BUGS [PART TWO]
___

"Did you and mommy mean what you said earlier?"
—
"Mean what, sweetie?"

• • •

After buying something to eat at the nearest restaurant, Sam drives the Impala around the Oasis Plains neighborhood, Dean sits shotgun as Juliet sits in the back with Harlow, the five year old eating her chicken nuggets as her mother sleeps.

The little Winchester peers out the car window, not that she can see much except houses, upon houses, upon houses. It's raining really heavily in Oklahoma, Harlow despises the rain, she prefers the sun, like her mother, but she has to admit that hearing the rain patter on the roof of the car is comforting. If she wasn't wide awake right now, she would be fast asleep.

Dean looks through John's journal, making sure to glance up to the rearview mirror now and then to watch Juliet's sleeping frame and to keep an eye on his daughter, he smiles as she's eating her dinner, watching her mother sleep soundly. He turns to Sam, glad to have a break from driving for a change.

"You know, I've heard of killer bees, but killer beetles? Wh—" He's cut off from finishing his question as Harlow smiles, a bite of her chicken nugget in her mouth. "Hey Jude's my favorite." Dean chuckles as he meets his daughter's eyes in the rearview mirror, "I know, honey. I used to sing it before you went to sleep when it was my turn to put you down for a nap when you were a baby, just like my mom used to do with me, but that's not the kind of beetles we're talkin' about, baby. Your uncle Sammy and I, we're talking about bugs."

At the mention of insects, the little girl turns her nose up and pulls a disgusted expression.

"Yucky."

Dean shakes his head at her words, chuckling. "I agree with you, baby." He looks back to his brother, who's glancing at him with his puppy dog look. Dean raises an eyebrow at him, "What?" Sam, looking like a deer in the headlights, shakes his head, "Nothin'. I've just never knew mom did that." His older brother furrows his eyebrows, "You're not gonna give me a hug and cry on me, are you?"

Sam lets out a chuckle, "No, anyway what were you sayin'?"

"Oh, right. What is it that could make differnt bugs attack?"

Sam shrugs his shoulders, "Well, hauntings sometimes include bug manifestations."

Dean raises an eyebrow as he shakes his head and looks back down to his dad's journal. "Yeah, but me and Jules didn't see any evidence of ghost activity." Sam sighs, "Yeah, me neither." The oldest Winchester brother huffs, not liking the amount of information they have so far which is barely nothing. "Maybe they're being controlled somehow." He looks to Sam, "You know, by something or someone."

Sam chuckles, a ghost of a smile on his lips. "You mean, like Willard?"

Dean nods his head, "Yeah, bugs instead of rats."

"Yucky."

Sam and Dean laugh as Harlow, once again, pulls a face. The former of the two brother's looks at the road he's driving down. "There are causes of psychic connections between people and animals- elementals, telepaths."

Dean tilts his head from side to side as he contemplates Sam's words. "Yeah, that whole Timmy-Lassie thing." The older brother thinks for a second before realizing what he and Juliet saw when they were coming down the stairs of the Pike residence. "Larry's kid, he's got bugs for pets."

Sam raises an eyebrow, "Matt?"

"Yeah."

Sam pulls a face, "He did try to scare the realtor with a tarantula."

"Yeah, and scare my daughter, too. You think he's our Willard?"

Sam shrugs his shoulders, "I don't know. Anything's possible, I guess."

Dean sighs, feeling like they're not even close to what it might actually be. Having had enough of conversation and drving around for one day, he spots a nearby house that doesn't seem to have anyone in it. "Ooh, hey. Pull over here."

Sam furrows his eyebrows as he does what his brother says and pulls into the empty drive way of one of the homes in Oasis Plains. "What are we doing here?" He watches as Dean gets out the car, his clothes instantly soaked as the rain drenches what he's wearing, "It's too late to talk to anybody else."

"We're gonna squat in an empty house?"

Dean huffs, "I wanna try the steam shower," He lifts the garage door up and stands to the side, leaving enough room for Sam to drive the car into the garage without running his feet over, "Come on."

He rolls his eyes as Sam doesn't move, knowing full well his brother had heard him and is just ignoring him. "Come on!" Sam sighs as he reluctantly puts the car into drive and drives in into the garage, hitting his brother in the groin as he passes him in the car. Sam smirks as Dean hunches over in pain, but still manages to close the garage door once Sam is safely inside.

• • •

Dean glares at his brother as he gets out the car, chuckling.

"That wasn't funny. If Juliet and I can't have anymore kids, I'm blaming you."

Sam does nothing but continue to laugh as he opens Harlow's car door and unbuckles her out of her booster seat and carries her into the house. Dean just rolls his eyes as he opens Juliet's car door and gently picks her up.

Juliet stirs as she feels herself being lifted out of the car, usually she would lean into the person's arms, but this time she recoils and open her bleary eyes, eyeing Dean as he looks down at her. "You're cold and wet." She can hear the tiredness lace her voice, "And I can walk, You know."

Dean chuckles, "I know, but you were sound asleep and you looked adorable."

Juliet smiles as she wipes the sleep from her eyes, "That's because I am adorable. Where are we anyway?" She peers round the garage and over to the door leading to a kitchen, "This doesn't look like a motel." She goes cross eyed as Dean boops her on the nose, "That's because it isn't a motel. We're in a house in the Oasis planes neighborhood."

Juliet furrows her eyebrows, "Okay, either I've been asleep for a very long time and you've brought a house or we're squatting in an empty one."

