ᴺᴼᵂ ᴾᴸᴬᵞᴵᴺᴳ: "Get your filthy fucking hands off me."
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Three months later...

VENUS SAT ON THE HOOD of the Impala at a gas stop. She hadn't checked her emails for over three months and it was coming back to bite her. 

The brunette thumbed through her phone, skimming through multiple angry emails from professors demanding that she start handing in makeup assignments for the numerous tests and projects she had missed or risk losing the full-ride scholarship she was coasting through on.

There were also a few emails from Garth showing her pictures of some of his latest hunts; both monster and animal. The stupid grin he wore in each picture next to his catch made her smile. She drafted a quick response and hit send, but her mind still drifted back to her schoolwork.

Venus immediately took a notepad from Sam's bag and began making a to-do list of the tasks she had to do. She didn't know how she'd get it all done while still on the road, or even if she wanted to do it, but she knew she had to do it. She needed some sort of safety net to fall back on no matter how conflicted she was feeling.

The longer she stayed on the road the shakier her future began to look. Spending all of her time with Dean Winchester didn't help matters at all.

They were nowhere near close to finding John or the thing that killed Jessica but Venus and Dean seemed to easily fall back into old patterns; not-so-secret longing glances, abnormal amounts of physical contact than what was common for 'friends', sleeping in the same motel beds even without their arbitrary game of rock paper scissors, etc.

And despite her academic shortcomings, Venus was content. Sam had even somewhat made peace for his part in Jessica's death on their last hunt.

They were currently on their way to a possible case in Arizona but stopped to refuel.

Dean stood by the car's rear putting gas in the tank while Sam was sitting in the passenger seat looking through his father's journal when they heard Venus exclaim.

"Holy shit," the brunette's eyes widened at a three-month-old email from an old friend.

"What's up?" Sam stuck his head out the window.

"I'm looking at an old email from Bex, you remember her right?" Venus turned to Sam.

The younger Winchester nodded while the older raised a brow. "Who's that?" Dean questioned.

"She's one of our old friends from Stanford."

Dean scoffed, "You're kidding. You still keep in touch with your college buddies?"

"Why not?" Venus replied as she moved to stand by the passenger door, reaching in and handing Sam her phone to read the email.

"Well, what do you two tell them about where you've been, what you've been doing?"

Venus clenched her jaw. "We told them we needed some time off after Jess' death so we went on a road trip together."

"Ah, so you lied," Dean came to stand beside her, folding his arms into his chest.

Venus narrowed her eyes at him. "Leaving out a few details isn't the same as lying."

"Yes, it is."

"No, it's not." 

Dean chuckled, "Hey, I get it, princess. Telling them the truth is far worse."

"So, what we're supposed to just be like your dad? Cut everybody off and pull that lone ranger shit?" Venus argued.

Dean only offered her a smug shrug in response.

"Oh, you're serious..."

Dean leaned in and smiled, thinking he was offering her a piece of world-class advice, "Look it sucks, but in a job like this you can't get close to people, period."

Venus scoffed, trying not to let her hurt show on her face, "Yeah or risk having to be vulnerable with someone other than a bottle of Jack right?" she ended with a mocking smile and got in the car.

"Oh my God," Sam exclaimed, letting the news delivered through the email settle in.

Venus poked her head up to the front of the car. "I know right?"

"What happened with this Bex chick?" Dean bent down to Sam's window, "And is she hot?"

Venus took a deep breath.

Not everything changed within the last three months.

"We went to school with her and her brother Zach and she's saying that he's been arrested for killing his girlfriend," Sam explained to Dean, "Rebecca said he didn't do it but it sounds like the cops have a pretty good case."

"What kind of people were you two hanging out with?"

Venus deadpanned. "Don't even. Trust me when I say Zach is not a killer."

"Well maybe you know Zach as well as he knows you," Dean replied rather bitterly.

"Listen, you ass, they're in St. Louis and we're going," Venus demanded.

Dean glared at the brunette through the window. "Listen I'm sorry about your friend, okay? But this does not sound like our kind of problem."

"It is our problem," Sam spoke up, "They're our friends."

