𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐄

𝘛𝘏𝘌 𝘊𝘖𝘕𝘝𝘌𝘕𝘛𝘐𝘖𝘕

Delaney flew out of the backseat with Theo as the tires of the Impala squealed against the asphalt of the hotel that Chuck texted them to meet him urgently at. He hadn't specified what the problem was, but the second Sam got the text from him the Winchesters and Theo all hopped in the car and took a twelve hour journey to get to wherever he was. 

The hotel looked like a cottage like structure that had been made out of rocks rather than wood. Foliage and pretty purples, blues and pinks scattered around the front of the hotel bringing an abundance of colors to the otherwise dark toned hotel. The sun shone brightly from above and Delaney could feel a few beads of sweat already form along her hairline and she had half a mind to take off her sleek leather jacket, but didn't have much time to think about doing os as she focused on whatever their current situation was.

Finding Chuck pace in front of the Pineview Hotel, the four hunters ran their way over to him and startled him out of whatever trance he'd been stuck in. He almost looked surprised to see the Winchesters and Theo, earning a raised eyebrow from the youngest Winchester herself.

"Chuck! Hey, what's going on?" Delaney demanded as the man stumbled back a step away from them.

"Oh, uh . . . nothing," Chuck responded nervously, glancing over his shoulder towards the hotel with a timid expression. "You know, just, um . . . I was kind of hangin'. What — what are you guys doing here?"

"You told us to come, dude," Theo quipped, eyeing Chuck oddly as he tried to figure the man out. Though, at this point — Delaney didn't think anyone would be able to figure out Chuck. No matter how hard they tried to do so.

Chuck's eyes snapped back over to the four hunters before him and he shook his head. "Uh, no I didn't."

Sam blinked at Chuck in disbelief and held up his phone to showcase the stack of texts that Chuck had sent him the day prior, practically begging the Winchesters and Theo to make their over to where he was. "Yeah, you did. You texted me — this address, life-or-death situation. Any of this ringing a bell?"

"No, I — I didn't send you any text. I'm sorry, but I don't understand what could —" Chuck cut himself off suddenly as realization seemed to dawn on him. He squeezed his eyes shut with a deep sigh, rubbing a hand over his forehead in exasperation. "Oh, no."

As if on cue, the front door to the hotel banged open and Becky's voice carried across the front entrance. It earned all of the hunters' attention, especially Theo who tried to remember just who the girl even was. "Sam! You made it!"

Sam shifted uncomfortably as the excitable girl rushed her way over, sunlight glistening off the braces that lined her teeth. Her blue eyes shined with pure joy over the sight of Sam and Delaney, Dean and Theo all snorted at the sight before them as they watched the whole thing with amusement. "Oh . . . uh, Becky right?"

Becky gasped dramatically and her eyes only seemed to widen more if that were even possible. "Oh my gosh! You remembered. You've been thinking about me."

Theo choked on his laughter and slapped Sam on the shoulder with a broad grin on his face, clearly enjoying this situation a little too much. "Oh, sweetheart, he's been dreaming about you, too."

"Dude," Sam scoffed, shoving Theo off him as he shifted his awkward expression back to Becky who looked like she was practically eye fucking Sam. "I . . . I'm so confused."

"It's okay," Becky assured Sam, smile growing wider and wider by the second. "I can't get you out of my head, either."

"Uh," Chuck chimed in, reminding everyone that he still was stood outside with the rest of them. "Did you take my phone, Becky?"

Becky tore her eyes away from Sam and looked over to Chuck with a small shrug as if it was a minor thing. "I just borrowed it. From your pants. They're gonna want to see it."

"See what?" Delaney, Dean and Sam all chorused together, eyeing Becky suspiciously and with a lack of amusement in their eyes now that they were over her fawning over Sam. They had been pulled away from a completely different state just to see Becky? For what?

"Oh, my God!" Becky squealed, clapping her hands together and beaming at the siblings. "I love it when you guys talk at the same time!"

"Hey, Chuck!" a male voice called and everyone shifted their gazes over to the hotel entrance where a man with long, dark hair and a salt and pepper beard stood, clipboard clutched in his hands. "Come on, pal. It's showtime."

Chuck grimaced as Becky squealed once again and took off after what Delaney wanted to assume was the coordinator of whatever the hell they got dragged out here for. "Guys, I'm sorry. For everything."

The siblings and Theo all reluctantly followed after Chuck after that and through a side entrance to the hotel and into what looked like a big convention room. Tables and couches were filled with people lounging around with beers or food, all dressed up in random costumes that off put the Winchesters and Theo. A guy in a leather jacket that looked identical to Dean's and wore the same amulet she'd gifted to Dean when she was eight, waltzed by and grinned at Dean when he noticed their matching attire.

"Hey, Dean! Lookin' good!" the guy complimented, winking at the eldest Winchester and took a sip of his beer.

"Who the hell are you?" Dean questioned, eyeing the guy with a freaked out expression. She could practically hear the spoken "and why the hell do you look like me" hanging in the air around them.

The guy chuckled and turned back to Dean, gesturing to his outfit. "I'm Dean, too? Duh!"

