BUGS [PART ONE]
___

"Right. Um...I'm gonna go talk to Larry. Okay, honey?"
—
"You're terrible."

• • •

Juliet sighs, her breathing being seen in puffs of smoke. She pulls the jacket she's wearing tighter over her frame as the bite in the air nips at her skin. She sits on the bonnet of Baby with Sam next to her, who's reading a news paper article. He thinks he might've caught them a case.

The huntress looks up at the pitch black sky, it's nightime in Oklahoma. She smiles as the stars and moon reflects in her eyes. It's a cold night but the sky is still as beautiful as ever.

Juliet looks behind her shoulder, smiling softly as she can see Harlow asleep in the back, she can't blame the kid, if she could sleep right now she would, but sleep hasn't been coming easy to her lately. She keeps thinking about John, where he is, what he's doing, if he's hurt and recently she's been asking herself if John even cares about them. Her conclusion? No. Because if he did then he would be here with them and not be so hellbent on getting revenge. She understands, if it were Dean who died, she could picture herself being like John with getting revenge but she wouldn't do it alone. If anything, Sam and Dean have a right to get that same revenge, too. It didn't just kill John's wife, it killed Sam and Dean's mother.

If the werewolf that killed her parents was still kicking, she would hunt it down to the ends of the earth. She sadly never got to meet her parents, but she's heard stories of how Joseph and Lydia Sullivan were the best hunters to ever live, how they come a very close second to the Winchesters'.

When she was old enough, John had told Juliet about his two best friend's and also how they passed. She assumes that it's because their death didn't affect him like Mary's did.

They had left Juliet in the care of John and Mary for the night as they had tracked down a werewolf nearby and had planned to kill it. They had promised Mary and John that they would be back the next morning to pick their little girl up.

The next morning came, but they didn't.

All she got as a goodbye was a measly kiss on her head and two meaningless "love you's" from them both and that was it, she never got to hug her mother or father, watch them grow old or go to them for advice on things in life. She never had a mother to go to, to speak about boy problems or to help her through her first period. She never had a father to teach her baseball or to take her to prom and she'll never have a father to dance with her at her wedding.

The closest thing she'll ever have to a father is Bobby, and she can say for sure that he's one hundred percent more of a father to her than John has and can ever be and she knows that he won't admit it but she's Bobby's favorite. He doesn't have to say it for her to know, she just knows. She'll have to ask Dean if they can stop by Bobby's at some point, say their hello's and catch up. It would be nice t—

She's cut off from her thoughts as the door to the bar they are parked outside of opens and Dean walks out with a cheeky smile on his face, laughing his ass off as he waves the wad of cash in his left hand around. Juliet raises an eyebrow at her boyfriend, looks as if he's had a good hustle.

Sam shakes his head at his brother, noticing the cash he's holding.

"You know, we could get day jobs once in a while."

Dean pulls a face at his brother, "Hunting's our day job. And the pay is crap."

Juliet nods her head, "I like huntin', Sammy. You know, the whole Saving people, hunting things, the family buisness." Dean groans as he hears Juliet chuckle, he looks to her. "How long are you gonna hold those words against me? I said them one time."

Juliet snorts, "If we ever made buisness cards, that's gonna be our slogan."

Sam raises an eyebrow, "Hey, didn't you want to be an FBI agent when we were kids?"

The smile playing on Juliet's lips is wiped clean off her face. She looks to Sam, pink tinging her cheeks as she huffs, "I was a kid, Sam! It was just some stupid dream. I also wanted to be an english teacher, but look how that turned out. It didn't. Besides, I would much rather be a hunter. Oh, look, I am one."

Sam shakes his head at Juliet's sarcastic and sassy tone, he can see where Harlow gets it from.

He looks to Dean, eyeing the stash of cash in his hands.

"Yeah, but hustling pool? Credit card scams? It's not the most honest thing in the world, guys."

Dean pulls a face, frowning at his brother as he holds out his right hand. "Well, let's see. Honest," Juliet shakes her head as she watches Dean hold out his left hand, the one with the money in it, "Fun and easy."

He holds his left hand more higher than his right one, gesturing that the 'fun and easy' hand outweighs the 'honest' hand.

"It's no contest. Besides, we're good at it. It's what we were raised to do."

Sam huffs, "Yeah, well, how we were raised was jacked."

Dean scoffs, "Yeah, says you." He looks down to the newspaper in Sam's hands, "We got a new gig or what?"

Juliet sighs as she jumps off the hood of the Impala, she stretches her limbs from sitting on the car for so long, she would have joined Dean on hustling people out of their money but she didn't feel like it, sometimes it's just too easy. For once, she would like a game of pool that's a bit more challenging. She groans in relief as she feels a satisfying crack in her back. She relaxes her whole body, turning to Dean.

"Sam thinks he's found us a case."

Dean raises his eyebrows as he looks at his little brother, "You do, huh?"