Dean smiles as he sets the hunter on her feet, "That would be the second one."

Juliet sighs, about to complain about squatting in an empty house when they enter the kitchen area and her words fall short. Her eyes widen as she looks around the room, it's big and spacious, there's even a few appliances, like a microwave, a stove, a toaster and the biggest refrigerator she's ever seen, it even has an ice despenser.

"Woah."

Dean stands beside her, the same look of awe on his face as on hers.

"Woah, indeed."

They both hear a pitter patter of feet running in their direction, Dean and Juliet look to where the sound is coming from and spot Harlow running towards them, a smile on her face.

"The rooms have beds!"

She squeals in delight as she grabs her parents hands and tugs them upstairs and towards the rooms she has found.

The first room Harlow leads them to is a basic room, white walls, a standard double bed, decked out with sheets and pillows. It even has an average size Tv on the cabinet opposite the bed. Both hunters share a look and nod in tandem. "Sam's room." Dean agrees, "Defintely Sam's room."

They laugh as Harlow leads them to the next room, this one isn't so basic as the last one, there's a king sized bed, this room has a bigger Tv in it, not by much. Juliet internally sighs as she can see how soft the sheets and duvet are just by looking at them, and the pillows look like they haven't been slept on yet.

Her and Dean look at each other, once more.

"Our room."

They don't get to marvel at the room for long as Harlow grabs both of their hands for a third time and drags them over to the last room.

"This one's gonna be mine."

Dean and Juliet chuckle as the walls are painted a nice pink color and the bed looks like it's the right size for someone of Harlow's age. The covers even have winnie the pooh on them.

The room is enough to have Juliet feeling broody but like she told Dean, it wouldn't be fair to bring a baby into this world while they're looking for John. It would just be too much, not that she regrets having Harlow, of course not. That child, her child, is the best thing to have ever happened to her but, maybe somewhere down the line they can have another, who knows what the future holds? But right now? She's content with it being just them.

Dean and Juliet share a longing look as Sam walks over to them, bags in his hand, he hands Dean his bag which is full of his, Juliet and Harlow's stuff. Juliet immediately takes the bag and fishes out Harlow's pyjamas, "Here, baby. You wanna do it or do you want me and daddy to help?"

Harlow hums in thoughts as her mom refers to the clothes in Juliet's hands, "I do it." Juliet chuckles as she raises an eyebrow, "You sure? Last time you did it, you had your shirt on backwards."

Harlow shakes her head, "I do it."

Juliet playfully sighs, "Okay, honey. We'll let you get changed. Give us a call when you're ready and we'll come and tuck you in, okay?"

Harlow nods her head, "Okay."

With that, Juliet gently shuts the bedroom door before turning to Dean, their bag still in her hand. "I'm gonna go get changed, you comin'?" Dean nods his head, "Be there in a sec." Juliet mutters an okay before kissing him on the cheek and shuffling off to their bedroom.

Sam turns to his brother, brows furrowed.

"You've decided on your room?"

Dean nods his head, "Yup. The one with the big bed and Tv."

Sam sighs and pouts, "I wanted that room."

Dean smirks as he 'gently' hits his brother in the stomach, the action has Sam groan in pain as he slightly hunches down.

Dean shakes his head at his brother's pain, Sam should know he would get him back for earlier.

"Suck it up, buttercup."

Sam groans, "I hate you."

Dean just laughs in response as he makes his way to his and Juliet's room to get changed for the night, and by that he means get out of his pants and shirt and just lay around in bed with just his boxers on.

• • •

Dean walks into his and Juliet's room for the night and tilts his head and watches his girlfriend undress. He leans against the doorframe of the bedroom, his arms crossed.

Juliet, feeling eyes on her, smirks.

"I can get you done for stalking, y'know."

Dean smiles, "You know you like my eyes on you."

Juliet shakes her head as she continues to undress, her night wear laying on the bed. "You know we're not having sex in this house right?"

A pout immediately falls on Dean's lips as he starts to jokingly gives her the puppy dog eyes. "Why not?" Juliet smiles as his whinging in his voice, "Because, we're sleeping in a house that's gonna be for sale and judging by all the stuff decked out in this house, someone's probably already bought it but just haven't moved in yet."

"I'm sure we've done it in worse places."

Juliet smirks, "Yeah, when we were younger and more wild. Besides, that was before Harlow."

"Fair point."

The pout is still on his lips as Juliet pulls her pyjama shirt down, now fully changed in her bed wear. Dean's about to get changed, too but a yelp and then a thud catches both his and Juliet's attention. It sounded like it came from the next room over, which would be Harlow's room.

Both parents rush to Harlow's bedroom door and Dean pushes it open, his gun in hand. He instantly puts it away as he sees Harlow isn't in any danger and is instead lying on the floor, both her legs in one pant leg of her pyjama bottoms.

Dean raises an eyebrow at his only child, "You okay, baby?"

Harlow shakes her head in reply, "No. I need help."

Juliet shakes her head as Dean gives her a look, the hunter, knowing what her boyfriend's look means, shakes her head, silently telling him to not wind their daughter up but he just ignores the look and instead smirks.

"But I thought you told mommy that you wanted to do it?"

Harlow sits up and narrows her eyes at her father from where she sits on the carpeted floor, "I'm only five, bucko."

Juliet tries her best to disguise her chuckle with a cough, not wanting to encourage her daughter to always reply with sarcasm, but she does turn to Dean with a smirk of her own pulling on her lips as she crosses her arms.

"Yeah, she's only five, bucko."