"Dean, how did he get your amulet?" Delaney whispered, blinking in surprise at the jewlery that hadn't been seen since Castiel took it. She'd been dying to find another one to replace it as it didn't feel right seeing Dean without the jewelry item that he'd worn like a metal of honor ever since Delaney gave it to him. It hadn't left his neck since she was eight and she didn't like that Dean was without it and she knew Dean was heavily uncomfortable without the amulet. "I've been looking for a new one and yet . . ."

Delaney's words cut off and yelped when she saw a guy who dressed up as the Hook Man stop near them. He pretended to be frightened of Delaney, Dean and Sam and jokingly raked his fake hook hand along Delaney's chest. It caused her stumble back out of fright and right into Theo's chest who stood behind her. She quickly stepped out of his hold when he pressed his hands down on her shoulders to right her once again and she fixed her leather jacket with a huff as if that would wipe away Theo's germs.

Glancing around, Delaney saw multiple girls walk dressed exactly like her and a few even went so far as to buy wigs that looked just like her hair. Her hand subconsciously reached up to touch her curled hair and she wondered if it really looked that nice to others or if that was just because it was a wig. She even noticed one or two guys that were no doubt dressed up as Randy as she noticed his knife gripped in their hands and her stomach flipped over when she realized both their girlfriends were dressed as Delaney. 

Forcing herself to tear her eyes away from the two couples, Delaney took in the rest of the surroundings and noticed a merch table at the other side of the room where a guy who had demon black eyes handed out mugs, t-shirts, hoodies, posters and anything else you could imagine as people practically threw money at him. One guy even bought one of the small toy model cars of the Impala and pretended to make it drive around in the air as he walked away with his companion that was dressed up as Bobby.

"Becky, what the hell is this?" Theo inquired when none of the Winchesters made a move to ask the question that was on all their minds.

"It's awesome!" Becky sang, throwing up jazz hands and a big smile. "A Supernatural convention. The first ever."

Yep, they officially entered crazy town.

"Welcome to the first annual Supernatural convention," the same man from outside announced a few minutes later on the stage that had been set up near one of the walls in the massive room. People were already sat eagerly on the blue chairs arranged in front of the stage, either dressed up in a costume or wearing merch from Supernatural. "At 3:45 in the Magnolia Room, we have the panel frightened little boy: the secret life of Dean. At 4:30, there's the homoerotic subtext of Supernatural. Oh, and, of course, the big hunt starts at seven pm sharp."

A chorus of cheers and applause erupted in the room from everyone except Theo, Dean, Delaney and Sam. All four of them watched the stage in a mixture of horror at the panels and events that were to come up, but also confusion on why people were so excited about all of this in the first place. Their lives sucked and they didn't understand why anyone would want to try and be them for a day.

"Okay, but — but right now — right now I'd like to introduce the man himself. The creator and the writer of the Supernatural books, the one and only . . . Carver Edlund!"

At that, Chuck awkwardly waved and made his way onto the stage while the coordinator stepped down to allow him the whole stage. He fiddled with the microphone for a moment, sending out a sound of feedback which caused him to quickly let the thing go and stand rigidly behind it as he clearly didn't like to be put on the spot. "uh, okay, good. This isn't nearly as awkward as I — " He cut himself to clear his throat and scratch the back of his neck. "It's a little dry mouth."

Turning to grab the bottle of water on the black stool placed behind him, Chuck screwed off the cap and took a long chug from the bottle and finished half of it in a matter of seconds. He coughed slightly as he took the bottle away from his lips and screwed the back on with another clear of his throat. "So, uh . . . questions?"

Instantly, every single hand of the people sitting down shot up into the sky in excitement. Some even wiggled around in their chairs as if that would have Chuck pick on them first or at all. After a long moment of awkward silence, Chuck picked a random guy in the fourth row that was dressed as Sam and the man perked up instantly.

"Hey, Mr. Edlund. Uh, big fan. Wow. Okay, I was just wondering — where'd you come up with Del, Sam and Dean in the first place?" 

Chuck shifted at the man's question and he avoided the Winchesters' pointed glares as he tried to formulate a good lie for the man. "Oh . . . uh, I, uh . . . it just . . . came to me."

Delaney pursed her lips and crossed her arms as her eyes narrowed at Chuck who narrowly avoided her gaze once again and focused on picking another person in the crowd now that the man was done. He picked one of the girls in one of the middle rows that was dressed like Delaney and she popped up, tucking a few pieces of fake curled hair behind her ears.

"Uh, yeah . . . why, in every fight scene, do the siblings have their gun or knife knocked away by the bad guy? Why don't they keep it attached them somehow? Aren't their weapons, like, important?"

Theo snorted into his hand behind Delaney and she licked her lips, fighting off her own laughter at the girl's question while Dean and Sam cleared their throats from either side of her. If they were able to keep their weapons attached to them at all times, it truly would make their lives easier. However, that was the thing. Their lives — this life, especially — was nowhere near easy and that's what nobody would ever understand.

"Yeah, I - I - I really don't know."