"St. Louis is four hundred miles behind us, Sam."

All it took was a glance at Venus and Sam's faces for Dean to get behind the wheel, make the U-turn to get back on the interstate, and make the long drive to Missouri.

-ˋˏ [    ] ˎˊ-

Rebecca Warren's front door opened to reveal a grinning Venus and Sam.

"Oh my God, V, Sam," the blonde greeted with a shocked chuckle.

Venus, standing in front, hugged the young woman first. "Hey Bex," she spoke, genuinely happy to see the girl. She then stepped aside to let Sam greet her.

"Well if it isn't little Becky," the taller Winchester teased as the blonde lept into his arms.

"You know what you can do with that 'Little Becky' crap," Rebecca playfully swatted his arm.

"I know I'm more than a little late but I got your email," Venus frowned.

Rebecca shook her head, "I didn't think that you would come, and Sam too?"

"Dean, Sam's older brother," Dean stepped up and introduced himself, shaking the woman's hand.

"Hi," the blonde smiled politely.

"We're here to help," Venus offered, "Whatever we can do."

Rebecca stepped aside and let the hunters into the pristine house.

"Nice place," Dean mused.

Rebecca escorted them into the kitchen, "It's my parents'. I was just crashing here for the long weekend when everything happened. I decided to take the semester off."

Venus looked around at the home as they passed various rooms and pieces of furniture, not having been there since sophomore year when Rebecca invited her to spend Thanksgiving with her. If she had a house like this she'd never leave.

"I'm gonna stay until Zach's free."

"Where's Rob and Maureen?" Venus questioned, referring to the blonde's parents.

"They live in Paris for half the year, so they're on their way home now for the trial," Rebecca then gestured to the large fridge behind her, "Do you guys want a beer or something?"

Venus and Sam shook their heads while Dean's face lit up, preparing to say yes. A look from his younger brother changed his mind.

"So, tell us what happened," Sam gently encouraged Rebecca.

Rebecca went into detail about Zach's alleged crime. She told the hunters how the police had footage showing him entering his home around the time of his girlfriend's murder, but that was seemingly impossible since he was with her till midnight.

"You know, maybe we could see the crime scene—Zach's house—"

"We could?" Venus and Dean chorused from behind Sam.

"Why? What could you do?" Rebecca asked both Sam and Venus.

"Well, us, not much. But Dean's a cop," the lie rolled off Sam's tongue smoothly.

Venus turned to look at the older Winchester's face, smiling at the expression that rested there.

She was simply planning on flashing their fake FBI badges and getting info about the case from the local police.

But this could work.

"A detective, actually," Dean forced himself to keep up with his brother's fib.

Rebecca cocked her head to the side, "Really? Where?"

"Bisbee, Arizona. But I'm off duty now."

But Rebecca was still reluctant. "You guys are so nice to offer but I just...I don't know."

"Bex," Venus leaned closer to her friend, "You and I know Zach didn't do this. But what we think isn't gonna mean a damn thing if we can't prove it."

The blonde sighed, looking at all three hunters for a moment. "I'm gonna go get the keys."

Dean whistled softly once Rebecca was out of earshot. "You two are real straight shooters with your friends."

"Oh I have my rifle in the trunk, I'll show you just how much of a straight shooter I am," Venus grew irritated with the older Winchester.

"Look, Zach and Becky need our help," Sam spoke before Dean could further piss off the brunette.

"I just don't think this is our kind of problem," Dean attempted to argue.

"Two places at once?" Sam scoffed, "We've looked into less."

The drive to Zach's house was short and quiet.

Before they knew it, they were stepping into the living room of Zach's house. Despite it being three months old, the crime scene remained untouched, giving the hunters insight into how it was left on that night.

Venus turned and noticed Rebecca's hesitation to enter the house. "Bex you can stay outside if you want to. This is really...gruesome."

The blonde took a deep breath and then entered, "No, I wanna help."

Venus nodded in understanding and walked further into the apartment, grimacing at the harrowing scene. Multiple items were broken or scattered around the room indicating a struggle. Blood was splattered across multiple pieces of furniture as well as the walls. The person—or thing— that did this was brutal in their methods.

