ᴺᴼᵂ ᴾᴸᴬᵞᴵᴺᴳ: "Bleach the image from your brains...like forever, please."
💫✦🌺

▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰

VENUS FELT LIKE A KID AGAIN, sitting between the boys and getting scolded by Bobby.

Except, this time around, she definitely deserved it. The answer to all their problems was right in front of their faces the entire time.

"You got a trickster on your hands."

Dean snapped his fingers, pointing up at Bobby in agreement. "That's what I thought."

"What? No, you didn't," Sam countered.

"I gotta tell you, you three were the biggest clue," Bobby told them.

Venus leaned forward in her chair. "What do you mean?"

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

"The laptop," Sam muttered.

"The tires," Dean also realized.

"The bike, my laptop," her intensified cramps and migraines, "Okay, obviously this thing's got it out for me," Venus concluded.

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

Dean looked up after a moment. "So what is it? Spirit, demon, what?"

"Well, more like demigods, really."

Venus raised a brow, recalling something she read once. "Like Loki, in Norse mythology?"

Bobby nodded. "Or even Anansi, in West Africa. There's dozens of them. They're immortal, and they can create things out of thin air—things as real as you and me. And make 'em vanish, just as quick."

"The angry spirit, alien, and alligator," she listed, almost chuckling at the irony.

"The victims fit the MO too. Tricksters target the high and mighty, knock 'em down a peg, usually with a sense of humor. Deadly pranks, things like that."

Bobby went on to explain that these creatures could look like anything, even a human.

Then Dean came up with a viable suspect, a man who'd been at the center of all the incidents.

The janitor.

-ˋˏ | ˎˊ-

Venus stayed back at the motel with Bobby to prepare the stakes while the boys enacted the first part of the plan—baiting the trickster with a fake argument right outside Crawford Hall.

By the time night came around, the stakes were ready and so were the hunters.

Dean went in first, leaving the others to wait for a phone call signalling them to come in.

His attention was soon drawn to loud soul music coming from one of the lecture rooms.

He found it empty, except for the stage containing a heart-shaped bed, a spinning disco ball, and...

"Venus," he muttered in shock, walking down the steps to stand by the edge of the stage.

Venus, or at least some conjured-up version of her, sat in the middle of the bed, wearing lingerie identical to the one she wore for his birthday almost a month ago—down to the shade of blue.

He was caught off guard, to say the least.

"I've been waiting for you, Dean."

God, she even sounded just like her.

"Y-Y-You're not real," he tried to reason, swallowing harshly.

"Trust me, baby, it's gonna feel real," Fake Venus smirked, twirling one of her curls around her finger.

"Ha," Dean breathed out, choking on air.

Fake Venus slowly crawled to the edge of the bed, watching Dean's eyes fall to her chest. "Come here, handsome. Let me give you a massage."

Dean's lips parted in an 'O' shape, the hunter harshly exhaling and activating every ounce of self-control in his body. "You know, I'm a sucker for a happy ending, really, I am. But..." he licked his dry lips with a clap of his hands, "I'm-I'm gonna have to pass."

Fake Venus, now seated at the edge of the bed, crossed her legs. Oh God, those legs...were they oiled up or was he crazy? "Aww," she pouted.

"She's a peace offering," a new voice came from behind him.

Dean turned to see the janitor—or trickster, rather— sitting in the fifth row, a grin on his face. "I know what you and your brother do. And your girl too, she's a...special one, isn't she?"

Dean couldn't figure out the reason for the excited glint in the man's eyes when he mentioned Venus, but he knew it couldn't be a good one.

"I've been around a while, run into your kind before."

"Well, then you know that I can't let you just keep hurting people," Dean took a step closer to the trickster.

"Come on!" the trickster dramatically rolled his eyes, "Those people got what was coming to them. Hoisted on their own petards. But you, Sam, and Venus, I like you. I do!"

Dean glanced back at Fake Venus, the woman already smiling at him.

"Treat yourself," the trickster urged, "Matter a fact, why don't I sweeten the pot? What's better than one Venus..." he trailed off with a mystical wave of his hand.

Dean slowly turned to see a second Venus sitting on the edge of the bed, not wearing lingerie but one of Dean's favorite flannels...and nothing else. The sleeves were partially rolled up, buttons done far enough to cover her upper thighs and most of her chest, just like how she did it.

"Two Venuses!" the trickster exclaimed, "They're all yours for as long as you want. Just long enough for me to move on to the next town," he offered while unwrapping a chocolate bar.

Dean pinched the bridge of his nose, sighing audibly. "Yeah, I don't think I can let you do that."

"I don't want to hurt you. And you know that I can," the trickster took a bite of his candy.

"Look, man, I gotta tell you, I dig your style, alright? I mean, heh, I do," Dean paused and gestured to the two Venuses behind him, "And the slow-dancing alien?"

The trickster's head lolled back in laughter. "One of my personal favorites," he admitted.

Dean's laughter subsided. "But, uh, I can't let you go."

