"I've always had a duck personality.
Calm above water, feet going crazy below." -K. Flay
<< Words with Friends and Rock Bands >>
Dakota sits across from Dean as he plays Words with Friends with Mary, she chuckles at her dad's excitement as she props her feet up on the table. She does some math problems that Sam took from the internet, he has been a teacher to her over the years--seeing as actual school didn't turn out the best.
"Ah." Dean breathes out a laugh, typing a quick message to Mary.
"Seriously?" Sam questions when he walks into the library, his laptop in his hands.
Dakota inwardly sighs, she didn't want to work a case. She just wanted to spend time with Sam and Dean, not worrying about monsters or Lucifer.
"What?" Dean looks up in confusion, he glances at Dakota who stares intently at the book in her hands. He frowns at her, not liking the glum expression covering her face.
Dean slides his phone over to her, gesturing towards it with a crooked smile. Dakota looks over at it, raising an eyebrow at her father. Dean simply winks at her and gestures to the phone again. Dakota scoffs out a laugh and picks up the phone, typing in various words to make matches, boosting Dean's points.
"So I've been trying to dig up info on the British Men of Letters, keeping an eye out for cases, and you two have been goofing off with a game that went out of style five years ago?" Sam sneers at them.
"I don't think mom's quite ready for Snapchat." Dean sasses back, Dakota laughs brightly at her dad's words.
"You're playing against mom?"
"Yeah."
"Correction; he's winning against her." Dakota chimes in, grinning over at them.
"That's my girl!" Dean cheers, reaching over and high-fiving Dakota.
"The same mom that didn't know what a cell phone was a month ago?" Sam presses, leaning forward to press his hands against the table.
"Yeah."
"Doesn't exactly seem like a fair fight." Sam informs them, giving Dakota a look.
Dean's phone chimes loudly in Dakota's hand, she looks down at it, watching Mary's points boost up to 98.
"Oh, what the f-"
"Don't even think about finishing that sentence." Dean cuts her off, raising his eye brows with a stern face. Dakota sheepishly chuckles, sliding the phone back. Dean sighs as he reads it. "You were saying?" He shows Sam the phone.
"Huh!" Sam laughs, patting Dakota's shoulder, who slaps his hand away--sulking at her loss. "So how she been lately?"
"She's good. You know, she--she's dealing." Dean shrugs at his brother. His phone starts ringing, stopping Dean from playing Mary back. "Hey, Cas."
"Hello, Dean." Castiel's voice greets the Winchesters as Dean places the phone on speaker.
"You still living out an '80s buddy comedy with Crowley?" Dean asks, exchanging a look with Dakota.
"Unfortunately." Cas answers, Dakota can practically hear the grimace that the angel is wearing.
"Any news on Lucifer?" Sam questions loudly, making sure Cas could hear him. Dakota flinches away from the loud voice, Sam leaning over beside her ear. She slaps her uncle's stomach and scoots away from him.
"Actually, yes. Look at the news." Cas tells them, Sam's phone starts beeping loudly.
"One sec." Sam clears his throat, placing his phone down and turning to his laptop.
Dakota slides away her homework, gesturing for Dean to take a look at it. He quietly goes over how to figure out the problem, keeping an ear out for Castiel's information on Lucifer.
"No way." Sam mutters, bringing the father and daughter out of their teaching lesson, they glance over at the tallest Winchester. Both wearing the same expression, mouth slightly gaped with their eyebrows raised in question. "So this is from today."
Dakota scurries around the table, sitting on Dean's lap as Sam shows them the news broadcast on Vince Vincente.
"We're here in front of DeathSiren Records with Vince Vincente." The anchor woman says.
"Oh, no friggin' way." Dean sighs, shifting Dakota over more to the side to peer around her.
"Yes, it's, uh, it's great." Vince awkwardly says. "It's great having the band back together again. In the studio, feeling pumped. Haven't felt this fired up in ages."
Dakota clenches her jaw.
"A lot of people are saying that your style of rock could never make a comeback in today's landscape." The lady informs Vince.
"Yeah, 'cause it sucks." Dakota scoffs, leaning back against Dean with a loud sigh.
"What do you say to them?" The news lady continues.
Vince tilts his head and moves closer to the camera. "Go to Hell." He sneers into the microphone.
"Tell me that's not Lucifer." Dean sighs, leaning his forehead against Dakota's shoulder.
"We don't know." Cas tells Dean, Dakota groans and throws her head back in frustration.
