Dean lay awake in his bed; thoughts of what Sam had said earlier that day racing through his mind. He glanced at the clock absently noting that it was 5
in the morning and he still hadn't slept. 'How could this have gone so wrong?' he wondered. He rubbed his eyes and slowly threw his legs over the side of the
bed. Reaching under, he pulled out a packed army bag and tossed it over his shoulder as he stood up with a groan, his ligaments creaking.
Walking over to the door, he turned the handle slowly, trying to make as little noise as possible. Taking a cautious step out the door, he scanned the
room to see the bunker was empty and his brother's
room was closed tightly. Dean sighed in relief that he wouldn't have to answer any unwanted questions and grabbed the keys off the table as he headed up
the stairs toward the bunker exit. He froze and grimaced as one of the old wooden stairs let out a creak, he stole a quick glance to make sure his brother's
door remained closed. The bunker remained silent. Before leaving, he gave the large room a quick once over before turning and leaving.
Stepping outside, Dean closed his eyes and inhaled the coolness of the cold autumn air. Turning, he quietly closed the bunker door and then continued
to head over to the impala.
It was still dark and the faintest hints of sunlight were just starting to peak over the horizon. He quickly opened the car door, it creaking loudly as he
entered, and sat heavily in the driver's seat. The impala started with a low grumble and he quickly put it in reverse and drove away from the hidden bunker.
He battled with his thoughts as he wondered how Sam would react to his sudden disappearance. 'It was probably for the best; I wasn't wanted or needed there
now anyway. And besides,' he told himself, 'if he needs me he'll call.' Ever since yesterday when Sam had confessed that he no longer would do for Dean what
Dean would do for him in terms of laying down his life, Dean knew he had to go.
Blinking away all the thoughts of his brother, he forced himself to focus on the current plan. He had a few hunter buddies that had gathered in Toledo,
Ohio and they had requested a few days back that they wanted all the help they could get with a hunt. 'A hunt will be good for me; I need to get back in the
game.' He thought. As he drove through the early dawn, his mind started wandering to the last time he and Sam had visited Toledo. Man, it felt like ages ago.
He remembered the curse of Bloody Mary settling on the town and how he and Sam had smashed dozens of mirrors to get rid of that son of a bitch. He
grimaced remembering his brother risking his life for his.
Dean shook his head of the memory and concentrated on driving. He glanced at the clock and guessed
he'd be arriving at the inn where his buddies were staying at in 4 or so hours. With a soft sigh, Dean reached over and turned the dial of the volume, blasting
Metallica through the crisp morning air.
Sam woke with a start, his hand gripping the knife under his pillow tightly. He looked around the room, his heart racing. He had been dreaming again.
Releasing the knife, he groggily got out of bed and stumbled over to the bathroom. Sam glanced in the mirror and quickly diverted his eyes; he looked like shit.
Sam turned on the tap and splashed ice cold water on his face. Smoothing back his hair, he took another look in the mirror. His eyes looked sunken into his
head and the dark circles under his eyes didn't help either. The nightmares were starting to take their toll on him. He hadn't told Dean yet, there was no point;
He'd just waste his time worrying when there was real work to do.
Sam stretched and yawned, trying to work out the night's kinks. Spying a pair of semi-clean jeans on the ground and a shirt draped over the towel rack, he
quickly changed and fixed his hair again.
Taking a breath, he strode out of the bathroom and through his bedroom out into the main room of the bunker. "Dean?" He narrowed his eyebrows as
he looked around. "Dean. We got work to do, let's go." Sighing, he wandered over to the other side of the bunker, passing the large table that had research
and day old pizza strewn across it, and over to Dean's bedroom.
He was about to knock when he noticed the door wasn't completely closed. Sam pushed the door open and peeked his head inside. "Dean?" His eyes
wandered over the room, the messy bed, the clothes thrown carelessly on the floor, the poster of two models in bikinis lying on top of an old style car, but no
Dean. Stepping back out of the room, his eyes again wandered over the course of the main room of the bunker. Everything was as it was when he
went to sleep that night.
An idea forming in his mind, Sam went over to the table where he had last seen the car keys and noticed they were missing. Turning heal fast, he
jogged into Deans room and threw open the closet, the army duffle bag that always sat in the corner was gone. Sam exhaled in annoyance. "He doesn't even
leave a note. Whatever, once he clears his head he'll be back soon enough."
Shaking his head, he returned to the large bunker room and opened up one of the coolers to retrieve a beer and a sandwich. Sitting down with a sigh,
he un-wrapped the sandwich and gave it a whiff. He crinkled his nose in disgust when the smell of obviously rotting meat filled the air. Throwing it in
the garbage, he settled down again and dug right into the research from the previous day.