Dean jokingly rolls his eyes as he moves towards his daughter, who's still sitting on the floor, and lifts her up as Juliet walks over and helps her put on her pyjama bottoms correctly. The huntress smiles down at their daughter as she brushes some of Harlow's hair from her face.

"C'mon, monkey. Time for bed."

Harlow laughs as Dean mimics an aeroplane noise as he carries her to her bed for the night and sets her down, Harlow laughs as she bounces on the mattress with it being very springy.

Juliet smiles as she pulls the comforter over her daughter's frame as the said little Winchester leans more into the mattress. She eyes both her parents as they smile down at her, Dean's words from earlier replaying in her small mind. She looks to her father, "Daddy, I ask you a question?" The said man smiles down at his little girl, his pride and joy, as he sits down at the end of the bed.

"Of course."

Harlow tilts her head in thought, "Did you and mommy mean what you said earlier?"

Dean and Juliet share a look before the former of the two turns back to his daughter and raises an eyebrow.

"Mean what, sweetie?"

He watches as Harlow bites her lip, a habbit she must have picked up from her mother. "About not wanting to have a normal life. Is it because of me?"

Dean's eyes widen as he shares another look with Juliet, both of them not expecting that to come out of their daughter's mouth. The oldest Winchester rubs the back of his neck, feeling ashamed that his daughter had heard their conversation. He feels a pit form in the bottom of his stomach as Harlow looks up at him with wide and sad eyes. He cusses himself at being so stupid for saying what he did around Harlow, he feels guilty because Harlow's too young to understand and would instantly make a connection that him not wanting a normal family life is because of her, which it isn't, of course it isn't.

The hunter's at loss for words, he doesn't know what to say, but he knows he has to find them and explain it in a way that Harlow will understand.

"Oh, sweetheart. Of course not. I love you, you know that. I've become so used to spending my life on the road with you and your mom that a house like this...it just wouldn't feel right to me. I've been used to motels and being on the road since I was about, well, a little younger than you. It's something that's been normal to me for years, now. Do you understand?"

Harlow processes her father's words before nodding her head, "I think so, but mommy wants a house."

Juliet laughs as she taps her daughter on the nose.

"I would love a house, Harls. But like your father, I've been living the same life as him and although I would love a permanent roof over our heads, somewhere that we can call our forever home, I'm happy with whatever life we live. As long as I have you," Harlow laughs as her mom gently pokes her in the tummy, "your dad and even your uncle Sammy, I'm happy."

Harlow smiles as she eyes both her mom and her dad, "So I did nothing wrong?"

Dean shakes his head as he kisses her on her head, "You haven't nor could do anything wrong, Harlow. I promise."

Dean's words seem to put Harlow at ease as she snuggles into the comforter and hugs her stuffed elephant close, as her eyes start to slowly close.

Dean and Juliet, seeing that Harlow's starting to fall asleep, both smile down at their daughter. Both of them placing a kiss on both of her cheeks, whispering their "goodnight's" and their "I love you's" to her as they slowly and quietly leave the room, Juliet making sure to leave the door open just a crack before both hunters make their way to their room for the night.

• • •

Juliet looks over her book and watches Dean as he stripes himself down until he is left in his black boxers. She shakes her head as she eyes his jeans and shirt that's just thrown onto a heap on the floor.

"You do know this isn't our house and you can't just leave your clothes lyin' around on the floor, right?"

Dean lifts the sheet and waves his hand, dismissing the clothes and her words.

"I'll pick 'em up tomorrow."

Juliet just hums in reply as she goes back to reading her book.

Dean eyes her from the corner of his eye, "Can you believe Harlow heard our conversation earlier?"

Juliet, having finished reading the chapter of her book, puts it down and turns to Dean. It's not often they pillow talk, usually one of them or both of them are too tired to talk and usually they're out for the count as soon as their heads hit the pillow.

The huntress sighs, "I know, poor thing. She thought it was because of her." Juliet bites her lip as she eyes Dean, "But, really? You couldn't see yourself settling down in years to come with a nice house and an amazing wife?"

Dean raises an eyebrow, "Who says you'll be the woman I marry?" He laughs as Juliet smacks him with her pillow, he takes it from her hands and hugs it to his chest as he answers her question. "I dunno, maybe after we've found dad, who knows but like you said, I'm happy. I have you and Harlow and a pain in the ass for a brother, what else could I need? I mean, yeah, I'd be even happier when we find dad but right now, I'm content with what I have, you guys."

Juliet smiles as she tries and not let the guilt and shame she is feeling show and eat away at her, not wanting to let on to Dean that the mention of John has her heart beating erratically and not in a good way.

It's been a few weeks now and she knows, the more time that passes by, the more closer they are to finding John and she can't bare to know what that outcome might be. Because she knows as soon as Dean finds out that she knew the truth of his whereabouts this whole time, every good time they've had would vanish from his mind and anger will replace it, anger that will be directed at her and she can't blame him. If her parents were alive and Dean had kept their whereabouts from her, she would be just as angry. So, it's not like his anger would be unjustified or misdirected.

Dean doesn't take notice as her smile slowly dims and turns into a frown. Feeling the tiredness from the day creep up on him, he kisses Juliet goodnight and settles down for the night, draping an arm around his girlfriend's waist, spooning her as he lets sleep take him away, unaware that his girlfriend is now wide awake, scenarios of John being hurt playing out in her head and if he is, she's only just going to blame herself for not trying harder to stop him.

