Best wishes to all of you lovely readers that have already headed back to school, and to those like me who start back this coming week! Stay fandom-strong, ladies and gents!
I also am pleased to hear that y'all enjoyed all the fun plot points that occurred last chapter ;)
and now, enjoy this next one!
Chapter 14
"So get this." Sam chirped from his spot on the motel couch, laptop open to various web pages.
Dean grunted, nursing his coffee and trying to not burn himself on the dark liquid. "Could ya wait, Sammy? Not all of us are perky ten minutes after we open our eyes."
His brother gave an eye-roll before Erica chimed in with a distressed note. "Either of you know where my gun went?"
"Well after we cleaned them last night, I thought we put 'em all back in the right places." Dean answered. "It was dark, though, so check Heat's bag or something."
"Check my bag for what?" Heather came traipsing out of the bathroom, deodorant in tow.
Erica leaned out of her friend's bag and held up the revolver in question. "Don't really think you'd need this. I'm not sure how your red duffel resembles my back one, but...uh, Heat? What're you doing?"
Heather's hands were roaming around the bed, searching under the covers. "I lost the hair-tie from my wrist sometime last night and I need it."
"Wow," the elder Winchester laughed, "and Sam, I thought it was just you who had trouble keeping track of your stuff. But losing guns, hair-ties? What's next, they're gonna forget me and you somewhere?"
Heather shot him a warning glance before her palm closed around something metal, and her face contorted into a troubled expression. She pulled out Dean's handgun from underneath his pillow and slowly rotated to face him. "What's this doing here?"
"You never know what might attack while you're sleeping."
Weeks with hunters and she could still be surprised by them. It never ended. Then another thought struck her. "I'll give you the benefit of the doubt that it's safe, Dean, but what if I'd found this…at any time yesterday? Would've made for a curious turn."
A nearly diabolical half-smile etched its way onto Sam's face, one that his brother had come to dread. "So, I'm sure I have no idea what you're referring to, but wow. Almost had a bit of gun play, Dean? Even for you, man, that's pretty kinky."
"Alright Sam, what'd you have to share with us earlier?" Erica redirected, rescuing the two from Sam's further teasing. She wasn't expecting his total audacity with the subject, but figured that's what Heather gets for still wearing Dean's shirt. In any case, they all had a job to get done.
"So, a scale from an albino alligator," he began with a trace of the smile still lingering, "our last object. Only zoo that has one on this side of the Rockies is in Tupelo, Mississippi."
Dean cocked an eyebrow. "You don't mean…"
"Yeah, we'll have to get it right from the alligator ourselves."
"Sam, we're hunters, not friggin' Steve Irwin. How the hell are we supposed to wrestle a gator without losing limbs?"
"Does the zoo have footage of their keepers with the gators?" Heather asked, sidling up to Sam and pointing at the zoo's web page. "Maybe you can pick up a few tips from them."
A few clicks and taps later and a grainy video feed popped up on the screen. "This is one of the daily feeding videos that the zoo posts." Sam scrolled down and skimmed the description. "This is from yesterday."
The four watched in silence, noting the keepers' yard-long poles they kept with them at all times. There definitely was an albino alligator, its white scales glaring in contrast to the dark surrounding foliage. Dean audibly gulped when one of the gators snapped its jaws powerfully around meat dangled in the water.
As the video ended, something caught Heather's eye that made her stomach bottom out. "Wait, rewind a bit." she said breathlessly, hoping to every deity that she was wrong. She made Sam pause the video when one of the khaki-clad keepers was facing the camera.
"Can you isolate his face?" He zoomed in, and there it was.
The man had red eyes.
"Son of a bitch." Dean muttered, dragging a hand over his face. "The Rougarous. They've figured it out, and they're waiting for us. Dammit! We should've been more discreet."
Sam sighed heavily, the full weight of the knowledge hitting him. "So this is gonna be a hell of a lot more dangerous than we thought."
After much deliberation, it had been decided that the Winchesters would be the ones to retrieve the alligator scale, and hopefully avoid any Rous while they were at it. And so the car was loaded and soon dust was trailing behind them.
It was almost as if they were snapping back into reality. No longer was this the light-hearted road trip rhythm they'd settled into for awhile; a stop here or there, flashing fake badges or scooting around security were not the biggest troubles anymore.
The Rougarous were.
But even with the impending danger, the foursome did their best to make the drive down to northern Mississippi a normal one.
Kentucky's lush farmlands rolled by the Impala's windows, and a lunch stop in Nashville marked their halfway point to Tupelo. After a few more hours of Dean's Zeppelin album and a stolen kiss or two, Heather was unlocking the room in the motel four blocks from the zoo.
"Eh Sammy, check it out. They knew I was coming!" Dean held the sleeve of his red plaid shirt against the towels laying on the bed, and sure enough, the patterns were strikingly similar.
Sam scoffed, a smile tugging at his lips before fading away. "I just hope the Rous don't actually know we're here yet."
The mood sombered once again, and he apologized against Erica's frown. But then she softened her face and said, "Let's get y'all prepared, Sam. Then we'll all feel better."
