Clap Your Hands If You Believe

"I'm here because I believe Elwood, Indiana has become a center of extraterrestrial activity." Wayne told us as we stood on the street. "My name is Wayne Whittaker, Jr. and I have personally recorded dozens of eyewitness accounts. Strange lights in the sky, mysterious presences attempting contact. We are right in the middle of what we in the field like to call a UFO flap and I am as happy as a pig in shoes."

That was what started my morning, which was followed up by interviewing the girlfriend of the missing guy, which proved she had lost her mind.

"There was this light and then Patrick just vanished." The blonde girl who has been at the scene of the most recent person who had gone missing. "What happened to him? Something took him. I know it."

Then another woman on the street had spoken up about the matter.

"It's all happening, you know?" A very high, redhead hippie told us. "I mean, these entities have come to help push humanity to the next stage.

Finally, we talked to the sheriff, who of course didn't believe a word of this alien  bull crap.

"Since this whole damn circus has blown into town no one seems to realize we got four missing persons cases, wide open." The sheriff said as we stood by his car. "My friends lost loved ones. I can guarantee you this has nothing to do with UFOs or little green men or anything extraterrestrial whatsoever."

Unfortunately, that wasn't the last of our talks with small town crazy people.

"Of course it's not UFOs." A older woman--another hippie by the looks of it. "It fairies."

Not a hippie. Just crazy.

"Fairies?" Dean repeated. 

"Like Tinker Bell?" Evie asked. "I like Tinker Bell."

"Okay, well, thank you for your input," Dean told the lady. 

Years of trying to teach him manners has finally paid off. 

"What? Flying saucers not insane enough for you?" Sam asked as Dean turned to walk away.

"Sam," I hissed.

"What newspaper did you say you worked for?" the woman asked.

"Okay, you want to add glitter to the glue you're sniffing, fine. But don't dump your wackadoo over us, we'd rather not step in it," Sam said. 

"Okay, we're--we're done." Dean grabbed his brothers arm. 

"The only think you're missing is a couple dozen cats," Sam continued. 

"Yeah, it's--it's a blood sugar thing," Dean lied.

"We are so sorry. He's...he's got some issues," I added, making Dean choke on a laugh. 

"Bye!" Evie waved her hand, following us. 

"What?" Sam asked as we walked away.

"What? You gotta ask?" Dean replied. "Right. Yes, you do have to ask."

"Look, I'm sorry but this is all a big joke," Sam stated. "We're not taking this crap seriously?"

"Well, clearly something is happening here," I pointed out.

"No, man, ET is made of rubber, everybody knows that," Dean said. "But there are four legitimate vanishings in this town. Something's going on."

At the mention of ET, Rory whined. She did not like ET. We learned that the hard way.

"Oh, it's okay, honey. Come here." Dean lifted her into his arms as Eli tried to reach out to her. "And Sam, by the way, it's not the lady's fault she took the brown acid."

"Yeah? So?" Sam asked.

"Empathy, man. Empathy. I have toddlers who can behave in public better than you," Dean said.

"It's funny at time, but then it's just mean and embarrassing," I added. 

"I mean, the old Sam would have gave her some wussified, dew-eyed crap," Dean continued.

"Right, I mean, it was Dean's job to be super embarrassing and have horrible manners. I had to clean up the mess. I have to say this is an weird switch-up, but it's refreshing," I said, moving Eli to my other hip so he could reach Rory.

"Old Sam had a soul," Sam pointed out. "Was a soul. Whatever."

"Yes, we know. Just...pretend you do," I suggested. "Wy, buddy, hand." 

He slipped his hand into mine as we crossed the road. Evie had Sam's hand, though my trust in him waned slightly. 

"Right. Yes. And--But you don't." Dean told him. "Or aren't. Whatever."

"Right," Sam said.

"Right," Dean repeated. 

"Right," Evie spoke up. "What's right, Daddy?"

"Uh, me and your mother," he answered. "You don't care."

"Well---" Sam began.

"You have to care," Dean stated. 

"About what, exactly?"

"About everything, man. About being human, at least."

"Look, Dean, you obviously care a lot and that's great. But I can't care about what...What I can't care about, you know?"

"Nice one, Sam, " Millie remarked. 

"What do you want me to do, fake it?" Sam asked.

"Yes," Dean said as if I hadn't suggested it five minutes ago. "Absolutely. Fake it. Fake it till you make it."

"What happened to you wanting me to be all honest?"

"Hey, you wanna be a real boy, Pinocchio, you gotta act the part."

"I was faking it, Dean. Ever since we got back on the road together. I was picking every freaking word. It's exhausting."

"Welcome to being human, Sam. It's what we do," I told him as we reached the car. 

"Okay, alright, but until we get you back on the soul train, I'll be your conscience, okay?" Dean suggested.

"We're doomed," Millie said.

"Very doomed," I agreed.

