Author's Notes: This was written as a challenge for Tara aka LovinJackson. Go and check out her story, Natural Disasters, too. It's awesome. Also...never fear, anyone waiting on an update for Broken Lands, it's in the works already. I just needed to write this to clear some of the cobwebs out of my brain. LOL
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" How long have we been driving?" Dean Winchester rubbed at his eyes with one hand, while the other gripped the wheel of the Impala, his fingers drumming the beat to Blue Oyster Cult's Godzilla. He glanced over at his younger brother, Sam, smiling at the way the glow of the laptop illuminated his face and made him look like he should be telling ghost stories around a camp fire. Of course, the sort of stories Sam and Dean could tell would probably scar a school girl for life….or at least scare her enough to get her in the same sleeping bag. Dean was no stranger to that ploy during the few years he had spent at various high schools across the country. " Sam? Hey…Earth to Sam? You with me?"
Sam's head snapped up then as he looked at his brother with a mixture of confusion and annoyance. " Huh? Oh…um," He glanced at his watch with a slight frown. " About nine hours."
" Nine hours? No wonder my ass is numb. Next motel I see? We're checking in." Dean rolled his shoulders and rubbed his back against the seat, trying to ease the tension in his muscles. "What are you doing on that laptop anyway? You've been on it for around two hours now? You're not checking out those websites I bookmarked are you?"
" No!" Sam snapped a little too quickly, regretting saying anything the moment he saw the grin on Dean's face. " Shut up…"
Dean chuckled, loving how easily he could read his brother. " You know, if you and laptop need some time alone…."
Sam let out a huff of air that shot his fringe into the air as he slapped the laptop closed. " What I need is some time away from my pain in the ass brother." The moment the words were out of his mouth, Sam wanted to take them back. It had been two months since that night the Hell's Gate had opened, two months since Dean had sold his soul in return for his brother's life. They had less than a year to find a way out of the deal and Sam was no closer to an answer, no matter many hours he spent scouring the internet or any of the books Bobby found for him. It was frustrating and each day ticking past was just another reminder for Sam that he was close to failing….and failure just wasn't an option.
" Maybe I should get us separate rooms when we stop? You can be alone with all you want then, Sammy." There was a sting to the words, Dean's eyes never leaving the road.
" Dean…I didn't…"
" Yeah, I know. It's been a long drive, dude. I hear you." Dean glanced at Sam, understanding showing in his eyes even though it was clear the words had hurt. Not another word was spoken between them until the reached the Flag Inn, forty miles down the road. Dean climbed out of the car, then paused and bent down to peer in the open doorway. " Separate rooms?"
" Just the one room, Dean." I'm sorry. It went unsaid but Dean could see it on Sam's face as clear as day and he nodded. " Alright…but I get first shower, bitch."
" Fine…jerk." Sam smiled then, noting the lighter tone to Dean's voice meant the subject was closed, apology accepted.
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As Dean took their bags from the trunk of the Impala, he could feel a pair of eyes watching him and looked up to see a figure peering at them from behind the curtain of the window of the room next door to theirs. " You got a problem?" The curtain slid back into place as the figure disappeared and Dean shrugged. It was just their luck to some freak staying next door to them. The guy was probably having a dirty weekend with his collection of blow up dolls.
Sam was lying stretched out on his bed when Dean entered the room. He threw one of the duffel bags at Sam and sniggered as he heard the "Oooof" from his brother. Dropping his own bag on the bed, Dean dug out a clean pair of sweat pants and disappeared into the shower with a smirk at Sam along the way. The bathroom was his place of respite from Sam, no matter how much he loved his brother. There were just times he needed to be alone, especially after such a long drive. Sure, time was ticking away quickly before he had to honour the deal, but that didn't mean they had to live in each other's pockets.
Twenty minutes later, Dean emerged from the steam filled bathroom, toweling his hair dry. He shook his head as he spotted Sam on the laptop yet again. " Sammy, Sammy, Sammy…you and the girls of the internet, dude."
" Don't worry, Dean, there's still plenty of girls left for you." Sam deadpanned, not even looking up from what he was reading. " It's your turn to get food by the way."
" No. I got the food last time."
" A packet of twinkies and some M&M's doesn't constitute food, Dean."
" When did you get all Gordon Ramsey, dude?"
" When you decided to have the dietary habits of a four year old." Sam shot his brother a pointed look, then went back to his reading again. " Keys are on the sideboard."