The remaining hours until sunset passed quickly as zoo maps and weapons were spread out on the floor. They finally put to use the Argan oil Bobby had supplied them with, small bottles of it shoved deep into Winchester pockets.
By the time the brothers skirted out the door into the evening darkness, Erica's fingers had traced their path through the zoo countless times. Heather had taken to pacing the length of the room, tying and undoing her hair as the nervous habit of choice. She paused long enough to lock eyes with her friend and gave her strongest smile.
And the waiting began.
Erica had allotted them two hours maximum to return before she locked Heather in the room and went after them herself. They were back even before the first hour rounded to a close. The initial sound of the Impala pulling into a parking space outside their room set her heart into a relieved buzz.
Then she heard Sam's strained groan of pain.
Heather was closest to the door and wrenched it open before either brother could produce a key. Dean strolled in with streaks of blood down his jaw and onto his plaid shirt. At least none of it appeared to be his own.
"What happened?" Erica asked when Sam came in.
He was holding his right arm to his side and a towel was wrapped around his upper bicep. His tan face was a few shades lighter, but he didn't give off any expression that the injury caused him pain.
"Sammy got a little too frisky with one of the Rous and it left him with a love bite." Dean shucked off his bloody shirts and sat down on the couch.
Erica was already moving to her medical bag that she always carried with her and pouring through the antibiotics and gauzes.
"Oh god, Sam. Are you gonna be ok?" Heather asked.
"Don't buy into the kicked puppy act, Heat. That's how he gets all his female attention." Dean tutted and pulled her to sit between his legs on the couch.
"Sam." Erica beckoned him over to sit on her bed.
"Look, Dean. She has actual medicine as opposed to alcohol." Sam called.
Dean called something sarcastic and half-offensive back before poking Heather's side playfully. Erica twisted her long wavy hair up into a bun so it would stay out of her face while she worked.
"I can do it, honestly, E." Sam said.
She hit his hands away while she untied the towel. "Just hold still."
Erica pried back the layers of his clothes delicately, checking to see how deep the wound went. "Sam, can you take your shirts off?" she asked.
Sam nodded and gingerly removed the two shirts. Erica counted herself lucky that it was warm out and he hadn't bothered with a jacket that day. What little the towel had done to relieve the bleeding was now gone. The bite mark let out a slow trickle of blood down his arm. Sam drew a sharp breath when she pressed the edge lightly.
"It didn't go through the epidermis. You're lucky. Any deeper and more than capillaries would have been broken."
Sam laughed in a breathless way when she dapped an antiseptic wipe over the wound. "I feel really lucky." he mused.
"Open." Erica instructed, holding three pills in her hand.
"I can take medicine, E. I'm not in a vegetable state yet." he teased her.
She sighed and passed him a bottle of water as well. Sam relayed the events of their trip while Erica worked to sew up his arm. He talked to distract himself; it was a good method, Erica thought. Too often she found herself swept up in her thoughts and unable to convey any of them.
Finally she tied off the thread and set down the needle. She took another wipe and began to clear away the remaining blood.
"How's it feel?" she asked.
"Good." Sam replied softly.
Erica cocked her head at first, recounting how many pain pills she'd given him. Then, she turned to face him and found her answer: not enough. She could pick out little flecks of green and amber in his hazel eyes that close. They were entirely too sober and too focused on her. Maybe Dean's alcohol method wasn't such a terrible idea after all.
Her hand stilled its movements and she found her knuckles resting on the soft skin below his stiches. He raised his left hand and caught the small hairs at the back of her neck that never quite stayed where they were told. Tingles of delight ran down her spine and she found herself leaning into his touch.
She felt a little drugged now that she thought about it, but this was solely Sam's doings. She'd grown so used to him, so comforted just by his presence. Erica saw his intentions; he meant to kiss her. She also knew he would let her stop him. For a brief moment, she let herself imagine what it would be like to feel his lips pressed over hers. Then, she caught herself, and cursed herself. She had come entirely too close to breaking her own rules.
Sam saw the change in her demeanor and sat back with a flutter of his lips.
"Just take it easy for a while." she told him.
He hummed when he nodded and let his eyes flicker to hers for only a second. It was enough to bring back the memories of his light touch. Erica hastily repacked her medical supplies and glared at the couple who had been silently watching from the couch.
For once Dean didn't have a comment.
Erica busied herself with picking up all their maps which were still scattered about the floors. Too often, she'd find her eyes drawn to Sam. Only once was he looking back. She saw a flash of something that sent her stomach into vicious knots. It was something she recognized from the looks her parents exchanged: adoration and love.
Erica thought about confronting Sam and demanding to know if he loved her and if so why was he foolish enough to let that happen after all her warnings. He said he understood. Erica's thoughts grumbled.
But she didn't ask.
Erica didn't ask because the thought of him saying yes terrified her more than if he were to say no.
Then she'd have to confront her own feelings and she was doing an upstanding job of locking those away where they belonged. She couldn't allow feelings to factor into this job.
She feared, however, she wouldn't have much of a say in that matter so long as Sam kept looking at her like that. She could not guarantee her restraint against him again. The next time he tried to kiss her, she might just let him.
Don't forget to review, all you wonderful people!