorts. "Did you have to challenge him like that?"
Elena shrugs noncommittally. "He was being an asshole."
Sam laughs. "Elena, you hate bugs."
She shrugs again. "Yes I do, but Matthew doesn't, and his dad should respect that even if he can't bring himself to show interest."
That hits Sam somewhere deep inside of him, a vulnerable aching part of him that he's been trying to ignore since Matthew spoke so bitterly about his father's unacceptance of him and his interests.
"Remind you of somebody?" Sam asks his brother sardonically, unable to push the feeling down.
Dean looks over at the lecturing father and sullen son, then back to Sam blankly.
Sam stares back in disbelief. "Dad?"
Dean shakes his head, instantly denying Sam's claim.
"Dad never treated us like that."
Sam scoffs. "Well, Dad never treated you like that. You were perfect. He was all over my case."
Dean just gives him another blank look, shakes his head.
"You don't remember?" Sam's disbelief is evident in his tone. Elena is deathly silent.
"Well, maybe he had to raise his voice, but sometimes you were out of line."
Sam laughs bitterly, unable to stop himself. "Right, like when I said I'd rather play soccer than learn bowhunting."
Dean's reply is completely serious in contrast to Sam's sarcastic tone.
"Bowhunting's an important skill."
Sam looks away, seeing that he's not going to make Dean understand. He shakes his head, turns back to his brother.
"Whatever." He forces the next words out of his mouth instead of continuing on in the vein they'd been going on. "How was your tour?" He grins somewhat manically. "Are there enough rooms for all the cute babies you're gonna have? I'm looking forward to being an uncle."
Elena doesn't hesitate to stomp on his foot again.
"Really?" he wheezes.
She shrugs delicately.
"Whoops."
Dean laughs.
"It was excellent, we're ready to buy." Dean easily winds an arm around Elena's waist, looking far too comfortable in his role as fiancé.
Sam grins. Remembering his early puzzling, he turns to Elena.
"Where in the hell did you get an engagement ring?"
Without a word she pulls the chain she always wear out from under her clothing. There are two wedding rings on it.
"My parents'," she explains. She wiggles her finger at him. "It was my mother's, it took a little maneuvering to get it off without anyone noticing, but Dean managed to slip it on in time."
Sam laughs out loud. "So he actually put a ring on it?"
Elena and Dean both roll their eyes at his bad joke.
"You didn't have to say we were engaged." Dean doesn't sound nearly as annoyed as he's trying to.
Sam shrugs. "Yeah, I mean, I really should've said you're already married."
They stare at him, so he elaborates.
He points at Elena casually. "She has the rings."
Elena rolls her eyes again. With a glance around, she gestures Sam in closer.
"It looks like Dustin Burwash wasn't the first strange death around here."
Sam is almost sorry she's decided they should get back on the subject of their case, but he figures he has plenty of time to tease them about their fake engagement later.
"What happened?"
Dean answers this time. "About a year ago before they broke ground, one of Larry's surveyors dropped dead while on the job. Get this, severe allergic reaction to bee stings."
Sam gets the connection instantly. "More bugs."
"More bugs," Dean agrees.
"More bugs," Elena echoes with a delicate shudder.
Dean pulls her closer, pressing a kiss to her hair, clearly enjoying the PDA opportunities afforded to him as her (fake) fiancé.
Sam can't wait to point out how often they pretend to be in a relationship. It's what they get for teasing him so much about Lori's (supposed) crush on him.
They stay for the barbecue, of course. Later that night while Sam is driving, Dean flips through their dad's journal, looking for some answers on their case.
"You know I've heard of killer bees, but killer beetles? What is it that could make different bugs attack?"
Elena, sprawled across the backseat, has an answer. "A Stephen King novel."
Dean snorts. "Less fiction, more reality, 'Lena."
Sam throws his two cents in. "Well, hauntings sometimes include bug manifestations."
Elena considers this. "I didn't see any evidence of ghost activity, did you Dean?"
Dean shakes his head. "Nope, nada."
Sam sighs. "Me neither."
Dean looks over at Sam.
"Maybe they're being controlled, somehow, you know, by something, or someone."
Sam considers this. "You mean like 'Willard'?"
Elena shudders.
"Yeah, bugs instead of rats."
Sam considers this. "There are cases of psychic connections between people and animals. Elementals, telepaths."
Dean nods. "Yeah, the whole Timmy-Lassie thing."
Elena laughs.
Dean looks back at her fondly, then snaps his fingers suddenly, in realization.
"Larry's kid. Got bugs for pets."
Elena sits up.
"Matt?" Sam asks, skeptical.
Dean nods emphatically. "Yeah."
Sam tries to consider this fairly despite his personal feelings. "He did try to scare the realtor with a tarantula."
Elena pipes up. "Elvira."
Dean looks back at her, questioning.
"The tarantula's name is Elvira."
Dean gives her look, but then turns back to Sam. "Think he's our Willard?"
"I don't know." Sam considers it, then shrugs. "Anything's possible, I guess."
"For the record, I don't think he's involved," Elena says from the backseat.
Dean waves his hand at her. "You have a soft spot for kids, 'Lena, even moody teens."
