Oh Saaaaaaaaarah......
Nov. 30th, 2006 04:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
blue_icy_roseIt's here! After a bazillion and three delays, your fic is getting posted. This one went a bit differently than I expected it to so I hope you like it! Sorry it took forever...but on the bright side, I posted it before December hit. ^_^ Anyway, here you go, the sequel to No One Gets Left Behind. Hope you like it because you so deserve it! (And geez, I'm worried this won't live up to the wait, lol, so here's hoping!)
This was stupid. This was so stupid. What kind of person cut through the cemetery at night?
The answer was obviously her boyfriend who had clearly never seen a single episode of Buffy.
“Okay, Stephanie, would you just relax?”
She turned to stare at him as if he’d lost his mind. “Relax? Are you kidding me? We’re in a cemetery. At night. Who knows what could be out there?” She sighed. “I don’t know what you were thinking when you suggested this, Matt. Hell, I don’t know what I was thinking agreeing.”
Matt laughed. “You’re not afraid some creature of the night is going to come out and get us, are you?”
Stephanie frowned, pushing her hair behind one ear. “No. I’m worried that some psycho is going to see us and decide we’d be great as his next kill.”
Another laugh and really, if he decided that laughing at her one more time was a good idea, she may have to punch him. “There are no psycho killers out here.”
“And how do you know that?” she demanded, even as she let him pull her further into the cemetery. She should just say there was no way she was going any further and turn around so she could take the normal route home. But did she do that? No, of course not, not when Matt was squeezing her hand just a little and giving her that grin that was guaranteed to make her melt.
“I’m psychic, that’s how.”
She snorted, a small laugh escaping. “Sure you are. Then why did you need help studying for that calculus test last week?”
Any answer he was about to make was cut off at the sound of bushes rustling up ahead.
“I knew it,” Stephanie muttered. Matt shook his head at her.
“Relax. Those bushes mean we’re almost out of here anyway and then it’s not far to your place.”
“Sure, if we don’t get axe murdered first.”
He stopped and turned to her, searching her face, a hint of concern in his eyes. “Are you that freaked? I mean, you know we’re going to be fine right? It’s only a few feet.” He smiled at her. “Besides, those bushes? Full of raccoons I bet.”
She smiled. “Raccoons?”
“Isn’t it always a raccoon?”
The sound of rustling increased, followed by the sound of growling, and then Stephanie only had time to think, No, it really isn’t.
~*~*~
Sam blinked and stared at Dean, who continued to hum as he stared out the windshield.
“Are you humming?” he asked.
The humming immediately stopped. “No.”
Well, that was a lie and Sam knew that. What he didn’t know was where he’d heard the music before. It sounded familiar, he just couldn’t place it. He frowned and then it clicked. The beginnings of a smirk on his face, he turned back towards his brother. “Were you humming the theme song to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles?”
Dean glanced over at him. “Shut up, Sammy.”
Sam started laughing. “You were, weren’t you? I don’t believe it.” He slapped a hand on his knee as he leaned back in his seat.
“You know what? Yeah, I was humming the theme song. Just because you have no sense of culture, don’t blame me.”
He snorted. “Sense of culture? Dude.”
“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is a classic, Sam.”
“Did I say it wasn’t? I just think it’s funny, that’s all.”
“Well it’s not, so shut up.”
Sam looked out the windshield for a few minutes before he speaks again. “You ever see the new version?”
“It sucks,” is Dean’s simple response.
He nodded in agreement. “Yeah.”
Dean was pretty glad that, for once, Sam was being quiet. He could go on worse than that chick they’d met a few towns ago and she’d not only been the biggest gossip around but he’d been tempted to spray her with holy water, just to check. Who knew a person could talk that long without having to stop and take a breath?
So, okay, maybe Sam wasn’t as bad as her. But he had his moments so Dean was glad for the quiet.
Which was why, of course, Sam decided to start talking again.
“I’m hungry.”
“Dude, we just left that gas station a few miles ago and you didn’t want anything from there.” Dean shook his head.
“They didn’t have what I wanted,” Sam said as if that explained everything.
He shook his head. “Of course not. And what did you want?”
“Taquitos.”
“What?” He couldn’t have heard right.
“Taquitos,” Sam repeated slowly as if Dean were a small child. “You know, they’re like tacos almost, except they’re rolled up and you can dip them in—“
“I know what taquitos are, jackass,” Dean interrupted. Sam blinked at him and then grinned a bit.
“Oh. Okay then.”
“I just don’t see what you’re going to do about it. Walk into the next diner we stop at and ask politely if they’ve got some? Not going to work, Sammy.”
“Maybe there’ll be a Mexican place there.”
Dean snorted and shook his head, his expression clearly saying he thought his little brother was being delusional. “Sure.”
“They could.”
There was silence for a few more minutes as Dean smirked and shook his head before he frowned a bit.
“What the hell kind of name is taquitos? Why can’t they call them taco rolls or something easy like that?”
Sam considered this for a moment before turning towards him. “Actually, some places call them rolled tacos.”
“Oh Christ,” Dean muttered, lips twitching as he fought back a smile. “Only you, Sam.”
“What?”
“Nothing.”
Sam frowned. “No, seriously, what?”
“Nothing,” Dean repeated. Sam rolled his eyes.
“You’re such a pain in the ass.” He crossed his arms and stared out the window. “A big pain in my ass.”
“Only with you.”
Sam turned to glance at Dean again. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Dean grinned. “It means you’re special.”
This time Sam didn’t even bother to reply. Some days, it was just easier to let it go.
~*~*~
“I got us a room.” Sam held up the keys as Dean looked up from where he was leaning against the car.
“Good. I’m dying for a shower.”
Sam grinned. “And he calls me the girly one,” he muttered. Dean scowled at him.
“Shut up, Sammy.”
Sam smirked and didn’t say anything for a few moments.
Then he started humming the theme song to Sweet Valley High.
“Sam!”
He burst out laughing. “Hey, Dean, you know I think you’d definitely be Jessica,” he said.
“That’s just fine because you know what I find even funnier and pretty damn sad?” Dean smirked. “That you know the song and which twin is which.”
Sam opened his mouth to protest before he shrugged, a smug smile on his face. “Yeah? I think it’s even better that you recognized both.”
Dean’s eyes widened a bit as he realized he’d been caught. “Whatever, dude. Hot blonde twins? What guy wouldn’t watch?”
He snorted. “Sure, Dean. You know you watched it for the plot.”
“Oh for…would you just shut up already?” Dean demanded. Sam continued to smile even as he mimed zipping his lips shut.
Yeah, admitting he’d watched the show for a bit had been totally worth it.
~*~*~
“Damn kids,” Tony muttered as he read the newspaper. What had they been doing out that late in the first place? He knew things were different than from when he was younger but you’d think they have a bit more common sense than that.
Still, he felt sorry for the parents. Nothing harder for a parent to go through than losing a child.
He shook his head as he finished the last of his coffee before folding up his paper and standing, nodding at the waitress and flashing her a smile.
“You have a nice night, Tony,” she said with a smile of her own.
“Oh, I will. There’s supposed to be a good movie on tonight.” He dropped some cash on the counter and shoved his hat on. “You take care, Janie.” He gave a slight wave as he turned and walked out the door. He shivered a bit and pulled his jacket around him tighter, tucking his paper under his arm.