"Cas, I thought you said Rowena got some licks in." Sam calls out to Cas, Dakota gives him a look for his loud voice. The angel wasn't deaf, no need to scream into the phone. "Shouldn't he have burned through his vessel by now?"
"Yeah, but we don't know. We don't--" Cas voice breaks off and there's a loud banging sound.
"Hello, boys, princess. Long time." Crowley greets. "We team up to save the world, and then bupkis. You don't call, you don't write."
"Yeah, we don't care." Dean and Dakota inform the demon, sharing a brief smirk.
"Crowley--Lucifer." Sam sneers into the phone, bringing Crowley back on topic.
"Lucifer. Think about it." Crowley sneers, sounding annoyed with the Winchesters, but when wasn't he. "Of all the extinct rock acts, Ladyheart are the most Paleolithic. A major label sponsored comeback in 2016 for those dinosaurs? It doesn't feel like a wholly natural turn of events, does it?"
"Maybe Lucifer found a way to heal his vessel." Cas proposes.
"Yeah, but still...I mean, what the hell?" Dean questions, exasperated with the conversation.
"He's in L.A." Crowley informs them. "I'll see you there."
The phone beeps as Crowley hangs up on the Winchesters.
"Oh, L.A." Dean sighs, placing a hand against his forehead, Dakota pats his back lovingly.
"Yeah." Sam agrees with a sigh.
Dakota slips off of Dean's lap, returning to her seat and pulling her phone out of her pocket. She quickly types something in before Dean's phone beeps again, he glances over at it before a grin breaks out across his face.
DakotaW started a game with you!
"Prepare to lose." Dean teases with a grin, accepting the game quickly and playing a word.
Sam rolls his eyes at their goofiness, leaving the library with his laptop in hand.
"Don't get cocky, old man." Dakota grins back, Dean looks at her with a mock gasp of hurt. She shrugs and sticks her tongue out at him.
"You're both children!" Sam calls out over his shoulder before disappearing into the hallway.
"Takes one to know one!" Dakota shouts back.
"Yeah, yeah. Get ready!" Sam orders them, sticking his head back into the room. Dean and Dakota releases sighs, each typing in words to play.
They run into each other as they try to pass by, Dakota nudges him and giggles. She ducks under his arm as he tries to stop her from moving past, but he catches her around the waist and lifts her over his shoulder. She squeals with laughter, clutching onto his shirt tightly, she wiggles in his grasp.
"Ha ha, what're you gonna do now?" Dean taunts jokingly, Dakota pauses in her movements before going straight towards his sides, tickling him. "Hey! Not fair!" Dean pouts, placing Dakota on the ground to stop her attacks.
"I win!" Dakota teases, sticking her tongue out and darting out of the room before Dean could catch her, she shuts her bedroom door to pack some clothes.
Dakota plays a word, gaining extra points for hitting certain tiles. Dean's phone chimes and he groans.
"Kota." Dean whines childishly, knowing that she was now winning. Dakota snickers at her father, patting his shoulder before ruffling his hair. "Hey!"
"Quit it." Sam sighs, pushing Dakota back into the backseat, she retaliates and messes up his hair. "Dakota!" Dakota goes to say something but Sam sticks his headphones in, Dakota sighs sadly and sinks back in her seat.
"All right." Dean says loudly, stopping the other two from arguing. "450 miles to L.A. Land of gridlock, Botox, overtaxing, underachieving, smell of sweaty desperation. I mean, you can't breathe. The beaches are toxic.
"You got dudes in skinny jeans wearing sunglasses inside. Oh, image-obsessed narcissists." He rants. "I do like the yoga pants, though. When was the last time we were in L.A.? About 10 years ago, doing a vengeful spirit? Man, that seems like forever ago. Doesn't it?"
When he looks over at Sam, he realizes that his younger brother hasn't heard a single word he's said. Dean sighs and looks back in the backseat, spotting Dakota curled up in a small ball, hugging Dean's jacket around her. He can't help but smile at how young and innocent she looks as she sleeps, of course she's still young--just not as innocent. She looks peaceful.
Dean glances at Sam, hitting his arm to get his attention. "Hey. Tryin' to talk to you here."
"What? Talk to Kota." Sam dismisses, going to put his headphone back in but Dean stops him.
"She's sound asleep. What are you listenin' to?"
"Uh, podcast. Why?" Sam questions.
"All right, well..." Dean shrugs. "I need something to keep me awake, so crank it up."
"I mean, it's a history podcast." Sam warns his brother, clearing his throat and looking at Dean with amusement.
