Once Upon A....WTF?? for Bella Temple
Title: Once Upon A....WTF??
Author: Rebecca L Dobbie
Recipient: Bella Temple
Rating: Moderate language. Nothing to bad.
Warnings: None required
Author's Notes: Story is set right after Supernatural 07:08 "Season 7, Time for a Wedding!" and directly after Once Upon A Time 01:04 "The Price of Gold". Story prompts were Once upon A Time crossover with extra points if Sam and Dean had a fairytale version of themselves. I followed the show rules for Once Upon A Time so it is a little tamer than a Supernatural episode but I hope you still enjoy it.
Summary: Dean and Sam, after leaving Delaware are checking out a possible Leviathan lead in Maine. They pass through a small town called Storybrooke which so happens could be their next case.
Once Upon A....WTF??
The moonless night cast a shadowy veil over everything outside of the stolen Dodge’s headlights. The visual allowed Dean Winchester to pretend the world beyond his high beams did not exist. There was nothing else, only the car and the road. The fantasy gave him time to escape, forget and just drive.
The sound of the tyres on the wet blacktop beat a soothing rhythm with the wipers. The radio played softly and occasionally he’d sing along. Usually, he could live in the fantasy for hours but the foreign feel of the Dodge brought reality crashing back in. Dean shifted restlessly. It felt wrong, unnatural, to be driving anything other than his beloved ’67 Chevrolet Impala. He missed Baby, anger boiling within him at the thought of his car, under a tarp, hidden away.
Dean momentarily took his eyes from the road, checking on his brother, sleeping beside him. Every so often Sam would twitch or moan, revealing his sleep wasn’t at all restful. Dean gripped the steering wheel, his knuckles white. He could only imagine the horrors haunting Sam’s dreams.
Dean didn’t scare easy but when it came to Sam, he lived in constant terror. He’d spent his life watching out for Sam, believing it his job to keep the boy safe. But with Sam heading towards the very real possibility of insanity and even death, Dean felt powerless.
Leave it alone, he thought. Why even think about it? He’ll be fine. Dean looked over at Sam. He’ll be fine, he thought, realising it sounded more like a plea.
The only thing keeping Dean going was Sam. He wouldn’t survive the loss of his brother. But, death wasn’t the only thing threatening to take Sam from him. Dean was starting to come to the realisation that it was stupid for him to think Sam needed him around all the time. Sam wasn’t a snot nosed kid any more. He was grown. At some point he would have to let his brother go, allow him to grow up and be his own man.
The brothers had just left Delaware. A brief smile touched Dean’s strained lips at the memory of why they’d been there. With the help of a crossroads demon, Superfan99 -Becky Rosen - drugged Sam in attempt to win him over. In a love drug stupor he’d married her. Dean chuckled, remembering the look on Sam’s face when the drug wore off. Sam had promised to inflict serious pain if Dean ever mentioned it again, which of course meant Dean would find every available opportunity to rib him about it.
While he was drugged, Sam said a few things that forced Dean to think about the possibility of Sam not being around. Sam would survive his messed up custard, Dean would make sure of it. But, once that was done, Sam had to live his own life and would eventually go off to live it. However, where did that leave Dean? Who was he if not Sam’s big brother?
He figured he better prepare for it. He had a gut feeling the day was coming when he’d be on his own. His life was nothing but loss and grief and to think of losing Sam so soon after Cas was too much. He’d never forgive Cas and he’d never admit it to anyone, he even tried to hide it from himself, but Dean was grieving his friend.
He leant forward and turned the radio up a little more, wanting a distraction, not liking where his head was at. There was no point thinking about it at the moment. Sam wouldn’t leave all the time the Leviathan’s were breathing free air.
Since escaping purgatory the Leviathans were yet to make their intentions known. The news was free of any strange deaths of which could be contributed to the monsters. For creatures God feared were too smart and destructive to be allowed to roam upon the Earth-hence why he’d locked them away in purgatory - the Leviathans were not living up to all the hype, in Dean’s opinion. He’d lost sleep thinking about the reasons the Leviathans might be keeping a low profile.
Bobby had rung a few days earlier, having heard rumours of Leviathan activity in Maine. Sam and Dean were on their way to check it out.
***
The day dawned gloomy and overcast. Dean yawned, rubbing his tired eyes. He caught sight of himself in the rearview. He looked like crap. His eyes were red and swollen from lack of sleep, his face was drawn and a five o’clock shadow covered his jawline.
Sam didn’t look much better. Even though he’d slept through the night he looked exhausted, he was too thin and ghastly pale. Dean tried to be covert with his assessment but Sam busted him.
‘I’m fine, Dean,’ he said, but wasn’t very convincing. Sam was checking his laptop for any news which could mean work in nearby towns or better still, Leviathans.
‘Anything?’ Dean asked, stifling another yawn.
Sam closed the laptop. ‘Nothing,’ he said, tossing the computer on to the back seat.
‘How can that be?’ Dean tightened his grip on the steering wheel.
‘I know, right?’ Sam shrugged, trying to stretch out his six foot four frame but the car wasn’t meant for giants. ‘I don’t get it either.’
Dean swore. ‘I wished they’d get on with it,’ he spat, frustrated. ‘They’ve been top side for weeks. What are they waiting for?’ he added, meaning the Leviathans.
‘I’m sure we’ll hear something soon.’
Dean grunted, annoyed. ‘What?’ he barked, noticing Sam’s smirk.
‘You sound like they’ve offended you in some way?’
‘I’m sick of waiting. It’s not natural. What type of monsters are they? Where’s the death and carnage?’
‘It’s coming, Dean. You know it’s only a matter of time,’ Sam said, looking out the window. He was quiet for some time before adding, ‘what bothers me is the thought they are killing people but making sure the deaths aren’t hitting the news?’
Dean tensed. ‘That is a disturbing thought.’
The brothers rode in silence for a few miles. Dean, consumed with the idea Sam was right, couldn’t shake the feeling the Leviathans were planning something big. The thought terrified him.
‘Where are we?’ Sam asked, drawing Dean back from the horror his imagination was creating at the prospect of a Bigbad’s masterplan.
Dean, despondent and frustrated, pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. ‘A few miles out of Storybrooke, Maine.’
‘Are we stopping?’ Sam queried.
Dean could feel his brother’s eyes on him. He sat up, forced a smile. ‘You kidding? A seaside town called Storybrooke just screams pie,’ he said, giving Sam a playful wink.
Sam returned a look that clearly said he wasn’t fooled but said, ‘I meant are we stopping so you can sleep or do you want me to drive?’
‘I’ll sleep on the road,’ Dean said, eyeing Sam thoughtfully. ‘You ok to drive though? Lucifer isn’t going to run us off a cliff or something is he?’
Sam didn’t answer immediately. Dean noticed him pressing the cut on his hand. It was a little trick Sam used to help sort out the crazy from reality. ‘I’m managing it,’ Sam said.
‘Ah huh!’ Dean raised a sceptical eyebrow.
‘Honestly, Dean. I still have a grip on it. I know what’s real and what’s not. If it changes I’ll let you know. Don’t worry about it.’
Dean watched Sam briefly. He didn’t believe Sam would tell him but figured he was keeping a keen enough eye on him to know if Sam got any worse. ‘Ok,’ he said.
Storybrooke came into view and Dean brought the Dodge down to the legal speed limit. It was Saturday and he wasn’t keen on spending the weekend locked up. He did a double take when he first caught sight of the main street. It was neat, well maintained and every now and again there were touches of the 80’s. ‘Retro,’ he chuckled.
‘I’d say,’ Sam agreed. ‘It’s like they got stuck in time,’
Dean snorted. There were a handful of classic 80’s cars either parked in front of stores or driving slowly down the street.
‘There,’ Sam said, indicating a diner.
Dean slipped the Dodge into a space out front. ‘Pie,’ he said, backhanding Sam playfully in the chest and climbing from the car. He stretched out his cramped muscles, scanning the street. Amused, he shook his head as Sam joined him.
‘One thing about a town stuck in the 80’s is no surveillance cameras,’ said Sam, stretching his long arms behind his back. ‘I can’t see a single camera.’
Dean inspected the nearby buildings. Sam was right. ‘Finally! Maybe we should stay for a few nights. Sleep in beds, have a warm shower? It’s been a while.’
‘I guess,’ said Sam.
‘Oh, that’s right. You’re into the whole communing with nature hippy crap now aren’t you?’ Dean teased and faced the diner. ‘Now, this is what I’m talking about,’ he tapped the signage on the sidewalk. ‘A place called Granny’s screams homemade pie,’ he said, patting his stomach in anticipation.
Inside and in no way overbearing, remnants of the 80’s had been included in the decor of the diner. Dean liked it. ‘I’ve died and gone to heaven,’ he said, drawing in a deep breath and savouring the rich aromas. ‘Again,’ he chuckled and picked a booth. Sam sat down as Dean opened the menu.
A young woman, dressed in tiny red shorts and a white blouse tied in a knot at her navel, approached their table. Her long brown hair was streaked with red and held back with a red headband. ‘Hi,’ she said, giving Dean an appreciating smile. ‘I’m Ruby. What can I get you?’
‘Hello,’ Dean flirted, giving the girl an admiring once over. He sighed. It had been awhile.
Ruby blushed and twirled her hair with her finger.
‘We’ll have coffee and the pie of the day,’ Sam said.
‘A big piece,’ Dean winked.
He watched her walk away. He turned to find Sam trying to hide a smile. ‘Hey, it’s been awhile Sammy,’ he said. ‘Yet another perfectly good reason we should stay for a day or so.’ He tipped his head towards the counter where Ruby was making the coffee. ‘Besides, if I hook up with her then we both would’ve had a Ruby,’ Dean smirked.
Sam’s smile was quickly replaced with a disapproving scowl.
‘Except, my Ruby is a hot human girl instead of a meat suit but hey, no need to be jealous,’ Dean teased. ‘Oh, lighten up Sammy. Maybe she has a friend.’ Dean gave him a knowing nod. ‘Been awhile for you too unless you and Becky...?’
‘God no!’ Sam said in horror. He shuddered and Dean laughed. ‘Shut up, Dean,’ Sam snapped.
Ruby brought over their coffee and pie. ‘Let me know if you need anything else,’ she said, suggestively. Dean was tempted to take her up on the offer but they had to leave.
He groaned happily as he ate. ‘Oh my god, this is good pie,’
Sam, sipping his coffee, was looking at Dean with that patient expression parents wore when watching a rambunctious child.
‘What?’ Dean asked around a mouth full of pie.
Sam laughed. ‘Nothing.’
Dean finished and pushed his plate away, satisfied. He sat back casually and sipped his coffee.
‘I take it you enjoyed that?’
‘It’s the little things, Sammy,’ Dean sighed. His stomach was full and the coffee was hot.
The bell above the diner’s door chimed. After a quick look Sam immediately returned to his coffee but Dean watched the newcomers. A woman in her late twenties was followed by a young boy, who Dean figured was about ten years old.
‘Two hot chocolate’s please, Ruby,’ the woman said as she slipped into a nearby booth. The boy was watching the brothers as he slipped off his pack. He sat down but continued to look back at Dean.
‘Who are they?’ The boy spoke softly, turning back to the woman.
Sam gave Dean a questioning look, but Dean shrugged and shook his head. He gave the woman a curt nod when she looked at him.
