It had been a few weeks since Sam and Dean rejoined forces after Sam tried leaving behind the world of hunting for a second time in his life. Sam wasn't completely sure of the reason behind Dean's sudden change of heart in having them hunt together again but he was glad Dean had decided to let him come back. Sam was determined to show his brother that he wouldn't fall off the wagon again, not with the demon blood and not saying yes to Lucifer.
Castiel's search for God wasn't going too well and with the Winchester's unending attempt to stop the apocalypse they had made it through another few dozen sleazy motel rooms. It didn't take a genius though to notice that there was something up with Dean. Sam had been noticing Dean distractedly mumbling to himself—just low enough so Sam couldn't make out what he was saying—in the motel room and every so often he would take to pacing. It was also only when they were in the motel room later in the evening that Dean would take to this strange habit but as soon as they were out and on a job he'd be the same old Dean. Sam felt like he was missing out on something that had happened and Dean wasn't going to fill him in.
Not too often to make Sam suspicious, or to really notice, Dean would stealthily leave the room in the middle of the night while he was sleeping with a brown box sealed and already addressed. He'd drop it off to get mailed and arrive back at the motel before Sam woke up. He didn't want his brother to worry but he was trying to be a realist even though he was still trying to keep hope that he and Sam could stop the apocalypse with Castiel and Bobby's help. There was just something in the back of Dean's mind that told him that he should at least be prepared. It was probably from all those years hunting and living with his father, knowing that if he wasn't well prepared enough it could end badly, usually extremely hurt or worse, dead.
Sam's curiosity had finally reached its limits, he desperately wanted to know what had Dean so distracted. Especially when he changed the radio station in the Impala to some country station and Dean didn't say a word for ten minutes. Finally when Dean noticed that what was coming through the Impala's speakers definitely wasn't Led Zeppelin he threatened Sam that if he touched his radio one more time he would leave him abandoned on the side of the road. When they had gotten to their last motel Sam had pretended to sleep while Dean had told him he was going to finish cleaning their guns before heading off to bed himself. When Dean thought Sam was asleep he put down the shotgun he had been cleaning before pulling a good size brown box from under his bed, already sealed and ready to ship. Sam took notice of the hiding place before falling asleep, thoughts buzzing around in his skull about what could be in the box.
A couple weeks later they had checked into another motel and walked into a room that had a hunting lodge look to it. Sam decided that tonight was the night he would find out what was in the box after making sure that the Dean had left with a box more than once. The job they were on was just another vengeful spirit and they'd been researching—both on the internet and talking to people—all day, it was well past nine when Dean volunteered to go grab them some food since Sam mentioned that he might've had something and he didn't want to lose it by going out to eat. A bad excuse not to leave the room but it still worked and Dean left muttering something about Sam being a nerd.
Sam heard the Impala roar to life as he sat in front of his laptop; he waited a good five minutes before walking over to the window and peeking through the curtain to make sure Dean had left. When Sam couldn't spot the Impala anywhere in the parking lot he immediately began the search for the mysterious box that had Dean acting so weird. As soon as Sam found the box he pulled out his pocket knife and set the box on the table. Eyes glued to the unassuming box in front of him Sam flipped open the knife and put the blade to the packaging tape before hesitating.
Slowly he pulled the knife back second guessing himself. Did he really want to know what Dean was up to? Did he want the truth? He knew more than most people that the truth could hurt; the truth was there were monsters out there, monsters that liked to kill. The truth was that Lucifer wanted him like a junkie wanted his next hit. The truth was that the angels were dogging Dean, trying to force him to say yes as well. The truth was that they were fighting a losing battle.
But did he want to know the truth about what Dean had been up to, did he want to know his brother's secret and risk crushing their already fragile relationship? Sam ran his free hand through his hair as he tapped the blade against his leg. His eyes darted over to the door then back to the box, as much as he wanted to let Dean have his privacy his curiosity wouldn't be quelled until he knew what Dean was hiding. With a deep breath and a deciding nod to himself Sam pressed the blade of the pocket knife to the clear packaging tape.
The steel broke through the sticky plastic with ease as Sam dragged it down the center. He flipped the knife closed and stuffed it back into the pocket of his pants before yanking on the cardboard flaps that concealed whatever was inside the box. Sam looked inside with bated breath his eyes scanning the inside, the air he had been holding in his lungs left him in a gust. Sam stood there, frozen, as he stared almost unblinkingly at the contents of the box.
"Sammy, I've got the food." Dean called walking through the door with two brown paper bags in his hands. He kicked the door shut as he looked at Sam standing in front of the table he had been sitting at when Dean left. "Sam?" When his brother didn't answer he carefully walked over to make sure he was alright, it was then that he noticed the box. Dean stopped dead in his tracks wondering how Sam found it, or even knew about it. Obviously he hadn't been as sneaky as he thought he had been.
"What the hell is this Dean? Is this some sort of joke?" Sam asked picking up one of the objects in the box and holding it up so Dean could see that he found out what he was hiding. Dean sighed and set the paper bags on the table next to the open box.
"Sam, I can explain. It's ju—." Dean started but Sam cut him off, he couldn't believe this and he just couldn't keep him mouth shut. All of the thoughts that went through his head previously to finding out what was actually in the box were ten times worse than it really was.
"You know, I thought the worst. I really did but I never thought that it would be this." Sam told him glancing at the object in his hand before his gaze turned back to his older brother.
"Sam—." Dean just couldn't win, Sam seemed determined to not let him explain what he was doing with, well, with what was in the box.
"Why are you being so secretive about this or even mailing it to dad's old storage for that matter?" Finally Sam stayed quiet enough for Dean to answer and answer Dean did.
"Chuck."
"Chuck?" Sam echoed staring at his brother. "Chuck told you to steal toilet paper? Dean—."
"Trust me; we're going to need this." Dean interrupted taking the roll of toilet paper from his brother's hand before setting it on the table in front of the open box. From the quiet staring that Sam was giving Dean, Dean knew he had to explain to his actions to his brother. "Honestly Sam, I wouldn't've given a second thought to it but he's never wrong Sammy if you remember what happened last time we tried to prove him wrong. This wasn't even a vision, he told me I should when Zachariah zapped me into the future a-and I couldn't just ignore it, I tried though but I have to be a realist. Even if neither of us says yes, the end of the world is coming and I at least want to be prepared as I can be."
"So you've decided on stealing toilet paper." Sam stated picking up the roll that Dean had placed on the table. "What, are we supposed to TP Lucifer's place of business? Is that what is going to stop him?" Sam inquired really trying to wrap his mind around what Dean had told him and what he had been doing for the last few weeks.
"No. He said to hoard it."
"Hoard it?" Dean nodded. "And you listened to him." Sam paused but realized it was a rhetorical question and dropped the roll of toilet paper back into the box with the other rolls that Dean had taken from the last few motels they had stayed at. "Obviously you did." Sam walked away from the table, abandoning the box and headed towards the door as Dean stood there watching him leave. He just needed time to think about what just happened. As the door closed behind Sam, the last thing he heard was Dean yelling to him, "You're going to thank me later!"
Author's Note: Inspired by the episode The End when Chuck talks to past Dean. I thought that Dean should've started stealing toilet paper from the motels. =)