"Tell us what else the police said," Sam said to Rebecca, glancing around the scene briefly.

Venus walked over to a picture of Zach and his girlfriend, now covered in blood, while listening to Rebecca's explanation.

"Well...there was no sign of a break-in. They say that Emily let her attacker in. And the lawyers are already talking about a plea bargain." Rebecca paused to look around the house once more before a broken sob slipped from her lips.

Sam rested a hand on the woman's shoulder, trying to comfort her. "Look, Beck, if Zach didn't do this then someone else did. Any idea who?"

"Um, there was something," she replied after a few seconds of thought, "About a week before, somebody broke in here and stole some clothes—Zach's clothes—and the police don't think it's anything..."

The sound of Rebecca's discussion with Sam was quickly drowned out by the sounds of a dog barking outside the house.

Venus and Dean walked over to peer out the front door, locking eyes with the brown dog responsible for the noise.

"You know, that used to be the sweetest dog," Rebecca informed them.

Venus raised a brow. The dog was damn near foaming at the mouth. "What happened?" she asked her friend.

"He just changed."

"When?"

"I guess around the time of the murder."

Venus now had an even stronger feeling that whatever was responsible for Emily's murder wasn't human.

She broke eye contact with the dog and turned in Sam's direction, Dean following. Venus came to a stop by the fridge where Sam stood looking at a picture of himself, Rebecca, Zach, and Venus embracing each other and smiling into the camera. She smiled softly at the memory of that day.

"So the neighbor's dog went psycho right around the time Zach's girlfriend was killed," Dean informed his younger brother.

Sam shrugged, "Animals can have a sharp sense of the paranormal."

"Maybe Fido saw something," Dean joked, gaining small smiles from Venus and Sam.

Venus hummed thoughtfully. "So you finally agree that this is our kind of problem?"

"No, probably not," Dean stubbornly denied, "But we should look at the security tape just to make sure."

Venus and Sam cast each other knowing looks before facing Dean.

"Yeah."

"Right."

-ˋˏ [   ] ˎˊ-

After revealing that she had stolen the tape they needed off the lawyer's desk a few weeks prior, Rebecca brought the hunters back to her home to watch the footage.

Venus sat on the couch with Dean perched on the couch arm beside her, both leaning forward to watch the four angles of the recording intently. Sam stood some feet away, holding the remote to his chin as he tried to piece together some theories about what may have happened.

"Our lawyers hired some kind of video expert," Rebecca addressed the hunters, "He says the tape's authentic. It wasn't tampered with."

Venus nodded in response, watching Zach enter his apartment on the surveillance tape. But her eyes caught something at the moment he glanced up at the camera. That was weird...

"Hey, Beck," Sam turned to the blonde, "Can we take those beers now?" he asked.

Rebecca stood up from the couch, "Oh, sure," she made her way to the kitchen.

"Hey, uh, maybe some sandwiches too?" Sam called out.

"What do you think this is, Hooters?" she joked before walking away

Venus looked at Sam with furrowed brows. "You saw it too didn't you?" she questioned.

Sam nodded and took a few steps closer to the TV.

"What is it?" Dean wondered, standing up from his previous position on the couch.

Venus walked over to stand between the boys as Sam rewinded the tape. "Look at his eyes," she directed Dean.

Sam let the clip play but slowed it down and managed to pause it on a frame showing Zach's eyes holding a strange silver hue.

"Maybe it's just a camera flare," Dean guessed.

Sam shook his head in disagreement. "That's not like any camera flare I've ever seen."

Venus chewed on her bottom lip slightly, sorting through the ideas flying in her mind. "A lot of cultures believe that a photograph can serve as a glimpse into the soul."

"Right," confirmed Dean.

Sam looked over at the other two hunters. "Remember that dog that was freaking out? Maybe he saw this thing. Maybe this is some kind of dark double of Zach's, something that looks like him but isn't."

"Like a doppelganger," Venus added.

"That would sure explain how he was in two places at once."

The hunters ate and said their goodbyes to Rebecca soon after that, quickly finding the cheapest motel and settling in for the night.