"Another thing," the same girl piped up before Chuck could stammer and ramble further on. "Why couldn't they tell Randy was evil? I know Delaney was in love with him and he manipulated her, but . . . he's a demon. He was so totally manipulating her and using her already bad emotions against her and made her go into some kind of moral lapse. It's obvious."

Delaney's mouth dried at the mention of Randy and she could feel the heavy feeling of dread and nausea bubble in her stomach. She could feel Dean and Sam's eyes on her and she had to suck in a harsh breath to keep her anxiety pushed down, already feeling it grasp tightly around her lungs and squeeze like an unforgiving bear trap. Yes, Delaney made mistakes, mistakes she definitely could never take back no matter what she did. She could only try to not make those same mistakes again and try to do better.

"Hey!" Becky's angry voice boomed in the room and it earned surprised glances from the Winchesters and Theo. "If you don't like the books, then don't read 'em or dress up like Delaney, cupcake! Delaney Elizabeth Winchester isn't —"

"Okay, okay!" Chuck yelled over Becky's rant that would have no doubt defended and protected Delaney. It caused Delaney to soften slightly and press a hand to her chest over the fact that someone was actually going to defend her and what happened. She didn't feel like she should be defended, but the fact Becky cared enough to fight off the girl was heartwarming to her. "Just, uh — uh, okay. It's okay, Becky. So . . . next question?"

Next another boy dressed as Sam stood up and stuffed his hands into the front pockets of his jeans. "Yeah, at the end of the last book, Dean goes to Hell. So, what happens next?"

"Oh, w-well, there lies an announcement, actually. Um . . . you're all gonna find out. Um, thanks to a wealthy Scandinavian investor . . . we're gonna start publishing again."

The crowd erupted in excited cheers over the announcement and the Winchesters all groaned in annoyance. Great, even more books that shined light on the Winchesters. Just what they needed.

Eventually, the Q&A session much to the Winchesters' and Theo's delight and the convention goers were all told to enjoy the convention until the next event were to arise. Delaney had never vacated a room so fast in her life and waltzed into another part of the convention rooms were a small bar was set up, Chuck already inside and getting him and Becky drinks where he then walked it over to a set of chairs and a small round table that Becky was sat at. Pointing the duo out to her brothers and Theo, the four made their way over and Becky perked up at the sight of Sam.

"In case you guys weren't aware, our plates are a little full right now. Okay? Finding the Colt again, trying to hunt down the Devil. You know, the same one that kind of wants to take over my baby sister!" Dean ranted, face tinting red in obvious anger and agitation over the whole situation. "We don't have time for this crap!"

Chuck laughed and held his hands up, visibly more at ease now that he didn't have dozens of eyes on him. "Hey, I didn't call you, okay?"

Delaney barked out a humorless laugh and she went to take a step toward Chuck when Sam shot his hand out and tugged her back, even though he'd love to see Delaney rough up the man before them. "No, dumbass. My brother means the books. Why in the holy hell would you publish more? Last time I checked, I didn't give you permission to put my life story in a book!"

"An archangel gave it to me and I didn't even want it in the first place!" Chuck argued.

"Well, deal's off, okay? No more books," Sam snapped, slowly releasing Delaney from his hold now that she wasn't squirming around to try and kill Chuck. Though, she still had half a mind of doing so. "Our lives are not for public consumption."

"Yeah, I don't know how I feel about you writing about me, either," Theo mumbled, crossing his arms across his chest. There was no way in Hell he wanted Chuck writing about him, too. His life wasn't exactly dandelions and rainbows, either, and he didn't feel like people knowing about what happened between him and Delaney in the past. That was something that was between them and should stay that way as it was no one else's business.

Chuck shifted his gaze to Becky and he smiled at her. "Uh, Becky, would you excuse us for just a second?" Without waiting for a response, Chuck jerked his head and lead the Winchesters and Theo to a deserted hallway near the room they'd just been in and whirled around to face them. "Do you know what I do for a living? If you do, can you tell me? 'Cause I don't even know myself. Alright, I'm not a good writer, I've got no marketable skills, I'm not some hero who can just hit the road and fight monsters, okay? Until the world ends, I got to live. The Supernatural books are all I got. What else do you want me to do?"

Before anyone could add a retort to Chuck's statement, a woman's high pitched screams alerted the four hunters. It sounded like she was about two seconds from being murdered, which only kickstarted the second nature in the four to go check out what was going on so they could get to her before something bad happened. They rushed their way through the hotel and up a flight of stairs to see a cleaning lady trembling on the floor.

"Hey, are you okay?" Delaney asked the girl softly, helping her stand back up to her feet as she continued to tremble in fear.

"I — I think so."

"What happened?" Theo questioned over Delaney's shoulder as she helped the cleaning lady fix up her work outfit.

"I saw a ghost."

"A ghost?" a voice behind the Winchesters and Theo spoke, and they whirled around to see the guy from the Q&A dressed as Sam stood behind them with the guy dressed as Dean. "Ma'am, could you tell us what it looked like?"

Dean scoffed at the Sam wannabe and held his hand up to stop him going on, scrunching his nose up at trying to do a deeper voice to be more like Sam. "Why don't you leave this to the grown-ups, pal?"

