ᴺᴼᵂ ᴾᴸᴬᵞᴵᴺᴳ: "I only had one bottle."
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A MONTH OF SEARCHING FOR AVA yielded no answers for the hunters.

But Sam had taken a case from Ellen, insisting that they still needed to save as many people as they could.

So that brought the trio to Cornwall Connecticut, to a small—and possibly haunted—inn.

"Hey, wait a sec," Sam called out from behind them, "I'm not so sure haunted's the problem."

Dean and Venus turned and returned to the bottom of the steps, stopping by where Sam's eyes were locked onto a flower pot. "What do you mean?" Dean pressed.

"See this pattern, here?" Sam pointed to a small shape engraved in the large pot.

Venus moved to get a better look at it. Her eyes widened slightly. "Is that a quincunx?"

Sam nodded. "Right, a five spot."

Dean's brows knitted in confusion. "Five spot. That's for Hoodoo spellwork isn't it?"

"Yeah, you fill this thing with blood weed, you got powerful charm to ward off enemies."

Dean looked at the other flower pots lining the entrance. "Except I don't see any blood weed," he noted, "Don't you think this place is a little too uh...white meat for hoodoo?"

"Oh for sure. I mean it's Connecticut," Venus replied. The boys' heads bobbed in agreement.

They eventually turned and made their way into the inn, with Venus and Dean in front and Sam trailing behind.

A middle-aged brunette woman entered the foyer wearing a pleasant smile. "May I help you?"

"Hi, we'd like a room for a couple of nights," Venus told the woman, handing her one of her fake credit cards.

Small hurried footsteps suddenly met their ears, with a young girl running out into the lobby and maneuvering around Sam's tall figure. Her light brown hair flowed in the wind as she ran up the stairs, giggling. Venus smiled at her.

"Hey!" the woman called out to the child. She quickly sent the hunters apologetic looks. "Sorry about that."

"No problem," Sam shook his head.

The woman continued the transaction, eyeing them briefly. "One room for all three of you?" she raised a brow in question.

"Yes," Dean confirmed.

"Well for an extra twenty dollars, I can give you an adjoining room."

Venus' jaw nearly dropped. "For just twenty more dollars? This is a joke right?"

The woman shook her head, chuckling at Venus' expression. "No, you guys could actually be some of our final guests."

Dean shared a look with Venus and Sam. "Well, that sounds vaguely ominous," he half-joked.

"I'm sorry, I mean we're closing at the end of the month," she corrected, her face faltering slightly. But she quickly pulled back on her customer service persona. "Let me guess, you guys are here antiquing?"

Random but sure. "How'd you know?" Venus went along with it.

"You just look the type," the woman grinned, glancing at each of them. "So will a king-sized bed work in the first room for you and your boyfriend?" she asked Venus, gesturing between her and Dean, noticing they were standing closer to each other than to the taller hunter.

Venus prepared to say yes, not even caring about the inaccurate assumption. It wasn't the first time and probably wouldn't be the last.

But Dean's laugh cut her off, as did his exaggerated step away from her. "Oh, we're not..." he trailed off, pointing between them, "We're not dating."

Sam closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose.

Venus blinked, resisting the urge to glare at the man and the urge to jump out the nearest window. 

She hated how instantly hurt she was, because he wasn't technically wrong. This is what she agreed to. She was the one misreading everything that happened in the past few months.

She was the one getting her hopes up.

There was an awkward pause where the flustered hotel owner looked between the three, not even knowing what to say.

Venus cleared her throat harshly. "Two singles in the first room, and a king-sized in the second is fine."

"Speaking of antiques," Sam changed the subject, "You have a really interesting urn on the front porch. Where did you get that?"

"I have no idea, it's been there forever," she told him. She then took Venus' card and handed it back to her. "Here you go, Ms. Fields. You'll be staying in rooms 237 and 239," she said, reaching out to ring an antique bell on the counter.

"Sherwin, could you show them to their rooms?" the woman said, glancing behind Venus. All three turned to see an older man in a loose-fitting suit approaching. 

He stopped and looked at each of them. "Let me guess," he smiled, "Antiquers?"

Venus couldn't even muster up a smile at his joke, her mood now completely ruined.

The old man took the keys from the counter and then grabbed Dean and Venus' duffle bags, slowly lugging them up the stairs.

"I can give you a hand with that bag," Dean kindly offered as they made their way up to the second floor.