Sam nods his head, "Maybe," he shows the paper to Dean and Juliet, "Oasis plains, Oklahoma-not far from here. A gas company employee, Dustin Burwash—"

Juliet's sniggering catches Sam's attention, he raises an eyebrow at her, "Something funny?" The brunette holds up her hand, "I'm sorry, but Dustin Burwash, you can't write that shit." She looks to the corner of her eye and winks at an invisible camera, "Or maybe you can."

Sam sighs, neither Winchester brother having noticed the little exchange between Juliet and whatever she was looking at. Sam continues, "—he supposedly died from Creutzfeldt-Jakob." Dean gives his brother a blank look, "Huh?"

Juliet giggles as she lays a hand on her boyfriend's shoulder, "Basically, human mad cow disease."

Dean raises an eyebrow, "Mad cow? Wasn't that on Oprah?"

Juliet and Sam share a look with one another before turning back to Dean, the former of the two raises her eyebrow with a smirk blatantly on her lips. "Honey, you watch Oprah?"

Dean stutters with his words, embarassed and cussing himself for admitting his guilty pleasure. He watches it in private, and by that he means when Juliet and Sam have fallen asleep. The older Winchester brother shakes his head, immediately changing the topic.

"So this guy eats a bad burger. Why is it our kinda thing?"

Sam gives his brother a look, explaining why it might be their kinda rodeo.

"Mad cow disease causes massive brain degeneration. It takes months, even years, for the damage to appear. But this guy, Dustin? Sounds like his brain disintegrated in about an hour. Maybe less."

Dean nods his head, "Okay, that's weird."

"Yeah, it could be a disease—"

Juliet smiles as she looks to Dean, "Or it could be something way worse." She raises her eyebrows at him, a knowing smile on her face as she and Sam await his answer. Juliet internally leaps for joy as Dean nods his head, "All right. Oklahoma."

The smiles is still on Juliet's face as she and the Winchester brother's get into the car, making sure to shut their respective car door quietly as to not wake Harlow.

Juliet playfully rolls her eyes from the passenger seat as she looks to Dean, racking his money up.

"Work, work, work. No time to spend my money."

The huntress shrugs, "Well, you know what they say, "All work and no play makes Dean a very dull boy"."

The said man nods his head, "Exact—hey! That better not imply that you think I'm dull."

She innocently flutters her eyelashes at him, "Of course not, honey."

The smile is back on his face, "Oh, then in that case...exactly."

Juliet smiles as she looks in the rearview mirror and winks at Sam, the said brother stiffling a laugh of his own. She looks back to Dean and eyes the cash in his hand, feigning a grumpy look. "I hope you plan on getting me something nice with that." Dean smirks as he looks at her from the corner of his eye, "Guess you'll just have to wait and see."

Juliet laughs as Dean turns the keys in the ignition and drives off, leaving the bar behind them.

• • •

Harlow looks out the car window as Dean parks the Impala outside of a building saying 'Oklahoma Gas and Power company'. She watches as her Mother, Father and Uncle exit the car, the five year old frowns, thinking she'll be left in the back, that frown is soon replaced with a smile as Dean opens the back door and unclips her seatbelt before lifting her from her pink polka-dotted booster seat and sets her on the ground.

Juliet sighs as she looks up at the cloudy sky, cussing the weather as it looks like the heavens are about to open at any minute. The huntress looks to Dean as she grabs his hand, "It's a good thing we brought those umbrella's, huh?"

Dean interlocks their fingers as he glances up at the sky, the darkening clouds connecting to one another like each of them are a piece to a puzzle that will unlock a storm. The hunter hums in agreement.

Juliet turns to the one person outside the building, on site. She motions towards him with her head, "Think that's our guy?" Dean nods his head, "His face fits the picture in the article, so I would say so, yeah."

Juliet rolls her eyes at Dean's obvious tone, it seems like something is bothering him. She goes to ask but then remembers that he hasn't eaten today. That would make sense if he's hangry, maybe after this, they can go and find a bite to eat somewhere or get a motel room and bundle up inside and out of the rain.

Her hand being yanked from Dean's breaks her thoughts, her and Dean look down at the cause of their intrusion and both shake their heads as Harlow smiles up at them as her right hand holds Juliet's hand and her left hold's her father's hand.

Dean raises his eyebrow, "And what can we do for you, miss ma'am?"

Harlow giggles as she looks up at Dean, "I wanna go wup?"

Juliet laughs, "You wanna go up, huh?"

Harlow smiles as she nods her head vigorously.

Dean and Juliet share a knowing look before the former of the two fakes a sigh of exhustation, "I-I don't know if I can do that, Harls. I'm pretty exhustated from drivin' here."

Harlow frowns, "Oh, okay."

Juliet shakes her head as she leans over Harlow and swats him on the shoulder, "Dean, stop winding our daughter up, it's unfair."

Dean holds his only free hand up as he chortles.

"Oh, alright," He looks down at his daughter, "Ready, Harls."

A toothy smile is already on her face as she once again nods her head.

Juliet smiles, "Okay, 3, 2,1..."

Both her and Dean use their upper body strength and lift Harlow into the air.

"...up we go."

Their daughter's laughter pierces through the air as she feels the butterflies erupt in her stomach from swinging through the air. Her Mom and Dad gently set her back onto her feet but neither of them let go of their daughter's hand as they walk the rest of the way towards Travis.

