Dean continued watching Mika as she paid and left the small station, smirking slightly at her as she stepped up to the car and dispersed the snacks. Just as she did, the gas pump clicked, telling him he had topped off the tank and they were ready to go. He sighed, stepping around the back of the car to pull the pump out and return it, “She ain’t almost full. She’s stuffed”

He gave a small laugh at his own joke, and clapped his hands before strolling up in front of Mika. He noticed her giving a small wave to the clerk inside the store and laughed, as he reached his hands out to grab her hips. He gave her a quick kiss, still snickering a bit.

“I don’t know if I can trust you to drive…”, he joked with her, lightening his own mood with humor, “But I really….really want some pork rinds.”

He continued laughing a bit and pushed away from her with another quick kiss. He opened the passenger door, grabbing the snacks from the seat, and sat down, waiting for her to get in before he would close his door.

While sitting there alone, he glanced back over at the shaggy haired boy and sighed. The idea of stalking his brother was looking more inviting every time he let his guard down…

At the confirmation of the car being fully filled up, she smiled and nodded, half sniggering at his own little quip as he thought of himself incredibly funny. She watched him walk round and over to her as he blatantly played up the whole fact she was his in front of the store clerk who was trying to look away after her wave. The whole situation honestly just made her be highly amused and she gladly kissed him back as he kissed her before chuckling then listened to him say how trusting her to drive.

She rolled her eyes, her smirk not leaving her lips, "you better trust me to drive mister, she's my baby first and foremost, but I suppose you can be her papa" she chuckled, joking around with him, kissing him back then letting him go round to the passenger side. With the keys now in her hands, she got inside the driver's side and closed the door.

Putting the keys in the ignition, she glanced over at Dean then where he was looking and took a guess at what he was thinking. "he's gonna be okay you know" she told him, Patti g his knees. "come on, let's get moving so we can get this over with" she lightly changed the subject, waiting for him to close his door before starting the engine and starting the second half of the drive to their destination.

Dean bit his lip, reaching out for the door and closing it as Mika stepped into the drivers seat. He was glad that they were getting moving, as he couldn’t stand much more of socializing at this time…even from afar. When she caught onto what was bothering him, he cleared his throat and nodded his head, thinking about Sam’s few hunts he had been on, and how well he did. He continued nodding, glancing over at her, “I know he will be. He’s tougher than I ever was…”

At the words, he cleared his throat once more and opened his Pork Rinds, taking a bite with a small smile. He knew Sam would be safe wherever he was, and that most things they hunted wouldn’t be near him, as they were usually more concerned with John. Sam was better off without them both.

He sighed and leaned back in his seat, before cheering, “Ghosts in Minnesota!”

She nodded softly at his words, even if he did manage to still put himself down whilst complimenting Sam's survival skills. She didn't want him doing it but she knew it'd be a tough habit for him to break out of, so she would just be there for him when it happened. She smirked as he made a cheer for their destination, chuckling at him as she started the drive.

During the drive she had put on some music which was much softer rock than what Dean would usually listen to, but like him, she had a rule that shotgun did not complain about said music the driver picked. Though the one band they could agree on was Bon Jovi if she was truly in a mood to kick back whilst driving and do some purposely bad singing along. Every now and then she got him to pass over some of her m&ms so she could snack whilst driving, gently tapping the steering wheel to the music and did all she could to keep Dean in a good relaxed mood.

----------------

By the time they made it to Minnesota and to their destination of the abandoned mansion it was beginning to come to dusk, the sun setting slowly. She, with Dean's help looked out for the mansion and found a spot to park up outside the mansion, killed the engine and grabbed her keys. "here we are, now or never" she remarked, looking up at the decrepit looking place.

"this place has definitely seen better days judging by the outside. Hope it's not as worn down on the inside" she said to him, before she finally unlocked her car door and stepped out before walking to the trunk, unlocking it and pulling out her bag. There was no way she wasn't going in without it as they didn't know exactly what they were facing.

Dean smiled at Mika putting on Bon Jovi. She knew him so well. Bon Jovi was a comfort band for him, when things seemed to be going south. He tapped his fingers on his knee, handing her M&M’s when she asked for them, while stuffing his mouth with salty snacks, as well. Maybe the drive wouldn’t be so bad, after all.

