-My biggest thanks to Beta HeroInTraining who fixed my grammatical mess.
Any mistakes left are of course my own.
2007
They're staying at the roadhouse for a few days.
A hunt has left Dean limping with a very sore knee and Sam decided he was tired of being the only one listening to Dean complaining about not being allowed to walk around, so he drove them here.
And it's nice with a little downtime and catching up with Jo and Ellen, but as Dean thinks, if he hears one more fight between those women, he's walking to Bobby's no matter how bad his knee is.
And it's times like these that Dean really loves his brother. Sam, who's nearly been dancing around with joy because Dean's been taking it easy with his injury, seems to finally have caught Dean's hints about being bored, when he asks if Ellen got a case.
"Three people missing from their houses down in Georgia," Ellen says and reaches for a news clipping. "Apparently they've had some problems with door knockings lately. People dying from blood loss without any wounds and half the town seem to be suffering of night terrors."
"Well, that's strange," Sam says, smiles at Dean proud of himself, and reaches for the paper. Before he has the chance to grab it though, Dean smacks his hand away.
"Not strange enough," Dean says.
"Well, it doesn't sound normal."
"Sam, of course people got nightmares if there's a knocking murderer on the loose"
"I think we should check it out anyway, it sounds like something is going on," Sam says and holds his hand out for the clipping.
Dean blocks it. "And even if it was we wouldn't have the time."
"What are you talking about? You're the one going stir-crazy." Sam looks confused.
Dean ignores him. "We're busy Ellen, but thanks for asking".
Sam just looks at Dean like he's lost his mind, "Dean, we got nothing -"
"- Do I have to write it on my forehead before you get it, Sam? We're busy." Dean answers and calmly takes a sip from his beer.
Ellen looks at him curiously, but puts the clipping down. "Alright, if you're busy... I'm sure someone else feels up to a trip to Denton."
"Dean.." Sam says, but Dean cuts him off.
"Thanks Ellen."
Sam starts pouting and Dean is satisfied. Imagine if Sam would have remembered...
"Hold on..." Sam says, and Dean's heart starts pumping blood way too fast for his liking.
"Denton?...Denton, Georgia...weren't...Dean weren't we there as kids?" Sam asks.
"How am I supposed to know? We lived in hundreds of places." Unfortunately Sam catches his lie pretty fast. Ellen doesn't look very impressed either.
"Yes, we did!" Sam continues. "We were there for like two weeks a summer, hunting a Vrykolaka. I remember it now."
Dean shrugs.
"And a Vrykolaka, Dean, it fits into the case." Sam slaps his forehead like he was stupid not to think of it before.
Dean takes another sip of his beer, "Yeah, maybe."
"But we killed it, right?"
Dean doesn't say anything. Big mistake.
"We didn't?"
"Give it a rest, Sam. We took care of the Vryko-whatever. You don't remember?"
"I was twelve. Took care? Does that mean kill?"
Dean shrugs again. He really wants this conversation to stop.
"He left cases before," Sam says.
"Yeah, all the time," Dean says ironically. "Dad asked if the Vry-thingy would please stop and then we left."
"Yeah, that really sounds like dad." Sam rolls his eyes. "Come on Dean, something happen?"
"Well, there was this chick..."
"Dean!"
"Jeez, Sammy. You're asking even more questions than when you were twelve."
Dean doesn't have to see Sam's face to know it certainly look like he's twelve, serious stubborn face, eyes shooting daggers.
"I don't remember much Dean, except how it was weird how we just left. And if the Vrykolaka is still there it's our responsibility, we have to stop it."
"No, we don't," he answers, sounding exactly like dad.
They both stare at each other for a while before Dean raises the biggest question of the day. "How can you possibly remember the name of that thing?"
Sam, however, just glares at him and says he's going to bed.
"You feel like talking?" Ellen says as she pours him another one. Dean just glares at her, hoping she'll get the point.
"Oh no, Dean. That look didn't work for your dad and it won't work for you."
Denton, Georgia 1995
When Dean sees the sign that says they've arrived in Denton he almost jumps out of the car because he's so relieved.
