Sam took five minutes to go over the flight regulations for Rainbow Tours. Dean retained only the one about keeping his seatbelt on.
Five minutes after that, they were in the air, seatbelts and headsets donned, and sweeping over Everglades City toward the ocean.
Once Dean got over his initial "holy crap, we are freaking high", he pretty much forgot to be afraid and started having fun as he stared at the miniature city below them.
Everglades City wasn't a big place, less than two miles in circumference. Laid out in a sort of elongated rectangle, it was bisected by a couple of long, meandering canals with a few residential sections and a lot of open area. Most of the houses stood on stilts, which made sense. After all, there was a fuck ton of water around the town, and it was set right up against the ocean.
Less than two minutes after take-off, the Bumble Bee was buzzing over the beach and then out over water. Sam took a couple of lazy loops over a boat heading back to shore, garnering a friendly wave from the fisherman on board, then pointed the bird north along the shoreline.
"I want to show you something amazing before we head over to the Glades. Guaranteed jaw-dropper," Sam promised.
"What is it?"
Sam shook his head and they flew on another few miles, passing over an occasional boat and a few jetskis, then slowed, hovering over a stretch of beach where a couple dozen people stood looking out at the open water. There was lot of pointing and excited gesticulations.
Shading his eyes, Dean squinted out over the water trying to see what all the excitement was about; he couldn't see anything except a few boats. "What's goin' on?"
Sam shot Dean a wicked grin and sent Bee Bee buzzing out to where several boats were making slow, seemingly random circles. "Look down!"
Confused, Dean looked at the water below. It took a few seconds for his brain to catch on to what his eyes were seeing, and then he let out a loud gasp of shock and awe, mixed with a healthy dash of fear.
"Holy crap!"
Sharks!
Freaking sharks! Hundreds, no, thousands of them, they were everywhere, in every direction, as far as Dean could see, long tails propelling them effortlessly through the water, glistening bodies occasionally breaking the surface. Just the sheer number of them was completely overwhelming.
"Fucking hell!" Dean breathed. Eyes wide, he leaned over through the passenger door, straining as far as his seat belt would let him and stared down at the water.
"This is just . . ." Dean shook his head, hardly able to believe what he was seeing. "Incredible."
Sam laughed. "Can't see anything like this in Minnesota!"
Dean stared open-mouthed as Sam piloted them around the vast migration, bringing the copter down a little bit lower every few minutes until Dean could almost feel the spray of water on his face.
"They're mostly blacktips and spinners." Sam's strong hands effortlessly held Bee Bee level. "They migrate every year about this time."
Dean couldn't look away from the graceful dance below. He twisted in his seat, turning round and around, determined not to miss a thing. "Why do they migrate?" he shouted over his shoulder.
"Weather. Food." Sam grinned. "Sex."
As they circled the sharks, Dean took a few pictures with his cell phone, hoping they'd come out okay, and wishing he'd been smart enough to bring his camera.
Finally, Sam said apologetically, "Dean, it's time to move on if we're gonna have any time for the Glades."
Dean took a last look at the sharks, then nodded, a bit reluctantly, and Sam pointed Bee Bee towards shore.
As they winged over the beach, Dean looked down at a few kids skim boarding near shore, waving when one of the youngsters grinned up at them. "Do you think we'll see any alligators? We have them in Texas, but I've only ever seen them in the zoo or on T.V."
"Let me guess," Sam's smile was slightly mocking. "Gator Boys?"
"Guilty pleasure." Dean grinned back. "Plus, it's hot when they jump on the gators and pin them down."
"Those guys are nuts," Sam pronounced emphatically. "They got a lot of guts, though, I'll give 'em that. And yeah, we'll see some gators. We'll see a lot." His sharp hazel eyes quartered the sky around and above, the earth below. "Listen, lots of tourists go into the Glades, some on airboats, some by helicopter. "There's a main gate, gift shops, you know. We don't have to deal with that, not unless you want to." He looked over, caught Dean's emphatic no and nodded with approval. "Good. We'll go straight into the Interior. We go far enough in, there won't be too many people around."
As they flew on, what had been rugged land with an occasional house and roads below disappeared and there was nothing below but swampland.
Dean simply stared, mesmerized by its wild beauty. Trees, there were trees everywhere, most he'd never seen before, but he did recognize several different kinds of palms. He even saw a few species of oak and pine on some high-rise hummocks. There were so many trees, and so close together, a lot of the time he couldn't see through to the ground below. Then suddenly the forest would thin and there would be long stretches of water and saw grass and brush, until the trees kicked in again.
What he didn't see was any kind of civilization. No houses, nothing that looked like a regular road, though he did see a few dirt roads that didn't seem to lead to anywhere. And no people.
"Does anybody live out here?" he asked.
"Sure." Sam shrugged. "Five, maybe six hundred people. But mostly it's wild. Gators. Wild hogs. Deer. Some panther, but those are getting rare. And snakes."
Grimacing, Dean glanced over at him. "Glad we're up here, then."
Sam shrugged. "I don't mind snakes, so long as they leave me alone. There's a ton of 'em out here, though. Rattlesnakes, cottonmouths. Pythons. Big ones that'll eat anything they can fit in their mouth." He gave a snort of laughter. "Sometimes even if it doesn't fit."
