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𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍

𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘶𝘱𝘰𝘯 𝘢 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭

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"It just doesn't make sense, Dee. Why would Uriel tell me you remembered Hell if you didn't?"

Dean threw back his fourth shot of the night and slammed it back down on the table, wiping his jacket sleeve across his mouth. "Maybe because he's a dick - might have something to do with it."

Delaney frowned at her brother who tried to avoid the subject like the plague. She couldn't really tell if he actually forgot about his time down in the pit or if he was putting on a front so he wouldn't have to talk about it. If he did remember, Delaney wished that Dean would just talk about it with her and Sam if it bothered him.

"Maybe, but he's still an angel."

"Yeah, an angel who was ready to level an entire town. Look, I don't know what - "

"Radical," the waiter said as he approached the table once again. He was this bubbly and brown haired guy that was just a little too much. Delaney didn't think she'd ever seen anyone smile more than this guy. "What else can I get you guys?"

Sam flashed the waiter a kind smile while Delaney and Dean averted their gazes from the bubbly waiter. "We're good, thanks."

"You sure? You want to try a couple of fryer bombs or a chipotle chili changa?"

"No, no, we're - we're still good, man," Dean replied and waited for the waiter to leave them alone before he turned back to Delaney. "Della, look, I don't know why Uriel told you what he did, okay? Just let it be."

Delaney scoffed softly and sat back in her chair, narrowing her eyes at Dean. "Right."

"Okay, what?"

"You don't remember? Fine. Then look me in the eye and tell me you don't remember a thing from your time down under," Delaney challenged.

Dean sighed heavily and reached across the table, grabbing Delaney's face and bringing it closer to his so she could properly look him in the eyes that matched hers. When they were this close, Delaney was reminded why everyone said they could be twins. The scent of the few shots he had was strong on his breath. "I don't remember a thing from my time down under, baby girl. Okay? Happy?"

Delaney pushed Dean's hands away from her face and slumped back once again. "I just want to help you, Dee. You're my big brother and I owe you my entire life."

Sam nudged Delaney to let up on Dean, clearly taking the eldest Winchester's side. "Delly, he knows as much as us. He can't give us any more than that. It's probably better that he doesn't remember his time down there. I'm sure his brain locked that traumatic experience away. That's what brains do."

"Outstanding. Dessert time? Huh? Am I right?" the waiter returned once again and leant his hands on the end of the table. "Listen, guys, you have got to try our ice cream extreme. It's extreme."

"No extremities, please. Can we try the check?" Delaney asked and took the check when the waiter held it out to her. She puffed out her cheeks as he left the three siblings alone once again. "I have never met a happier person in my life."

"So, where do we go from here?"

Sam took out a few articles out his laptop and opening it up to flip through the few articles he had opened up already. "I'm not sure. Uh, looks like it's been pretty quiet lately. No signs of demon activity, no omens or portents I can see."

"That's good news for once," Dean commented.

"Yeah, just the typical smattering of crank UFO sightings and one possible vengeful spirit. Here, check this out, uh..." Sam trailed off and tilted the laptop so both Delaney and Dean could see the article he pulled up. "Up in Concrete, Washington, eyewitness reports of a ghost that's been haunting the showers of a women's health facility." 

Dean choked on the beer he had just taken a sip of, spitting some back into his glass. He stared wide eyed at Sam as he continued to explain that the ghost had flung her down a flight of stairs. 

"I can see you're very interested," Delaney noted, watching as Dean scrambled to get his jacket on and take out bills for the check so they can leave.

"Women, showers. We got to save these people."

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The Winchesters made it to Washington by the next afternoon and Delaney stepped out of the Impala to interview the victim at a Chinese restaurant while Dean and Sam went to investigate the women's facility. She tried to convince the boys to let her do the women's facility since she'd probably have a better chance of getting to the showers, but Delaney lost that argument. Not that she should have been surprised by that because the boys would have fought until they got their way anyway. Easier to just give in to them than argue. 

"I'm not surprised the spirit world chose to make contact with me. I'm something of a... natural sensitive," the victim, Candace, said to Delaney who had posed herself as someone who wanted to start a book at the paranormal.

"I can sense that about you, Candace, that whole..." Delaney trailed off, trying to come up with a good enough lie for her to believe. "sensitive thing."

Lame.

Candace tilted her head at Delaney and smiled in the way that said she was both confused and suspicious. "So, what did you say you were calling your book?"

"Oh, well, um... the working title is... Supernatural. Yeah, I've been crossing the country, gathering stories like yours. Anyways, you were telling me about your encounter."

"Yes, well," Candace sighed and shook her head, seemingly still not believing what she went through. "Once I saw the apparition, that's when I started to run."

As Candace spoke, Delaney's eyes trailed to her right and she was shocked by the scene that unfolded. A male with dorky glasses and a woman that could be a model were sat together, holding hands and laughing. They even leant across the table and kissed. It was the type of couple you would never think would get together. Now that was something supernatural.

When she noticed Candace had finished talking, she tore her eyes from the odd couple and focused her attention back on the woman before her. "And you said the ghost chased you?"

"Not just that. It knew my name. It kept yelling, Mrs. Armstrong! Mrs. Armstrong! and that's when I hit the stairs and fell."

"Wait, you fell? The ghost didn't push you."

"Oh, I don't - I don't know. I mean, I think it did. Maybe," Candace stuttered, not really understanding the situation herself.

"Did it feel like it meant to hurt you, like it was violent or - "

"It was a ghost I'm lucky to be alive. Anyway, I was at the bottom of the stairs and that's when it got weird. It helped me up."