‘I don’t know, Kid. Does it matter?’ she said in a hushed tone.
‘Of course,’ he said, as if it should’ve been obvious. ‘We don’t get strangers in Storybrooke. If they’re here then there’s a reason,’ the boy said and turned on Dean. ‘Why are you here?’ he demanded.
Dean spat coffee, taken aback by the boy’s forwardness. ‘Pie,’ he said.
‘Kid, that’s very rude,’ the woman chastised.
‘You don’t understand, Emma. Except for you we’ve never had anyone new come to town. So why are they here?’
‘Of course strangers come to town. You just haven’t noticed,’ Emma said.
Sam partially turned so he could face the boy and Emma. ‘What’s your name?’
‘Henry.’
‘We’re just passing through, Henry,’ Sam said in his gentle, dewy eyed way. Dean loved it when Sam did that. Even the hardest interviewees couldn’t resist those eyes. It never failed and Sam generally got the answers the brothers needed.
‘You won’t be going anywhere. No-body leaves town. If they try then bad things happen,’ Henry said. Dean could see the kid really believed it.
Sam straightened up. ‘What do you mean?’
‘Sorry,’ Emma sighed. ‘The Kid has this thing. He thinks the town is cursed. Don’t worry about it.’
‘Cursed?’ Dean and Sam exchanged curious glances. ‘What type of curse?’
‘Seriously guys, don’t worry about it,’ Emma said.
‘I take it you don’t believe it?’ Dean asked Emma.
‘Of course not,’ Emma said.
‘That’s because she’s the hero. Hero’s never believe it straight away or there’d be no story,’ Henry said with a casual shrug.
‘Who cursed the town, Henry?’ Sam asked and Dean knew his brother enough to know he was simply humouring the kid.
‘The Evil Queen.’
‘Henry thinks Storybrooke is filled with fairytale characters. The Evil Queen placed a curse on them and stole all their happy endings,’ Emma said, giving the boy a patient smile.
‘Fairytales, huh? Grimm or Disney?’ Dean asked and Sam smirked.
‘What?’ The boy frowned, looking back at Emma.
‘Nevermind,’ Dean smiled, shaking his head.
‘So, you think this Queen stuck all the fairytale creatures here? In our world?’ Sam asked.
‘Yes. They don’t know who they really are,’ said Henry.
‘I can see why she’d think living here would be a curse,’ Dean scoffed.
‘I r’kon,’ Emma said, her lip lifting in an amused grin. Dean was starting to really like her. She was pretty with long, wavy blonde hair but that’s not what interested him. She had spunk and he figured she could kick some major ass if she needed too.
‘But you haven’t answered my question? Why are you here? You have to be here for a reason. Something brought you here,’ Henry insisted.
‘A car and a road brought us here. Seriously Kid, we have no business here. Just pie,’ Dean said, indicating his empty plate. ‘Which you’d be grateful for if you knew the business we were in,’ he added with a bemused smile.
Sam kicked him under the table and Emma was watching him intently; her expression, both suspicious and full of questions. Dean would have to watch himself around her. Emma was not only sharp, but observant.
Henry frowned, looking from Dean to Sam and back again, searching for something. ‘Wait,’ he suddenly said. ‘I know who you are. You’re the two brothers,’ he exclaimed.
‘What?’ Dean and Sam said together. Dean had a sinking feeling the kid meant their doubles. The reason they were off the grid and staying away from any place with a camera. Sam and Dean had made the FBI most wanted list.
‘I think you’ve mixed us up with someone else, Kid,’ Sam said, quickly. ‘We should go,’ he nodded at Dean and started to get up.
‘No, that’s it. The two brothers,’ Henry cried. He pulled a big book from his bag. It was dark brown, with a hand-stitched binding and aged stained paper.
Sam sat back down, staring at the book and giving Dean a ‘that’s not good’ look.
Henry opened it. ‘I knew it. It’s all here,’ he said, tapping the page. ‘Two brothers go out to seek their fortune. They discover a castle, deep in the woods and everyone inside was cursed, left in a deep sleep for hundreds of years. The brothers break the curse and marry the two youngest princesses.’ Henry said, clearly pleased with himself.
‘Disney,’ Dean mutters and Sam let out a quick snort. ‘Fantastic, so even in a damn fairytale we have to save the world,’ said Dean, bitterly.
***
Dean awoke with a start, Sam having punched him in the arm, hard. ‘What?’ Dean asked, rubbing his now bruising arm.
‘The car just died,’ said Sam, demonstrating by turning the key and nothing happened.
‘What the...?’ Dean climbed from the car, somewhat groggy. ‘Pop the hood,’ he ordered.
‘Everything looks fine,’ he said, inspecting the engine. ‘I can’t see why it stopped. Try it again.’
Sam did but still nothing happened.
‘Son of a bitch,’ Dean cried, turning to look up and down the road. He kicked the car tyre. ‘Damn it.’
‘Yes, especially since we’re like five miles from Storybrooke,’ said Sam.
‘You’re kidding? So I’ve had what, fifteen minutes sleep?’
‘If that, but do you know what’s even more interesting?’ said Sam and Dean turned to see what he was talking about.
A few feet away was a street sign and Dean read it aloud. ‘You are now leaving Storybrooke. Yeah, so?’ he asked, not seeing the significance.
‘We’re right on the town limits.’
‘What’s that got to do with anything?’ Dean asked, frustrated and too tired to process the possible meanings.
‘The kid said we can’t leave Storybrooke and we’ve just happened to breakdown on the edge of the town.’ Sam waved a hand at the sign.
‘Don’t be stupid. It’s just a coincidence.’
‘Dude, Seriously? When is anything just a coincidence for us?’ Sam raised an eyebrow.
‘True,’ Dean acknowledged. He looked around. There was nothing but thick forest on either side of the road. He shuddered. ‘Creepy.’ He pulled out his whisky flask from his jacket pocket and drank.
Sam let out a short laugh. ‘Yeah, when is a deep, dark forest ever a good thing?’
‘For us anyway.’ Dean closed the hood and walked to the back of the car. He pulled his bag from the trunk. ‘I guess we start walking.’
***
Dean and Sam reached town a few hours later, irritable, tired and thirsty. Sam, having gone into the small grocery store, returned to sit in the gutter where Dean was waiting.
‘Did you notice we didn’t see a single car on the hike back?’ Sam commented, handing Dean a bottle of water. ‘In either direction?’
Dean drank greedily, wiped his mouth and said, ‘Yeah, I was trying to think of a suitable explanation.’ He replaced the cap on the empty bottle.
‘What did you come up with?’ Sam asked, in between sips of water.
‘Nah, I got nothing.’ Dean shrugged. He spotted Emma walking out of the Sherriff’s office. Dean hit Sam to get his attention.
‘Hey, Emma,’ Sam called and she turned, saw them and came over.
‘I thought you guys left hours ago?’ Emma said, sitting down beside Sam.
‘So did we,’ Dean muttered.
‘Our car broke down,’ Sam explained.
‘Cars have a habit of doing that around here,’ Emma said. ‘I’ve hiked back a few times myself.’
‘You don’t find that odd?’ Sam questioned.
‘I guess. But what can I say? It’s not like it’s because of some fairytale curse or something,’ she laughed.
‘I suppose not,’ Sam replied.
Dean knew the look on Sam’s face well. Sam was hashing the problem out in his oversized head. There had to be an explanation and Sam wouldn’t rest until he’d found it. Dean laughed at his brother, which earned him puzzled looks from both Sam and Emma. He waved them off. ‘Are you a cop?’ he asked, lifting his chin towards the Sherriff’s office where he’d seen Emma come from.
‘Not until Monday,’ Emma said. ‘I just got offered the deputy position.’
Dean raised an eyebrow.
‘Someone has to do it and I need the cash,’ she said with a shrug.
‘It looks like we’ll be staying after-all. Do you know where we can get a room?’ Sam asked.
‘There’s a B&B with a few rooms around the corner or you can head over to the Manor,’ ‘The Manor sounds a bit rich for us,’ Dean said, tapping his pocket.
Emma laughed. ‘Trust me, it’s not that glamorous. But it’s private, which I get the impression you boy’s like.’
‘See, you’re going to be a great law-woman,’ Dean said and Emma rolled her eyes.
‘Head two blocks that way,’ Emma pointed up the street, ‘turn left and follow the road. You’ll find the place.’
***
‘We’ve squatted in better places than this,’ Dean groaned, looking up at the Manor. It was a run down, turn of the century manor house that, although in a sorry state, looked at least structurally sound.
‘Come on, princess,’ Sam said and climbed the stairs.
‘We have standards you know,’ Dean cried but Sam ignored him.
Inside, the foyer was dark, the decor outdated and there was a heavy smell of damp and dust. Dean screwed his nose up, in distaste, as he went to the unmanned counter.
‘Where is everyone?’ he said, hitting the bell on the counter. No-one appeared and the place was deathly silent.
‘This isn’t good,’ said Sam and the pair dropped their bags, moving around the counter. ‘Hello?’ he called, moving towards the office door.
He peered inside. ‘Dean,’ he cried out in alarm and ran in to the room.
Dean rushed after him. In the room, Sam was checking the pulses of two women lying on the carpeted floor.
‘Their alive,’ Sam said.
‘What the hell happened? It looks like they just dropped where they were standing,’ Dean remarked as he surveyed the room.
Sam was shaking one of the women gently but she didn’t stir. ‘What the...?’ he muttered and got to his feet. ‘Witches maybe?’
‘But where’s the ick? Witches usually leave ick?’ Dean shuddered at the thought. He really hated witches.
Sam nodded agreement. ‘Check for hex bags,’ he suggested.
They checked everywhere but found nothing.
‘So not witches. A cursed object?’ Dean looked at Sam.
‘Curse,’ Sam said, a strange expression on his face. ‘Didn’t the kid say something about the two brothers having to restore a castle full of sleeping people?’
‘Seriously?’ Dean scoffed, looking around for actual evidence of what could have happened.
‘I’m just saying. A bit of a coincidence don’t you think? We can’t leave town and now we’ve found a manor with two people we can’t wake.’
‘Not exactly a castle though is it?’ Dean said.
‘Close enough.’ Sam waved a hand indicating the house around them.
‘Awesome,’ Dean said, sarcastically.
‘We better check the rest of the house. If it’s really a curse then we’ll probably find more sleeping beauties,’ Sam said moving towards the door.
Dean looked at the two women on the floor. Both were in their late forties, plump and dressed like grandmothers. ‘Beauties?’ Dean snorted.
The brothers found six more victims in different parts of the house.
‘We better call it in,’ Sam pulled out his phone as they returned to the foyer.
‘Hey, ask the Sherriff if he knows Emma’s phone number,’ Dean said.
‘Why?’
‘We need to speak to that kid.’
***
Dean and Sam were sitting on the steps when Emma arrived. ‘What happened?’ she asked, trying to peer inside but her view was blocked by an officer manning the door.
‘We found a castle,’ Dean said, dryly. He ran his hands through his hair. He was exhausted and everything was becoming a bit too weird, even for him.
‘We got here and found everyone inside passed out on the floor,’ Sam said.
‘What?’ Emma asked, her arms folded tight against her chest.
