Tall Tales

9

A strained grunt left Dean's mouth as he pushed the sewer lid off the hole, climbing out while no one looked.

He was walking to Baby, needing to drive her somewhere, but was stopped as soon as she was in sight. All four of her tires were flat, meaning she wasn't going anywhere any time soon.

"Son of a bitch!" Dean cursed, storming over to the driver's side. He bent down to pick up a wad of cash that was put together with a clip, the initials S.W. engraved on it. He looked down, feeling anger bubbling inside of him. "Sam!"

The younger Winchesters were sitting in their chairs, trying to piece together any lore they could that would relate to the case. They both looked up when Dean walked in, acknowledging that he did so with a nod.

"You think this is funny?" Dean growled to Sam, making the younger Winchesters look up again. They both gave Dean confused looks, Sam more than (Y/n), as he was talking to him and not her.

"It depends. What?" Sam looked at (Y/n), who shrugged, then to Dean.

Dean smiled sarcastically, tilting his head back and forth. "The car," he hissed, the smile turning to an angry frown real quick.

Both younger siblings frowned. "What about the car?" (Y/n) asked instead of Sam. A nagging feeling in her gut begged her not to engage in whatever fight was about to take place, but she ignored it.

"You can't let the air out of the tires, you idiot!" Dean shouted, trying to keep as calm as possible, though it wasn't working. "You're gonna bend the rims!"

Sam closed the book he was reading and raised his hands in the air, turning to look at Dean. "I didn't go near your car."

"Oh yeah? Huh." Dean fished into his pocket to pull out Sam's clip of cash. (Y/n) raised her eyebrows and widened her eyes. This isn't going to end well. "Then, uh, how'd I find this?"

Sam's face turned to surprise and a small bit of anger at the sight. He stood up quickly, tossing the book onto the table. Facing Dean, he held his hand out. "Hey, give me back my money."

Dean laughed. "Uh, no, no- consider it reparations for, uh, emotional trauma." He kept it in his hand as he shrugged off his jacket unto his bed.

"Yeah, very funny." Sam walked over, trying to snatch it from his hands. "Now, give it back."

(Y/n) tossed her book onto the table, folding the top edge of the page she had been reading. "Guys..." her voice started as a warning when Dean told Sam 'no'.

"Dean, I have had it up to here with you." Sam brought a hand up to where the top of Dean's head was when he turned back around.

"Yeah? Right back at you!" Dean spat back, moving away when Sam reached for his wallet again.

The boys started to grab at each other, both trying to get and keep the wallet in their hands. Grunts and 'give it back!'s echoed through the motel.

(Y/n) sighed and grabbed a book, the one Sam had been reading, throwing it at her brothers and managing to hit both in the face. "QUIT IT! BOTH OF YOU!" Her voice had risen to a shout, something it didn't do too often. (Y/n) rarely got this annoyed or angry, she was calmer than the two. "Jesus Christ..."

They stopped after that, Dean gave Sam the clip of money, not too happy about it. But they didn't like it when she got upset like that- it was never a pretty sight.

-

"Okay, I've heard enough," Bobby stopped Dean from going any further about their little quarrel.

(Y/n) sighed, throwing away the bag of Skittles she had been chewing on. "You showed up about an hour after that, and thank whoever upstairs you did." She added the last bit quietly but still earned the bitch-face from her brothers.

Bobby looked at Sam and Dean. "I'm surprised at you two. I really am." The brothers looked at the ground, not wanting to face each other. "Sam, first off, Dean did not steal your computer- as (Y/n) didn't either." Sam opened his mouth to protest, but Bobby held up a hand. "Shh!" He turned to Dean. "And, Dean, Sam did not touch your car."

Sam smiled smugly at Dean, scoffing a 'yeah'.

"And if you two bothered to pull your heads out of your asses and talked with your sister, it all would've been pretty clear."

Dean made a face. "What?"

"What you're dealing with!" Bobby looked at the three, waiting for them to put it all together. But they only replied with 'I got nothing'.

"You got a trickster on your hands," he answered in a matter-of-fact tone.

The eldest snapped his fingers and smiled. "That's what I thought."

"No, you didn't, Dean." (Y/n) shot, wanting to get to the case. "Shut up."

Bobby nodded, looking at the brothers. "I gotta say, you two were the biggest clue."

"What do you mean?" They asked in unison.

"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."

Sam clicked his tongue, realization hitting him. "The laptop."

"The tires," Dean added.

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

The brothers looked at each other, at Bobby, then to (Y/n). "And she's just in the middle of this? He's not targeting her at all?" Dean asked, confused as to why he and Sam were the only targets.

The other hunter shrugged. "Could be, I have no clue why he'd leave her alone like this."

"Okay... so, what is it?" (Y/n) asked, pushing aside that part. "Spirit, demon...?"

Bobby shook his head. "Well, more like a demigod, really." He held up a hand, beginning to count those he remembered off the top of his head. "There's Loki in Scandinavia, there's Anansi in West Africa- dozens of 'em. They're immortal, and they create things out of thin air. Things as real as you and me. And make 'em vanish just as quick."

"You mean, like an angry spirit or an alien or an alligator," Dean stated, knowing that it didn't need to be a question. It was an answer.

Bobby nodded, going to scratch his scruff. "The victims fit the M.O., too. Tricksters target the high and mighty, knock 'em down a peg, usually with a sense of humor. Deadly pranks, things like that."

"Bobby, what do these things look like?" Dean asked.

He shrugged in response, shoving his hands into his jean's pockets. "Lots of things, but human, mostly."

Dean sucked in his breath, then turned to Sam. "And what human do we know that's been at ground zero this whole time?"

The other brother frowned, his eyebrows creasing in thought before the answer popped into his head. The three men didn't see (Y/n)'s paling face, as well as the discomfort reaching her eyes.