||CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE // EMOTIONS||
Later that night, after the three Winchesters made their way back to their motel room, they receive a call from the sheriff. Dean pulls a protesting Dakota from the bed as Sam goes over some details with the police.
"Dakota, come on, you wanted to come." Dean groans, picking Dakota up from the ground to carry her to the bathroom, she sprawls out her limbs and leans back over his shoulder.
Dean has one arm around her waist, carrying her clothes in his free hand. He places her in the bathroom and tells her to get ready, she sticks her tongue out at him before shutting the door.
She comes out a few moments later, her hair blonde tangled and wearing different clothes. She wanders over to Sam, pulling on his leg and throwing her arms up, pouting. He sighs and pulls her onto his lap, combing his fingers through her hair.
"Do you even own a brush?" He asks sarcastically, she shrugs as Dean tosses one over. Sam catches it and pulls it through the knots. She yelps and hisses, smacking his hands occasionally. "If you don't sit still, it will take twice as long." He threatens lightly, she huffs and crosses her arms.
"Dad never pulls my hair as much as you do." She mumbles, Dean grins smugly towards his brother.
"Then have him brush your hair." Sam says, handing her the brush. She pushes it back in his hands and turns around. "Then don't complain."
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Dakota stands next to Dean as he crouches next to the sarcophagus, Sam studies something on the casket before raises with a scoff.
"This sarcophagus isn't ancient." Sam informs, holding a sticker he tore off the side. "It's from a prop house in Philly."
"Mommy was from Philly." Dakota cuts in, earning odd and tense glances from the two men.
"Well..." Dean trails awkwardly, standing up too. "It goes well with the bucket of dry ice he was keeping in it." Dean holds up a small pail of dry ice and look at Sam with a pointed look.
"Is he making is own special effects?" Sam questions, not really aiming the question at Dean.
"Yeah, a mummy with a good sense of showmanship." Dean jokes, raising his brows with a sliver of a smile. Dakota reaches towards the dry ice but Dean pulls her away, scolding her lightly.
"This is stupid." Sam and Dakota say at the same time, though for different reasons. Sam complaining towards the case while Dakota complains about Dean not letting her play with the smoking bucket.
"Oh, damn it. Jamie. I'm late." Dean explains, pushing Dakota gently towards Sam. "You're good here with the mummy, Dakota, and the...crazy."
"Yeah." Sam agrees, shrugging slightly.
"Yeah." Dean repeats, kissing Dakota's head briefly before rushing off.
Dakota watches him leave sadly, before turning to Sam with a wide grin. He watches her skeptically as she bounces up and down with glee.
"Let's play a game!" She exclaims, turning on her heels and running out of the museum.
Sam chokes before running after her, calling her name loudly. He catches up to her quickly, catching her around the waist and lifting her into the air.
Dakota's lively giggles fill the night air, she squirms in her uncle's arms.
"You wanna play a game, really." Sam grins, tickling her sides as she shrieks with laughter.
"Yeah!" She cheers, she frees herself from Sam's grasps, sticking her tongue out before racing off again.
Her loud and joyous giggles follow her, Sam chuckles and waits a few moments before running after her. He slows his pace down so she's able to maintain the lead.
They make it back to the motel, playing a makeshift game of tag. Sam tells Dakota to hide while he quickly changes out of his FBI suit, when he leaves the bathroom the room is completely empty.
He hears the muffled giggles from Dakota, he calls her name tauntingly, a wide grin covering his face. He slowly walks towards the closet by the front door, opening the door and shouting "Gotcha!" but Dakota wasn't in the closet.
"Kota, where are you?" He questions in amusement. Her muffled laughter stops, but he can hear her shifting around in the cupboards.
He's about to open the cupboard when his phone rings, he sighs and grabs it from the table.
"I'm gonna getcha!" He says as he answers the phone, pulling the cupboard door open. Dakota's laughter fills the air as Sam places the phone against his ear. "Hello?" He asks through small chuckles.
"Meet me at the tavern." Dean's voice says before hanging up.
"C'mon, Kota, we gotta go meet your dad at the tavern." Sam sighs, pulls her out of the small place and handing her one of her jackets.
"Is he okay?" Dakota questions in concern, all traces of amusement falls from her face.
"He sounds okay." Sam answers slowly, not sure what to tell her exactly.
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Sam enters the tavern with Dakota placed on his hip, she squirms and jumps from his arms, landing on her feet and running towards Dean quickly.
"Daddy!" She shouts, jumping into the booth he's sitting at with Jamie, she throws her arms around his neck and hugs him tightly.
