Chapter Text
After the four returned from the Hell gate, Olivia insisted they do something for Sam’s birthday, which happened while he was ‘injured’ a few days prior. Olivia knew something was wrong, still, everyone was far too downtrodden and upset as pie and drinks were passed around the table.
Afterwards, they had to deal with, quite literally, The Seven Deadly Sins. It was a somewhat easy job, the siblings taking off after all was said and done.
Now, Dean had Olivia’s hand in his, heading toward a diner Sam was meeting them in.
Dean had been extra-clingy to Olivia ever since the Hell gate. She didn’t know why, but she wasn’t exactly complaining.
“There’s Sammy!” Olivia cheered, pointing to a near-frantic looking Sam through the diner window.
“Sure is, Liv.” Dean smiled, walking up to knock on the window, waving the papers in his free hand. He gently tugged Olivia to the door, walking over to the table as Sam quickly hung up his phone.
“Hey. Who was that?” Dean asked, Olivia and Dean crawling into the bench across from Sam.
“Ah, I was just ordering pizza.” Sam clearly lied.
Dean looked around. “Dude, you do realize that you're in a restaurant?”
“Yeah. Yeah. Oh, yeah. I ... just felt like pizza, you know?” Sam gave a tight lipped smile, eyes flickering between the two.
“O-kay, Weirdy Mcweirderton.” Dean cleared his throat. “So, I think I got something.”
“Yeah?”
“Cicero, Indiana. Falls on his own power saw.” Dean moved some of the papers over to Sam for him to read.
“And? What, that's it? One power saw?”
“Well... yeah.” Dean shrugged.
“And you think that this is a case?”
“Well, I don't know. Could be.”
“I don't know, Dean. I – I –” Sam rubbed his forehead.
“All right, there's something better ... better in Cicero than just a case.”
“And that is?”
“Lisa Braeden.” Dean gave Sam a smirk.
Sam sighed. “Should I even ask?”
“Remember that road trip I took, uh... gosh, about eight years ago now? You were in Orlando with Dad wrapping up that banshee thing.”
“That’s how old I am!” Olivia crowed to herself, Dean reaching down to mess with her hair.
“Yeah. Yeah, the five states, five-day –” Sam nodded, smiling at Olivia.
Dean laughed. “Yeah. Well, kind of. Although I spent most of my time in Lisa Braeden's loft.”
“So let me get this straight. You want – you want to drive all the way to Cicero just to hook up with some random chick?”
“She was a yoga teacher. It was the bendiest weekend of my life. Come on. Have a heart, huh?” Dean put his hands over Olivia’s ears, speaking quieter.
Sam whispered back, Olivia looking between the two, again wishing she was better at reading lips.
Dean moved his hands. “As many as I can squeeze out. Come on. Smile, Sam! God knows I'm gonna be smiling after 24 hours with Gumby girl.”
Both brothers laughed, Olivia trying to figure out why that was so funny.
“Gumby girl.” Dean frowned. “Does that make me Pokey?”
Olivia just shrugged.
The siblings drove to Cicero, clearly whatever Olivia hadn’t heard got Sam to agree. Dean pulled up outside of a motel, letting Sam and Olivia get out with their stuff.
“Don’t wait up, Sammy!” Dean smiled and blew a kiss to Olivia, driving away, leaving Sam and Olivia behind.
“Why’s D so excited?” Olivia asked, adjusting her backpack strap.
“Uh…don’t worry about it, bug. C’mon, let’s get a room.”
Once they’d set up their bags in their room, Sam carted Olivia over to the diner, connected to the motel.
Walking in, Olivia gasped, grasping at his shirt. “Sammy, they have pinball! Can I go play?”
“Uh, food first, bug. Then, maybe.” He tugged her back, before she could dash off.
He got her to eat at least half of her food, before caving, handing her a few quarters before she ran to the machine in the corner. Keeping an eye on her, he moved their plates, hauling out his laptop and notepad. He refused to tell Olivia what he was working on, they weren’t even officially on a case right now, but he was focused .
Olivia, eyes set on the game, could see a blonde woman sit across from Sam, closing his laptop for him. The two talked for a little while before she just…got up and left again. Olivia thought she saw her grab Sam’s hand, writing something on it before she left.
Olivia could guess what it was, she’d seen that happen to Dean a fair few times, though typically at bars.
The diner was quiet enough she heard Sam’s phone ring across the room, turning to see him answer as her game ended. He talked on the line for a minute, before waving Olivia over.
