Chapter 25

The salvage yard loomed ahead of them as Dean steered the Impala onto the driveway and slowed as he made his way to the front of the house and stopped.

"Man, it's good to be home." Dean groaned getting out and stretching his back listening to it pop.

"You sound like an old man." Sam grunted feeling his own back pop.

"I feel like it sometimes too." he signed going to the trunk and opening it to get their things. "Here..." he said tossing Sam his bag. "I could use a cold one, maybe I could stop driving."

"I offered to drive some."

"I was fine, it's the stopping that gets me." he grumbled making his way up the steps and unlocking the front door. "Anyone home?" he called as they stepped into the living room.

"Hey guys." Andy called from the doorway of the kitchen.

"I see you made it Andy. Where's Bobby?" Sam asked.

"Someone named Rufus called and needed his help. He left this morning and told me not to touch, break, or burn anything down. I got the feeling he didn't trust me."

"Sounds like him. How ya doing by the way?"

"Okay I guess, look I started some dinner that'll be ready in about fifteen minutes. There's enough to go around."

"Thanks Andy. I'll check and see if we need to do a supply run in the morning." Sam told him dropping his bag at the stairs and following Andy into the kitchen.

"No you're not; you'll be staying right here. I'll do any supply runs that need to be made." Dean stated, leaving no room for argument.

"But..."

"Nope, you and Andy are laying low here and staying out of sight. Both of you have targets on your backs and this is the safest place right now." Dean stated doling out a big brother face. "No arguing Sammy, don't make me get physical on your ass." he added when he saw Sam getting ready to complain.

"Fine!" he fussed knowing that tone of voice and knew there was no use fighting with Dean. When his mind was made up about something, you were not going to change it, especially on something like this. He knew Dean wanted to protect him and Andy and was just going to have to go with it.

"Look Sammy, I know this sucks, but hopefully it won't be for long. Bobby's added extra warding and sigils so I don't think anything can get in here."

"I know..." Sam sighed as he deflated slightly. "I just feel useless being stuck here."

"I know, but you can do what you do best, research."

"Funny Dean." Sam sneered at him.

"So guys...I fixed some chicken salad for sandwiches and there's some chips..." Andy interrupted as he sat the bowls on the table along with bread.

"It's fine Andy; as soon as I eat I'm heading for bed." Dean said pulling a plate in front of him and dishing some salad onto it and grabbing two slices of bread.

"Looks good Andy." Sam said giving him a brief smile. He took the bowl from Dean and spooned some out before handing it to Andy.

The three ate quietly, none wanting to talk about what they were all thinking about. Dean finished up first and said his good nights before heading up to his bedroom. Sam stayed to help Andy clean up and keep him company for a while and then was heading on to bed too. He told Andy about finding Rose and letting her know she could be in danger. He left out the part of Dean putting the moves on her thinking he didn't need to know that little tidbit. After nearly two hours, Sam decided it was time to go to bed too and made sure the house was locked up before they both headed upstairs to go to bed. Sam told Andy good night and quietly slipped into the bedroom he shared with his brother. Dean was snoring softly and had left the lamp between their beds on for him. Sam quickly undressed and pulled the covers down so he could get in bed. He switched off the lamp and let his body relax into the mattress and he tried to shut his mind down so he could sleep. He listened to the nasally snoring of his brother and let it lull him to sleep.

spn

Evening was on the town again as Mary made her way back to the hunter's house. She had known Curt for years and even worked a couple of hunts with him. He was her go to guy for silver bullets and other ammo that she might need. She pulled up his driveway and stopped at the front of the house. She got out and made her way to the front door and knocked several times, waiting for Carl to answer. Mary finally heard movement inside and Carl opened the door to let her in.

"I see you're right on time." he said leading her to the kitchen for a cup of coffee. He poured her a cup and set it on the table as she took a seat.

"Thanks, did you have any problems?"

"It was a lot harder to melt it down than most metals, but I finally got it and molded as many bullets as I could for you." he said reaching and getting a box and setting it in front of her.

Mary carefully opened the box and looked in at the almost glowing, silver bullets and fingered one for a moment before closing it back. She pulled out an envelope and pushed it to him for payment. "Thanks Carl."

"I hope those will help your cause."

"I hope they will be the solution to our problem." she said sipping on the coffee he gave her.

"You heading back to Bobby's?"

"Probably. I need to call my boys and be sure they're okay."

"Saw Dean a few months back, he seemed good."

"Yes, he's keeping himself busy." she replied. "I better get going if I'm gonna put some miles behind me 'fore I stop for the night."

"Be careful out there."

"Always Carl, you too." she told him heading for the door and out to her car. Mary dropped into the driver's seat and cranked her car pulling out and heading for the main road out of town. It didn't take her long to pick up an interstate heading north figuring she'd drive for four or five hours before finding a motel for the night.

spn

Sam rolled over when he heard an annoying buzzing and looked bleary eyed at his brother and then at his cell laying on the nightstand. "Dean answer your cell." he called to him trying to suppress the yawn that had to come out. "Hey, cell's ringing." he said louder to on get a grunt from his brother who buried deeper into his covers. Sam huffed and reached for the cell to answer it. "H'llo..." he grunted wondering who was calling this late.