Delaney froze for a second as the words processed in her head. The ghost helped Candace up. No spirit Delaney had ever met actually tried to help the victim it haunted. Usually it would finish the attack once the victim was vulnerable enough for it to do the final strike. This ghost... this one helped. It made Delaney's brain hurt as her brain rushed to fit together the pieces that just weren't there.

"Say again?"

"Yeah, it helped me up. It kept saying over and over, please don't tell my mom."

"Yeah... that's weird."

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Delaney made her way over to the fitness center that Sam had texted her the address of. Luckily, it was only a ten minute walk from the Chinese restaurant that Delaney spoke to Candace in. The events of what happened still boggled Delaney's brain as she made the walk over to her brothers. None of it made sense and she thought if they even had a case here at all and should just move on. 

A part of her thought about calling Randy to see if he knew what could be going on (if anything at all), but she wanted to respect his distance rule until he popped back up again. He still worked on looking for Lilith on his own to allow Delaney the time with her brothers, but he hadn't texted her since and she actually missed him. Something Delaney never thought she'd think about a demo. Then again, Delaney didn't even think she'd be with a demon either. Her life liked to throw random curveballs at her to keep it interesting. 

"Well, you pick up anything?" Delaney questioned her brothers, approaching them where they sat on the wooden steps of the health center that sat on the pier.

"No EMF in the shower or anywhere else. This place is clean," Dean responded, folding up the newspaper he had been reading and stood up.

"I kind of got the feeling back there that maybe crazy pushed Mrs. Armstrong down the stairs."

"I got to tell you, I'm pretty disappointed," Dean frowned as the three began to make their way over to the Impala parked on the dock a few feet from the center.

Sam scoffed out a laugh and rolled his eyes. "You wanted to save naked women, Dean."

"Damn right I wanted to save some naked women," Dean said, stumbling back when a group of boys ran past. A little boy in front of them as he was clearly chased by the other three boys behind him. "Run, Forrest, run!"

"Sorry, Dean, but I don't think there's anything going on here," Delaney said, patting her brother jokingly on the back.

A bit down the way on the small bridge that lead to the other side of the docks stood a deputy and what looked like a hunter, the normal kind of hunter. The hunter, dressed in plaid and vest, yelled at the deputy that he couldn't get a glance at what attacked him because it blindsided him. He couldn't see what grabbed him from behind.

"Something's going on," Sam pointed out and lead the way over to the arguing duo. "Excuse us. FBI." He held up his badge along with Delaney and Dean, effectively cutting off Gus from going off about his Bigfoot theory. "We are here about the... that."

"About Bigfoot?" the deputy asked in confusion.

"That's right. Sir, can you tell us exactly where this happened?" Delaney asked politely, smiling softly in the man's direction with big green eyes. The look typically got anyone to tell her what she needed to know. Dean always said it was a curse because it was impossible to say no to that face.

"Yes, I can."

Gus had explained to the siblings where in the woods he was when he was attacked by Bigfoot. None of them really believed it was Bigfoot because all three knew for a fact that Bigfoot wasn't even real. However, it was still a bit odd and since they were there already, Dean suggested they just go and check it out. Delaney felt like she was back in the Trickster's trap again with how weird this whole thing was. That or the demon blood finally caught up to her and was having an odd side effect on her brain.

"What the hell is going on in this town? First there is a ghost that's not real and now a Bigfoot sighting?"

"Well, every hunter worth his salt knows Bigfoot's a hoax," Sam agreed, stuffing his hands into his jacket pockets.

"Maybe somebody's pumping LSD into the town water supply," Dean mused.

Delaney stopped mid-step, causing the boys to both bump into her back and nearly send her flying into the mud. Thankfully, Dean was quick and caught the back of her leather jacket before she could tip more than an inch forward. Right before the Winchesters was a trail of enormous feet that pretty much looked like right out of any Bigfoot sighting. 

"Boys, I - I know I cannot be the only one seeing these footprints."

"That, uh... is a big foot," Sam mumbled, tilting his head as he stared at the footprints in the mud.

Seriously, what the hell was going on in this town?

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After following the footprints, the Winchesters found themselves outside of a liquor store that had been broken into. Multiple bottles of liquor were broken along the floor and the floor glistened with the wasted alcohol. The porn magazine rack had been ransacked and some sort of brown patch of fur had been left behind as if a big stuffed animal or something did the breaking and entering.

Delaney sat on the bench outside of the liquor store with Dean and Sam on either side of her as they tried to figure out what was going on. However, nothing made sense and Delaney couldn't come to a single conclusion on it. It was rather frustrating if she were honest.

"This has got to be a joke, right?" Delaney asked after a moment of silence between the trio. "Some big-ass dude in a gorilla suit?"

"Or it's Bigfoot," Dean remarked and ran his hands over his face. "You know, and he's some kind of alcoholic-porno addict. Kind of like a deep-woods Duchovny."

A little girl rode by on her bike with a yellow milk crate on the back of it filled to the brim with stuff. One of the magazines on the top of the pile had blown off the back and Delaney stood up to grab it so she could return it to the little girl before she got too far away. However, Delaney paused when she saw what kind of magazine was in her hand.

A porno magazine with a pretty asian on the front and BUSTY ASIAN BEAUTIES across the top of the photo.

"A little young for Busty Asian Beauties," Sam commented, glancing from the magazine and over to the little girl that had turned her bike to go behind the liquor store.

The three siblings followed the little girl's bike to see the box full of stuff on the back stairs of the liquor store with a sorry note on top of it. As if the day couldn't get any freakin' weirder.