"I got it," the man cheerily declared.

Venus glanced around at the paintings and portraits lining the walls as they continued the trek to their rooms. It was a fixer-upper in some parts, but she could tell it was beautiful in its prime. "So the hotel's closing up, huh?" she somberly questioned, walking ahead of the boys by the old man's side.

"Yep. Miss Susan tried to make a go of it but the guests just don't come like they used to," he explained, "Still, it's a damn shame. It may not look it anymore but this place was a palace. Two different vice presidents laid their heads on our pillows. My parents worked here, I practically grew up here," they finally came to a stop at the end of the hall. He took the first key, opened one door, walked over to the second one, and did the same. "Here are your rooms."

But before any of them moved to enter, he held out a wrinkly palm to Dean. "You're not gonna cheap out on me, are you, boy?"

Dean took a deep breath but eventually pulled out a ten-dollar bill and handed it to the man.

Once the man left, Venus took her bag and walked over to the other room, hearing Dean's footsteps behind her. She scoffed and walked into the room but quickly slammed the door shut in his face before he could enter.

Dean froze, eyes locked with the door for a few seconds. He tried the knob and found it locked, turning to look at where Sam stood at the door of the first room hiding his laughter behind a hand. He sighed and walked back to the first room door, entering behind Sam.

"What the hell did I even do, man?" he questioned his younger brother as they settled in the room.

Sam looked up from where he was unpacking his laptop bag, brows raised. "You really don't know?"

Dean threw up his hands in defeat, flopping onto one of the beds.

Sam chuckled and walked over to the door connecting their room to Venus'. "Hey, V?" he called out, knocking softly, "We're going over the case."

Venus took one last deep breath and wiped the scowl off her face, pausing to check herself in the mirror. She was the best liar she knew. She could definitely pretend like everything was fine. "Cool, let's do it," she grinned, swinging the door open and walking in.

She could feel Dean's eyes on her the moment she entered but she didn't even glance in his direction, moving to grab the empty chair at the table where Sam was sorting through some papers.

Sam sat closer to her and sent her a questioning look. "¿Estás bien?" he whispered.

Venus smiled at his question, even noticing how much better his pronunciation had gotten in the last few months. "No, pero es mi culpa. Tenía demasiada esperanza."

Sam's eyes drifted to where Dean was now standing and gazing at an old dress hung up on the wall. Sam then looked back at Venus, taking in the smile on her face that she was clearly forcing.

Venus soon pointed to the papers in his hands, not giving him time to further question her. "The case?"

Sam sighed but turned his eyes down to the information he gathered. "Alright, victim number one, Joan Edison, forty-three years old—a realtor handling the sale of the hotel. Victim number two was Larry Williams, moving some stuff out to Goodwill."

"Well there's a connection," Dean started, now sitting at the edge of one of the single beds, "They're both tied up in shutting the place down."

Venus nodded. "Maybe someone here doesn't want to leave and they're using Hoodoo to fight back," she theorized.

"Who do you think our witch doctor is? That Susan lady?"

Venus and Sam shared a look and then shook their heads. "Doesn't seem likely," Sam voiced, "She's the one selling."

"So what then, Sherwin?" Dean raised a skeptical brow.

Venus chuckled at the image of the old man bent over an altar casting hoodoo spells. "I don't think so. Maybe there's something or someone we missed. Let's go check the place out."

Both boys stood to their feet and made their way to the door, with Sam leaving first.

But before Venus could follow Sam out the door she felt Dean's hand on her wrist, stopping her in her tracks. "Here we go," she mumbled to herself, turning to face him with a neutral expression.

"Did I do something wrong? I feel like you're mad at me."

Venus sent him a tight-lipped smile and took a step away from him. "No, Dean. You did nothing wrong. Why would you ever think that?" She hadn't meant for it to come out as cold as it did, but what could she do now?

Dean let her wrist go, not saying another word, looking like a kicked puppy. 

Venus leaned closer and patted his shoulder, grinning as she did. "Chin up, buddy!" She then walked out the door without another word.

-ˋˏ [                                     ] ˎˊ-

"What do you think? Dolls, Hoodoo, mysterious shut-in grandma?"

Venus sighed, mulling over Dean's question as they left Susan's room. "Well, dolls are used in all kinds of Voodoo, Hoodoo, like curses and binding spells."