Dean hesitates. "Well, I like history, you know? Gladiators and outlaws, pirates. Hell, we're driving a piece of history right here." He chuckles as he finishes his sentence. Dakota makes a strained noise in her sleep, stirring slightly.
"N-not that kind of history. This is a, uh..." Sam clears his throat, almost nervous. "it's a podcast on the history of the Protestant Reformation. A multipart exploration of each of Martin Luther's 95 theses."
"Oh." Dean says, not knowing what else to say.
"Yeah, that's what I thought." Sam clears his throat again before slipping his headphone back in.
Dean shifts around, silence filling the Impala once again. He glances over at Sam before unplugging his earbuds from his phone.
"Dude." Sam complains, stumbling over himself to shut it off.
"Ohh, Sam." Dean sighs, dragging out his words. "Hair rock? Really?"
"It's not hair--"
"Come on." Dean cuts him off, giving him a look.
"It's not hair rock, Dean." Sam defends himself, making large movements. "It's hard rock. It's legitimate hard rock."
"Wow." Dean chuckles, shaking his head.
"Don't judge a book by its cover." Sam quotes back.
"Yeah, or a dude by his, uh, rainbow wig and leopard prints." Dean scoffs. "Wait 'til I tell Dakota."
"Rainbow wig? What?" Sam questions before his eyes widen. "Don't you dare, she'll just make fun of me." Sam whines childishly.
"Hey, you started it." Dean shrugs.
"You know what? I'm done apologizing." Sam sticks up for himself. "Lucifer possessed Vince Vincente. This is Vince Vincente's music, so listening to it is research.:
"No. No." Dean denies, waving his head slightly.
"As a matter of fact...study up, Dean." Sam taunts before turning up the music on his phone, letting Dean hear.
"No, no. No." Dean complains, groaning loudly. Dakota stirs, sighing and digging her face further into Dean's coat as she sleeps. "I don't wanna listen to it."
"You like it." Sam teases.
"No. No. No, no. No." Dean repeats. "Turn it off."
"It'll grow on ya." Sam assures with a grin, clearing his throat and shifting to get more comfortable.
<><><><><><><><><><><>
After parking in the hotel lot, Dean opens the back door to gently wake Dakota up. He didn't even get a chance to shake her when Dakota sprang awake, gasping for air and whipping around defensively.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Dean calls soothingly, his voice gentle and calm. "Easy, tiger. You're okay, it's okay."
"It was just a bad dream, bug, it's okay." Sam adds, reaching back and catching Dakota's hand.
Dakota breathes deeply, catching her breath as she slowly calms herself down. Her eyes still dart around almost suspiciously, she didn't notice that her hand was inching towards her knife until Dean caught it in his.
"Nice and calm, baby, deep breaths." Dean reminds, brushing his thumb over her knuckles soothingly. "There ya go."
"Sorry, I'm sorry." Dakota apologizes, pulling her hands free and covering her face.
"It's okay." Sam repeats, giving his niece a warm smile.
"How 'bout we go in? That sound all right?" Dean asks, placing a hand on Dakota shoulders, feeling the tension slowly leaving her muscles.
The youngest Winchester slowly begins to nod her head in agreement, catching Dean's hand and gripping it tightly. Dean doesn't question her movements, instead her helps her out of the car and wraps an arm around her shoulders.
Dean and Dakota sit next to each other, exchanging glances as Sam fills up a small cup with cucumber water. They both hold disgusted expressions, completely bemused by Sam's actions.
"What? It's good." Sam defends himself quickly, almost shrinking in on himself.
"It's vegetable water." Dean sneers in disgust.
"Sam, Dean, Kota." Cas greets the Winchesters as he walks up to them. Sam nearly chokes on his vegetable water in surprise.
"Hey." Sam coughs, trying to cover up his embarrassing response. The Winchesters all stand up, Dakota giving Cas a tight hug. She's missed him.
"You consider switching up you duds there?" Dean asks, his face scrunching up slightly as he shifts back and forth on his feet. "Bit stiff for this town."
"He could be an agent or something." Dakota defends, hitting her dad's stomach.
"Yeah, maybe a third-tier agent." Dean scoffs sarcastically.
"At least I don't look like a lumber-jack." Cas sneers, Dakota snorts loudly.
Dean slowly stops laughing, embarrassment covering his expression now.
"Okay, enough. Guys, where's Crowley?" Sam asks, breaking Dean and Castiel's verbal spar, though he looks slight taken aback by Cas' comment.