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The Winchester siblings followed the little girl back to her house and waited a few minutes before they got out of the car. The whole act was still creepy if Delaney were honest with herself, but it would have been even weirder if they just popped up in front of the little girl. By the lack of car in the driveway, Delaney wondered if one of the parents had stepped out.

"What's this, like a Harry and the Henderson's deal?" Dean remarked, walking up to the little girl's front door that was two wooden doors with a bunch of small window panes in it. How this family didn't have a second door to give privacy and protection was beyond Delaney. Just looking at the doors gave her anxiety because all the worst scenarios rushed through her head.

Delaney reached out her hand and knocked on the part of the door that didn't have glass so the little girl could hear the knock better.

"Hello?" the little girl said, opening up both doors and looking up at the Winchesters with big, round brown eyes.

"Hi, sweetie. Um, could we... you know what? Are your parents home?" Sam asked, bending down so he could be eye level with the little girl.

"Nope."

"No," Dean sighed, dropping his head for a moment to try and figure out how to go about this whole thing with the parents being gone. "Um... have you seen a really, really furry..."

The little girl gasped, startling the three siblings at her now worried expression. "Is he in trouble?!"

Delaney blinked for a second, glancing over to her brothers who wore the same confused expressions she did. "Um, no not at all. We just - we wanted to make sure he was okay."

"He's my teddy bear. I think he's sick," the little girl whispered, leaning forward with a hand covering the side of her mouth as if the bear was right next to her and could hear her. 

"You know, that's amazing... cause we... are, uh..." Dean went into the inner pocket of his jacket, pulling out his badge and Delaney and Sam quickly followed suit with him to hold up their own badges. "Teddy bear doctors."

"Really? Can you please take a look at him?"

"Sure, sweetie," Sam replied and let the little girl take him by the hand, shooting a look over his shoulder to Dean and Delaney.

"I'd ask if this day could get any weirder, but I'm scared to know the response to that," Delaney mumbled to Dean, following after Sam and the little girl up the stairs to the second floor of the house.

The little girl stopped in front of the room at the end of the short hallway with the white door closed over. "Teddy? There are some nice doctors here to see you!" She pushed open the bedroom door to reveal a massive sized brown teddy bear with a red ribbon around its neck sat on the bed, a beer bottle in his hand. The light from the TV on the dresser across from the bed illuminated his furry face in the darkness of the room.

"Close the friggin' door!"

The little girl closed the door once again and turned to the Winchesters with a frown. "See what I mean?"

Of all the things Delaney expected, she was not expecting a massive teddy bear that could talk. She had to pinch herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming. That Castiel or Uriel hadn't randomly teleported the trio into some weird dream world or something to teach Delaney some sort of lesson. Up until that point, Delaney had thought she'd seen it all. Clearly, she hadn't.

"All I ever wanted was a teddy that was big, real and talked. Now he's sad all the time - not ouch sad, but ouch in the head sad - says weird stuff, and smells like the bus," the little girl whined.

"Um, little girl..."

"Audrey!" Audrey huffed at Dean before he could say any more.

"Audrey," Dean corrected himself and bent down so he could properly talk to the little girl. "How exactly did your teddy become real?"

"I wished for it."

Delaney furrowed her eyebrows and tilted her head. Man, she really hoped they weren't dealing with another witch. She still wasn't over the one they dealt with a week ago. If they had to deal with another one, Delaney was going to lose her mind. "You wished for it?"

"At the wishing well."

Dean brushed past the little girl to open up the bedroom door and step inside to get a closer look at the teddy bear. From where she stood, Delaney could clearly hear the sound of a news reporter talk about some type of accident on the TV. Dean narrowed his eyes at the teddy bear, trying to figure out how any of this was actually happening. Wishes just didn't come true like this from a wishing well.

"Look at this. You believe this crap?" the teddy bear laughed humorlessly, waving his beer bottle at the TV.

"Not really," Dean rasped, still eyeing the teddy bear.

"It is a terrible world. Why am I here?!"

"For tea parties!" Audrey slapped her hands to her sides in annoyance, as if she had said it to the teddy bear on more than one occasion since he became real.

"Is that all there is?!"

Dean turned on his heels and he looked absolutely terrified and weirded out by the whole experience, stepping out of the room and closing the door shut behind him. He jerked his head to the side for Delaney and Sam to step over for a second so they could talk in private. 

Delaney stepped over to the side and crossed her arms, opening and closing her mouth a few times as she tried to process everything. Teddy bears coming to life. Random ghosts helping ladies up after they fall down the stairs. Either Delaney was having some kind of fever dream or this was a big joke that God decided to play on her. "Are we... I mean, boys, should we... are we gonna kill this teddy bear?"

"How, Della? Do we shoot it, burn it?" Dean quipped.

"I don't know. Both?" Delaney suggested, not even being really sure of herself either.

"How do we know that's gonna work? I don't want some giant, flaming, pissed-off teddy bear on our hands."

"Yeah. Besides, I get the feeling that the bear isn't really the, you know, core problem here," Sam chimed in, hinting at the well that Audrey had made her wish at. He turned back to Audrey and offered her a small smile. "Audrey, where are your parents?"

Audrey shrugged her shoulders and frowned. "My mom wished they were in Bali, so I think they're in Bali."

"Okay, well, I'm really sorry to have to break it to you, but... your bear is sick. He's got - um..." Sam trailed off, trying to come up with a good enough lie to tell Audrey. She couldn't be more than eight or nine so anything they told her probably would have had her believe them any way.

