"Who knew a hunter could also be a football fan?" Dean chuckled as he and Sam pulled into the driveway of their old friend's home. A Nebraska Cornhuskers flag flew proudly on the flagpole beside the driveway, announcing to anyone who had missed the signs that they were in the Cornhusker state, and, yes, they love their Huskers.
Sammy sighed, climbing out of the car and stretching. "We're in Nebraska. It's a given."
Dean nodded and headed up to the front door, which also housed a small flag, and knocked loudly. A muffled voice yelled something from the interior of the house and the door was pulled suddenly open, revealing a man in his early forties with piercing eyes and no hair.
"What do you want?" the man asked, looking the brothers over.
"I'm Sam, and this Dean," Sammy said, "we're John Winchester's kids, and we need your help."
The man's eyes softened. "John's boys, eh? Yeah, I thought you looked kinda like him. Well, one of you, at least. What's up?"
"The demon that killed our mother," Dean explained, "we're hoping to go after it."
Caleb smiled. "We'll, it won't be expecting you now, that's for sure. Why the long wait in going after the sucker?"
"We got a little sidetracked," Sam explained, "can we come in?"
The older hunter nodded, stepping back and allowing the boys entrance to his home, which was packed with old books and dusty boxes. Various symbols had been drawn on the floor and walls, and salt circled every possible way to get into the house, including the mouse holes.
"So," Dean began, surveying the dwelling, "how about those Huskers?"
"I wouldn't know anything about football," Caleb admitted, "I put up the flag and wear the clothes to keep suspicion low. Can't have anyone poking around, now, can I?"
"No, I suppose you can't," Sam grinned.
"So, what's up? What do you need my help with?"
"The demon that killed our mother took an antique Colt revolver from a man named Daniel Elkins in 1989," Sam explained, "we need to get it back. It's probably the only thing that can kill the demon. The only problem is that we've been out of the loop for a while, and neither of us has anything to fight this thing with. We need weapons, and we figured you could give them to us."
The older hunter smiled, nodding as he crossed the room and opened a hidden door to reveal what appeared to be a large safe. "Believe it or not, you boys aren't the only ones to come here looking for weapons. I'm a bit of a stock-piler." The safe door swung back, revealing a room filled to the top with various weapons. "Guns, knives, crossbows, salt, holy water, I've got it all, man. Help yourselves, because there's more where that comes from."
"Thanks," Sammy grinned, "thanks a lot, man."
"No problem. John was a good man. When I heard about what that demon did to him-"
"Someone told you?" Dean asked.
"Yeah, actually," Caleb replied, "his brother-in-law. Your uncle. He made the call right after he was sure you boys could stay with him. Only heard from him that once, though. It sounded like John had taken his own life, thinking he was possessed. Way I see it, he probably was, and shot himself to get rid of it. I always figured you boys had grown up normal with that uncle. What happened?"
"He dropped us off at camp and never came back," Dean muttered, "we haven't seen him since. Hell, it's been years since I've seen Sammy."
The older man hung his head as Sam wandered into the weapons room to take a look around. "I'm sorry."
"Hey, it's not like it's your fault. So, what do you think we'll need?"
Sam poked his head out of the room. "Salt, holy water, and just about everything else we can find. For all we know, the thing has a bunch of supernatural bodyguards. It's probably best to be prepared."
Caleb nodded, walking into the room to help his old friend's son find exactly what he needed to fight off anything that crossed his path. Dean hung around outside the hidden room for a while before finally heading in to help.
It didn't take long for Sam to head out to the SUV with a bag full of everything he could possibly need. All he had left to do was find a place within the car to hide his stash.
"So," Caleb began, filling up another bag for the brothers as Sam poked around his car, "you and your brother haven't kept in touch?"
"We were kind of forced apart," Dean explained, making sure the guns they were stacking into the bag were loaded.
"And you haven't been hunting since your dad died? You remember how to work half this stuff?"
The younger man shrugged. "Like riding a bike."
"All right. Well, I think you guys are set. But why wait until now to kill this thing?"
"Sam seems to think that with the demon out of the way he can finally have that apple pie life he's wanted so much."
"What do you think?"
"I think that he shouldn't put so much stock into normalcy. Trust me, being normal and sane doesn't make you happy. It's being with your family, your real family, that life's all about. As long as we're together, we'll be all right."
Caleb narrowed his eyes. He had pretty good instincts, instincts that came in handy in the field, and he could tell that something was off. "So, you gonna settle down with him after all of this is over?"
"Are you kidding? We can't settle down. It'll never be over. There's always something to hunt, always more evil. He can't go back to Sacramento. That would ruin everything."
The older hunter opened his mouth to say something just as Sam walked in, ready to take another load out to the SUV. Dean happily handed over the weapons, shooting Caleb a threatening glance, one that clearly said 'if you tell him what I said, you'll regret it.'