When they are at hearing distance, Sam gets the man's attention.

"Travis Weaver?"

The said man turns at the call of his name and raises as eyebrow at the family of four making their way towards him, "Yeah, that's right."

Dean raises an eyebrow, "Are you the Travis who worked with Uncle Dusty?"

That question causes both of his eyebrows to raise as he eyes the three adults, although he has taken notice of the child with them.

"Dustin never mentioned nephews or nieces."

Juliet shakes her head, "Oh, I'm married into the family," she lays her hand on Dean's shoulder, "I just don't wear the ring because I'm allergic to all metal."

Sam clears his throat as Juliet sends Travis a smile.

Dean shakes his head, "Really? Well he sure mentioned you. He said you were the greatest."

Sam nods his head, agreeing with Dean's lie. They had never heard of this man in their entire lives but if a job needs doing then they'll find any way to gain information. "Yeah."

Travis smiles as he thinks about his late best friend, "Oh, he did? huh."

Dean, Juliet and Sam nod their heads as the former of the three tilts his head in curiosity.

"Listen, we wanted to ask you...what exactly happened out there?"

Travis shrugs his shoulders as he shakes his head, "I'm not sure. He fell in a sinkhole, I went to the truck to get some rope, and, uh...by the time I got back..."

Juliet, having noticed Travis look down at Harlow, covers her daughter's ears. She has a feeling that what he's gonna say next will keep Harlow up for the rest of her life, so it's best she covers her daughter's ears. She nods her head at Dean who looks back to Travis.

"What did you see?"

Travis shakes his head, "Nothin', Just Dustin."

Sam raises an eyebrow, "No wounds or anything?"

Travis kisses his teeth, "Well, he was bleeding..." He looks down to Harlow once more before looking to Juliet who has a comforting yet small smile on her face. "You're good, Travis. She can't hear ya, I have her ears covered."

The said man lets out a sigh of relief before picking up where he trailed off, "...he was bleeding from his eyes and his ears, his nose. But that's it."

Dean tilts his head in curiosity as Juliet takes her hands away from their daughter's ears.

"So you think it could be this whole mad cow thing?"

Travis shrugs his shoulders, "I don't know. That's what the Doctors are sayin'."

Juliet scoffs, "If it was, he would've acted out of character, strange beforehand, for example, dementia, loss of motor control. Did you notice anything like that?"

Travis shakes his head, "No. No way. But then again, if it wasn't some disease, what the hell was it?"

Juliet looks to Dean as he nods his head, "That's a good question."

Sam looks to Travis with the puppy dog expression on his face, the one where anyone will tell him anything with just that one look. "You know, can you tell us where this happened?" With one look to Sam's face, Travis caves.

"Yeah."

• • •

A little while later, the three hunters arrive at the place where Dustin died, thanks to the help of Travis, of course. Juliet furrows her brows as the scene is surrounded in poilce tape from all sides. She raises her eyebrows at the hole in the ground.

"Huh."

Dean raises an eyebrow as he eyes Juliet, "What do you think?"

The said huntress shrugs her shoulders. "I have no idea," She looks to Sam, "What about you Sammy, any thoughts in that big ole' brain up there?"

Sam rolls his eyes at the height joke she is impying in her words before tilting his head while looking at the hole in the ground. "I don't know. But if that guy, Travis, was right, it happened pretty damn fast."

The three hunters duck under the tape so they can get a better look at the hole that Dustin had fallen to his death in. Juliet shines her flashlight down into the hole and lets out a low whistle.

"Damn, that goes down deep."

Dean looks down at her with a smirk on his face, wiggling his eyebrows.

"That's not the first time I've heard you say that."

Juliet shoots him a deadpan look as she narrows her eyes at him, "Really? Now, you're doing this now?"

Dean holds the flashlight with his teeth as he puts both hands up in surrender before taking it out of his mouth and holds it. "Hey, I'm not the one who asked if Shifter's have kinks." Sam rolls his eyes at the two. "Hey gu-wait," he looks to Juliet, holding back a chuckle as he does, "You asked Dean if shifter's have kinks?"

The huntress covers her face as she shakes her head, "It was a passing thought...that I had accidentally said aloud."

The two Winchester brother's shake their heads as they look back to the hole, neither of them going to let that go.

Dean peers down as he speaks to both Juliet and Sam.

"So, what? Some kind of creature chewed on his brain?"

Sam pulls a face as he shakes his head, "No, there'd be an entry wound."

Juliet looks to both brothers, "Sounds like this thing worked from the inside."

Dean looks back to the aperture in the ground.

"Huh. Looks like there's only room for one." He looks back up to Sam and Juliet, looking between them. "You wanna flip a coin?"

Sam shakes his head as he looks to his older brother, "Dean, we have no idea what's down there." Juliet rolls her eyes as Dean smirks as he picks up a coil of rope that he had taken out the trunk. "All right, I'll go if you're scared." He looks to his brother with an eyebrow raised, "You scared?"

Sam scoffs, "Flip the damn coin."