Elena narrows her eyes at him. "'Scuse me, which one of sat and drew stick figures with a mute kid and had the time of his life?"
Dean rolls his eyes at her good-naturedly. He whacks Sam in the arm. "Oh, hey, pull over here."
Sam obliges, pulling into the driveway of one of the houses. "What are we doing here?" Sam asks.
Elena on the other hand has already caught on. She grins and shakes her head in amusement at Dean as he climbs out and goes to open the garage.
"It's too late to talk to anybody else."
Sam leans out the window, watching his brother's actions in disbelief. "We're gonna squat in an empty house?"
Elena laughs.
"I wanna try the steam shower, c'mon."
Sam just gives him a look.
"Come on!" Dean says with some more force.
Sam rolls his eyes but obliges, driving the Impala into the garage. As he passes Dean he punches him in the stomach through the open window.
"You know you could talk him out of this."
Elena shrugs. "I really wanna try the Whirpool tub."
Sam gapes at her confession. "Unbelievable." He shakes his head. "My brother has turned you into a delinquent, there's no going back, you can't be saved."
Elena laughs. "Oh Sam, I don't need Dean to be past saving."
Her tone doesn't suggest any double meaning, but her words still give him chills.
Sam knocks on the bathroom door. "You ever coming out of there?" he calls in to his brother.
"What?"
Sam rolls his eyes. "Dean, a police call came in on the police scanner."
Dean sounds annoyed when he replies. "Hold on."
Sam ignores him. "Someone was found dead three blocks from here, come on."
When Dean opens the door he has a towel wrapped around his head and thrilled look on his face. "This shower is awesome."
Elena comes around the corner then, wondering what's taking Sam so long. Catching sight of Dean, she starts to giggle. Hand over her mouth she whips out her phone and snaps a picture before he can protest. "Aww, yeah that's definitely a lock-screen."
Sam laughs out loud, marginally less annoyed now that Elena has photographic evidence.
Dean glowers at Elena. "Don't even think about it."
She grins cheekily. "Too late!" She shows him, then adds, "It's what engaged couples do, darling."
He narrows his eyes at the endearment then closes the door none-too-gently.
Sam and Elena grin at each other.
"So, you think there's enough rooms for all my future nieces and nephews?"
Elena rolls her eyes. "Tell him to hurry up." With that she's gone, leaving Sam to it.
He grins again and shakes his head.
By the time they pull up in front of the right house they're already loading the body bag into the back of a hearse. It's raining again, so Dean opens Elena's door to offer her cover with his umbrella.
Larry is standing out front with his own umbrella, talking on the phone. The three of them approach him.
Larry ends his phone call quickly and pockets his phone, trying to regain his composure.
"Hello, you're back early." He doesn't sound pleased, dead bodies aren't particularly appealing to buyers, no matter the circumstances.
Dean has Elena tucked under his arm, the umbrella an excellent excuse for their closeness.
"Yeah, we just drove in, wanted to take another look at the neighborhood."
Sam jumps in. "What's going on?"
Elena glances at Sam sideways for his blunt inquiry, then addresses Larry. "Is everything okay?"
Larry sighs, realizing he's has to explain what happened whether he wants to or not. "You all met Linda Bloom at the barbecue?"
"The realtor?" Sam asks.
"Well, she passed away last night."
Dean's eyes widen. "What happened?"
Larry shakes his head. "I'm still trying to find out. I identified the body for the police." He glances over at the police on the porch, one of them is gesturing him over. "Look, I'm sorry, this isn't a good time."
Elena nods. "Of course, don't worry about us."
"Excuse me." With that Larry heads back to the house.
Dean sighs, pulling Elena closer. He looks over her head at Sam. "You know what we have to do, right?"
Elena nods grimly but it's Sam who answers. "Yeah, get in that house."
She chimes in. "To look for more bugs." She looks so disgusted that Dean almost laughs.
They drive away to make it look like they're leaving, parking down the back street, waiting for everyone to leave.
Dean and Elena waste a good hour playing card games, Sam has dug up a book from Elena's stash.
Once the last police car leaves they hop the fence and climb up a decorative trellis and crawl in through a thankfully open window.
Dean is in first, so he sees that they're luck is twofold, the body outline is right at his feet. He turns back to help Elena in after him.
Sam climbs and shuts the door while they look around the room.
"This looks like the place," Dean says.
He walks into the bathroom, careful of the broken glass from the steam shower door. There's a washcloth on the ground. He crouches down to pick it up. A bunch spider carcasses fall out of it.
"Spiders? From spider boy?"
"Matt." Sam is surprised that Elena says his name at the same time. They exchange a look.
He pauses. "Maybe."
"Are we really stalking a teenage boy?" Elena asks from the backseat.
From their vantage point they can see Matt getting off the school bus and crossing the street to head into the woods.
Dean gestures at the kid. "Why is he going into the woods, Elena?" Clearly believing that this is evidence of some creepy collusion with the bugs to murder people.
Elena side eyes him. "Maybe he just likes the woods. Maybe he just likes bugs."
Dean looks at her and then back to Matt. "Isn't his house that way?"