It's been a long, long drive. Sure, they always have long drives, but this has been one of the worst.
Being the summer, John Winchester has, like usual, decided it means that they have the time to get to places far away. No need to think of school and stuff, just a whole summer of driving around and hunting.
Dean doesn't mind the hunting, not at all. It's the driving. Or no, it's the driving with Sam.
Sam's grown up in the car. He's used to it, way more used to it than other kids. Really, put most twelve year olds in a car for twelve hours straight and it won't be pretty.
Sam is good at it. He mostly just.. reads. Or talks, and talks even more. But when they've been stuck in the car twelve hours a day for four days, in the middle of the summer in a very hot car - not pretty. Complaining because it's too warm, not being able to read because it's too hot, being carsick because of the heat, and hungry, and thirsty and bored and to Dean's annoyance hardly sleeping at all due to non-functioning AC's and weak fans in motel rooms, which means he's been cranky as well.
Not like Dean's been acting very great. To be honest it's not been just Sam. They've probably both been a pain in the ass, Dean thinks. Well…not probably. Dean's been warm and angry and hungry and thirsty and bored as well. And fighting with his brother.
Dean glances at his dad who looks tired and pissy, which is actually an improvement from earlier.
Nope, Dean can't say he enjoyed this trip.
It's been quiet the last twenty minutes. Dad had screamed at them that they better shut up or they could walk the last bit, and it worked.
It was only luck that dad didn't hear Sam mumble that anything would be better than staying in the car. Or maybe he pretended he didn't hear because he didn't feel like sending them out in an area close to the hunt when it's pitch black outside.
Dean spots a motel further up and decides it's safe to look back at his brother. Sam however is fast asleep, four days of exhaustion finally catching up with him. Dean is grateful because it was about time, but couldn't it have happened a few hours ago, or days, instead of right when they're at their destination? It would have meant at least a few hours of peace and quiet in the car.
Dad turns of the road and parks close to the check-in. Gives Dean a look that could mean either stay here without moving a muscle or wake your brother and grab our stuff. Dean decides to go with the first option while dad walks away and sticks his head out to catch some of the breeze in the warm summer night.
When dad comes back Dean steers a partly still sleeping Sam to their new home.
The room is sticky and warm with a very sad and old turned-off fan standing in the corner. Dean prays it will work.
He leads Sam to a bed who sit down on the side, scrunches his face, looking more miserable than ever and looks up at him "Deeean, it's too hot."
Dean pats him on his knee and smiles. It's impossible to be angry at a half asleep Sam, especially when he actually got all right in the world to be complaining right now. The room is warmer than he could have imagined.
"I know, Sammy. It will be better soon, okay? I'll get the fan going and then it will be comfy in no time."
Sam just nods tiredly and lays his head on the pillow, feet still dangling from the side of the bed, to watch Dean turn the fan on.
It takes some time and some curse words before the ancient once-upon-a-time-white fan start to spin with a loud whining noise.
Dean grins in victory and turns to his brother who seems to have missed his success and is instead once again sleeping.
"What the hell is that sound?" Dad walks in with some bags and closes the door behind him.
Dean points to the fan and dad sighs.
"Great." Dad slides a hand across his face and actually gives Dean a tired small smile. "Alright Dean, get some sleep. I'll fix the protection."
And Dean goes to the bed, picks Sam's legs up from the side and takes his shoes off before undressing himself and laying down on top of the blanket next to his brother.
It's a miracle and a proof of Dean's own exhaustion that Dean falls asleep, with the light, Dad fixing, Sam's heavy breathing next to his ear and that damn whining noise.
But sleep he goes, for at least a few hours before Sam starts kicking, turning and muttering that it was both quieter and less hot in the car.
Dean agrees.
2007
"I don't expect you to share your soul with me Dean, but at least give me some heads up if another hunter will take the case." Ellen rest her elbows on the counter and leans in to get closer to Dean.
"Ellen...I..." Dean looks down.
"If you need me to put this in the trash, I will."
Dean looks up, surprised how she could read his inner thoughts. Psychic Ellen, who knew.
