Chapter 2: A Needed Distraction

Since they had left Rivergrove they headed north east going nowhere in particular, just trying to get as far away from that place as they could. The fact that everyone had just vanished unnerved them both, although of course neither would admit it.

After about an hour or so they came upon a diner and decided to get something. They still weren't't talking to each other so Sam thought he might as well start looking for their next gig but hoped that maybe once they both relaxed a little more he could try for the secret again.

They entered the small building and took a quick glance around out of habit. Spotting a table near the back they headed towards it taking in their surroundings. It was just an average diner with nothing sticking out which probably meant that they'd forget it by tomorrow and it would join the countless other forgotten diners. They took their seats and waited for someone to take their order. It didn't take long and to Dean's dismay a young man approached them, fishing a note pad out of his apron. He glanced at them and lingered a few seconds longer then was necessary on Sam who was now putting his laptop on the table getting ready for the onslaught of information waiting him. Dean picked up the boy's stare immediately and had to try really hard to suppress the laugh that wanted so badly to be heard.

Nah. I'll let Sammy figure it out himself first…

The boy then came to his senses and realized he'd been standing there quietly eyeing the man a little too long and blushed slightly as he looked down at his notepad.

"What's it gonna be guys?"

Sam finally looked up and politely smiled before saying, "Just a burger, fries and coke thanks."

The boy stared for a second then quickly wrote down what Sam had told him, hoping to god the man didn't see his hands shaking slightly and the blush he knew was there that surfaced again when Sam had smiled.

"I'll have what he's havin," Dean said once again trying really hard not to let the laugh out and decided instead a knowing grin would do for now. He directed it at Sam as he saw his brother start to put things together.

"OK, sure. You're orders should be up soon ." And with that the boy glanced once more at Sam before quickly turning and practically running back into the kitchen. Once he left Sam looked after him trying to figure out what had just happened when realization dawned. He quickly turned his head away and looked at his laptop which he was hastily trying to open.

And that was the last straw. Dean burst out laughing and was quickly grabbing everyone's attention although only three or four other people were at the tables. He couldn't control himself and as he saw his brother's face slowly turn beet red he only started to laugh harder. He was clutching at his sides trying desperately to make the pain in his ribs stop but failing miserably when his brother glared at him.

Sam sat there silently wishing that he was invisible, knowing that the boy could probably hear Dean right now braying like the ass he was.

"Can you stop! Everyone in this entire state can hear you!" Sam whispered trying to sound unfazed but he knew he sounded pathetic.

Dean kept laughing for a good five minutes before he finally could control himself enough that his ribs stopped hurting and he was able to sit up. Sam had practically crawled under the table by then and was glaring at him as if he wanted to tear Dean's head off.

"Well at least someone likes your geeky ass. You should go for it Sammy" Dean said with a sly grin on his face getting the laughter down to a controllable chuckle.

"Shut up Dean. It's not like guys don't ever eye you!" Sam shot back once again glaring at his brother and turning on his laptop so that he could find something fast and change the topic.

"True. But I mean can you blame them? No one can resist this face dude." Dean motioned at himself and then let out one final chuckle before dropping it. He knew that this was one more thing he could add to his artillery against his brother.

Silence pressed in around them, once again leaving Dean's thoughts to weigh him down. The light moment again had fled like so many before leaving only discomfort. While Sam sat typing away searching for their next gig Dean figured he should distract himself and help. Getting up he went to the counter to grab a few newspapers and returned to the table noting that Sam once again looked like he was brooding.

Little brother should learn to lighten up.

He sat back down and started flipping through the paper in search of anything. His hunter's senses kicking in every now and then as he read, telling him if it was supernatural or not. Both the boys were doing the same thing, using the same parts of themselves to search for lives that needed to saved or things that just needed to be flat out killed.