——-

As they arrived to the mansion, Dean looked up at it through the windshield, almost bending in half to get a good look at the place. He placed his hands on the dashboard and scoffed with a “huh…”

“This place looks like the beginning of a horror movie…”, he muttered, when Mika spoke up. He leaned back in his seat for a second, before reaching for the door handle, “I mean, more than usual, for us.”

Stepping out of the car, he ran around to the back of the car to meet her, and grab his own bag. They nearly banged heads as they dipped into the oversized trunk to grab both their gear. Dean slung his bag over his shoulder quickly, and pulled his military grade flashlight out of the side pocket, flicking it on. He took a deep breath and turned to Mika, holding the flashlight under his face with a wide smile.

“It was a daaaaark and stormy night…”, he started, chuckling with the words, “And a beautiful girl stepped out of her rumble monster car, looking for a view into the afterlife…”

He laughed, waggling his eyebrows at her, with the flashlight still shining under his chin.

Mika had to admit, Dean did have a point with his words. It did look like something out of a typical bad horror movie, which reminded her. They havent watched a bad horror movie to pick holes in it all the way through in what felt like forever. SHe mentally logged it under 'things to do when they have nothing better to do' as she got out the car to grab her bag.

WHen they almost banged heads, she quickly stopped herself so they wouldn't actually collide, letting him grab his bag before she closed the trunk door with a slight thud and pocketed her keys in the process. Like him, she grabbed her flashlight and turned it on to test it, making sure the batteries were full (which they were) and glanced over at Dean when he spoke up. She tried to stop herself from laughing but his actions were just too much to her, and she giggled anyway whilst rolling her eyes.

"You're such an idiot sometimes" she told him whilst smirking, then jerked her head toward the mansion, "Come on" she said, taking the lead and walking round the fencing to find a way inside, before coming across a hole in the fencing that was clearly used by teens who dared each other to go inside. "urgh, I hate holes in fences, always snags my clothing" she complained, pulling the fencing as far she could so it was out of the way, threw her bag through the gap first and then proceeded to duck through the gap and pick up her bag again. Shen then held the fencing up as best she could for Dean to get through, whilst also keeping a look out for any authorities or teens that thought it'd be a good idea to come in as well. luckily for them, there was no one around.

After he got through, she looked round to see where the entry way to the underground cavern was, as well as a way inside into the main mansion. "Where do you wanna start first? Mansion, or the underground cavern?" she asked him.

Dean continued giggling as she called him an idiot, but quickly turned his flashlight to the ground for seeing when she stepped away from him. He followed her, shining his light against the back of her legs, since she was leading the way. As they came up to the hole in the fence, he also rolled his eyes and groaned at fitting his body through yet another tight space.

“Ugh. My shoulders are too wide for this…”, he groaned again, pushing the fence open with his own hands as he crawled through the hole with his bag in his hand, tossing it at her feet when he finally got it free of the sharp edges of the fence.

He stood up straight and checked his shirt and pants for holes, although he figured he would end up with a few anyway while they were hunting. He was hard on clothes.

“The notes said the cavern was the, quote, ‘scariest and most traumatizing’. So, I’m torn. On one hand, I want to get the trauma out of the way. On the other hand, maybe the house is where the bad stuff is and we can just get rid of it and go into NO cavern.”, he explained, attempting to chicken out of ending up in a potentially claustrophobic situation in the caverns. But he also knew they would end up there. They always did.

She waited for Dean, glad that she wasn't the only one who hated squeezing into these places via small holes in fences. It was far too common a situation for her liking and wished that just one time, when doing these kinds of locations that she could just do the normal thing of going through a normal back door or front door and not deal with stupid fences that have holes or climb over fences.

Like him, she didn't particularly want to go down to the cavern but something told her they would end up down there whether they liked it or not. She also was tempted to say they split up, cover more ground but she knew Dean would shut that idea down harder than a stake in a vampire's heart. "I guess deal with the mansion first, maybe we can find some clues in there about the cavern which will give us the upper hand." she suggested, turning her flashlight toward the mansion and seeing a side entrance. "This way" she pointed out with said flashlight, beginning the walk to the main building.

