Chapter Text
“You stole my wallet!”
Rob grabbed the shorter man in a headlock and threw him onto his knees.
“You owe me two hundred dollars!” John objected.
“You lost the bet!”
“I was possessed! It doesn’t count!”
John tried to roll out of his grasp, but only managed to get Rob on his back, with one his long legs wrapped around his waist. John bucked, driving his body into Rob’s, but still he couldn’t get free. He rolled again, throwing him into the coffee table. They knocked off the remote control, hitting the power button and turning on the TV without noticing.
Rob rolled him onto his stomach, and pinned him to the ground. “We can make this quick and painless, John. Just give me the money you stole from me – which you lost fair and square – and I won’t drag your face across the carpet.”
“I didn’t lose! I was possessed!”
John freed one of his arms and elbowed Rob in the side. He broke free and scurried away. He was only able to get as far as the end table before Rob tackled him, knocking over the table and the lamp on top of it.
“What the hell is going on in here?” Dean yelled from the kitchen.
John had managed to hook his arm under Rob’s knee, while locking the other arm around his neck.
Dean pinched a nerve on his son’s arm and twisted if behind his back. With his other hand, he grabbed the back of his neck and pulled him off of the floor.
Rob got to his feet, but Cas stopped him from lunging for him cousin.
“Do not make me repeat myself!” Dean snapped. He let go of John, giving him a shove.
“He lost a bet and stole my wallet!” Rob spat.
“So, you broke my lamp?”
“It gave its life so that others may live.”
Dean snatched Rob’s wallet from John’s back pocket. “How much did he owe you?”
“Two hundred dollars.”
“That’s bullshit! I was under a spell.”
“What was the bet for?” Cas asked.
“I bet that John couldn’t keep it in his pants for twenty-four hours,” Rob said. “And then, while I was sleeping off a sleeping spell, he went and banged the waitress from the diner.”
“You were under a sleeping spell, and I was under a lust spell! Spells make bets null and void.”
“Like hell they do!”
“Hey! Hey,” Dean said, getting in between them. “First off, that was a dick move, Rob. There is no one in our family who can keep it in their pants for four hours, much less twenty-four. Ask Sammy how long his celibacy phase lasted. Second, spells – which I was not told about, by the way – do not count. Third, Robbie, you have no business carrying this much cash on you. There’s at least five hundred dollars in here. And lastly, now there’s only three hundred, because this two hundred right here is going to me, because you idiots broke a very expensive lamp.”
“Yeah, from Wal-Mart,” John spat.
“It had sentimental value, jackass,” Dean retorted. He threw Rob’s wallet back to him, while pocketing the two hundred dollars he took out. “Now, what was this about spells?”
Rob and John both took interest in the walls and carpet.
Cas said a brief command in Enochian, making the boys shiver uncomfortably.
John rolled his eyes. “The witch put under a couple of spells while we were investigating her.”
“And how did she do that?” Dean asked, turning on his son.
John avoided his gaze and shrugged. “Magic?”
Cas tilted his head, his blue eyes send chills down John’s spine. He hated when his dads double-teamed him like that.
“She gave us tea, okay? God, stop staring at me!”
“She gave you tea, and you drank it?” Dean said, his voice growing louder.
“How much did you drink?” Cas asked. Though his voice remained the same volume, the irritation was loud and clear.
John eyed Rob, urging him to contribute. Rob shook his head, and took a step back. Without even looking, Cas reached back and pulled the young man forward and in direct line of the intense gaze crossfire with his cousin.
“A couple of cups,” Rob said, softly.
“How many is that exactly?” Cas asked, standing unnervingly close.
“I – I lost count,” Rob admitted.
“Well, that’s just great,” Dean said. “You could have been drinking poison for all you know!”
“If we did, we wouldn’t be here listening to you yell at us,” John groaned.
Dean whirled around, making John flatten himself against the wall behind him. “You are grounded. Both of you.”
“I’m twenty-one,” Rob objected.
“And?”
Rob shrugged, putting his hands in his pocket, nervously. “Nothing.”
“Now, I want both of you to sit on this couch and watch TV until I get back from the store with a new lamp. Cas, stare at them and make sure they don’t move or touch anything or each other.”
The boys flopped on the couch, while Dean stomped out of the front door.
Cas stood where the end table used to be and stared at the boys, making them both shift uncomfortably. They looked at each other, silently blaming the other for their recent misfortune.
