It's the middle of the night and Larissa has still failed to go to sleep for more than an hour or so each night. She sits up in bed, letting out an annoyed huff.
Larissa considers her option before getting up. She quietly makes her way through the halls until she gets to Dean's door. She hesitates, but lightly knocks on the door.
The door opens, Dean standing on the other side. Some of Larissa's nerves go away, realizing she didn't wake him up.
"Hey." Dean says.
"Hey. Um... your sleepover offer still stand?" Larissa asks.
"Always." Dean steps aside, letting her in, and he shuts the door after her. "Nightmare? Can't even fall asleep?"
"Second option." Larissa says, sitting in Dean's bed.
"Well, uh... wanna watch a movie?" Dean asks.
"Sure." Larissa nods.
They find a movie to watch on his laptop, deciding on Beetlejuice since Larissa really likes it. Dean didn't complain, saying the ghost chick was hot.
Near the end of the movie, Larissa had fallen asleep, and finally got more than two hours of sleep for the first time in weeks.
In the morning, after getting Athena and not finding Larissa in her room, Sam went searching. He went to Dean's room, even though it was the last place he thought to find her.
Though he was surprised when he actually found both of them in the bed, asleep. Larissa was covered up by an extra blanket while Dean was under his covers.
Athena babbles.
"Yeah. Yeah, apparently mommy and Uncle Dean had a sleepover." Sam mutters, walking off.
+++
Dean and Larissa have their bags and walk into the library where Sam is researching.
"All right. We'll be back." Dean says.
"Wait. Where you headed?" Sam asks.
"Washington. I caught a case. She wanted to tag along." Dean says.
"You want me to come with?" Sam asks.
"Do you want to come?" Sam asks.
"On a hunt? Why wouldn't I?" Sam asks.
"I don't know, man. Cause lately with you, up is down and down is sideways, you know? I-I-- I don't know what you want." Dean says. Sam glares at him, Dean and Larissa sharing a look. "Okay. You want in? Fine. Sure thing." He shows Sam the paper. "Photo leaked from the crime scene. Girl was murdered in her room, doors were locked, the windows were locked."
"Who's the wallflower?" Sam asks.
"Exactly. Best guess -- ghost caught on film." Dean says and Sam starts to put his stuff up. "So, you're coming?"
"Does it look like I'm staying?" Sam asks.
Dean looks at Larissa who rolls her eyes. Personally, she kind of wanted to be away from Sam. She can't have a single conversation with him without him making some sort of remark.
+++
"I scrubbed for hours. I'll have to rip up the carpet. My daughter, Casey... she picked out the color herself." Mrs. Miles says.
"We're... very sorry for your loss, Mrs. Miles. You mentioned Casey had no known enemies. What about at home? Anything unusual you may have noticed? Uh... electricity acting up or lights... flickering. TV on the fritz?" Sam asks.
"No, no fritzing. No cold spots either." Mrs. Miles says.
"Sorry. Out of curiosity, uh... why do you mention cold spots?" Dean asks.
"I'm sorry. That must sound strange, but... it's been three days since... and the police have found nothing. I'd h-- I'd have to sell my house to afford a private investigator, so when the Supernaturalists called--"
"Whoa, uh, sorry, the... um... supernaturalists?" Dean asks.
"I know to the FBI it's not exactly orthodox. But these men had answers that no one else had, and I-- I owe it to Casey... to listen." Mrs. Miles says.
"Now, they-- they brought up cold spots in relation to...?" Sam asks.
"Signs of the paranormal, I suppose. They're coming by today to take a look." Mrs. Miles says.
"And did these Supernaturalists give you a name?" Dean asks.
+++
They get out of the car, Sam holding Athena, and they walk up to the Ghostfacers van.
"Son of a bitch." Dean says. They get inside and slide into the Ghostfacers' booth. Larissa pulls up a chair, sitting at the end of the booth.
"Ah, the Winchesters. Yay." Harry sarcastically says.
"Says nobody." Ed adds.
"Ever." Harry says.
