In a Place Like This
Summary: Hunting and banter, angst and brotherly love, old friends and new family. Post Season One. No long lost sister. No slash.
Author's Note: Okay, so I know I haven't finished the other two, but I haven't forgotten them either. And like I said in the summary, no sisters. I promise. This starts out pretty light, but don't worry it won't stay that way! Read and review please.
Disclaimer: No copyright infringement intended. Consider this free advertising, Kripke.
Scuttling backward on all fours, Dean felt blindly for anything he could use as a club. As his hand closed around a mossy branch big enough to fill his fist, he let out a primal holler and bashed the sasquatch with every ounce of his strength.
The thing went down and he cursed as he heard his cell phone ring. He couldn't believe he'd forgotten to turn it off, but this wasn't really the time to reflect. He couldn't see Sam. And Mrs. Big Foot was apparently only dazed, not unconscious. Dean got to his feet and whacked the foul-smelling beast in the head again, while scanning for his brother.
"Sammy! Sam!"
"Here Dean! This baby's a fussy one… I could use you!"
Whirling, he saw Sam about a dozen yards away, struggling with the six-foot monster "child". Dean covered the distance rapidly, sparing only a glance for the unfortunate hikers they'd come for. One was clearly dead, and the other one would be soon if this didn't end quickly.
The creature didn't notice him – intent on trying to eat Sam – and Dean jumped on a conveniently placed fallen log, roaring as he swung his new favorite weapon. The twelve-inch advantage gave him enough leverage to really put his back into the swing, and the object of his aim hit the forest floor without so much as a grumble. Towering over the reeking monster he muttered, "Note to self: add big sticks to the stuff in the trunk".
"Way to go, Tarzan." Sam managed, gasping and bloody. He leaned against the nearest evergreen trunk and began to sink toward the ground, heedless of the damage pine sap and rough bark were doing to his jacket.
Dean, equally breathless and wounded, sat down heavily on the log he'd used as a step ladder and grinned at his brother. "No problem, Jane. Not the first time I've saved you, not gonna be the last."
Regardless of the shape they were in, provocation and mock aggravation made it bearable. Sam gave his brother the requisite look of exasperation and his gaze moved past Dean to the still bodies of Jimmy Roth and Dominic Sanelli
"Are you sure you killed the mother – "
"No, actually." said Dean, standing wearily. "I was a little too busy trying to make sure you didn't end up as lunch." He scowled and looked up at the twilight sky. "Make that dinner."
Sam stood too, and they took stock. He started over to the hikers, but when he didn't hear Dean follow he paused and turned around, immediately alarmed at the sight of his older brother; stock still and face pale.
"Are you okay, man?" Sam asked, in front of Dean in less then two of his long strides.
"It's gone."
Sam looked around a little wildly. "Are you sure?"
Dean glanced at his brother in irritation. "Well Sammy, I must have missed GPS Implantation 101 …" he caught a confused look from Sam. "Dude, I don't know!"
"Well, where did you leave her?" Sam asked in his best kindergarten-teacher-voice, rolling his eyes.
Dean pointed, fuming, towards an area of ferns and berry bushes, flattened by the battle. "The giant stinking tribble is most definitely not where I left it." he said, moving closer to Sam, scanning the surrounding trees.
The air was tight with tension and eerilyquiet (not a new sensation to the hunters). They stood back to back, close enough to hear each other breathe in the triangle created by the space of the missing adult sasquatch, the incapacitated young one and the likely-both-dead hikers. Waiting. And then practically knocked one another out in their scrambling as Dean's cell phone rang again.
"Dean! Dude! Turn it off!" Sam hissed as his brother fumbled for the phone. "We have rules about phones – next timeit staysin the car!" Sam lectureda silent, pained Dean as he found the phone, turned it off, and re-pocketed it without checking who called. They were technically still in combat.
Sam felt a little calmer now, actually. Yelling at Dean when Dean deserved it always seemed to lower his stress level a few notches. It happened infrequently, so the rest of his blustering at his brother just added to the pile of guilt he lived under. Since Dean wouldn't take an apology without accusing Sam of being a drama queen, the younger Winchester loved moments like this when he could get it out of his system legitimately.
Again, they stood in the stillness, watching for any sign of the mother, watching for signs of the smaller one regaining consciousness, watching for anything else that might be lurking.
Dean checked his watch. It had been nearly twenty minutes and nothing had moved. While sasquatches were known for stealth, they were also known for being pretty solitary. They'd figured from their research into the attacks that there was more than one doing the killing, but since so little was documented on these creatures, who knew how they cared for their young, or mates. Or for that matter, hunting habits, eating habits and calling-in-the-cavalry habits. He looked over at Sam and gave a frustrated sigh.
"We need get out of here before it's pitch black. The attacks all took place during daylight, but who knows what these freaky things will do if you kill one of their offspring."
"True." said Sam, running a hand, black with dried mud, through hair which hadn't fared much better. "I'm actually pretty surprised that the other one didn't come back. Maybe it wasn't the mother."
Dean snorted, "Sammy, it might not have even been a female – that was just a guess."
Sam frowned. "I know, but still. These are clearly mammals of some kind, and it's not unreasonable to figure they'd behave similarly to other primate sorts of mammals when it comes to social and familial habits…"
"Maybe home sweet home was far enough away that they just haven't had time to get back here yet." Dean said darkly. "Like I said. We need to move."
"Agreed. It's not like I want to be here if a whole herd of them comes back for revenge."
"Let's make sure this one is dead, grab the kids and hit the road."
"You sound like we're packing up the mini-van and going on vacation." said Sam with a chuckle.
"We can't go to Disneyland, honeybuns, until we've cleaned up the backyard and done some laundry." Dean crossed his eyes, "Getting this smell out is gonna be a freakin' nightmare."
Sam smiled at the irony. "Dean, if laundry's a nightmare, what's this?"
Dean detected a hint of sadness in his brother's voice, but he pushed down his response in favor of sarcasm's safety.
"Hide and seek, Sammy, fun and games."
As they headed down the trail toward the parking lot and the Impala, it was mostly dark, and the sounds of the wood had returned, comforting them both though neither spoke of it. Dean wasted no time heading down the mountain and they'd almost reached civilization when Sam spoke.
"Dude, what was with the sound effects?"
"Shut up – I saved your sorry backside, bro – if a little verbal affirmation bothers you I can skip the keeping you alive part next time…"
"Affirmation? You been watching Oprah again while I'm at the library? Got yourself a 'life coach' and everything?" Sam guffawed and slapped his knee as he looked at Dean, who even in the shadows was a shade more red than usual.
Dean smoldered for a moment, his knuckles tightening white on the chocolaty steering wheel. And then his glower turned into a smirk as the come-back came to him.
"Awww, Sammy, I didn't want to embarrass you, but dude, did you really think I wouldn't find that copy of "50 Self-Help Classics" you left under the front seat? I just wanted to –" and here his banter turned into down-right snark – "make a connection to you, you know, help you through this mental health crisis."
Sam raised an eyebrow and inclined his head towards his older brother – whose Cheshire smile could be felt more than seen – conceding to the master.
"Thanks, Dean. What a brother, what a man."