"Yeah, maybe we found our Witch Doctor," Dean said, coming to a stop in the middle of the hall and facing the others, "I'll go see what I can dig up on granny. You get online, check old obits, freak accidents, that sort of thing. See if she's whacked anybody before."

Venus pulled out her cell phone. "I got an old friend in New Orleans, I'll go brush up on my hoodoo and voodoo lore."

Dean nodded then looked over at Sam. "Don't go surfing porn, that's not the kind of whacking I mean."

The youngest threw up his hands in defeat, a faint tint of embarrassment rising to his cheeks while Venus' laughter echoed in the small hallway.

The hunters worked for hours, individually trying to find as much information as possible. But soon, another body dropped.

Or rather, hung.

Venus rushed out from the small lounge in the motel where she was writing and gathering notes, stopping by Dean's side.

"What happened?" he asked Susan who was now walking up the porch.

"The maid went in to turn down the sheets and he was just hanging there," she explained, face distraught.

Venus' eyes widened. "That's awful," she said with a glance at where the man's body was being wheeled into a coroner's truck, "Was he a guest?"

Susan nodded. "He worked for the company that bought the place."

"Hmm," Dean hummed, looking off in thought. Beside him, Venus silently made the same connection.

"I don't understand," Susan's voice grabbed their attention, "Had a lot of bad luck around here. Look, if you'd like to check out, I'll give you a free refund."

Venus smiled at the woman's kind offer.

"No thanks, we don't scare that easy," Dean told her with a small smile.

When they returned to their rooms upstairs, Venus followed Dean into his, hoping to see what Sam found.

But they found the youngest hunter sitting in a chair, oddly silent and facing the window.

"There's been another one," Dean announced as they entered, "Some guy just hung himself in his room."

"Yeah, I saw," Sam slurred.

Venus immediately stopped and turned to look at him, his head was hanging lazily to one side, eyes glossed over. "What the hell?" she muttered, moving to stand directly in front of him. He was actively avoiding her stare, even when she waved her hand in front of his face. She couldn't tell if he was sad or drunk.

"We got to figure this out and fast," Dean continued, opening his duffel for weapons, "What did you find out about Granny?"

"You're bossy," Sam suddenly called out.

So drunk it was, Venus thought.

Dean's head spun to face him. "What?"

"You're bossy," Sam repeated, louder, "and short," he added with a drunken giggle. He then looked up at where Venus was frowning down at him and reached out to wrap his large arms around her waist, pulling her closer to him and resting his head on her stomach. "Not you though, you're the best," he grinned widely.

Venus accepted the hug, running her hands through Sam's hair and sending Dean a worried look. Sam rarely, if ever, drank this much, and never on a job. Something was seriously wrong.

"Are you drunk?" Dean asked him.

 Sam looked at Dean, still clutching onto Venus. "Yeah, so?"

Dean glanced over at a table of discarded whiskey and Jagermeister bottles in disbelief. "Dude, what are you thinking? We're working a case,"

Sam slowly let go of Venus and leaned back in his chair. "That guy who hung himself," he paused, sniffling, "I couldn't save him."

"What are you talking about, 'mano?" Venus softly replied, "You didn't know. There's nothing you could've done."

"That's an excuse, V," he argued, "I should've found a way to save him. I should've saved Ava too."

Venus frowned, knowing the guilt had been eating him up the past month.

"Well you can't save everyone," Dean began to walk over, "Even you said that."

Sam then slammed his fist against a nearby table. "No, Dean, you don't understand!" he snapped, catching both the older hunters off guard, "The more people I save, the more I can change."

Dean's brows knitted together in confusion. "Change what?"

"My destiny, Dean!"

Venus' eyes darted in Dean's direction, the pair holding eye contact for a few seconds. But she broke away first, leaning down to pull Sam to his feet. "Time for bed, buddy, come on."

Dean reached down and helped her, each catching a side of the taller man before he could lose his footing and bring them down all crashing to the ground.

"I need you guys to watch out for me," Sam muttered while being moved to his bed.

"We always do," Dean said.

Sam stopped moving, turning to face them. "No, no, no. I need you to watch out for me, alright?" he repeated, speaking clearer than he had all night. Venus' nose wrinkled slightly at the foul scent of the dark liquor on his tongue, but she listened to his words nonetheless. Clearly, he had some things to get off his chest.

"And if I ever turn into something that I'm not," he paused, voice breaking, "You have to kill me, both of you," his gaze turned to Dean, "I know V won't want to do it, so I need you to help her, okay? Do it with her."