Something was just telling her there was more to this place than met the eye and they needed to be on high alert and always together. She couldn't put her finger on what was making her think such things but she knew her instinct was very rarely wrong. But there was no way she was going to express it to Dean....not yet anyway.

Looking around, she inspected the areas before pulling out her gun, pairing it with her flashlight before she carefully opened the door. Stepping inside it seemed the side door took them into a kitchen area and unlike it's decrepit exterior, the interior looked pretty decent and could understand why noisy and curious teenagers would want to come here in search of ghosts. It was eerie how well the interior looked in comparison and it just made her think all the more that something wasn't right.

She made sure Dean remained close by as she looked around, "This place looks like it's stuck in time, it doesn't match the outside, it's weird...even for us" she whispered to him. The whole palce felt deafenly silent as well which she didn't trust, that was until she heard something coming from upstairs.

Dean watched Mika’s wheels turn as she debated what to do first. He had a feeling she wanted to split from him, but he was thankful she didn’t ask. He couldn’t do it. He sighed and stood close to her, hearing out her plan and gripping his flashlight. When she found the entrance, he turned his own flashlight toward it, keeping it there as they approached.

He, too, pulled his gun from the back of his belt, holding it over his flashlight. He wanted to allow her to take control of the entire situation, but also to keep her safe. If he could let her make the calls, but keep her from running away, he was going to take that deal, any day.

As they stepped into the house, Dean’s mouth fell open at how clean everything seemed. He also noticed as they stepped in that there was a certain level of electricity still running through the house, lighting the fake torches that were scattered about the walls in the corridors. The place almost looked cared for.

“Yeah this is…not something I expected.”, he muttered, still mesmerized as he ran a finger across one of the dustless bannisters. He looked all around the room, shutting his flashlight off and tucking it into the interior pocket of his jacket. Pulling his gun in front of him with both hands, he opened a couple of cabinets, inspecting the clean dishes inside.

“Are we sure we aren’t trespassing?”, he asked quietly, noting that other than the place caving in on the outside, it seemed like someone was still living here, and comfortably at that. He stepped back up close to her, as the noise sounded upstairs. His gun instinctively pointed toward the point of origin for the noise, the center of the ceiling. He furrowed his brow and pointed silently with his head, toward the stair case, stealthily gliding over to the bottom step and tiptoeing onto it with a slight creak. The sound made him cringe, and stop for a second, before biting the bullet and slowly making his way up the stairs.

Stepping through, she too turned her flashlight off and clipped it to her pants bringing her gun forward. When it came to her taking the lead it was sheerly out of habit as she was so used doing hunts stupidly alone or with someone who was willing to split up. So when it came to this hunt, she didn't even think twice but to go on ahead and take the lead. Yet when she did realise what she was doing, she figured it was for the best as it meant Dean could always keep an eye on her.

It felt so confusing to her that a place looked so lived in and occupied when the articles said differently. "Bobby said it was abandoned, as did the articles he printed off for us. It makes no sense" she replied to him quietly, when the noise was suddenly heard upstairs.

With the noise heard, she nodded at his signals and let him be the one to take the lead toward the stairs and up them. When the first step creaked, she too paused thinking someone was going to come down and accuse them of trespassing any second, but no one did. So she followed him on up the stairs, watching his back as she did so. Catching a flicker behind her she quickly turned her head and saw some of the lights turn off inexplicably and she knew that some kind paranormal work was to play on this. "well, definitely a spirit here" she whispered.

Things still felt too quiet for a while as she checked any door that they passed as they reached upstairs, most being locked, but a figure flashed across the hallway ahead of them. "Dean.." she alerted him, waving her hand in the direction of the figure.

Dean gritted his teeth at every single step as he ascended them. They might have looked perfectly sound, but they didn’t sound it. He was half expecting one of his large boots to fall straight through any second. Much to his relief, he eventually reached the top of the staircase and took a deep breath, just as he noticed the flicker of the lights as well.