Dean chuckles as he pulls a coin out of his pocket.

"All right, call it in the air...chicken."

He laughs at the expression on his brother's face as he flips the coin in the air but before it can land back on the palm of his hand, Juliet snatches it midair. Both Sam and Dean look to her as she smirks at them, "I'm going." She peers down at the rupture in the ground before looking back up at her best friend and her boyfriend, "Besides, it looks like it's the perfect fit for a woman's physique, if ya know what I mean?" She sends Dean a wink as the said man swallows the lump in his throat as she slowly takes the rope from his hands.

"Good God, woman."

She laughs as she ties one end of the rope around her waist, "That's what you'll be saying tonight once I've finished with you."

Dean looks at her, his mouth agape as Sam splutters in the background, "Wha-? Shut up."

Juliet smirks as she hands the other end of the rope to Dean. "Okay, I'll tug the rope two times for when I wanna come up and all I ask is, don't drop me."

Dean nods his head, "I promise I won't drop you."

Juliet lets out a sigh of relief before giving both men a salute before slowly making her way down to the bottom of the hole.

• • •

Juliet scruntizes a dead beetle which is in her hand, she had found it at the bottom of the opening in the ground, she had found a lot more but thought only one would suffice for them to examine.

Dean, who's driving down the road, turns to his girlfriend sitting beside him in shotgun. He glances between her and the road. Sam sits in the back with Harlow, the said little girl listening to a Led Zeppelin cassette tape on Dean's walkman.

"So you found some beetles. In a hole, in the ground. That's shocking, babe."

Juliet rolls her eyes and sighs at the sarcasm lacing her boyfriend's words.

"Because, there were no tunnels and no tracks. No evidence of any other kind of creature down there, you dipshit."

She sends Dean a smile when she sees the offended look he sends her way. She rubs his shoulder with her free hand. "I meant it with love."

Sam chortles from the back seat as he shakes his head at the two, "You know, some beetles do eat meat. Now, it's usually dead meat but..."

Juliet turns and looks at her best friend, a look on her face.

"You're just a walking encyclopedia, aren't you?" She looks him up and down, "A big and tall walking encyclopaedia."

Sam rolls his eyes at her words and goes back to being silent and instead stares out the car window. Juliet furrows her eyebrows at him, waiting a beat before turning around and going back to facing the front, watching as houses and trees pass by.

"How many did you find out there?"

Dean's words get her attention. She shrugs her shoulders, moving the beetle that's in her hand around with the lid of a black ballpoint pen.

"Around ten."

Dean gives her a look, "It'd take a whole lot more than that to eat out some dude's brain."

Juliet scoffs, "Well, maybe there was more. How am I meant to know, I'm not a bug expert."

Dean shares a look with Sam from the rearview mirror, both brother's raising their eyebrows at the tone of her voice. The former of the two glances back at the road, "You okay, hon?" Juliet hums, "I'm fine. Just didn't get a lot of sleep last night. My wrist was aching like a son of a bitch."

Dean clicks his tongue, "If you had left it on like I told you to..."

Juliet gives him a deadpan look, "You're my boyfriend, not my father."

Dean smirks, "That's not what you were saying two nights ago."

Juliet slaps his arm, an automatic reaction to when he says something out of pocket. The said man laughs as he goes back to looking at the road of ahead of them. "I'm just messing," he looks back to the bug that she's holding, "I don't know, it sounds like a stretch to me."

Juliet sighs, "It always sounds like
a stretch to you."

Before Dean can reply, Sam pipes up from the back seat, again.

"Well, we need more information on the area, the neighborhood. Whether something like this has ever happened before."

Juliet hums in agreement with him.

As Dean drives around the town, a sign with balloons tied to it, catches his attention. He smirks as he glances to Juliet, who instantly notices the smirk on his face. She furrows her eyebrows at him. "What?"

The smirk on his face just widens.

"I know a good place to start."

Another sign catches his attention that reads,

'Models Open. New Buyers' BBQ Today!'

Juliet clocks the sign, too and sends him a look that screams what she's currently thinking. The older Winchester brother gives her a look in return.

"What?"

He looks to his daughter from the rearview mirror and motions for her to take her headphones off, which she does.

"You up for some grub, Harls?"

The said girl nods her head with enthusiasm. She's just like her father, never willing to pass up an oppotunity for food.

Dean smiles, "I'm kinda hungry for a little barbeque, how 'bout you?"

That causes Harlow's smile to widen even more.

"Yeah!"

"That's my girl."

Sam gives his brother a knowing look as he tilts his head. Dean just gives him the same look he gave Juliet. "What, we can't talk to the locals?" His little brother raises an eyebrow at him, "And the free food's got nothing to do with it?"

Dean straightens his jacket as he holds his head a little higher, "Of course not. I'm a professional."

Juliet and Sam share a knowing glance before the former of the two turns and faces her boyfriend, her eyes screaming at him that she doesn't believe him, like at all.

"Right."

Dean pulls over the car and the three hunters and child get out of Baby. Dean looks up at the house as Juliet takes a hold of his hand, interlocking their fingers. He looks down to her, "Growin' up in a place like this would freak me out."