"He said he'd meet us here." Cas informs, before rolling his eyes slightly. "Frankly, I appreciate the break. It's been weeks, and he's been right there, just talking and talking and talking. It's relentless."
Dakota wraps an arm around the angel. "Aw, bub." She coos, laying her head against his shoulder.
"Don't listen to him." Crowley says as he appears behind them, Cas instantly sighs in annoyance. "Feathers and I are all but inseparable now."
"You find anything?" Dakota asks, rolling her eyes at the demon.
"Yes." He answers quickly, Dakota steps away from Cas to look at Crowley behind him. "Vince Vincente is riding with the Devil." He informs them.
Dean and Dakota can't help but roll their eyes, Sam giving them a strange look for their synchronization.
"Okay, so what now?" Cas questions them.
Crowley shakes a key card at them. "I suggest we go check out his room. Vince is scheduled to be in the studio all day, so we're covered."
Dean and Dakota share the same disturbed expression before the two ask similar questions.
"How'd you get the card?"
"You bribe someone with candy?"
Dean nudges Dakota in the ribs, she rubs at it and glares at him.
"What, it's an honest question!" She defends herself.
"This is L.A. I know a lot of people." Crowley answers, rolling his eyes at Dakota. The demon turns and points to the receptionist, who winks at him in return with a wide grin.
Sam and Cas follow after Crowley, but Dean and Dakota hesitate slightly as they still try to process the information. Cas reaches back and grabs Dakota's wrist gently, she grabs onto Dean as Cas begins to tug her along with them.
They walk into Vince's destroyed hotel room, clothes--both male and female--strewn out all over the floor and furniture. The stale smell of alcohol and sweat. Dakota wrinkles her nose.
"Well, looks like there was some kind of a fight." Cas observes, Dakota can't help but giggle at his innocence.
"Mm. Yeah. Some kind." Dean says sarcastically, holding up a pair of panties in his hand before throwing it back down. He turns towards his daughter. "Stay right by my side and don't touch anything."
"Look at this." Sam calls out, gesturing to the pile of books on a small table. "Rock star biographies. Like, all of them, from Aerosmith to ZZ Top. It's like he's studying how to become famous."
"But Vincente is technically famous, and Lucifer is wearing him so he wouldn't need those." Dakota points out, looking over at her uncle as Dean sits on the couch, looking into a pizza box. "Wow, I felt actual pain saying that Vincente was famous."
"Yeah, but Lucifer doesn't know how to act like a rock star, he can't draw too much attention to himself."
"He already did though." Dakota says, tilting her head to the side in confusion, a habit that she's picked up from Cas.
"He doesn't want to draw any bad attention to himself by acting strange." Sam explains.
"Well, so what, Lucifer's a dork?" Dean questions, seeing Dakota nod her head at Sam's words--finally understanding what he meant. "That's good to know." He muses, picking up a guitar from the couch.
Cas moves over to Crowley, holding up a binder in his head. "Look at this--'The seeds of a ripe dragon fruit drizzled with exactly 1 ounce of Acacia honey, prepared in a ceramic bowl--no plastic'. What is this spell?"
"It's breakfast. It's Vince's rider." Crowley points out, looking at Cas like the angel was dumb. "I've seen worse."
"I don't get it." Cas sighs, Dakota pats his arm gently.
Dean tunes out the conversation around him, turning his focus on the guitar, guiding his fingers over the strings. Dakota sits next to him, watching as he looks entranced by the instrument.
"Lucifer could be taking over Heaven and Hell right now, and instead, he's trying to act out some rock god fantasy?
"Yeah. Who wouldn't?" Dean mumbles, tuning back into the conversation, he strums the strings loudly.
He grins giddily, loving the fact he made the guitar make noise. Dakota chuckles at his excitement, reaching over and dragging her fingertips down the strings, making an odd noise.
"I found something." Castiel cuts in, bringing Dean and Dakota's attention to him. He comes out of the bathroom holding something small and white.
"What is that?" Sam questions, his face screwing up in confusion.
"It appears to be a human tooth." Cas informs. "Pulled out by the root."
Dakota visibly cringes at the sight, rearing her head back in disgust. "And think, just yesterday we were playing Words with Friends, now we're looking at discarded human teeth." Dakota sighs, dragging a hand through her hair.
Hey guys!
I have no idea what I should call you guys, like what kind of nickname I should have for the readers. Any ideas?
Also, what's your thought on this chapter? It's more light-hearted than it has been recently.
Love, Kaz.