( LARP AND THE REAL GIRL )

RUFUS' CABIN
[ ☼ ]

Inside the cabin, Dean and Elena have just finished taking a shower, and are each only wearing towels as the nuzzle against each other and slow dance with no music. After a moment, Elena wrinkles her nose curiously.

"Do you smell something?" She asks.

"Hmm. Sam's cooking."

"Is that bacon?" Elena asks.

"Yeah, or some dog he abducted from a nearby village." Dean jokes.

Elena giggles. "Hey. Shh, he can hear us." She says.

"No he can't." Dean says. "Besides, Sam knows how to block certain sounds out."

Elena smiles and starts looking around for her clothes. "Have you seen my t-shirt?" She asks.

"I prefer you without one." Dean says.

"I'm not so sure your brother would feel the same way." Elena says.

"Sam won't mind." Dean says. "It's not like he hasn't seen it before. You guys were in a relationship for three years."

Elena looks around. "Really Dean, where's my clothes?" She asks.

"I hid them." Dean says smiling as he gets dressed in his own clothes.

Elena playfully smacks him on the arm. "Go get them!" She yells.

"Sorry." Dean says as he quickly leaves the room.

"Dean!" Elena yells. "If you don't get your ass back here you're dead!"

Dean shuts the door behind him and begins laughing. Sam emerges from the kitchen with a confused look on his face. "What happened in there? I heard yelling." Sam says.

"I hid her clothes in our room." Dean says, still laughing.

"Dude."

Dean sighs. "Fine. I'll go get 'em." He says. "But you gotta admit, it's funny."

"I'm gonna kill you Dean!" Elena yells from the bathroom.

Sam smirks. "Alright it's kind of funny." He says. Dean goes into a room and emerges with a stack of clothes. He shows them to Sam before knocking on the bathroom door. It opens and Dean reaches in to give Elena her clothes. She shoves him out and closes the door.

"You gotta love her." Dean says and goes back to the room. He looks at all of Elena's clothes messily placed on the bed and shakes his head. "And then you gotta deal with this."

Dean grabs all of her clothes and finds her duffel bag to put them in. When he picks it up, he drops her purse in the process. All of the contents spill out on the floor. Dean spots some things.

"What the hell?" He says and storms into the kitchen where Sam is eating. "You're not gonna believe this."

"Are you gonna eat?" Sam asks. "Because I spent two hours making this breakfast."

"No, not right now." Dean says.

"Eat." Sam says sternly.

Dean immediately sits down, munching on a piece of bacon. "I found these in Elena's purse." He says.

"Wait, you went though her purse?" Sam asks.

"Not the issue here, Sammy." Dean says and pushes something in front of Sam. "A Pregnancy Test and Birth Control Pills."

"Woah." Sam holds up the pills. "Some of them are missing."

Dean looks concerned. "Do you think she could be...p-pregnant?" He asks.

"I don't know. How do you feel about that?" Sam asks, crossing his arms. Elena emerges from the bathroom and goes to the room.

"I'll tell you when I get back." Dean sighs and follows her, grabbing the pills and test. "Hey babe, can we talk?"

Elena turns around smiling. "Did you just call me babe?" She asks.

"Yeah, I guess so." Dean says and smirks. "But that's not the point." He pulls out the pills and test. "Care to explain this?"

Elena grabs the items and put them on the bed. "This was just for precautionary measures. I did a pregnancy test to make sure I wasn't having any little Winchesters just in case." She says and Dean looks down. "You look a little disappointed."

"I mean...it would be that bad, right?" Dean asks.

Elena breathes in deeply. "No, but I would love to have kids, someday." She says and smiles. "What are you saying?"

"It's been a blast, but I would give it up in a second to be your husband, your partner, father of your kids." Dean says and blinks. "Wow, did I really just say that?"

"Yes you did." Elena says. "Where is all of this coming from?"

"I guess I just never felt this strongly of someone." Dean says.

Elena pulls Dean close. "I love you." She says.

"I love you more."