The maid behind them sucked in a sharp breath, holding her feather duster closer to her chest with wide eyes. "A woman. She was in an old fashioned dress. Really old. Like a schoolmarm or something."

"Did she say something to you?" a girl dressed as Delaney poked her head around Sam's arm and Delaney ticked an eyebrow up at her.

A gleam took over the maid's eyes and she practically bounced in her spot, all her previous fear suddenly vanished. "Gather close, everybody, for a terrifying tale of terror! I saw a ghost. None other than the ghost of Leticia Gore herself! I was on the third floor when I . . . "

Delaney rolled her eyes in annoyance and skirted around the maid who only moved closer to the crowd that had showed up behind the Winchesters and Theo to listen intently to the woman's made up story. She walked to the other end of the hall and sighed when Becky trailed after them like a lost puppy. "Becky —"

"Ooh, the LARPing's started!" Becky said to them, shaking with obvious excitement. She tilted her head when all of the hunters just stared at her blankly. "You know, live action role playing? It's a game. The convention puts it on." She brandished a sheet of paper from her back pocket and held it up to Delaney for her to take.

Delaney took the sheet from Becky and held it up in front of her so she could read off from the page. "Dad's journal — Dear Lane, Sam and Dean, this hotel is haunted. You must hunt down the ghost. Interview witnesses, discover clues, and find the bones. First team to do so wins a fifty dollar gift card to Sizzler. Love, Dad." She drifted her eyes over to Dean and Sam with a ticked eyebrow. "Well, obviously this is bullshit. Dad never said the words I love you to any of us. Little lone signing off a letter with one."

Becky's smile only grew when Delaney finished reading off the instructions, ignoring her comment about John. "You guys are so gonna win."

Deciding they all needed drinks, Delaney and the boys took themselves over to the bar from earlier and chugged down a handful of shots and they all sighed as they felt the tension leave their bodies. They were on a serious time crunch when it came to finding Lucifer before he found Delaney himself and that time was only being wasted by staying where they were. However, Dean refused to drive again until the morning and he wouldn't even hear it when Sam and Delaney both offered to drive so they could get the hell out. So, unfortunately, all the Winchesters and Theo could do at the moment were drown themselves for a bit before finding a random room that wasn't booked yet and crashing till the morning.

Dean tried to flirt his way right into a girl's pants — or dress since she'd been dressed in a old timey, white dress and her black hair was waved and pinned up to give off the olden days vibe of the ghost she was supposed to be — when they heard a loud voice growing closer. The same kid that had asked what would happen now that Dean was in Hell waved his hands around in a dramatic fashion while he tried to convince his friends he'd truly seen a real live ghost upstairs. Obviously, none of his friends believed him but the oddity was enough to have the Winchesters and Theo ditch their half empty beer bottles and walk over to the kid as he mentioned that the ghost had roughed him up.

"Excuse me," Dean said, announcing their presence and startling the group of four  boys momentarily. "You saw something?"

"Look, this isn't part of the game, jerk," Sam Wannabe snapped, blood staining the right side of his face. He glared in annoyance at the siblings and Theo before he turned back to his friends. "Tim, I'm getting out of here and you should do the same."

Sam watched as the Sam Wannabe — who turned out to be named Alex thanks to his friend calling after him — stormed off, his friends all rushing after him to make sure he was okay. He pursed his lips as he placed his hands on his hips. "What do you think?"

Delaney snorted and shook her head, watching Alex storm off as well. "That he'll never be getting an Oscar a day in his life. Oh, and I hate conventions. However, we should ask some questions to the front desk. Might as well do something while we're here."

With a silent agreement from the boys, Delaney lead the way back over to the front of the lobby where the front desk was. A balding man dressed in a suit was stood behind the counter, flipping through the guest registry and one hand massaged his temple as if having a migraine from the whole thing. Delaney had never related more to someone in her life. "Hi, sir, do you mind if we ask you some questions?"

"Look, I don't have time to play Star Wars, okay? Go ask the guy in the ascot," the man said, only chuckling when Dean slid a fifty towards him in the hopes it'd get him to talk to them. "Okay, wow. You guys are really into this crap, huh?"

"You don't even know the half of it," Theo said through a tight smile, tilting his head at the guy. "Now, how about you talk, yeah? All this stuff they're saying — place being haunted, Leticia Gore. Any truth to it at all?"

The guy exhaled heavily and he checked around him to make sure no one else was listening in to their conversation. "We generally don't like to publicize this to, you know, normal people. However, yes. In 1909, this place was called Gore Orphanage. Miss Gore killed four boys with a butcher knife, then offed herself. Tonight is actually the real anniversary and I guess your convention folks wanted authenticity."

"Huh, there been any sightings?" Sam inquired next, exchanging looks with Dean, Delaney and Theo. If there really was a haunting currently taking place, maybe their trip wasn't so wasteful after all.

"Uh, over the years, yeah. A few maids have quit saying that they heard the boys or saw them. A janitor even saw Miss Gore once."

Dean nodded silently for a moment, eyebrows furrowing as his brain tried to fit any pieces together that they had. "And where did Miss Gore carve up the kids?"