“That is weird.” He said, waving down a waitress for boxes. “Alright, uh, see you when you get back, yeah?” He hung up, sliding his research things away before Olivia could attempt to read them.
“Was that Dean?”
“Yeah, apparently there is a job here; buncha people that live in Lisa’s gated community have died, all weird, just haven’t made the paper.” Sam grabbed up all his things, waiting for Olivia to box the food to stand.
They’d made a fair amount of headway by the time Dean returned, deaths written out on sticky notes from obituaries Sam’d found.
Olivia was relegated to her math homework. She’d been promoted to multiplication, as Sam had put it.
It felt like a punishment.
The brothers did some more research, figuring out a plan with Olivia’s occasional input to go interview the families the next day.
“Liv, you’re with me.” Dean decided, pointing at her with a finger gun.
“Dean, I don’t-”
“C’mon, she can interview the kids, right?” Dean jostled Sam, grinning despite Olivia’s smile dimming. “Gotta start somewhere, eh?”
Something in Dean’s face made Sam hesitate, before giving in with a sigh. “Fine, fine.”
“Thatta boy, Sammy.” Dean clapped Sam on the shoulder. “Alright, babygirl, where’s that English work?”
Olivia’s grin fell once more.
Sam went alone to the house where a man had fallen from a ladder, Dean and Olivia to a house where another man had drowned in his own jacuzzi. Dean went to talk to the wife, after explaining it was take-your-kid-to-work-day, sending her off to find the kid.
“Hi, I’m Liv.” She greeted.
The kid was standing up on the stairs, staring down at her. They didn’t really have an expression, face very blank. There was something dark under their hand, staining the railing.
Olivia took a few careful steps up the stairs, unsure what was going on. “I, uh, I heard about your dad…it sucks.”
The kid still didn’t say anything, still just staring .
“My…my dad’s dead too. It was a car accident, about a year ago.” Olivia stopped, a few steps below where the kid was standing.
“I thought your daddy was talking to my mommy?” The kid asked, voice very monotone.
“Oh, no, that’s my brother. But he takes care of me, so…”
“Where’s your mommy?” The kid tilted their head, hair falling to the side.
“She’s, uh…I don’t know.” Olivia’s shoulders dropped, eyes staring at the railing under hand, rather than the kid. “She left a long time ago.” She shook her head, getting the thoughts out of her head. “But I have my brothers, and they’re better than parents.” She looked back up at the kid, plastering a smile on her face.
The kid stared at her, as if confused, then wrinkled their nose. “Why do you smell like-”
“Liv, you ready to go?” Dean called, coming back through from the backyard with the mom.
“Yeah!” She called back, looking over her shoulder to respond, before turning back. “Sorry, you were saying-”
“You should leave.” The kid turned, going upstairs.
Olivia watched with a hum, looking back at the railing where their hand had been. The stain was dark red, not too dissimilar from blood, but she couldn’t be sure.
“Liv! Are you coming?” Dean called again.
“Coming!” She spun on her heel, hurrying down the stairs and after Dean, waving to the mother as they left.
They walked to another house, Sam also taking two houses, before heading to the car across a park from where they were. Dean pulled Olivia to a stop by her hand, holding his, noticing a kid sitting on a bench, looking down. He pulled her over, the two sitting next to him.
“Hey, Ben.” Dean greeted, the kid looking up through squinted eyes at the sun.
“Hey, you were at my party.”
“Yeah. Yeah, I’m Dean. This is my kid sister, Olivia. I think you two are the same age, actually.” He trailed off, looking between the two with a weird look on his face.
“Is something wrong?” Olivia asked, ignoring Dean’s weird reaction.
Dean snapped out of whatever whirlpool his brain went in, looking down at Ben’s hands, holding an empty game case. He followed Ben’s gaze to see four boys playing a Gameboy. “Is that your game they’re playing with?”
“Ryan Humphrey borrowed it, and now he won’t give it back.” Ben explained.
“Well, you want me to go-?”
“No!” Ben startled at Dean’s suggestion. “Don’t go over there. Only bitches send a grown-up.”
Olivia let out a laugh, startled and loud. This kid was who she wanted to talk to, not that weirdo from earlier who said she smelled.
“You’re not wrong.” Dean smiled.
“And I am not a bitch.” Ben insisted.
“Is that Humphrey? The one that needs to lay off the burgers?” Dean gestured.
Ben nodded, with a small smile.