APARTMENT
[ ☾]

We see a close-up of figurines of a knight on a horse and a sword-wielding monster, with many other figurines in the background. A Man enters the apartment talking on the phone.

"How dare you? Lance. Yeah, that's right. I'm talking to Lance, not – A "Lord of the Rings" poster and a shield with a gryphon crest decorate the wall." The Man says. "Oh, you know, we both cut corners to get close to her, but that wasn't cheating. Dude, it's just a game." The Man sighs, hangs up and puts the phone down on the table with the figurines.It's just a game."

After he walks into another room, we see a close-up of the phone. It beeps as a message is received from "Lance Mobile" reading "YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS!" The date on the phone is Wednesday, 23 January – the day before Dean's and also Jessica Moore's birthdays.

The Man is asleep in bed. A black symbol of a tree with roots and bare branches appears on the inside of his left forearm. We hear the sound of hoof beats and the Man wakes. A horse neighs. The Man sits up in bed to the sound of horses neighing and snorting.

A whip cracks and the Man is flung back down onto the bed, his arms and legs spreadeagled and raised off the mattress as if held by invisible ropes. "Help!" He yells. Rope-burn marks appear on his ankles and wrists. "Help! Help me!" The Man screams as the rope-burn marks on his ankles and wrists turn into deep cuts. He continues to scream as his left arm detaches from his body and blood splatters the walls.

SUPERNATURAL

IMPALA
[ ☾]

"China Grove" by The Doobie Brothers plays. Dean is driving while Sam reads some sheets of paper in the passenger seat. "You okay, man?" Dean asks.

"We have the most powerful weapon we've ever had against demons, and we can't find a way to use it." Sam says

"Yeah, well, Kevin's on it. And when he finds something, he'll call. So we wait. Look, we have both had a rough go over these past couple of weeks." Dean says. "And, uh... I know what you gave up wasn't easy. Maybe we ought to take the night off – go see a flick, hit a bar or two, have some fun. You remember fun, don't you, Sammy?" Sam's phone rings and he answers it.

"Kevin, what do you got?"

"Hey." Garth says.

"Garth. Hey." Sam says.

"Why don't you grab a piece of paper?" Garth asks.

"Really? Okay. Uh, yeah. Thanks, man."

"Yeah, all right." Garth says.

"Oh, wait, hey – hey, Garth. Garth, are you there?" Sam asks.

"Yeah."

"H-how'd you know where we are?" Sam asks.

"Yeah, you've been Garthed."

"Look, it's bad enough that you're tracking us, but it's even worse when you say we've been "Garthed." Sam clears his throat, obscuring any reply Garth makes. "Yeah." He hangs up. "Okay, we got to lose the GPS on our phones, because Garth has been tracking us, and other hunters, apparently, to assign cases."

"Smart. A total Bobby move. What's the deal?" Dean asks.

"Uh, well, it's close – Farmington Hills, Michigan. Dude got ripped limb from limb inside his locked apartment." Sam says.

"That's not good." Elena says.

"Working a case. As long as we're waiting on Kevin, that'll be our fun." Sam says and Dean looks over at him.

APARTMENT
[ ☼ ]

Sam, Elena and Dean enter, showing their FBI badges to an officer at the door, and approach a Sheriff. "Sheriff. Special Agent Taggart. These are my partners, Special Agent Rosewood and Hornwick." Sam says.

"FBI? You guys are quick. Haven't even got the body out yet."

"Well, the FBI is all work..." Dean looks at Sam. "...no play."

"You know, why don't you give me the tour while my partner looks around?" Sam asks.

"I work better on my own." Dean says.

"Your world, Agent. Follow me." The Sheriff says. Sam follows the Sheriff, while Dean goes into the kitchen and takes out his EMF reader.

Sam and the Sheriff are standing in the victim's bedroom. The victim's torso is still on the bed under the sheet, but the sheet is flat against the mattress where his arms and legs should be. The walls are stained with blood.

"Vic's name was Ed Nelson, 31 years old, an insurance-claim adjuster. He lived alone, which was a real shocker, considering his place is full of toys."