The next time she sees John, she's gonna rip him a new one for putting her through this shit, alone. It's not fair, she's been nothing but a good little soldier, obeying his rules, listenting to his orders and this is what she gets in return? Feelings of guilt and shame as she lies to his two sons about where he actually is, who he's truly hunting.

Sleep doesn't come easy to her that night.

• • •

The next morning Juliet sits at the table in the kitchen, a bowl of Lucky Charms in front of her. She smirks at Sam as he comes through the door of the house, having just got back from his morning run.

"Wow, Sammy. You still go on morning runs?"

Sam makes his way to the kitchen sink and gets a drink of water before turning to his best friend. He nods his head, "You should try it some time." He smiles as Juliet scoffs and moves her bowl to the sink and washes it out. "I'm okay, thanks. I get my workout by ganking monsters." Sam laughs before looking around the kitchen, noticing that two people are missing.

"Where are Dean and Harlow?"

Juliet points to where the upstairs bathroom would be, "Dean's trying out the steam shower and Harlow's upstairs playing with her stuffed elephant, keeping herself entertained.

Sam raises an eyebrow at her, "You didn't want to try out the steam shower, too?"

Juliet pulls a mocked shocked expression, "Sammy, I may look that easy, but I am a gal with morals, y'know. Besides, I am a saint, not a sinner."

Sam scoffs, "Yeah, alright. Says the woman who's had sex before marriage as well as a baby."

Juliet smirks, "Hey, I never said I was any good at it. I'm a praticing christian, have been for twenty-three, almost twenty-four, years, now."

Sam laughs and goes to comment but a call coming through the police scanner stops him.

Juliet and Sam look to one another, silently debating who'll go up to Dean and let him know. Without a word being spoken to one another, the two do a game of rock, paper, scissors. Juliet smirks as she wins, as she plays the scissors card while Sam does paper. She laughs as she sees the expression of defeat on Sam's face. She gently punches him in the upper arm as she shakes her head, "I'll get him. I was going to anyway, just wanted to see the defeated look on your face. It's priceless."

Juliet chuckles as she dodges out the way just in time as Sam goes to playfully hit her with a dish cloth. The younger brother shakes his head with a smile on his face as he watches her bound up the stairs and out of sight.

• • •

Juliet's still smirking as she knocks on the bathroom door, "Are you gonna spend the rest of your life in there?" She chuckles as Dean's voice can be heard from inside the bathroom, echoing off the four walls.

"Why? Have you decided to join me?"

The huntress shakes her head with a chuckle, "Hon, a police call came through on the scanner. A woman a few houses up has died. Think it might have something to do with the bugs situation."

"Hold on."

Juliet can hear the shower turn off and footsteps making their way towards the door. She takes a step back as Dean opens the bathroom door, a towel wrapped around his waist as well as his head. She laughs as she eyes Dean, "Wow, babe. Very womanly of you. You gonna start shaving your legs, too? Want to borrow one of my face masks?"

Dean mock laughs at her teasing, he looks back into the steam filled room before turning back to Juliet. "This shower is awesome. You really should've joined me." He watches as Juliet shakes her head, "Thanks, but no thanks. I had a shower this morning."

She follows Dean to their room, shutting the door behind her. She smirks as Dean drops the towel and looks to her, a concerned look on his face.

"Yeah, I've been meaning to ask you 'bout that. How'd you sleep last night?"

Juliet goes to reply but Dean holds up a finger, stopping her.

"And don't say "fine", 'cause I felt you tossing and turning all through the night. Why?"

Juliet sighs, weighing up the options in her head. She can either come clean, right now and tell Dean the truth, or do what she does best which is deflect and bury it. She decides to go with the second option.

"I don't really like having this conversation while you're in your birthday suit."

Dean smirks as he pulls his shirt over his head, "Why? Afraid you'll jump my bones?"

Juliet shakes her head with a scoff and picks up one of his balled up socks and throws it as his head, laughing while she does.

Dean shakes his head as he jokingly points a finger at her, like he would if he was telling Harlow off.

"Don't think this conversation is over, because it's not."

Juliet mockingly salutes, and stamps her foot on the floor, standing in an attention position like they do in the military.

"Yes, sir!"

Dean laughs as he tries to get dressed as quickly as possible so they can check out that call that came through the police scanner.

• • •

Dean pulls up to the house where the accident happened. The cops are calling it an accident, the victim had slipped in the shower, they said. But Dean, Juliet and Sam they know different.

Juliet sighs as she gets out of the car, the rain from the previous night hasn't stopped. If anything, it's raining harder. She opens her umbrella as she watches Dean and Sam get out of the car, the former of the two telling Harlow to stay in the car and surprisingly the little Winchester doesn't argue with her father, probably because of the weather and the rain pelting down.

Once both Winchester brother's have opened their respective umbrella's, the three hunters make their way over to Larry Pike, the man that had hosted the barbeque the day before. He seems to be finishing up a conversation on the phone.

They wait until he's hung up the call before approaching him.

Juliet pulls a face as the paramedic's bring out a body bag on a stretcher, a body bag that's in use. She turns her focus back to Larry as his voice gets her attention.

"Hello. You're, uh, back early."

Not wanting to tell the man that they spent the night staying in one of the houses that are up for sale, Dean gives Larry a small smile as he nods his head and says the first thing that pops into his head. "Yeah, we just drove in, wanted to take another look at the neighborhood."

Juliet raises an eyebrow as she motions to the body bag that's being hefted into the back of a van.

"What happened?"