Dean opened his mouth to argue, but could see from the perfect bitch face forming on his brother's lips, that it was a no win situation. With a sigh of defeat, he pulled a t-shirt over his head and shrugged on his jacket. " Next time, ask me before I shower, dammit."
" Whatever, Dean…don't forget to get some beers." Sam couldn't help but grin as the door slammed a moment later.
" Sam what the hell, dude?? You think this is a joke?" Dean raged as he stormed into the room, slamming his shoebox of cassettes down on the table in front of his brother. He saw the puzzled look on Sam's face and it only made Dean even more pissed off. " How the hell could you mess with my tapes?? Britney Spears? Lindsay Lohan? Barbara freaking Streisand!? I should kick your ass right now!"
" Dean, whoa…what the hell are you talking about, dude? I never touched your cassettes."
" Well someone's recorded over them, Sam and it sure as hell wasn't me!" Dean fumed. He dropped into a chair opposite Sam and opened up the paper bag that contained their burgers and fries. Unwrapping his burger, he lifted the greasy looking food towards his mouth, figuring that he would at least kick Sam's ass on an empty stomach. Who the hell else would have messed with his classic music collection? Sam was the one who always said it was the greatest hits of mullet rock. The little bitch was probably just pissed it wasn't full of emo crap like Fall Out Romance or Panic at The Chemical Plant.
Sam watched his brother with a wounded look. Dean honestly thought Sam would do that? That he would be that vindictive? But then…it still didn't answer the question of who did? As Dean bit down on his burger, Sam saw something squirming in the food, his eyes widening in horror at the sight of the entire inside of the burger writhing and moving, before he leaned forward hurriedly and slapped the burger from Dean's hands.
" Sam! What the hell has gotten into you?" Dean demanded as his burger hit the floor in a wide pattern of debris.
" There was something moving in the burger, Dean. I don't know, maggots or something…" Sam told his brother.
Dean got up and walked over to the remains of his burger, seeing nothing there but burger pattie, bun and pickles. " Dude, there's nothing here. You wasted my dinner for no freaking reason." Standing up, he looked at Sam, concern knitting his brow. " You feeling alright, Sammy? Cause I'm thinking, seeing things isn't a good sign."
" I'm not seeing things, Dean…that burger was moving." Sam insisted, despite the fact he could see for himself that there was nothing moving on the floor. With a frustrated sigh, he stood up from the table and pushed his own burger towards Dean. " Here…I'm going to be get some sleep."
" Sam…" Dean began, noting the hurt look in his eyes. He stopped himself then and shook his head. " Get some sleep… maybe things will be better in the morning?"
" Yeah…" Sam agreed sullenly, stripping his jeans off and climbing into bed in just a t-shirt and underwear. " If you use the laptop, make sure you shut it off before you go to bed."
" Yeah, yeah…" Dean waved a hand distractedly at his brother as he picked up the second burger.
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Sam awoke to find the room lit up with the soft golden light of morning. He rolled over and found Dean sprawled on his belly on his own bed, snoring lightly. The need to take a pee urged Sam out of bed and he hobbled a little on the cold floor as his bare feet hit it. The fact that his laptop was still open caught Sam's attention and he scowled, furious that Dean hadn't closed the screen. He was even more pissed off when he saw that it was still on. " Yeah, yeah…" Sam mimicked quietly, scrolling through his bookmarks to check if Dean had added any. The need to pee was long forgotten as cold anger rushed through his veins. Every single page and website Sam had ever bookmarked was gone, replaced with nothing but porn sites. " DEAN!"
His brother sat up sharply, clutching his knife in one hand and looking about muzzily, still half asleep. " What? What?"
" You wiped all my bookmarks, dude. I needed those! They help us do our job!" Sam yelled. They were going to help me save you! " What the hell were you thinking? Are you that childish that you think it's funny to replace them all with porn?"
" What? Porn? What the hell are you-…" Dean's eyes became as big as saucer's as he stared at Sam. He saw his brother's anger fade and a quiet concern fill his face instead.
" What? Dean…what are you staring at?"
" Your forehead, Sammy…"
Sam rushed to the bathroom, wondering if he was about to see a third eye growing there? It would have been one of the more interesting curses they'd dealt with…Dean becoming a teddy bear once, leather jacket and all, notwithstanding. The reflection peering back at him was perfectly normal, except for the word JERK scrawled across his forehead in black permanent ink. With a growl of rage, he spun and ran out of the bathroom, launching himself at Dean and tackling his brother off the bed. " You childish son of a bitch! You think this is funny??"
" Sam! Sammy! I don't know how the hell that got there! I swear!"
" Bullshit! This is one of your stupid prank wars! Well I'm stop it here and now, Dean!" He pulled back his fist to slug Dean, then changed his mind at the last moment and with one last angry shove to his brother's chest, got back to his feet. " I'm going out to get something to wash this off with."
Sam dragged his jeans on and shoved his feet into his boots before he stormed to the door, ripping it open, only to stop dead in his tracks and stare in disbelief at the sight before him. " Uhhh, Dean? You might want to see this…"
Dean was in the doorway a moment later, staring in abject horror at what should have been his beloved Impala…..if it wasn't suddenly a brilliant metallic purple with flames up the sides, a fox tail hanging from the radio antenna and a pair of fuzzy dice swinging idly from the rear view mirror. Cowskin could be seen covering the interior. The whole car looked like it had come hot out of the MTV's studios. " Sammy…who the hell pimped my car?" Dean's voice was full of sheer horror and confusion.
" Dean, something is going on here, dude. I mean, the cassettes, my laptop…my head. What the hell?"
A sudden fury of curse words erupted from Dean and he stormed back into the room, getting dressed and sliding his feet into his boots, freezing the moment a cracking sound emanated from his right boot. Taking it off again, he poured out the remains of an egg, looking up at Sam with murder in his eyes. " Stay here and get a stake prepared, will you? I'll be back soon." Pulling the boot back on and ignoring the horrible way it felt and squelched as he walked, Dean went out to the Impala. He felt like crying as he slid in behind the wheel of his baby and started her up, only to have the car suddenly explode into a frenzy of hydraulic bouncing that took Dean a few minutes to shut off. With a scream of tyres, Dean roared out of the parking lot.
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It was an hour before Dean returned, Sam becoming aware of his brother as the sound of La Cockaracha blared out of the Impala's horns. He got to the door to see Dean cursing and swearing as he wrestled with the car, the Impala once again bouncing through the car park until it came to a rest outside their room. Dean got out and gave Sam a sheepish look. " There's switches all over her now…I wanted to know what they did."
"What the hell took you so long? What were you doing?"
" I went and got some lamb's blood….oh and I raced this guy about half a mile back, blew the doors clean off his car!" Dean beamed proudly.
" You raced someone?" Sam asked incredulously. " In that thing??"
" Hey…" Dean patted the car affectionately. " Under all this crap…she's still my baby." He grinned at Sam as he passed him and entered the motel room. Sam followed his brother, disconcerted at the way Dean's mood had lifted. " So what do we need the lamb's blood for?"
" You got the stake made?"
" Yeah…on the bed."
Dean removed the flask of lamb's blood from his jacket, picked up the stake and walked to the bathroom, coating the lump of wood with the liquid. He smiled with satisfaction and flashed Sam a smug, knowing look as he walked back him and headed out of the room and casually knocking on the door of the room next to them. The door swung open slowly and Sam looked on in horror as Dean lifted the stake and slammed it into the chest of the room's occupant. The pleasantly dressed, plain looking man…who could have been a door to door salesman for all Sam knew, made a surprised "O" with his mouth, clutched at his chest and collapsed backwards into the room.
" Dean! What the hell??"
" Relax, Sammy…." Dean smiled knowingly at his brother, watching as the word faded from Sam's forehead and the pimpmobile faded away to reveal the Impala underneath, as beautiful and black as always. " The laptop should be just fine now too…"
Sam's face was a portrait of confusion, until it sank in and his eyebrows shot skyward. " Wait….are you saying that guy was responsible?"
" It was the Trickster, Sammy…think about it. Who else works like that? Playing pranks? Setting us against each other? It just made sense…" Dean explained. " I bet he recognized us last night when we pulled up. I saw him watching us."
Sam stepped forward and noticed that the man lying dead on the floor looked exactly like the janitor they had encountered. " That's all you had to go on? The guy was watching us through the window?? Dean…he could have just been a peeping tom! He could have been anyone…how could you be sure it was even him?"
" He's the only one staying here other than us…so it was either him or the guy that checked us in." Dean stated it like it was the simplest thing in the world, winking at his brother. " I just weighed up the odds, Sammy. Now get your stuff…we'd better hit the road before anyone finds this guy. And you're getting breakfast."
" Fine… but no twinkies or M&M's."
" Dude…do I look like I want to eat that at this time of the morning?" Dean looked at Sam as though he was stupid, then grinned and patted his brother on the shoulder, heading for the Impala. " Today it's Poptarts…"