think I'm gonna wonder why didn't I pass you by

[neptune_sleuth]

Maybe it's just a California thing, but there's something about sitting by the ocean that makes things a little easier. It might be the whole throwing rocks thing - all that forces has somewhere to go. In any case, I'm guessing the promise I made Ellen to tell her first before I make a run for it is rendered null and void by circumstance.Veronica

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[my_wayward_son]

Dean was just walking down near the beach, avoiding the ruin of the hut - he hadn't actually seen Sam for most of the day, but he was giving his brother space. What else could he do on this damn island, anyway? And then he caught sight of someone tossing rocks, which, you know, sort of seemed like a good idea, all things considered.

Only then he looked a little closer and - "What the hell?" It was muttered, more than anything, and he was moving forward without much thought. "Blondie?" He was close enough to look at her straight on, catch her by the shoulders - she was real. Flesh and blood. And maybe she was some sort of hoax again or something, he didn't know, but everything else seemed to've gone back to normal and if someone wanted to play this trick on him, he'd be okay with it for a minute or two before kicking their ass.

"You're alive." Not that he was really into the whole hugging thing, but it was just one of those moments where it seemed like it was something he should do and who was he to argue with that kind of thing? It

[neptune_sleuth]

Veronica was about ready to whirl around and smack Dean for grabbing her like that, and then he did... the thing. With the hugging and the brief physical proximity and What the hell? seemed like exactly the right question to be asking. Shoulders tensing, she looked at him through narrowed eyes. "Dean, seriously, are you okay?"

And then she remembered. First of all, the Winchesters were essentially dead to her as of approximately seven hours ago; second, she had, apparently, died herself the day before. Her or someone who looked like her - it hadn't seemed to make any difference to Sam.

"I didn't die," she said dryly, eyes rolling and head tilting back. "Never did, haven't yet, don't intend to for a while. It was an island trick."

[my_wayward_son]

"That's messed up," Dean muttered, still squinting for a moment before he let his hands fall to his sides, tucking them into his pockets like nothing had happened. Because... nothing had happened. There was a brief sort of pause. "Does Sam know?" Cause that seemed like the next logical step, really.

Dead girlfriend wasn't dead, you told your not-dead boyfriend, you know? It worked out - not that Dean was usually all that logical, but he had a method, which was what counted, and his method usually involved making sure Sam was alright. Which meant, by extension, that Blondie here was alright. And so telling Sam that Blondie was alive was a good idea. It worked out - everyone was happy, everything could go back to being cheerful and... everyone could be not-dead. Which actually worked really well for Dean.

[neptune_sleuth]

"He knows," Veronica said. There was a darkness in her tone and look that said still more, her shoulders hunching forward now as she looked determinedly past Dean. Sam hadn't even seemed fazed by the fact she was still in one piece.

It didn't matter. That was over now, and she had wasted nine months on someone who'd never cared about her the right way to begin with. Everyone turned out to be a disappointment sooner or later, it seemed; it was just easier when it was sooner. "Apparently his way of celebrating my being alive was to dump me. Is that a family custom or just a Sam thing?"

[my_wayward_son]

"What? Ah - man..." Dean felt like hitting his brother. Really hard. A couple of times, maybe. Of course, with the island tossing dead girlfriends at him at every turn, he guessed he should probably try to be more understanding. But man, you did not dump a hot chick after finding out she wasn't really dead. You totally didn't do that. It was like, wrong on so many levels.

"Look, he can be a bitch a lot of the time, it's just sort of what he does. Like, this emo thing - I'm pretty sure it's just because of how it happened again..." Of course, Blondie should probably know all that by now. She'd been dating his brother for freaking ever. "I'll knock some sense into him or something, once he's like... recovered his brain or whatever." He stopped talking, though - what could he say? He should really be on his brother's side, but after putting up with Sam's stupid twists and turns of emotional logic, he sort of wasn't. Looking almost sheepish, he took his hands out of his pockets and gestured with them, saying, "Sorry - he's an idiot."