Larry sighs, "You three met, uh...Lynda Bloome at the barbeque?"

The brunette furrows her eyebrows to act confused, "The overly happy woman? Who looked like she needed to be on some serious...ow." Juliet trails off as Sam stands on her foot, purposely. The tall Winchester gives his best friend a look, knowing her well enough to know what was gonna come at the end of that sentence. He turns to Larry, showing his empathy by frowning at the news.

"The realtor?"

Larry seems to not have noticed or heard the last part of Juliet's words, nor the interaction between the two best friends, and instead nods his head, "Well, she, uh...passed away last night."

The three hunters share a look, Juliet immediately regretting her words. The lady may of been all sunshines and rainbows, maybe too much sunshine and rainbows, but she would never want the woman dead. She feels her heart sink, but on the outside, she doesn't let it show. Instead, her expression remains stoic, her lips pulled into a thin line.

Dean raises an eyebrow, playing the concerned citizen card.

"What happened?"

Larry shakes his head, he looks as if his head is running a mile per minute. He lets out a drawn out sigh, not having expected another one of his employees to have died. This is not how he had planned to spend the first half of his day, dealing with another death. He looks to the three hunters, reminding himself to not be rude to potential buyers.

"I'm still tryin' to find out. Identified the body for the police. Look, I-I'm sorry, this isn't a good time."

Sam gives the man a small smile of understanding, not wanting to keep the man from doing what he has to do.

"It's okay."

Larry nods his head, silently thanking the taller Winchester brother for understanding.

"Excuse me."

With that, he walks off. Juliet presumes to go and speak to the cops. The three hunters watch as he walks away to sort whatever buisness he needs to sort out.

Dean turns to his brother and girlfriend, his eyebrows raised at them both.

"You know what we have to do, right?"

Sam sighs as he looks to what once was the Bloome residence, the front door is full of cops, the whole house is.

"Yeah. Get in that house."

Dean hums, "See if we got a bug problem. But how are we gonna get pass them cops?"

Juliet smirks as she eyes the fence, she turns back to her Winchester boys with a smirk on her face as she crosses her arms.

"I have an idea."

Dean smiles as he looks to his brother while pointing to Juliet.

"That's her 'I've got a wicked idea' face, Sammy. I love that face on her, it's adorable."

Sam rolls his eyes and pretends to barf. Dean just responds by hitting his brother on the arm.

• • •

Juliet nevoursly bites her lip as she watches Harlow approach the police officers guarding the fence. Her, Dean and Sam hide behind the bush, both mother and father keeping an eye on their daughter.

It's not often that they let Harlow help in the way she is now. Sure, she's occasionally holding some silver and throwing it the fire, but that's completely different to going up to a cop and causing a distraction so they could get into the house. Juliet doesn't want her daughter hunting when she's older, it's bad enough that her, Sam and Dean were brought up in the life, she doesn't want her daughter doing the same. Harlow has more of a choice in her career than they do.

Sure, Juliet dreamed of being a federal agent, but John soon knocked that out of her. That, and hunters don't have a very long life span. She won't raise her daughter, like John raised them.

The three hunters watch as Harlow walks up to both cops, pulling the puppy dog eyes her uncle had taught her, she tugs on the pant-clad leg of the cop, getting his attention. The said cop looks down at the girl.

"I lost my Mommy and Daddy, can you please help me?"

Harlow's eyes start to well up with fake tears as she sniffs, looking like she's truly lost her parents.

The two cops look around before turning back to Harlow and nodding their heads, trusting that the other cops would watch their post while they help the girl find her parents. The first cop guides Harlow away as the other cop follows, leaving an opening for Dean, Juliet and Sam to get through.

Dean watches as the cops lead Harlow away, she still has the puppy dog eyes as she explains to the cops where she saw her parents last. The older Winchester turns to Juliet with a smile on his face as he gently nudges her, "That's our girl."

Juliet looks at him, not as impressed.

"Dean, we are not encouraging this. It's only a one time thing, we agreed that when she was born she wouldn't be involved in what we do, remember?"

Dean sighs, "I remember, Jules. But you know as well as I do that the more Harlow grows up the more she'll ask questions about what we do and there will come a time when she might want to become a hunter, like us. You can't shield her from this life forever."

Juliet gaze hardens as she sets her jaw and when she speaks, her voice is sharp with an edge to it.

"I can damn well try."

With that, the three hunters start to move toward the house.

Juliet watches as Sam and Dean climb up the fence before expertly climbing up the side of the house and through Lynda Bloome's bedroom window, which fortunately has been left open. She scopes out the cops one last time, making sure not one of them saw the two. Once making sure the coast is clear, she does exactly what the two brother's did and gracefully climbs into the window, behind them.

She lets out a low whistle as she eyes the white taped outline of where Lynda Bloome's dead body once was. Her eyes also notice the dark dried spots of the blood on the carpeted floor. The huntress follows the spots of blood into the shower room where the glass shower doors are smashed.

Dean looks to her and Sam, having just looked around the room and surveyed the scene of the latest "murder".

"This looks like the place."

Juliet hums as she eyes a crumbled up bath towel on the floor of the bathroom. She motions for both Winchester boys to come over, which they do. Her brown eyes meet Dean's, silently asking him to lift up the towel, which he does.

As soon as it's in his hands, he's quick to drop it back on the floor. Juliet furrows her eyebrows before bending down and slowly lifting up the towel. Dean watches her with baited breath, "Jules, I wouldn't." His words fall on deaf ears as Juliet ignores him and continues to lift up the corner of the towel.