Sam nods thoughtfully. "Yup."
Elena isn't convinced. "His dad's an asshole, I'd rather go hang out in the woods than with him."
Dean raises an eyebrow. "With the killer bugs?"
Elena shudders delicately, but nods, stubbornly sticking to her defense of the kid.
"You really don't think he's behind this?" Sam is curious.
Elena shakes her head vehemently.
Dean sighs. "Well there's only one way to find out for sure."
They get out of the car to follow him into the woods. Elena sighs and fixes her ponytail.
When they catch up to Matt he has a walking stick bug on his hand.
"Hey Matt," Sam says. "Remember me?"
He points his chin to Elena. "Not as well as I remember her." They all stare at him. It takes a second for him to realize what they all think he means, and then he blushes horribly.
He stammers. "I just meant the way she stood up to my dad. Asking me about Elvira, that was cool."
Elena smiles at him. "Elvira is cool."
He grins, a little dopey and excited, like the kid he is. "What are you doing out here?"
Dean speaks up. "Well, we wanna talk to you."
Something in Dean's tone seems to give him pause. He's a little warier when he looks between the three of them.
"You're not here to buy a house, are you?" He shakes his head a little. "That's too bad, my dad really likes you guys. Well, he likes Elena."
Dean shakes his head somewhat fondly. "Everyone likes Elena."
Something occurs to him. "Wait, you're not serial killers?"
Elena gives him an affronted look. "Do I look like a serial killer to you?"
He gives her a sheepish look.
Sam snorts a little.
"No, no. I think you're safe."
Dean hops back into the conversation, intent on the case. "So, Matt, you sure know a lot about insects."
Elena gently elbows Dean in the ribs and gives him a scolding look.
Obliviously, Matt shrugs. "So?"
Dean gives Elena a look of his own that makes her roll her eyes and nod once shortly. He keeps going so Sam assumes they must have come to some kind of wordless agreement.
They really should just get married, they already act like they are.
"Did you hear what happened to Linda, the realtor?"
The look on Matt's face says it all. "I heard she died this morning." He clearly doesn't understand why he's being questioned about it.
Dean nods. "That's right." Then he adds the next part in a dramatic whisper. "Spider bites."
Sam takes over, going for a more direct approach. "Matt, you tried to scare her with a spider."
He looks surprised, glancing between them. "Wait, you think I had something to do with that?"
Dean shrugs. "You tell us."
Matt looks to Elena beseechingly. "Elvira was a joke."
She nods in understanding, if only to make him relax just a little. It works.
"Anyway, that wouldn't explain the bee attack or the gas company guy."
Sam gives him an appraising look. You know about those?"
Matt doesn't clam up like he expected him to do. "There is something going on here." Now that he's found people who seem willing to look at the strange occurrences, he's much more willing to talk.
Elena cocks her head to the side. "And what is that?"
He shakes his head. "I don't know what, but something's happening with the insects." He kneels down to pick up his discarded backpack. "Let me show you something." With that he takes off, deeper into the woods.
Elena starts to follow him immediately but Sam and Dean exchange a look before they follow after them.
"So if you knew about all this bug stuff why not tell your dad? Maybe he could clear everybody out?"
Elena scoffs at Sam's question before Matt has a chance to answer.
He nods. "Exactly," he says emphatically. He continues. "Believe me, I've tried, but Larry doesn't listen to me."
"Why not?" Sam asks.
"Mostly? He's too disappointed in his freak son."
"Your dad is an asshole," Elena says in flat terms.
Matt just laughs, enjoying her bluntness.
Sam on the other hand, nods seriously.
"I hear ya."
Dean gives him a sharp look, recognizing that he isn't agreeing with Elena's assessment of Matt's father, but rather commiserating over how he believes their father was disappointed in him.
"You do?" Dean asks cautiously.
Without a word, Elena drops back to walk next to Dean, taking his hand in hers.
Sam ignores his question. "Matt, how old are you?"
"Sixteen."
Sam nods. "Well don't sweat it, 'cause in two years something great's gonna happen."
Matt's reply is sarcastic. "What?"
"College. You'll be able to get out of that house and away from your dad."
Dean can't keep quite anymore. "What kind of advice is that? Kid should stick with his family."
Sam stops to give Dean a long look, forcing Matt to stop too.
Elena looks between the three of them, exasperation and understanding warring on her face.
Sam turns back to Matt pointedly. "How much further, Matt?"
Matt glances between the brothers warily. "We're close."
They resume walking.
After a moment, Elena speaks. "You know, you can do both." All three look at her, so she elaborates. "Going to college doesn't have to be some big divide with your family. If you need space, that's fine, but college isn't supposed to be an all or nothing situation. You can go away to college and still talk to your mom, or even your dad, too, if you find you want to."
All three of them look at her like she's grown a second head.
She shrugs. "All I have is my brother, he goes to school in Brooklyn. We talk every day. I know we probably get along better than you do with your dad, Matt, but I'm just saying, these two don't exactly understand the concepts of compromise, understand? You need to figure out what works for you."
Matt nods in a daze.