"Lollipop Disease," Dean quickly cut in, sensing Sam's momentary pause. "It's not uncommon for a bear his size. It's really contagious so is there anyone you can stay with while we take care of him? Like a grown-up?"

"Mrs. Hurley lives down the street."

"Good, good. We're gonna need you to stay with her for a few days, okay?" Delaney said, earning a nod in response from the little girl. "Also, you don't happen to remember where this wishing well is, do you?"

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Audrey told them about the Chinese restaurant her and her parents had gone to when they all made their wishes. The same one that Delaney had been in when she spoke to Candace about what happened in the showers. As they entered the restaurant, the little boy that had been chased earlier that day walked out with a black eye. The sight made Delaney's heart shatter that he had been bullied. It was disgusting and Delaney wondered why someone would need to bring someone else down just because they felt insecure and down. 

"You think it works?" Sam asked, snapping Delaney out of her thoughts of the little boy.

"Got a better explanation for our teddy bear pal back there?" Delaney remarked, crossing her arms and staring down at the blue ceramic well with multiple coins in it.

Dean dug into his jean pockets and retrieved a penny, holding it up for Delaney and Sam to see. "Only one to find out."

"What are you gonna wish for?" Sam questioned, watching Dean toss the penny into the well. 

"Shh! Not supposed to tell, Sammy."

The bell on the door behind the siblings rang and they turned to see a delivery guy with a sub in his hand. Delaney rose an eyebrow as the man asked if anyone ordered an Italian footlong with jalapeño on it. She shouldn't have been surprised when Dean slowly rose his hand to signal that it was him who ordered it. 

Dean walked over to the empty table to their right after he took the sandwich and took a seat with Sam and Delaney across from him. He peeled back the tin foil over the sandwich and grinned happily at his food. Again, Delaney shouldn't be shocked by any of this. "I think it works, guys. That was pretty specific."

Delaney puffed out her cheeks and glanced over to her left to see the odd couple she had seen earlier that day when she spoke to Candace. They seemed even more in love than they had just a few hours ago and Delaney wondered if the guy had made a wish in the wishing well for it to happen. "The teddy bear, the sandwich..."

"Mmm..." Dean hummed, holding a finger up for Delaney to pause. He pulled out a folded up newspaper from his inner jacket pocket and unfolded it to show the front page with the heading LOCAL MAN WINS $168M LOTTERY. "I'm guessing this."

"I'm guessing that," Sam added, jerking his head towards the odd couple that fed each other across the table.

Dean's eyes flickered over to the couple and his chewing slowly came to a stop as he took in the beautiful brunette and dorky looking male across from her. "Well, that definitely goes on the list. What are we supposed to do, huh? Stop people's wishes from coming true? Sounds like kind of a douche-y thing to do."

"Yeah, maybe, but come on. When has something like this ever come without a price tag?" Sam argued, wanting to put an end to this just as much as Delaney did. It sucked they had to ruin people's wishes, but they were just going to turn out wrong in the end anyway. The siblings would just be doing what they do best in the end - saving people. "Usually a deadly one."

"I don't know. It's a damn good sandwich," Dean said through a mouthful of his sandwich, frowning when Delaney and Sam just stared at him. "Alright, fine. We'll put a hold on the wishing till we figure out what's going on."

"Uh, guys, guys. I'm sorry. We don't allow people to eat outside food here," the owner said, stopping next to the Winchesters' table. He was a Chinese man with a black, thin mustache and an apologetic smile on his face.

Dean swallowed whatever was in his mouth and shot his younger siblings a look to just follow his lead. "Well, I am certainly not gonna eat the inside food here." He paused to dig through his pockets for one of his badges and finally pulled out his Health Department ID with a challenging look. "Health Department. You, my friend, have a rat infestation. We're gonna have to shut this place down under Emergency Hazard Code 56C."

"Rats?" the owner exclaimed in disbelief. 

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After the owner had gotten his customers to evacuate the restaurant for the time being so the Winchesters could take a look in the fountain, Dean had drained it while Delaney found a small hand broom for Dean to dig through the multiple shiny coins left in the well. He shook his head as he practically came up with nothing but pennies and nickels.

"Typical fountain, plaster Buddha. Nothing I can see."

"Yeah, nothing. We keep a clean place here," the owner huffed at Dean, annoyed the siblings were wasting his time and losing him money by the second.

"Sir, I'm gonna have to ask you to leave during the preliminary investigation, okay?" Delaney instructed, making a shoo motion with her hands for the man to walk away so the siblings could talk privately without him breathing down their necks. "Thank you.

Dean let out a heavy breath and pulled out another coin, holding it up to Delaney. "Oh, come on, baby girl. Aren't you the tiniest bit tempted?"

Delaney chuckled as Dean flicked the coin into Delaney's hands and shook her head. "Uh, no. Wouldn't be real so I don't trust this thing."

"I don't know. That bear seemed pretty real."

"Well, if you could wish yourself back, you know before this all started... where you'd be the lawyer you'd always dreamed to be and have a family with Will... would you?" Sam asked, nudging Delaney in the side.

Delaney smiled softly at the thought of being able to live her old dreams of being a lawyer who could help people. Where she could have gotten married to Will and had mini Wills running around the house. He probably would have gone off to be a professional football player and she'd get to be the football wife that Will always teased her she'd turn into. Their kids would have gotten to wear their father's jersey and support him like the photos Delaney had seen of the professionals with their own kids being in the stands or down by the sidelines with the small headsets on. 