"Stop doing that." Sam scolds her quietly for jumping out of his grasp, both him and Dean hated when she did that. "You guys all right?"
"Yeah, I think so." Dean says, wrapping an arm around Dakota's back and glancing at Jamie. "I'm okay, baby." He soothes her, patting her back gently. "And I think I know what's going on." He continues, pulling away from Dakota and grabbing something beside him.
"Yeah?" Sam asks, leaning forward.
"Part of it, at least." Dean answers, laying down a folded up cloth on the table. Sam eagerly reaches forward to unwrap it, Dakota leans forward slightly.
Sam unfolds the cloth and Dakota yelps when she spots the torn off ear. Sam grunts in disgusts, his face twisting up. "Uh, the ear part?" He asks distastefully, sharing the same look as Dakota.
"Ripped it off of Dracula's head. Touch it." Dean urges Sam, motioning towards the ear.
"Ew, daddy!" Dakota exclaims as Sam scoffs in disgust, but they both realize quickly that the oldest Winchester is serious.
Sam's face changes and he slowly reaches forward to touch the ear. "Don't touch it! Sammy!" Dakota grabs Sam's hand before he can touch it.
He just uses his other hand to touch the torn flesh, he groans in disgust as he squishes it slightly.
"Feel familiar to you?" Dean questions, trying to pry Dakota off of Sam's hand, but she grips onto him tightly, keeping his hand wrapped around hers.
"Oh, man." Sam groans in understanding.
"The skin of a shapeshifter," Dean explains towards Dakota. "Just like St. Louis and just like Milwaukee."
"I knew it!" Dakota shouts, standing up on the booth seat and jumping up and down. "I told you! I told you!"
"Of course this one's all holding buckets of crazy." Dean continues over Dakota's cheers. "Yeah, yeah, Kota you told us." He rolls his eyes, she pushes his face back while sticking her tongue out. Dean smiles before he realizes something. "Oh, uh...this I, uh, pulled it off during the fight." He pulls out something from his pocket. "Look at the label."
Sam grabs the medallion from him, turning it over in his hand to look at the back. "It's a costume rental."
"All three monsters--the Dracula, wolf man, and the mummy--all the same critter, which means we need to catch this freak before he 'creature from the black lagoon's' somebody." Dean says towards Sam.
"So, you guys are like Mulder and Scully or something, and the X Files are real?" Jamie questions.
"No," Dakota denies snappily, gazing at Jamie with distaste.
"'The X Files' is a TV show. This is real." Dean continues, giving Dakota a short glare. She crosses her arms and looks toward Sam for help.
"Oh," Jamie sighs in disbelief. Dean gives her a short smile before taking a drink.
"Okay, so, the stagecraft, the costuming--it's like he's trying to reenact his favorite monster-movie moments, right down to the bloody murders." Sam says, walking off and leaning against the table across the small aisle from them.
"Wait a second." Jamie draws everyone's attention towards her. Dakota's face turns blank as she moves her eyes towards her. "Who the hell is Mina?"
"You shouldn't swear." Dakota sneers, scrunching up her nose at Jamie.
"Mina?" Sam asks, glancing at Dakota in confusion. He's never seen her act like that towards someone.
"Yeah." Dean answers, pointing at Jamie briefly. "That's what he called Jamie. And he called me Mr. Harker."
"Sammy!" Dakota shrieks in excitement at the same time as Sam asks, "Jonathan Harker?" with a small smirk on his face as he glances at his niece.
Dean shakes his head in confusion, him and Jamie staring at the two with blank looks. Dakota hops down from the booth and runs over towards Sam, before turning towards her dad and Jamie. Her and Sam wearing matching smirks.
"They're characters from the movies--"
"--and the novels," Sam cuts in.
"Mina is Dracula's bride, silly." Dakota continues.
"Intended bride." Sam corrects.
"Harker is Mina's fiancé that stands in the way."
Dean and Jamie exchange a look as Sam and Dakota interrupt each other to explain.
"Seems like he's fixating on you," Sam says, Dakota mumbles something under her breath. "Like he sees you as his bride."
"Wow. Lucky me." Jamie sneers sarcastically.
"Not really." Dakota cuts in.
Sam nudges her. "To fixate on you, my guess is that the shifter has to have seen you before or been around you."
"Jamie, has anybody strange come to town, somebody that has taken a specific notice of you?" Dean asks, leaning forward over the table.
"I don't know, Dean. It's Oktoberfest." Dean rolls his eyes at Jamie's words and glances at Sam. "I'm a bartender. There's lots of people. I...wait a second there is Ed." Jamie looks up at Sam.