While they were looking the boy from earlier came back with their orders. Sam shot a glance at him and quickly looked down when he saw the boy looking at him…again. Dean looked up as well and noted that the kid didn't even look at him, just Sam. Once again he fought the urge to laugh when Sam looked down and settled for a quick laugh and smile when the kid was gone.

A little while later, when their food was done, Sam came across a headline that caught his attention. His brow furrowed in concentration as he began to read the article. He skimmed through it picking out facts that mattered and dismissing ones that didn't. He didn't notice Dean doing the same thing from across the table.

All of a sudden Sam's eyebrows rose and he looked up to find Dean looking at him with the same expression.

"Found something?" They both asked in unison. Taking a quick moment to grin at each other they once again became serious and Sam let Dean go first.

"Ok, well I found something on two murders. The victims were both found in their homes on their beds. Both victims were missing their hearts and there were no other signs of struggle, no bruises, nothing broken, no forced entry. They didn't find anything to prove that anyone had been there either. Another weird thing is that nobody heard anything…no screams, not nothing." Dean said glancing around the short article as he laid out the story.

Sam took it in and then nodded. "Yah I found the same thing. It happened in Vale, Oregon. Definitely sounds like our kind of gig, and it won't take long to get there. I think we should check it out."

"Alright. Well what did you get…anything the article I have left out?" Dean asked putting the paper down and leaning over the table slightly. He was getting interested and was eager to get a move on to this case. He could think of a few things that would remove hearts and knew how to get rid of each one so figured this would be an easy hunt.

"Um…" Sam looked once again at the screen and scrolled down further coming across another article from the same place. His eyebrows immediately shut up and his mouth dropped open ever so slightly.

"Wow…turns out the same place is under quarantine. The government is investigating what they think is some kind of virus. It says here that the residents of the town can't speak. It's like their voices just disappeared and the government figures it's some kind of virus that you can't feel or something. They have no idea what it could possibly be so they're investigating the town."

Dean listened intently and quickly ran through the list he had created in his head of possible culprits. None of them could steal voices like that.

"Well this just definitely became our kind of thing. You know of anything that can do that?"

"Nope nothing comes to mind. How does something just steal everyone's voices like that? A spell maybe? Like witches or something?"

"No, I don't think so. That wouldn't explain the hearts missing. And I don't know if there is a spell for taking voices. Anyways we should go check it out, so how far to Vale?" Dean was starting to get restless and wanted to hit the road even though he knew it would be uncomfortable with what happened earlier. He also wanted to work out a plan to get into the quarantine zone so they could find this thing and deal with it.

"Um…it's about 7 hours from here. Pretty much a straight shot on Highway 26 all the way to Vale. How are we gonna get past the quarantine though?"

"I'm working on it. Come on let's go." Dean said as he stood and grabbed the newspapers off the table replacing them with money to cover the bill and leaving a larger tip then he normally would. Sam followed suit after he closed his laptop and pretended not to notice the extra amount of cash on the table as he stalked out of the diner trying to get past the kid without being noticed. Dean went up to the counter to put the papers back and saw the kid eyeing his brother from the kitchen as Sam walked out. Once again he smiled and shook his head and followed his brother out.

They both reached the car and got in. The engine came to life beneath them as the black beauty purred lovingly and Dean patted the dash with a grin on his face. Sam just rolled his eyes and sat back getting ready for the drive.

As they left, Sam's mind was at work coming up with a way to bring them back to the earlier conversation and was failing miserably. His mouth kept opening and closing, ready to say something but realizing he shouldn't say that or that he could come up with something better.

Finally he opened his mouth and took a breath, about to speak when Dean decided he really liked this song. Reaching forward the elder turned the volume to the radio on full blast so that I Disappear by Metallica muted any of Sam's attempts at talking to Dean. Closing his mouth, clearly frustrated, annoyed and even hurt, Sam sat back and looked out the window slouching into the seat with a dejected look on his face.

This is great. Nice long drive with my older brother completely avoiding me should do me good.

Damn road trip.