Survive, Boy, Survive

Chapter 55

I peeked into Dean's room,
Sam said" You need to get back in the game for your own good. You can beat this, Dean."
Dean said" Do you really believe that?"
" Yeah, you're damn right I believe that."
" You know, you also believed in the easter bunny till you were 12."
" No, I didn't. Look, I was 11."
" And a half."
" And a half. Right. So?"
" Okay." He put the book down," What's River doing?" I moved away from the door,
" Oh, he thinks you're mad at him."
" Why would he-"
" He likes your comfort the best, especially when he's first waking up from a nightmare, he cried out for you the other night and you didn't come to his aid."
" Bet it hurt you to say that."
" Whatever. This isn't about me, he thinks you're mad at him."
" He knows I'm not."
" Dean, that kid has the most severe case of anxiety and ptsd I've ever seen. He doesn't think rationally when he's waking up from the nightmares."
" We really messed up with him, didn't we?"
" No, we didn't. He's amazing, and he's alive."
" Yeah." I walked away and headed back to my room.
———
Sam came back to the car and got in, I sat up once I noticed it was only him.
I said" Where's Dean?"
Sam said" Going to stay here and talk to the locals."
" Alone?"
" He says he can handle it."
" Okay."

Sam and I scoped out the vic's place, and now he's calling Dean.
Sam said" Not great. Turns out JP was about three days from getting evicted. His landlord said the guy blasted Neil Diamond 24/7 and that his bathroom was, quote, like staring into the devil's butt." I punched Sam's side, he put it on speaker,
Dean said" That's vivid."
" And accurate. I saw it."
" You saw the john, or, uh-"
" Don't. So, you got anything?"
" Yeah. I got, uh, jack with two scoops of squat. I don't know, man. I think we out to just call it a night and, uh..."
" And what? Dean? Hello?"
" Sammy, I think I got something." Then he hung up, I looked at Sam then ran back to the car.

Sam went into the bar, I waited, leaning against the car, soon Sam came out with Dean's jacket. My eyes glowed, we walked over to dumpsters.

Sam turned on a flashlight, and crouched down, he pulled out a shoe and Dean's gun. He wiped at the powder on it, he sniffed it,
He said" Flowers."

We were at the motel room, Sam was looking up yarrow flowers. Then there was a knock at the door, I tilted my head, Sam got up and pulled out his gun as he walked to the door. He opened the door, my head tilted even further,
He said" Yeah?"
The boy said" Hiya, Sammy."
" Dean?"
" Yeah." He walked in, and walked to his bed, Sam closed the door, how's Dean a kid again? What?! I'm- Okay, what?! Dean came back in with his duffle.
" W-Wait a second. Y-You're a-"
" Uh-huh."
" How?"
" No clue. Some scarface-looking dude, bright light. Next thing I know, I wake up looking like Bieber."
" Why would someone turn you into-"
" Don't know. Don't care. Hey, we got any grenades?"
" What? Don't- Wait, wait, wait. Wait a second. Talk to me."
" Really, Sam? Now? I got no grass on the infield, and a girl's gonna die. Sorry if I'm not in a chatty mood. Look, you wanted me back in the game. I'm back in the damn game. Come on." He walked out, I tilted my head, then jumped off the bed, my jacket zoomed to me, I grabbed it and put it on.

Sam closed the door to the motel,
A woman said" Your son is so polite." I covered my mouth to stop the laugh,
Sam said" Thanks." We walked to the impala," Where are we heading?"
Dean said" Tell you on the way." I got in quickly, Sam got in, then Dean pulled the seat up, squishing Sam in the process of it.
" Okay, okay. Hey, hey, hey, hey. Wait, uh... maybe I should drive?"
" Yeah."
" Yeah. Okay. Seat. Seat. Seat." Dean put the seat back down," Ooh." Then they switched places.

Sam said" Cake. Why would they give you cake?"
Dean said" Well, don't know. It wasn't even good cake. Too dry." Sam scoffed, then continued to look at Dean, like every 2 seconds." What?"
" Nothing. Okay, not nothing. Look, this is bizarre. Even for us, Dean. This is insane. You-You're like- what, you're like 14? How does it even feel?"
" Well, I'm me. I'm-I'm old me, but I'm a kid. It's freakin' weird, dude. And..."
" What?"
" There was a Taylor Swift song on the bus that I hopped to the motel, and, uh... I liked it, Sam. I liked it a lot."
" Okay."
" And my voice is weird, and I've got like nine zits, and I have zero control over this. I mean, it's up. It's down. It's up for no reason."
I said" Gross!"
Sam said" That's enough. Yeah, thanks. Uh, let's just call it puberty."
Dean said" Yeah, which sucks. Again."
" Well, listen, I checked out the alley where you got jumped, and I found yarrow."
" Which means what?"
I said" Means we're probably dealing with a witch. Yarrow's a flower. They use it in a ton of spells."
" Okay. We still got some of that witch-killing crap in the trunk?"
Sam said" Hell, yeah. So, we'll get you changed back, and then light Sabrina's ass up. Right?"
" Uh, yeah, about that. It turns out, this whole freak show has an upside." He pulled his sleeve up, and no mark," The mark is gone."
" How?"
" Well, I figure if this hoodoo slammed me back into the body I had when I was 14-"
" You didn't have the mark then."
" Yeah, and if we reverse the spell-"
" Then it's gonna come back."
" That's what I'm thinking. So..."
" Maybe we don't."
" Wait a second. Are you saying you want to stay like this?"
" No. No, but... If it's between being a psycho rage monster/borderline demon or a teenager, well..."
" Really?"
" Look, I'm not a fan, either, but... Sam, this is problem solved. And I'm still me. I can still hunt. I'm just, you know... dewier."
" Okay, look, y-you have a point, kind of, but, dude-"
" I know. Some good news, though- virgin liver. So, what do you say when we're done doing our hero thing, we take her for a test-drive?"
" Yeah, sure. I mean... you can drink again in, what, like 7 years?" I smiled,
" That's not funny."
" That's kind of funny."
" That's not funny."
" Oh, come on, man. It's kind of funny."
I said" It's kinda funny."