— 𝐒𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝟐, 𝐄𝐏𝐈𝐒𝐎𝐃𝐄 𝟏𝟓 —

HOW THE SISTERS MANAGED TO GET AWAY WITH CHASING PERSONAL CASES OVER THE NEXT TWO WEEKS, TESS DIDN'T KNOW. But she wasn't one to bite the hand that fed her... very hard anyway. The FBI hadn't looked in to any of the cases, they only cared about the results. And so, they'd managed to file away a hunting trip under the government's dime and dollar.

Tess would never admit it out loud, but it was kinda nice to be home. If she were honest with herself, she missed the good ol' days of hunting together as a family... now each and every one of them had spun off to pave their own path. What she didn't miss, was being kept in the dark. So as their father drove his truck down the interstate—and they followed close behind in Harrison—her jaw tensed.

"If you let it sit like that for too long, your face is gonna get stuck that way," Lila commented, riding with one arm out the window. Said arm moved like a wave as if it were riding the air currents.

"I just wish he'd tell us anything about this case," Tess muttered.

"You ever stop to think that maybe he doesn't know anything?" Lila suggested. "He did say that he'd received a call from some other hunters."

"That's another thing," Tess nodded accusingly. "How often is dad picking up for other hunters' slack. I mean we've taken care of at least three other hunts and cleaned up someone else's mess."

"That's kinda the job description," Lila reminded.

"All I'm saying is a little common courtesy would be nice," Tess replied. She nearly missed the exit that their father took, jumping into the lane at the last minute. "It's not like we rely on someone else to clean up our hunts if they get messy."

"Not everyone has access to government resources," Lila countered.

Tess weighed the options in her head before finally agreeing with a short nod. "Fair."

"He pulled up to that motel there!" Lila pointed before Tess could narrowly miss yet another exit.

Tess quickly pulled off, slamming her breaks a bit too hard as Lila lurched forward. The redhead released a choked exclamation as her seatbelt locked up and pulled her back against the leather seat.

"Sorry," Tess muttered an apology under her breath while her eyes remained trained on the road signs as she tried to orient herself among her surroundings.

They'd already been on the road for a solid fourteen hours as they drove from Sioux Falls to Springfield, Ohio. The traffic as they passed through the Chicago area had been awful, an experience she hoped never to live through again. So as their father's truck pulled into the parking lot of The King's Lair Hotel, Tess was already in a bad mood as she followed.

The only reason Lila was in such a chipper mood—all the while hiding how car sick she truly was—was because she hadn't been the one driving. The redhead had greater road rage than anyone Tess knew. However, the younger of the two sisters definitely seemed appreciative that they had stopped moving.

"You doing alright?" Tess asked.

"I hate backroads," Lila admitted, placing her hands over her head to catch her breath.

"I'd happily let you take the wheel if you'd prefer to drive through all the downtown traffic," Tess offered, a playful smile curling as she knew her sister would immediately decline.

"That's alright," Lila shook her head. "I think I hate the traffic more than the winding roads."

"I can't disagree," Tess nodded her head as she locked up the car and walked alongside her sister across the parking lot to meet up with their father. "Honestly, it wasn't too bad until we hit—"

Lila's brow furrowed as she silently questioned why her sister had stopped speaking. In fact, Tess had stopped walking too as her eyes locked on the sleek black vehicle parked beside their father's truck. Although it looked like the tires were a bit flat, the car was unmistakable. Lila's eyes lit up with excitement while Tess's lips tightened.

"What the hell," she muttered under her breath as her eyes narrowed. She then repeated herself much louder as she stormed up to their father, dragging Lila along behind her. "What the hell!"

"What's the matter with you?" Bobby's brow furrowed similarly to Lila's, showing the resemblance between father and daughter while he glanced around the parking lot in confusion.

"This is another one of their messes," Tess said between grit teeth as she crossed her arms. "They called you to clean up another one of their messes!"

"They're family," Bobby countered. He didn't need to hear their names to know who Tess had been speaking about. "Those boys are family whether you like it or not."

"It was literally two weeks ago that you explicitly said you didn't want us near them," Tess scoffed, rolling her eyes as if she'd caught her father in a lie. "And yet here we are, driving halfway across the country to fix whatever they broke."

"I said I didn't want the two of you fooling around with them," Bobby clarified. "At least not after the way your sister was sitting there with hearts in her eyes and a face redder than her hair."

Lila immediately covered her cheeks with her hands. "Was it that obvious?"

Bobby looked over at her daughter incredulously, almost as if he hadn't really meant what he said. Tess chuckled under her breath knowing it all to be true though. "Lil, you took him on a date when you thought he was a serial killer."

"She did what?!" Bobby's eyes only widened further.

"All hunting instinct was whisked away as she danced with him in the rain," Tess continued to tease. "You talk in your sleep about it sometimes."

"I do?" Lila's embarrassment only grew as she tried to hide the rest of her face in her jacket.

"No," Tess chuckled. "I'm just giving you a hard time since you're the one who gave him your number. Speaking of which, did you know they were here?"

Lila shook her head, rustling the jacket and tangling some of her hair. "No. Sam didn't say where their next hunt was; just that Dean was driving him crazy and something about a stolen money clip."

"Alright, I've braced myself," Tess announced as she took a deep breath and swept back the bottom of her leather jacket as she placed her hands onto her hips while looking up at the motel before her. "Let's go see what the idiots have screwed up now."

For being called The King's Lair, the hotel was rather quaint. Although the decor tried to mock the grandeur one might find in a palace, it was cheap and chipping away. The owners might have fooled a number of people with their faux quality when they first opened, but now it blended in with all the other unmemorable, shoddy motels that lined the interstate. It was almost nostalgic walking down these halls as Tess remembered several of her early hunting trips when the family business relied on stolen credit cards and fake IDs. While the pseudonyms remained the same, the FBI badge clinging to her belt was real by all legal standards. And once again the nine to five job had its perks, including the ability to stay in a hotel that didn't have bed bugs crawling out in the open.

"How'd they even find this hole-in-the-wall?" Tess muttered as she looked at the peeling wallpaper with distaste.

"Is good ol' fashioned hunting not refined enough for you now?" Bobby teasingly asked.

Tess scoffed as she shook her head. "No, I just have higher standards when it comes to doing my job. And since I haven't needed to call you to come clean up after me, I'd say my hunting method shouldn't be the one you're critiquing."

"But, Tess, what about—"

"Lil," Tess interjected before her sister could finish that statement. "We don't need to bring up Sandusky."

Lila shrugged. "I was gonna mention Providence, but that one works too."

"Was that where you two fought the demon you have yet to tell me about?" Bobby asked accusingly.

"Oh hey, I think this is their room," Tess quickly changed the topic as she gestured to the door to her right.

The number matched up with the information Bobby had been given. But if that wasn't enough to determine the identity of the occupants within, the radio blaring The James Gang's "Walk Away" and the argument that was louder than the volume of the song should have been a dead giveaway.

"Dude," Sam's irritated voice complained. "You mind not eating those on my bed?"

"No, I don't mind," Dean's nonchalant retort was heard. His voice was muffled, likely from whatever he was eating as he then asked, "How's research going?"

"You know how it's going? Slow. You know how it would go a heck of a lot faster?" Sam's rhetorical questions continued, only to be answered with an even more bitter tone, "If I had my computer."

"Hmm."

"Can you turn that down please?"

"Yeah, absolutely," Dean agreed. The music only got louder.

"You know what?" Sam what shouting at this point. "Maybe, uh, maybe you should just go somewhere for a while."

The radio switched off and there was a second of silence before Dean continued the shouting match. "Hey, I'd love to. That's a great idea. Unfortunately, my car's all screwed to hell."

"Alright," Bobby grumbled. "I've had about enough of this."