Three showers and a brief conversation later, Venus and Dean slid into their bed for the night and clicked off the night light on their respective sides. Sam rested on his own bed across the room, slowly letting sleep overtake him.

But that sleep only lasted for a few hours before he was up at the crack of dawn, one thought ringing in his mind. The youngest Winchester readied himself for the day and sauntered over to where his brother and best friend lay fast asleep. He couldn't fight the smile on his face at the sight of the pair wrapped comfortably in a spooning position, with Dean being the big spoon of course. 

Sam lifted his hands and clapped them together as loudly as he possibly could. Three times.

Venus jerked awake first. She slowly turned her head to look up at Sam, her eyes fluttering to adjust to the morning light streaming in through the thin motel curtains. "Sam, what do you have against sleeping in?"

Sam chuckled, twisting his wrist to look at the time. "I know it's early but I just thought of something," he then glanced down at where Dean's arms were wrapped around the brunette's waist, her Stanford shirt bunched up in his large palms. "Maybe I should've given you two the room," he joked, raising a brow.

Venus flipped him off with a yawn, too tired to come up with some comical retort at that moment. She reached down and tapped Dean's arm, trying to wake the sleeping hunter.

Dean grumbled in his sleep and tightened his grip on the woman, pressing his naked chest even further into her back.

"Dean you have five seconds before I tell Sam what you were muttering in your sleep last night."

"I'm up," Dean released the brunette and quickly sat up.

Sam raised a brow at Venus, now wondering what she would've told him.

"Te lo diré más tarde," Venus sent him a small grin.

Sam nodded in understanding with a smirk. He was suddenly grateful for the additional Spanish lessons Venus had been giving him in their free time on the road.

Dean looked between the two suspiciously, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, "What did you just say?"

"I told him I liked his outfit," Venus lied smoothly. She slipped out of bed before Dean could question her further.

"Sammy, it's five in the morning man," Dean began to complain, trying and failing to ignore where Venus was bent over digging around in her bag nearby.

"I know but I just thought of something and the earlier we go check it out, the less we risk being seen," Sam explained, sitting at the edge of his own bed.

Venus zipped her bag closed and walked to the other side of the small room where Dean's bag rested. "I'm stealing one of your t-shirts," she informed the man as she dug through his messily folded pile of plain-colored undershirts.

"Okay," Dean shrugged.

"Why?" Sam questioned, now moving to turn on the motel room's coffee pot.

"Because my only clean shirts are cropped and it's too cold out for that," Venus explained before pulling out a deep gray t-shirt from Dean's bag. She pulled the fabric to her nose to make sure it was clean and smiled as she was met with Dean's familiar pleasant scent. God, this is pathetic, she thought to herself, quickly wiping the smile from her face before either of the boys could see it. 

Within twenty minutes, all three hunters were dressed and loaded into the impala. 

Venus snuggled into her jacket in the backseat, quietly nursing a hot cup of coffee to quell the nip of the March winds blowing through the vehicle. Sam directed Dean back to Zach's apartment, telling him to park behind the home.

"All right. What are we doing here at 5:30 in the morning," Dean spoke through gritted teeth, bringing his cup of coffee up to his lips.

Venus stumbled out of the vehicle seconds later, watching Sam eagerly examine his surroundings. She leaned against the hood of the Impala as he spoke, struggling to keep her eyes open.

"I realized something," Sam said, "The videotape shows the killer going in but not coming out."

"So he came out the back door?" Dean shrugged, leaning against the car next to Venus.

"Right," Sam agreed, now walking away from the pair and over to a nearby fence, "So there should be a trail to follow. A trail the police would never pursue."

"Cause they think the killer never left. They caught your friend Zach inside."

Venus' eyes slammed shut at that very second, sending her body slowly falling onto Dean's shoulder.

"Ah, easy there princess," the older Winchester muttered, lifting a hand to rest around Venus' shoulders and secure her sleeping body against his side. Dean eventually looked back to see Sam staring intensely at a wooden post.

"Blood," he called out to Dean, "Somebody came this way."

"Maybe the trail ends. I don't see anything over here," Dean paused and examined the ground around his feet.