The guy behind the counter sighed and shook his head, shoulders slumping as he gave them a look that told them they should do anything but look for Miss Gore or the kids. "Look, I don't want you stomping all over the joint. A lot of this place is off-limits to nerds."

"Listen, the only nerd here is my sister," Dean quipped to the guy and Delaney stomped harshly on his foot, smiling in satisfaction when he let out a whimper when the thick heel of her brown combat boots hit his big toe. He shot his baby sister a warning glare before he slid another fifty towards the guy behind the counter. "How bout now?"

"The attic."

After they ran out to the car to grab some flashlights, minor weapons and an EMF reader, the four hunters made their way over to the attic thanks to the man behind the front desk. Theo had laughed at the small space in the wall that they had to duck under into the attic and he made an off handed joke about Delaney barely having to duck because she was so short. There was a solid foot difference between Delaney and the three boys, but each of them always forgot that not only had Dean taught her to fight and did cheerleading for years, but she even had the self defense training that Will had her go to with him for two years. So, naturally, when Delaney punched Theo in the shoulder with little to no shame, the taller male yelped and rubbed the sore spot on his shoulder.

"Easy, Winchester, it was a joke."

"And so are you."

Dean rolled his eyes at their childish behavior, sensing the tense air that always surrounded Theo and Delaney. Any other time he might have forced the duo to knock it off and tell him why they acted the way they did. However, they needed to focus on the current possible hunt and he switched on the EMF meter only for it to instantly go off once he'd flicked the switch. It whirred and buzzed rapidly in his hand. "This thing is going insane. That's great. We got a real ghost and a bunch of dudes and girls pretending to be us poking at it."

Theo moved his flashlight around, gagging slightly when his face nearly became entagled with the spiderweb that was mere inches from his face. He swiftly ducked under the webbing and exhaled heavily. "I never been more glad to not have joined you guys until recently. Chuck had no reason to include me until Bobby called. There's no way this could end well for anyone."

"You know what? Serves them all right," Dean huffed, kicking away a stray bucket and Delaney didn't even want to know what thick and brown substance had spilled out from it. The stench tickled her nose and she had to hold her breath momentarily to keep from vomiting. "I'm just saying, okay? They wanted to be like us for a day so badly? Well, now they've got it!"

Deciding to split up, Sam went with Delaney while Theo took off with Dean. The attic was littered with meaningless junk with no windows so the only light they had was from their flashlights and the very little that filtered in from the hallway through the crawlspace they'd gone through to get inside. Boxes upon boxes stacked Sam and Delaney on either side and she'd inched closer to her older brother to avoid a rat that ran by her. A light laugh left Sam's lips when Delaney subconsciously grabbed his jacket sleeve, her fear of mice rearing around again. A glare was sent Sam's way and Delaney let go of his jacket, though she didn't move away from Sam after that.

"My mommy loves me."

Delaney and Sam both jumped at the tiny voice, spinning around to see a little boy curled up in a ball in the corner. He peered up at the siblings with wide, fearful eyes and he looked like he'd been playing around in the chimney as dirt caked over his cheeks and nose. He could have fit in with the chimney sweepers from Mary Poppins. Dean and Theo were behind Delaney and Sam in a flash and they both looked down at the boy over their shoulders.

"I said my mommy loves me," the boy said in a stronger, more firm voice when no one moved to respond to him.

"Yeah, I'm sure she does," Delaney responded to the boy gently, green eyes softening slightly as her heart ached in her chest that this must have been one of the little innocent boys to lose his life. No child deserved to die in that way . . . or at all for that matter. He couldn't have been more than ten and that only made Delaney's frown deepen.

The little boy moved his hand away from his head and the four hunters gaped at the massive wound in the left side of his head. Brain could be seen in the gaping hole in his head and blood began to trickle down around his face, mixing in with the dirt that covered him like a mask. In the next moment, the little boy disappeared and left the hunters on their own once again.

"Looks like we didn't come here for nothing."

"Alright, so . . . that was a guy with the county historical society," Sam announced, walking over to the table the other three sat at. They had gone back to the same room with the bar once again to try and get more facts together. However, Chuck and Becky were once again in the room and Becky tried to flirt with Sam the whole time he'd been on the phone. "Not only did Leticia Gore butcher four boys, but one of them was her own son. According to the police at the time, she scalped the poor kid."

Dean's face screwed up in disgust and he sat up straighter in his chair, rubbing a hand over his mouth. "Oh, that's it. I'm gonna deep-fry this bitch extra-crispy. Dude say where she was buried?"

Sam shrugged and shook his head with a small frown. "No, he doesn't know."

"Check it out," a deep voice sounded behind them and the four hunters were annoyed to see it was the other Sam Wannabe and the same Dean from earlier that morning sat at the table diagonal to them. "There's the orphanage, here's the carriage house. Right there . . . the cemetery."

"You think that's where Leticia's planted?" the man trying to be Dean asked his partner.

"It's worth a shot," Sam Wannabe #2 nodded along to his friend's words, pointing his finger to something on the small map that was opened on their table.

Noticing the map on the table, Delaney shot out of her seat and snatched up the map from the table earning sounds of protest from Dean and Sam Wannabe.