Sam gives Elena a look that she meets head on. He almost flinches. She doesn't look particularly like she's on his side, but she doesn't seem to be on Dean's side either. Clearly she's declared some middle ground that is a foreign concept to Sam. His father had told him to stay or go, so Sam had gone. Whatever normal reality Elena lived in, it's not what he lived in.
Still, he understands in some way that what she'd said was in some way for Dean's benefit because he's the only one who doesn't seem to be perturbed or caught off guard by what she'd said. He just gives her a fond look, tugs her closer.
She gives a modest half-shrug, and just like that the topic is closed.
A humming noise fills the silence.
"Is that the bugs?" Elena asks, sounding quietly horrified.
Matt nods. He stops at the edge of a large clearing that seems to be the source of the buggy hum. "I've been keeping track of insect populations. It's part of an AP science class."
Dean nods. "You two are like peas in a pod."
Elena tosses him a look. "Yeah, I know, AP Biology was your bitch, shut up, Gilbert."
She grins at him. "As long as you remember."
He makes a face. "Like I can forget you forcing me to quiz you for two weeks straight before your final."
Elena laughs.
"What's been happening?" Sam asks Matt.
His answer is descriptive. "Well, a lot."
Sam gives him a look so he elaborates.
"I mean, from bees to earthworms, beetles, you name it. It's like they're congregating here." Matt gestures to the clearing.
Dean asks the obvious question. "Why?"
Matt shrugs. "I don't know."
Sam has been scanning the clearing, a particular bit of raised land catching his interest. "What's that?" he asks.
When Matt has no answer, Dean takes matters into his own hands, like usual.
He heads for the area, Elena at his heels. Sam and Matt follow after them, just as curious. At the center of the mound is a squirming mass of earthworms.
Dean looks to Elena, gestures at it.
She gives him her best "are you serious?" glare.
"I went into the hole, you can play with the worms."
He rolls his eyes, but doesn't argue. He stretches out one cautious boot. He barely taps the worms, but they all collapse inward, revealing a hole. Dean kneels down, grabbing a nearby stick to poke around in the hole until he taps against something solid.
"There's something down there." Without giving himself time to overthink it, Dean pushes back his sleeve and sticks his arm into the hole to retrieve it. He comes up with a human skull.
Elena, never one to resist a literary pun, doesn't even bother to suppress her quip. "Alas, poor Yorick."
Once they find their way on campus, Sam covers the box of skulls – named Yorick, Yorick Jr, and Yorick the Third by Elena – with his jacket so no one will question them.
Sam doesn't waste any time. "So a bunch of skeletons in an unmarked grave."
Dean nods, distracted. "Yeah, maybe this is a haunting." His words say he's focused on the case, but his gaze darts around to all of the college students, telling Sam that he remembers all too vividly what happened the last time they brought Elena onto a college campus.
"It's a good thing you still have the ring on, Elena."
Elena gives him a confused look. Sam shakes his head.
"Never mind, it's nothing."
Dean on the other hand, seems to have perked up at Sam's reminder. He takes Elena's hand, absentmindedly rubbing the ring like it's a worry stone.
Sam blinks in surprise. He knows Dean wants Elena, probably more than he's wanted anyone in his life, and he's pretty sure it's not just lust, he knows Dean genuinely cares for her, but he hadn't realized the depth of Dean's feelings until this moment. Dean actually likes the idea of being engaged to Elena. Sam shakes his head, storing that one away for later.
Dean continues on with the case now that he's not distracted by any potential threat the college students might pose. "Pissed off spirits, some unfinished business."
Sam nods. "Yeah, maybe. Question is, why bugs?"
Elena chimes in. "And why now?"
Sam points at her vaguely. "Exactly, why now?"
Dean can't resist the opportunity to be a smartass. "That's two questions."
Elena rolls her eyes at him but doesn't stop him from swinging their interlocked hands.
Sam drops back a little in order to hide his smile.
Dean on the other hand, seems to have something else on his mind.
"Hey, so with that kid back there, how could you tell him to just ditch his family like that?"
Elena sucks in a tiny breath, so small Sam almost doesn't hear it.
He goes for casual, shrugging before his answer. "Just uh, I know what the kid's going through."
Dean clearly doesn't want to let it drop. "How about telling him to respect his old man, how's that for advice?"
Elena stops suddenly, forcing Dean to stop with her and nearly causing Sam to run into her. They both look at her, bewildered.
She turns blazing eyes on them, and then they both understand they've stepped past some invisible boundary line. Sam feels somewhat nervous.
She turns to Dean first. "Dean, Larry isn't your dad." Before Dean can reply she turns to Sam. "Sam, Matt isn't you."
She gives them a horrible smile. "Now that that's cleared up, we're going to go do our job, okay?" Without another word she lets go of Dean's hand and marches off, leaving them in stunned silence.
Dean sighs after a moment, but surprisingly he doesn't go after her. Instead he turns to Sam. "Elena's entire family is dead, all she has is her brother, and it's not safe for her to be with him. We're both being real assholes right now."
Sam winces and nods. "Yeah, we are." After a beat, Sam speaks again. "I do respect Dad, Dean." He raises his hand before Dean can speak. "Nothing I did was ever good enough, and that was hard." He takes a deep breath. "The truth is, when we finally do find Dad, I don't even know if he's gonna wanna see me."