As soon as her eyes land on the curled up, dead, eight-legged creatures occupying the piece of fabric, she jumps back and drops the towel.

Now, in her line of work she can safely say that not a lot scares her. Hell, she's seen it all from shifters to demons, but the one thing she can say for sure is that spiders will always give her the creeps. She doesn't understand why, out of the the animals and insects on this earth, God decided to make an eight-legged creature that has more than enough eyes to see at all angles. I mean, they're way too hairy and move way too quickly.

Dean looks to Juliet and Sam, his eyebrow raised in question, "Spiders. From Spider Boy?" Sam pulls a face, "Matt-maybe." Juliet, too, pulls a face but for a completely different reason, she lowers her head before looking up at Dean, her brows furrowed as she eyes him.

"Spider Boy? What kinda shit Spider-Man knock off is that?"

Dean just shrugs his shoulders as the three go back to eyeing the towel covered in dead spiders.

• • •

The three hunters exit the bedroom window the same way they went in, through the window, down the building and over the fence, luckily the two cops hadn't returned, but Harlow was standing there waiting for them. The little Winchester runs up to her Father, Mother and Uncle with a beaming smile on her face.

Dean bends down and braces himself for the impact that is his five year old daughter running into his arms.

"Daddy, daddy! Did you see that? I gave them the slip."

Dean chuckles as he picks her up and plants a kiss on the side of his daughter's head.

"I did, honey and you were amazing, kid."

Harlow giggles as Dean looks over Harlow's head and to Juliet, who's subtly shaking her head while mouthing the words, "You're encouraging it." Dean just pretends like he doesn't notice.

• • •

Dean pulls up the Impala at the curb, as a yellow school bus pulls up across the street.

Harlow eyes the yellow bus before turning to her mother, who's sitting next to her in the back. "Mommy, will I ever get to ride a bus like that?" Juliet smiles as she eyes her daughter and moves to brush some of Harlow's reddish-brown locks from her face. "Maybe someday, sweetheart, but I thought you liked me and Daddy teaching you? You've gotten better at your English and you're gettin' way better at speakin'."

Harlow smiles at her mother's compliment and Juliet returns her smile, It's true, she has gotten better at her speaking, Dean and Juliet have been teaching her how to pronounce certain words properly and it's been paying off. Her speach isn't as stammery and she's starting to pronounce her 'W's' and 'K's' better.

Juliet can't say it's been easy teaching a kid while on the road, but her and Dean have managed so far and she feels like she can safely say they've done a good job. When Harlow turned the age where most parents send their kids off to school, they had both agreed that it would be pointless as they're never in the same spot for more than a week.

When her, Dean and Sam were kids, John had sent them to school on more than one occasion but even as a kid, Juliet hadn't seen the point in that. Even back then, they were always on the road and they never stuck around long enough for them to get a good education. Juliet feels like they're doing a much better job with Harlow than John had done with them.

Dean and Juliet are actually teaching their daughter stuff she needs to know, like her English, maths and science and even history, which is Harlow's favorite subject. Whereas all John taught them was how to hunt, the rest they taught themselves.

Juliet is cut off from her thoughts as she sees Matt step off the bus and walk in a complete different direction to where the Pike residence is. The huntress raises as eyebrow as her, Dean and Sam eyes are all on the son of Larry Pike.

"Is it just me or is he walking in the opposite direction to his house?"

Dean raises an eyebrow as he points in the direction to where Larry's house is, knowing where it is from when they stopped by for the barbeque. "Isn't his house that way?" Sam instantly nods his head, yup."

Dean tilts his head, "So where's he goin'?"

Juliet shrugs her shoulders as the family of four step out the car and persue Matt on foot. Sam making sure to bring the bag of shovels as Juliet requested, stating that they're going into a wooded area which also happens to be where bugs like to accumulate more, especially in the ground.

• • •

Juliet raises an eyebrow as they follow Matt into a wooded area, finding him examining a grasshopper.

Juliet subtly turns to Dean, "Forget 'Spider Boy', I think 'Bug Boy' suits him better."

Dean nods his head, agreeing with his girlfriend's words.

Sam rolls his eyes at the two and steps foward and towards Matt, a small smile on the taller Winchester brother's face. "Hey, Matt. Remember me?"

At the sound of Sam's voice, the boy turns around and raises an eyebrow at Sam standing there.

"What are you doin' out here?"

Dean gives Matt a reassuring smile, "Well, we wanna talk to you."

Matt eyes the three, instantly seeing through their charade, "You're not here to buy a house, are you?"

Dean, Juliet and Sam shake their heads, even Harlow, who's holding Dean's hand, does, too.

Juliet eyes Matt as she tilts her head, it's a second later when something sparks in him.

A look of fear flashes in Matt's eyes as he quickly takes a step back, slightly affraid of them as his brain jumps to conclusions on why they would happen to be in the same spot as him and why they would want to talk to him if all people. He glimpses over each hunter as he looks to see if any of them are carrying a weapon. He takes notice of the bag sitting on Sam's shoulder before casting his eyes back to their faces, Juliet can see the trepidation he's feeling by just looking into his eyes, but before she can speak up to try and ease his fears, Matt starts talking.

"W-wait. You're not serial killers?"

That causes an actual laugh to fall from Juliet's lips. She shakes her head, "What kinda serial killers bring a child around with them? No, we're not serial killers, we're just people who're tryin' to help."

Matt's words had also elicit a laugh from both Sam and Dean. The former of the two shakes his head, "No, no. No, I think you're safe."