"Dean, I told you, I have nothing to do wi—"

Bobby knocked against the door with a balled fist, interrupting the argument before it could escalate any further. He'd seen enough times that childish fights in a family of hunter could quickly become a full-fledged brawl, which would only attract unwanted attention and noise complaints.

Sam looked exhausted as he opened the door. He noticeably brightened as his eyes glanced over at Lila before he tried to conceal said emotion as he focused back to the center of the group. "Hey, Bobby."

"Boys," Bobby greeted them as he stepped past Sam, entering the room with his hands in his pockets.

"Hey, Bobby," Dean returned the greeting as he stood and walked across the room, glaring at Sam before freezing in his tracks as he noticed the additional uninvited company. "You brought the girls?"

"It's good to see you too," Tess retorted, but she appeared pleased to have annoyed the other hunter with her mere presence. "On a separate note, I think you've got a flat or four; and I recommend taking care of that sooner rather than later or your rims are gonna bend."

Dean bristled then shot Sam an accusatory look that Tess immediately recognized as I told you so.

"They're my kids and they're staying with me at the house," Bobby explained. "What did you think was gonna happen when you called?"

"Was it wrong to think they'd go crawling back to the Feds where they came from?" Dean retorted.

"We have special privileges," Lila replied in a bragging, sing-songy tone.

"Right then, uh, thanks for coming," Sam said, ushering them further into the room, "Come on in."

Dean removed a hand from his own pocket—simultaneously with Bobby—shaking the older hunter's hand firmly while ignoring his daughters. "Thank god you're here."

Bobby nodding his head, placing his hand right back into his pocket the second Dean let go. "So um, what didn't you want to talk to me on the phone about?"

"It's this job we're working," Sam vaguely explained, "We weren't sure you'd believe us."

Bobby scoffed, glancing over at the girl's knowingly. "Well, I can believe a lot."

"Yeah, no, no, it's just, we've never seen anything like it—"

"Not even close," Dean interjected, adding his input as if he thought it were helpful.

Sam glanced over at his brother, annoyed by the interruption as he nodded his head. "And we thought we could use some fresh eyes."

"Well, why don't you begin at the beginning?" Bobby suggested.

"Yeah, um, all right." Sam nodded his head then gestured to the bed. As Bobby approached to take a seat, he picked up one of the empty takeout trays, glanced down at it, then set it aside before sitting down. Sam continued, jumping right into his perspective of the events, "So, it all started when we caught wind of an obit. See, a professor took a nosedive from a fourth story window, only there's a campus legend that the building's haunted. So we pretexted as reporters from the local paper."

•⍟───✧⍟✦⍟✧───⍟•

IT WAS PRACTICALLY THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT, YET SAM SAT COMFORTABLY AT THE TABLE BESIDE WHAT ONE MIGHT CONSIDER THE JOCK STEREOTYPE AND A RATHER ATTRACTIVE YOUNG FEMALE. He and his brother had spent around half an hour at the bar, long enough to acquire the information that the stocky blond jock was Curtis and the brunette at his side was Jen. As the conversation continued, Sam gently set the voice recorder in his palm down on the table.

"Yeah, we both had the professor for Ethics and Morality," Curtis replied, answering the previous question.

"Yeah?" Sam asked. "So why do you think he did it?"

"Who knows? I mean, he was tenured, wife and kids. His book is like a really big deal. Then again..." Jen slowly leaned closer, her eyes shining with secrets as her lips uttered her conspiracies through a discreet whisper, "Who's to say it was suicide?"

Curtis scoffed and rolled his eyes. Clearly he'd heard enough of her theories to know what was coming next. "Jen, come on."

Although Sam was well aware of the supernatural world, he did his best to feign both interest and surprise without scaring off his interviewees. "Well, what else could it be?"

"Well, you know about Crawford Hall?" Jen asked, half-rhetorical and half-statement.

Sam slowly shook his head, much to her surprise. Apparently the legend of Crawford Hall was well known throughout town. "No, I don't, actually."

"It's a bunch of crap, it's a total urban legend," Curtis insisted, almost pointedly as he shot down the girl's theory.

"Yeah well, Heather's mom went to school here, and she knew the girl," Jen countered as if that proved her point.

Sam's brow furrowed with confusion and curiosity. "Wait, what girl?"

"Thirty years ago, this girl was having an affair with some professor," Jen eagerly explained. "He broke it off, she jumped out the window and killed herself."

Taking a mental note to do some more research on his own, he nodded along. "You know her name?"

"No. But they say she jumped from room six-six-nine." Jen paused as if there was some dramatic revelation that had been revealed. "Get it? You turn the nine upside down?"

Sam nodded his head, his expression remaining neutral as he found little humor in the situation. He understood the full power of those numbers or the superstition surrounding them at least... more than either of them could ever know.

Curtis only laughed with disbelief and amusement as Jen finished her explanation. "So now she haunts the building. And anyone who sees her? They don't live to tell the tale."

"Well if no one lives to tell the tale, then how does the tale get told?" Curtis countered with a point of his own. Despite not appearing to be all there, the jock had a solid point when it came to the transference of information.

Jen hit the boy across his arm then folded her own as her lips pouted into a frown. "Curtis! Shut up!"

"You know what, uh—Thanks a lot guys." Sam rose from the table, excusing himself as he retrieved the recorder. "Excuse me."

Adjusting his jacket, Sam made his way across the bar. The music was louder and the lights were more vibrant yet it was no surprise to find Dean at a table with three empty shot glasses. The only remnants being the dark purple hue that stained the glasses from whatever concoction had been served within them.

"Dean," Sam called out to his brother, a bit of concern evident on his face as he noticed the older hunter stumble. "Dean, what are you drinking?"

Dean belched with a laugh as he regained his balance while facing his younger brother. "I don't know, man, I think they're called purple nurples?"

"Okay, well listen. I think maybe we should go check out the professor's office," Sam suggested, trying to make the most of their time before someone else fell victim to whatever was stalking through the night.

"Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no I can't right now," Dean quickly contradicted, shaking his head. He then gestured over his shoulder with a coy smile. "I've got some feisty little wildcat on the hook, I'm about to—zzzzp—reel her in. I'll introduce you."

"Dean—"

Sam's objection was interrupted as Dean called over the girl who currently held his attention span of infatuation. "Starla! Starla, hey. This is my shuttle co-pilot Major Tom. Major Tom, Starla."

Mentally Sam already had a picture of what she'd look like in his mind... and the truth was pretty damn close as Dean definitely had a type. The girl was blonde with hair that curled just below her shoulders. Her dark—albeit smudged—makeup accentuated her striking blue eyes. From the dilation of her pupils, Sam could tell she was far past the tipping point of drunk as she stumbled over air or the heel of her shoes that completed the look of an over the shoulder top, fishnet stockings, and a tight miniskirt.

The girl, Dean introduced her as Starla, wrapped an arm around Dean with a giggle. "Enchanté."

Sam looked less than pleased as he offered a thin-lipped smile. "Hi."

Starla held out a hand, but quickly retracted it to cover her mouth as she gagged and puffed her cheeks. She then took a breath and looked up grinning as if nothing had happened. She giggled as she apologized. "Sorry. Just trying to keep my liquor down!"

"Yeah! Good job," Dean shouted in reply to compensate for the increased volume of the music around them. As Starla began to pull him away, Dean confidently flashed a smile at Sam with an implicating look. "Hey. Good news. She's got a sister."

•⍟───✧⍟✦⍟✧───⍟•

"WHOA, WHOA, WHOA," Dean quickly interjected, shaking his head while throwing out his hands to pause their story. "Hold on a minute."

Sam's brow furrowed with confusion, trying to jump back to the present moment after being yanked away from his memory as he recalled the tale. "What?"

"Come on, dude, that's not how it happened," Dean insisted.

"It's not?" Tess asked sarcastically as she feigned surprise. "Could've fooled me because I'm pretty sure that's exactly what happened in Nowhere. Only difference being that I can hold my liquor."