Venus sharply exhaled, trying not to let his words get to her. "Sam—"

"V, Dad told you to do it, you have to."

Before Venus could prepare to tell him that she didn't have to do jack shit, Dean's booming voice interrupted her thoughts. "Yeah, well, Dad's an ass."

Her head spun in his direction within half a second, shock written on her face.

"He never should've said anything," Dean spat, "I mean you don't do that, you don't lay that kind of shit on your kids."

"No, he was right to say it," disputed Sam, "Who knows what I might become? Even now, everyone around me dies!" he yelled, wildly gesturing around them.

Dean's jaw clenched. "Well I'm not dying, okay?"

"Neither am I," Venus firmed, stepping closer to the boys, "And neither are you, Sam," she said, grabbing his shoulder and forcing him to sit on the bed behind him.

Dean stood beside her, swatting away Sam's hands and keeping him in place.

"No, please, guys," Sam continued to argue, using each of his hands to grab Venus and Dean by their shirt collars, "You're the only ones who can do it. Promise."

"The fuck I will," Venus scoffed, brushing Sam's hand off her chest.

"Don't ask that of us," Dean shook his head.

Sam's eyes were wide now, pleading in a way neither of them had ever seen before. "Please," he eyed them both, "You have to promise me."

Venus brought a hand up to the side of Sam's face, managing to catch a tear that fell with her thumb. He looked so broken, it made her chest hurt. She didn't know how else to make him feel better, not while he was like this. So... "I promise," she relented, teeth grinding as she said the words just in time for Dean to echo them beside her.

Relief entered Sam's expression, the hunter now affectionately grabbing each of their faces. "Thanks. Thank you," he told them.

Dean brushed his hand off and moved away while Venus leaned in and placed a kiss on the top of Sam's head. "Get some rest, Sam," she told him, gently using her grip on his face to move him further into a sleeping position.

By the time Sam rolled onto his stomach and sunk into the embroidered sheets, Venus and Dean were standing side by side, looking down at him with varying expressions.

Venus sighed loudly, feeling tears pooling in her eyes. Dean turned to reach a hand out to her, but Venus stomped over to the door connected to her room and walked through it, slamming it behind her.

The brunette frantically ran her palms through her hair, attempting to take a few deep breaths and calm herself.

Soon, she locked eyes with her duffel bag across the room, remembering something she had stored in there. She couldn't even deny the relief that shot through her at the thought of it.

That was a concern in and of itself.

As she gripped the neck of the unopened whiskey bottle, she ignored her tío's voice in her mind, telling her that any problem she had would only be worsened tenfold by dark liquor. 

Right now, there was no way her problems could get any worse.

-ˋˏ [                         ] ˎˊ-

Dean took a deep breath once he came to a stop by Venus' room door. It had been an hour since they put Sam to sleep. In that time he came across some important new information that he needed to tell her, but he also wanted to check in on the girl. He eventually raised a hand to knock on the painted wood.

"It's open!" her voice came through seconds later. 

He noted how cheery she sounded, but quickly brushed it away, strolling into the room. "I was just downstairs talking to Sherwin," he said as he looked around the room for her, "He was telling me about Rose and her na-" Dean paused upon seeing Venus stumble out of the bathroom, tripping on air and laughing drunkenly.

The brunette came to a stop by the closest wall, leaning on it and plastering a cool expression on her face. Don't look drunk don't look drunk don't look drunk-

"Oh God not you too," Dean sighed, pulling off his jacket.

"Hijo de puta," mumbled Venus under her breath. She stumbled over to the closest chair and sat in it, looking up at where Dean was standing some distance away, staring down at her in disappointment.

"What the hell's going on Venus? Sam doing this was a surprise but you? I mean," he paused, a dry laugh echoing from his chest as he quickly ran his hand over the lower half of his face, "This has gotta be a sign of the end times."

Venus sputtered, waving him off haphazardly. "¡Cálmate!" she said, dragging out the last syllable, "I only had one bottle."

"One beer's got you acting like this?" Dean retorted, dumbfounded.

Venus giggled, throwing her head back in the process. "No silly," she pointed to the nightstand where an empty bottle of Jack Daniels rested, "One bottle of whiskey."

"Jesus Christ," Dean swore, pinching the bridge of his nose in distress.

Venus' giggles continued. He sounded like a concerned parent. It was cute.