Slouching into the couch cushions, John focused on the television. He groaned, rolling his head back. Of all the channels in all the world for it to be stuck on, it had to be stuck on the news channel.
“More on that this evening,” the anchorman said. “There’s a bit of a commotion off of the coast of Florida this afternoon, after a fishing boat docked with an unidentified fish caught in their nets. Fisherman Charlie Bucket and his crew are claiming that they had seen a real, live mermaid.”
John and Rob exchanged glances. Even Cas had stopped staring at them and turned attention the news report.
“We were just outside of Bermuda,” said the portly man with a captain’s hat, “when we started hearing this fierce wailing noise, like some kind of demon sound, coming out of the water. When we brought up the net, none o’ us could believe what we were seeing! It had a tail like a dolphin, but its top was human!”
“I ran back to my cabin,” a younger man said, “to grab my camera, but when I got back, the damn thing had stabbed Lanny with this weird spear thing and dove back into the water. We got Lanny patched up as best we could, but he was in bad shape when we docked.”
“Lawrence Randell, known as Lanny to his friends, was rushed to the nearest emergency care center where he is currently being treated. His state is currently unknown, and the police are doing a thorough investigation into the matter. Though the police couldn’t find any alcohol on board, they are not ruling it out as a factor. The four men of the crew who are currently under suspicion are continuing to stick by their story of capturing a mermaid.”
“Can we go?” John begged. He hopped on his knees and threw his arms around Cas’s waist, his big blue eyes round with pleading excitement.
“You can’t go anywhere. You’re grounded,” Cas objected.
“Yeah, but Dad always forget after a couple of beers! Please, please, please, can we go to Florida?”
“Why do you want to go to Florida?” Rob sniffed. “It’s July. It’s hot. It’s full of old people and tourists.”
“But, mermaids!” John moaned, squeezing Cas tighter.
“But, you’re grounded.”
“And you burn in the sun.”
“And you’re grounded.”
“You don’t know how to swim.”
“You’re grounded.”
“You’re allergic to shellfish.”
“You’re grounded.”
“You can’t even look at a picture of the ocean without getting seasick.”
“You’re grounded.”
“And I’m pretty damn sure that mermaids don’t exactly exist.”
“Well, less in the mythical creature sense, yes. But, you’re still grounded.”
Rob cocked an eyebrow. “What you mean by that?”
“You are not allowed to move from this spot until Dean gets back –”
“No, no, what do you mean by they don’t exist in the mythical creature sense?”
Cas tilted his head, but Rob couldn’t figure out if it was because he didn’t understand the question or because he didn’t know if he should answer the question. John noticed the indecision on his father’s face, and smiled broadly.
“Pater, what do you know that you’re not telling us?”
“Far more than you can possibly comprehend,” Cas said, flatly.
John narrowed his eyes. “About mermaids.”
Cas blinked at him, his lips sealed on the subject.
“Looks like we’re going to Florida!” John cheered, high-fiving his cousin.
“You are not going to Florida. You are grounded.”
“But after we’re grounded, we’re going to Florida.”
Cas opened his mouth to speak, but then closed it in thought. “I would rather you not go to Florida.”
“Why? Because of some angelic conspiracy to keep mermaids a secret from the rest of the world?”
“There is no conspiracy –”
“Ah, but that’s exactly what you would say if there was a conspiracy!” John shot back.
“I – uh – that is not nice, Johnathan Samuel. Stop it.”
“So, can we go to Florida to not-investigate your not-conspiracy?”
“There is no conspiracy.”
“So you deny that there’s a Florida?”
“What – no, there is a Florida –”
“Then why are you trying to deny us from going to Florida?”
“Why are you trying to go to Florida?”
“Why are you trying to stop us from trying to go to Florida?”
“Why are – no! I do not like this game.”
“What game is that?”
“The game where you try to trick me by asking me the same question with different words.”
“So, what’s your question?”
Cas furrowed his brow. It was rare for him to get flustered like this, but John had a way of chipping away at his zen-like calm that not even Dean or Gabriel could do. In a lot of ways, John was the perfect blend of both of his fathers. He had Dean’s love of machines and weaponry, as well as his inability to keep his hands to himself. He was also the only person in the whole country – probably the world – who could think like Cas did, which was a feat in and of itself.
“You’re grounded.