"You drugged me," Dean reminded her in a low tone almost like it was a warning.

Lila looked crestfallen as she turned toward Sam, not quite catching that Tess had been teasing the older of the two brothers. "Wait, so I was just the other sister?"

"No!" Sam quickly shook his head, trying to separate himself from Tess's claim. "I didn't even know the two of you were related."

"Not to mention the two of you set us up," Dean added, crossing his arms.

"You're the one who offered that we head back to your place," Tess countered, growing smug as she noticed her father's jaw tense from her peripheral vision.

"Under the influence of drugs," Dean reiterated, emphasizing each word as if that might help prove his point. He also seemed to notice the way Bobby's eyes had narrowed. He'd seen the older hunter look at him and his brother a lot of different ways—sometimes fondly, other times like they were idiots—but nothing like the way his eyes narrowed as he looked at them now. "And nothing happened because I was a perfect gentleman."

"I'm pretty sure you were also the one who suggested handcuffs," Tess reminded him, not helping his case.

Bobby pinched the bridge of his nose with a sigh. Sam, on the other hand, only grew more smug. "Really? I didn't hear that side of the story."

Dean glowered. "What happened in Nowhere was nothing like the other night. You're telling the story all wrong."

"Really?" Sam asked unconvinced. "So you never drank a purple nurple?"

"Yeah, maybe that," Dean agreed then shook his head, "but I don't say things like 'feisty little wildcat'. And her name wasn't Starla."

Sam's smug expression remained. "Then what was it?"

"I don't know," Dean admitted. Tess audibly scoffed and rolled her eyes. However, Dean quickly rose to his own defense as he took over telling the story. "But she was a classy chick. She was a grad student, anthropology and folklore. We were talking about local ghost stories."

•⍟───✧⍟✦⍟✧───⍟•

THE MUSIC WAS QUIETER IN VOLUME AND FAR CALMER THAN PREVIOUSLY IMPLIED. The girl Dean had spent the evening speaking to had remained blonde with curls around her shoulders yet her make-up was more refined to soften her blue eyes. She knew how to balance in her heels while her black cocktail dress showed just enough cleavage to still remain "classy". Dean lifted his glass filled with a purple nurple and the girl returned the gesture of a toast.

"Here's to..."

"Here's to us," Dean finished the girl's toast, clinking their glasses together before downing his drink with what he might consider grace.

The girl at his side couldn't take her eyes away. There was a striking familiarity about her, yet he couldn't place it as she looked him up and down. "My god, you are attractive."

There was a brief moment where it felt like his throat was closing with deja vu. That even though he'd retrieved his own drink, he hadn't watched it close enough and the evening might take a turn for the worse. He chuckled, remaining calm as he pushed his glass away with a renewed sense of suave. "Thanks. But no time for that now. You need to tell me about this urban legend. Please. Lives are at stake."

"Sorry," the girl apologized, yet she appeared no less distracted, "I just . . . can't even concentrate. It's like staring . . . into the sun."

She reached up, caressing the side of his face before pulling his head toward hers for a slow kiss. Just when the moment felt as if it could have evolved into more, killjoy arrived in the shape of his younger brother.

Sam impatiently tapped his foot on the ground, holding his jacket slung over his should with a dubious expression plastered to his face. His lips only tightened further and twisted with distaste as he interrupted Dean with an exaggerated prissy tone.

"Dean! What do you think you're doing?"

Although annoyed, Dean remained patient with his brother as he requested time in a smooth and casual manner, "Sam, please. If you wouldn't mind, give me five minutes here."

Sam huffed like a child who'd been told 'no' and then given the reason 'because I said so'. He placed his hands on his hips and his neck craned forward, tilting his head and flipping his hair. "Dean, this is a very serious investigation. We don't have any time for any of your blah blah blah blah. Blah blah blah blah. Blah blah blah Blah!"

As if he'd found a way to mute his younger brother, Dean blocked out everything else as he leaned forward to kiss the girl once more.

Sam only grew more frustrated, increasing the volume of his tone to capture his brother's attention. "Blah!"

•⍟───✧⍟✦⍟✧───⍟•

"RIGHT! AND THAT'S HOW IT REALLY HAPPENED," Sam interrupted, sarcastically agreeing as Dean shrugged. Sam only grew more upset. "I don't sound like that, Dean!"

"That's what you sound like to me," Dean countered, unfazed as if he didn't really care.

Bobby blinked, breaking his blank stare as an incredulous one replaced it. "Okay. What's going on with you two?"

"Nothing," Sam insisted, clearly lying. "No— it's nothing."

"No, come on. You're bickering like an old married couple."

Dean defiantly shook his head as he stood and crossed over to the kitchenette. "No, see married couples can get divorced. Me and him, we're like, uh, Siamese twins."

"It's conjoined twins!" Sam corrected without hesitation.

Dean's jaw tightened as he glared at his brother before focusing back on Bobby. "See what I mean?"

"Look, it," Sam sighed, "we've just been on the road for too long. Tight quarters, all that. Don't worry about it."

"Okay." Bobby didn't sound convinced.

"Have we ever fought like that?" Lila asked, whispering out the side of her mouth so that only Tess could hear.

"Not like that, no," Tess shook her head. "But I've seen Nate and Drew get into a similar fight. And Peter and Drew... and Phil and Drew. Hell, I've even gotten into it with Drew."

"Clearly he's the problem child," Lila said

Having overheard, Bobby chuckled in a bemused agreement under his breath. "You think?"

"So anyway," Sam took back the storyteller role. "We figured it might be a haunting, so we went to check out the scene of the crime."

•⍟───✧⍟✦⍟✧───⍟•

IT WAS LATER THE FOLLOWING EVENING WHEN THEY ARRIVED AT CRAWFORD HALL. There had yet to be another inciting incident, but the brothers weren't one to wait around before taking action. After a short hassle with the faculty and staff, they managed to arrange a meeting by posing as electricians. Currently, the janitor on duty led them down the hall, offering a brief tour as they arrived at the professor's office.

The keys around the janitor's belt jangled as he searched for the right one before opening the door. Sam didn't hesitate to begin their next interrogation. "So, how long've you been working here?"

"I've been mopping this floor for six years. There you go, guys." The janitor flipped on the lights as the three proceeded to enter the professor's office. He paused as he noticed the EMF reader same pulled out from his pocket. "What the heck's that for?"

"Just find a wire in the walls," Sam replied.

"Huh. Wow. Not sure why you're wiring up this office," the janitor questioned them indirectly with his own opinion. "Not gonna do the professor much good."

"Why's that?" Dean asked.

The janitor was blunt with his reply. "He's dead."

"Oh," Dean asked as if he hadn't heard. "What happened?"

"He went out that window," the janitor replied, gesturing to the exact spot as he spoke, "Right there."

"Yeah? Were you working that night?" Sam asked.

The janitor nodded his head, unfazed despite the following information he revealed. "I'm the one who found him."

"You see it happen?" Sam continued the little pattern of question and answer ongoing between himself and the janitor.

Dean was less involved, especially so after his attention was stolen by the bowl of nuts which had been left out on the table that had practically been calling his name. Without hesitation he popped one into his mouth.

The janitor shook his head. "Nope. I just saw him come up here, and uh ... well."

"What?" Sam asked for him to continue.

The janitor hesitated again. "He wasn't alone."

"Who was he with?" Dean's voice was muffled from the nuts stuffed in his cheeks. The bowl remained in his hand, and despite his full mouth, the older brother crammed a few more into his mouth then attempted to swallow.

"Come on!" Dean argued, interrupted the story told from his brother's point of view. "I ate one, maybe two!"

Sam persisted with his own annoyance. "Just let me tell it, okay?"

Dean stuffed another pair of nuts into his mouth as the janitor began to explain what he'd seen. "He was with a young lady. I told the cops about her, but uh, I guess they never found her."

"You saw this girl go in, huh?" Sam questioned. "But did you ever see her come out?"