"Come on, you need to go sleep it off," Dean sighed, walking over and helping Venus to her feet.

Venus stood but then hesitated, pursing her lips. "Are you gonna sleep with me?"

"No."

Venus promptly sat back down, kicking her leg up. "Then I'm not going anywhere!" she loudly declared. She then began pulling off the red Henley shirt she was wearing, missing the relieved sigh that left Dean's lips once he saw that she was wearing a tank top underneath it. "It's so hot in here," she slurred tossing the fabric aside, "Are you hot?"

"Venus, it's the middle of December—"

"Shhh," Venus brought a finger up to her lips, "I was talking to the other Dean," she added, pointing to an empty spot behind the older hunter and winking poorly.

Dean rolled his eyes, stepping back and looking down at the woman. Her attention was now focused on her hair, her fingers twirling the curls as she faintly hummed a random Selena song to herself. He was witnessing one of the most important people in his life fall apart right before his eyes. "Is this about what Sam said? Forcing us to make that stupid promise?"

Venus' hands stopped their movements, the girl's face suddenly wiped of all giddiness. "No," she lied.

Dean bent down in front of her chair, now at her eye level. "We're gonna find a way to save Sam, you know that, right? A way that doesn't involve anyone hurting him," he told her softly.

Venus looked down at him, resisting the urge to smile. "Your eyes are so pretty," she said, her own eyes widening once she realized that she hadn't said that in her head like she originally wanted.

Dean chuckled and looked away for a moment. "Alright princess, it's time for bed," he stood up to his full height, reaching a hand down for Venus to grab.

"Princess," Venus repeated, standing up with Dean's help, "I wish you were my princess."

Dean raised a brow at her. "Huh?"

Venus snorted at his expression. "Sorry. I meant boyfriend."

"What?" Dean's jaw slackened, his mouth suddenly going dry. Maybe he heard her wrong.

"But you're a scaredy cat!" Venus added after some time, bumbling over to the bed with Dean following behind. She finally flopped onto the mattress with a soft thump, looking up at him. "Buenas noches, scaredy cat."

Dean scoffed to himself, now realizing why she'd been giving him the cold shoulder all day. It's not like he was in the wrong, though, right? 

Despite all the mixed signals being passed between them, they weren't together. And it was best that way, for everyone. They both knew that...

Or, at least that's what Dean thought as he knocked on the door connecting his room to the brunette's the next morning.

He only managed two knocks before a disheveled Venus appeared in his view, one hand clutching the door for balance while the other massaged her temple. "Must you be so loud?" she said, voice low.

"Good morning to you too, princess," Dean smirked, following her into her room with a cleaned and dressed Sam behind him— a far cry from the Sam he found hurling his guts out minutes prior.

Venus groaned with every step she took, eventually stopping by her bed to sit at the edge and pull on her boots. "I don't even know how I managed to shower standing up," she said, glancing up at where Sam was sending her worried looks.

"Party girl here downed a whole bottle of Jack Daniels last night," Dean lowly informed a confused Sam.

The younger hunter's eyes widened. "A whole bottle? V, what if you got alcohol poisoning?"

"Umm, excuse me, Pope Samuel, remind me how much Jagermeister you drank last night?" Venus sassed with narrowed eyes. When Sam gave no response, she stood to her feet and grabbed her hairbrush and makeup pouch. "Exactly," she said before stumbling over to the bathroom.

"Well, what I was trying to tell you last night was that I found some stuff out about Rose," Dean began, walking over to stand outside the bathroom while he spoke.

Venus sharply exhaled, the memories of her drunken ramblings to Dean coming back to mind. Embarrassment spread through her like a rapid infection. 

If her head wasn't already pounding, she'd launch it into a wall. 

She quickly forced the memory away and looked up at her tired reflection in the mirror, instead shifting her concern to the bird's nest of curls sprouting from her head. "What'd you hear?" she prompted Dean to continue.

"So turns out, when Rose was little she had a creole nanny who wore a hoodoo necklace."

Venus' brows creased in thought. "Which means she probably taught her hoodoo."

"Yup," Dean confirmed.

"Which means we're gonna go find Rose and have a little chat with her?"

"Yup."

And ten minutes later, the hunters were on their way to do just that. 

But their chat went nowhere once they realized that Rose was recovering from a stroke and could barely blink much less cast hoodoo spells.