"'Ed Brewer' Ed?" Sam asks.
"Yeah," Jamie agrees. "He moved here about a month ago. Lucy swears he has a crush on me. He comes in almost every night. But , you know, I don't think he's the type of guy--"
"Where does Ed live?" Dean interrupts her. Dakota scoffs.
"I don't know." Jamie sighs. "But he works at the old movie theater. I think he's a projectionist there." Dean points towards the door over his shoulder.
"Take care of Mina?" Sam asks.
"Yep." Dean assures. Sam turns to leave and Dakota follows. "No, hey, Kota, you're with me." Sam stops and Dakota runs into his legs.
"Kota, stay here." Sam tells her, nudging her back.
"I want to go with you." She complains, look up at him with wide eyes, pouting. Sam glances over at Jamie and Dean who are watching curiously. He crouches down to be eye level with Dakota.
"What's your problem with Jamie." He whispers just so she can hear.
"I don't have a problem with her." Dakota mumbles, looking down at her feet.
"We both know that's a lie, c'mon we taught you to lie better than that." Sam scoffs, ruffling her hair.
"I feel like dad is trying to replace her." Dakota mutters, swatting Sam's hand away.
"Replace who?"
"Mommy,"
"Kota...what's all this obsession about your mom? You've never met her." Sam sits back on his heel. Dakota's quiet.
"Everything okay?" Dean calls over his shoulder, Dakota whips around panicked. Dean's face drops in concern. "Kota?"
"We're fine, Dean." Sam says, Dakota nods quickly and turns back towards Sam. "Why do you keep bringing up your mom?" Sam repeats.
"I don't even know her name, I-I know that she didn't want me...but I want her. I want to know her, I want to hug her. Maybe then she'll want me." Dakota's eyes water and her expression pains.
"Kota..." Sam gasps, he could literally feel his heart breaking at her words. "She did--"
"No, she didn't, Sammy. Daddy told me." She cuts in, forcing a smile. "It's okay, I just want to know her. Bobby said I grow on people, maybe I'll grow on her."
"Sam, you gotta get going." Dean interrupts again, Sam glances over Dakota's shoulder at him. Dean notices Sam's pained eyes and raises an eyebrow in concern. He shifts like he's about to get up, but Sam waves him off.
"Give me a second, okay?" He asks, Dean hesitates but nods. "What if she wanted you to go with her?"
Dakota blanches at his words, her mouth falling open in surprise. "What do you mean?" She questions.
"What if your mom saw you, fell in love with your adorable personality." Sam says, tapping his index finger on her nose gently. She lets out soft giggle. "And wanted you to go live with her, instead of your dad and I?"
Dakota freezes, she's never thought about it like that. Whenever she thought about living with her mom, she always imagined Dean being with them. She realizes that she can't have both. "I-I thought we'd be together. All of us." She stutters slightly.
Sam sighs, dropping his head slightly. "No, Kota, we wouldn't all be together, if it came down to it...it'd be one or the other."
"Why!" She shouts suddenly, drawing Dean's attention back over, he stands and walks over to them. "Why couldn't I have both! Why can't I have a family!"
Dean's steps stutter and he stumbles back in shock.
"Kota-" Sam soothes her quickly. "You do have a family, honey. Your dad, me, Bobby, you. We're a family."
"I want a mommy." Dakota insists, her green eyes turning a shade darker. "I want my mommy! Not some cheap replacement!" She sneers, glancing over her shoulder at Jamie.
"Woah! Hey, Dakota!" Dean steps in, his voice layered in controlled anger. "I am not replacing your mother, she'd have to be in the picture for me to do that." He snaps.
"You're the reason she's not!" Dakota accuses loudly, wheeling around to glare at Dean.
"Dakota!" Sam hisses, pulling her away from Dean who looks shocked.
"My fault? It is not my fault she's gone! We were happy." Dean glares, loosing his temper. Dakota turns back around, matching his temper.
"Yeah? What happened?" She sneers. Sam blanches at her, she doesn't sound like an eight year old at all. He's never seen this kind of anger from her, from Dean yeah, but not Dakota.
"Hey! That's enough!" Sam shouts, before Dean could say anything he'd regret. "Dakota, why don't you come with me so the two of you can cool off." He snaps, grabbing her hand gently. He tugs her away from the glaring match she's in with Dean. "C'mon." He picks up Dakota when he realizes she's not moving.
Dean sighs and looks down, rubbing a hand down his face. Not only is he shocked about their argument and her obsession with her mother, but he's shocked over the amount of anger she held.
Maybe being possessed had more of an effect on her than he thought.
Edited 5/6/19