“Great. Now we’re trapped up here, if they decide to ambush us. Joy joy…”, he groaned, also jumping when the figure crossed the hall in front of them. He stood still, holding his gun in front of him, and reaching behind him to hold Mika close to his ass, “Yeah. I would say we’re not alone…eh?”

Realizing it was just a ghost, he stepped forward, continuing down the hall. He found an open door, as he jiggled each one. Turning his face to Mika, he stopped what he was doing as the doorknob turned with ease. Gritting his teeth, he carefully pushed the door open. The second that he entered the room, he noticed the strangest thing he had ever witnessed in a ghost hunt. It was raining…in the room. The water didn’t seem to be pooling on the floor, at that moment. Just rain. Stepping back into the door frame, he looked around the room, watching the lights flicker as the rain came down.

“What the hell is going on here?”, he asked Mika, his voice both excited by something new and terrified of something…new.

If they were in any other kind of situation Mika would have easily smirked and made some quip about him pushing her right into his back and ass, but now wasn't the time or place so she just let him do what he felt was necessary. She knew it was partly to keep her safe and so she wasn't going to say anything. "seems so..can only amp up from here I guess" she theorised, using her judgements from past hunts, which meant they needed to be on even higher alert than they already were.

She stayed close by as he tried the next lot of doors, surprised when one seemed to open, she gave her nod to proceed as he looked at her and went to follow him inside after he stepped inside. Seeing the whole room seeming to be having rain falling from the ceiling just baffled her the most. She looked at Dean as he asked the very question she was thinking, "I've never seen anything like this.." she told him, noting how he was equally terrified and excited at this new discovery.

"if we get out of this, this needs to be documented down somewhere." she suggested to him, then got the idea to bring out her phone to take photos. She knew if she didn't take photographic evidence, there would be no way Bobby would believe them. As she went to take photos, she felt a grip on her back and before she could turn round or comment on it she was yanked backwards and into a previously locked room opposite. "DEAN!" she shouted, her phone dropping at his feet as she went flying backwards.

Once in the opposite room, the door slammed shut again. Dropping to her feet, she span around to find who grabbed her before running to the door but as she did she dropped through the floor, "DEAN!!!" She screamed again as she fell and came to a thud on hard concrete floor, winding her in the process making her wince from the pain as she landed badly on her legs. "fuck!" she cursed under her breath as she pushed herself up against a wall, looking around and found herself in the cavern with the fresh water spring.

"you shouldn't be here" she heard being said to her, making her look out through the dim light, grabbing her flashlight off her pants and flashing it out into the water seeing a lady in white ascending from the water. "neither should you lady" she quipped back.

----

Back in the main house what seemed to be Mika ascended up the stairs and down the hallway toward Dean.

Dean had just stepped into the room and under the rain. He turned briefly to Mika as she spoked about taking photos and nodded, “Yeah. If anything, we can send them to Bobby and figure out what all of this is.”

As she did exactly what he suggested, he squinted his eyes and continued into the rain which was now permeating his jacket and hair. It was just water, much to his surprise. He almost smiled and soaked in the rain, as it was the first time he had felt the rain hitting his face, in a long time. As he bathed in his thoughts, Mika cried out, causing him to flinch and turn to her.

“MIKA!”, he screamed back, trying to run toward her. As he chased her, the door slammed in his own face, causing him to smash against it, and bang his fists against the wood, “Son of a bitch. MIKA!”

The door slowly creaked open as Dean sloshed through the water, and found her phone. Thankfully it still worked, and they might have still had the photos. He pulled his gun, and stepped toward the slightly opened door, hooking the end of his gun against the side of the door and pushing it the rest of the way open. Silence in the hall, aside from the sound of footsteps.
“MIKA!”, he shouted out into the hall. As he stepped into the hall, his body completely dried instantly, even his hair. Holding her phone up, he realized it wasn’t even wet, “What the hell is going on?!”

His scream echoed down the hall, as the walls seemed longer, and the narrow passage seemed to end in pitch black darkness.

In the cavern the spirit rushed at Mika making her fire her gun a few times only to see the spirit dodge every round and the bullet either richocet off the walls and into the water or embed themselves into the wall. "damn it!" she cursed, wondering what the hell was going on and how she even got down here. Looking up at the ceiling very briefly she saw no sign of a trap door but it was dark, even with her flashlight.

