Disclaimer: I still don't own Supernatural or its characters. I and am not making any money on this…I'm just having fun filling in the time until September!

Double Trouble

Chapter 9 – Search for Missouri

Dean woke up once more, feeling better than he had in a long time. Slowly sitting up, he realized that the pain in his back was now just an annoyance. Taking further stock, it appeared that he was well on the road to recovery. His ribs still hurt and the arm would be a hindrance as long as it was in the cast…but at least he could be more mobile. More importantly, there was no longer any reason for him to continue to take those damn pain pills.

"Hey anybody there? Remember, sick person here…hello?" Dean shook his head, knowing that Sam was probably busy helping Missouri he shouldn't be bothering him. But he couldn't help it, it wasn't often that Dean could play the 'sick' card and get room service from his younger sibling. He really did enjoy yanking Sammy's chain sometimes.

Sighing, Dean decided that he may as well get up and get himself dressed. Standing up slowly, Dean waited for the slight dizziness to fade before heading for the bathroom. Once inside the bathroom, he started the shower. Carefully removing the sling he placed it on the counter as he removed the rest of his clothes. He placed a plastic trash bag over his cast and entered the shower. Dean closed his eyes as the warm water eased the rest of his aching muscles.

A few minutes later, Dean left the bathroom and finished getting dressed. He stood up and was just about ready to head back to the bathroom for the sling when he heard someone coming down the hallway.

"Hey Dean…glad to see you're up!" Sam walked in with a cup of coffee in his hand.

Dean looked at Sam strangely for a moment, one minute his brother was all mother hen and the next he acted like Dean had never been hurt. "So…what have you been up to little brother?"

Sam handed Dean the cup of coffee and sat down heavily on the bed. He continued to look at the floor and began twisting his hands…Dean was immediately concerned. Sam definitely had something on his mind and he was trying to hide it from him.

"Sam, look at me!" Dean ordered as he sat down on the opposite bed. He gasped when he saw the worry in his brother's eyes. "Ok Sam, out with it…you're keeping something from me and I want to know what it is right now!"

Sam sighed, running a shaky hand through his hair. "I didn't want to bother you with this Dean, I mean, I'm supposed to be looking out for you this time…I thought I could find her on my own…but I've looked everywhere…" Sam's voice hitched as he looked back down at the floor.

"Who Sam, who were you looking for?" Dean was losing patience. His brother obviously didn't think Dean was up to handling whatever the problem was…he was tired of being treated like spun glass. "Damn it Sammy, I'm fine ok…sure, I'm still a little bruised, but I've been in worse shape than this and still been able to finish the job. Who in the hell are you trying to find?"

"Missouri" Sam said quietly.

Dean stood up and went over to sit by Sam. He knew his brother was blaming himself for something. Thinking back, Dean remembered that Sam had mentioned before that he thought something was wrong with Missouri…he probably thought that he should have been able to prevent it from happening…whatever 'it' was. "Sammy, look whatever happened, it wasn't your fault…now tell me, how do you know she is missing?"

"Dean, when I got up this morning, she wasn't in the kitchen to greet me like always. In fact, there was no sign that she had even been there since the night before…she normally had the coffee brewing before I got up." Sam smiled at the memory, but frowned again as he continued.

"At first, I thought maybe she was just sleeping in, so I made myself some breakfast and decided to come back here and take a nap…I was asleep until you woke me earlier. "

"Yeah, I kinda remember that…you said you were going to help her make dinner right?" Dean shook his head, trying to recall if anything else had happened, but he only remembered brief moments from the past few days.

"I did go down to help, I mean I figured she was probably down there getting things ready. But the kitchen was exactly the same way I left it. Dean I've looked everywhere in the house, in the garage…she's no where!"

"Ok Sammy, just slow down a little for me…did you check to make sure she didn't leave any notes?"

Sam looked at Dean, anger showing for the first time on his face. "Dean, I'm not a complete idiot…I do know how to conduct a search. I also called the friends that I knew about and some of the numbers she had listed on the white board in her kitchen…no one has heard from her."

"Whoa Sammy, I wasn't questioning your hunting abilities…I just needed to know where to start looking. Have you had any more of your…visions?" Dean asked softly, knowing that it was a touchy subject with his brother.

"Visons? Ahhhh…no, no more visions…what are we going to do Dean?" Sam stood and began to pace the room.

Dean sat back and watched Sam thoughtfully for a moment. He couldn't put his finger on it, but something was off with his brother. He had seen Sam concerned, mad, and frightened, but his brother seemed to be distracted…and holding his emotions closer to his vest. Both things that Sammy rarely did unless he was trying to hide something.

"Have you told me everything Sammy" Dean asked quietly, watching for his brother's reaction.

Sam stopped pacing, but refused to look at Dean. "Of course Dean, we need to come up with a plan to find her…she could be hurt…she could be…" Sam refused to finish the sentence, but Dean knew what he meant.

"Ok, we need to expand the search…I can't walk very far, but I can drive." Dean held up his hand before Sam could object. "Look, you need to start searching the surrounding area, talk to the neighbors. I can't do that yet. I can drive around and see if I can spot her. If either one of us finds something we call the other…ok?"

"Sure Dean, whatever you want…I just want to find Missouri." Sam watched as Dean grabbed his keys and headed for the front door. "Are you coming Sam?"

"Yeah, right behind you Dean!" Sam yelled as he followed his brother to the front door. "You go ahead and start, I'm going to go back and grab my jacket." Sam watched with a smile on his lips as Dean continued towards the car. It had almost been too easy, Sam turned and headed out to the garage…it was time he let Sam know what would happen to his precious brother if he didn't cooperate.

ooooooooo

Missouri felt Dean leaving and sighed. She had hoped that they could have reached Dean before he woke up again. She looked over at the battered body of Sam. His eye was swollen shut and the cut on his cheek looked red and swollen. For the first time, Missouri began to lose hope. Sam wouldn't be able to resist the shape shifter much longer and she knew that she was getting close to the end of her reserves.

Sam groaned as he tried to open his eyes, not surprised when one of them refused to open. Every bone in his body felt battered and bruised. He knew that he had to come up with a plan and soon or all would be lost. "Missouri" Sam whispered, surprised by the weakness he heard in his voice.

"Yes, Sam. I'm still here. This shore is one fine mess we've gotten ourselves into."

"Dean…is Dean ok?" Sam asked, knowing that Missouri had been using some of her precious energy to keep tabs on his brother.

"He's just fine…in fact, he just left"

"Left…why…where did he go?"

"Hush now Sam…he'll be back. That monster just convinced him to go looking for me. We just have to hold on a little longer for Dean to get back." Missouri became quiet when she realized how Sam was taking her comments. "Sam honey, he's the one in the best position to help now…I didn't mean."

"I know Missouri…don't worry about it." Sam said quietly. His head snapped up as he once again felt the approach of the shape shifter. "Missouri…"

"I know Sam…I know…I'll be unconscious again…you just remember, hold on…everything will be ok." Missouri once again feigned unconsciousness.

"So Sammy boy…did you have a nice nap?" His evil twin sneered as he approached Sam.

"Well, to be honest, I've had better accommodations!" Sam replied, trying to buy time.

"Tsk Tsk Tsk…well, we'll have to see if we can improve your disposition!"

Sam shuddered as he saw the shape shifter approaching him once again with a lethal looking knife in his hand.

TBC

Raven524: Thanks again to all the wonderful reviews. I'm glad that you all like the story so far. I really do appreciate the comments, good or bad…so keep them coming!