Warnings: Takes place after Season one. All 22 episodes are fair game.
I dont own anything.
SHADOW STALKER
Chapter 1
The road wove dangerously through the darkened hillsides and wilderness. Hairpin turns led to deadly drop offs, while the pine forest encroached upon the desolate straight aways. The shadows themselves seemed to be alive, misting silently across the back roads, swallowing all the sounds around them. Even the black car seemed to be just another ghost of the night, its piercing headlights the only sign of life in the quiet night. The low growl and heavy music of the impala was muffled by the dense forest growth, its rhythms dying away into the night, leaving no trace of its passage.
The car's two occupants rode on quietly, drifting through the landscape, conversation silenced by the low stereo. In reality Sam Winchester had fallen asleep hours before, lulled into unconsciousness by the warm autumn sun and familiar rhythms of the car. Dean on the other hand sat behind the wheel, wide awake on a mixture of chocolate and coffee. He had been driving for nine hours, only stopping for gas and food. Driving was Dean's drug and his peace. While on the open road he felt free and whole. He found solace in the rumble of his car as it ate the highway beneath. Yes, to Dean, there was nothing more peaceful then driving. He didn't have to think, didn't have to dwell, he could just put himself on auto pilot while he cruised through the emptiness between cities. It was here that he could relax, fade away, and just be Dean.
He popped another handful of M&Ms and took another swig of coffee, the chocolate and caffeine giving another jolt to his tired body, ensuring another few hours of driving. It truth, Dean was very tired and while he told his mind that he was one with the road and an extension of is car, his mind told him that he was lying and at that moment nothing more then a human being. His actual inner voice saying, 'take a nap, you can be one with the road tomorrow.' And Dean had to shake himself a little, because for some reason, his inner voice sounded just like Sam.
"Gotta lay off the sugar." He whispered to himself, rolling down the window a little, letting the cool night air wake him a bit more.
"Where are we?" Sam asked quietly from the passenger seat, his open eyes the only indication he was awake as he continued to lean against the window, unmoving.
"The woods."
"Thanks. Care to be a little more vague."
"Maybe still Oregon, maybe Washington. I haven't seen a sign in a while."
"Are we lost?"
"No."
"Then where are we?" Sam asked slowly, as if speaking to a child.
"I just told you."
"Just because you know that we are still in the United States doesn't mean you know where we are."
"Hey, I narrowed it down to two states."
"Yeah, that was helpful. What time is it."
"Almost three."
"In the morning!" Sam jolted up and stared at his brother.
"No, Sam, the afternoon. It's just really cloudy."
"Jerk."
"Bitch."
"I thought you said we would be in Seattle by midnight?"
"I don't think I said that."
"Yeah, you did, when we left Boulder. You said midnight, one tops."
"Nope."
"Yeah."
"Did you record it?"
"What, no."
"Well then, there's no proof that I said it."
"Dean."'
"Your word against mine, geek boy. I thought you were a lawyer."
"Whatever." Sam answered, sinking into the seat, a scowl creeping across his tired face. He was in a bad mood and Dean wasn't helping. Sam had always been the more stationary member of the Winchester family. He liked having a home, a job and a routine. Truthfully, he loved everything about life that most other people found boring. So while Dean loved spending hours on end in the car, criss crossing the nation, Sam hated it. And whenever Sam was upset about something, as Dean had noticed, he just got grumpy. And grumpy Sam always led to annoyed Dean, while annoyed Dean always seem to lead to an even more grumpy Sam. All in all, when they were in their moods, it was like circling down a drain. There was no hope in stopping it until it ran its course.
Suddenly the impala lurched to the side, then righted itself almost as fast, sending Sam forward, his outstretched arms stopping him from hitting the dash, while his heart started pumping a mile a minute.
"Whoops, sorry." Dean said evenly from the driver's seat, a slight laugh in his voice, almost as though he were on the verge of hysterics.
"What was that for?"
"Nothing, just zoned out for a minute there." He chuckled.
"What's so funny?"
"Oh, nothing."
Sam finally took a good look around the car. The front seat was littered with yellow M&M wrappers and empty coffee cups. The mix of that much sugar and caffeine seemed like enough to give any normal person a heart attack, but not Dean Winchester, Sam thought with a mixture of bitterness and amusement, he could run off this stuff for days. 'No wonder he's going delusional.' Sam thought to himself.
"How many of these have you eaten?" Sam asked, holding up on of the wrappers.
"Not that many." Dean answered sheepishly, a sudden guilt crossing his face as Sam watched him try to tuck more wrappers under his left leg.
"Are there more over there, too?"
"No."
"Dean."
"What?"
"When was the last time you slept?"
"You cant really sleep while driving, Sammy." Dean answered matter-of-factly, while the car made another dangerous swerve across the road.
"Really, because you seem to be doing just that."
"What, cant hear you." Dean said as he turned the music up.
"I said." Sam began, turning the music down once again. "That you are going to fall asleep and drive us over a cliff."
"Never." Dean stated, turning up the music once again.
They rode on, their conversation quickly terminated by the music. Sam's periodic attempts to lessen the noise were only met by a slap on the hand and a menacing glare from Dean. Finally giving up Sam turned his attention back to the passenger window. He leaned his head against the cool glass and stared out at the unending darkness around them. The late October night seemed to stretch on all around them, even the moon and stars were hidden by the dark vale of clouds overhead.