He began to walk a bit faster. That movie started in thirty minutes so the faster he got home the better. That’d be just enough time to make some more coffee. Well, maybe tea or some hot chocolate. May was always calling to check up on him and asking if he’d cut back on his coffee yet.
Either way, he’d get back just in time to catch Sabrina.
That Audrey Hepburn sure had been a looker.
As he neared an alley, he heard the sound of growling and paused, frowning. He hesitated for a few moments before taking a couple steps into the alley and looking around. He could hear the growling still but couldn’t see anything.
“Someone lost a dog,” he muttered to himself, stepping back. He’d call Animal Control when he got back to his apartment and they could handle it. He didn’t know what kind of dog it was or whether it was even safe or not. No way was he checking this out on his own. Shaking his head, he turned to walk away and cried out as something heavy and sharp landed on his back causing him to fall.
After that, he couldn’t scream at all.
~*~*~
Dean walked back into the motel room, whistling as he swung the bag of donuts, dropping them on the table before he set the two cups of coffee (if that’s what you could call Sam’s drink) next to the bag.
“Here. Some frappu-whatever crap for you and I got breakfast too.” He grinned as he dug through the bag. “Dude, they had donuts with sprinkles still. I call those. Don’t even try to take them.” When Sam still hadn’t said anything, Dean looked up to find him staring at the newspaper, a frown on his face. “What?”
“We need to do some more research today,” he said, referring to the day they’d spent in the library the day before. He looked up. “There was another attack. Guy named Tony Brown. He didn’t make it either.”
“Shit, this thing’s moving fast.” Dean dropped into a chair. “We haven’t even gotten a chance to talk to the families.”
“I know.” Sam sighed and sat back, dropping the paper to the table. “At first glance, there’s nothing that connects the victims. Maybe something will pop up if I do some more digging but, Dean, the attacks happened in completely different places.”
Dean frowned. “Which means, it could attack anyone and at anytime.” He sighed. He hated this feeling of helplessness. They were here to help people, damn it, but whatever this was had already taken out a third person. He and Sam could research all they wanted today and still not come any closer to finding out what it was and a fourth person could die tonight. He shook his head at the thought. Like hell. “We’ll check out the spots where the attacks took place tonight,” he said. “Maybe we’ll find something.”
“And until then…” Sam trailed off and Dean nodded.
“Research.”
~*~*~
Research turned out to be pointless that day since they didn’t have a pattern to go by. There’d never been attacks like this in this area or anywhere near it. They’d tossed around the idea of talking to the families but then had decided against it for the day until they could come up with a believable reason to do so. Dean didn’t think it would get them any closer anyway since the attacks seemed fairly random and Sam thought that there might just be a reason they didn't know about behind them.
In the end, they’d come to a sort of compromise though Dean insisted he’d won the argument. They decided they’d go to houses near the cemetery to see if anything had been seen or heard and that they’d also check around at some of the local businesses near the alley where the second attack had occurred.
It was a long shot but at the moment, it was all they had.
~*~*~
“Would you like anything to drink, Officer?”
Sam fought back a laugh as the old woman batted her lashes at Dean, who shook his head. It was only fair that he get a good laugh out of this. After all, Dean hadn’t stopped teasing him all day yesterday when the librarian had hit on him. Twice.
So yeah, Dean was just going to have to handle this one on his own.
“Uh, no. No ma’am,” Dean said, taking a step back and giving her a small smile.
“Oh, call me Minnie.” She waved a hand in the air and sat on the couch, patting the spot near her. “Have a seat, the both of you. There’s cookies if you’d like some.”
Dean shot a glance at Sam and Sam grinned, raising his eyebrows.
Payback was a bitch.
The grin stayed in place as his brother scowled at him. “No, thank you…Minnie. We just need to ask you a couple questions.”
“What kind of questions?” she asked with a frown. “Didn’t animals kill those poor children?”
Sam nodded. “It’s just to be sure we didn’t miss anything,” he assured her.
“Minnie,” Dean said, drawing her attention back to him. “Did you happen to see anything that night?”
“I certainly did.” She nodded. “I saw dogs.” She paused and frowned. “At least, I think they were dogs.”
Sam exchanged a look with Dean before leaning forward. “What makes you think they weren’t dogs?”
“Well, they were so big. They must have been because their heads looked big.”
“There was more than one?” Dean asked.
“There were three…” She sighed and reached out, rearranging the items on the table. “I saw what was happening and I called the police but I didn’t go out there. I know it probably would have just gotten me killed as well but…”
“You did the right thing,” Dean interrupted, his tone allowing no argument. He smiled at her in a way meant to relax her. It worked almost immediately. “Just a couple more questions and we’ll be done.” When Sam shot him a surprised look, Dean fought the urge to flip him off. Sam wasn’t the only one who could do sensitive. Dean just preferred being blunt most of the time. “Did you notice anything else that night? Anything strange?”
She thought about it for a moment and then shook her head. “No.”
“Did you see anyone else around there at the time?”
Another pause and shake of the head. “No. No one.”
Sam smiled and nodded. “Well, thank you for your time, Ms. Reardon.”
“Oh, sweetie, you call me Minnie too.” She smiled as they stood, Sam grabbing a cookie on the way up and Dean fighting not to shake his head. For all his complaints about too much fast food sometimes, Sam had a hell of a sweet tooth.
“Minnie, then,” Sam said. He held up a cookie. “Thanks.”
“Well, you boys enjoy them and if I can help at all…”
“We’ll let you know,” Dean promised. “Thanks, Minnie.” Smile in place, Dean headed straight for the door.
~*~*~
“What’d you think of?” Sam asked. “Why the extra questions?”
Dean shrugged. “I thought it might be a possibility someone was controlling these things. Still not going to rule it out. Just because they weren’t there doesn’t mean they couldn’t have been doing it anyway.”
Sam nodded. It may have been rare but they had come up against people controlling spirits or demons or something for reasons that he really never understood. Thrill, revenge, or just because. Either way, if that was the case here then this job wasn’t going to be simple.
“Let’s check out the areas of the attacks,” he sighed. Dean nodded, eyes already scanning the area for any signs of danger.
The next twenty minutes was spent looking over the area, combing through bushes, trying to see if anything stood out.
It was a complete waste of time.
Dean scowled as he kicked a rock out of the way. “That alley better have some answers,” he muttered. He didn’t add that if it didn’t, they were screwed unless the thing attacked again. He didn’t have to.
As they made their way back to the car, a slow grin crossed Sam’s face. “Hey, Dean,” he said. “Have you ever watched Lost?”
Dean blinked. “No.” His eyes narrowed. “Why?”
Sam shrugged, giving his brother the most innocent look he could. “No reason. It’s a good show and I bet you’d probably like it.” He fought back a laugh as Dean considered this, though he still looked suspicious.
“Yeah and what made you think of this?”
“They’re showing a rerun of the very first episode later tonight, that’s all.”
He shrugged. “Maybe,” was all he said and Sam grinned.
This was definitely going to be the perfect payback for that stuffed clown Sam had found staring at him from the nightstand a couple towns ago.
~*~*~
The alley wasn’t giving them anything more than the cemetery had and Dean couldn’t remember the last time he’d been this frustrated.
He thought back to yesterday and Sam’s incessant teasing and shook his head.
So maybe that was a lie.