A bubble of silence settles over the group before Dean decides to speak up, not liking the awkwardness. He turns to the teenage boy with a small smile on his face, "So, Matt...you sure know a lot about insects."

The said boy is immediately defensive about the topic, he gets enough of backlash from his father and kids from school about his, as his father calls it, 'weird hobby.' The teenage boy eyes Dean from the corner of his eye, "So?"

Deans raises an eyebrow at the hostility dripping through his words.

"Did you hear what happened to Lynda, the realtor?"

Matt nods his head, "I hear she died this morning."

Dean hums as he nods his head, "Mm, that's right. Spider bites." Sam shoots his brother a look, knowing that Dean's always been more of the 'bad cop' out of the two of them. Sam turns to Matt, his voice calm as he speaks.

"Matt...you tried to scare her with a spider."

Matt pauses as something clicks in his brain, he looks at the three hunters in shock as he figures out what they are assuming.

"Wait. You three think I had something to do with that?"

Juliet crosses her arms as she eyes Larry's son, "Well, I did see the amount of bugs you have in the house, all in glass cases, of course. But, hey what do I know? It's not like I've been trained to spot these things since I was in pigtails."

Sam and Dean share a look at Juliet's monologuing before the latter of the two shakes his head and turns back to Matt, "The point she's trying to make is, you tell us."

Matt shakes his head, "That tarantula was a joke. Anyway, that wouldn't explain the bee attack or the gas company guy."

Juliet raises an eyebrow, "You know about those?"

Matt nods his head, "There is somethin' going on here. I don't know what...but something's happening with the insects. Let me show you guys something."

Juliet motions for him to go first with a wave of her hand, "After you, bug boy."

Matt sends Juliet a 'really?' look as he makes his way to the front of the group to lead them to another area in, they assume, the woods. Juliet sends Matt a small smile, letting him know that she didn't mean her words as an insult. Matt manages a small smile back as they start to walk.

• • •

Sam walks alongside Matt as they walk to their destination, Dean and Juliet walk closely behind with Harlow on her father's shoulders. The oldest Winchester brother eyes his younger brother as the said man turns to his walking buddy, "So, if you knew about all this bug stuff, why not tell your dad? Maybe he could clear everybody out."

Matt exhales a breath, "Believe me, I've tried. But, uh, Larry doesn't listen to me."

Sam raises an eyebrow, "Why not?"

Matt shrugs, "Mostly? He's too disappointed in his freak son."

Sam lets out a scoff, "I hear you."

Dean and Juliet share a look, the latter of the two looking up to their daughter who's, luckily, not paying attention to a word that's being said. Juliet knows that John and Sam didn't have the best relationship, they argued constantly, never saw eye to eye on certain things and she knows that John is a lot of things, but being disappointed in Sam isn't one of them. If anything, Sam was, and probably still is, John's favorite kid.

Growing up, John was desperate to teach her and Dean how to hunt, as soon as they could learn to walk and talk, John gave them both a crossbow and arrow and had them do target practice. Whereas with Sam, he was a lot more hesistant to let him hunt. It took John a long time before he had Sam join them on a hunt.

To be honest, Juliet didn't care that she wasn't John's favorite kid because he was only her Godfather and nothing more, she wasn't related to him through blood, but her heart did break for Dean. John conditioned him into the perfect solider and not once has he said sorry for that, nor has he said he's proud of Dean, either and to Juliet, that's just sad. Dean is as much his Son as Sam.

Juliet shakes her head from her thoughts as Dean looks to Sam with his eyebrows furrowed due to what his brother had said earlier.

"You do?"

Sam turns and gives Dean a look before turning back to Matt.

Dean shares a look with Juliet, both of them not wanting Harlow to hear how John was with them when they were kids. Juliet can call John a lot of things but one thing she can not fault him for, is how he is with Harlow. John's different with her, shows his soft side more and neither her or Dean want Harlow's image of her grandpa tainted in any way, shape or form.

Sam's words bring both hunters back down to Earth.

"Matt, how old are you?"

The said teenage boy glances up at him, "Sixteen." Matt watches as Sam nods his head with a small smile on the man's face, "Well, don't sweat it, because in two years, something great's gonna happen."

Matt raises a skeptical eyebrow, "What?"

The younger Winchester brother continues to smile as he answers.

"College. You'll be able to get out of that house and away from your dad."

Dean scoffs from behind them, he narrows his eyes at Sam. "What kind of advice is that? Kid should stick with his family."

Juliet, sensing the tension start to rise between both brother's, softly intervenes.

"Or maybe, you both could leave it up for Matt to decide."

Sam takes a moment to send both Dean and Juliet a glare. They watch as he turns back to Matt, like it had never happened.

"How much further, Matt?"

The said boy smiles, "We're close."

Sam glares at the two, one more time before he continues walking.

Dean is quick to grab Juliet's hand, while also keeping a hand on Harlow's ankle to stop her from falling off his shoulders, as he sees his girlfriend about to smack Sam across the head for the two glares he sent their way. Dean interlocks their hands and motions for Juliet to breath and calm down while also resisting the urge to punch his brother, too.

It isn't long until they reach a large clearing.

Harlow pulls a face as the sounds of hundreds of different insects can be heard among the trees, echoing around them.

Matt turns to the three hunters as they walk through the clearing, "I've been keeping track of insect populations," his cheeks turns red in embarrasment, not being used to talking openly about his hobby, "It's, um, part of an AP science class."