His attention was soon drawn to the loud sirens of an ambulance speeding past. He felt the girl in his arms jostle awake at this sound of it as well.

"Who died?" she instinctually questioned, sitting straight again.

"Let's go find out," Dean hopped off the hood of his car, using his grip on her to pull her onto her feet.

The hunters jumped into the Impala and took off in the direction of the ambulance. Dean drove for less than three minutes before rolling to a stop in an alley near the crime scene.

Now on high alert, Venus peaked over at where an officer was beginning to tape off the area. The brunette spotted a brown-skinned woman in running gear looking at the scene and carefully approached her. "Excuse me, miss. Do you know what happened here?"

Dean and Sam hovered, waiting for the woman's response.

"He tried to kill his wife. Tied her up and beat her," she gestured over to where a man in a suit and tie was being shoved into a police car.

"Really?" Sam's brows shot up.

"I used to see him going to work in the morning. He'd wave, say hello. He seemed like such a nice guy."

The hunters then decided to split up and search for clues.

Venus and Sam opted to search for material evidence around the apartment building while Dean decided to ask some of the police officers about what happened.

"Hey, remember when I said this wasn't our kind of problem?" Dean called out to where the other two stood by the side of the building.

Venus folded her arms across her chest, raising a brow at him. "Yeah?"

"Definitely our kind of problem."

"Hmm, what gave you that idea?" Venus bit back, sarcasm lacing her tone.

Dean rolled his eyes and came to a stop with his hands on his hips. "I just talked to the patrolman who was first on the scene. He heard this guy– Alex's –story. Apparently, the dude was driving home from a business trip when his wife was attacked."

"So he was two places at once," Sam realized.

"Exactly," Dean confirmed.

Venus listened intently. More and more pieces of the case were starting to reveal themselves. This was one of the best parts of the job for her, getting to take those new pieces as they came and assemble them into a completed picture.

Dean continued his explanation, "Then he sees himself in the house. Police think he's a nutjob."

"Two dark doubles attacking loved ones in exactly the same way," Venus voiced, "Or maybe just the same thing changing twice..." she paused and looked up at the Winchester boys, "So shapeshifter then?"

Dean shrugged, silently entertaining the idea.

"Something that can make itself look like anyone?" Sam added.

"Every culture in the world has its shapeshifter lore," Dean said, "Legends of creatures who can transform themselves into animals or other men."

Sam snapped his fingers in recognition, "Right, skinwalkers, werewolves..."

Venus shook her head. "Well, this isn't a werewolf. The scene is too controlled, too methodical. Werewolves wouldn't tie up their prey and beat them, they'd rip them to shreds and then take the heart."

Sam nodded in understanding, trusting Venus' knowledge of the supernatural better than his own.

"So two attacks within blocks of each other? I'm guessing we got a shapeshifter problem in the neighborhood," Dean surmised.

"Sam and I picked up a trail from behind the building. The shapeshifter ditched the scene and went this way," Venus paused and gestured to her left.

"Just like at your friend's house," Dean observed.

"Yeah," answered Sam, "And just like at Zach's house, the trail suddenly ends."

Venus began walking away from the group, coming to a stop by a manhole cover. "Now I don't of any shapeshifters that can fly. So that means that the thing we're after went down."

-ˋˏ [    ] ˎˊ-

"That's so cool."

Dean and Sam slowly turned to meet Venus' curious brown eyes. Dean had just used his pocket knife to hold up a piece of slimy gunk that they had theorized to be the shapeshifter's shedding.

Venus met their weirded-out stares head-on. "I mean, yeah, it smells like the inside of a dog's asshole. But you gotta admit–"

"Nope," Dean shook his head, shaking his blade clean of the slop, "Let's go back to the car."

Back at the Impala, Dean opened the trunk and began searching through the weapons he brought. "One thing I learned from Dad," he picked up his handgun, "No matter what kind of shapeshifter it is, there's one sure way to kill it."

Venus and Sam watched as he loaded his gun's magazine with special bullets.

"Silver bullet to the heart," Sam mused.

Venus was about to step forward and grab her beretta and case of silver bullets but felt her phone buzzing in her jacket pocket.