However, that was all the before. The before Delaney's whole world got flipped upside down and inside out. The before Delaney found out she had demon blood coursing through her veins. The before Delaney even knew how to shoot a gun or stab someone. The before Delaney could go more than two days without her anxiety wanting to pop out to say hello. The before Delaney knew even knew that all the monsters in the scary movies she saw were real.

Now the only thing she really cared about was hunting down Lilith and ending her before she could end Delaney. It was payback for what she had done to Dean and how she wouldn't even consider a bargain for Dean's life. She was just jealous of Delaney and her apparent part in Azazel's big plan. 

"Not what I would wish for, Sammy. It's too late to go back to our old lives and I'm not that girl anymore," Delaney responded.

"Alright, well... what would Della wish for then, hmm?" Dean prodded.

Delaney scoffed and crossed her arms, staring down at the well once again. She wished the thing actually worked so she could chuck the penny in her hand into the well. However, Lilith dying would just have to be something that Delaney would have to do on her own. "Lilith's head on a plate - bloody."

Dean and Sam's faces seemed to grow a bit pale at Delaney's blunt response and exchanged a look with each other over Delaney's head. A look that Delaney couldn't exactly read and that annoyed her a bit. "Okay..." he trailed off, tilting his head when his eyes landed on something in the well. He reached into the well and pushed aside some of the pennies, revealing a larger and silver coin beneath the small pile.

"Some kind of old coin. I don't recognize the markings," Sam replied, leaning closer to the coin to inspect the dragon marking on the shiny coin. He rose an eyebrow at Dean when he tried to pick up the coin, but it didn't budge an inch. "Lift with your legs, Dean."

Dean grunted as he retracted his arm back, leaning his hands on the edge of the well. "Is that little mother welded on there?"

The boys ran out to the Impala to grab some tools they thought would help get the coin out of the well. Dean had walked back in with a crowbar in his hand and a duffle bag over his shoulder while Sam carried a sledge hammer in his own hand and Delaney wondered how in the hell they would even get the coin out with a sledge hammer.

The owner gasped from where he had stood near the register by the entrance, going through his receipts from the day. He rushed over to the trio when he saw Dean try to pry the coin out with the crowbar. "What are you doing? You are gonna break my fountain!?"

"Sir, I don't want to slap you with a 44/16, but I will," Sam threatened with the first made up violation name he could think of, which had thankfully worked because the owner walked away to go back to what he was doing. "Thanks."

"Let me see that. I have an idea," Dean said, holding out his hand for Sam to hand him over the sledge hammer. He propped the end of the crowbar underneath the coin and banged the sledge hammer against the handle of the crowbar as if it were an ice pick used to make a sculpture. However, when the sledge hammer made contact with the handle of the crowbar, the hammer part of the sledge hammer flew off and left Dean with just the handle of the hammer.

Delaney's wide eyes went from the now demolished sledge hammer to the coin that stayed right where it had been the whole time. There was only one explanation for why nothing they tried got the coin out of the well. "Boys, the coin is magical."

"I'd say," Dean breathed, twisting the splintered wooden handle in his hand. "I think it's hoodoo that's protecting the well. I don't think we can destroy this."

Sam had pulled out a pencil and piece of paper from his inner pocket, placing the paper over the coin and coloring over it so the marking appeared on the paper for the siblings to remember what it looked. He handed the paper over to Delaney who took it with furrowed eyebrows. "You both got to look into that. I just realized something."

Dean and Delaney turned to watch Sam rush out of the restaurant and the owner looked at them oddly. The duo merely smiled innocently at the owner and held up the paper to show they were off to do more investigation on the man's well problem. 

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Dean and Delaney had decided to make their way back to the motel room so they could do research on the coin while Sam went off to do whatever it was he thought of. On their way back to the room, they had been nearly barreled over by the three bullies and the little boy that had been bullied by them. The boys carried on running while the boy turned a cold gaze to the two siblings who stared in shock. It was clearly a wish the boy had made to be tougher than the bullies that tormented him. He tried to intimidate Dean and Delaney, but they merely held their hands up in defense and allowed him to keep running past after the three bullies.

When they had made it back to the motel room, Dean had rushed his way into the bathroom and emptied his stomach of the sandwich he had wished for. His stomach had started to make odd sounds when they were just a few blocks away and Dean's face had turned more and more pale as time went on. It had seemed they had made it back to the motel room just in time because just as Dean ran into the bathroom and shut the door behind him, Delaney could hear the sounds of him retching while she opened up Sam's laptop. 

Just as Delaney had gotten all the information she could on the coin while Dean continued to be sick in the bathroom, Sam stepped in and glanced at the door when he heard the sounds of Dean retching. His eyes flickered from the door and over to Delaney who had just shut his laptop over and leant back in her chair.

"The wishes turn really bad," Delaney informed Sam who still looked confused on why Dean was emptying his stomach contents into the ceramic bowl. "Turns out the coin is Babylonian. It's cursed. While Dean has been emptying his stomach, I found some fragments of a legend. It's not a dragon on the coin, but a serpent and it's name is Tiamat, which is the Babylonian god of primordial chaos.I guess their priests were working some serious black magic."

"They made the coin?" Sam asked, walking over to sit at the table with Delaney while Dean finally emerged from the bathroom with the hand towel in his hand. 

"To sow the seeds of chaos. Whoever tosses a coin in the wishing well, makes a wish and it turns on the well. Then it starts granting wishes to all comers," Delaney answered.

Dean grabbed a water bottle from the small white fridge in the corner of the room and joined his siblings at the table, not having any clue what Delaney had found since he'd been sick the whole time. "But the wishes get twisted. You ask for a talking teddy..."

"You get a bipolar nut job," Delaney finished for her brother.