"Hey, brat! Do you mind?" Dean Wannabe snapped at Delaney like Dean would if she was bothering him and snatched the map back from her hands. "Let the brothers handles this one, yeah?"

"Ooooh, let me at this poser," Delaney grumbled, stepping forward again only to be tugged back by Sam once again. With a huff, she straightened out her jacket and narrowed her green eyes at the two men. "That map's gotta be real. It's a century old, at least."

"And he's right. There's  a cemetery on the grounds," Sam chimed in, motioning to the map that Dean Wannabe clutched to his chest. Probably smart on his part as Delaney only itched to grab the map once again. "Where did you get that?"

Dean Wannabe stared at Sam as if he had sprouted fifty heads. As if he were the weirdo in this scenario and not them. "It's called a game, pal. It ain't called " charity "."

"Sam, I think we should let Della hit him," Dean mumbled to his brother who merely exhaled heavily, signaling that he wasn't giving in to the violence. "Listen, chuckles, just give us the map."

"Oh, you're the Chuckles . . . Chuckles."

"You know, Dean would have made a better comeback than that," Delaney remarked to the Dean Wannabe, visibly annoyed by his mere presence at this point.

Dean Wannabe ticked an eyebrow at Delaney, as if sizing her up. He hummed to himself and didn't move an inch to hand off the map to them, not like Delaney expected him to do so in the first place. "It is pretty scary how well you match the description for Della," the man commented and Delaney growled at the use of the nickname as he wasn't Dean. No matter how badly he wanted to be. "Sorry, but Dean don't listen to nobody."

Sam Wannabe quickly held his hand up when Dean Wannabe moved his leather jacket to the side to reveal a toy gun. The white and red coloring on the toy was almost laughable and Delaney had to bite her lip to stop herself from laughing. "Dean . . . cool it."

Sam barely even flinched when Dean brandished his real gun from the waistband of his jeans and merely shot Dean an exhausted look. "Dean, seriously?"

"What? They're friggin' annoying! If Della can't punch them, I'm gonna shot 'em."

"Look, guys," Theo stepped in, earning the attention of the two wannabe Winchesters who both tried to asses who Theo tried to be. Little did they know he was an upcoming character for the books. "Look, guys, we all want to find the bones, right? We just thought it would go faster if we all work together. Team work makes the dream work or whatever the sappy shit is, right?"

Sam Wannabe cleared his throat and he and Dean Wannabe both visibly released their tense nature and their characters. "We, uh, we get the Sizzler gift card and we get to be Dean and Sam."

"Ugh, fine."

"Yes!"

"Hey, Della, Rufus, Bobby and Rando, can you hurry up?" Dean Wannabe — who they learned was named Demian while his friend was named Barnes — snapped to the hunters as they trailed behind them.

Theo's jaw ticked as he was once again referred to as Rando as the boys couldn't figure out who Theo was trying to be. The name originally annoyed him because it was too close to Randy and he didn't want to be associated anywhere near that name or the demon. However, now he was just annoyed with the word in general as he'd been called that three times already. "He calls me Rando one more time, I'm gonna give him a rando bruise in his skull."

The empty threat earned him a quiet laugh from Delaney which shocked both hunters and Delaney quickly cleared her throat to move on to the next thing. "Uh, you guys okay?"

"I'm trying to be," Dean muttered, eyes straight ahead as he kept an eye on Dean and Sam Wannabe. He'd been in a grumpy mood ever since he and Sam were dubbed Bobby and Rufus as he just wanted to be himself. He fixed the strap of the duffle bag filled with supplies over his shoulder and huffed. "I'm half a second away from letting you attack him, Della."

"Can I please?" Delaney begged, wanting nothing more than to shove Dean Wannabe's face into the nearby rose bush.

"So, where were we?" Barnes questioned Demian when the Winchesters and Theo finally caught up to them again.

"Uh, Dr. Ellicott had just zapped Della's brain," Demian informed, checking over his shoulder once again to make sure the four hunters behind him were caught up to him. "She was about to go off on Dean."

Barnes mumbled a quick apology to Demian before he cleared his throat and tried to mimic a girl's voice the best he could. "Why are we even here, Dee? Do you just follow in Dad's footsteps like a good, little soldier? Are you that desperate for approval?"

"This isn't you talking, Della," Demian argued right back.

"See, that's the difference between you guys and me. I got a mind of my own and didn't grow up in this life the way you and Sammy did. I'm not pathetic."

"So, what are you gonna do, Delaney? You gonna kill me?"

"Man, I am so sick of you telling me what to do!"

Delaney grit her teeth as she had to listen to the duo try to put themselves in that situation from a few years ago. A situation Delaney rather forget as she almost hurt both of her brothers that day when Dr. Ellicott warped her brain up and she had no control over her own body. "That's it. This is it."

"What's wrong, Della?" Demian asked slowly as if talking to a young child.

Delaney's tongue poked her cheek so hard that she was surprised it hadn't burst through the skin and she clenched her fists at her sides. "First off, you're not fucking Dean! Stop calling me Della. That is not something anyone can just throw around, okay? Second, he's not Sam, either. They aren't Rufus or Bobby or some random person. What is wrong with you guys? Why would you ever wanna live like the Winchesters?"