Juliet furrows her eyebrows at him, "Why?" She watches as Dean shrugs his shoulders, "Well, manicured lawns, "How was your day, honey?" I'd blow my brains out."

Juliet raises an eyebrow, "Really?"

He looks to her and nods his head before looking into her eyes, his green eyes peering into her brown ones. "What about you? Think you'd like being one of them soccer mom's?"

Juliet exhales deeply as she thinks of an answer to his question, "I dunno, I think I would kinda like it. Harlow would get her own room, so would we. Sam would be there, too of course. I mean, think about it, Dean. We could have a kitchen, a real life kitchen and more than one bathroom. We could decorate it how we want and our bed wouldn't have so many lumps in it. Oh, it would be amazing."

Dean smiles at Juliet explaining her dream home to him, he loves the way her eyes light up when she thinks about it. It makes his heart feel like it's about to burst out of his chest but still, he shakes his head. "Nah, I couldn't live that kinda life."

Juliet shakes her head at him, not expecting anything less. It doesn't make her angry that he doesn't share her dream, she knows how he thinks and how he was brought up by John. Hell, she was brought up exactly the same way but she believes that they could have a semi-normal life and hunt. Bobby does it, the man pays his bills and still hunts. So, why can't they.

She just hopes that Harlow didn't catch any of that, she's not old enough to understand that it's nothing against her or their daughter, it's just how Dean's brain thinks and she wouldn't try to change that.

Sam, hearing the end of their conversation, turns to his brother with his arms crossed. Juliet raises an eyebrow at his posture, his body language screaming defensive.

"What's wrong with "normal"?"

Dean scoffs, "I'd take our family over normal any day."

The three hunters leave it at that, walking up to the front door of the house but unbeknownst to the three, Harlow heard every word that her father and mother said. The five year old tries with everything in her to hold her tears back. Hearing that her father didn't want to live the kind of life that her and her mother yearn for, with them. Well, it's enough to make her little heart break.

She lowers her head as she follows her father, mother and uncle up to the front door of the house that's hosting the barbeque.

Juliet looks up to the sky, glad that the rain is holding off for a bit. She looks to Dean as he knocks on the door. It only takes a few seconds before it's being opened and a man stands in the doorway, greeting them with a smile.

"Welcome."

"This the barbeque?"

That question is followed by a grunt as Juliet elbows Dean in the side for being so rude and foward. She sends the man a smile, "Sorry, he doesn't know how to act around other people. What he means is, are you the guy that's selling these beautiful properties?"

The man's smile widens.

"I am, indeed," He looks to Dean, "And, yes the barbeque is here, not the best weather, but..." He trails off before holding out a hand for all three hunters to shake. "I'm Larry Pike, the developer here. And you are...?"

Dean smiles as he shakes his hand, "Dean. This is Juliet and Sam."

The said huntress and hunter smile as they, too, shake the man's hand. The former of the two returning the smile, "Pleasure to meet you."

"Sam, Dean, Juliet, good to meet you. So, you three interested in Oasis Plains?"

Dean nods his head, "Yes, sir."

Larry smiles as he eyes Sam and Dean.

"Let me just say- we accept homeowners of any race, religion, color, or...sexual orientation."

Juliet stiffles her laughter as the look on both boys' face drop. Sam and Dean look to one another, both realizing what the guy is assuming. The latter of the two shakes his head, "We're brothers."

Larry, feeling a little bit embarrassed goes to say something but Juliet shakes her head.

"They get that all the time, Larry. I'm the one who's with Dean," She smiles at him, "We're actually looking for a house as their father is getting on in the years and to be honest, we just want a place where our daughter can play."

At the mention of their daughter, Harlow comes out from behind her uncle and smiles up at Larry as Juliet places her hands on her daughter's shoulders.

Larry's heart just about melts at the sight of Harlow, he bets that she's nothing like his son. Of course, he means that with love. He and his wife were estastic when they found out that she was having a boy, but as he's grown up he's become...perculiar. Like his obession for insects. He shakes his head, cussing himself out for letting his thoughts take him away. He focuses back on the family of four and nods his head with a buisnessmen like smile on his face.

"Great, great. Well, seniors as well as kids are welcome, too." He opens his front door wider and steps aside and invites them in with a motion of his hand. "Come on in."

The three hunters follow him inside and as soon as her families back is turned, the smile fades from Harlow's face as she slowly follows them in the house and through to the backyard.

Juliet eyes all the people that are standing around while chatting and eating. She eyes some of the mom's that are there, too. She can feel some of their stares on her, silently judging her. So, in Juliet fashion, she meets their stares with a glare. She smirks when that gets them to look away.

Sam turns to Larry with a smile on his face, playing the part of a curious neighbor.

"You said you were a developer?"

Just that question alone, causes Larry to spiral into a short story which is exactly what they need him to do, they need to know the history.

"Eighteen months ago, I was walking the valley with my survey team. There was nothing here but scrub brush and squirrels. And you know what, we built such a nice place to live that I actually bought into it myself. This is our house. We're the first family in Oasis Plains."

