Chapter 2

"You boys be careful," Bobby told them as the brothers prepared to leave the salvage yard.

"We will Bobby," Dean told him.

"If we run into problems we'll let you know," Sam added wanting to assure him.

"You better," Bobby growled hugging each brother before they stepped from the porch and went to the Impala. He watched them store their bags, get into the car, and drive slowly down the driveway toward another hunt. No matter how many times this happened, he still couldn't help but worry about them. Bobby knew they were extremely good hunters, he had helped train them, but it only took one wrong move or mishap for a hunt to go sideways. With a deep sigh, he headed back inside to start his day.

"I figure if we swap out driving, we can do ten hours and stop for the night," Sam offered once they were on the road and heading south.

"Or maybe a little bit more. The farther we get today, will make tomorrow's drive shorter and we'll have more time to work the case," Dean replied.

"Sure, okay," Sam shrugged not wanting to get into a fight with his brother. He knew they needed to work together as a team, but he couldn't help but feel something was off with him. Sam had found Dean brooding on several occasions, but he would never talk to him about it. He was sure it had to do with their father's death but that was a touchy subject still for Dean. He wouldn't talk about it or even go anywhere near the subject.

Sam was dealing with their father's death in his own way. He was seeing a therapist who specialized in grief counseling in town to work through his grief and feelings toward their father's death and was finding it was helping to talk to someone. Of course, he couldn't tell the therapist about anything to do with the supernatural surrounding the death. He didn't tell anyone about this because he knew how Dean would react and didn't want to fight with him or listen to his snide remarks regarding it. Sam had hinted to Dean about talking to someone but was quickly shut down by him with a few choice words. After that, Dean gave Sam the silent treatment for a long time, and he didn't bring the subject up again.

Dean turned on the radio, tuned in a station to his liking and settled back letting his head nod with the music. He tapped his finger on the steering wheel while pressing harder on the gas to let his Baby fly down the road. He eased it back when he got too carried away, not wanting to get a speeding ticket. The scenery flew by in a blur as Dean kept his eyes on the road and the traffic around him.

Sam slumped across from him and let his mind wander as he absently gazed out the side window at the blurring images, not really seeing anything. He let his body rock with the steady motion of the car and tuned out everything else but the steady growling of the engine.

He was daydreaming, lost in his thoughts, and never heard Dean speak to him. When Dean saw his unfocused eyes and the faraway look on his face, he didn't bother trying again. He stared ahead of him wondering what Sam was so spacey about. He knew Sam was upset with him for not wanting to talk about their father and his death, but he wasn't one to share his feelings like Sam. Their father had instilled in him to not show his emotions so people wouldn't think of you as weak or vulnerable.

The motion of the car changed making Sam blink rapidly and pull himself from his daydreams as he licked his lips and looked around trying to focus on the scenes out the side window and windshield. He sat up in the seat and rolled his shoulders to take the stiffness out of them.

"Need gas," Dean grunted when he saw Sam moving around in the passenger seat.

"I could use a drink," Sam replied, clearing his throat, wiping his face, and taking a few deep breaths. He saw the sun was almost overhead and hadn't realized how much time had passed since leaving the salvage yard. He guessed he had been out of it longer than he thought.

Dean signaled to exit at the next ramp and slowed the Impala to loop around and cross back over the interstate. He was heading for a truck stop not far off the main road and pulled into the parking lot, stopping at a pump. He killed the engine and got out to fill the Impala.

"Are we going to get something to eat?" Sam asked as he pulled his long frame from the car and stretched the knicks from his back.

"Doesn't matter, we can grab food if you want," Dean replied like he could care less.

"I'll just grab something to snack on and a drink," Sam decided before heading for the front doors sensing Dean's odd mood. He saw the sign for the restrooms in the back and headed that way first. When he was done, he met Dean heading for the restrooms too. "I'll meet you in the car."

"Sure," Dean said in passing tossing the keys his way.

Sam looked over the choice of drinks and snagged a green tea and water before looking over the selection of snacks. He chose a bag of nuts, banana, and power bar that he took to the cashier to pay for. After paying, he picked up his bag and strolled outside looking for the Impala and seeing it parked off to the side of the building. Sam headed that way and went ahead and got into the driver's seat to take his turn driving.

It wasn't long before Dean made his way out of the building with a drink and bag in his hand. He walked toward the Impala, pausing for a moment when he saw Sam sitting in the driver's seat instead of the passenger seat. He frowned and pinched his lips together before letting out a long breath and hiding his true feelings. Dean knew he needed to let Sam drive and not think about the last time he was behind the wheel. The accident was not his fault; he had to keep reminding himself of that.

"You made good time coming down," Sam commented as he cranked the Impala and pulled out onto the road to head back to the interstate. Once he got on the interstate and settled into a lane, Sam started to open his tea one handed.

"Here," Dean complained taking the bottle and popping it open for him. "How 'bout keeping your eyes on the road and hands on the wheel."

"Really Dean?" Sam fussed taking the bottle back to take a sip before sitting it between his leg to hold. "I can drive and drink or eat something at the same time."

"Don't need you getting distracted," he grumbled opening his own drink, taking several swallows. He glanced at the speedometer to be sure Sam was watching his speed before looking out the windshield at the highway ahead of them. He tried to relax as he wiggled around in the seat to get comfortable.