Sam shook his head, gun hanging loosely from his fingers. “There’s nothing here.” He glanced around and was just turning towards Dean when he was suddenly pinned to the ground, the sound of snarling filling his mind and the scent of something just starting to rot overpowering him. Looking up at the dog, all Sam could think was this was probably not the best time to make a remark about breath mints.
Dean was already moving, cursing the fact that they’d only brought knives and a gun with them. He’d barely gotten close enough to take a swipe at this thing with his knife before a huge paw smacked him in the chest, causing him to go flying into the wall.
He struggled to sit up, sucking in a few breaths and reaching for the gun that had flown from Sam’s hand. He could hear Sam’s voice saying something but he couldn’t make out the words, just the pain behind them. There was no hesitation as he lifted the gun and shot three times.
“Sam,” Dean said as the dog (if you could even call it that), ran off. There was no answer and Dean felt a flash of panic as he scrambled closer to Sam. “Sammy!”
Sam groaned as he opened his eyes. “You had it right the first time,” he said quietly and Dean snorted, letting the relief that Sam was awake come over him even as he worried about all the blood he could see.
“Whatever, Sammy.” Dean smirked as he put extra emphasis on the name and Sam rolled his eyes as Dean slipped a hand behind his back for support and helped him climb carefully to his feet. Sam’s shirt was ruined and Dean frowned as he caught a glimpse of the torn skin beneath it. Why the hell did Sam always seem to get cut in the chest or strangled? Or both? He shook his head, already making note of injuries and what supplies they’d need to get cleaned up.
“Dean?” Sam asked, interrupting his thoughts.
“Yeah?”
“You saw that it had three heads too, right? That wasn’t just because I hit my head?”
Dean nodded. “No, it had three heads.” He shook his head.
A dog with three fricking heads. Just when he thought things couldn’t get any stranger.
~*~*~
“Son of a bitch!”
Dean winced in sympathy and then glanced up with a smirk. “Language, Sam. What would your friendly neighborhood librarian say if she could hear you now?”
Sam looked up from where he was glaring at Dean’s hands as they cleaned his cuts. “I’m thinking she’d be more impressed with my thoughts actually.”
Well, that was gross. Dean made a face. “Tell me you don’t mean what I think you mean.”
For a moment, Sam’s face was blank until he realized what Dean meant and made a face to rival the one Dean had made. “Gross. Pervert. I meant because of all the different ways I was coming up with to swear at you.”
Dean rolled his eyes and didn’t respond as he finished cleaning out the wounds and began to bandage them up. He frowned as he looked over Sam one last time. He stood and took a step back.
“You’ll be fine. Just don’t overdo it or anything. So,” He reached out and grabbed the remote off the bed, “no porn for you, Sammy.” He smirked as Sam groaned.
“One time and you never let me live it down,” he muttered.
“That’s why bars were invented.”
“I’m not just sleeping with some random girl to get off, Dean.” Sulking, Sam slid backwards until he was laying on the bed.
“Conversation, Sam. I know you tend to forget how to talk around girls and all but once you remember, you use that to actually get to know a bit about them.”
“Conversations about what they think about threesomes don’t count.”
Dean snorted. “Shows what you know.” He grinned. “Besides, I talk to them about other stuff.” He dropped down on the bed and switched on the TV. “Now what channel is that show you wanted to watch coming out on?”
Sam paused and glanced over at Dean, a small smile tugging at his lips. That was Dean’s way of calling an end to the conversation and telling him they’d research tomorrow and relax tonight. “ABC.”
“Like that helps. What the hell channel is that?”
“How should I know?”
Shaking his head, Dean began to flip through the channels, stopping when he found what he was looking for. “Ha! TV Guide channel!” He kicked off his boots, triumph clear in his voice as they watched the list of shows scroll down the screen until Lost showed up and Dean changed it, tossing the remote to the table between the two beds.
Settling back, Sam smirked and snuck a hand out to grab the remote so he could hide it from Dean.
~*~*~
“I hate you.” Dean’s eyes were just a bit wide as he stared at the screen. “I really hate you, Sam. Give me the remote.”
Sam shook his head. “No way, dude. Besides, you haven’t even gotten to the polar bears yet.”
That caused Dean to look away from the plane remains on the screen as he blinked and frowned. “What?” He gestured at the screen. “It’s a tropical island!”
All Sam could do was shrug. “Hell if I know. I kind of lost track of the show after awhile because of classes. If I remember right though, there was a killer polar bear on the island. Or maybe it was a monster. Not entirely sure.”
Dean shook his head as the show went to a commercial. “What the hell kind of shows did you watch, Sam? Because that’s just weird.”
“Season two ended on a cliffhanger, too.”
“I thought you lost track of the show.”
“I watched the finale. Didn’t know who the hell some of the people were but I knew enough. You’d be amazed how easy it is to catch up when you’ve got the internet.”
Dean turned back to the screen. “Killer polar bears and monsters, huh?”
“Yeah.”
“Any of these chicks ever get naked?”
“Jesus.”
“What? It’s just a question.”
“You’ve got such a one-tracked mind.”
“Whatever. My one track has great scenery,” Dean said. “Now shut up, it’s starting again.”
~*~*~
“Nightmares?” Sam asked innocently as he and Dean entered the library. Dean scowled and kicked him in the shin. “Ow!”
“Shut up. You’re just lucky you’re injured or I’d hit you.”
“Yeah, because kicking my shins is so much better,” Sam muttered. “Come on, I’ve only heard of dogs with three heads in one place. I just don’t know how to get rid of it.”
Dean glanced up at the section Sam was headed for and raised an eyebrow. “Mythology. Well, this should be fun.”
~*~*~
Sam looked up from the book he was reading and raised an eyebrow. “Where have you been?” he asked. Dean grinned and motioned to a spot behind Sam.
“Talking to Sarah.”
“Sarah.”
“That’s what I said.”
Sam blinked. “You met a girl at the library?”
Dean smirked. “Well, college boy, I don’t know what kind of libraries you usually go to but girls? They go to the library too. And they can talk and they have phone numbers and everything.”
“And I’m sure you got hers.”
Dean gave him a look. “Of course I did.” He paused. “Hey, maybe she can point us in the right direction of this thing.”
“You’re going to tell her you’re hunting a three-headed dog and ask for her help in finding books on it?” Sam asked. Dean rolled his eyes.
“No. But she’s studying history.”
“What’s your point?”
Dean sighed. “Mythology is a part of history. Keep up here, Sam.”
“You just want another excuse to flirt with her.” When all Dean did in response was grin, Sam shook his head, hiding his amusement. “Anyway, hate to burst your bubble but I think I know what we’re dealing with.”
Immediately Dean became more serious, leaning forward. “What is it?”
“Well, Cerberus, from Greek mythology is a three-headed dog that guards Hades,” Sam said.
“So it’s Cerberus deciding to take a break from guard dog duty?”
“No, here’s the thing. Garm is the dog that guards Hels, the land of the dead.”
“Okay, so it could be either one of them. Tell me that they can be killed the same way. Better yet, tell me we don’t have to do anything too special to do it.”
“Well, the Garm is sort of the Norse version of Cerberus,” Sam said. “Except that while guarding Hels it lived in the cave Gnipahellir.”
“Bless you,” Dean said absently. Sam frowned.
“What?”
“You sneezed, I said bless you. What’s with you today?”
“I didn’t sneeze, Dean.”