The janitor slowly shook his head, trying to wrap his mind around what Sam could possibly be implying. "Now that you mention it, no."

"You ever see her before, around?" Sam asked.

"Well, not her," the janitor replied, implying a few things of his own.

"What do you mean?" Dean remained muffled while Sam glared in his direction.

"I don't mean to cast aspersions on a dead guy," the janitor almost looked remorseful before jumping back into spilling the rest of the dead's secrets, "but uh . . . Mister Morality here? He brought a lot of girls up here. Got more ass than a toilet seat."

Dean laughed with delight, choking slightly on the nuts remaining in his mouth. Sam glared, rolling his eyes. Both of them missed the twisted grin toying at the janitor's lips. Said smile softened as Sam finally pulled his attention away from his brother and back to the janitor.

"One more thing. This building, it only has four stories, right?" Sam asked.

"Yeah," the janitor agreed.

"So there wouldn't be a room six-six-nine?" Sam added on to his previous question to receive additional confirmation to his theory.

"'Course not," the janitor agreed again, yet there was some skepticism narrowing his features. "Why do you ask?"

"Aw, just curious," Sam lied. "Thanks."

Dean finished chewing with his mouth open, still stuffed full of nuts as he followed Sam out of the room and back to the impala. And as if he hadn't had enough, Dean retrieved a beer from the fridge the moment they returned to the motel. At least he had the courtesy to remember his brother this time as he brought a second beer to the table and offered it out to Sam who sat with a look of contemplation.

Sam accepted the beer. "Well, no traces of EMF, that's for sure."

"And the room six-six-nine's a load of crap," Dean added.

"So what do you think?" Sam asked. "The professor's just a jumper? A legend's just a legend?"

Dean shrugged, but it looked as if something still wasn't sitting right with him. "I don't know. I mean, the uh, girl the janitor described, that's pretty weird."

Sam agreed with a nod of his head. "Yeah."

"We oughta check out the history of the building," Dean added his first helpful suggestion of the evening. "See if any co-ed ganked herself there."

"Yeah, you're right," Sam said as Dean exited the room for the bathroom; however, a confused and frustrated look replaced Sam's calm exterior as he opened his laptop and noticed the frozen screen. He pressed a few keys, but with no response, he sought answers. "Dude. Were you on my computer?"

Dean emerged from the bathroom with a similar look of confusion. "No."

"Oh really?" Sam scoffed, unconvinced. "'Cause it's frozen now. On uh, Bustyasianbeauties.com." Dean paused to think, frowned, winced, and then quickly retreated back into the bathroom. Sam immediately called out after him, "Dean! Would you – just – don't touch my stuff anymore, okay?"

"Why don't you control your O.C.D.?" Dean retorted, remaining hidden in the bathroom while Sam tried once more to reboot his laptop.

•⍟───✧⍟✦⍟✧───⍟•

"BUSTYASIANBEAUTIES.COM?" Tess questioned, lifting a single brow while her lips pursed with neutral distaste.

"The content they offer has more class that you give them credit for," Dean replied, defending his tastes without shame.

"But did you dig up anything about the building?" Bobby asked, ignoring the last incident as he focused primarily on the problem at hand and the facts of the case. "Or on the suicidal co-ed?"

"No." Sam shook his head. "History's clean."

"Then it's not a haunting," Bobby replied as if it should have been obvious. Tess could tell he was biting his tongue from calling them 'idjits' without hearing the whole story.

"Maybe not," Dean agreed. "Tell you the truth, we're not really sure."

Bobby's brow furrowed and he crossed his arms. "What do you mean, you're not sure?"

"Well..." Sam hesitated. "It's weird."

"And the rest of this story hasn't been?" Lila asked, tilting her head as she joined her father in confusion.

"Our whole lives revolve around the weird and unexplainable," Tess added with a yawn for good measure. "Can you get to the point?"

Bobby shot her a look almost as if telling her to play nice. "What's weird?"

"This next part, we uh, we didn't see it happen ourselves exactly, but it's pretty friggin weird," Dean replied, then noticing the look her received from Tess added, "Even for us."

•⍟───✧⍟✦⍟✧───⍟•

CURTIS, THE JOCK SAM JAD INTERVIEWED AT THE BAR ONE OF THEIR FIRST NIGHTS IN TOWN, WALKED ALONE ALONG THE POORLY LIT STREETS OF CRAWFORD HALL. He didn't consider himself the superstitious type, but with all the attention pointed toward the incidents that had occurred earlier in the week, everyone was on edge. That was the reason he comforted himself with as he jumped at the sudden noise that echoed somewhere behind him.

He turned, his expression frozen with fear. Yet, with nothing behind him but the dark of night, he laughed at himself before continuing on the path. However, a few moments passed and another noise made his ear twitch. The uncomfortable feeling of being watched forced him to stop in his tracks. Slowly, he looked upward, yet there was still nothing to be seen.

He proceeded with more caution than before, his hands in his pockets. That's when the bright light whooshed overhead. He cringed and his arms reached up over his head to block out the blinding light. Snapping out of the stunned moment, he sprinted forward. He tripped and fell, but the beam of light caught him—pulling him up as if it were a tractor beam. He screamed and flailed but he remained alone without anyone nearby to rush to his aid.

•⍟───✧⍟✦⍟✧───⍟•

"ALIENS?" Bobby questioned, unconvinced as he looked between the pair of brothers almost like he believed they were pranking him.

Dean nodded. "Yeah."

"Poor guy," Lila muttered with sympathy.

"Aliens?" Bobby repeated.

"Yeah," Dean also repeated himself, apparently serious about the outrageous claim.

Bobby scoffed. "Look, even if they are real, they're sure as hell not coming to earth and swiping people."

"Hey, believe me," Dean agreed. "We know."

"My whole life I've never found evidence of an honest-to-God abduction," Bobby continued his miniature rant as if it would force the boys to recognize how ridiculous their claim was. "It's all just cranks and pranks."

Tess pinched the bridge of her nose, muttering under her breath as she simultaneously agreed with her father about the outlandish theory. "Henriksen insisted they were geniuses. He profiled them as psychotic geniuses."

"That douchebag can take his profile and stick it where the sun don't shine," Dean retorted. "I don't see why you're still working for him."

"With," Tess corrected. "Again, we do not work for Henriksen, we work with him."

"I really don't see a difference." Dean shrugged. Tess bristled.

"Anyway," Sam tried to get them back on track. "We didn't exactly believe the alien theory either. But...we figured we'd at least talk to the guy."

•⍟───✧⍟✦⍟✧───⍟•

IT WAS STARTING TO SEEM LIKE THEY MIGHT NEVER LEAVE THAT BAR AS THEY'D RETURNED EACH NIGHT. However, it hadn't taken long to find Curtis, eyes wide and hands trembling at the bar counter. Dean slid in the seat beside him, ordering a trio of shots while Sam stood off to the side. Curtis didn't hesitate to take the first shot that came into eye view.

"Hey, you ought to give those purple nurples a shot," Dean suggested.

"So, what happened, Curtis?" Sam asked, jumping straight to the point.

Curtis shook his head, keeping his eyes locked on the empty glass on his hands. "You won't believe me. Nobody does."

"Give us a chance," Sam insisted.

Curtis sighed then shot each of them a warning glance. "I do not want this in the papers."

"Off the record, then," Dean agreed.

Curtis took a breath then began to explain what he'd experienced. "I, uh... I blacked out, and...I lost time, and when I woke up, I don't know where I was.

"Then what?" Sam asked, taking the seat on Curtis's other side so that the boy was sandwiched between them. Curtis's eyes shook back and forth as if stuck between the memory and the present.

"They did tests on me. And, uh..."  The boy slammed another shot. "They, uh... They probed me."

Sam immediately turned his face away, stifling his laughter while Dean's face contorted with a mixture of bemusement and disbelief. "They probed you?"