After another hour of nothingness, and a few more swerves from Dean, Sam knew without a doubt that they were lost. He also knew that Dean knew it too. The smart thing would have been to leave it alone, but then, the Winchester brothers were not necessarily known for doing the smart thing, especially when their tempers were on edge.
"Some short cut." Sam mumbled to the window, just loud enough for Dean to hear.
"What was that, Samantha?" Dean snapped, turning down the music.
"Nothing."
"No, I distinctly heard you mutter something over there, broody."
The constant nicknames were starting to grate of Sam's already short nerves. "All I said was that short cuts, by definition, usually make the trip shorter, not four hours longer."
"Did I ask your opinion about it."
"I believe you did when you said 'What was the, Samantha.'" Sam mimicked Dean's earlier statement.
"Well, next time keep you opinions to yourself."
"Whatever, Dean. All I'm saying is that Dad is going to be pissed when we don't show up in Seattle on time. He did send us those coordinates like three days ago."
"Since when do you care." Dean answered angrily as he righted the car after another dangerous swerve.
"I care because he said he would be there, that it was a job for all of us. Jesus, Dean, ever since the accident you've been different. This could be something big and you are weaving your way through some god- forsaken forest in the middle of the night."
"You're getting close to that line there, Sammy, so drop it."
"Whatever" Sam braced himself as Dean swerved yet again. "Watch it dude, you could hit something."
"Sam, there is nothing out here, look." Dean began to swerve violently from one side of the road to the other, the tires barely holding on the asphalt beneath them.
"What the hell, Dean, are you trying to kill us. Why the hell do you keep swerving anyway?"
"I keep thinking I see stuff."
"Look, why don't we stop in the next town, get some rest." Sam looked over at Dean just in time to see a sheepish look cross his face as he stole a glance at Sam. "What?"
"You were asleep for a while there."
"What, Dean."
"We haven't passed any towns since about one thirty. That's when we got gas."
"So we're very lost."
"No very, just a little bit. Maybe. Look, I followed the signs and I don't remember turning off, we should be somewhere by now."
"Should being the important part."
"Look, we'll come across something soon."
"And what are you going to do when we run out of gas, push the car to your imaginary somewhere."
"Hey, its not my problem the navigator was sleeping."
"Oh, my apologies, I shouldn't have left you the arduous task of reading street signs."
"Well, you're just a barrel of laughs there, college boy."
"Whatever, let me drive."
"Hell no, not after last time."
"What do you mean by that?"
"What I mean is that the last time you drove my car, you drove it into a semi."
"Dean, I did not drive your car into a semi, a semi drove itself into you car."
"Technicalities, Sammy."
"So you'd rather you drove it off a cliff or into a tree."
"Won't happen."
"Then just pull over and we'll sleep in the car."
"What! Are you nuts. What if a bear eats us?"
" 'What if a bear eats us.' Are you serious. Stopping be stupid and pull over, man."
"No stopping."
"Pull over."
"What?" Dean yelled as he cranked up the music.
"Dean."
"What."
In one smooth motion Sam ejected the cassette tape, rolled down the window and threw the offending object out into the night. And just as Sam had suspected, this brought the car to a screeching halt.
"What the hell was that?"
"It got you to stop."
"I told you you're crossing the line, Sam."
"I don't care, Dean. Either let me drive, or we stay here for the night."
"Or neither, and you get your ass out of my car, pick up the tape, and we shag ass to Seattle."
"I don't believe that was an option." Sam answered evenly.
"Get the hell out of the car and find my tape." Dean gritted through his teeth, his anger rising almost unchecked. He didn't want to hurt his brother, but so help him god, if Sam kept this up he was going to arrive in Seattle with a broken nose.
"Get it yourself." Sam knew that it was wrong to push his brother, and that he would probably pay for it later, but at that moment he didn't care. Dean had been different since the encounter with the demon, hollow, and almost self destructive in a way. He didn't seem to care as much anymore, he was just going through the motions with no real effort behind it. Sam wanted nothing more then to help his brother deal with the aftermath of that night, but in true Dean fashion, his brother blocked him at every turn. Sam could tell there was something wrong with his brother, something that was eating him inside, and it tore him apart too. However, after almost six months of the new Dean, Sam couldn't take it anymore. So instead of using empathy to get through to his brother Sam chose anger. He wanted to get a rise out of him, because at least that would be something.
"Sam."
"What."
"Get the god damn tape."
"Get. It. Your. Self."
Dean stared at Sam for a few moment, struggling to get his temper under control before he violently pushed open his car door, slamming it forcefully behind him, and stalked off into the night.
Sam momentarily thought of tossing his brother a flashlight, but his anger got the better of him. 'Screw Dean, let him search for the damn tape all night.' Sam thought to himself as he wrapped his jacket tighter around his lanky body, the cold night air seeping into the now silent car. Sam leaned his head against the window hoping that dean would cool off in the search for his tape. Sam never felt himself slip off into sleep as the deep silent shadows crept in around him, hiding the car in the darkness of the night.