“Then what the hell was that gnipawhatever sound?”
“The name of the cave.”
“Oh Jesus,” Dean muttered. “Why couldn’t it live in a cave called The Cave? Who the hell comes up with these names?”
Sam gave him a thin smile. “Well, why don’t you ask the dog next time you see it?”
He snorted. “Yeah, then I’ll ask why it had the bad taste to try and eat you.”
At that, Sam grinned before gesturing back to the book. “Anyway, I figured because of the way the bushes are and the fact that that alley ends in a dead end, those areas must have seemed kind of like a cave to it.”
“Nice little reminder of home but with free meals.” Dean nodded. “Makes sense. That book say how to kill it?”
Sam shifted a bit, eyebrows drawing together as he looked back down at the book. “Not exactly.” He reached out and grabbed another book. “But in this book, it says that Cerberus was first captured when Heracles treated it with kindness for the first time in its life.”
“So what, we go up and ask the Garm if it wants a few bags of Scooby snacks and hope it goes away?”
Sam barely glanced up from the book. “Shut up, I wasn’t done.”
“Oh goody. Lesson time.”
“It says that Orpheus used his musical skills to put Cerberus to sleep.”
“Then let’s go park the car in front of the alley and blast some Zeppelin.” Dean paused and before Sam could say anything, he continued. “Or Metallica. That’s pretty soothing, right?” He looked over to find Sam staring at him blankly. “What?”
“I’m pretty sure you’re one of the only people in the world that finds Metallica soothing, Dean, that’s all.”
“There is something that’s just wrong with that sentence, Sammy.”
Sam didn’t even bother trying to correct him this time, just shrugged. “Yeah, okay. Anyway, it also says that a few people got it to sleep by drugging honeycakes and giving it to Cerberus or by drugging the water. But,” he said, “there’s also reference to Cerberus’ sister, the Chimera. And the Chimera was killed by Bellerophon with the help of Pegasus. Some say that Bellerophon just ran it through with his spear and others say that he fixed the point of his spear with lead, which melted because of the Chimera’s fire, and the lead is what killed it. So I’m thinking if the Chimera could be killed with lead, maybe Cerberus could.”
“And since the Garm is just the Norse version of Cerberus, then maybe it can be killed with lead too,” Dean concluded. Sam nodded.
“Well, that and stabbing it. A lot.”
“Okay then, we’ve got a plan. Find this bitch and run it through with some lead.” Dean stood and flashed a smile to someone behind Sam, probably Sarah, and took out his cell phone. He began to scroll through the names on the screen. “And let’s see where we can find something lead.”
~*~*~
“We lucked out.” Dean admired the way the light glinted off the sword—and wasn’t that just fricking cool?—before glancing at Sam, who was doing the same with the sword he held.
Even better, the swords weren’t just regular swords. They were made of lead. Sam swiped the sword through the air and a grin lit up his face the way it had when he was just a kid and had just gotten a new toy. “Yeah we did,” was all he said.
Dean grinned, a look of anticipation on his face. “Sun’s set.”
Sam nodded. “Let’s go.”
~*~*~
Dean was humming again.
Sam shook his head, lips twitching, as he recognized the song.
Any minute now, Dean was going to start singing the actual words and Sam was going to regret not having his phone out to get it on record that Dean was singing the Scooby-Doo song. He just knew it.
“What are you doing?”
The humming stopped. “Nothing,” Dean muttered.
“Oh don’t stop on my account. I was just wondering if you were hoping the Garm was a fan of Scooby-Doo.”
“Yes,” Dean deadpanned. “And I was hoping to go over the high points of the series with it and then possibly suggest a marathon. After that, we’re going to go for ice cream. If you’re lucky, I’ll bring you back some.”
Sam rolled his eyes. “Funny.”
“That I am.”
Sam didn’t bother rolling his eyes this time. He was pretty sure if he did that too much more, his eyes might just roll out of his head or something. Dean made it pretty hard to resist the urge though.
Just a standard night with his brother. Hunting down a dog that shouldn’t even exist and Dean being a smart ass.
“How are we supposed to get this thing to come out?”
“Well, it seems to have a thing for you. Why don’t you just stand there and hope it comes for you?”
“Are you serious?” Sam asked. Dean shrugged. “Oh God, you are. You want to use me as bait?”
“It’s not like it’d be the first time and you know I wouldn’t let it get you, if that’s what has you worried.”
“I just don’t see why I have to be bait all the time.”
“Because I’m the oldest and I said so.”
Sam snorted. “Right. That makes sense. Why don’t you be bait this time?”
Dean gave him a look that said, Yeah, right, that’ll happen. “One more suggestion like that, Sammy, and I’m not going to ask Sarah if she’s got any friends for you.”
Sam didn’t have time to actually come up with a response to that because the snarl from earlier was easily heard and he turned, lifting his sword in time to slice into the Garm’s side as it leapt at him.
Which seemed to do nothing more than piss it off.
Dean moved in, managing to duck beneath the paw this time, and wasted no time in shoving his sword into the side of one neck.
“That’s disgusting,” he muttered as he glanced down at the blood that now splattered his jacket. “Not to mention, real leather, damn it.”
“Dean!” Sam grimaced as he moved the wrong way and irritated his injuries from the day before. “Now really isn’t the time for fashion talk.”
“Shit,” was really all Dean had to say on the subject as Sam managed to pierce the neck closest to him. He heard Sam curse and mutter something about doing laundry tomorrow and shook his head. Two of the necks were bleeding and those heads had pretty much stopped moving, slowly dropping and now there was only one head left to deal with. Dean darted forward, swearing when that last head turned towards him, snapping its jaws. “I don’t think so, fucker. I’m not on the menu,” he muttered, shoving his sword up and through the top of its jaw.
Sam stared at it for a moment, rubbing his side, before he made a face. “That was sick.”
Dean yanked the sword out and stumbled back a few steps, holding the bloody sword away from him. “You think?” he asked. He shook his head. “I can’t believe I just killed a dog, dude. A dog with three heads that was eating people but still. I never thought I’d add killing dogs to my list of things I’ve done.”
Sam didn’t say anything to that because really, what could he say? Instead he motioned towards the now still body, nudging it with his foot. “What are we going to do with it now?”
Dean frowned. They couldn’t just leave it here, no matter how tempting that was. He glanced back, grateful that people seemed to be avoiding this area rather than gravitating towards it in some sort of morbid fascination the way most people usually did. He let out a breath. “I guess we’re just going to have to dump it somewhere and then burn it.”
“And where are we going to dump it?”
Dean shrugged. “Somewhere close because even if this thing could fit in my car, there’s no way in hell I’d put it in there.”
Sam snorted and glanced around. “The cemetery isn’t too far,” he said. Dean nodded.
“Then the cemetery it is. And if anyone decides to actually say something, we tell them this is a prop for...something. I don’t know, we’ll deal with that if it happens.”
As they began to drag the dog out of the alley, Dean grunted and shook his head. Sam let out a breath.
“What?”
“Nothing.” They were silent for at least ten more minutes before Dean spoke again. “I call shower first.”
“What? Why?”
Dean grinned. “Because I can’t go meet Sarah looking like this, now can I?”
Sam shook his head. “Yeah, okay.”
“Want me to see if she’s got a friend for you?” Dean’s face brightened. “Or, hey, I could ask if she’s got a sister.”
“I think I’m good, Dean.”