"Uh-huh," Evie hummed.

"So you're saying you'll be my Jiminy Cricket?" Sam asked. 

"Shut up," Dean said. "But, yeah, you freaking puppet. That's exactly what I'm saying."

"This will most likely go wrong in some way, won't it?" I asked.

"Hush."

_____

We walked into the watchmakers shop. He was the father of the first missing man.

"Mr. Brennan?" Dean asked as we walked toward the man at a desk, staring down at a watch he was fixing.

"Hmm?" he hummed in response.

"We're with the Mirror, we'd just like to ask you--" Sam began.

"What?" Mr. Brennan looked up. "Is this about Patrick? Patrick's gone."

"Missing. Right, yes. That's what we wanna talk to you about," Dean said.

"Now your son was the first to disappear," Sam began.

"First to be taken," Mr. Brennan corrected. 

"Taken?" I repeated.

Mr. Brennan stood, shooing us away. "Get out. Out."

"Mr. Brennan, who do you believe took your son?" Dean asked as he we were ushered toward the door.

"You people can't help me. My boy is never coming back."

"You sound awfully sure," Sam said.

"Excuse me?" Mr. Brennan asked. 

"Like you know something you're not talking about."

"You know what they say, 72 hours," Mr. Brennan told us. "After that, the odds of finding a missing person drop to nothing, right?"

"Well, every case is different," Dean said.

"It's been weeks," Mr. Brennan stated. 

"Listen, call us if anything comes to mind." Dean placed a card with our number on it on the table. He set his hand on my waist and we headed for the door.

"What do you think?" Sam asked as we walked down the street.

"I think he's hiding something," Dean stated. 

"For sure," I added.

"Why don't you stay and watch the watchmaker, see what happens when the sun goes down," Dean told Sam.  "I'll go check out the crop circles."

"Okey-dokey," Sam agreed.

"But do not engage with, maim, or in any way kill Brennan," Dean instructed. "In fact, I don't want you making any judgement calls. Anything happens, call me. You know what, I'm going to leave the most moral, responsible person I know to guide you. Si, baby, watch him."

"You know, Jiminy, I was on my own for a whole year," Sam pointed out. "I did fine without the two of you."

Dean scoffed. "Yeah, I don't want to know your definition of fine." He tugged me down the street a little. "Call me if anything goes wrong, got it?"

"Yes, sir," I said, giving him a smile.

"Be safe." He pressed a kiss to my lips.

"So which half of our mini Scooby Gang are you taking?" I asked, adjusting the collar of his jacket.

"I'm going to inspect crop circles. It'll take ten minutes, easy and quick. I'll do it on my own."

"Hell no. I am not wrangling four kids and your brother," I said. "You are taking at least one of them."

_____

"Can I have some?" Evie asked, reaching for the beer.

"Oh, hey, no." I caught her wrist gently, redirecting her to her coloring book as Sam and I sat in a restaurant/bar, watching Brennan.

"The only thing this guy is up to is alcoholism," Sam told Dean over the phone.

"Good," came Dean's reply through the speaker. 

"Maybe I should go talk to him again. I mean, you're the one who said he's hiding something," Sam stated. 

"How's the corn field search going?" I asked.

"Hi, Mama." Wyatt's voice crackled through the speaker. Dean had taken him. Evie went with me along with the twins--who cannot be out of sight of each other.

"Shh, shh." Dean said to all of us.

"What? You see something?" Sam asked. 

"Dean, what's going on?" I asked.

"Hang on a second." Dean said. It went quiet for a few moments. "Holy--" He start yelling but I couldn't make out what he said.

"Whoa, dude, stop yelling. You're breaking up," Sam told him. "I didn't catch that last part."

"Close encounter. Close encounter!"

"Close encounter?" Sam repeated. 

"I think he's lost his mind." Millie sighed. 

"What kind? First? Second?" Sam asked. 

"They're after me!" Dean said.

"Third kind already. You better run. I think the fourth kind is a butt thing."

"Oh my god, give me the phone, you idiot." I grabbed it from him.

"Empathy, Sam. Empathy," Dean hissed. 

"Dean? Are you good?" I asked as Sam gestured to order another beer.

"They still after you?" he asked then.

No answer.

"Dean?" I asked.

"You there? Dean?" Sam took the phone and hung up after we got no answer. The waitress handed him another beer. "Thanks," he said, watching her as she walked away.

"You are so messed up," I muttered.

_____

"This is Dean's other, other cell so you must know what to do....Si, baby, if it's you, leave a dirty message. Love you." Another voicemail.

"Ugh," I groaned, dialing again. It rang and rang and rang as we walked through the cornfield. "Hey, Eli, stay close. Don't wander off."

"Can I make a Children of the Corn joke now that we have three of them in a cornfield?" Millie asked.

"Later," I said.

Then I heard the familiar rock song that was set as Dean's ringtone. 