Dean gives him a look like he's stupid, shakes his head. "Sam, Dad was never disappointed in you. Never." The next thing he says almost knocks Sam on his ass. "He was scared."
"What are you talking about?"
Dean gives him a look, but spells it out anyway. "He was afraid of what could have happened to you if he wasn't around."
Sam looks away.
"But even when you two weren't talking he used to swing by Stanford whenever he could. Keep an eye on you. Make sure you were safe."
Sam can't keep the disbelief out of his tone. "What?"
Dean nods. "Yeah."
Sam gathers his bravado. He's been angry at his dad for so long, he's not quite sure how to give it up. "Why didn't he tell me any of that?"
Dean shrugs. "It's a two-way street, dude. You could've picked up the phone."
Sam has no idea what to say to that.
Dean studies him. "C'mon, we need to apologize to Elena."
Sam nods somewhat numbly.
It takes them a little while to find her, but eventually they do. She's sitting right outside the office of the professor they're supposed to meet with.
Dean doesn't even bother with pretenses, just goes right over and pulls her up into his embrace.
"Yeah, we suck," is all Sam hears him say before Dean buries his face in her hair, murmuring the rest of what he has to say directly into her ear.
Sam is relieved to see that she doesn't look like she's cried, he's not sure what he'd do then.
Dean reluctantly releases his hold on her. Only when she gives him a smile and a nod does he press a kiss to her cheek and let Sam have his turn.
"Elena, I'm so sorry. That was really inconsiderate of us both. You were right, I was projecting my issues with my dad onto Matt."
Elena nods and gives him a half-smile. "It's okay, I understand."
With that the three of them are cool again, and ready to get back to work.
"So you're students?"
"Uh, yeah," Sam replies. "We're in your class. Anthro 101."
The professor gives them a skeptical look. "Oh yeah," he agrees doubtfully. He's looking at Elena specifically.
She gives him an angelic smile that makes him look even more doubtful.
Dean diverts his attention. "So what about the bones, professor?"
"This is quite an interesting find you've made. I'd say they're 170 years old, give or take."
Elena laughs quietly. They all look at her. She shakes her head. "Uh, nothing, inside joke with my brother." Her smile is dazzling.
The professor continues, slightly distracted, but determined to press on. "The time frame and the geography heavily suggest Native American."
Sam asks the obvious question. "Were there any tribes or reservations on that land?"
He shakes his head. "Not according to the historical record. But the relocation of native peoples was quite common at that time."
Sam and Dean exchange a look.
"Right," Sam says. "Well, are there any local legends, oral histories about the area?"
The professor considers this. "Well, you know, there's a Yuchi tribe in Sapulpa. It's about sixty miles from here." He glances between the three of them. "Someone out there might know the truth."
Dean nods. "All right."
Elena smiles. "Thank you, Professor."
After following a few deliberately vague directions from the locals, they manage to find their way to a shabby little diner on the reservation. In a booth near the door an old man is playing solitaire by himself. The three of them exchange looks.
"Joe Whitetree?" Sam asks.
He looks up at them. He nods silently, scrutinizing them.
Sam takes a breath and continues. "We'd like to ask you a few questions if that's all right?"
"We're students from the university." Dean adds.
Joe looks at Elena, who hasn't said a word, and is mostly hidden behind Dean's shoulder.
"No you're not. You're lying."
Dean and Sam exchange slightly panicked looks.
"Um, the truth is—" Dean starts, but Joe cuts him off.
"You know who starts sentence with 'truth is'? Liars."
Elena startles both brothers by laughing. Ignoring their incensed look, she speaks finally. "We're here about Oasis Plains. The housing development near the Atoka Valley."
He nods. "Better. I know the area."
With a wary glance at Elena, Sam continues. "What can you tell us about the history there?"
Joe isn't so easy though. "Why do you wanna know?"
Elena replies. "Bad things are happening there."
Sam chimes in. "We think it might have something to do with some old bones we found down there. Native American bones."
Joes sighs, then relents. "I'll tell you what my grandfather told me. What his grandfather told him."
His listeners are paying avid attention to his story.
"Two hundred years ago a band of my ancestors lived in that valley. One day, the American cavalry came to relocate them." He pauses. "They were resistant. Cavalry, impatient. As my grandfather put it: on a night the moon and the sun shared the sky as equals the cavalry first invaded our village. They murder, raped.
"The next day the cavalry came again. And the next and the next. And on the sixth day the cavalry came one last time. And by the time the sun rose every man, woman, and child still in the village was dead. They say on the sixth night as the chief of the village lay dying he whispered to the heavens that no white man would ever tarnish this land again. Nature would rise up and protect the valley. And it would bring as many days of misery and death to the white man as the cavalry had brought upon his people."
Dean and Sam exchange a look.
"Insects," Dean says in a low voice. "Sounds like nature to me." He turns back to address Joe. "Six days?"
"And on the night of the sixth day, none would survive."
They stand there, absorbing his words. Elena steps forward from behind Dean.
"Thank you."