"Vrykolaka's are nasty things. If John Winchester left one alive, it must have been damn good reason too," she says, rips the clipping apart and throws it in the trashcan.
"Now," she says before Dean has the chance of thanking her. "You better go stop your brother from researching."
Sure enough, when Dean comes into the little room they're staying at Sam might be pretending to be asleep, but the computer is flashing its lights like someone just closed it a minute earlier.
Dean glares at it for a moment before climbing into bed. And it doesn't take long before Sam starts talking.
"It was bad, wasn't it? Whatever happened?"
Dean rolls around, sees Sam's angsty form, sighs. "Yeah..."
"I don't really remember much. It gave me dreams, bad 's all I remember. And the name of it."
"Sam... "
"And I know those dreams it gave me haunted me years after, but the Vrykolaka was gone so there was no reason to be scared, but if it isn't..."
Dean sits up and walks towards his brother, sitting down on the edge of his bed. "If you think that we would have left if it was any danger for you-"
"I'm not scared of being in danger," Sam says and sits up too. "But other people are, because we left the case open. Dean, we need to finish it off."
"No. We're not going, Sam, and that's final."
"You can't just tell me what to do."
"No," Dean says and looks into his brother's eyes. If there ever was a time for him to do the puppy dog eyes, it's now. "But I can beg you to let this one go."
"Dean…"
"Sam, look, I wouldn't ask you to stay out of this if it wasn't important. You must know that."
Sam looks down at his feet, and Dean can almost hear his brain working.
"Fine, but you owe me an explanation." Sam answers simply and lays down, kicking Dean with his feet.
Okay, that was easy. Hopefully not too easy.
"Fine, but not now." He stands up and lay down on his own bed, finishing the conversation with a "Night, Sammy," hopefully never talking about it again.
Except that he knows Sam. He sighs and rolls over, listening to his brothers quiet breathing. Remembering dad telling him Sam would find out one day, because secrets never stay secrets forever.
He thinks Sam has gone to sleep when his brother suddenly breaks the silence.
"Since when does Dean Winchester beg?"
"Since always, the ladies love it Sammy."
Denton, Georgia 1995
They eat breakfast at a diner right next to the motel.
Sam walks in declaring that "Oh My God they've got an air conditioner," and sits down at the table looking more happy than he has been in a week, which is enough to get everyone in a much better mood.
Dad starts bringing up the case, and Sam happily shares the information about all he's been reading.
There are some possibilities about what it is and it needs more researching but dad seems happy about Sam's job.
This case is all about teaching Sam do more than just tag along and stay in the car or motel rooms on hunts.
Dad have noticed Sam's good eye for researching and is letting Sam do most of the work this time.
There's definitely been changes since Sam got to know the truth. More training and hunting for both of them. Dean is happy that they're learning more, so they can be more protected. But he's a bit nervous about Sam hunting. Or...well… not little. He's terrified. Not that he's ever admitting that.
"You don't like your pancakes, Sammy?" Dad asks, looking at Sam who's only had a few bites from his meal.
"They're just so good I'm taking my time with them," Sam answers and pours some more syrup over them not looking at dad.
"Uhuh, and it got nothing to do with the fact you want to sit in a nice and cool diner all day?"
Sam looks up guilty, and Dad chuckles, the cool air making him in a good mood as well. "Believe it or not, we got things to do, and pancakes taste better when they're warm. We need to hit the library and what's to say
they don't have air-conditioning?"
Sam eats them up in ten minutes.
It turns out the library don't have air-conditioning. Well, they do, but it's broken. The place is filled with yellow notes saying, "WARNING, the library is open but make sure to drink plenty of water. Any signs of dizziness and dehydration please leave. We're not responsible for any hospital visits or deaths."
It doesn't stop the whatever's killing people in town though, and they start researching.
And then they sit there, for hours. Reading all the old documents the library got, sweat dripping down their faces.
After Dean's head shoot up after the sixth time nodding off in the last thirty minutes, dad finally stands up and declares that researching times is over.
Dean quickly gathers all the books, wanting to leave as fast as possible. Sam however is still sitting down.