"Too bad. Like I said, I like you. But Sam was right...you shouldn't have come alone," his voice lost its playful edge.

"Well, I'll agree with you there," Dean replied smugly.

Both doors to the hall opened and in came Sam, Venus, and Bobby, each clutching a blood-tipped stake in their hands.

Venus began walking towards the trickster, with Bobby in tow, but soon came to a screeching halt at the sight of two half-naked versions of herself on the stage behind Dean. "What the fuck?" she muttered with wide eyes. Embarrassment crept up the base of her spine in ripples. She wanted to kill that damn janitor even more now.

The trickster looked back at the hunters and then turned to Dean. "That fight you guys had outside...that was a trick?"

Dean shrugged innocently, a smile on his lips as he pulled out his stake from his jacket.

"Hmm, not bad," the trickster nodded, "You wanna see a real trick?"

The sound of a chainsaw revving met their ears shortly after.

Venus and Bobby turned to see a masked man swing the large tool at Sam across the aisle. He ducked to the ground and dodged it, thankfully. "Go help him," she told Bobby, spotting her two duplicates seize Dean before he could stab the trickster.

Venus marched past a few more rows, lips curled into a sneer. But something quickly blocked her path.

It was yet another copy of herself, fully dressed but holding a lookalike of her machete. "Ugh," she rolled her eyes in annoyance, shoving her stake back in her jacket. The illusion stared at her blankly, waiting for her to make a move.

Venus shifted back and forth on both heels, a fist up in front of her and another fist slightly lower, ready for anything. "You gonna use that thing or just stand there and give me fuck me eyes?"

Fake Venus number three twirled the machete menacingly, marching up the stairs to meet Venus with a swing of her blade. Venus easily dodged the machete, recovering by kicking Fake Venus in the side. It sent her flying into the closest wall, perfectly positioned for Venus to land a punch to her face.

Venus felt Fake Venus bring a hand up to her throat, instantly cutting off her air supply. But she kneed her in the stomach, causing her grip to loosen, and shoved her down the remaining steps.

Venus grabbed the machete where it fell earlier and walked down to where the duplicate was writhing on the floor in pain. "Can't believe I'm about to kill myself," she mumbled quietly.

Once the blade was buried in her copy's stomach, the illusion seemed to fade in a gust of blue light.

Venus stalked over to the stage and grabbed the lingerie-wearing version of herself by her hair before she could punch Dean again. She slammed her head into the closest bedpost, immediately knocking her out.

But Flannel Venus managed to toss Dean off the stage, sending him flying into the first row of chairs, much to the trickster's amusement. "Ha! Nice toss, Venus!"

Flannel Venus turned to blow Real Venus a taunting kiss. But before she could fully release the puff of air from her lips, real Venus socked her square in the nose. Not giving her a chance to retort, Venus brought a leg up and kicked her flannel counterpart in the side, sending her flying off stage.

"Y'know, Venus, this points to some real self-image issues. Perhaps seek therapy?" the trickster taunted. He then turned to where Dean was struggling to scramble to his feet, beginning some other senseless dig.

Venus grabbed her stake from her jacket, and before the trickster could see it coming, she flung it through the air. It landed perfectly in his chest.

The other hunters watched wide-eyed.

Venus jumped off the stage and walked over to the dying janitor, twisting her stake further into him. She looked into his green eyes, spotting a slow stream of blood pooling between his thin lips. "That's for screwing with my bike," she snarled before pulling the stake out and shoving him back into his seat, "Asshole."

Every other illusion he created disappeared within seconds, leaving the auditorium dark and silent.

Dean, Sam, and Bobby came over to join her, eyes darting between her and the trickster. "You guys, okay?" she asked, noticing Dean's busted lip.

The men nodded. Bobby patted her shoulder. "Nice throw," he said, but there was a hint of concern in his eyes.

"Thanks," she nodded, putting the stake back in her jacket. She then pointed at Sam and Bobby. "Those half-naked me's? Bleach the image from your brains...like forever, please."

The aforementioned hunters exchanged an awkward glance, both throwing up their hands. "Already done," Bobby swore while Sam fought a grin.

Within minutes, the four had rushed out of Crawford Hall, all relieved to see the waiting Impala and a mostly deserted campus.

Bobby and Venus slid into the back seat but Dean and Sam hovered by the driver's and passenger doors, holding each other's stares.

"Look, Dean, I just wanna say that I'm...um..." Sam trailed off.

"Hey...me too," Dean nodded.

"My God, you losers really won't even say the words," Venus poked her head out the backseat window, "Well, I'm sorry and I love you both," she happily apologized, "Now please get in the damn car."

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

A/N: Been rewatching Criminal Minds lately and I'm like resisting the urge not to write a damn Emily fic like oh my GOD I love that woman so bad....

Anyways, I know this is short I'm sorryyyy but the next chapter is like erm... 30-something mins long so it evens out idk!
Let me know how you're feeling, don't be shy, and don't forget to vote

Happy reading pookies 🫶🏽

Lovely GIF banner up above made by the incredibly talented prodigybitxhhh

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━