Biggerson's
Dean sat alone, staring morosely into his coffee. It had been three months since Sam had disappeared and there were no leads. Missouri was baffled; Bobby had researched every book of lore he had, and contacted hunter he knew but had come up dry.
Dean felt a familiar stab of guilt as he reviewed the events of the last three months. He hadn't actually been that concerned at first. Sam was a big guy and could take care of himself. It wasn't until the hours passed and Sam wasn't answering his cell phone, that Dean began to worry. He'd promptly hot-wired a car and headed to the state forest. He'd found the Impala at the entrance to the hiking trails, but no sign of Sam. Really concerned, he'd notified the park rangers who had conducted an extensive search, but they had found no sign of Sam.
If only he had taken Sam seriously when Sam had tried to interest him in that case. If only he had gone with Sam to the woods instead of that strip club. If only he hadn't been too wasted to notice that Sam's bed was empty when he had finally rolled in to the motel at 4:00 a.m. If only a lot of things.
Dean's attempt at a crossroads bargain had come to nothing when the demon, a short, balding man in a dapper suit, had denied all knowledge of Sam's whereabouts. Dean could have sworn the demon had muttered something cryptic about it all being for the best before disappearing in a puff of smoke.
As he got up to leave, he was accosted by a man in a slightly grubby trench coat. The man glared at Dean and growled out, "where is your brother?"
Dean was not in the mood for any crap. Not bothering to speak, he punched the man in the nose. Oddly enough, this didn't have any affect. Before he could take another swing, another man, this one balding, and dressed like a middle-manager, took the first man aside and said peevishly, "Castiel, this useless mud monkey doesn't know anything."
Trench coat guy touched Dean's forehead; by the time he woke up, they had disappeared, leaving Dean to wonder who those guys were, and what the hell had just happened. He never found out.