There had been no good leads on Gadreel in weeks. They had decided to take a break from hunting the angel 24/7 and tried to focus on something else
for a while. Since then, three cases came up that all seemed linked to three separate items that Balthazar had stolen from Heaven. They had lost all trace of
the godly weapons since Balthazar disappeared, but all of a sudden they were popping up all over the map. Rumours have been spreading around Andale,
Kansas that the second half of The Staff of Moses has been recovered, according to one of Bobby's old friends. In Marsing, Idaho, nearly a dozen bodies have
been registered as missing and the only connections being piles of salt left in the victim's houses, indicating Lot's Salt could be at work. And in Blue River,
Colorado, there have been rumours that the Seal of Solomon has been found.
Castiel nor any other angel had ever mentioned it before, but its Christian roots and its great power went up as a red flag in Sam's mind. The Seal of
Solomon relic was in the form of a signant ring and was said to have the power to easily manipulate and control demons at will. 'Man,' Sam thought, 'now that
would be a useful item to get our hands on.'
For the next several hours, Sam was consumed by the research of these three relics, determined to find every bit of information that might be helpful.
After searching tirelessly, Sam's stomach finally refused to go any longer without food and forced Sam out of his chair to search the bunker for something
suitable to eat. Stepping into the kitchen, Sam glanced at the clock. "Wow, it's ten already." He mumbled aloud. "At least I've got something useful to share
with Dean when he gets back."
His mind flashed to an impossibility which he quickly put out if his mind. "He'll be home soon." He said with authority.
Dean pulled into the rundown looking motel parking lot, right next to a truck that had a group of four men lingering around. Putting the car in park, he
glanced up when he heard someone rapping lightly on the top of his car.
"You made it! You made off like you weren't comin' when I called you a few days ago."
Dean looked up at the man with a scowl on his face and said in a stern voice "Hey, easy on the car."
The man's face became confused but after a moment burst into a beaming smile. "Man, it's good to see you."
Dean returned the smile with a low chuckle and got out of the car to give his old friend a hug.
"It's been too long Myles."
"I'd say" said Myles as he ruffled Dean's hair. "You'd think my kid brother would answer a call more than every 12 years."
Dean looked down slightly. "Yeah well, you know how it is…moving around a lot, ditching phones all the time. It's easy to lose touch."
The awkward silence wasn't broken until one of the other 3 guys came forward and shoved his hand toward Dean.
"You must be Dean," Dean took his hand silently and nodded.
"Myles has told us all about you. I'm Mac, this is Ryan," Mac gestured to one of the guys leaning against the truck with a Red Sox cap on. "and this is Abduel."
Abduel stepped forward and stiffly offered his hand, as if the custom was foreign to him. Dean shook his hand as well, noting that this middle-eastern man had
very rough hands and a tight grip.
Ryan spit on the ground and said "Myles, I thought you had no family?"
Myles laughed. "Such an optimist! But you're right, I technically got no real blood left. But Dean here and his dad are the closest thing I've
got to family."
Dean winced slightly at the mention of his father, it was an old wound but it still ached from time to time.
"How is the old geezer doing anyway?"
Dean looked away, inhaling quickly as he tried to think of what to say. Clearing his throat he said "He uh, he isn't around anymore."
Without losing a beat, Myles replied with a laugh, "When was he ever around? I seem to recall the reason we met was cause
he'd ditched ya in this godforsaken town to go on a hunt."
Dean shook his head, frustrated Myles was making this harder than it needed to be. Focusing his thoughts, he raised his eyes to meet Myles'; his
expression darkening. His jaw clenched as he said "He's gone Myles."
Myles quickly dropped his smirk and his gaze to the ground. Silence ensued and was only interrupted by voices in the distance and the
sounds of the motel door opening and closing.
Dean looked around and tried to lighten the mood by saying "I'm starving, any good grub around here?"
Myles looked up sheepishly and said "Yeah, there's a great place not 5 minutes from here. Their burgers are to kill for. Speaking of which, we'll catch you up on
the hunt while we're there –man is it ever a doozy."
Relieved that the tension was broken, Dean smirked and said "If any of you are tired of the trash heap Myles is driving around, feel free to hop in with
me."
Myles faked surprise as he swung for Dean's head, Dean easily dodging it. "Hey! I've had this beauty for 20 years and counting! Don't you dare insult
my Hilda."
Dean rolled his eyes and opened the creaky door of his Impala. "Yeah, whatever." Smiling to himself, Dean thought 'Man, it's good to be around
someone again who cares about you.'
Sam closed his eyes and massaged his neck as his mind wandered over the vast amount of data he just poured over. Bobby's old friend from Andale had made
a call to him shortly after lunch, confirming the location of the second half of The Staff of Moses was indeed within a 30 mile radius. Sam glanced at the clock,
noting that it was nearing 3pm.