Next thing she knew she was being thrown into the concrete wall before falling onto the ground. Getting back up once again, she winced as her leg hurt even more and she could swear she could feel blood running down her calf but now wasn't the time to check it. She needed to stall this spirit until she could try and get back to Dean. So she scurried to her bag that came down with her luckily, unzipping it and grabbing her iron crowbar swinging it with all her might at the spirit in question, seeing it vanish. She needed help and help fast to get rid of this thing.

Yet she could see nothing that was a clue to getting rid of it. Only clue she had was the water. Using her flashlight she tried to find her phone on the ground but saw it nowhere, guessing it didn't make it down here with her. "shit!" she cursed.

-------

'Mika' found Dean in the hallway looking confused and baffled as she silently walked up to him, gesturing for him to follow her, completely mute. She was a near damn perfect replica, same outfit, same hair, same everything, even down to her bag being on her shoulder and flashlight on her waist.

Dean narrowed his eyes in the darkness to stare at Mika as she gestured to him. He held his gun toward the floor, but kept his grip on it as he stared at her and stepped toward her. She wasn’t acting right, and he was terrified that she was possessed by a ghost, or worse.

“M-Mika? Hey…we need to regroup, okay?”, he whispered to her, following her slowly as she led him, “Where did they take you? Are you hurt?”

When she didn’t answer him, he sighed, fighting a tear that was threatening his eye. He wasn’t prepared for this. It was the reason that Sam tended to be his blindspot when they were on hunts. If Sam ever got hurt, he lost his mind. He was sloppy. He was lost. He felt that same familiar feeling creeping up in his chest as he watched her move, her hair blowing in wind that wasn’t there.

“You have to talk to me…”, he whispered, his voice breaking. He watched each room as they passed by, and some of the doors were now open, various scenes playing out inside of them. Some of them were just scapes, like rainfalls, a rushing waterfall, a forest with birds and butterflies, and in one, a raging fire, “What the hell is going on?!”

He screamed the words more at the ceiling, almost at God, as this was the most confusing hunt he had ever been on. What spirits could do something like this?

Every time Dean spoke to 'Mika' she didn't answer, she just kept walking down the hallway, every now and then looking over her shoulder and constantly gesturing for him to follow. She ignored every single open room like it was something she had seen before but she hadn't. Not the real her anyway. The room seemed to constantly change or show things that weren't truly there, giving off the impression that the house itself was a spirit, but that couldn't be... Could it?

She eventually stopped and stepped through a door that opened by itself to reveal a staircase that down below the house, but not to a basement like one would presume. She kept walking down the stairs but her footsteps were silent against the stone steps, the second clue she wasn't Mika. The first being the fact she wasn't talking, as Mika wasn't known to give people the silent treatment, especially Dean, not unless she really considered the recipient deserving of such action, or she feeling sick as a dog.

By the time she reached the bottom, it came to the opposite end of the cavern, where she turned her head from Dean to the length of the place and pointing toward the other end. At the other end just as Dean would reach there, the real Mika and the angry spirit were at logger heads, with the spirit screaming in her face and threw her over the small wall and into the water.

Dean continued to follow what he assumed was a possessed Mika or a specter of a dead Mika, which he wasn’t even ready to consider. When the door opened on its own at the end of the hall, he had every feeling to turn back, or to shoot the thing in front of him, as it was clear that Mika was not walking in front of him.

“What the hell are you?”, he asked, only to be greeted with no answer. Anger boiling in his stomach, he reluctantly followed, all the way down the stairs, carefully looking around with his gun and flashlight as he stepped.

Hearing a scuffle, Dean peered down to where the spirit was pointing, his eyes going wide at the panic that swept over him. He was slowly realizing what was happening. Sprinting, he ran toward the scuffle and splashing, finally running into the area where Mika was being manhandled.

“Hey! Over here, you son of a bitch!”, he screamed, looking around for anything he could use to get rid of the spirit. Seeing a chain against the wall, he narrowed his eyes in confusion, as this seemed to be somewhere people were chained up. Shaking the feeling, he took a chance and ripped the rusty chain from the wall, it breaking easily. He then swung the chain at the spirit, causing it to disappear briefly.

