AN. This is a new story for me, and my first foray into writing Supernatural Fanfiction. I hope the Winchester Bros are as in-character as possible! Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural. At all. Sad but true.
Dean turned the key in the lock, grimacing slightly as he took in the decor framed by the grimy doorway. Peeling wallpaper, more than one cobweb hanging from the ceiling, and a large dent in the plaster of the opposite wall greeted him as he stepped inside, making room for the hulking form of his brother to step through before he shut the door behind them.
"You really know how to pick them, Sammy," said Dean as he contemplated the dilapidated twin mattresses on the not-quite-sturdy wooden frames that took up the majority of the space in their room.
"Oh come on, Dean. Not all rooms we stay in are going to have beds with the magic fingers. You need to accept that," Sam said, placing his laptop case gingerly on the wobbly, ancient-looking table shoved against the far wall to give a narrow pathway to the bathroom.
"Yeah, but not many of the places we stay in look worse than the majority of the crime scenes we investigate," said Dean, peering at a mysterious stain on the green shag carpet right in front of the bathroom door. "Look, I think a shapeshifter left us a present right here."
"It's only for one night, Dean. A few hours tops, and then we can get back on the road to Gary, Indiana, and try to find out what's causing all those deaths," said Sam, shutting his eyes and gripping the crooked chair in front of the table. Dean, who had been silently trying to get up the courage to peek into the bathroom, looked over as his brother's voice quavered. Once he saw his brother's stance he forgot all about the bathroom and peered over at him with concern.
"You okay, Sammy?" Dean gripped the door frame, trying to keep himself from rushing over there to help. Even as the words left his mouth, he knew Sam would pass it off as if everything was alright, just as he had for the past several weeks. He had known something was up with his brother ever since the end of the first trial, but until Sam was willing to be honest about it, there was nothing he could do but wait.
"Yeah, fine. Just a little headache," said Sam, absent-mindedly rubbing his temple with the tips of his long fingers.
"You sure?" Dean asked, caught between giving Sam some space and his natural instinct to take care of his little bro.
"I said I was fine, Dean," said Sam in a steely tone, looking up to glare at his brother.
"Well clearly you're," began Dean, unable to keep himself from speaking up again. Midway through his sentence, however, he decided to drop it. He was tired of fighting with his brother. "Just fine."
"Why don't you go on a quick beer and food run? I'll stay here and try to see what I can dig up."
"Yeah, okay," said Dean. At the doorway he took one moment to really look at his brother as Sam sat down at the table and opened up his laptop. He looked pale and tired, there were deep canyons of inky blackness under his eyes, and even his posture seemed slumped. Dean's lips tightened for a second as he registered all of these things, but when Sam looked up he gave him a tight-lipped smile and closed the door behind him, jiggling the keys in his pockets as he approached his baby. Dean couldn't wait until the trials were over, then everything would be back to normal.
Even though he had only been gone for a half hour, the lights were out and Sam was in bed when Dean returned with their food and the beer. Dean debated about whether or not he should wake his brother to announce that the food was here, but decided that it would be better for Sam to get some sleep. He set the greasy bag of fast food on the end of the table, put the beers and Sam's salad in a fridge that he was shocked to find in decent, working condition, and sat in the threadbare armchair to the right of his bed. He spent a brief moment wondering where Castiel was before he banished all thoughts of the elusive angel from his mind and dug into his cheeseburger. Mmm, nothing like a well-cooked burger smothered in cheese.
After he had tucked away a couple of burgers, a carton of fries, two beers, and of course, a slice of pie, Dean slouched in his chair and rubbed his full stomach. Content now with his hunger satisfied, Dean became drowsy, but it took until he shook himself awake twice for him to finally decide to go to bed. Looking over at the alarm clock disgusted him. Only 10:30 and he couldn't keep his eyelids open. There must be something wrong with him.
As Dean closed his eyes and started to drift away, he didn't catch the sound of a quiet chuckle break through the silence of their motel room.
AN: I hope you enjoyed this first chapter! This is a lot shorter than I normally plan to have chapters, but it is just a little set-up chapter before we get to the main story. Please let me know what you think!