Then, to add insult to injury, Susan caught them and demanded that they leave the property or she would call the police.

So, in record time, the hunters and their vehicles fled the property.

...or at least made it look like they did.

-ˋˏ [                   ] ˎˊ-

Within minutes the trio hid their vehicles a few blocks away and footed the rest of the distance to the inn, where they found Susan seconds away from being flattened by her empty car.

Sam managed to run ahead of the others, rushing over just in time to grab Susan and throw her out of her car's path and onto the ground with him.

Venus and Dean soon came over and helped them to their feet, hurriedly guiding them into the inn.

"What the hell happened out there?" Susan asked them, taking a seat in the empty dining hall.

"You want the truth?" came Dean's response a few seconds later.

"Of course," Susan answered eagerly, her breathing slowly returning to normal.

Venus sighed and sat in an empty chair beside the woman. "At first we thought it was some sort of Hoodoo curse," she began to explain, already seeing a bewildered expression brewing on the older woman's face, "But that out there? That was definitely a spirit."

Sam walked over holding a glass of whiskey that the traumatized woman requested, gently placing it on the table in front of her.

"You're insane," she declared, lifting the amber-brown liquid to her lips with a trembling hand.

"Jury's still out on that one," Venus grinned.

"Look, I'm sorry, Susan. We don't exactly have time to ease you into this," Sam stepped up, "But we need to know when your mother had the stroke."

Susan eyed the hunters wearily, ignoring the terrified tears that were still falling from her eyes. "What does that have to do with—"

"Just answer the question, " Sam politely urged her.

"Uhh, about a month ago."

"Right before the killings began, see?" Sam turned to Venus and Dean, "So what if Rose was working Hoodoo but not to hurt anyone, to protect them?"

Venus nodded in agreement. "So the five-spot urns were to ward off the spirit."

"Until she had a stroke and couldn't anymore," Dean chimed in.

"I don't believe this," Susan shook her head, taking in the hunters' words with widened eyes.

Dean spun on her. "Listen, sister, that car didn't try to run you down by itself, okay?"

Venus' brows furrowed. "Well technically..."

"Okay," Dean held a hand up, "I guess it did. But with a spirit—forget it," he eventually gave up and walked away.

Sam ignored them and moved to sit directly across from Susan. "Believe what you want, okay? But the fact is that you and your family are in danger. So you need to clear everybody out of here; your employees, your mother, your daughters, everyone."

"Um," Susan paused, locking eyes with each of them, "I only have one daughter," she corrected.

Venus slowly stood up from the chair she was sitting in. "Come again?"

"I thought Tyler had a sister named Maggie?" Dean questioned.

"Maggie's imaginary."

Venus, Sam, and Dean each shared knowing looks. They found their spirit.

"Where's Tyler?"

The adults raced up the stairs soon after, beelining to Susan's room in search of the little girl.

But they found no trace of her, only broken and shattered porcelain dolls.

"Susan, tell us what you know about Maggie," Sam said, stopping the woman once she returned from checking the attic.

"Not much," Susan said, her words coming out rushed, "Tyler's been talking about her since mom got sick."

Venus walked over from where she had been checking cabinets. "Did you know anyone by that name?"

"No," Susan blurted, shaking her head frantically.

"Think," Dean urged, "Somebody that could have lived here, might have passed away?"

She froze, suddenly remembering. "My God...my mom had a sister named Margaret. She barely spoke about her."

"Did Margaret die here when she was a kid?"

Susan was crying now. "Yeah, she drowned in the pool."

Dean was the first one out the door. "Come on," he called for them.

After a quick run across the grounds, they arrived at the pool.

But found the doors locked.

"Tyler!" Susan screamed, spotting her daughter standing at the edge of the balcony above the pool.

Beside her, Venus, Dean, and Sam were using their elbows, knees, and arms to try and break through the glass, but they made no headway.

They were soon alerted by a horrified gasp leaving Susan's lips, all looking up in time to see Tyler thrown into the pool.

"Is there another entrance?" Dean turned and asked Susan.

"Around back."

Venus gave up on trying to break the glass. "Let's go. Sam, stay here, keep trying," she told the man before following Dean and Susan away.

But the back entrance was shut as well. Not even two harsh kicks from Dean could open it.

"Son of a bitch," the older hunter muttered in shock.

Venus stepped forward and tried her luck, using as much force as she could muster and more to raise a foot in the air and kick the door.