Seeing Dean's obvious distaste for the subject. Sam smiled to himself and said nonchalantly, "I saw a python swallow an alligator once. Split itself wide open. Alligator was too damned big, and the snake was too damned stupid."
"Are you kidding me?" Dean was appalled. Also, slightly nauseated.
"Nope. Weirdest thing I've ever seen. Couldn't tell at first which part was the snake and which was the gator."
Sure that Sam was yanking his chain, Dean pulled out his cell phone and did a quick Search.
Sam's Alligator Slash Python Combo Platter came up immediately. Complete with pictures.
And video.
"Damn," he muttered. "That's – that's just wrong."
Pretty sure those hellacious images were going to be haunting his dreams for a while, Dean silently tucked his phone away and sent his attention back down below, just in time to see a big alligator gliding across a large pond. "Hey, look!"
Sam took them lower. As the copter buzzed over, two gators sunning themselves on a sandy islet slid into the water, tails thrashing agitatedly.
Sam took Bee Bee higher up, then fished around behind his seat, bringing out a small backpack. "Got some water in here. You thirsty?"
With a nod, Dean accepted the surprisingly heavy bag and dug through it. In the bag, there were a couple liter bottles of water, a first-aid kit, a handful of granola bars and a hunting knife.
In the very bottom, there was a handgun, along with a box of bullets.
Saying nothing, but thinking hard, he took a long draught of water, then handed it to Sam, who finished it.
"It's dangerous out here, isn't it"? Dean asked quietly.
Sam tucked the backpack back behind his seat. "It can be."
"Like what?" Dean pressed. "Besides the snakes and alligators?"
Sam hesitated. "It's just – it's easy to get lost out here. People go missing. Sometimes they don't get found." He shrugged. "It's too big."
Dean nodded, sure there was something Sam wasn't saying, but willing to leave it for now. This might be the only time he ever came to the Everglades. He was going to make sure he missed absolutely nothing.
There was a lot to see. Alligators galore. A small herd of deer grazing in an open area; they showed quick heels at Bee Bee's approach. Sam even pointed out a panther, but the big cat disappeared into the trees before Dean could spot it. He did see what he thought was a very large snake, but it disappeared beneath the water before he could be sure.
"How about we take her down?" Sam asked suddenly. "Just for a few minutes, before we head back."
Surprised, Dean looked around for a runway. "Where?"
Not answering, Sam arrowed the copter towards a clearing next to a large, thick stand of trees, As Bee Bee descended, the tall grass whipped around wildly, then flattened under the lash of its rotors, and what looked to Dean like a large opossum scurried through the grass and disappeared into the underbrush.
Once they were down, Sam cut the engine and the rotors slowed to a stop. The only sound was that of birdsong, and the wind.
Sam sat back in his seat and blew out a deep, contented sigh. "Sometimes I come out here and just sit. Think. Recharge my batteries."
Dean nodded. He wasn't that much into sitting still. Or introspection.
But now that they were on the ground and there were less distractions – falling to his death, mega sharks, and alligator-python death matches - he was able to focus more on the man sitting beside him – the slanted, deep-set eyes, the high cheekbones, his beautiful, golden tan and the slightly beatific smile on his stupidly sexy lips.
He stared at those lips long enough for Sam to turn to him, smile starting to turn sly, when there was a sudden CRACK! and Dean looked around, startled. "Did you hear that?"
Mouth tightening, Sam reached for the copter's ignition. "Gunshot," he said tersely. The engine turned over.
There was another shot over the sound of the engine starting up and Dean said, "It's just hunters, though, right?"
"Probably. You have to have a license to hunt in here." Sam studied his gauges. "But it could be poachers." He looked reassuringly at Dean. "We're fine. But best not to take any chances."
Dean nodded in agreement, and held on to his seat, looking around the clearing.
As Bee Bee lifted smoothly into the air, the bushes on one side of the clearing parted, and a large animal padded into the clearing.
Dean gasped. "Holy shit!"
Sam followed Dean's gaze, and his jaw dropped at the sight of the huge striped cat. "What the fuck-"
"I know you said panthers," Dean choked out, "but you didn't say shit about tigers!"
"That's because there aren't any!" Completely unnerved, Sam took the copter up higher, keeping one eye on the copter's gauges, the other on the big cat staring up at them.
Suddenly there was the sound of an explosion above the steady whoop whomp of Bee Bee's rotors and the little copter spun sideways in the sky.
"Sam!" Dean cried out. Heart racing, he grabbed on to Bee Bee's side door frame.
"Hang on, Dean!"
Dean hung on, eyes wide and face white as milk, staring at the ground below as Sam fought to steady the copter. She spun once, twice, three times, before he managed to straighten her out.
The two men stared at each other for a long fraught moment and then there was another explosion and the copter slewed around again. Her rotors were slowing, body shaking.
"Dean, hold on!" Sam shouted, wrestling with the joysticks. "I've got to set her down!"
"Down?"
"Dean, we're okay, trust me –"
The Bumble Bee started her fall to the ground.