Dean had taken the car and driven out to the library to figure out where the demon might have been in 1989. Sam had told him the patterns to look for, and trusted his brother enough to let the man search for their sworn enemy.
In the meantime, Sam was laying on one of the room's beds, wishing more than ever before that he could have had his father's journal. At least then they might have an exorcism to use on the demon back in '89, or maybe even a new snippet of information on the Big Bad. Besides, reading his father's cramped handwriting would have been a lot more fun that flipping channels on the TV as he waited for Dean to come back.
Television had lately taken a turn for the worse. On one channel a young man was being hit by a meteor, on another a housewife was becoming more desperate by the second, and he didn't even want to think about what was going on on the Discovery Channel.
Suddenly, his phone vibrated in his pocket, startling him from a scene of a boy curled up in a bathtub in someone's garage. He clicked off the set and answered his ringing phone. "Yeah?"
"Sam? It's Caleb."
"Caleb?" Sam asked, "what is it? Did we forget something?"
"No, no, of course not. Listen, man, is your brother there?"
"Dean left to go to the library. Why?"
Over the phone, Caleb sighed. "Good. Sam, I'm scared."
"Of what?"
"Your brother. I'm scared of Dean, and I'm scared for you."
Sam laughed. "Why would you be scared of Dean. I mean, he's a little rough around the edges, sure, but he's harmless-"
"He said some things today, Sammy, when you out loading up the car. He was talking like he wasn't gonna let you go back to your wife and daughter, like he was gonna try and keep you all to himself. He was talking like he was crazy."
Sam straightened up a little in the bed. "My brother's not crazy," he muttered, "he's not."
"Well he sure sounded like he was," Caleb shot back, "I'm just worried he might hurt your family."
"He is my family."
"I just don't want anything to happen to that little girl of yours, OK? I think maybe you should talk to him. Just explain that you have a family and-"
"I already told you, Dean is my family."
"He's also crazy, Sam."
Sammy sighed, closing his eyes. "He's not. You just think he is. He's not crazy, Caleb, he can't be."
"People are gonna get hurt, man, you can't deny that. There's something off about him, and-"
"Just stop, all right. He's fine. He won't hurt anyone, not if I have anything to say about it. He needs my help right now, OK, and I'm gonna help him."
"Sam, you're not hearing me," Caleb began as a knocking noise was heard in the background, "listen, man, just keep your eyes open and make sure you don't let him near any small children, all right? Now, I gotta go, someone's at the door, and it's probably important. Call me if he snaps, and I can be there in record time, you got it?"
"Fine," Sam nodded as his friend's phone clicked off. He shoved his own cell back into his pocket. First Jess, then Caleb. Did everyone think his brother was crazy? Was Sam the only one left with faith in the man?
That faith was being shaken, though, wasn't it? He was beginning to doubt Dean's sanity, and the more his doubt grew, the worse his guilt for the whole situation got. After all, he was the one who'd given Jake the chance to shoot. He was the one who'd let them stay separated. It was all his fault.
Caleb crossed the room, tossing his phone back onto an old easy chair as he neared the door. The pounding continued. "I'm coming," the hunter yelled as he wrenched open the thick door to reveal a very angry-looking Dean Winchester.
"You shouldn't have told him that," the younger man growled, charging into the house and pulling out the knife he'd hidden in his pocket after acquiring it from Caleb earlier that day.
Sam had never seen 'House of Wax.' His brother had rented it once, and they had planned on watching it with their wives. Then, the fire had happened, and the movie had been forgotten. So, when Sammy found it on the motel room's tiny television he decided to check it out. The movie had ended and Sam was trying to figure out whether or not the first character that had died had actually been dead when the house had melted when Dean walked in. One look at his brother, and the young hunter gasped.
Dark red blood drenched the front of Dean's shirt and his pants down to mid-thigh. It looked almost as if he'd brutally murdered someone.
"What happened?" Sam asked, shocked.
Dean shrugged, throwing the keys onto the dresser and making his way to the bathroom. "I was driving back here when I saw a dead deer lying across the middle of the road. I figured someone had hit it, and other people would probably wreck trying to avoid it, so I pulled over and drug it to the side of the road. Guess it was still bleeding pretty bad."
"Is there any in my car?"
"Uh, no, I made sure I was careful. Hey, toss me some clothes so I can clean up, will you?"
Sam nodded and dug through the bag his brother had packed, rifling past some yellowing socks and the handcuffs before finding a clean shirt and jeans. He threw them to his brother and watched as Dean stalked into the bathroom to wash up.
"Who knew road kill could be so messy?" he asked himself before his mind traveled back to the mystery murder in the movie.
Dramatic music plays Well, that can't be good now, can it?