"And you get E. Coli," Sam teased Dean, patting him on the back.

Dean whined as burped lightly, his stomach still clearly bothering him. 

"Look, this thing has turned more than one town upside down over the centuries. It's even wiped a few off the map. I mean, one person gets their wish, it's trouble, but everybody gets their wish and it's chaos."

"Is there any way to stop it?" Sam asked.

"Yep, one way. We got to find the first person who made a wish. Whoever dropped the coin in and made the first wish, they are the only ones who can pull it back out and reverse the wishes. So for now, we've got a couple of nutty dreams come true, but once the word gets out about the well... things are just gonna keep getting crazier."

Sam and Delaney had offered to go through the online articles and find out who made the first wish and allowed Dean to take a nap since he seemed pretty drained from all that he hacked up. It would have been quicker if all three of them researched, but Delaney and Sam also couldn't force Dean to do anything when he was feeling down and weak. 

However, it appeared Dean wouldn't have gotten a well enough sleep because he had only been asleep for ten minutes before he started to mumble and twitch in his sleep. Delaney couldn't really tell what he was saying because it was too low and jumbled for her to understand. She had a small idea of what his nightmare could be about and it broke her heart to know that Dean struggled with his time down in Hell still. She knew for a fact that Uriel hadn't lied to her about Dean remembering Hell. She just let the topic go because it was what Dean wanted, but it was getting to the point where she couldn't ignore it anymore.

"Dean, wake up!" Delaney called, chucking a pair of socks at Dean's head.

Dean startled awake and bolted up in the bed, rubbing his eyes. "What? I'm up."

"Sleep well?" Delaney remarked.

"Yeah. Tan, rested and ready," Dean replied, grabbing the bottle of whiskey he had placed on the side of the bed and took a long sip from it. 

Delaney sighed and crossed her arms on the back of her chair, placing her chin down on top of her hands so she could face Dean. "Dee, come on. You think Sammy and I can't see it?"

"See what?"

"The nightmares, the drinking. We're with you 24/7. I know something is going on, Dean."

Dean rolled his eyes and tossed the whiskey onto the bed next to him, rubbing his hands over his face to rid the sleep from it. "Delaney, please."

Delaney scoffed and shook her head that Dean still tried to keep her at arm's length. When did their relationship come to them hiding things from each other? First she hid her abilities from Sam and Dean. Now, Dean was hiding what he went through in Hell from her and Sam. They used to never keep anything from each other and now it seemed that was all the siblings did was lie. It sucked.

"Uriel wasn't lying, but you are. You remember Hell, don't you?" Delaney accused. 

"What do you want from me, Delaney, huh? What?"

"How about the truth, Dean?"

Dean dropped his hands from his face and pushed himself up to the end end of the bed so he could be closer to Delaney and Sam. "Oh, cause you've been so truthful with Sammy and I."

 Delaney flinched at the harshness in Dean's tone. He was still hurt over the fact Delaney had hid what she had done the four months he was dead and, judging by Sam's face, Delaney knew he was still upset also. "Okay, I know I deserved that, but I mean... we're your brother and sister. I just wish you'd talk to us."

"Careful what you wish for," Dean joked, grabbing the newspaper that had been left on the bed when he fell asleep. He noticed the looks he got not only from Delaney, but from Sam also. Sam may not say it out loud like Delaney, but he did worry about Dean also. He just wasn't going to pry into Dean because he knew it wouldn't get him anywhere. Not like Dean would open up about it so why bother forcing it? "Stow the couples therapy, Delaney, okay? We're on a job and I want to work. What did you guys get?"

Sam stared at Dean for a moment, worry dancing in his eyes over Dean. However, he knew Dean just wanted to get this job over and done with so he grabbed his own research. "We got teddy bear, lottery guy and the invisible pervert guy. They all must have wished sometime in the last two weeks, but who wished first... and how are we supposed to know who else wished for what when?"

Dean fully unfolded the newspaper and froze when his eyes landed on a particular story. He flipped the newspaper around for Delaney and Sam to see him point to an engagement announcement for the odd couple they saw at the restaurant. "Well, it helps when they announce it in the paper. Goes back a month. Wesley Mondale and Ms. Hope Lynn Casey have announced their surprise engagement."

"Ah, true love," Sam retorted and tossed his research back onto the table. "It's the best lead we got."

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Once the Winchesters found out where Wes lived, they drove the short five minutes over to his place from their motel room and rang the doorbell. Hope had answered the door and Delaney had made a quick lie that they were the florists for the wedding. She allowed them in and lead them through the tiny home to the living room where Wesley sat watching TV.

"Wes, you didn't tell me you ordered florists for the wedding," Hope gasped, placing her hands on her hips with a wide grin. "You're the best!" She kissed Wes on the forehead and rushed out of the room to get her folders.

"Wesley, how's it going?" Dean taunted once Hope had exited the room to look for her stuff.

"It's Wes," Wesley corrected, trying to look intimidating from where he sat but quickly cowered back when the three siblings moved closer to him. "Aren't you guys from the Health Department?"

Sam stuffed his hands into his pockets and rocked back on his heels. "Yeah and we're florists on the side."

"Plus FBI and on Thursdays we're teddy bear doctors," Dean chimed in and fixed a stern gaze onto Wesley. "Doesn't matter who we are. What matters is what we know. So, coin collector, huh?"

Wesley tilted his head and followed Dean's new line of sight to the frame of eleven coins hung on the wall behind Wesley's chair. "Oh, yeah, my... grandfather gave them to me."