"Yeah, they probed me. Again and an—Again and—And again." Curtis took the final shot. "And again and again and again... And then one more time."

Dean appeared sympathetic. "Yikes."

Curtis shook his head. "And that's not even the worst of it."

"How could it get any worse? Some alien made you his bitch." Dean smirked, but the grin was wiped from his face as Curtis glared in his direction.

"They... They made me... Slow dance!" Curtis exclaimed.

•⍟───✧⍟✦⍟✧───⍟•

"SO YOUR MURDER INVESTIGATION TURNED INTO A KID'S TRAUMATIC PROM EXPERIENCE?" Tess snickered.

"You guys are exaggerating again, huh?" Bobby asked almost as if agreeing with his daughter. As he eyed the brothers, it was clear he didn't believe everything they'd been telling him—especially since the story up to this point had been biased based on the speaker's preferences.

"No, no," Sam insisted, shaking his head.

Bobby frowned. "Then this frat boy's just nuts."

Sam and Dean glanced at one another, but the older brother was the one to voice their opinion. "We're not so sure."

•⍟───✧⍟✦⍟✧───⍟•

THE FOLLOWING DAY, THE BROTHERS RETURNED TO THE SCENE OF THE CRIME. It was just about all they could do as Curtis had entered some sort of hyperventilating trance the second he stopped speaking. Together, they stared down at the perfectly round scorch mark that scarred the ground.

Sam shook his head, almost like the brothers had been arguing for a while now. "I'm telling you, Dean, This was made by some kind of jet engine."

Dean scoffed. "You mean some saucer-shaped jet engine?"

"What else could it be?" Sam asked.

Dean frowned. "What the hell?"

"I don't know." Sam shook his head.

Dean's level of frustration increased with his volume. "Seriously, dude—What the hell?"

"I don't know," Sam repeated, running his fingers through his hair. "I mean, first the haunting. Now this? The timing alone—There's got to be some kind of connection."

"You mean between the angry spirit and the sexed-Up E.T.?" Dean's wit snapped. "What could the connection possibly be?"

"But what could we do?" Dean asked the room rhetorically. "So we just kept on digging."

They spent the afternoon wandering the campus, trying to find anyone that might have seen or heard the event in question. It took some time but they eventually found one of the kid's frat brothers.

"So, you and this guy, Curtis," Sam asked, "You were in the same house?"

The student nodded his head. "Yeah."

"You heard what happened to him, right?" Dean jumped into the conversation with a question of his own.

The student shrugged. "Yeah, he says it was aliens, but, you know, whatever."

Sam's features melted with exaggerated concern. "Look, man, I – I know this all has to be so hard."

The student eyed his with confusion. "Um, not so much."

"But I want you to know... I'm here for you. You brave little soldier. I acknowledge your pain. Come here." Sam didn't hesitate to pull the student into a hug, smooshing the kid as he wrapped his arms around him. "You're too precious for this world."

•⍟───✧⍟✦⍟✧───⍟•

"I NEVER SAID THAT!" Sam interjected, clearly offended by his representation in the tale.

"You're always saying pansy stuff like that," Dean contradicted.

"I think it's sweet," Lila admitted with a soft smile.

"You do?" Sam sounded as if he'd been caught off-guard by Lila's interjection.

She nodded her head, creating a chain reaction of expressions. Sam and Lila's smiles softened. Tess silently put a finger to her mouth as if to gag, and Bobby's jaw tensed for the nth that evening.

Dean rolled his eyes. "Can I continue?"

•⍟───✧⍟✦⍟✧───⍟•

"WELL, UM... YEAH, UH, THANKS." The student pulled back as Sam released him. "Thanks for the hug, but, uh, I'm okay. Really. To tell you the truth, whatever happened to Curtis, he had it coming."

"Why is that?" Dean asked, his brow furrowing with renewed skepticism.

"He's our pledge master," the student explained. "Put us through hell this semester, and got off on it. So now he knows how we feel."

And that was the last they got out of the student they'd interviewed. They returned back to the motel that evening to reflect on the information they'd gathered.

"Still doesn't make a lick of sense," Dean said, interrupting the silence. "But, hey, at least there's one connection."

Sam only looked lost. "Between what?"

"The victims," Dean explained. "The professor and the frat guy—They're both dicks."

"I'm surprised it didn't go after you first then," Tess interjected with a smug grin.

"Look, Sweetheart," Dean retorted. "You wanna hear what happened or not?"

Sam scoffed, obviously unconvinced while he took a seat at the table then placed his bag on the surface. "That's a connection?"

"You got anything better to go on, i'd love to hear it," Dean countered.

Sam rolled his eyes. He began to rummage through his bag, yet he quickly grew frantic unable to find what he was looking for. "Where's my laptop?"

"I don't know," Dean replied as if that would help. Sam continued his search, growing more frustrated with each passing second while Dean ignored the rummaging. "Think about it. A philandering professor gets a dead girl. A pledge master gets hazed."

"I left it in here," Sam insisted.

"You obviously didn't," Dean contradicted. "I mean, these punishments—they're almost poetic. Actually, it'd be more like a limerick, but still—"

"Okay, hilarious. Ha ha," Sam interrupted as he approached Dean. "Where'd you hide it?"

"What, your computer?" Dean asked as if he didn't know his brother had been looking for the device.

Sam nodded his head. "Yeah, where'd you hide it?"

Dean's brow furrowed. "Why would I take your computer?"

"Because no one else could have, Dean!" Sam exclaimed. "We keep the door locked. We never let any maids in."

Dean shrugged. "Looks like you lost it, Poindexter."

Sam only grew more frustrated. "Dude, you know something? I put up with a lot from you."

"What are you talking about?" Dean frowned. "I'm a joy to be around."

"Yeah? Your dirty socks in the sink, your food in the fridge," Sam countered.

"What's wrong with my food?" Dean asked, insulted.

"It's not food anymore, Dean!" Sam exclaimed, throwing his hands up over his head. "It's Darwinism. All I ask from you, the one thing, is that you don't mess with my stuff!"

Dean blinked. "You done?"

Sam shook his head, riling himself up with each word that passed through his lips. "You know, how would you feel if I screwed with the Impala?"

Dean's eyes narrowed, his nonchalant attitude gone. "It'd be the last thing you ever did."

•⍟───✧⍟✦⍟✧───⍟•

BOBBY SIGHED, PINCHING THE BRIDGE OF HIS NOSE BEFORE FACING THE OLDER BROTHER. "Did you take his computer?"

Dean scoffed, glaring over at Sam as he crossed his arms. "Serves him right, but, no."

"Well, I didn't lose it," Sam insisted. "'Cause I don't lose things."

"Oh, that's right, yeah, 'cause he's Mr. Perfect," Dean spoke with a mocking tone as he rolled his eyes.

"Okay, okay." Bobby tried to get the boys to focus on the hunt rather than their personal issues. "Why don't you just tell me what happened next?"

"There was one more victim," Dean replied.

"Right." Sam nodded his head, yet the tension between the two remained high. "Now, we, we didn't see this one ourselves, either. We kind of put it together from the evidence. But this guy—He was, uh, he was a research scientist. Animal testing."

"Yeah, you know—a dick," Dean added. "Which fits the pattern."

"Oh, I'm beginning to see a pattern alright," Tess agreed with a whisper meant only for Lila to hear. Her sister released a quiet giggle under her breath as the story continued.

Dean either didn't care, or didn't want to give her the satisfaction of having heard. "Cops didn't release the cause of death 'cause they had no clue what the cause was."

"So, we checked it ourselves," Sam announced.

•⍟───✧⍟✦⍟✧───⍟•

TWO FLASHLIGHTS SHONE THROUGH THE WINDOW OD THE MORGUE. The latch slid aside with a small click while Sam opened it from the outside with a small knife. The younger was the first to crawl through the window, flashlight in hand.