‘The paramedics were saying it could’ve been a gas leak but they’ve checked the place and can’t find any evidence of a leak. Now the theory is a mass coma,’ Sam told her.
Dean flicked an annoyed glance at a waiting ambulance. ‘Idiots,’ he sneered.
‘What other explanation could they have, Dean?’ Sam said. ‘They don’t know the things we do.’
‘Whatever. There’s no excuse for being stupid,’ Dean spat. He looked up at Emma. ‘We need to talk to your kid.’
‘What? Why?’ Emma asked.
‘I think you mean my kid?’ said a woman walking up the path towards them. She was in her early thirties, dressed professionally with short black hair framing her face.
‘Madam Mayor,’ Emma said, in way of greeting. She didn’t look too happy to see the other woman.
‘Ms Swan,’ the Mayor said and turned to the brothers. ‘I’m Regina Mills, Mayor of Storybrooke.’
‘Mayor Mills, this is Sam and Dean,’ Emma said. ‘They found the victims.’
‘What do you want with my son?’ Mayor Mills asked, her tone suggesting she was used to people doing what she wanted.
‘Your son? I thought he was...’ Dean looked at Emma who said nothing, facing away.
‘Ms Swan merely gave birth to him. I am his mother. What do you want with my son?’
‘No particular reason, we just wanted to chat with him,’ Dean said.
‘I can’t see what you would want to discuss with a ten year old?’ Mayor Mills said. It was a question. She stood, waiting for a response. When none came Dean could see her barely concealed anger seething just below the surface.
‘Thank you for your assistance gentleman. I hope you have enjoyed your stay. Good day to you,’ she said, again waiting. She was dismissing them.
Dean grinned and got to his feet. ‘Let’s go Sammy,’ he said, amused.
Emma followed the brothers. The three of them walked towards the town centre.
Dean looked back at the Mayor, who was watching them, furious. ‘What a bitch!’ Dean declared.
Emma nodded. ‘The Evil Queen.’
‘What? The kid thinks his own mother, well adoptive mother, is the Evil Queen?’ Sam gasped.
‘That’s messed up,’ Dean stated, pulling his flask out. He slowly unscrewed the lid. ‘She’s used to being feared and obeyed isn’t she?’ He drank.
‘That’s an understatement,’ Emma sighed. ‘Everyone’s terrified of her.’
‘I bet you’re not,’ Dean said, admiringly.
Emma let out a quick laugh. ‘Um, no. We’ve had our clashes though.’
‘I can imagine,’ Sam said. ‘It must be hard for Henry?’
‘Listen. Henry’s a bit mixed up. He’s created this fantasy to help him cope. I go along with it for his sake.’
‘Actually, speaking of his little fantasy, do you know where we can find him?’ Sam asked.
‘Why?’
‘You won’t believe us,’ Dean said, sipping from his flask again.
‘Try me. I have a radar for bullshit. If you’re lying, I’ll know,’ she said.
Dean offered her the flask. ‘Fair enough,’ he said as she took it.
Emma had a drink and handed it back. ‘Thanks,’ she said.
‘We just want to hear that story Henry thinks we’re in,’ Sam said.
‘Why? What’s it got to do with anything?’
‘We don’t know, that’s why we have to speak with Henry,’ Sam said.
‘He told us we can’t leave town and it so happens, we can’t. He also said we were going to find a castle full of sleeping people. I figured we best hear what he has to say,’ Dean said.
‘That’s just crazy.’ Emma tucked her thumbs in to the back pockets of her jeans.
‘Dean and I deal with some crazy stuff. This is a little weird, even for us, but not completely unbelievable,’ Sam smiled.
Emma looked at them in disbelief. ‘Really?’
‘You have no idea,’ Dean replied. ‘Listen, I go with my gut and my instinct tells me I need to talk with the kid. So are you going tell us where we can find him or not?’
‘I don’t see how Henry can help you,’ Emma said. ‘But, I guess I know where he might be.’
***
‘He calls it his castle,’ Emma said, leading Sam and Dean towards Henry who sat on the edge of a wooden climbing frame. The playground overlooked the beach and the calm waters of the ocean. The sea was a grey reflection of the overcast sky and a slight wind rolled off the water.
‘Not so easy to leave town is it?’ Henry gave Dean a smug smile. ‘I told you,’ he added as Emma climbed up to sit beside him.
‘You sure did, Kid,’ Dean said.
‘We also found your castle full of sleeping people too,’ Sam told him.
‘You did?’ Henry said and seemed to be both pleased, yet concerned. His internal battle was written all over his face.
‘The patients are on the way to the hospital. The doctors will look after them now,’ said Sam. ‘But my brother and I figured we better come talk with you about what you think happened.’
‘It’s a curse.’
‘Yes, we think that too,’ said Sam, gently.
‘You believe me?’
‘Kid, trust me, this isn’t that strange for us,’ Dean said.
‘So Henry, you said this morning Dean and I were in your book. Maybe you should tell us the story,’ Sam suggested, speaking in his gentle, reassuring tone.
Henry looked at Sam and then Dean, seemingly satisfied by what he saw he pulled out the book and opened it to the page he’d shown them earlier. ‘Ok. It goes like this. Once upon a time there were two brothers who set out to seek their fortune. One day they came across a castle, deep in the forest. An Evil Witch had placed a curse on the castle and all who lived there. To free the castle the brothers had to pass three challenges. They had to collect a thousand pearls from the forest, retrieve a key from the bottom of the lake and pick out the youngest princess even though all the sisters looked alike.’ Henry looked up to see if they were listening.
‘Go on, Henry,’ Sam encouraged the boy.
‘As the brothers travelled through the forest they found an ant hill being attacked by children. The brothers chased the children away and saved the ant hill. They continued on their journey and discovered three ducks caught in a fishing net and freed them. Some days later the brothers saved a beehive from a bear.
The brothers were losing hope of finding the objects they needed when suddenly the ants came to them, grateful for their help the ants had collected the pearls from the forest floor. Next the ducks came, having retrieved the key from the bottom of the lake. The brothers returned to the castle. Inside, a single bee was hovering above the bed of one of the sleeping princesses. It was the youngest. The curse was broken and so happy were the people of the castle the two princesses married the two brothers,’ Henry finished, closing the book and looking up.
‘I’m sorry, Henry but I can’t see how we can break the curse. Those challenges are only possible in fairytales, not here in the real world,’ Sam said.
‘This is what happened in the Enchanted Forest,’ Henry said. ‘Over here it may be slightly different but the end result is the same. You need to find a thousand pearls, retrieve a key from the lake and pick out the youngest princess.’
‘Completely do-able!’ said Dean.
***
Sam and Dean sat on a park bench, staring out at the ocean. Neither one speaking as each tried to process their predicament.
‘Seriously? Fairytales?’ Dean burst out, throwing his arms up. ‘Are we really considering this kid’s curse theory?’
‘What choice do we have?’ Sam replied, his expression one of intense pondering. ‘We’re clearly trapped here and I think we will be until we break the curse,’ Sam added. ‘I have no idea how we break the curse since the clues we have are only possible in the other realm.’
‘Other realm,’ Dean scoffed.
‘Look, as strange as this is, we still have victims. Those people from the Manor need help and we can’t leave without at least trying to find a way of doing that,’ Sam pointed out.
‘Maybe we should just gank the Mayor.’
‘The Mayor? Why?’ Sam asked, taken aback.
‘If the Mayor is the Evil Queen, all we have to do is kill her and the curse will be broken. Problem solved.’ said Dean.
‘We can’t kill the Mayor, Dean. We don’t kill humans.’
‘We kill evil and I know evil and that woman had it radiating off her.’
‘We’re not ganking the Mayor, Dean.’ Sam said fiercely and they both laughed.
‘When is it ever that easy anyway?’ Dean acknowledged, somewhat grudgingly. It was never that easy. ‘Fairytales usually make you all soft and gooey, Sammy. What do you suggest we do?’
Sam gave him a reproachful look. ‘Try and work out what the clues could be here in the real world. The kid might have issues but I think he was telling the truth.’ Sam turned on the bench to face Dean. ‘I’ve given it some thought and I think the kid’s book is the actual cursed object. To be honest, I think this whole thing is just one kid’s interpretation of an actual dark curse but he’s mixed it up with fairytales. Maybe the book isn’t even about fairytales; it simply turned in to that because the boy believed it.’
‘You’ve given this way too much thought,’ Dean sighed and glanced at his brother when Sam didn’t respond.
Sam had a distracted look on his face, his head cocked slightly to the side.
‘What is it?’ Dean asked and followed Sam’s line of sight. A young mother, pushing a baby carriage, was walking with five children trailing behind her, single file.
‘Does that look like a line of ants to you?’ Sam asked.
‘I guess. So what?’
‘We save ants and they help us find thousands of pearls in the forest. Challenge one in the curse breaking,’ Sam replied, looking back at Dean.
‘So we follow the ants, save them and get some pearls,’ Dean mocked.
‘Dean, I didn’t create the curse. Forget you’re on a fairytale mission. We save lives and right now people need saving. It’s just a hunch but I have a feeling the ants are represented by children in the real world.’
‘You’re enjoying this way too much,’ Dean groaned.
‘Just keep an eye on the kids, Dean,’ Sam snapped and headed off after them.
‘Yeah, that’s not pervy at all,’ Dean muttered. He jogged to catch up with Sam. ‘This is stupid,’ he said, nodding his head towards the family.
‘I don’t know what else we can do, Dean. This is our only lead,’ Sam said, patiently.
‘Some-one’s going to call the Sherriff,’ Dean said, anxiously looking around as if expecting a cruiser to appear at any minute.
‘What do you suggest we do?’ Sam asked.
‘I don’t friggin’ know, Sammy. But this....’
‘Wait,’ Sam interrupted. ‘Look at that guy, across the street.’
‘So?’ Dean asked, spotting the man in question. ‘Although, he does look kind of creepy,’ he added. The man was unkept, wearing dirty jeans and shirt.
‘He’s watching them. He’s going to a lot of effort to make sure the mother doesn’t see him.’ Sam stopped, turning to Dean ‘I’ll stick with the kids and the mother. You cross the street and stay on him.’
Dean nodded, checked the street and crossed over. He strolled along the footpath, casually looking in the shop windows, occasionally stopping as if spotting something of interest. All the while he had eyes on the perv.
The creep made his move a few minutes later. He pulled something from his jeans pocket and Dean strained to see what it was. Sunlight hit the barrel of a gun.
‘SAM! GUN!’ Dean screamed, running at the man who was beginning to take aim at the mother. Dean slammed into him, taking him down hard to the road and the gun went off.
Dean wrestled the man until he had him pinned, slamming the hand holding the gun onto the blacktop, over and over, until the guy released it. Kicking the gun away, Dean punched the assailant in the face a few times, knocking him out cold. Dean fell off him, breathing heavily.
The woman and her children were screaming hysterically, Sam having them backed into a store doorway. ‘Sammy? You hit?’ Dean called.
‘I’m fine,’ Sam said. ‘Everyone’s fine.’
Dean looked over at the unconscious gunman. ‘Not everyone,’ he smiled.
***
‘Apparently it was her ex-husband,’ Sam told Dean as the pair made their getaway, not wanting to be near the scene when the Sherriff arrived. ‘She was divorcing him.’