“Porn doesn’t count, Sam.”
“Are you ever going to stop bringing that up?” Sam asked, cheeks turning a bit pink. Dean smirked.
“Probably not. Unless something better comes along.”
“Jackass.”
“Bitchass.”
Sam laughed and shook his head at that. Typical ending to a not-so-typical job.
Just another night with his brother.
This was stupid. This was so stupid. What kind of person cut through the cemetery at night?
The answer was obviously her boyfriend who had clearly never seen a single episode of Buffy.
“Okay, Stephanie, would you just relax?”
She turned to stare at him as if he’d lost his mind. “Relax? Are you kidding me? We’re in a cemetery. At night. Who knows what could be out there?” She sighed. “I don’t know what you were thinking when you suggested this, Matt. Hell, I don’t know what I was thinking agreeing.”
Matt laughed. “You’re not afraid some creature of the night is going to come out and get us, are you?”
Stephanie frowned, pushing her hair behind one ear. “No. I’m worried that some psycho is going to see us and decide we’d be great as his next kill.”
Another laugh and really, if he decided that laughing at her one more time was a good idea, she may have to punch him. “There are no psycho killers out here.”
“And how do you know that?” she demanded, even as she let him pull her further into the cemetery. She should just say there was no way she was going any further and turn around so she could take the normal route home. But did she do that? No, of course not, not when Matt was squeezing her hand just a little and giving her that grin that was guaranteed to make her melt.
“I’m psychic, that’s how.”
She snorted, a small laugh escaping. “Sure you are. Then why did you need help studying for that calculus test last week?”
Any answer he was about to make was cut off at the sound of bushes rustling up ahead.
“I knew it,” Stephanie muttered. Matt shook his head at her.
“Relax. Those bushes mean we’re almost out of here anyway and then it’s not far to your place.”
“Sure, if we don’t get axe murdered first.”
He stopped and turned to her, searching her face, a hint of concern in his eyes. “Are you that freaked? I mean, you know we’re going to be fine right? It’s only a few feet.” He smiled at her. “Besides, those bushes? Full of raccoons I bet.”
She smiled. “Raccoons?”
“Isn’t it always a raccoon?”
The sound of rustling increased, followed by the sound of growling, and then Stephanie only had time to think, No, it really isn’t.
Sam blinked and stared at Dean, who continued to hum as he stared out the windshield.
“Are you humming?” he asked.
The humming immediately stopped. “No.”
Well, that was a lie and Sam knew that. What he didn’t know was where he’d heard the music before. It sounded familiar, he just couldn’t place it. He frowned and then it clicked. The beginnings of a smirk on his face, he turned back towards his brother. “Were you humming the theme song to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles?”
Dean glanced over at him. “Shut up, Sammy.”
Sam started laughing. “You were, weren’t you? I don’t believe it.” He slapped a hand on his knee as he leaned back in his seat.
“You know what? Yeah, I was humming the theme song. Just because you have no sense of culture, don’t blame me.”
He snorted. “Sense of culture? Dude.”
“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is a classic, Sam.”
“Did I say it wasn’t? I just think it’s funny, that’s all.”
“Well it’s not, so shut up.”
Sam looked out the windshield for a few minutes before he speaks again. “You ever see the new version?”
“It sucks,” is Dean’s simple response.
He nodded in agreement. “Yeah.”
Dean was pretty glad that, for once, Sam was being quiet. He could go on worse than that chick they’d met a few towns ago and she’d not only been the biggest gossip around but he’d been tempted to spray her with holy water, just to check. Who knew a person could talk that long without having to stop and take a breath?
So, okay, maybe Sam wasn’t as bad as her. But he had his moments so Dean was glad for the quiet.
Which was why, of course, Sam decided to start talking again.
“I’m hungry.”
“Dude, we just left that gas station a few miles ago and you didn’t want anything from there.” Dean shook his head.
“They didn’t have what I wanted,” Sam said as if that explained everything.
He shook his head. “Of course not. And what did you want?”
“Taquitos.”
“What?” He couldn’t have heard right.
“Taquitos,” Sam repeated slowly as if Dean were a small child. “You know, they’re like tacos almost, except they’re rolled up and you can dip them in—“
“I know what taquitos are, jackass,” Dean interrupted. Sam blinked at him and then grinned a bit.
“Oh. Okay then.”
“I just don’t see what you’re going to do about it. Walk into the next diner we stop at and ask politely if they’ve got some? Not going to work, Sammy.”
“Maybe there’ll be a Mexican place there.”
Dean snorted and shook his head, his expression clearly saying he thought his little brother was being delusional. “Sure.”
“They could.”
There was silence for a few more minutes as Dean smirked and shook his head before he frowned a bit.
“What the hell kind of name is taquitos? Why can’t they call them taco rolls or something easy like that?”
Sam considered this for a moment before turning towards him. “Actually, some places call them rolled tacos.”
“Oh Christ,” Dean muttered, lips twitching as he fought back a smile. “Only you, Sam.”
“What?”
“Nothing.”
Sam frowned. “No, seriously, what?”
“Nothing,” Dean repeated. Sam rolled his eyes.
“You’re such a pain in the ass.” He crossed his arms and stared out the window. “A big pain in my ass.”
“Only with you.”
Sam turned to glance at Dean again. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Dean grinned. “It means you’re special.”
This time Sam didn’t even bother to reply. Some days, it was just easier to let it go.
“I got us a room.” Sam held up the keys as Dean looked up from where he was leaning against the car.
“Good. I’m dying for a shower.”
Sam grinned. “And he calls me the girly one,” he muttered. Dean scowled at him.
“Shut up, Sammy.”
Sam smirked and didn’t say anything for a few moments.
Then he started humming the theme song to Sweet Valley High.
“Sam!”
He burst out laughing. “Hey, Dean, you know I think you’d definitely be Jessica,” he said.
“That’s just fine because you know what I find even funnier and pretty damn sad?” Dean smirked. “That you know the song and which twin is which.”
Sam opened his mouth to protest before he shrugged, a smug smile on his face. “Yeah? I think it’s even better that you recognized both.”
Dean’s eyes widened a bit as he realized he’d been caught. “Whatever, dude. Hot blonde twins? What guy wouldn’t watch?”
He snorted. “Sure, Dean. You know you watched it for the plot.”
“Oh for…would you just shut up already?” Dean demanded. Sam continued to smile even as he mimed zipping his lips shut.
Yeah, admitting he’d watched the show for a bit had been totally worth it.
“Damn kids,” Tony muttered as he read the newspaper. What had they been doing out that late in the first place? He knew things were different than from when he was younger but you’d think they have a bit more common sense than that.
Still, he felt sorry for the parents. Nothing harder for a parent to go through than losing a child.
He shook his head as he finished the last of his coffee before folding up his paper and standing, nodding at the waitress and flashing her a smile.
“You have a nice night, Tony,” she said with a smile of her own.
“Oh, I will. There’s supposed to be a good movie on tonight.” He dropped some cash on the counter and shoved his hat on. “You take care, Janie.” He gave a slight wave as he turned and walked out the door. He shivered a bit and pulled his jacket around him tighter, tucking his paper under his arm.
He began to walk a bit faster. That movie started in thirty minutes so the faster he got home the better. That’d be just enough time to make some more coffee. Well, maybe tea or some hot chocolate. May was always calling to check up on him and asking if he’d cut back on his coffee yet.