Sam tried to ignore his brother and his overprotectiveness of his car. He settled in behind a group of fast moving cars, keeping his distance from the one in front of him. He opened a power bar and took a bite, chewing thoughtfully. He squinted from the brightness of the sun and made a mental note to buy some sunglasses.

After over an hour of driving, Sam glanced sideways at Dean to see he had relaxed and his eyes were at half mast, barely able to stay awake. He watched as his head slid to the side and gave him a little push to rest against the side window where he would be more comfortable. Dean grunted but settled with a soft sigh as he drifted to sleep.

Sam smiled to himself, glad to see that Baby still had the same calming, soothing effect on Dean, thinking he probably needed the rest. Sam knew Dean was coming to bed after two am when he was working on the Impala. He never slept peacefully until he roused enough to know Dean was in the room with him. It had been like that for the time he had been trying to put the Impala back together.

It was almost four hours later when Dean jerked awake and stiffened, going on the defensive for a moment until he realized where he was and looked over at Sam who gave him a curious look before turning back to the road. He cleared his throat and looked around for his drink so he could finish it off and let the remnants of the bad dream fade away. The bad dreams were getting fewer over time, but he still was plagued by them.

"How's my Baby doing on gas?" Dean finally asked.

"I can go a little longer," Sam replied. "Unless you need to stop or want to stop."

"Why don't you stop, and I'll take over and drive some more before stopping for the night. I'd rather drive than sit here doing nothing. That'll put us closer to Shiprock."

"Alright, fine with me," Sam huffed as he started looking at the road signs. He saw a gas station about ten miles ahead that would work and moved over a lane so he could exit. He would do as Dean wanted hoping to appease him.

After stopping for gas and grabbing some food, Dean took over driving for a while until he decided to stop for the night at a small motel.

spn

It was midmorning of the following day when Dean pulled into the town of Shiprock, New Mexico, and slowly drove through it checking it out. It was like most of the small towns the brothers had visited over the years when checking out a case. He let his gaze roam over buildings, people, cars, anything that might be out of place or unusual.

"Does the articles name the hikers that were attacked?" Dean asked.

"Yeah, I think so," Sam replied grabbing the printed articles to thumb through them. "Here it is, ummm…Dale Nelson, Stan Young, and the one that died was Mitch Fox."

"Why don't we grab an early lunch since we didn't eat breakfast and you can use your magic fingers and find out where Nelson and Young live? After we eat, we'll pay them a visit and get their story firsthand."

"And we could visit the farmers that have lost livestock. Maybe see if they know anything they didn't tell the police," Sam suggested.

"That looks like restaurant row up there; start looking for a place with wi-fi and decent choice of food."

Sam leaned forward and stretched his neck as he looked ahead of him to read the signs on the buildings. He didn't want a place that was a greasy spoon and hoped he could find one that would appease his brother's tastes.

"How about subs? Or there's a pizza place with a lunch buffet?"

"Did you say buffet?" Dean perked up looking where Sam was pointing and checked traffic before quickly pulling into the parking lot. Even with it only being eleven am, there were still numerous cars in the parking lot. "Must be decent, people are already here."

"Hopefully," Sam agreed grabbing his computer bag as they got out of the car. He fell in step with his brother as they made their way to the front door. Soft music greeted them when they stepped inside and paused to let their eyes adjust to the dimmer lighting.

"Good day gentlemen," a perky young woman that was rather plain looking, greeted them. "You can seat yourselves anywhere and if you're having the buffet go ahead and a waitress will be around to get your drink order."

"Thanks sweetheart," Dean told her giving her a wink and making her giggle and blush.

"Don't even think about it," Sam mumbled in a muffled voice to his brother. "Definitely jailbait."

"I could tell," Dean snapped back. "I just wanted to make her day. Bet the guys around here don't give her a second glance since she's not a looker."

"It can't be that bad."

"Oh man, check out the buffet," Dean hummed in delight seeing two tables full of pizza, pasta, salads, desserts, and garlic bread.

"Please control yourself bro," Sam sighed rolling his eyes. "Do I need to sit at another table?"

"Suit yourself, "Dean shrugged taking a seat in a booth where he could see the front door and the other patrons in the room and Sam sat across from him. They didn't have to wait long before a waitress came and took their drink order before they got up to check out the buffets.

Sam made a nice salad and added breadsticks before going back to the table to sit down. He looked at his brother in disgust when Dean sat down with his plate piled with slices of pizza and another with several slices of dessert pizzas. He gave him a bitch face as he unrolled his silverware and place the napkin in his lap.

"Don't judge," Dean insisted with a hiss. "I've got two meals to get caught up on."

Sam pulled his laptop out and sat it to the side so he could go online and find addresses for the victims of the attacks. He took out a notepad and scribbled on it in between bites. He got up to get a couple slices of pizza and a sampling of the pasta before going back to the table. Dean was getting up to get a second helping as Sam made his way back to the booth.

"Good eats, right?" Dean said in passing.

"Yeah," Sam agreed. He took his seat and began eating while doing a search for any other previous attacks in the surrounding areas and into Mexico. He enjoyed the great tasting pizza while the program ran its search and tried to ignore his brother's piggy attitude. Sam didn't think that would ever change with him.

A/N: Thank you for coming along on this short journey. The brothers are starting their investigation on the case and will find clues to what they are hunting. Reviews/Comments would make my day. NC