4
Throwing his room key and Baby's keys in the key dish, Dean checked his motelroom for the night. Nothing too shabby. A nice semi-Mexican theme, with cacti and lizards and stuff. 'Thanks Afframian.' He sighed when he felt his phone vibrate. "You have one new message. Message made today at two seventeen am." Dean felt the ball of worry churn... If it was Dad and he was in trouble, he'd be off right away, but he was pretty tired. The beating that ghost had delivered, was still effecting him. "Dean..." It was Dad! He sounded okay, but the static was bad. Dean concentrated on his fathers voice. It said he had to bail his hunt? The static was getting annoying. Dean played the message again. Wait... That wasn't static... He pulled out his old, busted up taperecorder and clicked the record button. This just got serious. A few hours later, Dean dropped onto his bed, fully clothed. He'd get Sam after a few hours of sleep. He couldn't do this alone anymore. He didn't want to do this alone.
Dean arrived in Palo Alto early at night and drove right up to Sam's place. Nerves raced through his body and hands played with his phone. 'He won't pick up if I call, but I can't just waltz up there and say "Hiya Sammy! Mind if I come on in?" He'll throw the door in my face. Damn your stubborn streak, Sam.' He pulled his hand through his hair and sighed. What to do, what to do... His eyes caught movement at one of the windows. The string of a pull-down curtain swayed softly in the breeze. That meant an open window... An open window meant Dean could climb in, search out where his baby bro was sleeping and... Sammy couldn't throw him out once he was in... Yeah, that would do nicely. Grinning in the darkness, Dean pocketed his phone. Just a swift pull up and scaffolding climb later, he eased himself through the open window. 'Sweet. Now to find my baby brother. See if all the studying has made him soft.' Dean pushed open a door, unconcerned when it squeaked. The creaking floorboards should have woken Sam up by now, and Dean was really trying to see if his brother had gotten sloppy, or if he'd kept his instincts of 'fight first, ask questions later.' He'd taken five steps into the next room, when the weight of his brother hit him. Even as he reacted on instinct, Dean felt proud of Sam. He hadn't heard him coming. A lovely little scuffle later, Dean saw his chance and floored the 6' 4" guy. "Whoah, easy tiger." he said, chuckling. "Dean?!" The amazement in Sams voice hurt a bit, but good lord was it great to see that goofy face again! "You scared the crap outta me!" Dean couldn't resist. "That's because you're out of practice." Sam swung his legs up and flipped them swiftly. "Or not." he panted and Sam patted his shoulder. "Get off me." Dean said.
Once they were both up, Sam accusingly said: "Dean, what the Hell are you doing here?" Dean wasn't going there, not off the bat like that. "Well, I was looking for a beer..." he said, giving his brother a swift once over and a shake. Sam dropped his voice about an octave and Dean could tell he wouldn't take any more crap. "What the Hell are you doing here." It wasn't a question anymore, it was a demand for an answer. "Okay, alright... We gotta talk." Dean said swiftly. He still didn't want to start off by saying he needed his brothers help to find their Dad. "Ah... The phone?" Internally, Dean huffed. 'Yeah right. The phone...' Seriousness taking over, Dean answered. "If I'd have called, would you have picked up?" Sams abashed silence told him everything, and it freaking hurt. He wanted to grab him, shake him, yell at him that he needed him. The dry click of the lightswitch and the sudden glow of the lamp diffused that urge, as did the appearance of Sams girlfriend, saying "Sam?" When Sam decided to pair with her, saying that he could tell anything to her too, Dean was actually kinda pissed. So that's how it was now, huh? Treading lightly, he chose his words carefully. "Dad's on a hùnting trip and he hasn't been home in a few days." He saw the words hitting home as Sam squared his shoulders infinitessimally and he excused them with Jess. 'So, not quite anything, huh Sammy?' Dean thought as he walked out the front door.
