On Friday morning, Sam woke up early. He and Nerisa planned on heading to the beach, after she finished with the lunch rush. As usual, Sam went to the restaurant and bought breakfast for himself and his brother. On the way back to the Inn, Sam contemplated what his future might be. Dean's hearing still had not returned and this worried Sam. Sam had done a little more research and had even called a few specialists. Everything he read and heard said that medically there really wasn't anything that could be done to ensure that Dean's hearing would return. It had been nearly a week, since the explosion and Dean's deafness had shown no signs of going away. To Sam's relief, Dean didn't seem as depressed, as he had been earlier in the week. In fact, Dean seemed somewhat content. Dean was upset about the hearing loss; but, he appeared to be coming to terms with it. However, Sam had no idea what Dean was thinking about and what plans Dean might be making for his future. Sam felt a little guilty for not pressing the matter with Dean and for spending so much time with Nerisa. But even when Sam tried to stay with Dean for a bit, Dean encouraged Sam to leave and see Nerisa. In fact, it seemed as though Dean wanted Sam to spend as much time as possible with Nerisa. Sam didn't mind; but, he was beginning to wonder if Dean had an ulterior motive for Sam and Nerisa to be together so much. As Sam neared the Inn, he decided that, after returning from the beach, he and Dean would sit down and discuss what they should do next, since Dean was still deaf.
Sam entered the room and saw that Dean was still asleep. Out of habit, Sam slightly bumped Dean's bed with his leg. The slight jarring of the bed was all that was needed to wake Dean. Earlier in the week, Sam had accidentally bumped Dean's bed and Dean had awoken. Since Dean was still deaf and didn't hear any noises that Sam made, Sam had decided to just bump Dean's bed, as a way of waking his brother. Dean looked up and smiled, as he caught a whiff of breakfast. Dean quickly joined Sam, at the table. The brothers ate their meal in silence. After they were done, Sam cleaned up the mess. But instead of Dean heading to the bathroom to get ready for the day, he just sat there. After Sam finished cleaning up, Dean handed Sam the pad and pen.
"So, you and Nerisa are leaving about 2?"
Sam nodded his head yes.
"Where will you be staying?"
'A friend of hers has a cottage on the beach. We'll stay there.'
"You coming back on Sunday or Monday?"
'Probably some time on Sunday. She has to work Monday morning.'
"Do you got enough cash on you?"
Sam nodded his head yes.
"You pack everything already?"
Again, Sam nodded his head yes.
"What weapons you taking with you?" Dean asked nonchalantly.
Sam's eyes shot wide open and he gave his brother a very questioning look. "What?!" Sam said aloud, as he also wrote down the word.
"I just want to know that you're not letting your guard down too much. Doesn't hurt to be prepared." Dean said matter-of-factly.
'What's with all the questions? Something I should know about?'
Dean kept his eyes on Sam, as he answered his brother's questions. "I just want to know that you didn't forget to pack anything. If it helps, my next question was going to be "did you remember to pack your toothbrush?'" Dean said with a grin.
Sam rolled his eyes and shook his head; only his brother's packing checklist would have weapons listed before toothbrush. Sam grabbed his duffel and from the bottom of it, he pulled out a silver knife and a 9mm gun.
With a small, proud smile on his face, Dean said, "that's my boy."
Sam shook his head and returned the weapons to their concealed place.
"But, you forgot your toothbrush, didn't you?"
'I was letting the bristles dry a bit, before I packed it.'
Dean shook his head. "You are such a girl sometimes."
It was soon time for Sam to leave. Once again, Dean debated telling Sam about the missing persons. However, since Dean wanted Sam to develop a better relationship with Nerisa, Dean chose not to worry Sam about a possible case. After all, Dean really hadn't found any strong evidence proving that this was even the sort of thing that they would normally deal with. So, Dean just watched Sam walk out the door and remained silent.
