𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒 || 𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐖𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫

Chapter 42 ~ The Front Seat

Episode: Season 15 - Carry On Pt. 3

"Yes, yes, I know that... Well- Okay, but how about-"

An exasperated sigh.

"I'm very well aware of how old you are, Yasmin. Yes...Yes, and Roman, too. But this is the first time on your own since-"

Another sigh.

"I do remember you two rescuing me, yes. But you're still my babies. Just-...Okay. Okay... Well, you two be careful then. I love you... Okay...Okay, bye."

My head dropped into my hands, massaging my temples after hitting the 'end' button on the cell phone. I heard Sam chuckle somewhere in the background as Dean looked up from where he was sitting at the table in the library, the screen from the laptop making his green eyes look an even lighter hue.

"The kids?" he asked and I nodded in response, "You know, Park, you have to let them grow up sometime. Yazzy is 17. And Roman's not far behind. Plus, Yasmin needs this - she needs to figure out what college she wants to go to and what she wants do with the rest of her life. They both do. They'll be fine, just gotta trust them,"

"I do trust them!" I pointed out, faltering slightly, "This is their first time on their own since we all found each other again. I just...I just want them to be safe, that's all."

Dean sighed, getting up out of his chair while Sam took over the operation of looking for our next case. Gently, my husband's arms encircled me from behind, his chin resting on the top of my head where he placed a chaste kiss.

"You're a good mom, Park. You really are. And you raised the two of them well. Which is how I know they'll be fine." he murmured into my hair, holding me tight, "Besides, not long and you'll have another one to spoil."

A smile split my face at the mention, the feeling of Dean nuzzling my neck making my heart race just a bit faster. Our future held endless possibilities.

Sam cleared his throat just then, a knowing twinkle in his eye from what he just overheard, "Um, guys? I think I found something."

And with those words, we were off again - this time to Ohio. Apparently, two children had been kidnapped by some masked robbers. Not that out of the ordinary. But the mother, lone survivor, did have her tongue ripped out of her mouth. Now that would be defined as not exactly ordinary.

Which is why we decided to take the case - it almost felt like an old-school hunt of ours in a sense. Especially since after showing up as FEDs, the police let us see a drawing of the intruders. And they looked eerily familiar.

I huffed out of boredom as I sat on Baby's hood, propped up on my elbows with my feet hanging off the side of the fender.

"Alright. Let's see. I think it was in '86..." Dean was saying to himself, flipping through yellowed pages of their dad's old journal before finding what he was looking for, "Dad was working a string of kidnappings along Route 77. So, uh... Akron, Canton, East Sparta."

Sam used a red marker to mark out where the cases took place, trying to pinpoint an exact location.

"He didn't find much, but the witness did draw this," Dean continued, turning the journal around so that we could see the drawing.

My eyes widened. It was near identical to that of the one the police showed us earlier.

"Kids were taken. The adults that weren't drained had their, uh-" Dean started to intone, still reading straight from the pages.

"-had their tongues ripped out." Sam finished for him.

"Yeah..." Dean trailed off then, deep in thought before glancing up at the two of us, "You know what this is? Mimes. Evil mimes,"

Sam made a face, exasperated with his brother and I laughed, shaking my head.

"Yeah, or vampires," Sam pointed out.

"Vamp-mimes!" Dean's green eyes widened, making me laugh even harder as he cursed under his breath.

"Alright. Well, if this is the same nest and if the pattern holds, then they'll target Canton next,"

"Okay. It says here that, uh...they target families that are living outside of town, that are isolated, kids usually between the ages of 5 and 10."

"Okay," I nodded, trying hard to wrack my brain, "So, who in Canton fits that bill?"

Both brothers frowned, knowing immediately who would be targeted. In two minutes flat, we were back on the road. Well...we would have been. But in all honesty, something was bothering me. And this wasn't a random agitation - no, this had been brewing for years. And I thought it was high past time it stopped.

"Wait, wait, wait! STOP THE CAR!" I cried out sharply, my voice echoing loudly in Baby.

Dean slammed on the brakes, effectively sending myself hurdling into the back of the seat while sending the two of them smashed against the dash. Sam groaned, pushing himself back into an upright position while Dean did the same.

"What's wrong, Park?" the youngest Winchester turned to face me, concern etched onto his features.

Dean's green gaze flitted to me as well, awaiting my answer. Solemnly, I let out a sigh and told them both the problem. My husband scoffed, just shaking his head at me indignantly as Sam, ever the sweet one, did as I wished.

Minutes later, we were traveling back down the road with myself planted firmly in the passenger seat opposite Dean. A wide smile had split my face at Sam's grumblings from the backseat, unable to stop myself from snickering at his complaints of how his "legs wouldn't fit" back there.

But a strange feeling came over me suddenly and try as might, even two hours down the road, I couldn't shake it. So again, I asked for the car to be stopped and again, another slam was put on the brakes.

Dean was getting more than agitated I could tell as he ground out, "Parks, what's up now?"

"I...IwanSamtoswishwimme." I mumbled under my breath in a rush, feeling my cheeks burn pink.

Dean arched an eyebrow, "What was that?"

"I SAID I WANT SAM TO SWITCH WITH ME!" I roared in exasperation.

"But you just said that you wanted to be up here,"

"I know."

"So?"

"So I'm...getting...nostalgic...for the backseat," I admitted quietly as both boys groaned in unison, "You know, it turns out there's really not a lot of room up here. Sitting in the front seat just isn't what it's cracked up to be."

Several sighs, door slams, and curse words later, we were all back in our normal spots and headed to our intended location.

I just wished the front seat hadn't let me down this way.