Dean eyes Matt and his brother, "You two are like peas in a pod." Juliet covers her mouth as she lets out a snort at her boyfriend's comment. Sam, like always, just ignores them and instead turns to Matt, "What's been happening?"

Matt pulls a face, his mouth twitching into a frown as he thinks on how to answer Sam's question.

"A lot. I mean, from bees to earthworms...you name it. It's like they're congregating here."

Juliet tilts her head, her silk-like hair cascading down her face, falling into a curtain-like shield. Dean has to resist the urge to brush it behind her ear as his girlfriend eyes Matt, "Why?"

The said teenage boy shrugs, "I don't know."

Juliet scoffs, "That's real helpful, do you mind if I write that down?" Dean laughs at the sarcasm that drips through every word she speaks. Sam and Matt, however, are not amused. Sam shoots her another glare, again.

Juliet matches his glare, silently telling her best friend that will not hesitate to knock his sudden attitude, out of him. Sam seems to get the message as he's quick to look away and focus his attention elsewhere.

The huntress smirks, having won the glaring match. She turns to Dean, who's already looking at her and giving her a proud smile.

Dean shakes his head, his heart beating ten to a dozen as he looks at his girlfriend. Only Juliet can make him feel like he's on cloud nine. He's broken out of his thoughts by his daughter calling his name.

"Daddy, can I get down now, please?"

Dean smiles at how polite his daughter is as he nods his head, "Of course, hon."

With that, Dean gently sets Harlow down on her feet, slight relief flooding through him at the much needed break. Not that his daughter is heavy, infact him and Juliet are pretty sure that she is small for her age, but they're sure she'll grow into her height.

Dean turns his focus to his brother, who has his eyebrows furrowed and seems to be pointing at the dark patch of grass that's only a few feet away.

"What's that?"

Curious, the three adults, plus one teenager and one child, make their way toward the spot that Sam had noticed. Juliet instantly turns her nose up at the amount of worms, there seems to be hundreds upon hundreds of them, on the ground.

Juliet accidentally steps on one, pulling a disgusted face at the squelching sound under her boot. She immediately retracts it as her foot creates a small rupture in the ground causing the worms to fall in it. She looks to Sam and Dean before sighing and bending down to examine the small hole in the ground. She looks down to her right and picks up a small stick and starts poking it around in the hole.

Juliet glances up at both Winchester brother's as she feels the stick poke something hard. "There's somethin' down there." She looks back to the rupture in the ground, knowing what she has to do. She has a feeling she knows what it is, but she needs to be sure. "Oh, I'm really goin' to regret this."

Juliet drops the stick and quickly glances at Dean and then to Harlow, instantly getting the message, Dean pulls Harlow to him and covers her eyes with his hand.

Knowing that her daughter won't be able to see whatever she's going to pull up, Juliet puts her hand into the hole, fighting the urge to throw up at the feeling of the worms under her hands. With a look of nausea on her face, Juliet feels her hand around the hole before feeling something hard like stone beneath her hand. Getting a good grip on it, she pulls it out from under the soil.

All three hunters share the same horrified look on their faces, poor Matt looks as if he's about to be sick.

Juliet turns to Sam and Dean, all three of them communicating through their stares. The huntress moves her eyes back to the object in her hand, a human skull that's covered in dirt and worms.

A thought then strikes Juliet and she looks up to the Winchester boys, "I bet you my life savings that the rest is burried in that hole to. It's a good thing I suggested to bring the shovels. Huh, Sammy?." She eyes the duffel bag on Sam's shoulders and smirks at the said Winchester as he rolls his eyes in reply.

—

Author's Note

And that's a wrap for Part two of the episode 'Bugs'! Sorry that it took me so long to upload it, I kinda lost my spark halfway through writing it, but creating edits helped it come back!

Also, I'm sorry that the chapter is so long, like I always say, I'm trying to keep each episode three parts minimum as this book is going all the way to season 5 of Supernatural :)

But, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, Harlow actually helped them out in a hunt and Juliet wasn't happy about it.

Now, you're probably asking if Juliet wasn't okay with it, why did she let it happen or suggest it?

That would be because, it wasn't like she'd gotten really involved in what they do. Harlow just distracted two police officers, but Juliet is still upset by it because she doesn't want it to become a regular thing, she wants her daughter to have a normal life and do normal things. She wants her daughter to know that she doesn't have to hunt when she has a lot more choices for career options.

And Juliet wouldn't have suggested it unless of was absolutely necessary. And it doesn't happen often, it's quite rare that Harlow will help them like she did in this chapter, actually lying to the police and distracting them so Dean, Juliet and Sam can gain access to the house. (Throwing silver into the fire doesn't count)

Of course, later in the seasons, Harlow will become older and will no doubt want to hunt like her family, but Juliet will still try and protect her from that, even when she's 18.

I know that John isn't well liked in the fandom, I am also one of those people who don't like John nor his way of parenting. But I wanted him to be different with Harlow, a tiny bit softer as she's his only granddaughter and he does happen to think the moon of her and she of him. But it is also cannon that John wants Harlow to learn to hunt and when we actually see them and John together, you will see what I mean by that.

Sorry for the long authors note, just thought that I'd explain a bit more and let you guys in on some of the stuff I have planned for the future i.e Harlow wanting to be a hunter when she's older and John wanting her to hunt, now at the age of five.

Please don't forget to vote and comment, it means the world to me and really helps expand my book! I do try and reply to every comment and y'all are just lovely readers 😊

With that, I'll leave you all be.

Until next time...