She pulled it out to see Rebecca's number on the screen. The brunette stepped away from the car and answered the call. "What's up, Bex?"

"Where are you?"

Venus raised a brow at the blonde's tone. "We're near Zach's, following some leads."

"Well look, Venus, you and Sam can just stop. Because I really don't need your help anymore."

"What are you talking about?" Venus kept her panic from seeping into her voice.

"I told the lawyers that we went to the crime scene," Rebecca informed her.

Venus pinched the bridge of her nose and clenched her jaw, biting back the curses she wanted to hurl at her friend. "Why, Bex, why would you do that?"

"I told them that we were with a police officer, and they checked it out. They told me that there is no Detective Dean Winchester."

Venus sighed deeply. "Rebecca–"

"I don't understand why you two would lie to me about something like that," the blonde was now furious.

Venus could only blame herself at that point. Looking at the situation from Rebecca's point of view, she could see that the woman's anger was fairly placed. So she'd much rather face her rage than face her dead body.

"It may be hard to believe right now but trust me when I say everything we said and did was to help you and Zach," Venus tried to plead with her friend.

"Trust you?" Rebecca's scoff could be clearly heard over the phone, "Do you realize that was a sealed crime scene? This could've just ruined Zach's case."

"I'm sorry, Bex–"

Venus' apology was cut off by the click of Rebecca ending the call.

"Goddamnit," Venus mumbled to herself, pressing her phone to her temple. She may have just ruined one of her last remaining friendships.

Sam came to stand by her side. "I take it that was Rebecca."

"Yup," Venus tutted.

"I take it she hates our guts."

"Yup."

Dean came walking around from the trunk of the Impala to stand in front of the pair. "I hate to say it but that's exactly what I'm talking about."

Venus looked away from the older Winchester. She did not need this shit right now.

"You two lie to your friends because if they knew the real you, they'd be freaked. It's just...it'd be easier if–"

"If we were like you?" Venus spun on him. Before she could hurl an insult at him that she could never take back, Sam grabbed her forearm, somewhat grounding her.

"Hey, like it or not, we are not like other people," Dean said, gesturing between the three of them, "But I'll tell you one thing, this whole gig?" he pulled out Venus' loaded beretta and Sam's handgun, "It ain't without its perks."

The brunette took her gun and shoved it in the waistband of her jeans, somewhat agreeing with the statement. 

The perk of the day? Getting to find and kill the creature responsible for ruining her friend's life.

-ˋˏ [     ] ˎˊ-

The wet slaps of Venus' combat boots against the sewer floor echoed around her as she tightly gripped her gun and flashlight. She was walking in between the Winchester boys, trying to ignore the grime and foul stenches surrounding them while keeping her eyes peeled for any signs of the shapeshifter.

The hunters walked around for what seemed like hours, before stumbling onto a narrow walkway and carefully making their way down it. 

"I think we're close to its lair," Dean suddenly announced.

Venus frowned at the new stench that hit her nostrils. "What makes you say that?" she replied, holding back a gag.

"Cause there's another puke-inducing pile next to your head."

Venus slowly turned to come face to face with a pile of the shapeshifter's shedding, yelping at the proximity to her face. "¡Puta madre! "

Dean stepped forward and shone his flashlight onto another pile nearby with discarded clothing items around it. "Looks like it's lived here for a while," he commented.

Sam grimaced. "Who knows how many murders he's gotten away with."

Venus shook the thought away. At least they were there now to stop it. She then felt a presence looming behind her. Her eyes widened and before she could even turn to see what it was, she followed the instinct telling her to duck. The shapeshifter swung in her direction at that moment but hit Dean instead, sending him flying into a sewer pipe.

"Shit, Dean!" she exclaimed, helping him to his feet and watching him clutch his left shoulder.

Sam fired multiple shots at the retreating shapeshifter, not managing to hit him once.

Dean shrugged Venus' hands off him, "Get the son of a bitch, both of you!" he shouted.

Venus clenched her jaw but listened, running behind Sam in the direction the shapeshifter escaped.

Their chase led them up a ladder and out of a manhole in an unfamiliar part of the town.