Panting, he ran through the water, rolling over the small wall, unexpectedly landing in water that he couldn’t touch the bottom in. The panic swept over him, as he realized Mika had fallen into this same pool of water. Taking a deep breath, he dove down using his flashlight to search for her. As his held breath ran out of oxygen, he came back to the surface, gasping loudly as he turned desperately in circles in the water.

“MIKA?!”, he screamed into the echoing darkness.

Mika's doppleganger disappeared as Dean found the real her, leaving absolutely no trace of her ever being there.

Mika caught a glimpse of Dean running toward her and the spirit as she flew over the wall and went underwater. She hated being thrown underwater on cases and she wished she could do a case where she was nowhere near water. She was unaware that Dean managed to fight off the spirit, even briefly for the time being before throwing himself in the water after her. She had drifted in the spring down to the back and into a corner, where she fought to get up to the surface but her foot got caught.

Struggling to get free she pulled and yanked as hard she could on her ankle to free herself, wondering what she could have been caught on when in theory it should have been a smooth floor underneath her. She was going blurry eyed as she knew she was running out of oxygen but she could hear very faintly Dean screaming for her.

Suddenly her foot got clear and that's when she saw a grate in the floor but beside said grate she saw remains. With the last of her breath, she grabbed what she could and made a beeline for the surface. "DEAN! I FOUND HER REMAINS!" She shouted, starting her swim over to where his voice was coming from. "WHERE ARE YOU!?" She shouted out, needing to know what direction to even go towards, being under water for as long as she had been had completely made her disorientated.

The spirit came back and went for Dean once more, not wanting them to be near her remains she threw Dean out of the spring and onto the ground.

Dean gasped to keep his breath as he desperately searched in the dark for Mika, his biggest fear of this entire hunt coming true before his eyes. He swam a little further toward a back wall, still not seeing her as he tried to keep his composure, “MIKA?!”

Almost as soon as he cried her name out again, he heard her voice and sighed with relief, which was short lived. He turned toward her voice, which was hard to find with the echo, his heart pounding in his chest, “CAN YOU GET TO THEM?! I’M OVER HERE. FOLLOW MY VOI-“

He was cut off by the spirit wrapping its hand around his throat, causing him to gag and attempt to hit it with the chain that he still had wrapped around his arm. However, before he could get a good shot on the ghost, it flung him, causing him to land roughly on his back. He coughed, and rolled onto his stomach, grabbing the chain with his hand as he fought his way back to his feet.

As he got to his feet, he attempted to run and jump back into the water, but was flung once again, the spirit standing over him as he swung the chain once again. The spirit disappeared, but instantly reappeared, which caused a frustrated sigh to leave his throat.

“MIKA! IF YOU CAN HEAR ME…HURRY!”, he screamed into the darkness, swinging the chain at the spirit, which flickered and moved to another spot near him. He would have to hold off the spirit until she could gather the remains.

She was about to shout back to him when he got attacked once more and she heard the familiar thud of a human body crashing onto a hard ground. As she swam toward the edge, slowly regaining her sense of direction, she dropped some of the remains. "Shit!" she cursed at herself, taking in a deep intake of breath and diving under water to grab the bone she dropped and decided to try and speed swim underwater until she reached a moment when the water was too shallow to do so.

Getting back onto the surface she saw the spirit going in for what seemed like the kill on Dean whilst he fought his best to keep her off. placing the remains on the ledge, she pushed herself up and out of the water, grabbing the remains and dashing to her bag. "Hold on Dean!" she called out to him, grabbing for her salt box and her box of matches. Opening the box, she doused the remains in the salt then grabbed a match out of the little box and struck it alight. "Oi bitch! get off my man!" she sneered to distract the ghost, then dropped the match onto the remains, seeing the spirit scream and burst into flames before disappearing.

Seeing that it was hopefully now over she let herself slide down the wall onto the ground panting, shaking herself free of the water before rolling up her pant leg and seeing why her leg hurt so damn much. "Well...bollocks" she complained. "Dean, I think we're gonna need a hotel tonight" she told him.