Either way, he’d get back just in time to catch Sabrina.
That Audrey Hepburn sure had been a looker.
As he neared an alley, he heard the sound of growling and paused, frowning. He hesitated for a few moments before taking a couple steps into the alley and looking around. He could hear the growling still but couldn’t see anything.
“Someone lost a dog,” he muttered to himself, stepping back. He’d call Animal Control when he got back to his apartment and they could handle it. He didn’t know what kind of dog it was or whether it was even safe or not. No way was he checking this out on his own. Shaking his head, he turned to walk away and cried out as something heavy and sharp landed on his back causing him to fall.
After that, he couldn’t scream at all.
Dean walked back into the motel room, whistling as he swung the bag of donuts, dropping them on the table before he set the two cups of coffee (if that’s what you could call Sam’s drink) next to the bag.
“Here. Some frappu-whatever crap for you and I got breakfast too.” He grinned as he dug through the bag. “Dude, they had donuts with sprinkles still. I call those. Don’t even try to take them.” When Sam still hadn’t said anything, Dean looked up to find him staring at the newspaper, a frown on his face. “What?”
“We need to do some more research today,” he said, referring to the day they’d spent in the library the day before. He looked up. “There was another attack. Guy named Tony Brown. He didn’t make it either.”
“Shit, this thing’s moving fast.” Dean dropped into a chair. “We haven’t even gotten a chance to talk to the families.”
“I know.” Sam sighed and sat back, dropping the paper to the table. “At first glance, there’s nothing that connects the victims. Maybe something will pop up if I do some more digging but, Dean, the attacks happened in completely different places.”
Dean frowned. “Which means, it could attack anyone and at anytime.” He sighed. He hated this feeling of helplessness. They were here to help people, damn it, but whatever this was had already taken out a third person. He and Sam could research all they wanted today and still not come any closer to finding out what it was and a fourth person could die tonight. He shook his head at the thought. Like hell. “We’ll check out the spots where the attacks took place tonight,” he said. “Maybe we’ll find something.”
“And until then…” Sam trailed off and Dean nodded.
“Research.”
Research turned out to be pointless that day since they didn’t have a pattern to go by. There’d never been attacks like this in this area or anywhere near it. They’d tossed around the idea of talking to the families but then had decided against it for the day until they could come up with a believable reason to do so. Dean didn’t think it would get them any closer anyway since the attacks seemed fairly random and Sam thought that there might just be a reason they didn't know about behind them.
In the end, they’d come to a sort of compromise though Dean insisted he’d won the argument. They decided they’d go to houses near the cemetery to see if anything had been seen or heard and that they’d also check around at some of the local businesses near the alley where the second attack had occurred.
It was a long shot but at the moment, it was all they had.
“Would you like anything to drink, Officer?”
Sam fought back a laugh as the old woman batted her lashes at Dean, who shook his head. It was only fair that he get a good laugh out of this. After all, Dean hadn’t stopped teasing him all day yesterday when the librarian had hit on him. Twice.
So yeah, Dean was just going to have to handle this one on his own.
“Uh, no. No ma’am,” Dean said, taking a step back and giving her a small smile.
“Oh, call me Minnie.” She waved a hand in the air and sat on the couch, patting the spot near her. “Have a seat, the both of you. There’s cookies if you’d like some.”
Dean shot a glance at Sam and Sam grinned, raising his eyebrows.
Payback was a bitch.
The grin stayed in place as his brother scowled at him. “No, thank you…Minnie. We just need to ask you a couple questions.”
“What kind of questions?” she asked with a frown. “Didn’t animals kill those poor children?”
Sam nodded. “It’s just to be sure we didn’t miss anything,” he assured her.
“Minnie,” Dean said, drawing her attention back to him. “Did you happen to see anything that night?”
“I certainly did.” She nodded. “I saw dogs.” She paused and frowned. “At least, I think they were dogs.”
Sam exchanged a look with Dean before leaning forward. “What makes you think they weren’t dogs?”
“Well, they were so big. They must have been because their heads looked big.”
“There was more than one?” Dean asked.
“There were three…” She sighed and reached out, rearranging the items on the table. “I saw what was happening and I called the police but I didn’t go out there. I know it probably would have just gotten me killed as well but…”
“You did the right thing,” Dean interrupted, his tone allowing no argument. He smiled at her in a way meant to relax her. It worked almost immediately. “Just a couple more questions and we’ll be done.” When Sam shot him a surprised look, Dean fought the urge to flip him off. Sam wasn’t the only one who could do sensitive. Dean just preferred being blunt most of the time. “Did you notice anything else that night? Anything strange?”
She thought about it for a moment and then shook her head. “No.”
“Did you see anyone else around there at the time?”
Another pause and shake of the head. “No. No one.”
Sam smiled and nodded. “Well, thank you for your time, Ms. Reardon.”
“Oh, sweetie, you call me Minnie too.” She smiled as they stood, Sam grabbing a cookie on the way up and Dean fighting not to shake his head. For all his complaints about too much fast food sometimes, Sam had a hell of a sweet tooth.
“Minnie, then,” Sam said. He held up a cookie. “Thanks.”
“Well, you boys enjoy them and if I can help at all…”
“We’ll let you know,” Dean promised. “Thanks, Minnie.” Smile in place, Dean headed straight for the door.
“What’d you think of?” Sam asked. “Why the extra questions?”
Dean shrugged. “I thought it might be a possibility someone was controlling these things. Still not going to rule it out. Just because they weren’t there doesn’t mean they couldn’t have been doing it anyway.”
Sam nodded. It may have been rare but they had come up against people controlling spirits or demons or something for reasons that he really never understood. Thrill, revenge, or just because. Either way, if that was the case here then this job wasn’t going to be simple.
“Let’s check out the areas of the attacks,” he sighed. Dean nodded, eyes already scanning the area for any signs of danger.
The next twenty minutes was spent looking over the area, combing through bushes, trying to see if anything stood out.
It was a complete waste of time.
Dean scowled as he kicked a rock out of the way. “That alley better have some answers,” he muttered. He didn’t add that if it didn’t, they were screwed unless the thing attacked again. He didn’t have to.
As they made their way back to the car, a slow grin crossed Sam’s face. “Hey, Dean,” he said. “Have you ever watched Lost?”
Dean blinked. “No.” His eyes narrowed. “Why?”
Sam shrugged, giving his brother the most innocent look he could. “No reason. It’s a good show and I bet you’d probably like it.” He fought back a laugh as Dean considered this, though he still looked suspicious.
“Yeah and what made you think of this?”
“They’re showing a rerun of the very first episode later tonight, that’s all.”
He shrugged. “Maybe,” was all he said and Sam grinned.
This was definitely going to be the perfect payback for that stuffed clown Sam had found staring at him from the nightstand a couple towns ago.
The alley wasn’t giving them anything more than the cemetery had and Dean couldn’t remember the last time he’d been this frustrated.
He thought back to yesterday and Sam’s incessant teasing and shook his head.
So maybe that was a lie.
Sam shook his head, gun hanging loosely from his fingers. “There’s nothing here.” He glanced around and was just turning towards Dean when he was suddenly pinned to the ground, the sound of snarling filling his mind and the scent of something just starting to rot overpowering him. Looking up at the dog, all Sam could think was this was probably not the best time to make a remark about breath mints.