Joe looks at her with wide eyes, seeing her properly for the first time.
"Harbinger." Her eyes widen, but before she can speak he shakes his head. "No, not you, the other one."
She inhales sharply. "What did she do?" She sounds horrified.
Sam and Dean exchange a sharp look, out of their depth.
Joe shakes his head. "Nothing you can change."
She swallows painfully. "I'm sorry."
He shakes his head again. "Not your sorrow, Harbinger. You have enough of your own, I think. Don't carry hers too."
She nods, face still awash with pain. "Thank you," she says again.
She leaves abruptly, Dean at her heels. Sam lingers, sees that Joe never takes his eyes off of her. Then he follows them out the door.
"What the hell was that, Elena?" Dean asks.
He sounds angry, but Sam can tell from his face that he's frightened. Elena is in front of him, her back to them, arms wrapped around her own waist.
"When did the gas company man die?" Elena asks, completely ignoring his question.
"Friday the 20th," Sam answers.
Dean gives him a hard look before refocusing on her. "Elena, what the hell? You can't pretend like that didn't happened."
When she turns back to look at him her face is completely empty.
"It was nothing, he thought I was someone else, that's all." She turns her attention to Sam. "March 20th is the Spring Equinox."
Sam nods in comprehension. "The night the sun and the moon share the sky as equals."
Dean isn't as interested in the case. "That's it? That's all you're going to give me."
Elena looks at him blankly, then turns back to Sam. "So every year about this time anybody in Oasis Plains is in danger. Larry built his neighborhood on cursed land."
"ELENA." His voice is so loud it makes Sam flinch. Elena appears unaffected.
She turns to Dean. "Everyone has a lookalike, it's a statistical fact."
Dean stares at her. She stares back. Finally they seem to reach some kind of agreement, because when Dean speaks, it's not about the cryptic things Joe Whitetree said about her, it's about the case.
"The sixth night, that's tonight."
Sam nods grimly. "If we don't do something, Larry's family will be dead by sunrise." He lifts his arms up in a questioning manner. "So how do you break a curse."
Elena shakes her head. "You don't break a curse."
Dean nods in agreement. "You get out of its way. We gotta get those people out now."
Elena gets into the car without another word, but Sam and Dean linger.
"Harbinger?" Sam asks.
Dean shakes his head, face grim. "Sam, I know, but we're on a deadline, now is not the time."
Sam nods. Dean gets into the car, and after a moment Sam follows. He files it all—harbinger, lookalike—away, back into the corner of his mind where he keeps all the little odds and ends about Elena that don't add up. Something about her claim that it's just a case of mistaken identity gnaws at Sam's conscious, some forgotten detail. He'll think of it sooner or later.
When Dean's fake gas leak call doesn't do the trick they recognize that they're going to have to do something a bit more drastic in order to protect the Pike family. The urgency of the case manages to push Elena's mystery to the back of their minds, much to her relief.
Sam gets the idea to call Matt and warn him. Once again, Sam projecting his own feelings about his relationship with his dad get in the way of sense and he tries to tell Matt to make him listen.
Dean quickly intervenes and tells Matt to lie and fake appendicitis. Clearly that doesn't work either because when they pull up in front of the house, the cars are still there.
Dean turns the car off. "Damn it, they're still here, come on."
Sam and Elena follow him.
Larry, having spotted them from the window, is already agitated when he meets them on the front lawn.
"Get off my property before I call the cops." He's yelling, his finger pointed in their faces.
Sam attempts to placate him. "Mr. Pike, listen."
Matt, having come up behind them, starts to speak, grabbing everyone's attention. "Dad, they're just trying to help."
Larry isn't listening. "Get in the house!"
Elena steps in front of Dean.
"Do you want your family to die, Larry?"
Suddenly everyone's attention is on her.
"Excuse me?"
Elena ignores him.
"You're not a perfect father, you really need to learn to listen to your son, and you're kind of a shitty salesman, seriously, ever heard of shallow affect? But I don't think you want your family to die so shut up and listen to what we have to say."
Larry Pike gapes at Elena. She stares back at him calmly. Dean, inappropriate as ever, ducks his head to hide his smile, reaching out to press his hand to the small of Elena's back in a show of support.
Larry slowly starts to turn red but before he can blow up, a distinct hum fills the air.
Elena sighs. "I really hate this job."
Dean nods seriously. "Me too."
Sam sighs. "Yup, me three."
Elena looks at everyone, all still standing outside. "Well? Are we gonna go inside or die out here?"
At her words, everyone as one moves towards the door.
Elena sighs, letting Dean shepherd her inside, his hand still on her back. "Finally."
He chuckles, low so only she can hear it. "For a second there I thought you'd given him a heart attack."
She shrugs, unabashed. "Someone needed to say it to him."
Sam locks the door behind them.
"So why exactly is there a biblical swarm outside our door?" Larry is attempting to appear calm.
Elena still seems to be in a mood, so her answer is blunt. "Well Larry, congratulations, you decided to build your suburban paradise on cursed land."
Dean turns away, using Elena's hair as a shield for his face. Sam catches a glimpse of his expression before her ponytail obscures most of it. His brother is on the verge of a laughing fit and there are bugs outside hellbent on killing them all.