Barnes seemed confused for a moment as he couldn't figure out why Delaney had gotten so heated over the whole ordeal. "Cause we're fans just like you guys."

"No. I am not a fan, okay? Not fans!" Dean piped up, sounding just as annoyed as Delaney had when she spoke up. "In fact, I know that the Dean, Sam and Delaney story sucks! It is not fun. It is not entertaining. It is a river of crap that would send most people howling to the nuthouse! So, you listen to me. Their pain is not for your amusement. I mean, do you think they enjoy being treated like — like circus freaks? It's bad enough everyone already thinks Delaney is one!"

"Uh, I don't think they care, because they're fictional characters," Demian replied, laughing at Dean's words. 

"OH, trust me, asshole. They care a lot," Delaney growled at the two wannabes and shoved her way past them to continue on towards the cemetery. She just wanted to get this thing over with and fast.

Thankfully, Demian and Barnes shut up after that and they were able to make it to the cemetery without Delaney trying to make them suddenly combust. The cemetery was dark and foggy, the only light coming from the flashlights and the full moon that hung high in the air above their heads. Leaves littered the grassy area like a makeshift rug and they crunched loudly beneath their boots as they walked. Towards the back of the cemetery, rested the five gravestones that belonged Leticia and the four boys she'd shamelessly murdered. 

Demian and Barnes had mentioned they needed to find the bones as they had to be somewhere nearby. Which only earned them a sarcastic comment from Dean about bones typically being buried in the ground and not randomly placed on the dirt and grass. The two wannabes had been shocked when Dean and Sam pulled out shovels to dig up the bones and Delaney couldn't help the satisfaction of seeing the concern on their faces and spun on her heel to help Dean and Sam the best she could.

Once they got all the dirt out of the way, Dean dropped down into the grave and grunted as he tried to pry off the lid of the coffin. After some help from Theo, the duo got the lid pried off to reveal a skeleton and the stench of death flew out of the coffin. The four hunters barely flinched at the stench, but the two wannabes weren't used to it and they both recoiled quickly at the smell.

"You — you . . . this isn't a prop. This is an actual skeleton," Demian breathed, staring wide-eyed at the bones in the coffin. "You dug up a real grave."

"Uh . . . yeah. What did you think we were digging up? Buried fucking treasure?" Delaney quipped at the duo, placing her hands on her hips and flicking her hair off her shoulders. She smirked when both boys grew even more weirded out and frightened, tilting her head at them. "What? Are Dean and Sammy scared of a little bone?"

"You guys are nuts!" Barnes exclaimed, stepping back further from the sight of the bones and shook his head. "Hunters aren't real, man! This isn't real. You guys have seriously lost your grip on this —"

Delaney blinked when Barnes cut himself off and all the color drained from his face. "What?"

"Naughty! Naughty! Naughty!" a gravely, feminine voice yelled and before Delaney knew it, she was airborne and slamming down on the hard, dirt ground of the cemetery. She wheezed as the air left her lungs and Theo ran over to her while the two wannabes tried to run away. 

"Del, hey," Theo whispered while Dean and Sam leapt into action and tried to salt and burn the bones. He crouched next to her and helped her prop up as her breathing tried to regulate itself once again. The sound of Leticia's bones being burned could be heard and he sighed in relief when Delaney's air supply seemed to regulate after that. "You, uh . . . you okay?"

Delaney coughed weakly and nodded, not even caring that it was Theo that currently helped keep her propped up while she heard Dean retort at the two wannabes for still wanting to be hunters. 

As soon as they made it back to the hotel, Demian and Barnes had plopped themselves right down at the bar to drown away what they'd seen in the cemetery. As annoying as they were, Delaney knew how they felt since she'd felt just as traumatized when they dealt with the woman in white. Dean had even been nice enough to slap a twenty down on the bar and pay for one of their rounds before the Winchesters and Theo left them alone to their sorrows. Dean had even paid Chuck a back handed comment before they tried to leave.

However, when the four hunters tried to leave the hotel, every exit they tried was held closed with an invisible force as if something kept them in. Like the time the Winchesters got trapped in the house with the GhostFacers. The little boys must have still had a hold over the hotel and that was only made clear when they saw Leticia's son once again huddled in a corner. He'd demanded to know why they sent away Leticia only to find out that she hadn't been the one to clobber him over the head.

It was the boys from the orphanage.

Thankfully, the Winchesters and Theo were able to shuffle all the staff and rest of the convention goers into the room with the stage and were able to close off the doors with salt around them to keep out the spirits. Chuck had been tasked to keep the people occupied after Delaney whispered the situation into his ear and she only hoped that he didn't screw it up in the end for them like she thought he might.

"The legends about Leticia are ass-backwards, obviously," Dean said once the four hunters met up at the back of the room when everything was in order to keep the people in the room safe and sound. 

"Yeah, so . . . alright, let's just say those three orphans were — were playing cowboys and Indians," Theo spoke up next, scratching the side of his face in deep thought. "Let's say they scalped Leticia's son and killed him. Mom catches them in the act and flips out, slices them and dices herself."