"Plus, their little hot chick and, uh... oh, shit. Where'd you guys get a baby?" Ed asks.
"My vagina." Larissa answers. "Had a little help from Sam's sperm in creating it, I guess."
"I--" Sam's cheeks go red.
"What? It's basic anatomy, Sam. Who the fuck cares? Grow up." Larissa says.
"Wait, she-- you two are together? She's yours?" Ed asks.
"I thought you were gonna date the Ken doll." Harry says.
"Ew." Larissa and Dean grimace.
"And, yes, she's ours. Not really certain on the together part, but..."
"Well, she's got a wedding ring, and he doesn't. Ooh. Trouble in lovers land?" Harry asks.
"There's about to be trouble with your dick cause I'm about to shoot it." Larissa says.
"All right, shut up and listen. This is how it's gonna go. You two clowns are gonna get into that mystery machine outside, and you're gonna leave town or I'm gonna put holes in your knees. And Rissa will put holes in your dicks." Dean says.
"Can I get you guys anything? Something, uh..." The waiter asks.
"Uh, we're ready for the bill." Dean says.
"Hey. There's still crud on this plate. now, hit the sinks and do it right." The boss tells the waiter.
"Sorry, Trey." The waiter leaves.
"Uh, first of all, you guys don't scare us." Harry says.
"Not at all." Ed agrees.
"Say "hola" to my little pistola." Harry says, lifting his shirt up a bit to reveal the gun tucked into his pants.
"Am I supposed to be impressed with that treasure trail or the lady gun you got hiding in your, uh, pants there?" Dean asks.
"Uh... both?" Harry says. "Look, whether you like it or not, we are handling this situation."
"Yep." Ed nods.
"Really?" Dean asks.
"Mm-hmm." Ed nods again.
"Cause I see a couple of fame whores who are pointing their camera at a mom who just lost her kid." Dean says.
"Guys, we are investigators, and we have every right--"
"No. No, you don't. You know why? cause you're just gonna get in our way."
"Or you're gonna get somebody else killed." Sam says.
"That's right. So, you can either walk out of here... or crawl. Up to you." Dean says.
"Oh, my God, Menudo. Will you guys relax? We know what we're doing." Harry says.
"Yep." Ed agrees.
"You really don't." Larissa argues.
"Really? And what about the rest of the Bad News Bears, huh? Where's the-- where's the fat one? And-- and the girl? There was a girl, right?" Sam and Larissa nod.
"They-- we dropped them. They were-- they were dead weight." Ed says.
"Well, t-they're still alive." Harry says.
"They're-- no, they're totally alive." Ed assures.
"I see. So, it's just the, uh, the dumpy duo, then. Well, that's great. So, here's the deal. A ghost... will land you two dead in five seconds flat."
"A ghost? Oh. They think it's a ghost. It's so not a ghost." Harry says.
"No." Ed shakes his head.
"Okay. We'll bite. What do you think it is?" Sam asks.
"Can I-- can I do it this time?" Harry asks.
"You got it." Ed encourages.
"Okay, I've waited all my life for this. Amazon me, bitches." Harry says.
"I will shoot you... bitches." Dean hisses.
"Like we were saying, you were just going, right? Great." Sam says.
"Good talk." They get up and leave.
+++
"Uh... guys?" Sam calls.
"Yeah?" Dean asks as Larissa hums, giving Athena some cut up strawberries.
"Ed and Harry wrote a book." Sam informs.
"What?" Dean asks.
"Yeah. Uh, "The Skinny on Thinman", by America's foremost Supernaturalists." Sam says.
"What the hell's a Thinman?" Dean asks.
"I don't know. Um..." Sam pulls up a black and white picture. "Whoa. Check that out, though. That does kind of look like whatever was behind Casey Miles, right?"
"Or Garth if somebody shaved his face off. Big whoop." Dean says.
"Here we go. Uh, Thinman -- "an urban legend started on the world wide web -- lurks in the background of his victims' lives until he's ready to kill them."" Sam reads.
"Yeah, because everything started on the internet is true. Like, uh, oh, the shark attacking a helicopter. They write the book for that one too?" Dean asks.