"Really, Dean? Now is not the time."
Dean glares at him. "Tell that to Little Miss Stand-Up."
Elena gives him a look. "Dean, you're the only one who thinks I'm funny."
He makes a face. "That's 'cause no one else has a sense of humor."
Sam rolls his eyes at them, turning to address Larry who is watching them with a stunned look on his face.
"Is there anyone else in the neighborhood?"
Larry shakes his head. "No, it's just us."
Just then, Joanie comes in the room. "Honey, what's happening? What's that noise?"
"Karmic retribution," Elena mutters.
Dean ducks down into her hair again.
Sam gives her a look. "Seriously, Elena?"
She shrugs. "I'm in a mood."
"Snap out of it before you give Dean a hernia."
Dean, having finally composed himself, straightens up and gets down to business.
"I need towels."
"In the closet," Larry says.
Sam grabs Elena and Matt. "We gotta lock this place up, windows, doors, fireplace, everything, okay?"
Dean has Joanie and Larry help him start cramming towels in all of the cracks, the bottom of the door, windows, anywhere bugs might be able to crawl through.
Just then the electricity turns off. "They must have chewed through the power lines."
Dean looks out the window which is quickly becoming obscured beneath tiny, vengeful insect bodies.
"They're blanketing the house."
Sam, Elena, and Matt have returned from their task.
"So what do we do now?" Larry asks.
Sam's reply is grim. "We try to outlast it."
Without a word, Dean exits the room. Elena follows after him, Sam barely glances at them.
"Hopefully, the curse will end at sunrise."
Larry flinches. "Hopefully?"
In the kitchen Dean and Elena search through the cabinets for bug spray they can use to defend themselves. There's a growing chance the bugs will find a way in, and neither of them want to be unprepared when that happens.
When they come back in with their loot, Joanie gives them a disbelieving look.
"Bug spray?"
"Trust us," they chorus together.
Suddenly a new noise steals their attention.
"What is that?" Matt asks.
It's coming from the fireplace.
Elena sighs. "They're about to come out of the fireplace, aren't they?"
Sam nods grimly. "The flue."
"All right, I think everybody needs to get upstairs," Dean says.
Before they can move, the insects arrive.
It's instant chaos, everyone trying desperately to get the bugs off of them, too terrified to make for the stairs.
Dean keeps a cool head and takes a page out of Elena's impressive book. He turns his bug spray into a flame thrower.
"Everybody get upstairs, now!"
They make it up the stairs and into the attic, Dean and his flamethrower bringing up the rear. Once they finally manage to close the attic stairs up, they all take a moment to rest.
It's only a moment though, bit by bit the insects start to widen holes in the ceiling.
"They brought the termites." Elena realizes. "Amazing."
Dean sighs. "All right, everybody get back."
The Pike family huddle down into a corner of the attic.
Elena is already up, diving across the room to use her steel toed boots to kick off the metal door of the electricity box. Catching on quickly, Sam grabs it up, going to slam it over the hole just it caves in. A bunch of termites have already found their way in, but quickly meet their demise at the hands of Dean's flamethrower. Elena finds a leftover piece of wood in the corner that Dean props up to keep the metal in place.
Barely a moment passes before another hole opens up in the corner. Dean starts up the bug spray flamethrower again. Almost simultaneously the makeshift patch collapses and Dean runs out of bug spray.
"Fuck!"
Left defenseless, all they can do is huddle together in the corner, their clothes pulled up over their faces. They stay huddled in the corner for hours.
Eventually the dawn breaks, the bugs recede. For a moment they all sit there in comatose silence.
Elena, of course, is the first to break it. "You guys should move."
This time, Larry laughs first. After a moment, everyone else joins in, mostly out of relief rather than in genuine mirth at Elena's deadpan humor.
Sam remembers something, turns to Dean. "Did you just make a flamethrower out of bug spray and a lighter?"
Dean snorts, remembering the wendigo.
Elena looks at Sam, then Dean. "Dude, that is so hot."
At that, the three of them lose it completely, laughing like hyenas. Dean wraps his arms around Elena, squeezing her affectionately.
The Pikes look at them like they're crazy, but the three of them just continue to howl with laughter.
The next day on their way out of town, they swing by the Pike's home in order to say their goodbyes. There's a moving van out front.
"Well I guess we know what the Pikes were doing while we were sleeping," Dean mutters.
Elena hums in agreement.
They get out of the car to go talk to Larry, who is loading up the truck with boxes.
"What? No goodbye?" Dean asks.
Larry chuckles. "Good timing, another hour and we would've been gone."
He reaches out to shake all of their hands.
"For good?" Sam asks.
Larry nods. "Yeah. The development's been put on hold while the government investigates those bones you found."
They exchange a look.
Larry continues. "But I'm gonna make damn sure no one ever lives here again."
"You don't seem too upset about it," Sam says, surprised.
Larry considers this. "Well, this has been the biggest financial disaster of my career, but…" he trails off. He looks over at his son carry boxes out of the house.
They exchange a look much warmer than it had been only a few days ago.
He turns back to them. "Somehow…" He shakes his head. "I really don't care."
