Chapter 19
-oOo-

Phil hadn't slept well at all, what with the bad dreams he suffered when he did manage to fall asleep and then the frequent waking periods in between, during which he fretted about his two, newly designated favourite, guests. Finally having giving up on bed, he was sat in silence behind the reception desk, one elbow on the top of the desk, hand propping up his chin, his eyes half closed and a miserable expression on his face while his other hand pointlessly shuffled a mug half full of tepid coffee around and around. A loud commotion, the crash of metal accompanied by a stream of cusses startled him and made his whole body jump. The contents of his mug splattered over the registration book and his chin jolted off his hand, resulting in him poking himself in the eye. The door to the reception was shoved open and Dean strode in, carrying a knight's helmet under one arm. Walking behind him, doing his best not to laugh, came Sam.

Phil cringed internally when he heard himself virtually squeal with delight as he hurried out from behind the reception desk and rushed to greet the Hunters, arms already held out preparing to deliver a hug. Side stepping the manager's intention, Dean instead shoved the helmet at Phil who automatically took it from him.
"Here you go. I tripped. Sorry."
Phil beamed back at him.
"Who cares? You're back, both of you, and you're both ok...You are ok, aren't you?"
Sam grinned.
"We're fine. Well, Dean was, till he stubbed his toe trippin' over the suit of armour."
Dean pouted.
"I could've been concussed if that helmet hit me on the head when it dropped off!"
Phil frowned down at the guilty helmet.
"You're absolutely right Dean. I'll have it moved today."
Dean instantly felt guilty and Phil was finally persuaded to leave the armour where it stood and let Dean fix the rogue helmet in place so it couldn't fall off again.
"Is there anything I can do or get for you both? Anything at all?"
Dean gazed at the man hopefully.
"Breakfast before hittin' the sack would be awesome."
The manager's face lit up.
"That I can do. Breakfast for two coming right up. I'll see you in the restaurant."

Dean put his cutlery down on his empty plate and sat back, a happy man. He eyed Sam's soon to be empty plate hopefully.
"Anythin' you can't manage bro', just pass it over."
Sam shook his head, opened his mouth wide, and pointedly shoved the whole of his last hash brown into his mouth. Pushing his plate away, Sam sat back in his seat, unconsciously mirroring his brother's position. Having swallowed his food, Sam opened his mouth to speak and,instead, heard himself produce a totally unexpected record breaking burp. Sam's eyes opened wide in surprise, immediately throwing Dean into a fit of helpless, and infectious, laughter. Appearing at their table with with three coffees, Phil sat down while staring at the laughing Hunters in bemusement.
"I truly don't understand how the two of you do it!...I mean, all the things you must have experienced, the amount of time you must each spend, over and over again, confronting evil and death, and yet here you both are, cheerful, chatty and clearly having a shared capacity for genuine laughter and fun. If all Hunters are anything like the two of you my friends; then you are all a very special group of people indeed!"

The brothers glanced at one another, a silent agreement passing between them. There was nothing to be gained by destroying the kindly manager's image of them. No point highlighting the frequent physical and emotional hurt, the repeated pattern of losing people they loved, family and friends, the constant battle to somehow keep going, to keep on fighting. There was no need to talk about how the lack of stability meant meeting someone, falling in love and having a 'normal' committed long term relationship was damn near impossible. No way either of them wanted Phil to know that, as with any community of people, there was both good and bad among them. And they certainly had no wish to highlight for Phil the final cost of being a Hunter; that near certainty that theirs would be a foreshortened life. Better to leave the man with an image of Hunters as a carefree band of cheery rogues and saviours, welcomed wherever they went.

Phil looked eagerly at the two Hunters.
"So tell me. How was it last night? Did you see the...Um...Werewolf? Did you get it? Is it dead? Do they turn back into humans when they die like in the movies? What do you do with the bodies...Oh...That's terrible! There'll be a dead body...Oh my God! I hadn't really considered that. You poor souls! You have to kill something that's human most of the time! Someone who might be just lovely when they're not...You know...Oh my God! I'm sorry, truly sorry, um...ex...excuse me, I have to..."
Suddenly pale, the manager scrambled clumsily to his feet and scurried out of the restaurant, heading hurriedly towards the hotel reception area with Sam and Dean gazing after him. Eyebrows raised, Sam turned back to his brother.
"Well, that was different! You think one of us should go after him?"
Dean shook his head.
"Naah Sammy, give the man his privacy an' let him puke in peace. We need to talk about tonight, then I'm hittin' the sack."
"Sound's good. So about tonight? Waitin' round in one spot hopin' to bait our target got us nowhere. According to that cop, everythin' in town had been quiet, an' we didn't see anythin' out the ordinary on the drive round. I figured there's options for the next two nights. For one, we could separate, try covering the forest an' the town It's doable. If you drop me off at the forest, you could drive on into town an' cover that angle."

Dean curled his top lip.
"Yeah, that'd crossed my mind, and it'd widen the Hunt, but, if you were in trouble you'd be on your own. By the time I'd driven back, then trekked through the damn forest to find you, old pearly teeth would've had plenty of time to play with his food. That'd be you, in case you're wonderin'? Same goes if I needed effective back up in town. How long would it take you to get outta the forest an' into town on foot? Sam, you know I'm not against us separatin' when we're on a job, but usually we're in vaguely the same location as one-another at least. You crashin' an' thrashin' through nature while I go all urban explorer? It's too far apart, too separated man."
"Yeah, you're right...So, we've got two nights, unless we get lucky wherever we are tonight. Logic says we split them, town one night, back in the forest the other."
Dean nodded while opening his mouth in a yawn so huge it made his eyes water. Sam grimaced.
"Dude! Some kinda warnin' next time. I damn near got sucked in!"
"Sorry. Ok, here's my thinkin'. We let the cops coverin' the town be our ears an' eyes there..."

"Dean! No. They can't deal with a werewolf!"
"How about lettin' me finish before gettin' your frilly knickers knotted up so tight they strangle you?"
"Fine, go ahead, I'm all ears."
"I'll contact the Sheriff, tell her we're gonna cover the forest again tonight an' give her one of our old phone numbers to pass round the patrols coverin' town. They see or hear any trouble, anythin' out the ordinary, she tells them to contact us an' we get there asap. I'll try askin' her to issue an order instructin' her officers to hold back till we get there, but I doubt she'll go for it. They're desperate for an arrest an' to end this thing. Even if she gives the order, if any one of them gets a possible perp. in their sights? No way they're gonna wait for some off the book FBI guy an' his pal, the hippy haired nature lover, to come racin' in to steal their thunder an' show them up by makin' the collar."
Sam nodded his understanding.
"Ok, that means we're just gonna have to hope we get back into town in time to reduce the damage...An' one more thing, jerk. I'm not a 'hippy haired nature lover'."
"Are so, bitch."
"Whatever. Ok, we take the forest again. Only this time, I vote we both stay mobile."

Dean awoke early afternoon. For a while he simply lazed in his bed, the sound of his brother's soft snoring telling him Sam was still sleeping. His thoughts turned to their previous fruitless night spent in the forest where the only thing they came away with was his almost certain belief that he heard the howl of a wolf. Sitting around acting as bait was a tedious, but sometimes necessary, part of the job and Dean had never shied away from taking his turn at hanging round being tempting, despite it frequently causing him to feel more like the hunted than the Hunter. Tonight however, he and his brother intended to be on the move, doing what they did best. A grim and determined smile formed on Dean's face; tonight that flea bitten serial killer werewolf wouldn't be the only thing out there hunting and looking to bring something down.

-oOo-
Chick :D xxx