"So what happened?" Elena asks. One of Ed's legs, covered with a cloth, is on the floor with a pool of blood around it.

"No sign of forced entry. Near as we can tell, he was tied up and pulled apart. Died of the shock or massive blood loss. Dealer's choice on that one." The Sheriff says. We see a close-up of chain mail in an open bag.

"So what about these chains?" Sam asks.

"That's actually chain mail."

"Seriously?" Sam asks.

The Sheriff chuckles. "Yeah. We did find clear rope-burn marks on his wrists and ankles." He says.

One of Ed's arms is on the floor, covered with a bloodstained cloth. Sam pulls back the cloth, revealing the black tree symbol. "Huh. So, anything... missing from the body?" He asks.

"You mean aside from the arms and legs? Uh..." The Sheriff begins chuckling. "...nope. All there – twig and berries, too."

"What about the neighbors? Did they hear anything weird?" Asks Elena.

"Uh, neighbor downstairs said she got woke up in the middle of the night by the sound of horses stomping their feet and galloping. We didn't find any hoof prints. She probably heard a TV or was having a bad dream or she was high as balls." The Sheriff says. The camera pans out and all four of Ed's limbs, covered with cloths, can be seen on the bedroom floor. "Fortunately, we got a real lead off his cell phone."

The Sheriff, Elena and Sam walk back into the main room and the Sheriff looks at his notebook.

"According to the phone records, Ed's last call was from a guy called Lance Jacobsen..." The Sheriff says as Dean comes out of the kitchen. Sam looks questioningly at him and Dean shakes his head. "...an accountant, also 30s, also lives alone."

"How is he a lead?" Sam asks.

"The two of them talked together for 15 minutes, and then Lance sent Ed here all kinds of angry texts. Some of them were your typical threat stuff, but some were a little weird."

"Weird how?" Asks Sam.

"Like, uh..." The Sheriff refers to his notebook. "'You shall bleed for your crimes against us', followed by the emoticon of a skull. And, uh, this beauty – 'I am a mage. I will destroy you'. These kids today with their texting and murder. My men just brought Lance into the station for questioning."

"Well, we're gonna need to take first crack at the suspect." Elena says.

"Like I said, Agent, it's your world."

POLICE STATION
INTERVIEW ROOM
[ ☼ ]

Sam, Elena and Dean enter and sit down across the table from Lance. "Lance Jacobsen? We're with the FBI." Sam says.

"The FBI? I can't believe this is happening. I can't believe Ed's dead." Lance starts to cry.

"Lance? Lance, just – just breathe. Just breathe. You're fine." Dean says and Lance stops crying for a moment, but then continues to sob.

"We just need to ask you a few questions. Try to calm down." Sam says and Lance wipes his eyes.

"We want to know about the, uh – the texts you sent Ed last night." Dean says.

"I told them when they brought me in those texts weren't from me." Lance says.

"Well, your phone and Ed's phone say otherwise." Elena says.

"No, I mean, they were from me, but they weren't from me me." Lance says as Sam and Dean look at each other.

"Did you really think that sentence was gonna clear things up?" Dean asks.

Lance sighs. "I'm sorry. This is all a big misunderstanding. Those text messages were from Greyfox the Mystic to Thargrim the Difficult." He says and Dean looks uncomprehending. "Our characters in Moondoor. Moondoor is a game that Ed and I play. We're LARPers. Live-action role-playing?"

"Right. LARPing. Good times." Dean says.

"We play Moondoor every other weekend at Heritage Park. All the info about it is on our website." Lance says.

"You guys have a website." Dean says.

"Yeah, one of the players designed it. In fact, if you log onto the site, they should have posted pictures from last night's feast. I was there all night."

"What does any of this have to do with the texts?" Asks Sam.

"I play a character named Greyfox the Mystic." Lance says. "I'm a very, very powerful mage in the game."

"Okay, uh, very powerful. Go on." Sam says.