"Dude, real or not, thousands of people have posted to the site. It's like Thinman is the new Bigfoot or something." Sam says.
"Or Thinman is just a ghost with a brand name." Dean says.
"You saying that cause you really think it's a ghost or because you don't like the Ghostfacers?" Sam asks.
"Hey, don't forget -- we hit EMF in Casey's room."
"Right, but the house was next door to power lines, which can affect the read."
"A girl died in a locked room, Sam. Spells ghost right there."
"Or... the psycho got in before anything was locked and just hid until it was ready to come out." Larissa says. Dean looks at her. "You know, like they do in horror movies. Ghostface was in Sidney's front closet. Michael Meyers appears out of fucking nowhere."
"Whatever." Dean rolls his eyes.
"Dean, Thinman sightings date back a couple years. The veil's only been a problem for, what, the last six or so months?" Sam asks.
"Well, you know, people still see Elvis all over the damn place. Look, all I'm saying is those shitheads ain't experts on crap." Dean says, getting on his laptop.
"What are you doing?" Sam asks.
"I'm checking the local deaths to see if there's any candidates for ghosts."
~ ~ ~
"Okay. All right, in the past few months, there have been three unnatural deaths in Springdale, none of them connected to Casey Miles, and none of them violent." Dean says.
"Okay, that's not exactly a recipe for a vengeful spirit. There have been a bunch of unexplained deaths pinned on Thinman. Um, a vic dies, then, a couple weeks later, a photo pops up of the vic with Thinman photobombing." Sam says.
"So, Thinman's stalking folks?" Dean asks.
"According to the lore." Sam says.
"According to the idiots. How come none of these vics pinged our radar?"
"I'm pretty sure the mysterious deaths can be chalked up to non-supernatural causes. That, and, honestly, most of these photos look pretty fake."
"Even Casey's?"
"Except Casey's. Casey's photo wasn't doctored. Whatever was behind her was really there."
"Okay, well, that doesn't make any sense. I mean, how could something be both real and fake at the same time?"
"Well, a girl is dead, and that's about as real as it gets."
"All right, so, the last thing she did was she took a photo on her phone. How did that photo end up online?"
"No clue. It was originally posted to a Thinman fan forum, but the I.P. address was blocked."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait. This thing has fans? Of course it does. Okay, well, then somebody wanted this photo on the internet, and I'm guessing that the ghost didn't hop online to post it."
"So, then, it's probably not a ghost. Might just be a psycho human." Larissa quietly suggests again.
"We're gonna go talk to the police." Dean says.
"You guys go. She needs a nap." Larissa says, rocking Athena, trying to get her to sleep.
+++
There was another crime scene that morning, Trey, the boss at the restaurant, having been killed last night. Larissa didn't go since Athena wouldn't stop crying and Larissa refused Sam's offer, wanting to take care of Athena herself.
Apparently, all the baby needed was a different bottle than she already had.
It's now nighttime and Athena is asleep while the three adults are sitting at the table and eating dinner.
"Okay. Just grasping at straws here, but when I think teleport, I think crossroads demon." Sam says.
"Mm. Demon that likes to stab and watch YouTube. Why not?" Dean says.
"Oh, by the way, speaking of which, the video of, uh, Trey getting knifed, it's already online. It has, like, 2,000 views. It's like somebody wants people to see Thinman in action." Sam says.
"It's cause people will watch, cause people are sick." Dean says.
"And when did "viral" go from that baby chimp falling out of a tree to killer Candid Camera?" Sam asks.
"You know what video would've gone viral, if we still had it?" Dean asks, smiling. "When you were five and you got dressed up as Batman and you jumped off the shed cause you thought you could fly."
"After you jumped first." Sam retorts, grinning.
"Hey, I was nine, and I was dressed up like Superman, okay? Everybody knows that Batman can't fly." Dean says. Larissa quietly laughs at their memory.
"Well, I didn't know that. I broke my arm." Sam says.