I spotted his phone on the ground. I bent down to pick it up. I hung up, shoving my phone in my pocket as I looked around. No sign of Dean or Wyatt.

I shoved Dean's phone into my pocket as well.

"This is just great," I muttered.

"Don't worry. I'm sure he's around he somewhere," Dad assured me, appearing from the other end. He and Sam had taken one direction, Millie and I took the other to search for them.

_____

"Mama, where's Daddy?" Evie asked as we walked toward the semi-circle of RVs -- I was still trying to convince Dean to buy one to make traveling easier, by the way.

"He'll be back soon," I told her.

The place was decorated with all kinds of alien themed things. We walked up the table where Wayne sat. "So they're real. UFOs," Sam said.

"Like I said before, son, the truth is out there." He looked up from his book.

"Okay. You're the expert. How do I get them?" Sam asked. 

"Come again?" Wayne stood.

"Well, you hunt ETs, right? I need to know how to get them," Sam stated. 

Wayne chuckled. "Uh, you and me both."

"So you have no suggestions on how to track them down?" I asked, rubbing Eli's back as he slept.

Wayne shook his head, handing Sam a packet of papers. 

"This is it?" Sam asked, flipping through the pages.

"I'd say that 30 years of eyewitness accounts speak for themselves as proof," Wayne replied.

"Yeah, right. My brother was abducted, so I'm good on the whole proof part," Sam said.

"Your brother was abducted?" The redheaded woman we'd spoken to before joined our side.

"Yeah."

"Oh my God."

"It's fine. I mean, I've had time to adjust."

I sighed. 

"Did it happen when you were kids?" she asked.

"No, like half an hour ago," Sam said.

"Yeah, so much time to get used to it," I muttered. 

"So you've been hunting UFOs for over three decades and you basically have no concrete data and zero workable leads." Sam turned back to Wayne.

"Well, I--" the older man began.

"Have you considered the possibility that you suck at hunting UFOs?" Sam cut him off.

"I am so sorry about him. He's struggling, you know, abducted brother and all," I forced a laugh as he walked off. "Come on, Eve."

Evie took Rory's hand, both of them following us.

"I'd like to help," the hippie woman said, following us as well. "If I can."

Sam turned to look at her, finding Dean and aliens were the last thing on his mind. I could tell. 

"I give up," I mumbled.

______

"It doesn't bother you that he's sleeping with her?" I asked Millie as we sat at the picnic table outside of out motel, trying to research aliens and how to find Dean and Wyatt.

"No. We're just having sex. We're not dating." Millie shrugged. "He's not obligated to me."

"Mama!" 

I turned at the voice. Wyatt ran toward me, across the parking lot. 

"Hey, honey." I caught him in my arms, hugging him tight. "Where have you been?"

"I dunno," he answered as I set him down.

"Go on in and go to bed, okay?" I kissed his head. He nodded, then ran off to our room.

"You had me worried sick." I pulled Dean into a hug. His arms snaked around me in return. "What happened?"

"It's a long story," he said. "Where's Sam?"

"Uh, there." I pointed to the room next to ours where all the lights were out.

Dean turned, heading for the door.

"I wouldn't go in there if I were you," I told him as he pushed the door open and flicked on the light only to find Sam and the woman he brought home naked in bed.

"Dean," Sam said.

"What the hell?" Dean asked. 

"Oh, that's Dean," she said. "Sam, they brought your brother back."

_____

"It's alright, Sam. I so totally understand," she said, scrambling to collect her things and head for the door. "You need time as a family. But it's just-- What were they like?"

"They were grabby, incandescent douchebags. Goodnight." Dean shut the door in her face. 

Sam - now dressed - stood across the room. "You're upset."

"Wow, nice observation," I muttered.

Dean turned to his brother. "I was abducted... and you were banging Patchouli."

"I didn't think she smelled that bad," Sam stated. 

"I was abducted by aliens!"

"I was looking into it."

"Into what exactly?" I asked. 

"Looking into it? I was gone for like and hour," Dean said.

"Not quite," I told him.

"Most of that was walking back to town."

"Dean, you were gone all night."

"She's right, your watch is off," Sam added.

"What are you two talking about? No, I haven't," Dean insisted. 

Sam held up his phone to show the time as Dean grabbed my wrist to check my watch. "Four a.m.?" Dean asked.

"Yep." I pulled my wrist back.

"UFO timeslip," Sam stated. He moved to grab the packet of alien information. "That actually falls in line with a lot of UFO stories."

"Falls in line?" Dean muttered to himself, going to sit on the end of the bed.

"Whoa, hey, not that one." I shoved him over to the bed that was untouched. "God knows what's happened there." I nodded to Sam's bed.

"Nothing's falling in line," Dean said as Sam handed him a glass of liquor. He downed it. Sam refilled it, sitting across from us. 

"Now, come on. Talk to me. What happened?" Sam asked.