Delaney crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at the man who avoided the siblings' gazes. "Did you happen to lose one of those coins lately? By lose I mean drop it into a wishing well at Lucky Chen's and make wish on it?"

Wesley finally looked up at the trio and he had the audacity to look innocent when he was clearly caught red handed. "No, I - I don't know what you're, uh, talking about."

Hope walked back into the room before any of the siblings could give a response with a fat, red folder in her hands. "Okay, now. I have a lot of ideas, but, you know, we don't have all the money in the world. Wes is between jobs right now which means more time for me.You know, I'm thinking a Japanese-y ikebana kind of thing."

"Yes, I can see it," Dean replied with a fake smile.

"So, Hope, uh, tell us how you two lovebirds met," Sam said.

"Oh, my best day of my life. It's the funniest thing. We both grew up here, but I never really knew who he was. Not by name anyway," Hope sighed dreamily and smiled lovingly over at Wes who grew more and more uncomfortable the more time went on. "Until one day last month, it was like I just... I just saw him for the first time. He was just... glowing. Oh, just glowing."

Wes chuckled awkwardly and lightly grabbed the hand that stroked his cheek with a tight smile. "Uh, babe, can you get us some coffee?"

Hope nodded and grabbed Wes' face to kiss him on the lips before she sauntered out of the room to get the group some coffee.

Sam cleared his throat and watched Hope exit the room before he turned back to Wes, who once again avoided the trio's faces. "Wes, we know, so tell us the truth.

Wesley frowned as his eyes finally met the trio's gazes properly for the first time and sighed. "My - my grandfather found the coin in North Africa, you know, World War II. He brought it back. He, um, he said it was a real wish-granting coin, but that nobody should ever use it. Eh... it was all I had, and when he died, I thought, well, you know, what? why not give the coin a shot?"

"Yeah, well, now you're gonna wish it back," Sam instructed.

"Oh," Wesley chuckled, thinking Sam was joking. However, his laughter slowly died out when he realized Sam, Delaney and Dean just stare at him with blank expressions. "Oh, ha ha. No. I'm not."

"If you don't stop it, something bad is gonna happen," Dean warned.

"Something bad - like us," Delaney threatened.

Dean pulled out the silver handgun from his inner jacket pocket and kept it hidden by his chest so Hope wouldn't see in the kitchen behind them. "We really wish you'd come with us."

⊶⊶⊶⊶⊶✞⊷⊷⊷⊷⊷

It didn't take much convincing after Dean pulled the gun out for Wesley to leave the house with them. He told Hope he'd back in a little bit and hugged her extra tight before the four left Wes' house to go back towards Lucky Chen's. Delaney had the unpleasant experience of sitting in the back of the Impala with Wesley while Sam and Dean sat in the front seat.

"I don't get it," Wes complained, lowering himself in his seat and throwing his head back against the back of the seat. "So, my wish came true. Why does that have to be a bad thing?"

"Maybe because the wishes go South, Wes," Delaney replied sassily. "Your town is going insane."

"Come on. You're gonna sit there and tell me that your relationship with Hope is functional, that it's what you wished for?" Dean snapped at Wesley, already at his wits end with him.

"I wished for Hope to love me more than anything."

"Yeah, and, uh, how is that going? That seem healthy to you?" Sam quipped.

"Well, it's a hell of a lot better than when she didn't know I was alive," Wes countered.

Delaney rolled her eyes at Wesley and resisted the urge to shake him around and knock sense back into him. "You aren't supposed to get what you want, Wes, not like this. Nobody is. That's what the coin does. It takes your heart's desires and it twists it back on you. Your hear of the whole careful what you wish for?"

The Impala suddenly jerked as if Dean had hit something in the road. However, when Delaney checked in the back window of the Impala, she didn't see anything in the road that Dean could have possibly hit. Odd. "What in the hell?"

"Careful what you wish for," Wes mocked Delaney and she turned to him with a fierce gaze that it made him jump back from her. "You know who says that? Good looking jerks like you guys, the ones who have got it so easy because you happen to be beautiful and handsome."

"Trust me, Wesley, we do not have it easy," Delaney mumbled.

"We are miserable. We never get what we want," Dean added, glancing at Wesley in the rearview mirror. "In fact, we have to fight tooth and nail just to keep whatever it is we got."

"But you know what? Maybe that's the whole point, Wes," Sam said and it was starting to become like Delaney, Dean and Sam were chastising a small child for something they had done wrong. Wesley's eye rolls and small huffs he thought went unnoticed by the siblings only added to it.

"Yeah, people are people 'cause they are miserable bastards, 'cause they never get what they really want."

Delaney nodded in agreement with her brothers. "Yeah, you get what you want and you get crazy. Take a look at Michael Jackson or Hasselhoff."

"You know what? Hope loves me now - completely and it's awesome. Besides, look around. Where is all this, uh, insanity you guys were talking about?"

As if on cue when Dean pulled up at a stop sign, across the way stood the little boy they had seen earlier shake a car with the three bullies cowered inside. No kid that size should be able to shake the car in any way. He then placed his hands on the bottom of the car and lifted it easily as if he were the Incredible Hulk and tipped it onto its side, screaming for the boys to kneel before Todd.

"Well, that should cover it," Dean breathed with wide eyes, quickly pushing open his door. "Della, drive the Impala and get to Lucky Chen's. I'll handle Todd."

Delaney scrambled into the driver's seat, glad to put at least the smallest distance between her and Wesley. She pulled the door closed and didn't waste time in speeding over to Lucky Chen's. Once she had pulled the Impala into the spot right outside the restaurant, the trio stepped out of the car and Delaney rounded the back of the car to meet Sam and Wesley on the sidewalk.