‘People are crazy,’ Dean muttered, pulling out his flask. He drank it dry. ‘Refill,’ he said, shaking the empty flask and immediately looking around for a liquor store. ‘Let’s go.’
He waited for Sam to fall in beside him before saying, ‘Well, we saved them. Where are the pearls?’
‘I’m thinking it doesn’t quite work like that,’ Sam said, shoving his hands in his jeans pocket. ‘We don’t need to take the fairytale version so literally. I saw the kids walking single file and it made me think of ants.’
‘How does any of this help us break the curse?’
‘No idea. But apparently now we have to save some ducks who’ll help us find a key at the bottom of a lake. Whatever that translates to in the real world is what we need to be looking for.’
‘Awesome,’ Dean said, bitterly.
‘What is it?’ Sam asked when Dean suddenly stopped.
‘That’s pretty close to being duck related don’t you think?’ Dean smirked. He’d found a liquor store. It was called, George Duckman’s Liquor.
‘Trust you to think the answer would be in a liquor store,’ Sam sighed.
‘What are you talking about? I get a lot of answers from liquor,’ Dean pouted and crossed the street. He nodded greeting to the store attendant and ignored Sam’s disapproving judgment as he scanned the shelves. Dean made his selection and placed the whisky on the counter.
‘Do you smell smoke?’ Sam asked, looking around.
Dean sniffed the air. ‘No.’
‘I can smell smoke,’ Sam said.
‘You sure it’s real?’ Dean asked. He didn’t mean it the way it sounded and was about to apologise when he saw Sam pressing the wound on his palm.
‘Yes, Dean. Not every thought I have is riddled with hell,’ Sam snapped.
Dean held his arms up in surrender. ‘Ease up, I was just asking. Touchy much?’
‘Whatever!’ Sam walked out of the store.
Dean stepped outside. Sam was looking around, still troubled.
‘Where to now?’ Dean asked, refilling his flask. He took a couple of sips before putting it away.
Sam didn’t respond. Dean’s heart skipped a beat. He was forever on guard, waiting for the moment Sam finally succumbed and fell in to a coma or became a drooling empty shell. It could happen at any time and Dean’s stomach knotted each time he saw that zoned out expression on his brother’s face.
The relief was overwhelming when he saw the light come back on in Sam’s eyes. Sam shook it off and faced Dean. ‘I’m okay,’ he said.
A scream pierced the relatively quiet afternoon. The brothers spun, searching and finding three teenagers leaning out of an apartment window above the liquor store. Black smoke billowed around the terrified teens.
Sam gave Dean a quick ‘I told you so’ look.
‘Sorry,’ Dean said and ran inside the store. The brothers found the stairs at the back of the shop and scaled them without hesitation. Thick, black smoke filled the small windowless hallway at the top. Flames were crawling across the ceiling.
Dean pulled his shirt up to cover his mouth and nose. He bent slightly to stay away from the flames, using an arm to shield his face from the heat. ‘Sammy?’ Dean called over the roar of the fire.
‘I’m here,’ Sam replied and Dean ran through the smoke to the end of the hall. He was coughing hard by the time he reached the door at the end. He could hear Sam’s strangled coughs behind him. Dean struggled to kick open the door. He kicked it again and it flew open, the wooden frame splintering.
He rushed forward, finding it near impossible to see more than a few feet. Using the teens screams as a guide Dean moved through the room. He made it to one of the windows and leaned out, sucking in a lung full of fresh air. He stayed there until Sam was beside him.
Dean climbed out on to the ledge and inched his way to the kids who were leaning out dangerously too far, desperate to escape the smoke. ‘Come on,’ he urged them. ‘It’s ok. Just keep your back to the wall and shuffle down to the end,’ he said firmly. The teens were terrified and hesitated but Sam started pushing them from behind to give them no other option but to go out the window.
Sam came out last and Dean ushered the teenagers along the ledge away from the choking smoke. There was no way down. The ledge stopped at the side of the building. Dean looked up. He and Sam could have climbed on to the roof but the kids were barely standing and wouldn’t have the upper body strength needed.
Sam got down on his stomach, flipped his legs over the edge and lowered himself down. Hanging from the ledge, he let go and dropped to the ground. ‘Ok, start lowering them down,’ he called.
The closest teen was a young girl. ‘I’m going to lower you down. My brother’s there and will catch you, ok?’ Dean said, gently. The girl nodded weakly.
Dean helped her sit down on the ledge. He did the same. ‘Give me your hands,’ he said. Bracing himself he took her hands, gripping them tight and eased her down.
‘Ready, Sam?’ he called.
‘Go,’ Sam replied and Dean released her.
Having seen it done the two remaining teenagers, both boys, went down easily and Dean followed. Sam moved the kids to the other side of the street. Dean began to walk over when the day was filled with a loud explosion which shook the ground under his feet. A wall of heat shoved Dean from behind, sending him flying forward.
***
Dean slowly opened his eyes and his vision took a moment to clear. He lay very still. There was a numbness to his body he was all too familiar with. It meant the pain was coming. He dared not move.
‘Dean?’Sam cried, his voice faint. ‘Dean? Can you hear me?’
Some-one grabbed his wrist and the pain came, an explosion felt in every nerve ending throughout his body. Dean moaned. He scowled at the nurse gripping his wrist, checking his vitals. Bitch.
‘Dean?’ Sam called again. Dean, very carefully, turned to face him. Relief washed over Sam’s strained features. ‘Thank God! How are you feeling?’
Dean tried to talk but his mouth was bone dry. Sam brought a cup up to his mouth, guiding the straw to his parched lips. Dean sipped it slowly. ‘Thanks,’ he managed to choke out. He scanned the hospital ward. There were approximately ten beds lined up around the large room.
He tried to sit up, regretting the action immediately.
‘Easy,’ Sam warned, gently helping Dean to sit up, stuffing pillows behind him for support. ‘You’ve got a few broken ribs,’
‘So, the usual then?’ Dean said with a wry smile.
Sam grinned. ‘So glad you’re ok man, you had me worried.’
‘How long have I been out?’ Dean asked, flinching as pain stabbed at him.
‘Three days,’ Sam said, pulling up a chair. He tossed aside the blanket and pillow that were draped over the arm. There was a various assortment of food containers and takeaway coffee cups on the table and floor.
‘You’ve been sitting there the whole time?’ Dean remarked, indicating the armchair.
‘Pretty much!’ Sam waved him off. ‘Up until last night the doctors didn’t think you’d make it. You were in bad shape and to be honest, I don’t know how you’re alright. When the store exploded I watched as you were completely consumed by flames. I thought you were dead for sure.’
Dean looked down at his arms. He had a few scratches but there were no burns.
‘Exactly, why aren’t you charcoal?’ Sam said after watching Dean’s self inspection.
Dean shrugged. ‘I am God’s favourite plaything,’ he said, half joking.
‘You decided to rejoin us,’ Emma smiled, approaching the bed. Henry was with her.
‘Got a curse to break,’ Dean gave Henry a wink and noted the amused expressions Sam and Emma exchanged. ‘What?’ he asked.
‘Sorry, Dude but we broke the curse without you,’ Sam said.
‘What? How?’
‘Well, umm, after the explosion, the doctor’s were saying you wouldn’t make it through the night. As you can imagine, I wasn’t very pleasant to be around,’ Sam said, looking a little ashamed of himself. ‘I was wandering around the hospital garden when I noticed the gardener placing a ladder against a tree. There was giant beehive and the gardener was about to spray it. I made him stop.’
‘He beat the shit out of him,’ Emma chuckled. ‘If you weren’t both hero’s he’d be in lockup right now.’
‘Anyway,’ Sam said, giving Emma a warning glare. ‘Henry made the Mayor declare it unlawful to destroy the beehive.’
‘She wasn’t happy about it,’ Emma smiled down at the boy. Henry seemed quite pleased with himself. ‘And, due to community pressure, Mayor Mills was forced to present you and Sam with a key to the city.’
Sam picked something from off the bedside table and handed it to Dean. It was a get well card. Dean opened it. There was a childish, hand drawn picture of a forest, ants and lots of large pearls on the ground.
‘The mother came in to visit you. Her kids drew it to thank you for saving their mum,’ Emma said.
‘This meant we had the pearls,’ Sam pointed to the card, ‘and the Mayor gave us a key for saving the kid’s from Duckman’s liquor.’
‘Leaving only one more challenge to go,’ Henry said, eagerly.
‘Yesterday, a nurse doing her rounds happened to mention a bee hovering around the patients. Sam went looking for it and found it lingering over one patient in particular,’ Emma added.
‘Apparently, three sisters manage the Manor. Identical triplets,’ said Sam. ‘The bee was hovering over one of them so I assumed she was the youngest.’
‘That’s when all the coma patients woke up,’ said Henry, barely containing his excitement.
***
Dean carefully lowered himself in to the passenger seat of the Dodge. His entire body screamed in pain. He settled back until he was in a comfortable position.
‘I bet you’ll be happy to see the back of this place,’ Emma said, kneeling down by the open car door.
‘I feel bad leaving without ganking Mayor Mills for you,’ he smiled, weakly.
‘Don’t worry about it. I can handle her,’ Emma said. ‘Besides, Henry thinks killing her won’t break the curse. Apparently, only I can do that.’
‘Ready?’ Sam asked as he climbed in to the driver’s seat.
‘Let’s hit the road,’ Dean said and waved at Emma as they pulled away.
‘I like her. She’s got spunk,’ Dean said. ‘What’s up?’ he asked, noticing Sam’s troubled, left a stone unturned, pensive frown.
‘I still think we should’ve burned Henry’s book,’ Sam said.
‘He’d hidden it and unless we explained all about real dark curses, which I wasn’t doing to a ten year old, he wasn’t going to give it up,’ Dean replied.
‘I guess. But, technically we’re leaving a cursed object in the hands of a kid.’
‘Nah, I don’t think it works like our kind of curses,’ Dean said.
Sam glanced at him. ‘What makes you say that?’
‘No-one died,’ Dean said, simply.
‘Sorry, you’ve lost me,’ Sam said.
‘If that curse on the Manor house was a real dark curse those people would’ve been in a worse state than merely sleeping. A horrible, painful and gruesome death is more our thing,’ said Dean, sounding a little detached, even to himself. ‘That mother or her ex-husband would’ve died in some freakish way and for sure someone would have died in that store explosion.’
Sam seemed to be giving it some thought. ‘You have a point,’ he said.
‘Of course I do,’ said Dean, taking a drink from his flask and relishing the feel of the amber liquid warming his body and easing his aches. ‘To be honest Sam, the lack of death makes me think this wasn’t real evil. It was a little too Disney to be our kind of thing.’
‘But you almost died,’ Sam said.
‘The rules don’t apply to us. We’ve died and come back so many times we’ve lost count.’
‘So, Mayor Mills is really the Evil Queen and Emma is the child of Snow White and Prince Charming?’ Sam was trying hard to keep a straight face.
‘No idea, but good for them if they are,’ Dean said.
‘What?’ Sam gave him the ‘are you nuts?’ look.
‘If the worst kind of evil that town sees is the devious plotting of a Disney fairytale queen then I’m happy for them. Can you imagine Leviathans in Storybrooke?’Dean settled in to the seat, closing his eyes. ‘That would’ve been a completely different story.’
The two brothers passed the - you are leaving Storybrooke-sign without issue and lived happily ever after.....not!!!!