"I know you did. Man, I drove you to the ER on my handlebars. Hm, good times."
"Yeah, they were." Sam says, losing his smile.
There's a knock on the door and Dean gets up to answer it. He opens it, Ed walking right past him.
"Come on in." Dean remarks, shutting the door.
"I got to tell you guys something important, and then the case is yours." Ed says.
~ ~ ~
"All right, either you bleed Ghostfacers red or you don't. If Spruce wanted to start a startup and Maggie's heart was in the roller derby, who am I to stop them? But Harry... I-I couldn't let him give in to his girl. I mean, she-- she called the Ghostfacers stupid. Stupid! Can you-- can you believe that?"
"Yes." Larissa nods. Ed glares at her.
"You know, I-I don't care how much money her daddy's hedge fund has. I just couldn't watch Harry become a corporate stooge." Ed says.
"What if he wanted to be a corporate stooge, though?" Larissa asks.
"Okay, this all sounds like sad times at Bitchmont High. What does this have to do with the case?" Dean asks.
"Harry was gonna leave, so I needed to give him a reason to stay. I-I made up Thinman." Ed says.
"So you're saying that this crap is actually crap?" Dean asks.
"One old photo of a butler, a lot of photoshop later, and I posted on one of those horror forums under anonymous. And it blew up. Yeah. I only faked one case for us, and then we're packing up to go home when somebody posted a sighting of Thinman, so... we went after it, and that's how the Thinman became a crowdsourced legend. Look, we were at the front of it. It felt like something. It-- it was so awesome to have a following, and Harry -- he was just... he was so into it."
"Ed, you have to tell him." Sam says.
"You don't get it. We were the Thinman guys. Without the Thinman, we're just... guys. Just-- we're just puffs." Ed says.
"What?" The other three ask.
"If I tell Harry, he's gonna leave the Ghostfacers." Ed says.
"Listen, if you don't tell him, he's gonna leave anyway. Trust me here. Secrets ruin relationships." Sam says.
"Okay, well, I'll just tell him when the time is right." Ed says.
"Time's right now, chief." Dean says.
"Well, he's-- he's not here. Uh, he's-- he's out in the woods, uh, searching for Thinman." Ed says.
"Okay, because Thinman, or whatever the hell this thing is, has killed two people, and now Harry is in the woods alone." Sam says.
"Well, actually, it's more like wood. Um, cause I dropped him off by some trees behind a grocery store. Guys, come on. He's gonna be fine. Guys?"
"You guys go now." Larissa says. "Go." She urges, the three men rushing out. "These people are gonna cause me more gray hairs than my own child." She mumbles to herself.
+++
Larissa and Sam are outside the Ghostfacers' room and Larissa is holding Athena. They turn to the door when Ed walks out.
"Hey. How did it go?" Sam asks.
"It, um, went, uh... um..." Ed walks off. The two go into the room.
"Hey. You okay?" Sam asks.
"I just got punched in the feels." Harry says.
"Uh..." Sam says.
"Okay." Larissa mumbles.
"None of it was real, Sam. Ed was just pretending, and now he wants me to pretend like this is just something I could get past." Harry says.
"I know what you mean. Look, there are things you can forgive, and there are things you can't." Sam says.
"So, which one is this?"
"That's something you got to figure out for yourself."
Dean knocks on the door and walks in.
"Hey. Uh... I got a lead on those tire tracks if you want to..." Sam and Larissa walk out of the room.
"What's up?" Sam asks.
"So, the tires were only made for one kind of car. It's a 1989 Geo Metro. Town this small -- there's only one registered here. Deputy says it belongs to a guy named Roger who works night security down at the mill on the north side of town."
"So, this thing teleported, but it has a job and car. What are we dealing with?" Sam asks.
"I still say human." Larissa says.
"Let's go find out." Dean says. "Who is on baby duty?"
"I got her." Larissa says.
"Okay." Dean nods, him and Sam leaving.
+++
Sam and Dean get back to the motel to get their stuff. They both stop when they see Larissa sitting at the table with her and Athena's bags packed and Athena in her car seat.