It still wouldn't budge.

She turned to where Dean was anxiously running his hand through his hair. "Same time?" she suggested.

He nodded and moved to stand beside her. "Three, two, one."

With a harsh kick from each of them, the door flew off its hinges, allowing Susan to run in and lead them to the pool.

They all ran in to find Sam holding Tyler's unmoving body, wading through the water to place her by the edge.

Venus waited for a few seconds to see if the girl would wake up on her own, chewing on her bottom lip nervously and tuning out Susan's panicked cries.

She eventually got her wish when Tyler's chest shook, the young girl coughing up water and moving in Sam's arms.

"Oh thank God!" Susan sobbed, helping her daughter up into a sitting position and cradling her soaked body in her arms.

"Mommy," Tyler called out, slowly regaining her breath.

Sam leaned in and gently rested a hand on the girl's shoulder. "Tyler, do you see Maggie anywhere?"

Tyler quickly glanced around the room and then back at Sam. "No, she's gone."

Venus finally released a harsh breath, relief coursing through her. There was no way of knowing what happened to Maggie, but at least they saved a mother from knowing the pain of losing a child.

Minutes later, the hunters escorted Susan and Tyler back to their room.

"I don't get it," Dean spat, "Did Maggie just stop?"

A semi-dried Sam shrugged his shoulders. "Seems like it."

"Where the hell did she go?"

Screaming soon met their ears, causing all three to look towards the attic. They bolted up the stairs, ready for a fight, but found Susan and Tyler unharmed.

The same could not be said for Rose.

Venus' eyes widened at the sight of the dead woman, rushing forward to usher Susan and her daughter out of the room.

It seemed that Maggie ended up getting her revenge.

-ˋˏ [               ] ˎˊ-

"Thank you."

Venus stood behind Sam, a gentle smile on her face while Susan pulled the taller hunter in for a long hug.

"All of you," the older woman eventually turned to Venus and Dean.

"Be safe, Susan," Venus said with a final wave.

The hunters watched as Susan and her daughter hopped in a taxi, Sam shutting the door for them with a tight smile.

"I think you could've hooked up some MILF action there, buddy," Dean smirked as they walked over to where the Impala and Freddy were parked.

Venus rolled her eyes at his vulgarity. "Dean."

"What? You were thinking it too," he shrugged innocently, "I think she liked you, Sammy."

Sam scoffed. "Yeah, that's all she needs."

Venus lightly shoved his shoulder, smiling up at him. "Dude, you're a catch."

But Sam didn't look any more convinced, only sending her a small smile and returning to his previous brooding state.

"Well, you saved the mom, you saved the girl. Not a bad day," Dean mused, " 'Course, y'know I could've saved em myself. But I didn't want you to feel useless."

Sam chuckled, moving over to the passenger door. "Alright, I appreciate it."

Venus mounted her bike where it was parked beside the boys, pausing to grab Sam's arm and gain his attention. "Good job today, 'mano. I mean it."

"Thanks, V," he nodded.

"Feels good to get back in the saddle doesn't it?" Dean loudly called out from the other side of the car.

"Yeah, yeah it does," Sam's eyes then darted between both the older hunters, "But it doesn't change what we talked about last night."

Venus froze, looking up from where she was about to put her key in her bike's ignition.

"We talked about a lot of things last night," Dean replied, trying to avoid the obvious subject of discussion.

"You know what I mean."

"You were wasted.

"But you weren't," Sam paused and glanced at Venus, "and you both promised."

Venus sighed. "Look at me," she called out to the younger hunter, "The guy who just saved that kid? Who saved somebody's mother earlier? I'm not killing that guy. No way in hell. This world would be shit without guys like that."

"But you promis—"

"Don't care," Venus cut in, "There's nothing that could justify me killing you. Not a goddamn thing."

Sam's jaw clenched, the taller man looking away from Venus' intense stare. He knew she meant every word.

Venus glanced over at Dean, seeing a small smile tug at his lips. But she quickly looked away, not returning it.

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A/N: Do yall smell an argument coming or is it just me...  :)

Translations:
¿Estás bien? - Are you okay?
No, pero es mi culpa. Tenía demasiada esperanza - No but it's my fault. I had too much hope
Hijo de puta - Son of a bitch
¡Cálmate! - Calm down
Buenas noches - Good night

Lovely GIF banner up above made by the incredibly talented prodigybitxhhh 

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