After lifting themselves out of the sewer, now accompanied by a clearly injured Dean, the hunters decided to split up and cover more ground.

Venus sprinted down an abandoned alleyway with her gun hidden in her jacket. She frantically searched, ignoring the bewildered looks of the homeless people making a home for the night, but came up empty.

Half an hour of searching later, the brunette sighed and tucked her gun away safely. She walked back to the agreed-upon rendezvous point. 

But the Winchesters were nowhere to be found.

Venus pulled out her cell phone and called both boys but got no answer. She eventually decided to walk back to the car.

There she found Dean hovering by the trunk. "Where's Sam?" she loudly questioned, inwardly surprised to see Dean jump at her voice.

"He went to some burger joint around the corner to get us some grub for the night," Dean grinned.

Venus watched him use his left arm to slam the trunk lid close. "Hmm," she hummed. There's no way that shoulder healed in less than an hour...

"He'll be back in a bit," Dean shrugged. He calmly walked over to the driver's seat and got into the Impala, a little too pleased with himself for Venus' taste.

Venus placed both her hands into her jacket pockets, securing a grip on the gun that rested in one of them, before getting into the passenger seat.

Dean's eyes examined her body fully, holding a more predatory glint than was normal for him. He reached down to turn on the car's radio, grinning as 'Lovefool' by The Cardigans began playing. "I love this song," he smirked over at Venus.

The brunette matched his smirk, knowing that Dean would rather chew concrete than listen to that song. She moved quickly to pull out her gun from her pocket but before she could pull the trigger, the shapeshifter wearing Dean's skin reached a hand over and slammed Venus' head against the dashboard, effectively knocking her out.

He smiled to himself, satisfied with his new skin.

-ˋˏ [       ] ˎˊ-

Venus' eyes fluttered open to be met with the hushed sounds of Sam calling her name. She tried to move only to be held in place by thick ropes bounding her waist, hands, and neck to a metal beam.

She barely managed to turn her head in Sam's direction, finding him tied similarly to another beam a few feet away.

"You okay hermano? How bad did he hurt you?" she whispered to him, pushing away the dull throbbing of her forehead.

"Not too bad," Sam choked out, fidgeting his hands to try and get them loose.

Just then, the shapeshifter came into view. He was holding a pile of rope in his hands. Venus scowled at the creature wearing Dean's face, watching it come to a stop before her.

The shapeshifter squatted down to Venus' level and looked at the girl, seemingly studying her.

"You know if this is the welcome you give your houseguests, then this might be my last time stopping by," she spoke through gritted teeth.

The shapeshifter gave no response other than a swift backhand to the brunette's face.

"Leave her alone!" Sam barked from his position nearby, fighting against his restraints even more.

"Don't worry, Sammy, you'll get your fill," the creature smirked at the younger Winchester before turning his attention back to Venus.

The woman turned her head and spat out blood on the ground by the shifter's feet. "Well at least there's one thing you and Dean don't have in common— you can't hit worth a damn," she sneered at him. Her bruised face betrayed no hint of the lie she told—that it was easily one of the most painful slaps she'd experienced ever. The shapeshifter had inhuman strength for sure.

"Oh don't be like that sweetheart," the shifter lifted a hand to caress Venus' face, specifically her bruised cheek.

"Get your filthy fucking hands off me," Venus lowly muttered.

The shifter placed the rope he was holding on the floor beside them and trailed his now free hand up Venus' right thigh, "Or what?"

"Stop touching her you fucking bastard!" Sam protested, fighting against his restraints so hard it left deep marks on his skin.

Horrible chills ran up her spine at the feeling of the monster's hand on her body, and at the fact that Sam had to be there to watch it. She met the creature's stare head-on, hatred seeping into her eyes. She wouldn't give him the pleasure of feeding on the fear she felt.

"You should cherish this, Venus, feeling his hands on you like this?" the shifter spoke, tightening his hold on her face, "Because man, oh, man does he hate you."

Venus chuckled, not believing him one bit. "Yeah, okay, buddy, where's Dean?" she asked, getting sick of his games.

"What do you mean, princess? I'm right here."