Juliet sends him a smile as she forces a chuckle from her throat, not that Larry notices anyway.

"Well, we wouldn't want to take that away from ya, promise."

Larry sends her a smile before leading them over to a woman and judging how he puts an arm around her waist, Juliet immediately knows that the woman standing in front of them is his other half.

Larry smiles down at the woman before looking back up to the three hunters, "This is my wife, Joanie."

Joanie smiles at the family of four and like her husband, holds out a hand for them to shake, "Hi there."

Juliet returns her smile as she shakes Joanie's hand, "Hey."

Dean, too, smiles at the woman and shakes her hand, "Hi."

Larry's wife smiles at the three hunters.

"Hi, nice to meet you-"

Larry, hearing his wife trail off, introduces them.

"Sam, Dean and Juliet," he looks down to the Winchester child, "and Harlow."

Joanie furrows her eyebrows before looking down and seeing the most adorable little girl she's ever seen. She has the biggest green eyes and the most gorgeous reddish-brown locks. She's so small.

She gently smiles down at Harlow and holds her hand out for her to shake. Harlow giggles as she takes the lady's hand and shakes it in greeting.

"Wello. Pweasure to mweet you."

Joanie chuckles at the girls manners and moves her attention to the tallest boy in the group. She smiles as she takes his hand and shakes it, silently working out if he's Sam or Dean. Luckily, she doesn't have to ponder it for long as he smiles at her, "Sam." She nods her head, "Pleasure."

Larry chuckles as he looks between the family of four and his wife.

"Tell them how much you love the place, honey. And lie if you have to because I need to sell some houses."

"Right."

The husband and wife laugh as Sam, Dean and Juliet share a look with one another, finding them strange. They all break the look as soon as Larry sets his eyes on them, again. He politely smiles, "Guys, will you excuse me?"

Juliet watches as he leaves before turning around looking back to Joanie, a faux smile on her face, not that she notices. Juliet wonders if Larry and Joanie are that oblivious all the time or if they just can't read social cues.

"Don't let his salesman routine scare you. This really is a great place to live."

Before any of the three hunters can reply, a bouncy and energetic woman approaches them, her dark strands of hair tied in a bun. She's smiling so much, Juliet actually clutches Dean's arm, slightly afraid of the smiling, bouncy and happy go lucky woman.

The woman immediately sets her eyes on Juliet and holds out her hand, a big smile on her face. "Hi, I'm Lydna Bloom, head of sales." Juliet glances between the woman, Lynda, and her hand but she doesn't make a move to shake it. Too afraid that she'll pull her in for a hug, she seems like the type of woman to do that.

Instead all the hunter can muster is a small "Hi" as she gently grabs Harlow's shoulders and pulls her daughter to her, Lynda doesn't notice the action but she does pull her hand away, taking notice that Juliet isn't going to make a move and shake it.

An awkward silence settles between them as Juliet raises an eyebrows, not liking the way everyone shakes hands around here. She feels like they're all overdoing it, just a smidge.

Joanie doesn't take notice of the awkward atmosphere and instead smiles as she sets a hand on Lynda's shoulder. "And Lynda was second to move in. She's a very nosy neighbor, though." Juliet subtly shakes her head as she subconsciously adds a few more words onto Joanie's sentence while watching the said woman leave.

She moves her eyes back to Lynda, her eyebrow raised as the said woman laughs.

"She's kidding, of course. I take it you three are interested in becoming homeowners."

Dean, Sam and Juliet share a look.

"Well..."

"Y-yeah, well..."

"I mean..."

Lynda smiles, "Well, let me just say that we accept homeowners of any race, religion, color or...sexual orientation."

Juliet stiffles her laughter, once more as she lowers her head while Sam and Dean share another exhasperated look. The latter of the two rubs the back of his neck before a thought comes into mind, he smirks.

"Right. Um...I'm gonna go talk to Larry."

Juliet tilts her head as Dean looks up at his brother, the smirk still on his face. "Okay, honey?" The huntress bites her lip, concealing her laugh as Dean smacks Sam's ass while walking away. The huntress shakes her head as she follows after Dean, Harlow opting to stay with her uncle.

Juliet grabs Dean's hand as she chuckles, "You're terrible."

Dean just sends her a wink as they go inside the house to try and find Larry and see what they can find out about the town.

• • •

Dean, Juliet and Larry walk down the stairs of the Pike household, the two hunters holding hands as they walk behind Larry. The said man smiles at them as they descend down the staircase.

"You've got three choices-carpet, hardwood, and tile."

Juliet raises an eyebrow as her and Dean spot a jar full of insects on the table in the hallway leading to the stairs. The former of the two eyes the jars, she can't help but feel a small amount of disgust, she's not a massive fan of bugs.

Dean eyes the collection, "Woah."

"Someone's a big fan of bugs."

Larry sighs and shakes his head, "My son-he's into insects. He's very...inquisitive."