Dean hummed, thinking. “Alright, here’s what you’re gonna do.” Dean gave him a play-by-play of what to do, sending him off to the group of boys, all decidedly bigger than him. Olivia insisted that it didn't matter, she could kick Dean’s ass if she wanted.
Well.
Sam, at least.
Ben, now at the group, turned back to look at Olivia and Dean. Dean gave him a thumbs up, Olivia punching one hand with her other. He turned back talking for a second, turning around while Ryan seemed to make fun of him.
Then, Ben spun around, kicking Ryan hard in the groin. Ryan crumpled to the ground and Ben took his Gameboy back, running back as Olivia cheered and Dean grinned.
“Thanks! Dude, that was awesome!” Ben cheered, giving Dean and Olivia high-fives.
A woman, who looked a bit like Ben, stormed over to them. “Benjamin. Isaac. Braeden! What’s gotten into you?!”
“He stole my game.” Ben told her, Olivia nodding behind him.
“So you kick him? Since when is-” She stopped, noticing Olivia and Dean. “Did you tell my son to beat up that kid?” She asked Dean.
“What? Somebody had to teach him how to kick the bully in the nads.” Dean shrugged.
“Who asked you to teach him anything?” She shot back.
“Just relax.”
Olivia and Ben stood back, watching them go back and forth like a tennis game.
“What are you even still doing here? We had one weekend together a million years ago. You don’t know me. And you have no business with my son.” She reached down, took Ben’s arm and pulled him away to leave.
“Lisa!” Dean called.
“Just leave us alone.” The woman, Lisa, glared, trying to leave.
Ben, however, pulled away and ran back to give Dean a hug.
“Ben!” Lisa called.
“Thanks.” Ben ignored her, pulling back to give Olivia a fistbump before running back to his mom.
“That’s Gumby-Lisa?” Olivia asked, the two watching them leave.
“I…yeah, Liv.” Dean sighed, knowing the concept was already cemented in her brain. He looked away to get her hand, noticing three kids watching them with creepy stares. “C’mon, let’s get outta here.”
They got back to the motel room after dark, dinner in bags to share with Sam.
“Something’s wrong with the kids in this town.” Dean announced, putting the food on a counter.
“Yeah. Tell me about it.” Sam sighed, sitting at the table on his computer. “So, what do you know about changelings?”
“Evil monster babies?” Olivia asked.
“Not necessarily babies, but you’re not completely wrong.”
“They’re kids. Creepy stare-at-you-like-you’re-lunch kids?” Dean realized.
“Yeah. There’s one at every victim’s house.” Sam added, sharing his notes.
Dean and Olivia shared their own notes after talking things through.
“Wait, the Jacuzzi kid said you smelled?” Dean stopped her.
“Well, he said I smelled like…then you called me to leave. I tried to get him to tell me, but he just walked upstairs. There was something red, like, staining the railing where his hand was. Coulda been blood.” Olivia shrugged.
Sam and Dean shared a look, which read to Olivia like they knew something she didn’t and weren’t sharing.
Rude.
Once their information was exchanged, Sam shifted to the bed to work on filling lighters, while Dean prepared a kerosene torch. Olivia squinted at a lore book, trying to read up on changelings.
“So, changelings can perfectly mimic children. According to lore, they climb in the window, snatch the kid. Y'know, there were marks on the windowsill at one of the kid's houses. Looked to me like blood.” Sam noted, giving a half-shrug.
“The changeling grabs a kid, assumes its form, joins the happy fam just for kicks?” Dean asked.
“Not quite. Changelings feed on the mom: synovial fluid. The moms have these odd bruises on the back of their necks. Changelings can drain them for a few weeks before mom finally croaks.”
“But then there's the dad and the babysitter.” Olivia looked up, head starting to hurt and eyes complaining.
“Yeah. Seems like anyone who gets between the changeling and its food source ends up dead, bug.”
Dean held up the torch he was working on. “And fire's the only way to waste them?”
“Yup.” Sam nodded.
“Great. We'll just bust in, drag the kids out, torch them on the front lawn. That'ill play great with the neighbors. What about the real ones? What happens to them?”
“According to lore, they stash them underground somewhere. I don't know why, but if it's true, the real kids might be out there.”
“We better start looking.” Dean took a lighter from Sam, pausing. “So, any kid in the neighborhood is vulnerable?”
“Yep.” Sam agreed.
“We gotta make a stop. I want to check on someone.”