"Hey," Dean hissed from outside, calling Sam's attention as the older tossed his flashlight to the younger. He then crawled through and closed the window behind him. Dean opened one of the body drawers, shining his light inside, then grimaced. "Well, this oughta be quick."

Together, they slid the drawer out and gingerly peeled back the blood-soaked blanket to reveal the extremely mangled remains of the latest victim.

Dean held back a gag. "Okay, that is just nasty."

Sam's voice was muffled as he tried not to breathe while holding a hand to both his nose and mouth. "Uh, yeah."

"Mutilated?" Dean asked.

"Looks to me like something was hungry," Sam contradicted.

"They identify him yet?"

"Yeah, uh, a research scientist at the college," Sam replied. "Guess where his office was, by the way. Crawford Hall, same as the professor."

"That's right where the frat boy had his close encounter," Dean noted.

"Yeah. Hey, grab me that thing, would you?" Sam asked. Complying with the request, Dean slid the nearby magnifying light over to Sam. The younger brother peered through the glass to look at the corpse. "Thanks."

Dean inched slightly closer. "What is it?"

"Looks like a... A belly scale?" Sam answered, but it came in the form of a confused question.

"A belly scale?" Dean's expression matched Sam's confusion. "From what?"

"Uh... An alligator?"

"An alligator in the sewer. Come on."

"What? Well, Dean, it's a classic urban legend," Sam explained. "A kid flushes a baby gator down the toilet, and it grows huge in the tunnels."

Dean scoffed. "But no one's ever really found one. I mean, th—they're not real."

"Well, neither's alien abduction," Sam countered, "but something chomped on this guy."

Dean shook his head. "This couldn't get any weirder."

"Maybe we should get some help," Sam suggested. "I'll call Bobby. Maybe he's run into something like this before."

"Oh, I'm sure he has. Just your typical haunted campus, alien abduction, alligator-in-the-sewer gig." Dean scoffed through his own sarcasm. "Yeah, it's simple."

•⍟───✧⍟✦⍟✧───⍟•

"WE DECIDED TO SEARCH THE SEWER ANYWAY, SO WE SPLIT UP, EACH TAKING ONE END OF CAMPUS," Sam explained.

"D'you find anything?" Bobby asked.

Dean seethed. "Yeah, I found something, just not in the sewer."

"Ooo," Lila quietly gasped, nudging her sister. "What do you think he found?"

"Buried treasure," Tess sarcastically. The annoyance in her tone wasn't directed toward her sister though, but toward the amount of time it had taken these boys to get through their story.

•⍟───✧⍟✦⍟✧───⍟•

DEAN EMERGED FROM THE SEWER, ENTERING THE ALLEY WHERE HE'D PARKED THE IMPALA. The hunter's expression immediately fell flat as he noticed the four tires of his car that matched his own expression.

"Son of a bitch!" Dean exclaimed, circling the car where he noticed a stray money clip on the ground engraved with the initials S.W. His frown increased. "Sam!"

With no clue as to the events outside, Sam sat on his bed with a book in hand. Dean stormed into the room, furious as his fists shook with anger. Sam briefly looked up, furrowing his brow as he tried to solve what could have wound his brother up this time.

Dean interpreted the look he received differently. "You think this is funny?"

"It depends," Sam replied. "What?"

Dean's tongue stuttered with his frustration, "Th-th-th-the car!"

"What about the car?" Sam asked, urging his brother to use complete sentences.

"You can't let the air out of the tires, you idiot," Dean scolded and snapped, "You're gonna bend the rims!"

Sam quickly shook his head, denying his assumed involvement. "Whoa, wait a minute. I didn't go near your car."

"Oh, yeah? Huh. Then how'd I find this?" Dean scoffed as he questioned his brother, holding up the money clip pointedly.

Sam reached back into his pockets, patting them a few times before standing and extending his hand expectantly. "Hey. Give me back my money!"

"Oh, no, no," Dean released a bitter laugh as he shook his head. "Consider it reparations. For, uh, emotional trauma."

"Yeah, very funny. Now, give it back." Sam reached for his belongings.

Dean pulled his hand away. "No."

"Dean," Sam warned. "I have had it up to here with you."

"Yeah? Right back at you!" Dean retorted.

Sam reached out for his money once more. Dean avoided the grab with ease. Sam tried again, this time tackling Dean onto the bed. They scuffled and fought, clawing and scratching at one another like kids rather than the grown men that they were.

•⍟───✧⍟✦⍟✧───⍟•

"OKAY, I'VE HEARD ENOUGH," Bobby interrupted.

"Thank god," Tess muttered under her breath with a sigh of relief. It was really starting to feel like that story might never end.

"Don't worry," Lila patted her pocket, whispering out the side of her mouth. "I've got the whole thing recorded so we can listen to it again on the drive home."

"You showed up about an hour after that," Dean said, glancing over at the girls as he added, "Bringing some unwanted pests with you."

Bobby slowly shook his head, standing from his seat to walk around the room a bit. "I'm surprised at you two. I really am. Sam, first off, Dean did not steal your computer."

"But I—"

Bobby cut Sam off with an extended hand. "Shh, shh, shh, shh! And, Dean, Sam did not touch your car."

Sam suddenly switched sides, agreeing with Bobby like a child who'd gotten his way. "Yeah!"

"And if you two bothered to pull your heads outta your asses, it all would have been pretty clear," Bobby said, subtly chastising the boys for their ignorance.

Dean's brow furrowed. "What?"

"What you're dealing with," Tess replied, rolling her eyes as she leaned back further in her chair.

"Uh..." Sam glanced over at Dean.

Dean shook his head. "I got nothing."

"Me neither," Sam agreed, perhaps for the first time in days.

"A trickster," Lila announced.

Bobby nodded his head. A look of pride entered his eyes as he repeated his daughter's analysis. "You got a trickster on your hands."

Dean snapped his fingers. "That's what I thought."

Sam's brow furrowed. "What?! No, you didn't."

Tess scoffed. "I mean you guys were the biggest clue."

"What do you mean?" Sam asked.

"These things create chaos and mischief as easy as breathing," Bobby explained, "and it's got you so turned around and at each other's throats, you can't even think straight."

Realization struck both Sam and Dean as they turned toward one another, each noting what had been their own breaking point.

"The laptop."

"The tires."

"It knows you're onto him," Bobby agreed, "and it's been playing you like fiddles."

"So, what is it, what, what, spirit, demon, what?" Dean asked for more information.

"Well, more like demigods, really. There's Loki in Scandinavia. There's Anansi in West Africa. Dozens of them," Bobby continued his explanation. "They're immortal, and they can create things out of thin air. Things as real as you and me. Make them vanish just as quick."

"You mean like an angry spirit or an alien or an alligator," Dean connected the dots between the other cases.

"The victims fit the M.O., too," Bobby added. "Tricksters target the high and the mighty, knock them down a peg, usually with a sense of humor—deadly pranks, things like that."

Tess considered adding a comment of her own, but it was like Dean was on to her from the start as he shot a warning look in her direction. Therefore, she didn't need to say anything but simply smirk in satisfaction.

Dean frowned. "Bobby, what do these things look like?"

"Lots of things, but human, mostly," Bobby replied.

"And what human do we know who's been at ground zero this whole time?" Dean asked, turning to look at Sam. His younger brother frowned, but it only took a second more for the pieces to click and for them to return to the same page.

After doing a bit more research, Sam and Dean returned to Crawford Hall the following morning. Only this time they weren't alone. The girls had insisted on tagging along, each for their own reasons. Lila was concerned that they could actually use the help; Tess was convinced that they'd just screw it up.

The janitor—practically confirmed as the trickster—locked the gate behind them with the key attached to his belt. There was a glimpse of suspicion and something else as his eyes glanced over the girls, but he didn't say anything about their presence as they followed him up the staircase.

"Sorry I'm dragging a little ass today, boys. Had quite the night last night." The trickster then emphasized his point loud and clear. "Lots of sex, if you catch my drift. Looks like you boys have been keeping busy yourselves."