"If that's true, then that means we got three bloodthirsty brats in the building," Delaney groaned, throwing her head back.

"Four," Dean mused, his smile quickly vanishing when no one found his joke about Delaney funny. He held his hands up in defense and slapped them to his sides. "So . . . Leticia was the only one keeping them under control. Until we took her out which was a real smooth move on our part. We got to get back to the cemetery and torch the kids' bones."

Sam scoffed and motioned around them to the building. "Uh, how exactly? We're kind of trapped in here, Dean. We don't even have our guns on us. The ghosts are running this joint and they are only scared of one thing."

Dean smirked as an idea came to him and he rocked back on his heels. "Exactly."

Surprisingly, Demian and Barnes had been the ones to save the day. Dean's idea had been to use the girl from the bar that had been dressed up in the old white dress. No doubt she had been pretending to be Leticia Gore and Dean thought it'd bring out the ghosts since she resembled the ghost of the woman that they recently got rid of. They weren't sure if it would work, but it had been worth a shot and their only option at the time. 

When the Leticia impersonator had gotten the three ghost boys distracted long enough to release the hold on the doors, Theo had ran out with Demian and Barnes to go to the cemetery and salt off the bones. Things had gone well up until the Leticia impersonator's cellphone started to ring in her pocket and the boys had turned angry after that since they'd been tricked to believe their caregiver was back once again.

Dean had gotten the girl to run off and he fought off the ghosts only to be overpowered and Delaney and Sam had to run in to try and save him. They had swung an iron bar through the ghosts to get them away from Dean, only for the three boys to reappear once again and tackle Delaney, Dean and Sam to the carpeted ground of the little reading room they'd found the boys in. Their knives were two seconds from slicing open the Winchesters' necks when they suddenly burst and disappeared from sight.

The hunt was finally over.

The next morning, Dean had thanked Demian and Barnes for saving their asses the night before. Demian and Barnes had been over the moon about their adventure and accepted the praise with pride. Naturally, they didn't believe Delaney or Dean when they mentioned that they were the real Dean and Delaney. Not that they necessarily blamed them, but they didn't care either way. 

Before they could leave the duo and move over to where Sam and Theo stood with Becky and Chuck, Demian had called after Dean to tell him he was wrong about the Supernatural books. That to be Sam or Dean or Delaney would be a dream come true. To have someone who cared so much about you that they'd quite literally die and go to hell for you was something most people can only dream about in their life time. That to say they could save the world from things most of the population didn't know about was much cooler than being a guy who fixes printers or a guy who works behind a desk.

Then that whole sweet moment was ruined when Dean asked how Demian and Barnes knew each other and they found out the two were partners. They were boyfriends who dressed up as brothers and Delaney had to shove down the bile that rose up in her throat. It only reminded her of the incest fan fiction that she'd found on the internet of her and her brothers when they first found out about the books and Chuck. Something that Delaney will never be able to wrap her head around.

Who wrote about siblings or family members in a sexual sort of way? The thought alone made her nose scrunch up at the gross images and she quickly shook her head, waving goodbye to the boys and moving over to Becky, Chuck, Sam and Theo. She'd heard the end of the conversation and found out that Becky and Chuck were suddenly a thing over night and she tried to let Sam down gently. Who only sighed in relief he'd have the fanatic Becky off his back.

"Delaney!" Becky called to her, running up to the youngest Winchester with Chuck, Sam and Theo following her. "In chapter thirty-three of Supernatural, the Time is on My Side chapter. There was that girl Bela. She was British and a cat burglar. She stole the Colt from you, remember? She said she " gave it to Lilith ", right?"

"Uh . . . yeah, why?" Delaney questioned in confusion.

"Well, you know she lied, right? She never really gave it to Lilith."

Delaney balked and her green eyes snapped over to Chuck who appeared just as confused as Delaney and the boys now felt. "She what?!"

"Oh my gosh. Didn't you read the books?" Becky laughed, growing excited that she got to tell Delaney some information that could be helpful. "There was this one scene where Bela give the colt to a demon named Crowley, Lilith's right hand man — I think her lover, too. Or I guess . . . ex-lover since you killed her."

"Crowley? Who the hell is Crowley?" Delaney asked in disblief, turning her attention from Becky and back to Chuck. "You didn't think it was a good idea to tell us this before? When we've been looking for the damn thing since I killed Lilith?"

"I — I'm sorry. I didn't — didn't remember," Chuck stammered uselessly and shuffled awkwardly on his face. "I'm not as big of a fan as she is."

Delaney opened her mouth to chew out Chuck, but she thought against it as she needed the information from Becky so her and the boys could get back on the road. She could feel all three pairs of eyes from Dean, Sam and Theo on her and Becky from behind her. "Becky . . . tell us everything."

word count: ( 8.6k )

— wow it's been a hot minute, but here's a longish chapter to make up for it. i enjoyed writing this episode way too damn much. yet, i have no damn regrets about any of it. i missed Delaney way too much and forgot how sassy she was till I wrote this . . . woops. 

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