Author: Rebecca L Dobbie
Recipient: Bella Temple
Rating: Moderate language. Nothing to bad.
Warnings: None required
Author's Notes: Story is set right after Supernatural 07:08 "Season 7, Time for a Wedding!" and directly after Once Upon A Time 01:04 "The Price of Gold". Story prompts were Once upon A Time crossover with extra points if Sam and Dean had a fairytale version of themselves. I followed the show rules for Once Upon A Time so it is a little tamer than a Supernatural episode but I hope you still enjoy it.
Summary: Dean and Sam, after leaving Delaware are checking out a possible Leviathan lead in Maine. They pass through a small town called Storybrooke which so happens could be their next case.
Once Upon A....WTF??
The moonless night cast a shadowy veil over everything outside of the stolen Dodge’s headlights. The visual allowed Dean Winchester to pretend the world beyond his high beams did not exist. There was nothing else, only the car and the road. The fantasy gave him time to escape, forget and just drive.
The sound of the tyres on the wet blacktop beat a soothing rhythm with the wipers. The radio played softly and occasionally he’d sing along. Usually, he could live in the fantasy for hours but the foreign feel of the Dodge brought reality crashing back in. Dean shifted restlessly. It felt wrong, unnatural, to be driving anything other than his beloved ’67 Chevrolet Impala. He missed Baby, anger boiling within him at the thought of his car, under a tarp, hidden away.
Dean momentarily took his eyes from the road, checking on his brother, sleeping beside him. Every so often Sam would twitch or moan, revealing his sleep wasn’t at all restful. Dean gripped the steering wheel, his knuckles white. He could only imagine the horrors haunting Sam’s dreams.
Dean didn’t scare easy but when it came to Sam, he lived in constant terror. He’d spent his life watching out for Sam, believing it his job to keep the boy safe. But with Sam heading towards the very real possibility of insanity and even death, Dean felt powerless.
Leave it alone, he thought. Why even think about it? He’ll be fine. Dean looked over at Sam. He’ll be fine, he thought, realising it sounded more like a plea.
The only thing keeping Dean going was Sam. He wouldn’t survive the loss of his brother. But, death wasn’t the only thing threatening to take Sam from him. Dean was starting to come to the realisation that it was stupid for him to think Sam needed him around all the time. Sam wasn’t a snot nosed kid any more. He was grown. At some point he would have to let his brother go, allow him to grow up and be his own man.
The brothers had just left Delaware. A brief smile touched Dean’s strained lips at the memory of why they’d been there. With the help of a crossroads demon, Superfan99 -Becky Rosen - drugged Sam in attempt to win him over. In a love drug stupor he’d married her. Dean chuckled, remembering the look on Sam’s face when the drug wore off. Sam had promised to inflict serious pain if Dean ever mentioned it again, which of course meant Dean would find every available opportunity to rib him about it.
While he was drugged, Sam said a few things that forced Dean to think about the possibility of Sam not being around. Sam would survive his messed up custard, Dean would make sure of it. But, once that was done, Sam had to live his own life and would eventually go off to live it. However, where did that leave Dean? Who was he if not Sam’s big brother?
He figured he better prepare for it. He had a gut feeling the day was coming when he’d be on his own. His life was nothing but loss and grief and to think of losing Sam so soon after Cas was too much. He’d never forgive Cas and he’d never admit it to anyone, he even tried to hide it from himself, but Dean was grieving his friend.
He leant forward and turned the radio up a little more, wanting a distraction, not liking where his head was at. There was no point thinking about it at the moment. Sam wouldn’t leave all the time the Leviathan’s were breathing free air.
Since escaping purgatory the Leviathans were yet to make their intentions known. The news was free of any strange deaths of which could be contributed to the monsters. For creatures God feared were too smart and destructive to be allowed to roam upon the Earth-hence why he’d locked them away in purgatory - the Leviathans were not living up to all the hype, in Dean’s opinion. He’d lost sleep thinking about the reasons the Leviathans might be keeping a low profile.
Bobby had rung a few days earlier, having heard rumours of Leviathan activity in Maine. Sam and Dean were on their way to check it out.
***
The day dawned gloomy and overcast. Dean yawned, rubbing his tired eyes. He caught sight of himself in the rearview. He looked like crap. His eyes were red and swollen from lack of sleep, his face was drawn and a five o’clock shadow covered his jawline.
Sam didn’t look much better. Even though he’d slept through the night he looked exhausted, he was too thin and ghastly pale. Dean tried to be covert with his assessment but Sam busted him.
‘I’m fine, Dean,’ he said, but wasn’t very convincing. Sam was checking his laptop for any news which could mean work in nearby towns or better still, Leviathans.
‘Anything?’ Dean asked, stifling another yawn.
Sam closed the laptop. ‘Nothing,’ he said, tossing the computer on to the back seat.
‘How can that be?’ Dean tightened his grip on the steering wheel.
‘I know, right?’ Sam shrugged, trying to stretch out his six foot four frame but the car wasn’t meant for giants. ‘I don’t get it either.’
Dean swore. ‘I wished they’d get on with it,’ he spat, frustrated. ‘They’ve been top side for weeks. What are they waiting for?’ he added, meaning the Leviathans.
‘I’m sure we’ll hear something soon.’
Dean grunted, annoyed. ‘What?’ he barked, noticing Sam’s smirk.
‘You sound like they’ve offended you in some way?’
‘I’m sick of waiting. It’s not natural. What type of monsters are they? Where’s the death and carnage?’
‘It’s coming, Dean. You know it’s only a matter of time,’ Sam said, looking out the window. He was quiet for some time before adding, ‘what bothers me is the thought they are killing people but making sure the deaths aren’t hitting the news?’
Dean tensed. ‘That is a disturbing thought.’
The brothers rode in silence for a few miles. Dean, consumed with the idea Sam was right, couldn’t shake the feeling the Leviathans were planning something big. The thought terrified him.
‘Where are we?’ Sam asked, drawing Dean back from the horror his imagination was creating at the prospect of a Bigbad’s masterplan.
Dean, despondent and frustrated, pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. ‘A few miles out of Storybrooke, Maine.’
‘Are we stopping?’ Sam queried.
Dean could feel his brother’s eyes on him. He sat up, forced a smile. ‘You kidding? A seaside town called Storybrooke just screams pie,’ he said, giving Sam a playful wink.
Sam returned a look that clearly said he wasn’t fooled but said, ‘I meant are we stopping so you can sleep or do you want me to drive?’
‘I’ll sleep on the road,’ Dean said, eyeing Sam thoughtfully. ‘You ok to drive though? Lucifer isn’t going to run us off a cliff or something is he?’
Sam didn’t answer immediately. Dean noticed him pressing the cut on his hand. It was a little trick Sam used to help sort out the crazy from reality. ‘I’m managing it,’ Sam said.
‘Ah huh!’ Dean raised a sceptical eyebrow.
‘Honestly, Dean. I still have a grip on it. I know what’s real and what’s not. If it changes I’ll let you know. Don’t worry about it.’
Dean watched Sam briefly. He didn’t believe Sam would tell him but figured he was keeping a keen enough eye on him to know if Sam got any worse. ‘Ok,’ he said.
Storybrooke came into view and Dean brought the Dodge down to the legal speed limit. It was Saturday and he wasn’t keen on spending the weekend locked up. He did a double take when he first caught sight of the main street. It was neat, well maintained and every now and again there were touches of the 80’s. ‘Retro,’ he chuckled.
‘I’d say,’ Sam agreed. ‘It’s like they got stuck in time,’
Dean snorted. There were a handful of classic 80’s cars either parked in front of stores or driving slowly down the street.
‘There,’ Sam said, indicating a diner.
Dean slipped the Dodge into a space out front. ‘Pie,’ he said, backhanding Sam playfully in the chest and climbing from the car. He stretched out his cramped muscles, scanning the street. Amused, he shook his head as Sam joined him.
‘One thing about a town stuck in the 80’s is no surveillance cameras,’ said Sam, stretching his long arms behind his back. ‘I can’t see a single camera.’
Dean inspected the nearby buildings. Sam was right. ‘Finally! Maybe we should stay for a few nights. Sleep in beds, have a warm shower? It’s been a while.’
‘I guess,’ said Sam.
‘Oh, that’s right. You’re into the whole communing with nature hippy crap now aren’t you?’ Dean teased and faced the diner. ‘Now, this is what I’m talking about,’ he tapped the signage on the sidewalk. ‘A place called Granny’s screams homemade pie,’ he said, patting his stomach in anticipation.
Inside and in no way overbearing, remnants of the 80’s had been included in the decor of the diner. Dean liked it. ‘I’ve died and gone to heaven,’ he said, drawing in a deep breath and savouring the rich aromas. ‘Again,’ he chuckled and picked a booth. Sam sat down as Dean opened the menu.
A young woman, dressed in tiny red shorts and a white blouse tied in a knot at her navel, approached their table. Her long brown hair was streaked with red and held back with a red headband. ‘Hi,’ she said, giving Dean an appreciating smile. ‘I’m Ruby. What can I get you?’
‘Hello,’ Dean flirted, giving the girl an admiring once over. He sighed. It had been awhile.
Ruby blushed and twirled her hair with her finger.
‘We’ll have coffee and the pie of the day,’ Sam said.
‘A big piece,’ Dean winked.
He watched her walk away. He turned to find Sam trying to hide a smile. ‘Hey, it’s been awhile Sammy,’ he said. ‘Yet another perfectly good reason we should stay for a day or so.’ He tipped his head towards the counter where Ruby was making the coffee. ‘Besides, if I hook up with her then we both would’ve had a Ruby,’ Dean smirked.
Sam’s smile was quickly replaced with a disapproving scowl.
‘Except, my Ruby is a hot human girl instead of a meat suit but hey, no need to be jealous,’ Dean teased. ‘Oh, lighten up Sammy. Maybe she has a friend.’ Dean gave him a knowing nod. ‘Been awhile for you too unless you and Becky...?’
‘God no!’ Sam said in horror. He shuddered and Dean laughed. ‘Shut up, Dean,’ Sam snapped.
Ruby brought over their coffee and pie. ‘Let me know if you need anything else,’ she said, suggestively. Dean was tempted to take her up on the offer but they had to leave.
He groaned happily as he ate. ‘Oh my god, this is good pie,’
Sam, sipping his coffee, was looking at Dean with that patient expression parents wore when watching a rambunctious child.
‘What?’ Dean asked around a mouth full of pie.
Sam laughed. ‘Nothing.’
Dean finished and pushed his plate away, satisfied. He sat back casually and sipped his coffee.
‘I take it you enjoyed that?’
‘It’s the little things, Sammy,’ Dean sighed. His stomach was full and the coffee was hot.
The bell above the diner’s door chimed. After a quick look Sam immediately returned to his coffee but Dean watched the newcomers. A woman in her late twenties was followed by a young boy, who Dean figured was about ten years old.
‘Two hot chocolate’s please, Ruby,’ the woman said as she slipped into a nearby booth. The boy was watching the brothers as he slipped off his pack. He sat down but continued to look back at Dean.
‘Who are they?’ The boy spoke softly, turning back to the woman.
Sam gave Dean a questioning look, but Dean shrugged and shook his head. He gave the woman a curt nod when she looked at him.