"I think I'm too hot to move. It's like I'm stuck to this chair."
"It's called sweat, genius." Dean grins.
"It's like glue, I'm telling you, I can't move."
"Stop being a drama queen Sammy," Dad
says grumpily, "it's lunchtime".
Sam's eyes grow big "At the place near the motel?"
Dad actually smiles a little. "If you want to."
Sam's at the car before he and dad are even out of the door.
After lunch it's time to do some more work, dad needs to check some things out in a nearby town. He surprises them though when he drops them off a local pool.
"We need to talk to someone here or something?" Dean says confused when they walk out of the car.
"I thought we were talking to that guy in the mental hospital," Sam says.
"Nope," Dad says. "Well, I am checking out the guy in the mental hospital, I don't think it's wise bringing two kids there."
"Then what are we doing here?" Dean says.
"You two are staying here in the meantime. You need to hang out somewhere close to me."
"Oh," Sam says. "I forgot to bring my second book."
"Really, Sam? I'd thought you would be in the pool the whole time," Dad says with a
hint of a smile in his eyes.
"We.." Sam gives the entrance an uncertain look. "We can go in?"
"Yup," Dad says and throws them a pair of old swimming trunks each and some money.
"Two hours boys, be sure to behave."
"Well, go on then," he says as they're just standing there. Then Sam gets it and starts sprinting, Dean follows.
"Dean!" Dad calls back. "Watch -"
"I know dad!" Dean answers, continuing running after Sam.
It's nice, hanging out a couple of hours at the pool. Sam and Dean spend all the time in the water swimming and splashing around. By the time dad gets back they both look like raisins.
"Had fun?" Dad smiles as they're climbing into the car.
"They had a jumping tower!" Sam says excitingly and waves his arms just the way he did when he was jumping.
Dean had laughed for fifteen minutes about that. "I thought you wanted to be in the water, Sammy, not fly away from it."
"Dude!" Dean says. "You're splashing water on the upholstery."
Sam stops his gymnastics movements, but is still grinning widely.
Dean sighs, pretending to be annoyed, smiling without showing Sam. "So, how did it go, dad?"
This time, dad sighs. But he isn't pretending.
"The guy didn't remember anything specific. Or if he did I couldn't get it out of him. But he kept muttering the word books the whole time."
"That rings a bell, Sammy?" Dad asks. He's not answering though, so Dean looks back. Sam is lost in his own thoughts, looking out
the window. "Sam!"
"Huh?" Sam says confused, the earlier energy gone, replaced with the tiredness from earlier plus two hours of playing in the pool.
"The guy at the mental hospital kept saying the word book, that mean anything to you?"
Sam shrugs. "Could be lots of things," he sighs. "It's strange that he survived though. And there's not anything about him that fits the pattern."
Dean makes a face. "What pattern, Sammy? There isn't one."
Sam rolls his eyes at him. "There's always a pattern."
"So, what's the pattern then geekboy?" Dean says.
Sam meet Dad's eyes in the rearview mirror. "Well…" he says uneasy. "There's not really one…yet."
Sam looks down for a bit and Dean rolls his eyes back at Sam. "It's… three people have been killed, all in their home, no signs of a break in. And then the guy here that survived. It's been in different locations and there's no connection between the victims. At least this time there's so many possibilities about what it is, I don't know what."
"And that's why we're here, Sammy," Dad says. "To figure it out. Which we will."
Sam still looks upset and Dean winks at him, "Just keep your feet on the ground Birdie."
Sam throws an old paper mug at him.
They go to the library after that, this time to take some books with them. Dean instantly likes the library better when he sees the superhot librarian at the register. She's dressed in a thin light blue dress, her dark hair is in a neat knot and her face is thin with blue eyes and dark red lips curved in a beautiful smile. Dean almost drops his books and Dad mumbles something about teenage boys before declaring he's leaving them there alone for a few hours.
When he comes to pick them again Dean declares he have no trouble going to the library anymore.
"Awesome," Dad says, starting the car up. "You'll be in charge of research on our next case then."
Sam laughs behind the huge book he's reading and Dean gently kick him under the table.