Dean was already moving, cursing the fact that they’d only brought knives and a gun with them. He’d barely gotten close enough to take a swipe at this thing with his knife before a huge paw smacked him in the chest, causing him to go flying into the wall.
He struggled to sit up, sucking in a few breaths and reaching for the gun that had flown from Sam’s hand. He could hear Sam’s voice saying something but he couldn’t make out the words, just the pain behind them. There was no hesitation as he lifted the gun and shot three times.
“Sam,” Dean said as the dog (if you could even call it that), ran off. There was no answer and Dean felt a flash of panic as he scrambled closer to Sam. “Sammy!”
Sam groaned as he opened his eyes. “You had it right the first time,” he said quietly and Dean snorted, letting the relief that Sam was awake come over him even as he worried about all the blood he could see.
“Whatever, Sammy.” Dean smirked as he put extra emphasis on the name and Sam rolled his eyes as Dean slipped a hand behind his back for support and helped him climb carefully to his feet. Sam’s shirt was ruined and Dean frowned as he caught a glimpse of the torn skin beneath it. Why the hell did Sam always seem to get cut in the chest or strangled? Or both? He shook his head, already making note of injuries and what supplies they’d need to get cleaned up.
“Dean?” Sam asked, interrupting his thoughts.
“Yeah?”
“You saw that it had three heads too, right? That wasn’t just because I hit my head?”
Dean nodded. “No, it had three heads.” He shook his head.
A dog with three fricking heads. Just when he thought things couldn’t get any stranger.
“Son of a bitch!”
Dean winced in sympathy and then glanced up with a smirk. “Language, Sam. What would your friendly neighborhood librarian say if she could hear you now?”
Sam looked up from where he was glaring at Dean’s hands as they cleaned his cuts. “I’m thinking she’d be more impressed with my thoughts actually.”
Well, that was gross. Dean made a face. “Tell me you don’t mean what I think you mean.”
For a moment, Sam’s face was blank until he realized what Dean meant and made a face to rival the one Dean had made. “Gross. Pervert. I meant because of all the different ways I was coming up with to swear at you.”
Dean rolled his eyes and didn’t respond as he finished cleaning out the wounds and began to bandage them up. He frowned as he looked over Sam one last time. He stood and took a step back.
“You’ll be fine. Just don’t overdo it or anything. So,” He reached out and grabbed the remote off the bed, “no porn for you, Sammy.” He smirked as Sam groaned.
“One time and you never let me live it down,” he muttered.
“That’s why bars were invented.”
“I’m not just sleeping with some random girl to get off, Dean.” Sulking, Sam slid backwards until he was laying on the bed.
“Conversation, Sam. I know you tend to forget how to talk around girls and all but once you remember, you use that to actually get to know a bit about them.”
“Conversations about what they think about threesomes don’t count.”
Dean snorted. “Shows what you know.” He grinned. “Besides, I talk to them about other stuff.” He dropped down on the bed and switched on the TV. “Now what channel is that show you wanted to watch coming out on?”
Sam paused and glanced over at Dean, a small smile tugging at his lips. That was Dean’s way of calling an end to the conversation and telling him they’d research tomorrow and relax tonight. “ABC.”
“Like that helps. What the hell channel is that?”
“How should I know?”
Shaking his head, Dean began to flip through the channels, stopping when he found what he was looking for. “Ha! TV Guide channel!” He kicked off his boots, triumph clear in his voice as they watched the list of shows scroll down the screen until Lost showed up and Dean changed it, tossing the remote to the table between the two beds.
Settling back, Sam smirked and snuck a hand out to grab the remote so he could hide it from Dean.
“I hate you.” Dean’s eyes were just a bit wide as he stared at the screen. “I really hate you, Sam. Give me the remote.”
Sam shook his head. “No way, dude. Besides, you haven’t even gotten to the polar bears yet.”
That caused Dean to look away from the plane remains on the screen as he blinked and frowned. “What?” He gestured at the screen. “It’s a tropical island!”
All Sam could do was shrug. “Hell if I know. I kind of lost track of the show after awhile because of classes. If I remember right though, there was a killer polar bear on the island. Or maybe it was a monster. Not entirely sure.”
Dean shook his head as the show went to a commercial. “What the hell kind of shows did you watch, Sam? Because that’s just weird.”
“Season two ended on a cliffhanger, too.”
“I thought you lost track of the show.”
“I watched the finale. Didn’t know who the hell some of the people were but I knew enough. You’d be amazed how easy it is to catch up when you’ve got the internet.”
Dean turned back to the screen. “Killer polar bears and monsters, huh?”
“Yeah.”
“Any of these chicks ever get naked?”
“Jesus.”
“What? It’s just a question.”
“You’ve got such a one-tracked mind.”
“Whatever. My one track has great scenery,” Dean said. “Now shut up, it’s starting again.”
“Nightmares?” Sam asked innocently as he and Dean entered the library. Dean scowled and kicked him in the shin. “Ow!”
“Shut up. You’re just lucky you’re injured or I’d hit you.”
“Yeah, because kicking my shins is so much better,” Sam muttered. “Come on, I’ve only heard of dogs with three heads in one place. I just don’t know how to get rid of it.”
Dean glanced up at the section Sam was headed for and raised an eyebrow. “Mythology. Well, this should be fun.”
Sam looked up from the book he was reading and raised an eyebrow. “Where have you been?” he asked. Dean grinned and motioned to a spot behind Sam.
“Talking to Sarah.”
“Sarah.”
“That’s what I said.”
Sam blinked. “You met a girl at the library?”
Dean smirked. “Well, college boy, I don’t know what kind of libraries you usually go to but girls? They go to the library too. And they can talk and they have phone numbers and everything.”
“And I’m sure you got hers.”
Dean gave him a look. “Of course I did.” He paused. “Hey, maybe she can point us in the right direction of this thing.”
“You’re going to tell her you’re hunting a three-headed dog and ask for her help in finding books on it?” Sam asked. Dean rolled his eyes.
“No. But she’s studying history.”
“What’s your point?”
Dean sighed. “Mythology is a part of history. Keep up here, Sam.”
“You just want another excuse to flirt with her.” When all Dean did in response was grin, Sam shook his head, hiding his amusement. “Anyway, hate to burst your bubble but I think I know what we’re dealing with.”
Immediately Dean became more serious, leaning forward. “What is it?”
“Well, Cerberus, from Greek mythology is a three-headed dog that guards Hades,” Sam said.
“So it’s Cerberus deciding to take a break from guard dog duty?”
“No, here’s the thing. Garm is the dog that guards Hels, the land of the dead.”
“Okay, so it could be either one of them. Tell me that they can be killed the same way. Better yet, tell me we don’t have to do anything too special to do it.”
“Well, the Garm is sort of the Norse version of Cerberus,” Sam said. “Except that while guarding Hels it lived in the cave Gnipahellir.”
“Bless you,” Dean said absently. Sam frowned.
“What?”
“You sneezed, I said bless you. What’s with you today?”
“I didn’t sneeze, Dean.”
“Then what the hell was that gnipawhatever sound?”
“The name of the cave.”
“Oh Jesus,” Dean muttered. “Why couldn’t it live in a cave called The Cave? Who the hell comes up with these names?”
Sam gave him a thin smile. “Well, why don’t you ask the dog next time you see it?”