‘I don’t know, Kid. Does it matter?’ she said in a hushed tone.
‘Of course,’ he said, as if it should’ve been obvious. ‘We don’t get strangers in Storybrooke. If they’re here then there’s a reason,’ the boy said and turned on Dean. ‘Why are you here?’ he demanded.
Dean spat coffee, taken aback by the boy’s forwardness. ‘Pie,’ he said.
‘Kid, that’s very rude,’ the woman chastised.
‘You don’t understand, Emma. Except for you we’ve never had anyone new come to town. So why are they here?’
‘Of course strangers come to town. You just haven’t noticed,’ Emma said.
Sam partially turned so he could face the boy and Emma. ‘What’s your name?’
‘Henry.’
‘We’re just passing through, Henry,’ Sam said in his gentle, dewy eyed way. Dean loved it when Sam did that. Even the hardest interviewees couldn’t resist those eyes. It never failed and Sam generally got the answers the brothers needed.
‘You won’t be going anywhere. No-body leaves town. If they try then bad things happen,’ Henry said. Dean could see the kid really believed it.
Sam straightened up. ‘What do you mean?’
‘Sorry,’ Emma sighed. ‘The Kid has this thing. He thinks the town is cursed. Don’t worry about it.’
‘Cursed?’ Dean and Sam exchanged curious glances. ‘What type of curse?’
‘Seriously guys, don’t worry about it,’ Emma said.
‘I take it you don’t believe it?’ Dean asked Emma.
‘Of course not,’ Emma said.
‘That’s because she’s the hero. Hero’s never believe it straight away or there’d be no story,’ Henry said with a casual shrug.
‘Who cursed the town, Henry?’ Sam asked and Dean knew his brother enough to know he was simply humouring the kid.
‘The Evil Queen.’
‘Henry thinks Storybrooke is filled with fairytale characters. The Evil Queen placed a curse on them and stole all their happy endings,’ Emma said, giving the boy a patient smile.
‘Fairytales, huh? Grimm or Disney?’ Dean asked and Sam smirked.
‘What?’ The boy frowned, looking back at Emma.
‘Nevermind,’ Dean smiled, shaking his head.
‘So, you think this Queen stuck all the fairytale creatures here? In our world?’ Sam asked.
‘Yes. They don’t know who they really are,’ said Henry.
‘I can see why she’d think living here would be a curse,’ Dean scoffed.
‘I r’kon,’ Emma said, her lip lifting in an amused grin. Dean was starting to really like her. She was pretty with long, wavy blonde hair but that’s not what interested him. She had spunk and he figured she could kick some major ass if she needed too.
‘But you haven’t answered my question? Why are you here? You have to be here for a reason. Something brought you here,’ Henry insisted.
‘A car and a road brought us here. Seriously Kid, we have no business here. Just pie,’ Dean said, indicating his empty plate. ‘Which you’d be grateful for if you knew the business we were in,’ he added with a bemused smile.
Sam kicked him under the table and Emma was watching him intently; her expression, both suspicious and full of questions. Dean would have to watch himself around her. Emma was not only sharp, but observant.
Henry frowned, looking from Dean to Sam and back again, searching for something. ‘Wait,’ he suddenly said. ‘I know who you are. You’re the two brothers,’ he exclaimed.
‘What?’ Dean and Sam said together. Dean had a sinking feeling the kid meant their doubles. The reason they were off the grid and staying away from any place with a camera. Sam and Dean had made the FBI most wanted list.
‘I think you’ve mixed us up with someone else, Kid,’ Sam said, quickly. ‘We should go,’ he nodded at Dean and started to get up.
‘No, that’s it. The two brothers,’ Henry cried. He pulled a big book from his bag. It was dark brown, with a hand-stitched binding and aged stained paper.
Sam sat back down, staring at the book and giving Dean a ‘that’s not good’ look.
Henry opened it. ‘I knew it. It’s all here,’ he said, tapping the page. ‘Two brothers go out to seek their fortune. They discover a castle, deep in the woods and everyone inside was cursed, left in a deep sleep for hundreds of years. The brothers break the curse and marry the two youngest princesses.’ Henry said, clearly pleased with himself.
‘Disney,’ Dean mutters and Sam let out a quick snort. ‘Fantastic, so even in a damn fairytale we have to save the world,’ said Dean, bitterly.
***
Dean awoke with a start, Sam having punched him in the arm, hard. ‘What?’ Dean asked, rubbing his now bruising arm.
‘The car just died,’ said Sam, demonstrating by turning the key and nothing happened.
‘What the...?’ Dean climbed from the car, somewhat groggy. ‘Pop the hood,’ he ordered.
‘Everything looks fine,’ he said, inspecting the engine. ‘I can’t see why it stopped. Try it again.’
Sam did but still nothing happened.
‘Son of a bitch,’ Dean cried, turning to look up and down the road. He kicked the car tyre. ‘Damn it.’
‘Yes, especially since we’re like five miles from Storybrooke,’ said Sam.
‘You’re kidding? So I’ve had what, fifteen minutes sleep?’
‘If that, but do you know what’s even more interesting?’ said Sam and Dean turned to see what he was talking about.
A few feet away was a street sign and Dean read it aloud. ‘You are now leaving Storybrooke. Yeah, so?’ he asked, not seeing the significance.
‘We’re right on the town limits.’
‘What’s that got to do with anything?’ Dean asked, frustrated and too tired to process the possible meanings.
‘The kid said we can’t leave Storybrooke and we’ve just happened to breakdown on the edge of the town.’ Sam waved a hand at the sign.
‘Don’t be stupid. It’s just a coincidence.’
‘Dude, Seriously? When is anything just a coincidence for us?’ Sam raised an eyebrow.
‘True,’ Dean acknowledged. He looked around. There was nothing but thick forest on either side of the road. He shuddered. ‘Creepy.’ He pulled out his whisky flask from his jacket pocket and drank.
Sam let out a short laugh. ‘Yeah, when is a deep, dark forest ever a good thing?’
‘For us anyway.’ Dean closed the hood and walked to the back of the car. He pulled his bag from the trunk. ‘I guess we start walking.’
***
Dean and Sam reached town a few hours later, irritable, tired and thirsty. Sam, having gone into the small grocery store, returned to sit in the gutter where Dean was waiting.
‘Did you notice we didn’t see a single car on the hike back?’ Sam commented, handing Dean a bottle of water. ‘In either direction?’
Dean drank greedily, wiped his mouth and said, ‘Yeah, I was trying to think of a suitable explanation.’ He replaced the cap on the empty bottle.
‘What did you come up with?’ Sam asked, in between sips of water.
‘Nah, I got nothing.’ Dean shrugged. He spotted Emma walking out of the Sherriff’s office. Dean hit Sam to get his attention.
‘Hey, Emma,’ Sam called and she turned, saw them and came over.
‘I thought you guys left hours ago?’ Emma said, sitting down beside Sam.
‘So did we,’ Dean muttered.
‘Our car broke down,’ Sam explained.
‘Cars have a habit of doing that around here,’ Emma said. ‘I’ve hiked back a few times myself.’
‘You don’t find that odd?’ Sam questioned.
‘I guess. But what can I say? It’s not like it’s because of some fairytale curse or something,’ she laughed.
‘I suppose not,’ Sam replied.
Dean knew the look on Sam’s face well. Sam was hashing the problem out in his oversized head. There had to be an explanation and Sam wouldn’t rest until he’d found it. Dean laughed at his brother, which earned him puzzled looks from both Sam and Emma. He waved them off. ‘Are you a cop?’ he asked, lifting his chin towards the Sherriff’s office where he’d seen Emma come from.
‘Not until Monday,’ Emma said. ‘I just got offered the deputy position.’
Dean raised an eyebrow.
‘Someone has to do it and I need the cash,’ she said with a shrug.
‘It looks like we’ll be staying after-all. Do you know where we can get a room?’ Sam asked.
‘There’s a B&B with a few rooms around the corner or you can head over to the Manor,’ ‘The Manor sounds a bit rich for us,’ Dean said, tapping his pocket.
Emma laughed. ‘Trust me, it’s not that glamorous. But it’s private, which I get the impression you boy’s like.’
‘See, you’re going to be a great law-woman,’ Dean said and Emma rolled her eyes.
‘Head two blocks that way,’ Emma pointed up the street, ‘turn left and follow the road. You’ll find the place.’
***
‘We’ve squatted in better places than this,’ Dean groaned, looking up at the Manor. It was a run down, turn of the century manor house that, although in a sorry state, looked at least structurally sound.
‘Come on, princess,’ Sam said and climbed the stairs.
‘We have standards you know,’ Dean cried but Sam ignored him.
Inside, the foyer was dark, the decor outdated and there was a heavy smell of damp and dust. Dean screwed his nose up, in distaste, as he went to the unmanned counter.
‘Where is everyone?’ he said, hitting the bell on the counter. No-one appeared and the place was deathly silent.
‘This isn’t good,’ said Sam and the pair dropped their bags, moving around the counter. ‘Hello?’ he called, moving towards the office door.
He peered inside. ‘Dean,’ he cried out in alarm and ran in to the room.
Dean rushed after him. In the room, Sam was checking the pulses of two women lying on the carpeted floor.
‘Their alive,’ Sam said.
‘What the hell happened? It looks like they just dropped where they were standing,’ Dean remarked as he surveyed the room.
Sam was shaking one of the women gently but she didn’t stir. ‘What the...?’ he muttered and got to his feet. ‘Witches maybe?’
‘But where’s the ick? Witches usually leave ick?’ Dean shuddered at the thought. He really hated witches.
Sam nodded agreement. ‘Check for hex bags,’ he suggested.
They checked everywhere but found nothing.
‘So not witches. A cursed object?’ Dean looked at Sam.
‘Curse,’ Sam said, a strange expression on his face. ‘Didn’t the kid say something about the two brothers having to restore a castle full of sleeping people?’
‘Seriously?’ Dean scoffed, looking around for actual evidence of what could have happened.
‘I’m just saying. A bit of a coincidence don’t you think? We can’t leave town and now we’ve found a manor with two people we can’t wake.’
‘Not exactly a castle though is it?’ Dean said.
‘Close enough.’ Sam waved a hand indicating the house around them.
‘Awesome,’ Dean said, sarcastically.
‘We better check the rest of the house. If it’s really a curse then we’ll probably find more sleeping beauties,’ Sam said moving towards the door.
Dean looked at the two women on the floor. Both were in their late forties, plump and dressed like grandmothers. ‘Beauties?’ Dean snorted.
The brothers found six more victims in different parts of the house.
‘We better call it in,’ Sam pulled out his phone as they returned to the foyer.
‘Hey, ask the Sherriff if he knows Emma’s phone number,’ Dean said.
‘Why?’
‘We need to speak to that kid.’
***
Dean and Sam were sitting on the steps when Emma arrived. ‘What happened?’ she asked, trying to peer inside but her view was blocked by an officer manning the door.
‘We found a castle,’ Dean said, dryly. He ran his hands through his hair. He was exhausted and everything was becoming a bit too weird, even for him.
‘We got here and found everyone inside passed out on the floor,’ Sam said.
‘What?’ Emma asked, her arms folded tight against her chest.
‘The paramedics were saying it could’ve been a gas leak but they’ve checked the place and can’t find any evidence of a leak. Now the theory is a mass coma,’ Sam told her.