Venus noticed how close the monster was leaning in and decided to use it to her advantage. With as much power as she could muster, Venus wound her head back and then forward in the shapeshifter's direction, successfully headbutting him and sending him flying backward.

She laughed at the expression on his face as he grabbed his previously discarded rope and stood to his feet.

But that laugh faded once he barrelled over to Sam and delivered a much harder backhand to his face than the one he gave to her.

"Where is Dean?" Sam demanded, swallowing the pain of the hit.

Venus wiggled her hands in the restraints, trying to get free before the monster could hurt Sam further. She hid her relief as she felt the rope snag on something sharp. The brunette remained quiet and devoted all her energy to carefully scratching the rope against the sharp part of the beam she encountered.

The shapeshifter ignored her as he strolled past and over to a duffel bag he was packing. She watched him stuff the rope into the bag and then zip it close.

"I wouldn't worry about him. I'd worry about you two," the creature answered Sam's question. 

Sam glared even harsher at him. "Where is he?"

"You don't really wanna know."

Venus tried not to consider the option that Dean was already dead and instead just continued to scratch away her rope.

"I swear, the more I learn about you and your family..." the shapeshifter trailed off with a smirk, walking away from Sam, "I thought I came from a bad family."

"What do you mean 'learn'?" questioned the younger Winchester.

His words caught Venus' attention as well. The brunette looked over to see the monster clutching its head in pain, but only for a few seconds before he returned to normal.

Venus and Sam shared a quick look, both confused at what they just witnessed.

"He's sure got issues with you," the shifter turned to Sam.

Venus furrowed her brows. So he was accessing Dean's memories in real time. The longer this thing stayed alive the harder it would be to distinguish it from the real Dean.

The creature took slow steps in Sam's direction. "You got to go to college, he had to stay home. I mean I had to stay home, with Dad. You don't think I had dreams of my own? But Dad needed me. Where the hell were you?" he paused and turned to look at where Venus sat with a frown, "And where were you?"

She tried not to take his words past surface level—after all, nothing was stopping the shifter from lying to them—but a part of her couldn't help but think every word he uttered from Dean's subconscious held some truth to it...including the claim that he hated her.

"Where is my brother?" Sam demanded, pulling his attention away from Venus.

The shapeshifter leaned closer to Sam. "I'm your brother. See, deep down, I'm just jealous. You got friends, you could have a life. Me? I know I'm a freak. And sooner or later everybody's gonna leave me."

Venus' heart ached at the thought that Dean was possibly walking around with these feelings all the time.

"What are you talking about?" Sam furrowed his brows at the thing wearing his brother's face.

The shifter moved to kneel by a table of half-melted candles nearby. "Venus left and took you with her. Can you believe that? The woman I love and my baby brother running off on me without a care in the world."

Venus wanted to oppose, to say the same thing she's said every time the topic gets brought up but couldn't find the words, rage and regret bubbling in her stomach.

"Hell, I did everything he asked me to and Dad ditched me too. No explanation, nothing, just poof. Left me with your sorry ass," the creature sneered, his lip curling up in the exact way Dean's often did.

He eventually stood to his feet holding two pieces of material that Venus deciphered to be tarps. She sawed at the ropes around her wrists even harder.

"But still, this life, it's not without its perks," the shifter broke into a laugh, "I meet the nicest people," he walked over to stand in front of Venus, "Like sweet ol' Bex," he spoke mockingly.

Venus' eyes widened at the mention of her friend.

"You know Dean would bang her if he had the chance. Let's see what happens."

At that Venus' eyes narrowed, shooting the monster a look that would scare God himself. "Fuck you," she spat menacingly.

But the shapeshifter simply laughed and threw the tarp over her body, before doing the same to Sam and making his exit.

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A/N: Why do I do my best work in the middle of the night?

Like my boy Troye Sivan said, What's the time where you are?

I hope you're all enjoying the story so far, thank you so much for the love and support so far <3
(almost at 500 reads!!!)

Translations:
Te lo diré más tarde - I'll tell you later
¡Puta madre! - Motherfucker

EDIT 01/28/24: Lovely GIF banner up above made by the crazy talented prodigybitxhhh 

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