Juliet smiles, "You must be proud." Her smile weakens as Larry just nods is head. The huntress narrows her eyes as she analyzes the man in front of her. She can tell he's a family man but also a businessman. She tilts her head, knowing that there's tension between the father and son. Maybe, they don't see eye to eye or maybe Larry just doesn't listen to his child. If her and Dean were to have a Son, she can picture Dean wanting to be the best of the best, he wouldn't want to be the kind of father his was to him.

She's not saying that Larry is a bad parent. Hell, Juliet can recall a few instances where her and Dean wouldn't get the mother and father of the year award, but they're there for their daughter, to listen to her if she has a problem and to try and help solve it. And you'd be surprised how many problems a five year old can have, but they would never turn her away. Hell, if Harlow's still with them when she's thirty, they wouldn't kick her out, she would be more than welcome to stay.

Juliet shakes her head, getting rid of her thoughts as her and Dean follow Larry back out into the backyard.

• • •

Sam internally sighs as he stands in front of Lynda, his niece holding his hand as the woman continues the pitch of convincing him to buy a house in Oasis Plains.

"Who can say "no" to a steam shower? I use mine everyday."

While Lydna continues to talk, Sam continues to space out, not that Lynda notices. Harlow pulling on his hand snaps him out his daydream. He looks down to his niece, who has a frightened look on her face.

"Unca Wammy?"

He pulls his niece tighter to him, she immediately has his attention.

"What's wrong, Harls?"

The little Winchester just whimpers and points to somewhere on the table behind Lynda. Sam turns to where she is pointing and sees a tarantula making its way towards the woman, crawling towards her hand which is resting on the picnic table. The woman doesn't notice and continues to drone on.

Sam eyes the teenage boy who's standing a few feet away from them, watching the spider crawl closer and closer towards Lynda with a smile on his face. He looks to be 15-16 years old. The boy's eyes meet Sam's and the smile is wiped clean off his face.

The younger Winchester brother looks down at Lynda, a polite smile on his face, gently moving her out of the way.

"Excuse us?"

He starts to make his way towards the spider to pick it up, but when he goes to take a step, Harlow doesn't move. He looks down to his niece, seeing that she's stomped her foot in the ground, not making a move to well...move.

Sam sighs, "It's not gonna hurt you, Harlow."

The five year old shakes her head, "I stway hwere, you gwo." She watches as Sam crouches down in front of her and gently nudges her cheek with his index finger, "Hey, I won't let it hurt you, promise."

Harlow still looks unsure but knowing that just like her parents, her uncle never breaks his promises, she caves.

So, with a nod of her head, she follows behind Sam and watches as he picks up the spider just before one of its eight long and hairy legs can make contact with Lynda's hand. Sam handles the spider with care as him and Harlow walk over to where the boy is.

"Is this yours?"

The boy takes the spider and gives Sam an apprehensive look.

"You gonna tell my dad?"

Sam shrugs, a smirk on his face.

"I don't know. Who's your dad?"

The boy scoffs, of course his dad wouldn't mention him.

"Yeah, Larry usually skips me in the family introduction."

"Ouch first basis with your old man-sounds pretty grim," Sam shakes his head, "I won't tell him. Although, I do suggest you take care of your spider. My niece isn't exactly a very big fan of insects and things with eight legs. Thinking of it, neither is her mother. So I would keep him out of the way from their path."

The teenager chuckles and nods his head, "Message recieved. As for Larry, Well, I'm not exactly brochure material."

Sam smiles, knowing how the boy feels. His and John's relationship wasn't exactly all lollipops and candy canes. They argued the most, always butted heads because John could never see where his youngest son was coming from. Of course, Dean always came inbetween them when he could, Harlow didn't like the shouting and would always cry which in turn, pissed Juliet off to the point where she would pitch in and stick up for Sam a number of times knowing what John could be like. She would also tell him off for waking Harlow up and making her cry, but it was never enough, John would never back off and he could never meet Sam in the middle.

He shakes his head from his thoughts as he focuses his attention back to the teenage boy, "Well, hang in there, It gets better, all right? I promise."

The owner of the spider raises an eyebrow at the tall man standing in front of him, "When?" Before Sam can reply, Harlow hiding behind Sam's jean-clad leg speaks up. "My unca nevew bweaks his pwomises."

The boy smiles and goes to reply but a firm voice coming from the door to the backyard catches his attention before he can reply to the young girl.

"Matthew."

The said boy, Matt, looks up to his father, sighing at the mildly pissed of expression on his father's face. He rolls his eyes at Larry as him, Dean and Juliet walk towards them. The former of the three turns to Sam, giving him an apologetic look.

"I am so sorry about my son and his...pet."

Juliet furrows her eyebrows at the word "pet" and looks down to Matt's hand, her stomach drops when her eyes meet the hairy, eight legged and million eyed creature crawling around in the teenagers hand. She grabs Dean's arm, the said man smirking at the look of fear on his girlfriend's face.

Sam just shakes his head at Larry with a smile on his face, "It's no bother."

"Excuse us."

Juliet and Harlow jump back in tandem as Larry and Matt, with the tarantula in hand, walks past them. Both Winchester brother's shake their heads at how alike the mother and daughter really are.

Juliet turns to Sam, "Did you pick that spider up?"