Tess's nose wrinkled with distaste, but she didn't say anything. As the trickster's back turned to them, Dean signaled to Sam while speaking aloud to keep the janitor distracted, "Yeah, hard not to. Listen, we won't be long. We just need to check a couple offices up on three."

"No problem," The trickster agreed.

"I, uh, forgot something in the truck," Sam announced, gesturing over his shoulder. "You know what? I'll catch up with you guys."

Dean nodded. "Okay."

The group turned and began to ascend the rest of the stairs. Sam waited until they were out of sight then hurried back to the locked gate, retrieved his lock-picking tools from his pocket.

"Those would've been useful at the library," Lila noted.

Sam jumped, grabbing his chest with a hand as his back clanged against the locked gate. His eyes widened with alarm and he quickly checked the area to see if anyone had noticed them. He then focused on the redhead before him, questioning her presence under his breath. "What are you doing here?"

"I thought you could use some help," Lila replied with a shrug.

"You were supposed to stay with Dean and your sister," Sam reminded her.

"Yeah, but Tess can handle herself," Lila replied, taking the lockpick from his hands as she began messing with the lock herself.

"That's kind of what worries me," Sam muttered under his breath, glancing back toward where he left the group as if expecting everything to go wrong at that exact moment. "The two don't exactly get along."

"That's never stopped Tess from finishing a job before," Lila countered. "She's a professional. She can handle it. Besides, she's had plenty of practice when working with Henriksen."

The gate swung back as the lock clicked open. Lila smiled, pleased with herself as she invited Sam to enter first. "Ta da."

Sam rolled his eyes, but the soft smile that appeared whenever she was near remained. "I could have done that."

"Yeah, but I was faster," she teased playfully. "So what are we looking for?"

"Anything to confirm he's our guy," Sam explained, starting to rummage through a few of the lockers.

"Something like this?" Lila asked, holding up a copy of the Weekly World News. The headline is what caught his attention though. Aliens Abduct Cheerleaders.

That should have been all the proof they needed. But as Sam and Lila met up with Dean and Tess, some skepticism remained in the group.

"Just 'cause he reads the Weekly World News doesn't mean he's our guy," Sam said, "I mean, you read it too, Dean."

Dean shook his head. "I'm telling you, it's him."

"Look, I just think we need some hard proof," Sam explained his hesitance. "That's all."

"What other proof do you need?" Tess asked, "You guys are the one that found the paper in the first place."

"Yeah, but if we're wrong we could be hurting an innocent bystander," Lila countered.

"I'm sure there's another way to test if it's really a trickster. But we can't just let this guy roam the streets if there's even a chance that we're right," Tess insisted.

"You want more proof?" Dean nodded his head. "Okay, another thing Bobby mentioned was that these suckers have a metabolism like an insect, a real sweet tooth."

"Well, I didn't find any candy bars or sugar," Sam said, "Not even Equal."

"Eh, that's probably 'cause you missed something." Dean dismissed Sam's observation.

Sam frowned. "I don't miss things."

Dean scoffed. "Oh, right, 'cause you're Mr. Perfect."

Sam looked at him incredulously. "What? Are you really still pissed at me 'cause of what the trickster did?"

Dean nodded his head, crossing his arms. "You been a tight ass long before that trickster showed up."

The brothers glared at one another, the tension between them increasing with each passing second. Lila gently nudged Tess, and discreetly the blonde checked her shoulder. From the upper window the trickster stared down at them, watching intently.

"Look, just...stay here, keep an eye on the janitor," Sam suggested, turning to walk back toward the building. "I'll go to his place to see if I can find any actual evidence before you go barging in and staking the man! Just wait till I get back, okay? Okay?"

"Okay!" Dean huffed.

"Should he really be heading in there on his own?" Tess quietly asked. "After what we've heard this thing is capable of?"

"On it!" Lila exclaimed, bounding after Sam before they could actually discuss the matter. Tess called out after her sister, hissing that she needed to stop, but Lila disappeared after Sam without another word.

Tess muttered a few choice words under her breath, kicking a couple stones along the ground as she paced closer to Dean.

"Younger siblings, am I right?" Dean asked.

Tess glanced over at him skeptically. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Starting a conversation," Dean replied. "Is that a crime?"

Tess scoffed, blowing a loose string of hair from her eyes. "Are you sure you wouldn't rather be talking to Starla?"

"First, not her name," Dean replied nonchalantly, but a smug grin toyed at his lips. "Second... jealous much, sweetheart?"

She bristled. "Jealous? Of a hooker?"

"Grad student of anthropology and folklore," he corrected without hesitation. "And what did you study?"

"How to lock your ass up behind bars," Tess snapped.

"You could certainly try, sweetheart," Dean belittled the statement.

Tess crossed her arms. "You think you're a real stud don't you?"

"That is the general consensus," he agreed. "But I'm more than willing to listen to your opinion back at the hotel."

"Why?" Tess scoffed. "So I can cuff you to another bed?"

"I have a few notes."

Tess blinked. "You do remember Bobby carries a shotgun in the truck, right?"

"I'm a man who lives on the edge," Dean countered, leaning up against the steel gate.

Tess pinched the bridge of her nose. "In what world do you think I'd ever actually accept that offer?"

"Not any where I'm being serious." He chuckled. "But I admit it's fun to push your uptight buttons."

"Screw this," Tess huffed. She unholstered the gun at her hip, and Dean misunderstanding her intentions scrambled backward with alarm in his eyes. She whipped around on her heels then storm toward the building, calling back over her shoulder. "You coming, stud?"

Adjusting his jacket to regain his composure, Dean followed after the raging blonde. He was more cautious than she, keeping the beam of his flashlight directed ahead of them as he reached out to pull her back. She shoved his hand from her shoulder, but she did slow down to keep whatever element of surprise they had left.

As they crept up the last staircase, Dean put away his flashlight and pulled a large wooden stake out in its place. From behind the pair, a soft echo called out to them. As if uncertain, Dean tucked the stake into his jacket as he pushed the doors open and proceeded into the theater. Tess, on the other hand, kept her weapon locked and loaded, scanning the rows of seats as they approached the center of the room.

On stage sat a round red bed with a tacky canopy and a slowly rotating disco ball. A pair of women were sprawled out seductively over the covers in a matching set of lingerie. As Dean stepped onto the stage, they crawled toward him without hesitation.

"We've been waiting for you, Dean," the blonde said.

Dean shook his head, stuttering over his words. "Y-Y-You guys aren't real."

"Trust me, sugar, it's gonna feel real," the blonde contradicted.

Dean released a nervous laugh while Tess rolled her eyes. The brunette inched closer, placing her hands on Tess's shoulders. She tried to fight against it, but the brunette lowered the gun and some of her defenses.

"Come on. Let us give you a massage," the brunette insisted, rubbing the tension from Tess's shoulders.

The other blonde moved closer, mimicking the brunette as she rubbed Dean's shoulders. "Don't be shy, there's plenty of fun to go around."

Dean only enjoyed the moment for a brief second before a pit formed in his stomach and a nagging feeling tugged at his conscience. He frowned and shook free of the blonde's grip. Then took Tess by the hand and pulled her free of the brunette before guiding her behind him, so that he was between her and the pair of good-looking but imaginary women.

"You know, I'm a—I'm a sucker for a happy ending," Dean said, inching backward across the stage with Tess at his side. "Really, I am, but... I-I'm gonna have to pass."

"They're a peace offering," another voice called out. Tess and Dean both whipped their heads around to meet the gaze of the trickster sitting in the audience. "I know what you and your brother do. I've been around a while. Run into your kind before."

Dean eyed the pair of women then the trickster with skepticism. "Well, then you know that I... can't let you just keep hurting people."