Dean flicked an annoyed glance at a waiting ambulance. ‘Idiots,’ he sneered.
‘What other explanation could they have, Dean?’ Sam said. ‘They don’t know the things we do.’
‘Whatever. There’s no excuse for being stupid,’ Dean spat. He looked up at Emma. ‘We need to talk to your kid.’
‘What? Why?’ Emma asked.
‘I think you mean my kid?’ said a woman walking up the path towards them. She was in her early thirties, dressed professionally with short black hair framing her face.
‘Madam Mayor,’ Emma said, in way of greeting. She didn’t look too happy to see the other woman.
‘Ms Swan,’ the Mayor said and turned to the brothers. ‘I’m Regina Mills, Mayor of Storybrooke.’
‘Mayor Mills, this is Sam and Dean,’ Emma said. ‘They found the victims.’
‘What do you want with my son?’ Mayor Mills asked, her tone suggesting she was used to people doing what she wanted.
‘Your son? I thought he was...’ Dean looked at Emma who said nothing, facing away.
‘Ms Swan merely gave birth to him. I am his mother. What do you want with my son?’
‘No particular reason, we just wanted to chat with him,’ Dean said.
‘I can’t see what you would want to discuss with a ten year old?’ Mayor Mills said. It was a question. She stood, waiting for a response. When none came Dean could see her barely concealed anger seething just below the surface.
‘Thank you for your assistance gentleman. I hope you have enjoyed your stay. Good day to you,’ she said, again waiting. She was dismissing them.
Dean grinned and got to his feet. ‘Let’s go Sammy,’ he said, amused.
Emma followed the brothers. The three of them walked towards the town centre.
Dean looked back at the Mayor, who was watching them, furious. ‘What a bitch!’ Dean declared.
Emma nodded. ‘The Evil Queen.’
‘What? The kid thinks his own mother, well adoptive mother, is the Evil Queen?’ Sam gasped.
‘That’s messed up,’ Dean stated, pulling his flask out. He slowly unscrewed the lid. ‘She’s used to being feared and obeyed isn’t she?’ He drank.
‘That’s an understatement,’ Emma sighed. ‘Everyone’s terrified of her.’
‘I bet you’re not,’ Dean said, admiringly.
Emma let out a quick laugh. ‘Um, no. We’ve had our clashes though.’
‘I can imagine,’ Sam said. ‘It must be hard for Henry?’
‘Listen. Henry’s a bit mixed up. He’s created this fantasy to help him cope. I go along with it for his sake.’
‘Actually, speaking of his little fantasy, do you know where we can find him?’ Sam asked.
‘Why?’
‘You won’t believe us,’ Dean said, sipping from his flask again.
‘Try me. I have a radar for bullshit. If you’re lying, I’ll know,’ she said.
Dean offered her the flask. ‘Fair enough,’ he said as she took it.
Emma had a drink and handed it back. ‘Thanks,’ she said.
‘We just want to hear that story Henry thinks we’re in,’ Sam said.
‘Why? What’s it got to do with anything?’
‘We don’t know, that’s why we have to speak with Henry,’ Sam said.
‘He told us we can’t leave town and it so happens, we can’t. He also said we were going to find a castle full of sleeping people. I figured we best hear what he has to say,’ Dean said.
‘That’s just crazy.’ Emma tucked her thumbs in to the back pockets of her jeans.
‘Dean and I deal with some crazy stuff. This is a little weird, even for us, but not completely unbelievable,’ Sam smiled.
Emma looked at them in disbelief. ‘Really?’
‘You have no idea,’ Dean replied. ‘Listen, I go with my gut and my instinct tells me I need to talk with the kid. So are you going tell us where we can find him or not?’
‘I don’t see how Henry can help you,’ Emma said. ‘But, I guess I know where he might be.’
***
‘He calls it his castle,’ Emma said, leading Sam and Dean towards Henry who sat on the edge of a wooden climbing frame. The playground overlooked the beach and the calm waters of the ocean. The sea was a grey reflection of the overcast sky and a slight wind rolled off the water.
‘Not so easy to leave town is it?’ Henry gave Dean a smug smile. ‘I told you,’ he added as Emma climbed up to sit beside him.
‘You sure did, Kid,’ Dean said.
‘We also found your castle full of sleeping people too,’ Sam told him.
‘You did?’ Henry said and seemed to be both pleased, yet concerned. His internal battle was written all over his face.
‘The patients are on the way to the hospital. The doctors will look after them now,’ said Sam. ‘But my brother and I figured we better come talk with you about what you think happened.’
‘It’s a curse.’
‘Yes, we think that too,’ said Sam, gently.
‘You believe me?’
‘Kid, trust me, this isn’t that strange for us,’ Dean said.
‘So Henry, you said this morning Dean and I were in your book. Maybe you should tell us the story,’ Sam suggested, speaking in his gentle, reassuring tone.
Henry looked at Sam and then Dean, seemingly satisfied by what he saw he pulled out the book and opened it to the page he’d shown them earlier. ‘Ok. It goes like this. Once upon a time there were two brothers who set out to seek their fortune. One day they came across a castle, deep in the forest. An Evil Witch had placed a curse on the castle and all who lived there. To free the castle the brothers had to pass three challenges. They had to collect a thousand pearls from the forest, retrieve a key from the bottom of the lake and pick out the youngest princess even though all the sisters looked alike.’ Henry looked up to see if they were listening.
‘Go on, Henry,’ Sam encouraged the boy.
‘As the brothers travelled through the forest they found an ant hill being attacked by children. The brothers chased the children away and saved the ant hill. They continued on their journey and discovered three ducks caught in a fishing net and freed them. Some days later the brothers saved a beehive from a bear.
The brothers were losing hope of finding the objects they needed when suddenly the ants came to them, grateful for their help the ants had collected the pearls from the forest floor. Next the ducks came, having retrieved the key from the bottom of the lake. The brothers returned to the castle. Inside, a single bee was hovering above the bed of one of the sleeping princesses. It was the youngest. The curse was broken and so happy were the people of the castle the two princesses married the two brothers,’ Henry finished, closing the book and looking up.
‘I’m sorry, Henry but I can’t see how we can break the curse. Those challenges are only possible in fairytales, not here in the real world,’ Sam said.
‘This is what happened in the Enchanted Forest,’ Henry said. ‘Over here it may be slightly different but the end result is the same. You need to find a thousand pearls, retrieve a key from the lake and pick out the youngest princess.’
‘Completely do-able!’ said Dean.
***
Sam and Dean sat on a park bench, staring out at the ocean. Neither one speaking as each tried to process their predicament.
‘Seriously? Fairytales?’ Dean burst out, throwing his arms up. ‘Are we really considering this kid’s curse theory?’
‘What choice do we have?’ Sam replied, his expression one of intense pondering. ‘We’re clearly trapped here and I think we will be until we break the curse,’ Sam added. ‘I have no idea how we break the curse since the clues we have are only possible in the other realm.’
‘Other realm,’ Dean scoffed.
‘Look, as strange as this is, we still have victims. Those people from the Manor need help and we can’t leave without at least trying to find a way of doing that,’ Sam pointed out.
‘Maybe we should just gank the Mayor.’
‘The Mayor? Why?’ Sam asked, taken aback.
‘If the Mayor is the Evil Queen, all we have to do is kill her and the curse will be broken. Problem solved.’ said Dean.
‘We can’t kill the Mayor, Dean. We don’t kill humans.’
‘We kill evil and I know evil and that woman had it radiating off her.’
‘We’re not ganking the Mayor, Dean.’ Sam said fiercely and they both laughed.
‘When is it ever that easy anyway?’ Dean acknowledged, somewhat grudgingly. It was never that easy. ‘Fairytales usually make you all soft and gooey, Sammy. What do you suggest we do?’
Sam gave him a reproachful look. ‘Try and work out what the clues could be here in the real world. The kid might have issues but I think he was telling the truth.’ Sam turned on the bench to face Dean. ‘I’ve given it some thought and I think the kid’s book is the actual cursed object. To be honest, I think this whole thing is just one kid’s interpretation of an actual dark curse but he’s mixed it up with fairytales. Maybe the book isn’t even about fairytales; it simply turned in to that because the boy believed it.’
‘You’ve given this way too much thought,’ Dean sighed and glanced at his brother when Sam didn’t respond.
Sam had a distracted look on his face, his head cocked slightly to the side.
‘What is it?’ Dean asked and followed Sam’s line of sight. A young mother, pushing a baby carriage, was walking with five children trailing behind her, single file.
‘Does that look like a line of ants to you?’ Sam asked.
‘I guess. So what?’
‘We save ants and they help us find thousands of pearls in the forest. Challenge one in the curse breaking,’ Sam replied, looking back at Dean.
‘So we follow the ants, save them and get some pearls,’ Dean mocked.
‘Dean, I didn’t create the curse. Forget you’re on a fairytale mission. We save lives and right now people need saving. It’s just a hunch but I have a feeling the ants are represented by children in the real world.’
‘You’re enjoying this way too much,’ Dean groaned.
‘Just keep an eye on the kids, Dean,’ Sam snapped and headed off after them.
‘Yeah, that’s not pervy at all,’ Dean muttered. He jogged to catch up with Sam. ‘This is stupid,’ he said, nodding his head towards the family.
‘I don’t know what else we can do, Dean. This is our only lead,’ Sam said, patiently.
‘Some-one’s going to call the Sherriff,’ Dean said, anxiously looking around as if expecting a cruiser to appear at any minute.
‘What do you suggest we do?’ Sam asked.
‘I don’t friggin’ know, Sammy. But this....’
‘Wait,’ Sam interrupted. ‘Look at that guy, across the street.’
‘So?’ Dean asked, spotting the man in question. ‘Although, he does look kind of creepy,’ he added. The man was unkept, wearing dirty jeans and shirt.
‘He’s watching them. He’s going to a lot of effort to make sure the mother doesn’t see him.’ Sam stopped, turning to Dean ‘I’ll stick with the kids and the mother. You cross the street and stay on him.’
Dean nodded, checked the street and crossed over. He strolled along the footpath, casually looking in the shop windows, occasionally stopping as if spotting something of interest. All the while he had eyes on the perv.
The creep made his move a few minutes later. He pulled something from his jeans pocket and Dean strained to see what it was. Sunlight hit the barrel of a gun.
‘SAM! GUN!’ Dean screamed, running at the man who was beginning to take aim at the mother. Dean slammed into him, taking him down hard to the road and the gun went off.
Dean wrestled the man until he had him pinned, slamming the hand holding the gun onto the blacktop, over and over, until the guy released it. Kicking the gun away, Dean punched the assailant in the face a few times, knocking him out cold. Dean fell off him, breathing heavily.
The woman and her children were screaming hysterically, Sam having them backed into a store doorway. ‘Sammy? You hit?’ Dean called.
‘I’m fine,’ Sam said. ‘Everyone’s fine.’
Dean looked over at the unconscious gunman. ‘Not everyone,’ he smiled.
***
‘Apparently it was her ex-husband,’ Sam told Dean as the pair made their getaway, not wanting to be near the scene when the Sherriff arrived. ‘She was divorcing him.’
‘People are crazy,’ Dean muttered, pulling out his flask. He drank it dry. ‘Refill,’ he said, shaking the empty flask and immediately looking around for a liquor store. ‘Let’s go.’