Sam smirks and nods his head, "They're not so bad."

Juliet just gives him a disgusted look, "You're like the doctor dolittle of bugs, aren't you?"

Sam just rolls his eyes as Dean chuckles and shakes his head as he looks to his brother, "Actually, I picture him being more like the BFG." Juliet laughs and nods her head while pointing at Dean, "Yes. You're so right."

Sam just sighs at their relentless teasing, they've been doing that since he had started to become taller than Dean. Since they were kids, he had been a tall child.

The younger Winchester brother turns his attention back to the father and son walking away. He glances at Dean and Juliet, subtly nodding his head in Larry and Matt's direction. "Remind you of somebody?"

Juliet and Dean look over to Larry and Matt, the huntress's heart sinks as she watches Larry shout at Matt, she can't hear what's being said but by the look on the boy's face, it's nothing good.

Dean eyes the father and son before looking back to his brother, completely lost on what Sam is trying to get at.

Sam rolls his eyes before shaking his head.

"Dad."

Dean scoffs, "Dad never treated us like that." His little brother huffs, "Well, Dad never treated you like that, or Juliet. You two were perfect. He was all over my case."

There's a pause from Dean that has Sam scoffing, "You don't remember?"

Dean raises an eyebrow, "Well, maybe dad had to raise his voice, but sometimes, you were out of line. And I can recall a few times when Juliet had to deal with the angry side of dad, too."

Sam scoffs, "Right, like when I said I'd rather play soccer than learn bowhunting."

"Bowhunting's an important skill. I mean look at Juliet, she's an amazing archer."

Juliet rolls her eyes at the brother's bickering, feeling like if she doesn't intervene now, then the car ride will just be filled with tension and silence, she can't bare that. So, she decides to step in.

"Will you guys shut up. Look, we're here to do a job, not to go down memory lane. Now put a sock in it, both of you, or I can work the case alone and you two can go and book a motel
room and stay there with Harlow. Your choice."

That causes both men to stop their squabbling instantly.

Juliet lowers her head, her brown locks falling over her face as she smirks, it's very rare that her 'mom' voice is used on both Sam and Dean, but when needs must. She gives her best friend a look when she catches him rolling his eyes.

After a beat, Sam sighs and looks between his brother and his best friend, "How was your tour?" Dean smirks, "Oh, it was excellent. we're ready to buy." He looks to Juliet, "Aren't we, hon?" The said woman laughs as she wraps her arm around his waist as Dean wraps his arm around her shoulder.

"Yeah...no, not if our neighbor is little miss vibrant over there."

Sam laughs as he looks to Lynda, who's smiling and chatting away to a husband and wife, both who look like they want to make a run for it.

The younger Winchester brother turns his attention back to Dean and Juliet, the former of the two already looking at Sam. "So you might be onto somethin'. Looks like Dustin Burwash wasn't the first strange death around here."

Sam raises an eyebrow, intrigued.

"What happened?"

Juliet smirks, "About a year ago, before they broke ground, one of Larry's surveyors dropped dead while on the job. Get this, they said it was a severe allergic reaction to bee stings."

"And you're smirking at this because...?"

Juliet huffs, "Because, Samuel, it's a case. A thing we haven't had in a few days. There's a connection, too."

Sam sighs, "More bugs."

Dean nods his head, smiling at the bursting energy that is his girlfriend. Only three things can get that reaction out of her, Harlow, him and hunts. He chuckles as he looks to Sam, still nodding his head.

"More bugs."

"I love hunting but hate bugs, ironic ain't it?"

The Winchester brother's laugh as Harlow looks up at her family with a pout on her face as she shakes her head.

"No. No more bugs."

Dean laughs as he scoops his daughter up and tickles her tummy, "I'll get you an ice cream once it's all over."

That causes a smile to appear on the little girls face.

"Yay."

Although, the words her parents had said haven't left her, she's just taking a page out of her father's book and burying it. She doesn't want to unload her problems on them. She's
more like her parents than they give her credit for.

Dean and Juliet share a glance as Harlow suddenly goes quiet, like she's thinking. They would chalk it up to her seeing that spider but they know their daughter better than that. As they all make their way back to the car, both father and mother silently promise themselves to talk with Harlow when they get the chance.

—

Author's Note

And the first part of the episode 'Bugs' is published! I hope you enjoyed the chapter, sorry that the wait was so long, I had some of it written but then massive writer's block hit me, so I made as well as rewatched some edits and low and behold, my spark came back and my writers block had vanished.

That being said, I've also been writing a new one shot for my book 'Metanoia' while also writing this chapter.

Well, I have two pre written one shots for 'Metanoia' one of them happy and light while the other isn't really so happy and light.

I'm quite happy with the latter one shot, the not so happy one still needs a lot of work done to it, I think.

But they should be published soon, so keep an eye out for that. You guys have so may requests for the books that it's times like these that I wish I had loads of hands, but I'm slowly making my way through the list.

I hope you enjoyed reading this new chapter, sorry for the long Author's note.

Please don't forget to vote and comment what you think and I'll see you all in the next one

Until then...