“Well Dean, if the real kids are still alive, we don't have time. We—”
“We have to.” Dean cut him off. “Liv, you’re with us. I don’t trust these freaks to leave you alone.”
Olivia nodded, grabbing her bag, shoving a smoothie inside, despite the dinner she’d eaten earlier.
Dean floored it to Lisa’s house, going up to the door alone. They talked for a few minutes, before Lisa shut the door on him. Dean stood there for a few minutes, looking through the windows before running back to the car.
“They took Ben. He’s changed.”
“What?! Are you sure?” Sam’s eyes bugged.
“Yeah, I’m sure. I checked his windowsill.”
“Blood?” Olivia asked.
“I don’t think it is blood. And I think I know where the kids are.”
Dean drove them to a house still under construction, a large mound of dirt outside, by a For Sale sign. The siblings got out, Dean picking up some dirt and rolling it around in his hand.
“Red dirt. That’s what was on the window.” Sam muttered.
Dean nodded, looking around. “Alright, you take the front. I’ll go around. Liv, stay here. You see kids come out, make sure they’re real. If they are, get them to the car. If not,” He pulled out a can of spray deodorant and lighter. “Fry ‘em”
Olivia nodded, trying to hide her excitement at being able to help.
She stood guard by the car, eyes peeled for anything from the house or the yards and road around behind her. She could hear yelling, see a glow of fire inside, but no bodies yet. Glassbroke, and voices got louder, then kids started running around from the side of the house toward her.
The fear on their faces alone let her know they were the real kids.
“Over here!” She called, waving them over.
They ran to her, gladly hopping in the backseat as she waved them in. Ben was the last kid, Olivia closing the door after him. Sam and Dean came out the front door a few minutes later, with a very tired, older lady with them. She, Sam, Dean and Olivia got in the front, everyone taking a breath.
“Everyone alright?” Dean asked, carefully looking back at the kids.
Everyone nodded, kids breathing hard and the lady put a hand to her chest.
“Alright. Good work, everyone.” He nodded, turning over the engine. He dropped the lady at a local urgent care, Sam helping her walk in before rejoining the car. They dropped the kids at their houses, Ben the last.
As they pulled up to his house, Ben ran out as soon as the car stopped to his mom, coming out the front door.
“Ben?! Ben! Baby, are you okay?” She ducked down, hauling Ben up into a tight hug.
“I’m okay, Mom.” Ben reassured, hugging her back.
“Oh, my God.” She sobbed into Ben’s shoulder. She let him down, turning to Dean, who walked up. “What the hell just happened?” She demanded.
“I’ll explain everything if you want me to, but, trust me, you probably don’t. The important thing is that Ben’s safe.”
“Thank you.” She pulled Dean into a hug. “Thank you.”
“I’m gonna give you guys some time.” Sam nodded, getting back in the car.
Lisa looked down at Ben, smiling. “Come on.”
“Liv! Come on, I gotta show you my CD’s!” Ben grabbed Olivia’s arm, pulling her into the house.
Lisa followed, Dean just behind.
Lisa made them both breakfast sandwiches, sitting them at the table while she and Dean talked in the living room, both adults keeping an eye on their kids. Ben showed Olivia his CD collection, Olivia comparing them to Dean’s cassettes she’d memorized in the car. He moved onto his games and other toys, taking bites between sentences.
Olivia finished her food first, not talking as much as Ben.
“Liv, you about ready?” Dean called, sounding hesitant.
“Yeah.” Olivia replied, about as hesitant. She stood, turning to say goodbye to Ben.
“Here.” He held out the Gameboy Olivia and Dean had helped him get back, games in the case with it.
“What? No, that’s yours!” Olivia insisted.
Ben shrugged. “I’ve got plenty of toys, you’ve just got Dennis.” He held it closer to her. “Take it.”
Olivia slowly reached out, taking the case. “Thanks, Ben.”
“What’re friends for?” He smiled, hand changing to a fistbump once it was empty.
Olivia beamed, bumping back. “Friends.” She agreed, the two going to their adults.
“Hey, um, look, if, um…if you want to stick around for a while…you’re welcome to stay?” Lisa offered the two.
Olivia looked up at Dean, who took a second to reply.
“We can’t. Got a lot of work to do, and…it’s not my life.” Dean eventually said.
Lisa and Dean smiled at each other, Ben and Olivia gave a final wave goodbye, and the siblings left the mother and son in their house. Off on their next hunt.