"Sammy..." a female voice questioned.

"Mom..." Sam asked sitting up in bed and shaking himself awake. "Are you okay?"

"I am sweetie; you were in bed weren't you? I didn't mean to wake you."

"It's alright, it's good to hear your voice." he replied letting his body relax a little. "Are you coming home?"

"I am. It'll be late tomorrow night or the next day before I get there. How's your brother?"

"He's fine Mom, to interesting in sleeping to answer his cell." Sam chuckled looking over at his brother. "Did you find what you were looking for Mom?"

"I think I did. At least now maybe we have a fighting chance."

"Who ya talkin' to?" Dean mumbled annoyed his sleep was being disturbed.

"Mom." Sam told him.

"Give me the phone." Dean ordered as he almost fell out of bed trying to get untangled from his covers. "Now!"

"Dean's awake Mom, I'll see you soon." Sam said quickly before Dean jerked the cell from his hand. "Jerk!" he spat at Dean.

"Hey Mom, everything going okay?" he asked mouthing bitch to his brother before walking from the bedroom to the bathroom for privacy.

"Hey! Why are you leaving?" Sam said in a whiny tone. "I should hear too..." he complained dropping back down on his pillow in a huff. Dean was always doing this when he didn't want Sam to know something and he didn't like it. He started to get up and go to the bathroom door, but knew if he was caught he'd catch hell from Dean.

"Hi son, and yes I'm heading back your way; should be there in a couple of days at the most. Have there been any problems with Sam?" she asked catching an undertone in Dean's voice.

"We went and saw Missouri and Sammy had another vision while we were there." Dean said quietly.

"What aren't you telling me Dean?"

"He saw the yellow eyed demon kill me and it really shook him up. He lost it for a bit, but I calmed him down."

"Damn!" Mary growled wanting nothing more than to end the sonovabitch once and for all. "We will not let that happen Dean."

"I know Mom." he said not sure if he believed her or not. "But I'm worried about him and what these powers might be doing to him."

"I hope it won't be anything Sam can't handle Dean. We just have to be there for him and let him know we still love him and help him through all this."

"I know Mom, but what if..." Dean started by stopped when he felt like he was being watched. "Hold on Mom." he said getting up and going to the door to open it.

spn

Sam closed his eyes and concentrated on his brother across the hall from him wishing he could hear what he was saying. Without really thinking about it, Sam released his mind and let it float to the door and through it, seeing Dean sitting on the commode as he talked to their Mom. He felt the weightlessness and hovered at the door trying to adjust to this new feeling. He could feel himself waver and worked on controlling it.

"He saw the yellow eyed demon kill me and it really shook him up. He lost it for a bit, but I calmed him down."

Sam heard Dean say and could feel the tension and worry coming off him.

"I know Mom." he said not sure if he believed her or not. "But I'm worried about him and what these powers might be doing to him."

Sam frowned as he continued to ease drop. It bothered him that Dean thought he might be changing because of the powers and wondered why he didn't talk to him about it.

"I know Mom, but what if..." Dean started but stopped when he felt like he was being watched. "Hold on Mom."

Sam saw the wary look on his brother's face as he stared hard at the door and stopped talking. He quickly pulled away and retreated back to his body as Dean opened the bathroom door to look into the hall and glanced into the bedroom at Sam. Sam lay still, trying to act innocent and hoped Dean didn't say anything. He'd know if he was lying and Sam didn't want to be confronted about listening in on his call. He let the breath he was holding out as Dean eased the door back shut. Sam lay there thinking about what he had done and tried to rationalize how he did it. He wondered if this was another ability that was coming out and if he should tell Dean about it. He really didn't want to cause any distrust between them and knew he shouldn't have spied on him. Maybe this was something to keep to himself for now and looked toward the door as Dean came back in the bedroom.

"Is something going on I need to know about?" Sam asked hoping Dean might talk to him.

"No, Mom's fine and we'll be seeing her soon. She thinks she may have found something that will help us defeat the demon."

"What?"

"No idea, she wouldn't say. Well now that I'm up and awake I'm taking a shower and am heading into town on a supply run." he said grabbing some clean clothes to take with him into the bathroom.

"I'll go get a pot of coffee going and see if there's anything for breakfast." Sam replied, throwing back the covers to get up.

"You're doing okay aren't you Sammy?" Dean asked quietly as he paused in the doorway to look back at him. "I mean you'd tell me if anything was wrong?"

"I'm fine Dean. Just hate being cooped up here is all." Sam said trying to hide his guilt by turning away to look for clothes to put on.

"Good." Dean mumbled heading on into the bathroom not quiet believing his brother's remark.

A/N: Thank you for reading. As a special treat since the holidays are almost upon us, I'm posting a chapter early. Action will pick up in next chapter when everything goes to hell. I hope you enjoy the ride. Please review. NC