"Come on!" The trickster insisted, trying to persuade the hunters of his "righteous" fun. "Those people got what was coming to them. Hoisted on their own petards. But you and Sam—I like you. I do. So treat yourself... Long as you want. Just long enough for me to move on to the next town."

Dean shook his head. "Yeah, I don't think I can let you do that."

"What?" The trickster questioned. "Are the girls not your type? I see you brought one of your own. No problem. I'll just head out and you kids have some fun. My treat."

Tess scoffed. "Yeah, that's not gonna happen."

The trickster feigned a pained sigh. "I don't wanna hurt you. And you know that I can."

"Look, man, I—I got to tell you, I dig your style, all right? I mean," Dean chuckled, "I do. I mean, whew... and the slow-dancing alien—"

The trickster chuckled along. "One of my personal favorites. Yeah."

"But, uh, I can't let you go."

"Too bad. Like I said, I like you." The trickster's gaze hardened. "Sam was right. You shouldn't've come alone."

Dean and Tess glanced at one another then looked back at the trickster as if asking him if he wanted to rephrase his statement. The trickster's face remained blank, but the lightbulb flashed on eventually.

"Oh, the chick's a hunter too?" he asked. He chuckled as if the thought was amusing, but then frowned as he finally got a good look at Tess. His eyes widened a bit, and for a split second they glanced beyond the pair toward the space behind before focusing on them again. Tess swore she almost saw fear. "And what did you say your name was again?"

"Her name is Tess!" Lila's voice filled the silence.

The door to the theater slammed shut. The trickster whipped his head around to the stairs where Lila, Bobby, and Sam—each with a stake of their own—had just entered the room.

"That fight you guys had outside—that was a trick?" The trickster asked. Dean smiled. The trickster almost looked impressed. "Hm. Not bad. But you want to see a real trick?"

A masked man with a chainsaw appeared beside Sam and immediately attacked. Meanwhile, the brunette from the stage lunched and attacked Sam. The trickster watched, pure delight shining from his face by the entertainment before him. Sam and Bobby grappled with the chainsaw man while Dean fought off both the blonde and brunette's violent advances.

The trickster laughed with glee as Dean took a few hits before he was tossed into the seats in the front row. "Nice toss, ladies! Nice show."

Tess and Lila both winced at the sound of Dean landing, he'd definitely bruised something in that fall. While the boys were utterly preoccupied with the trickster's games, the girls had stepped back from the action to come up with a new plan.

"Do you think he'd stop if I offered him a snickers?" Lila asked.

"Probably not." Tess shook her head. "Give me your stake."

Lila handed her sister the chunk of wood then rushed forward to help Sam and their father. Meanwhile, Tess inched her way around the back of the theater to sneak up on the trickster.

"Ah ah ah." The trickster didn't turn, but as he snapped his fingers the stake in Tess's hand turned to ash. "Let's not bruise heavens playthings, hmmm, Theresa? Why don't you ladies take a seat and watch the show?"

Suddenly Tess was yanked back by the air behind her and thrown into a seat. From further down, something similar occurred to Lila as she was pulled into a chair. The redhead was slid further down the row until she was too far from the fight to either help or be in harm's way.

"Dean... Dean, Dean, Dean." The trickster tsked as he approached the fallen hunter. "I did not want to have to do this."

"Me neither."

From the side, Sam tossed the stake in his hand to Dean who immediately jabbed the wood into the trickster's chest. The hunter twisted the stake deeper, and the chainsaw man and the women disappeared. The girls were also freed from the invisible force keeping them restrained in their seats. As Dean removed the stake, the trickster fell dead into the seat behind him. When all was silent and finally over, the five regrouped, dusting themselves off.

Dean's face was filled with concern. "You guys okay?"

Sam nodded his head, glancing around the theater as if expecting round two. "Yeah. I guess."

"Well, I gotta say... he had style." Dean chucked, but then groaned and clutched his bruised side as they staggered outside.

"Bobby, thanks a lot. We really couldn't've—"

"Hey, save it!" Bobby interrupted Sam's sentiment. "Let's just get the hell out of dodge before somebody finds that body."

"They just leave the body?" Lila questioned, tilting her head as the boys headed to the car.

"Amateurs," Tess agreed, shaking her head.

"Should we just leave it?"

Tess sighed. "Unfortunately we don't have the time to clean up their mess."

"Move it or lose it, ladies!" Dean called out to them.

The girls jogged over, sliding into the seats next to the father in the back. However, it was Sam who paused. "Look, Dean, um... I just want to say that I'm, uh... Um..."

"Hey." Dean interrupted with a knowing look. "Me too."

"You guys are breaking my heart," Bobby snipped, jumping uninvited into the moment. "Could we please just leave?"

The boys exchanged a look over the top of the car before taking their seats inside and driving away.

•⍟───✧⍟✦⍟✧───⍟•

THE CORPSE CARELESSLY LEFT BEHIND BY THE GROUP OF HUNTERS SHIMMERED THEN FADED LIKE A MIRAGE. Completely unharmed, the trickster chuckled and dusted off his hands as is completing a hard day's work.

"So this is where you've been hiding."

The trickster jumped with a startled yelp, clutching his chest as he turned to face the woman who had appeared from thin air. Her hair was pulled back into a tight bun and her cream suit was pressed without wrinkles.

He released a breath of relief then inhaled while rolling his eyes. "It's really none of your business."

The woman remained silent yet her eyes hardened and her jaw tensed. The trickster swallowed, understanding full well what the woman was capable of. For they didn't need to see the other's true form to know what they were beneath the meat suit they wore.

"None of my business?" the woman asked.

From the way her voice echoed in the expanse of the room, he could tell she wasn't really there. That realization failed to console the unease he felt any more than before.

"I'm not in the need for any guiding intuition," the trickster agreed with a nod of his head. "So I don't understand what you're doing here."

"A limited thought," she replied. "At the moment I'm not really here or there, but awaiting further instruction."

"What's new?" the trickster scoffed. "Any changes to the ineffable plan?"

The woman shook her head. "Your responsibilities remain the same."

"If you hadn't notice, I gave up those responsibilities and chose an alternative option," the trickster outstretched his arms, creating half a dozen illusions of the women who'd attached Dean earlier. "You're welcome to join my side... You always were my favorite out of the bunch anyway."

"The end is coming." She slowly shook her head, looking at the trickster with a mixture of pity and disappointment. "And you'll be forced to choose a side one of these days. Perhaps then you'll recognize your mistake to abandon your higher purpose."

"And what a great job you're doing," the trickster snickered. "Two of your higher purpose responsibilities just wandered into my trap. You're lucky I was feeling merciful."

The woman's brown eyes flashed an iridescent yellow as if something had snapped. She reached out an ethereal hand which solidified as it wrapped around the trickster's throat and threw him backward to the ground. The trickster's eyes widened with alarm and he clawed at his throat to free himself from the hands which smoked and burned with a glow that matched her eyes.

"Those six are under my care and watchful eye." Her voice echoed around the theater at a volume louder than even the speakers could have produced. "Threaten one of them or His plan again and you'll wish that I'd been as merciful as you this day."

She released his throat and the trickster sat up, gasping for breath. He opened his mouth to add a few choice words of his own, but as he looked around the theater he was utterly alone and the woman had disappeared just as she'd arrived, without a trace. Now he could trust that his secret change of identity was safe with her, but he also knew her words were not to be taken lightly. It would be a while before he even considered crossing either the Winchesters or the Singers for the next round of their unfinished game.

•⍟───✧⍟✦⍟✧───⍟•

AUTHOR'S NOTE| After an extended break, I'm finally back with an update! I'd forgotten how much I love the singer family. And without giving too much context, prepare to be introduced to more of the family in the next chapter. On another note, we're halfway through the first act and already I can't wait for all the little hints that will be revealed when Azazel enters the picture. Feel free to vote and leave a comment, and thanks for reading!

•⍟───✧⍟✦⍟✧───⍟•

¡ 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐊𝐒 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐆 !