"Dude, pull over and let me drive. You almost sneezed us into a tree!" Sam gripped the door on his side of the car for dear life and gave his brother a frightened, yet somehow very pissed off look.

Dean scowled at him and kept driving. "I told you, I'm fine. It's only allergies." he sniffled and rubbed at his nose, which was tickling again.

"A sneeze is a sneeze, i don't care what you say it's from. And since when do you have allergies?"

"Since I started road tripping with my annoying, punkass little brother, that's when. I've found that the more time I spend around you, the crappier I feel in general, how's that for a good answer?"

Sam gave his brother a very dirty look before grasping for the dashboard. "Dean! Tree! God!"

Dean sniffled again and touched his forehead. "Sam, I didn't even come close to hitting that tree. Calm down, will you?"

"Let me drive and I'll be more than happy to be perfectly calm." Sam let out the breath that he was only vaguely aware that he'd been holding when Dean pulled into a gas station.

"We're running on empty and we're almost to the lake. Don't think this means I'm letting you drive." Dean sneezed several times before climbing out of the car to fuel up.

"Anything you say, you're the boss..." Sam muttered as he moved into the driver's seat.

Dean looked up from his task. "Oh no. No, Sam, get out." He left his station and walked purposefully to the driver's side door. "Come on, move."

Sam grinned and held up the keys. "You gonna make me? I have you at a disadvantage."

Dean smacked the door in frustration. "I swear to God, Sam, sometimes..." He sighed as the pump switched off. "this isn't over." He replaced the pump handle, then rested his hand on the fueling station as a coughing fit over-took him. When he'd finished he grabbed a handful of coarse paper towels that were meant to wipe off car windshield wipers. He climbed into the passenger seat. "Fine, you drive."

Sam raised an eyebrow. "Paper?"

"Huh?"

"You said you were going to pick up a paper, see if anyone else has met the same end as the other five guys last week. Go do it. And, " he pulled the towels out of Dean's hand and tossed them in the back seat, "buy some real tissues and some cold meds."

"Look who decided to take charge all of the sudden. I'm going, I'm going." Dean got out of the car and stuffed his hands into his pockets, hunching his shoulders as if he were cold. He tossed his tissues and cold medicine on the counter and smiled charmingly at the cashier. "Can I get change for a dollar with this? I need to get a..." He turned around and sneezed into his elbow. "Scuse me."

The young woman smiled back. "God bless you. Your total is $18.98."

"Wait, for Kleenex and cough medicine?!" He fairly yelped.

She laughed warmly as she nodded and took his twenty. She handed him back his change, complete with quarters. "That's the price you pay for getting sick in the sticks." She moved her long brown hair off from her shoulder, showing her name tag.

Dean went into full flirt mode. "Sparrow, huh? Like the bird?"

She nodded and laughed again. "My mother has a thing for birds. She loves them. My sister's name is Robin. She was the lucky one. At least there are a lot of girls actually named Robin out there"

He jumped as he heard his car horn blare. "My brother's not a patient person. See you around, Sparrow. thanks for the over priced cold paraphernalia and the quarters."

"Welcome. Hope you enjoy your stay." Dean didn't see it, but her eyes glowed a bit as she watched him leave.

He tossed the paper and the bag through the open window before getting in himself. "Nineteen bucks! Twenty if you count the paper."

Sam whistled softly. "For that price, it had better cure your cold overnight."

This time, Dean didn't deny that he had a cold, he only shook his head. "Dayquil and Kleenex. Basic essentials for the stuff. I did get the extra soft ones, though."

Sam nodded, still less than impressed with the prices. "How much for the paper?"

"Same price... for yesterday's news, Goddammit!"

"The obits aren't normally wrong or anything, so chill. We should find you a place to crash, really. I can take this case. You can do the book work for once. At least until you're over this."

"It's a cold Sammy. I'm not dying or anything like that."

"Sam, it's Sam. And i didn't say you were, I just thought it would be best if you rested up for a while. You know, slept it off and all that."

"I love how you're telling me to sleep. Somehow, it seems backward."

Sam rolled his eyes and drove farther down the one road that proved to cover the whole town. "I bet that's the only motel for miles." He pointed and pulled into a place that looked as if it would be right at home in Hitchcock film.

"And a right homey place it is too." Dean opened the door and followed his brother into the main office. "If there's one guy there and he checks us into cabin 1, we're leaving."

"Shut up." Sam hissed as an older man met them at the counter. "Single or double?" He hardly even looked up.

"Um, double, please." Sam always sounded rather nervous about this part. "Do you take credit?"

The man nodded once and took the card without even glancing at the name. He put two keys on the counter. "Cabin 13, at the end."

"13, even better." Dean quipped easily as they headed back to the car.

"You go inside, I'll unload."

"Like hell you will, I'm not that bad, I swear, Sammy." Dean grabbed his overnight bag and unlocked the door. "It even looks like the Bates Motel."