Elena smiles at him.
"You have surprising depth, Mr. Pike."
He raises an eyebrow at her.
"I'm glad to have risen in your estimation." His tone is dry, but not unfriendly.
Elena shrugs, unashamed of her words to him the previous night.
He considers her. "I could learn a hell of a lot from you about charisma, couldn't I?"
She smiles enigmatically, shakes her head. "Sorry, it's a family trait."
He laughs. He looks between Dean and Elena.
"Good luck to the two of you."
Elena and Dean exchange amused looks.
Dean shakes his head. "Yeah, we're really not engaged, or even together."
"Just good friends, is all," Elena adds.
Larry gives them a disbelieving look. He turns to Sam for confirmation. He shrugs noncommittally, waits until Dean and Elena head over to say goodbye to Matt before he answers properly.
"They're really not," is his honest answer, but then he can't resist adding, "But they should be." He pauses, corrects himself. "They will be."
Larry laughs and nods in agreement.
Dean and Elena have finished saying goodbye to Matt so Sam heads over for his own goodbye.
He finds Matt throwing away his bug paraphernalia.
"What's this?"
Matt shrugs. "I don't know, they kinda weird me out now," he confesses with no small hint of embarrassment.
Sam chuckles and nods. "Yeah, I should hope so."
They finish up their goodbyes and Sam heads back to the car where Dean and Elena are waiting. Elena's leaning against Dean, her elbow propped on his shoulder. She's looking up at him with such a look of fondness that Sam has to pause briefly just to look at them.
Elena frustrates him a lot, her secrets make him uneasy, her ability to hide them downright terrifies him, but despite this, she's become one of his favorite people. Second only to the man she's looking at like he's just about everything she's ever wanted in her complicated, mysterious life.
Elena's taking off her mother's engagement ring now, unclasping her necklace to put it back in its place.
Sam starts walking again, crossing the street over to them. He leans against the Impala on Dean's other side. For a moment, they just watch Matt interact with his dad.
"I wanna find Dad," Sam says at last.
Dean nods. "Yeah, me too."
Elena looks sideways at them. "Me three."
Sam starts to speak again, trying to explain his feelings. "Yeah, but I just…" he trails off. Then he sighs, forces the words out of his mouth. "I wanna apologize to him."
Dean looks over at him. "For what?"
"All the things I said to him." He remembers something Elena said about John once, that he always tried to do his best for her. It occurs to Sam even as he's speaking that his dad had always done the same for him, and for Dean too. "He was just doing the best he could."
Dean nods. "Well don't worry, we'll find him." He gives him a sardonic smirk. "And you'll apologize, and then within five minutes you guys will be at each other's throats."
Sam laughs. "Yeah, probably."
"Don't worry though, Elena's got your back now."
She sticks her tongue out at Dean, but gives Sam a subtle nod, a joking glint in her eye.
Dean loops an arm around Elena's shoulders, giving her a good squeeze.
"Let's hit the road," Sam says.
Dean nods in agreement. "Let's."
Only an hour into their trip Dean pulls of the highway and into a shopping complex.
"What are we doing here?" Sam asks.
Dean turns off the car. "Well I did promise a certain someone I'd buy her a new leather jacket."
Elena, sprawled across the backseat in her usual manner, pops up excitedly.
The two of them climb out of the car, but Sam hangs back. He waves them on. "Yeah, you guys go ahead, I'll be right in."
Dean nods, and Elena follows him across the parking lot, their clasped hands swinging between.
Sam shakes his head at the sight. He gets out to stretch a bit, then roots through his bag for his journal.
He turns to a fresh page. At the top he labels it: E.G.
The first word he writes under the heading is Harbinger.
tbc.
AN: Chapter title is taken from Little Boxes by Malvina Reynolds. This song is the theme song of the show Weeds, which I used to watch with my mom…when I was like 12, so I frequently get the song stuck in my head, and about every other year (right around finals) I get the urge to rewatch the first season of the show. But anyway, I love how weirdly creepy this song is, it just seems to fit this episode.
Notes about this chapter because apparently SOMEONE (Me! It's me!) can't stop putting in random inside jokes/fun facts. So anyway, Dean and Elena are eating Grape Vines candy at the beginning of the chapter, which are made by the same company that makes Red Vines, they're just grape flavored licorice. Me and a friend of mine were obsessed with them as teenagers. When Elena laughs about the bones being 170 years old, she's thinking about the Salvatores (the skeletons were their contemporaries after all)
Finally, fun fact: way back when I first decided Elena would make a makeshift flamethrower out of bug spray and a lighter way back in Wendigo, it was like months before I had even posted the first chapter, so I hadn't rewatched that episode recently let alone Bugs, so I completely forgot Dean did the same thing in this episode! What can I say, they really are soulmates. Also I've seen the first season of Supernatural so many times it's completely seeped into my unconscious mind and effects everything I do, lol.
Anyway, I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter. I'm not making any promises about next week because I'm in the last month of the semester here and shits about to get Real, but hopefully it'll be up sooner rather than later. Any thoughts about the chapter? Questions? Please leave a review!
xoxo
-Pixie