One of the off screen stories that we hear about that always fascinated me was in 'Swan Song' when Chuck says that the boys drove "two days for a Jayhawks game" (probably because I'm a huge sports person, but details). I've always wondered how that happened and what happened while they were there. So, here's my idea. Thanks for reading! Oh and this takes place around season two.
"You need a shower." A tall, green eyed, short haired blonde in a leather jacket said to his companion.
"Oh I'm sorry that my deodorant failed me while I was running around trying to get the silver knife that SOMEBODY let get away from them." The other, an even taller, shaggy haired brunette, replied with a glare of his hazel eyes.
"Plus, you slipped in the damn thing's old skin. How could you not see it? It was a giant pile of gross on the floor."
"Shut the hell up."
"Well somebody's cranky."
"Jerk."
"Bitch." The black, 1967 Impala roared to life and the Winchesters took off for their crappy motel room just outside Seattle, Washington. They had just taken out a shape shifter that had killed two people and was working on a third when the brothers caught up to it.
"Sammy, why don't we pick up some burgers, some beers, and get some sleep?" Dean smiled at his little brother. The shifter had beaten Dean pretty bad, but nothing that Sam hadn't seen before. His nose was a little swollen, and a black eye was starting to form. They drove through some fast food place, stopped at a store for some beers (and pie for Dean), and then they went to their motel room.
"Want a beer?" Sam offered a bottle from the six-pack and Dean took it. Sam took a bottle for himself and twisted his cap off. Dean did the same and lifted his bottle to his brother. Sam smiled and lifted his own. They both took drinks in a silent cheer to another job well done. Sam sat down at the table and took a bite of his burger. Dean had practically inhaled his and was eyeing the cherry pie that they had bought.
"Just eat it, Dean. I don't want any." Sam finished his burger and then stood up. He stretched his long, toned body. Dean had been right, Sam needed a shower.
"I'll bet you ten bucks that thing is gone by the time I get out of the shower." Sam smiled.
"I'll bet you ten bucks this thing is gone by the time you get in the shower." Dean popped the plastic lid off the pie and started eating it with the plastic silverware that they had put in the bag at the drive-through. Sam walked into the bathroom and left his brother with his second true love (behind the Impala, of course). Sam turned the shower on and felt the water. Ice cold. Maybe if he waited a little bit it would warm up. Sam stripped down and looked at himself in the mirror. There were a few cuts and bruises that he had picked up from the fight, but nothing at all compared to how bad it could be. Sam felt the shower water again and sighed. If anything, it was colder. There was nothing he could really do about it, and hopped into the cold shower.
Dean heard the water running and looked down at his pie. It was about half way gone, but Dean decided to wait and maybe eat the rest before they headed out in the morning. Sam would probably do some research for a new hunt later and the two would be off again. Dean was putting the pie in the fridge when he heard his cell phone on the bed ringing. He walked over and picked it up. 'Bobby' it read. Dean smiled and answered the phone.
"Hey Bobby, what's going on?"
"Dean, how's that shifter treating ya?"
"Uh…well…we got it. We both got beat up a little bit, but otherwise it was fine."
"Well good. Hey, do you by chance remember a hunter named Stevens? "
"Um…have I met him?"
"No, but I may have mentioned him."
"Well, no. Why?"
"Well, he just finished up a job near Lawrence and the guy wanted to thank him."
"And the guy got a happy ending? Where is this going, Bobby?"
"Be patient, ya idjit. The guy he helped is a season ticket holder to the Jayhawks and he gave Stevens tickets to the game on Saturday." Dean perked up slightly. He hadn't even really watched a Jayhawks game since he was probably three years old.
"Well, does he want to go?"
"Nope, says he hates football, but offered them to me and I thought that maybe you two would want to go." Dean heard the water in the bathroom turn off.
"Yeah, we would love to, just, how are we getting the tickets?"
"He'll drop them off early tomorrow, but you two are in Seattle, would you have time to stop by and get there in time?" Dean looked at the alarm clock. It was just after 1:30 in the morning. If they left now they could probably get to South Dakota by tomorrow night, then they could make it down to Lawrence in time.
"Yeah, it'll be fine. We'll leave once Sam gets out of the shower."
"Sounds good. See you boys soon." Bobby hung up the phone and Sam came out with a towel wrapped around his waist.
"Who were you talking to?"
"Bobby. Question, have you ever been to a Jayhawks game?" Sam raised an eyebrow at his brother.
"Like a live one?" Dean rolled his eyes. For being the smart one, he could be dumb sometimes.
"Yes, like a live one."
"No. I went to a couple Stanford games though. Why? That's really random." Sam bent down to grab a pair of boxers and then went back into the bathroom.
"Well, Bobby has tickets to the game on Saturday and wanted us to have them!" Dean yelled so that Sam could hear him. The bathroom banged open and Dean smiled up at the shocked look on his brother's face.
"Really? A Jayhawks game? At Memorial Stadium?" Sam was sure that Dean was just messing with him.
"Yup! We should probably get going though. We have to make a stop in South Dakota for the tickets." Sam threw on jeans and a black t-shirt and threw the rest of his clothes into his bag. He was excited to do something normal. He and Dean hadn't really done anything like this in a long time. They were always going case to case. "Saving People, Hunting Things, The Family Business" as Dean so elegantly put it once.