He snorted. “Yeah, then I’ll ask why it had the bad taste to try and eat you.”
At that, Sam grinned before gesturing back to the book. “Anyway, I figured because of the way the bushes are and the fact that that alley ends in a dead end, those areas must have seemed kind of like a cave to it.”
“Nice little reminder of home but with free meals.” Dean nodded. “Makes sense. That book say how to kill it?”
Sam shifted a bit, eyebrows drawing together as he looked back down at the book. “Not exactly.” He reached out and grabbed another book. “But in this book, it says that Cerberus was first captured when Heracles treated it with kindness for the first time in its life.”
“So what, we go up and ask the Garm if it wants a few bags of Scooby snacks and hope it goes away?”
Sam barely glanced up from the book. “Shut up, I wasn’t done.”
“Oh goody. Lesson time.”
“It says that Orpheus used his musical skills to put Cerberus to sleep.”
“Then let’s go park the car in front of the alley and blast some Zeppelin.” Dean paused and before Sam could say anything, he continued. “Or Metallica. That’s pretty soothing, right?” He looked over to find Sam staring at him blankly. “What?”
“I’m pretty sure you’re one of the only people in the world that finds Metallica soothing, Dean, that’s all.”
“There is something that’s just wrong with that sentence, Sammy.”
Sam didn’t even bother trying to correct him this time, just shrugged. “Yeah, okay. Anyway, it also says that a few people got it to sleep by drugging honeycakes and giving it to Cerberus or by drugging the water. But,” he said, “there’s also reference to Cerberus’ sister, the Chimera. And the Chimera was killed by Bellerophon with the help of Pegasus. Some say that Bellerophon just ran it through with his spear and others say that he fixed the point of his spear with lead, which melted because of the Chimera’s fire, and the lead is what killed it. So I’m thinking if the Chimera could be killed with lead, maybe Cerberus could.”
“And since the Garm is just the Norse version of Cerberus, then maybe it can be killed with lead too,” Dean concluded. Sam nodded.
“Well, that and stabbing it. A lot.”
“Okay then, we’ve got a plan. Find this bitch and run it through with some lead.” Dean stood and flashed a smile to someone behind Sam, probably Sarah, and took out his cell phone. He began to scroll through the names on the screen. “And let’s see where we can find something lead.”
“We lucked out.” Dean admired the way the light glinted off the sword—and wasn’t that just fricking cool?—before glancing at Sam, who was doing the same with the sword he held.
Even better, the swords weren’t just regular swords. They were made of lead. Sam swiped the sword through the air and a grin lit up his face the way it had when he was just a kid and had just gotten a new toy. “Yeah we did,” was all he said.
Dean grinned, a look of anticipation on his face. “Sun’s set.”
Sam nodded. “Let’s go.”
Dean was humming again.
Sam shook his head, lips twitching, as he recognized the song.
Any minute now, Dean was going to start singing the actual words and Sam was going to regret not having his phone out to get it on record that Dean was singing the Scooby-Doo song. He just knew it.
“What are you doing?”
The humming stopped. “Nothing,” Dean muttered.
“Oh don’t stop on my account. I was just wondering if you were hoping the Garm was a fan of Scooby-Doo.”
“Yes,” Dean deadpanned. “And I was hoping to go over the high points of the series with it and then possibly suggest a marathon. After that, we’re going to go for ice cream. If you’re lucky, I’ll bring you back some.”
Sam rolled his eyes. “Funny.”
“That I am.”
Sam didn’t bother rolling his eyes this time. He was pretty sure if he did that too much more, his eyes might just roll out of his head or something. Dean made it pretty hard to resist the urge though.
Just a standard night with his brother. Hunting down a dog that shouldn’t even exist and Dean being a smart ass.
“How are we supposed to get this thing to come out?”
“Well, it seems to have a thing for you. Why don’t you just stand there and hope it comes for you?”
“Are you serious?” Sam asked. Dean shrugged. “Oh God, you are. You want to use me as bait?”
“It’s not like it’d be the first time and you know I wouldn’t let it get you, if that’s what has you worried.”
“I just don’t see why I have to be bait all the time.”
“Because I’m the oldest and I said so.”
Sam snorted. “Right. That makes sense. Why don’t you be bait this time?”
Dean gave him a look that said, Yeah, right, that’ll happen. “One more suggestion like that, Sammy, and I’m not going to ask Sarah if she’s got any friends for you.”
Sam didn’t have time to actually come up with a response to that because the snarl from earlier was easily heard and he turned, lifting his sword in time to slice into the Garm’s side as it leapt at him.
Which seemed to do nothing more than piss it off.
Dean moved in, managing to duck beneath the paw this time, and wasted no time in shoving his sword into the side of one neck.
“That’s disgusting,” he muttered as he glanced down at the blood that now splattered his jacket. “Not to mention, real leather, damn it.”
“Dean!” Sam grimaced as he moved the wrong way and irritated his injuries from the day before. “Now really isn’t the time for fashion talk.”
“Shit,” was really all Dean had to say on the subject as Sam managed to pierce the neck closest to him. He heard Sam curse and mutter something about doing laundry tomorrow and shook his head. Two of the necks were bleeding and those heads had pretty much stopped moving, slowly dropping and now there was only one head left to deal with. Dean darted forward, swearing when that last head turned towards him, snapping its jaws. “I don’t think so, fucker. I’m not on the menu,” he muttered, shoving his sword up and through the top of its jaw.
Sam stared at it for a moment, rubbing his side, before he made a face. “That was sick.”
Dean yanked the sword out and stumbled back a few steps, holding the bloody sword away from him. “You think?” he asked. He shook his head. “I can’t believe I just killed a dog, dude. A dog with three heads that was eating people but still. I never thought I’d add killing dogs to my list of things I’ve done.”
Sam didn’t say anything to that because really, what could he say? Instead he motioned towards the now still body, nudging it with his foot. “What are we going to do with it now?”
Dean frowned. They couldn’t just leave it here, no matter how tempting that was. He glanced back, grateful that people seemed to be avoiding this area rather than gravitating towards it in some sort of morbid fascination the way most people usually did. He let out a breath. “I guess we’re just going to have to dump it somewhere and then burn it.”
“And where are we going to dump it?”
Dean shrugged. “Somewhere close because even if this thing could fit in my car, there’s no way in hell I’d put it in there.”
Sam snorted and glanced around. “The cemetery isn’t too far,” he said. Dean nodded.
“Then the cemetery it is. And if anyone decides to actually say something, we tell them this is a prop for...something. I don’t know, we’ll deal with that if it happens.”
As they began to drag the dog out of the alley, Dean grunted and shook his head. Sam let out a breath.
“What?”
“Nothing.” They were silent for at least ten more minutes before Dean spoke again. “I call shower first.”
“What? Why?”
Dean grinned. “Because I can’t go meet Sarah looking like this, now can I?”
Sam shook his head. “Yeah, okay.”
“Want me to see if she’s got a friend for you?” Dean’s face brightened. “Or, hey, I could ask if she’s got a sister.”
“I think I’m good, Dean.”
“Porn doesn’t count, Sam.”
“Are you ever going to stop bringing that up?” Sam asked, cheeks turning a bit pink. Dean smirked.
“Probably not. Unless something better comes along.”
“Jackass.”
“Bitchass.”
Sam laughed and shook his head at that. Typical ending to a not-so-typical job.
Just another night with his brother.