"Ed is... Ed was Thargrim the Difficult of the Elder Forest, son of Hargrim and Bouphin, brother to – he was Lancelot to my Merlin." Says Lance.

"Ah. Well, if you guys were so tight, then why the threatening messages?" Dean asks.

"We were named to the queen's honor guard, in anticipation of the coming Battle of Kingdoms this weekend." Lance says. "I thought he broke protocol, so I called Ed after game hours and accused him of cheating, and then I challenged him to a duel."

"A duel?" Elena asks.

"Wands and swords at dawn."

"Now, when you say 'wands' do you mean magic wands?" Dean asks.

"No. Un-magic wands, Agent. Because what I really want in a duel is an un-magic wand. Yes! Fake wands! It's a game! I can't believe it." Lance says and speaks to the ceiling. "Oh, ye Gods! Thargrim the Difficult has fallen!" He starts to sob again.

"L-Lance – Lance. Hang in there, champ." Dean says. Sam and Dean leave the interview room.

"So? Do you believe 'Dungeons & Dragons'?" Sam asks.

"He didn't put a whammy on us. Those weren't crocodile tears, man. That's not our guy." Dean says.

"So what are we looking at?" Sam asks.

"You saw the chain mail. This could be 'Fifty Shades of Greyfox' for all we know." Dean says.

"All right, well, let's check out Moondoor site, see if Lance's story checks out." Sam sits down in front of a computer and types "Moondoor LARP" into a search engine. He clicks on the link to the Moondoor website. "Welcome to Moondoor, Michigan's largest LARPing game."

"And I thought we needed to get out more." Dean says. Sam clicks on "Picture Gallery," then on "Festival of the Endless Night." A picture appears of Lance dressed in costume and holding a tankard, followed by one of him flanked by two women, one of whom is kissing him on the cheek.

"There's our guy." Sam says. Another picture of a smiling Lance appears on the screen.

"Huh." Dean chuckles. "It actually looks kind of awesome." Elena looks at Dean, and he takes the smile off his face.

"All right, there's a video." Sam clicks on 'Video Presentations' and video footage from the game plays.

"Moondoor. A world of intrigue, honor, passion. Four kingdoms – followers of the Moon, Elves, Warriors of yesteryear, and the dreaded Shadow Orcs. All will fight on the fields of never..."

Dean smiles, then glances at Sam and resumes a serious expression.

"...in the biannual Battle of Kingdoms. Pick up a sword or a mace. Take control of Moondoor and defend the current ruler..."

"Wait, is that..." Dean starts.

"...the queen of Moons."

The queen is Charlie Bradbury from 7.20 The Girl with the Dungeons and Dragons Tattoo. Dean, Elena and Sam look at each other.

Lance is still sitting at the table in the interview room. He scratches at his right arm. "Aah." Lance stands up, still scratching. "God." He pushes up his sleeve and there is a brief sizzling noise. The tree symbol is on his inner forearm. "What the hell?"

Lance coughs blood onto his palm, then coughs a large quantity of blood onto the windowpane. He screams. Blood runs from his eyes and nose and he falls to the floor.

POLICE STATION
MAIN ROOM
[ ☼ ]

A coroner wheels Lance's body away on a stretcher as Dean, Elena and Sam watch. "You're gonna want to see this." The Sheriff tells them. They follow the Sheriff to a computer and the Sheriff plays video footage of Lance in the interview room scratching at his arm and coughing blood. "God forbid he was contagious. I'm gonna go dip myself in hand sanitizer."

"No EMF, no hex bags, no sulfur. I got nada. You?" Dean asks.

"Watch the video again." Sam replays the video. "There. See that?" He zooms in on the tree symbol on Lance's arm. "Same as Ed's. I don't know." Dean looks down at a file on the desk with a photo of the tree symbol on Ed's arm. "Maybe they had matching tattoos. I mean, they were brothers in arms. You recognize it from anything?"

"A Tim Burton movie?" Dean asks. "Aside from the, uh, mark of the creepy here, the only thing these guys have in common is LARPing."

"Lucky for us, we know the queen."