[neptune_sleuth]

"I think he's had enough knocked into him over the years," Veronica said, mock-innocent. Under the flare of anger, she softened - just a little. It never hurt to have someone agree. "How it happened aside, I'm pretty sure it's just because your brother's an overprotective idiot."

She flashed a small, almost aggressive smile. Like it was supposed to be somehow her fault that the women in Sam's life were plot device victims to the women in refrigerators trope of fiction? Thanks, but no thanks. She'd just add one more ex to her island count. It stung her pride, though. Here she was, abandoned again for no good reason, and Logan was off somewhere being all married. You how people say it's 'funny that' this, that or the other thing? 'Funny that' really doesn't cover this whole thing where Logan's somehow contrived to become a normal member of society and I'm still scrambling to pick up my shattered ego when one more person walks out of my life.

[my_wayward_son]

"Nah, probably not enough," Dean said, attempting a half-smile and sort of failing. "Knocking, I mean. But yeah - he can be like that. I mean, did I ever tell you about how he kept asking me to kill him? Talk about stupid, man..." He was pretty sure he shouldn't be sympathizing so hardcore or whatever, but Sam was totally asking for it.

"So..." What could he say? He'd been having this problem a lot, lately, where he just didn't have the right thing on the tip of his tongue. It was weird, how he wasn't just saying the first thing that came to mind anymore. Not as much fun, actually, but he figured 'fun' wasn't exactly up next in line where this situation was concerned. Strangling his brother, on the other hand - yeah, that might be.

[neptune_sleuth]

"He mentioned it was... possibly a necessary evil," Veronica said dryly, her voice briefly taking on the lofty tone of quotation. It was stupid. None of that was even real, or it wasn't here. Here was what mattered now. Letting the past rule everything was equally moronic. True, she still sometimes fell prey to that, but it couldn't control your whole life or you wound up without one.

Glancing over at him, she was quiet a moment, then shrugged. "Well, it looks like you came out of it sane and in one piece." Their dad would probably be happy about the news. He'd hated that she and Sam were together; it had been easy to see that once they'd broken the news to John. At least someone was coming out of this whole thing pleased.

[my_wayward_son]

"Yeah - a few cuts and bruises never could get me down," Dean tried on that half-smile again. What was going through Blondie's head? Didn't look like it could be anything good. Still, it wasn't exactly his place to pry. Technically speaking. "So, are you just going to let him, you know, spout his 'necessary evil' speech and walk? Cause that seems kind of lame, if you ask me."

[neptune_sleuth]

"He made it pretty clear he wanted me out of the picture." It was harder to keep the anger out of her voice than it once had been. Veronica had gotten used to things around here being decent or, if they were bad, it was usually in the other direction. The people who'd left her hadn't meant to; Wallace, Mac, Padme, they hadn't had a choice. They'd just gone. Sam, though - he'd picked it. He'd picked it, and she was out of practice being betrayed. "If you wanna talk lame, you might have to go to Sam for that."

[my_wayward_son]

"Ah, don't worry about that," Dean said, looking toward the water. "I'll be talking to my little brother. Cause this crap? It's gotta stop..." He tucked his hands in his pockets again, shrugging and kicking a rock in the sand. "He's too emo with the whole... self-sacrifice thing." And it totally wasn't cool, sacrificing stuff that wasn't his to sacrifice. Just making decisions. It was lucky siblings weren't as easy to get rid of as girlfriends.

[neptune_sleuth]

"Talk to him all you like," Veronica said simply. God knew Sam needed it. Someone had to tell him what an idiot he was being - someone he'd actually listen to, unlike her. She was too fragile to tell him the truth, apparently, too weak to say anything worth hearing. "I'm out of it." Good riddance. She didn't want to date someone who thought of her that way.

[my_wayward_son]

Dean considered Veronica for a moment, a long moment, then tilted his head to the side and asked, "You know how to shoot a gun?"

[neptune_sleuth]

The look was just starting to become uncomfortable when Dean spoke. "Yes," she said slowly. "Sam taught me. Rock salt, but still shooting. Why? Are we about to go on a Bonnie and Clyde killing rampage of some kind? 'cause I don't think my dad'd be cool with that."