He waited for Sam to fall in beside him before saying, ‘Well, we saved them. Where are the pearls?’
‘I’m thinking it doesn’t quite work like that,’ Sam said, shoving his hands in his jeans pocket. ‘We don’t need to take the fairytale version so literally. I saw the kids walking single file and it made me think of ants.’
‘How does any of this help us break the curse?’
‘No idea. But apparently now we have to save some ducks who’ll help us find a key at the bottom of a lake. Whatever that translates to in the real world is what we need to be looking for.’
‘Awesome,’ Dean said, bitterly.
‘What is it?’ Sam asked when Dean suddenly stopped.
‘That’s pretty close to being duck related don’t you think?’ Dean smirked. He’d found a liquor store. It was called, George Duckman’s Liquor.
‘Trust you to think the answer would be in a liquor store,’ Sam sighed.
‘What are you talking about? I get a lot of answers from liquor,’ Dean pouted and crossed the street. He nodded greeting to the store attendant and ignored Sam’s disapproving judgment as he scanned the shelves. Dean made his selection and placed the whisky on the counter.
‘Do you smell smoke?’ Sam asked, looking around.
Dean sniffed the air. ‘No.’
‘I can smell smoke,’ Sam said.
‘You sure it’s real?’ Dean asked. He didn’t mean it the way it sounded and was about to apologise when he saw Sam pressing the wound on his palm.
‘Yes, Dean. Not every thought I have is riddled with hell,’ Sam snapped.
Dean held his arms up in surrender. ‘Ease up, I was just asking. Touchy much?’
‘Whatever!’ Sam walked out of the store.
Dean stepped outside. Sam was looking around, still troubled.
‘Where to now?’ Dean asked, refilling his flask. He took a couple of sips before putting it away.
Sam didn’t respond. Dean’s heart skipped a beat. He was forever on guard, waiting for the moment Sam finally succumbed and fell in to a coma or became a drooling empty shell. It could happen at any time and Dean’s stomach knotted each time he saw that zoned out expression on his brother’s face.
The relief was overwhelming when he saw the light come back on in Sam’s eyes. Sam shook it off and faced Dean. ‘I’m okay,’ he said.
A scream pierced the relatively quiet afternoon. The brothers spun, searching and finding three teenagers leaning out of an apartment window above the liquor store. Black smoke billowed around the terrified teens.
Sam gave Dean a quick ‘I told you so’ look.
‘Sorry,’ Dean said and ran inside the store. The brothers found the stairs at the back of the shop and scaled them without hesitation. Thick, black smoke filled the small windowless hallway at the top. Flames were crawling across the ceiling.
Dean pulled his shirt up to cover his mouth and nose. He bent slightly to stay away from the flames, using an arm to shield his face from the heat. ‘Sammy?’ Dean called over the roar of the fire.
‘I’m here,’ Sam replied and Dean ran through the smoke to the end of the hall. He was coughing hard by the time he reached the door at the end. He could hear Sam’s strangled coughs behind him. Dean struggled to kick open the door. He kicked it again and it flew open, the wooden frame splintering.
He rushed forward, finding it near impossible to see more than a few feet. Using the teens screams as a guide Dean moved through the room. He made it to one of the windows and leaned out, sucking in a lung full of fresh air. He stayed there until Sam was beside him.
Dean climbed out on to the ledge and inched his way to the kids who were leaning out dangerously too far, desperate to escape the smoke. ‘Come on,’ he urged them. ‘It’s ok. Just keep your back to the wall and shuffle down to the end,’ he said firmly. The teens were terrified and hesitated but Sam started pushing them from behind to give them no other option but to go out the window.
Sam came out last and Dean ushered the teenagers along the ledge away from the choking smoke. There was no way down. The ledge stopped at the side of the building. Dean looked up. He and Sam could have climbed on to the roof but the kids were barely standing and wouldn’t have the upper body strength needed.
Sam got down on his stomach, flipped his legs over the edge and lowered himself down. Hanging from the ledge, he let go and dropped to the ground. ‘Ok, start lowering them down,’ he called.
The closest teen was a young girl. ‘I’m going to lower you down. My brother’s there and will catch you, ok?’ Dean said, gently. The girl nodded weakly.
Dean helped her sit down on the ledge. He did the same. ‘Give me your hands,’ he said. Bracing himself he took her hands, gripping them tight and eased her down.
‘Ready, Sam?’ he called.
‘Go,’ Sam replied and Dean released her.
Having seen it done the two remaining teenagers, both boys, went down easily and Dean followed. Sam moved the kids to the other side of the street. Dean began to walk over when the day was filled with a loud explosion which shook the ground under his feet. A wall of heat shoved Dean from behind, sending him flying forward.
***
Dean slowly opened his eyes and his vision took a moment to clear. He lay very still. There was a numbness to his body he was all too familiar with. It meant the pain was coming. He dared not move.
‘Dean?’Sam cried, his voice faint. ‘Dean? Can you hear me?’
Some-one grabbed his wrist and the pain came, an explosion felt in every nerve ending throughout his body. Dean moaned. He scowled at the nurse gripping his wrist, checking his vitals. Bitch.
‘Dean?’ Sam called again. Dean, very carefully, turned to face him. Relief washed over Sam’s strained features. ‘Thank God! How are you feeling?’
Dean tried to talk but his mouth was bone dry. Sam brought a cup up to his mouth, guiding the straw to his parched lips. Dean sipped it slowly. ‘Thanks,’ he managed to choke out. He scanned the hospital ward. There were approximately ten beds lined up around the large room.
He tried to sit up, regretting the action immediately.
‘Easy,’ Sam warned, gently helping Dean to sit up, stuffing pillows behind him for support. ‘You’ve got a few broken ribs,’
‘So, the usual then?’ Dean said with a wry smile.
Sam grinned. ‘So glad you’re ok man, you had me worried.’
‘How long have I been out?’ Dean asked, flinching as pain stabbed at him.
‘Three days,’ Sam said, pulling up a chair. He tossed aside the blanket and pillow that were draped over the arm. There was a various assortment of food containers and takeaway coffee cups on the table and floor.
‘You’ve been sitting there the whole time?’ Dean remarked, indicating the armchair.
‘Pretty much!’ Sam waved him off. ‘Up until last night the doctors didn’t think you’d make it. You were in bad shape and to be honest, I don’t know how you’re alright. When the store exploded I watched as you were completely consumed by flames. I thought you were dead for sure.’
Dean looked down at his arms. He had a few scratches but there were no burns.
‘Exactly, why aren’t you charcoal?’ Sam said after watching Dean’s self inspection.
Dean shrugged. ‘I am God’s favourite plaything,’ he said, half joking.
‘You decided to rejoin us,’ Emma smiled, approaching the bed. Henry was with her.
‘Got a curse to break,’ Dean gave Henry a wink and noted the amused expressions Sam and Emma exchanged. ‘What?’ he asked.
‘Sorry, Dude but we broke the curse without you,’ Sam said.
‘What? How?’
‘Well, umm, after the explosion, the doctor’s were saying you wouldn’t make it through the night. As you can imagine, I wasn’t very pleasant to be around,’ Sam said, looking a little ashamed of himself. ‘I was wandering around the hospital garden when I noticed the gardener placing a ladder against a tree. There was giant beehive and the gardener was about to spray it. I made him stop.’
‘He beat the shit out of him,’ Emma chuckled. ‘If you weren’t both hero’s he’d be in lockup right now.’
‘Anyway,’ Sam said, giving Emma a warning glare. ‘Henry made the Mayor declare it unlawful to destroy the beehive.’
‘She wasn’t happy about it,’ Emma smiled down at the boy. Henry seemed quite pleased with himself. ‘And, due to community pressure, Mayor Mills was forced to present you and Sam with a key to the city.’
Sam picked something from off the bedside table and handed it to Dean. It was a get well card. Dean opened it. There was a childish, hand drawn picture of a forest, ants and lots of large pearls on the ground.
‘The mother came in to visit you. Her kids drew it to thank you for saving their mum,’ Emma said.
‘This meant we had the pearls,’ Sam pointed to the card, ‘and the Mayor gave us a key for saving the kid’s from Duckman’s liquor.’
‘Leaving only one more challenge to go,’ Henry said, eagerly.
‘Yesterday, a nurse doing her rounds happened to mention a bee hovering around the patients. Sam went looking for it and found it lingering over one patient in particular,’ Emma added.
‘Apparently, three sisters manage the Manor. Identical triplets,’ said Sam. ‘The bee was hovering over one of them so I assumed she was the youngest.’
‘That’s when all the coma patients woke up,’ said Henry, barely containing his excitement.
***
Dean carefully lowered himself in to the passenger seat of the Dodge. His entire body screamed in pain. He settled back until he was in a comfortable position.
‘I bet you’ll be happy to see the back of this place,’ Emma said, kneeling down by the open car door.
‘I feel bad leaving without ganking Mayor Mills for you,’ he smiled, weakly.
‘Don’t worry about it. I can handle her,’ Emma said. ‘Besides, Henry thinks killing her won’t break the curse. Apparently, only I can do that.’
‘Ready?’ Sam asked as he climbed in to the driver’s seat.
‘Let’s hit the road,’ Dean said and waved at Emma as they pulled away.
‘I like her. She’s got spunk,’ Dean said. ‘What’s up?’ he asked, noticing Sam’s troubled, left a stone unturned, pensive frown.
‘I still think we should’ve burned Henry’s book,’ Sam said.
‘He’d hidden it and unless we explained all about real dark curses, which I wasn’t doing to a ten year old, he wasn’t going to give it up,’ Dean replied.
‘I guess. But, technically we’re leaving a cursed object in the hands of a kid.’
‘Nah, I don’t think it works like our kind of curses,’ Dean said.
Sam glanced at him. ‘What makes you say that?’
‘No-one died,’ Dean said, simply.
‘Sorry, you’ve lost me,’ Sam said.
‘If that curse on the Manor house was a real dark curse those people would’ve been in a worse state than merely sleeping. A horrible, painful and gruesome death is more our thing,’ said Dean, sounding a little detached, even to himself. ‘That mother or her ex-husband would’ve died in some freakish way and for sure someone would have died in that store explosion.’
Sam seemed to be giving it some thought. ‘You have a point,’ he said.
‘Of course I do,’ said Dean, taking a drink from his flask and relishing the feel of the amber liquid warming his body and easing his aches. ‘To be honest Sam, the lack of death makes me think this wasn’t real evil. It was a little too Disney to be our kind of thing.’
‘But you almost died,’ Sam said.
‘The rules don’t apply to us. We’ve died and come back so many times we’ve lost count.’
‘So, Mayor Mills is really the Evil Queen and Emma is the child of Snow White and Prince Charming?’ Sam was trying hard to keep a straight face.
‘No idea, but good for them if they are,’ Dean said.
‘What?’ Sam gave him the ‘are you nuts?’ look.
‘If the worst kind of evil that town sees is the devious plotting of a Disney fairytale queen then I’m happy for them. Can you imagine Leviathans in Storybrooke?’Dean settled in to the seat, closing his eyes. ‘That would’ve been a completely different story.’
The two brothers passed the - you are leaving Storybrooke-sign without issue and lived happily ever after.....not!!!!