"That - that - that kid turned over that car like - like it was nothing," Wesley said, pointing back in the direction they had came from.

"You should have seen the teddy bear," Delaney mused.

"Come on, Wes, the fun is over. Time to pull out the coin," Sam went to make his way towards the restaurant but Wesley didn't budge. "Wes!"

"Well, why can't we just get what we want?!"

Delaney growled and grabbed Wesley by the front of his jacket, over him and his constant whining like a four year old. "Because that's life, Wesley. Now build a bridge and get the fuck over it before I make you."

Behind Delaney she heard a bolt of lightning come down and she whirled around to see a small dark cloud had appeared just over Sam, sending him flying out of his shoes and crashing onto his side on the sidewalk unmoving. She gasped and quickly dropped to her knees next to Sam, pulling him into her lap and lightly tapping her brother's face with tear filled eyes. "Come on, Sammy, you big dummy. Wake up." She whipped her head around to pin Wesley where he stood with how dark her expression turned. "If you don't go inside right now and fix this, I swear to God, Wesley. Your wish turning bad will be the least  of your worries once I'm through with you."

Wesley didn't have to be told twice before he ran inside the restaurant where Hope could be seen stood at the wishing well inside the dark restaurant. Delaney continued to hold Sam close to her while Wesley spoke to Hope inside, hugging her close to him and giving her forehead one final kiss. He reached inside the well and pulled out the coin from the well, causing Sam to gasp in Delaney's arms and his eyes flew open.

"Sammy, thank God," Delaney whispered and hugged Sam tightly, burying her face into his shoulder as he wrapped the arm that wasn't crushed into her stomach around her in the best form of hug he could give her.

When the bell on the door rang signaling someone walked out, Delaney and Sam both looked up to see Hope exit the restaurant looking dazed and confused as she passed them by. Delaney helped Sam get to his feet just as Wesley exited the restaurant next, a sad look on his face. He placed the coin into Delaney's hand and walked away from the two siblings, his head bowed down and hands stuffed deep into his pockets.

Thank God that was over.

⊶⊶⊶⊶⊶✞⊷⊷⊷⊷⊷

A bit later, Delaney and Sam met Dean on the dock where they had been when they went to check on the health facility. They passed by Audrey and her parents who both looked as red as lobsters and Audrey's brown bear had a hole in the back of his head that had been tapped shut with red tape. She waved to Sam and Delaney as she passed them and continued her walk with her parents who looked like they had a time moving thanks to the massive burns on their bodies.

"Well, uh, the coin's melted down," Delaney informed Dean, stopping in front of him where he sat on a bench. "It shouldn't cause any more problems now."

"Audrey's parents are back from Bali," Dean noted, gesturing to the family that walked along the dock. "Looks like all the wishes are gone and so are we." He lead the way down the dock, but stopped after a few steps and tugged on the back of Sam and Delaney's jackets. They both turned to him with confused expressions on why he stopped them. "Della, you were right."

"I'm sure you're right, but about what?"

"I shouldn't have lied to you guys. I do remember everything that happened to me in the Pit. Everything," Dean admitted and Delaney could see the pain flash across his face as the memories clearly played in his head.

Delaney frowned and exchanged a glance with Sam, both feeling the same type of worry about Dean and what he must be going through. Neither one could imagine the pain and torment Dean must go through daily since he remembered everything that was done to him down in Hell. "So... tell us about it."

"No," Dean denied and held his hand up before Delaney or Sam could argue. "I won't lie to either one of you anymore, I promise. However, I am not gonna talk about it."

"Dean, you know I usually don't say anything, but Delly is right. You can't just shoulder this thing alone," Sam spoke up and Delaney was pleased to know that he felt just as strongly as she did if he actually opened his mouth to Dean. "You have to let Delly and I help."

"How? Do you both really think a little heart-to-heart, some sharing and caring, is gonna change anything? Hmm? Somehow... heal me? I'm not talking about a bad day here."

"We know that, Dee," Delaney whispered, wanting to just pull Dean into her and hug him for however long he needed her to. To do anything that could possibly help Dean get through what he was going through. No one should have to go through it alone and Dean wasn't letting Sam nor Delaney help him. It would only make things worse if he kept it all bottled up the way he was.

"The things that I saw... there aren't words. There is no forgetting and there is no making it better. It's right here..." Dean trailed off, pointing to his head to signify that it constantly haunted his thoughts and nightmares. "Forever. You guys couldn't and wouldn't understand what it's like and I could never make you understand. So I am sorry."

Delaney felt her heart shatter as Dean offered both his siblings a pained and sorrowful look before he continued his way down the dock towards the Impala. She hated that Dean wouldn't at leas tell them what he went through. She knew that Dean couldn't make her nor Sam understand what he truly went through. It was one of those things that you would have to experience to fully understand the true horrors of it. 

However, Delaney just wished there was something - anything, really - that she could do to make Dean feel even the tiniest bit better. He had always been there to catch her when she fell and bring her back up. Whether it was through hugs, letting her talk it out or just being there for her until she felt better. This time, Delaney just felt utterly useless to her brother and wished he had never gone to Hell.

It only made her want to see Lilith's head removed from her shoulders even more.

AUTHORS NOTE

NOT YET EDITED

Hi hey hello

The truth is officially out, peeps! Delaney and Sam both know that Dean has been struggling hardcore with his time down in Hell. Sure they both had a feeling the whole time, but this time Dean actually said it out loud. The Winchesters' lives are just gonna go down from here and I'm ready for the drama and angst