"You already packed?" Sam asks.
"Yeah. Yeah, but, uh, I'm not going with you guys." Larissa says.
"What do you mean?" Sam asks.
"I mean I'm done, Sam." Larissa states.
"I'm, uh... I'm just gonna go wait outside." Dean says, leaving.
"What are you done with?" Sam asks.
"This. You. I... I can't do this anymore." Larissa says.
"Do what? Hunt?" Sam asks.
"No. No, this-- all of these stupid fucking comments that diminish me or-or make me feel like shit. Maybe I deserved some at the beginning, but you have continued this way too long."
"What, because you wouldn't do the same if I forced an angel in you?" Sam asks.
"I didn't force an angel in you. Dean did." Larissa says, standing up.
"Well, you still lied about it. I mean, it's not like Dean was holding you at gunpoint 24/7 so you wouldn't tell." Sam says.
"I know. I know." Larissa says. "And I have apologized multiple times and... and I, trust me, I will hate myself forever... for letting that go on as long as it did. Because I know I should've told you when I found out, and I hate that I didn't. But it fucking happened and I can't change it, so I'm just gonna have to live with that guilt. But I am not taking your shit anymore."
"I get you feel betrayed and you're hurting and I'm sorry for that, too. But you are handling it terribly."
"Oh, I am?" Sam scoffs.
"You're acting like a fucking child!" Larissa exclaims. "With all of your stupid little comments and cold shoulders. You're not fucking 5, Sam! If you wanna be able to work through this, you have to talk to me... to Dean. You can't just a little bitch all the damn time."
"I have some right to be bitchy."
"Yeah, sure. But all the time? To-- to tell your brother that you aren't brothers. To tell me that we're not married or-or able to show any love to each other? We're just business partners."
"You agreed to those terms."
"I only agreed for Athena. Because I was willing to put all of the tension and the angry comments aside for her. But I'm done doing that."
"So, what? You're just gonna abandon her?"
"No. I'm taking her with me. I'm gonna go live with Jody for a while."
"How long is a while?"
"I don't know. Until you grow up, I guess."
"She's my kid, too. You can't just take her away!"
"You had no problem taking her away from me. Little hypocritical, no?"
"Her first birthday is in less than three months, Rissa." Sam says.
"So if I'm not back by then, you should probably pay her a little visit if it means that much to you."
"You know the pain of her being taken away, and you're gonna make me go through it?"
"I currently don't have a lot of sympathy for you outside of the Gadreel thing, Sam. Not after these past few weeks." Larissa says.
"Yeah, well, at least, I don't move on to the first guy in the house." Sam scoffs.
"Excuse me?" Larissa asks.
"You and Dean."
"What about me and Dean?"
"You guys... you guys are definitely closer. You always drink together and-and you're researching and watching movies. You were asleep in his bed the other morning!"
"What, you think we're a thing?" Larissa asks and Sam raises his eyebrows. "Oh, my God." She lets out a laugh of disbelief. "No. That's... that's disgusting. I would never date Dean."
"Then why are you two so close?"
"Because we don't have you! We call those drinks "Sam hates us" drinks. Because you pretty much hate us, right? And we're just friends. Friends research and watch movies."
"So then why'd you sleep in his room?" Sam asks.
"Because in case you've failed to notice, I haven't been getting a lot of sleep lately. And Dean was nice enough to offer me sleepovers if I ever needed one. And I needed one. Apparently, all it took for me to fall asleep, was the security and comfort of knowing I had somebody with me."
"I mean, what? Did you want me to come to our old room? Beg you to let me sleep in the same bed? Because there's no doubt that you would've just told me no."
"I don't like Dean. Not like that. We've always been friends, we just showed it differently. But with only having each other, we stopped acting like we hated each other so much. Not even intentionally."
"Look, I get you were stressed over not being with Athena, but you've been with her now. Just get over the fucking insomnia thing." Sam says.
"Are you fucking kidding me?" Larissa scoffs. "It's not-- it's not an insomnia thing. Not just that."
"What is it then?" Sam asks.