"Are you ready? Let's go." Sam smiled. Dean grinned back. He hadn't seen his little brother this excited since he got accepted to Stanford (which was then crushed by his and John's fight). The boys went to the Impala and Sam even let Dean drive without a fight. The excitement in the car was like what Dean imagined kids on Christmas were like. Sam finally fell asleep half way through Montana and Dean smiled over at him. He and his brother were going to a football game. Wow, this was almost a little too normal. The Winchesters didn't do normal things. They hadn't for a long time. This is how their lives should've been growing up. Football games in the fall and baseball in the summer and hell with Sam as tall as he got, maybe some basketball. Dean gripped the wheel a little tighter as he thought of what could've been. It didn't matter now. These were the cards they were dealt.
Sam woke up just as they pulled into the salvage yard that was Bobby's home (maybe Dean turned up the music a little bit louder to wake him up).
"Boys!" Bobby called from the porch. Dean parked the car and walked up to embrace his father figure as Sam got out and stretched before following his brother's lead. "Good to see you. Sounds like you got that shifter taken care of though?"
"Of course we did. Come on, Bobby, it's us." Dean flashed a cocky grin, accompanied by an eye roll from Sam.
"Yeah, well, you two have fun. It should be a decent game. They're playing Colorado." Bobby handed the tickets to Dean. He looked at them. Wow, they were really going to do this weren't they? The men hugged again and with a promise to call Bobby after the game for a new assignment, the Winchesters were off. Sam was driving so that Dean could get some much needed rest.
Dean slept the whole ride down to Lawrence and Sam decided that that was okay. He loved his brother, not that they ever said that out loud to each other, but some alone time was never a bad thing. Sam smiled to himself as he sped down mostly empty highway. The last time he had been to a live football game was his sophomore year at Stanford. They were horrible that year, but Sam went to a game where they actually beat their long time, in state and conference, rivals UCLA. Wow, that seemed like a lifetime ago. Now here he was, living the life that he had been trying so hard to escape, but with his brother at his side, it didn't seem so bad.
Sam pulled into the parking lot packed with tailgaters. He found a spot and gently shook Dean awake.
"Dude! Wake up, we're here!" Dean bolted up with a snort and looked around. The look on his face was comical, and Sam was surprised he didn't reach for his gun. "Come on, we can't go to the game looking like this. We need some Kansas gear."
"Alright! My treat, Sammy." Dean had won a pretty big wad of cash in a few poker and pool games in Seattle while Sam had gotten information on the victims. They found their way to the bookstore and both bought one t-shirt and one sweatshirt.
"If we don't hurry we'll miss kickoff." Sam said as they hurried past students that were in the bookstore for actual books for their classes. They found the stadium easily and then made their way to their seats. They were right at the fifty yard line and lined up perfectly with the giant Jayhawk in the middle of the field. The Colorado Buffalos made their way out of their locker room to deafening boos and the Winchesters joined in. Then the student section started to sway and chant.
"Rock…Chalk…Rock…Chalk…Rock…Chalk!" The mantra continued louder and faster until the announcer shouted over the loud speaker (A/N: by the way, if you ARE a Kansas fan, I'm sorry if this is wrong, I just know that they have that chant but I'm not one hundred percent of when they actually chant it).
"LAAAAAAADIES AND GENTLEMEN! YOUR KAAAAAAAANSAS JAYHAAAAAAAWKS!" The stadium erupted as the cheers and shouts began and the team ran out of the locker room in their red jerseys and white pants. The game began with Colorado accepting the kick off (Kansas had won the toss and had chosen to kick off this half and receive the ball at the start of the second half), and only gaining a few yards before being tackled by one of the larger guys on the Kansas team. The brothers watched as their hometown team scored and had a few impressive third down stops. At half time, Dean decided that he needed just a small break and stood up to walk around. It was stupid that they didn't sell beer inside the stadium. Who would want to watch a football game without a beer? Dean settled for two drinks and some nachos for him and Sam to share.
"Thanks, man." Sam replied as Dean sat down in his seat and handed the cup to Sam.
"No problem, Sammy." Dean smiled and then looked out onto the field where the band was still playing. "Do you ever miss this?" Dean asked, quietly, so if Sam chose to ignore the question, he could.
"College or normalcy?" Sam shot back.
"Both. I mean, you had both of these and I showed up and I just…" Dean cleared his throat and took a drink. God, he wished like hell he had a beer.
"Dean, this life would've found its way back to me no matter what. I'm starting to understand that there's really no way to truly be out of it. I tried my best, but it still found its way back to me." Sam watched as a girl with a clarinet moved from one end of the field to the other, not making eye contact with his brother.
"Yeah, you're probably right." And with that, the subject was dropped. The second half began and the conversation was soon all but forgotten.
Just seconds left on the clock, and Kansas had the lead and the ball. "Rock Chalk Jayhawk" was being chanted by everybody in Memorial Stadium and the players on the sidelines were already celebrating. Once the game officially ended, Sam and Dean sat back down. The parking lot would be a nightmare, so there was no problem in staying just a little bit later. Plus, it gave the brothers time to drink it all in. The regularity of watching a football game was actually funny to think about. The infamous, even in hunting circles, Winchesters just blending in with a crowd and watching a football game. It made them think that maybe life didn't have to be all about hunting. Maybe every now and then they could take a few days off and just be two brothers that enjoyed each other's company. Maybe they could pretend that they were just normal everyday people. Maybe.
I've had this written for a while, but I wanted to wait until football season (college football starts tomorrow and I am SOOO excited) to share it. Thanks so much again, guys! Love you!