"It's a PTSD thing, Sam. Look it up." Larissa says.
"PTSD from what? Being away from your child? Feeling guilty for doing something shitty to me?" Sam asks.
"You know, my whole two weeks alone that time didn't entirely revolve around you." Larissa says.
"My voicemail inbox says differently." Sam says with an annoying smile.
"Did you listen to any of them?" Larissa asks.
"No. I deleted them." Sam states and Larissa feels the tears well up.
"Well... if you would've listened, you would've heard me apologizing. And then after the first few days, it would be me crying and begging for your help or comfort. But you never answered. And maybe I didn't deserve your love, but I know I didn't deserve to go through that shit alone."
"Dean didn't answer, you didn't answer, nobody fucking answered. And I really just wanted you."
"What shit? What? Give into your former alcoholic ways? Cheat on me?" Sam asks.
"Why would I want your comfort if I cheated on you, dumbass?" Larissa asks.
"So, what?"
"Who the fuck cares anymore?" She turns back.
"Larissa, just tell me what the fuck happened." Sam says.
"No. No, it's... the past is the past. There's no reason for you to know." Larissa says.
"God, just tell me."
"I don't want to."
"Well, I want you to."
"And I want you to stop acting like a damn child. Boo-hoo for both of us."
She passes him to grab one of Athena's bottle from the counter. She passes him again to put it in a bag, but Sam grabs her arm, yanking her closer.
"Just fucking tell me!" Sam shouts making Larissa flinch. "Larissa, tell--"
"I got raped!" Larissa screams. Her tears finally fall and Sam takes a moment to process her words, his grip loosening on her arm. "I got raped... again. I needed somebody and nobody picked their fucking phone. Grudge held or not." She cries.
"And I could tell you knew something was wrong when we found Garth. You know me better than Jody and Dean and they both pointed shit out so there's no way you haven't known something was wrong this whole fucking time."
"If you hurt me, but I knew something was wrong with you... I would fucking give a shit. But I guess we're different in that way."
"Lissy..." Sam mumbles, letting go of her arm.
"No. No, no, you do not get to go all puppy dog on me because you feel bad now." Larissa says, walking back over to her bag.
"Lissy, I--"
"Here." Larissa takes her ring off, throwing it at Sam who barely manages to catch it. "Now you just need the fucking papers and it's basically final, right?"
"Wha-- a divorce?" Sam asks.
"What? Because we haven't basically already been divorced the past few weeks? You definitely divorced me in some way... just not legally. But we can make it legal." Larissa says.
"Wha--"
"Because why would I stay married to a guy that hates me and just fucking scared me?"
"Lissy--"
"We're done, Sam." Larissa states. She grabs hers and Athena's bags and the car seat. She leaves the motel, not bothering to close the door.
"Whoa, whoa, hey, hey." Dean stops Larissa when he sees her tears.
"What, Dean?" She asks.
"You okay?"
"I'm living with Jody for now. You're not stopping me."
"Okay. Okay, I won't. Just, uh... you want a ride or something?" Dean asks.
"The bus station would be nice, I guess. Long as Sam isn't in the car." Larissa says.
"I'll come back for him." Dean nods. "Here, I got her." He takes the car seat from Larissa.
Sam watches Dean drive off with a crying Larissa in the passenger seat. He looks down at her wedding ring in his hand.
He knows he has a right to be angry, but he also knows he should've reeled back on the snarky comments. He just didn't think it was gonna push her over the edge.
Sam slips the chain over his head, the necklace coming out from under his shirt. Sam unclasps it and slips her ring on it. He clasps it back, holding the end of it in his hand, looking at both wedding rings.
Sam slips the necklace back on, tucking it back underneath his shirt.
+++
Larissa knocks on Jody's door, the bags and car seat on the ground by her. The door opens and Jody looks at her, heart breaking at the mother's broken state.
"Sweetie..." Jody sympathetically sighs.
Larissa starts to sob and Jody hugs her. Larissa tightly clutches onto the back of Jody's shirt as she sobs into her shoulder.