Chapter 3
Sam drove the last leg of their journey to the salvage yard. It was nearing midnight when he saw the outside lights ahead of him and smiled happily. He rolled his shoulders to get the stiffness out of them and looked over to his sleeping brother. Dean has his arm tucked across his chest to help support it and was snoring softly.
"Hey bro," Sam called to him, reaching to give his leg a shake instead of his arm. "We're here, wake up."
"Wha…" Dean grunted as he moved wrong and hissed in pain. His shoulder was still sore from the abuse it took on the last hunt. Being still for the past couple of hours had stiffened his body and he tried to twist around to loosen it.
"You remember where Bobby hid the spare key?" Sam asked him as he pulled up to the front of the house.
"Maybe," Dean replied, yawning widely.
"You find that and get the front door open and I'll wait in the car with the headlights on so you can see."
"Yeah, yeah," Dean mumbled fumbling to get the door open and shifting his body from the car. He headed for the porch and began looking for the spare key. It took him five minutes to find it and get the front door opened and the porch light on.
Sam turned off the lights of the car and got out to get their bags and lock the car before heading inside too. He sat their duffels by the stairs and looked around for Dean. Sam headed to the kitchen to find him rummaging in the fridge for a couple bottles of water.
"I say we take some drugs and go to bed," Dean offered, still half asleep and bleary eyed.
"I'm fine with that, but I don't think I need any drugs, but you probably do. Some cold water will be good though. Let's head on up upstairs. I'll carry our bags."
"You do that," Dean nodded weaving slowly toward the stairs and starting up them.
Sam picked their bags up and walked a couple of steps behind Dean watching carefully in case he fell. They made it to the second floor and headed down the hall to their bedroom.
"You can have the bathroom first," Sam told Dean. "Want me to put some tiger balm on your shoulder? Might help take the soreness out. It's in the bathroom if you want to get it."
"Okay," Dean replied moving left into the bathroom to do his routine before coming out and moving across the hall to their bedroom. He sat on the bed and removed his boots and clothes down to his briefs and t-shirt. Dean pulled the covers down and sat on the side of the bed before letting Sam help get his t-shirt off. He still could not raise his left arm very high without it sending shooting pains up and down his back.
"Let me know if I'm rubbing too hard," Sam told him taking the balm and opening it. A medicine smell filled the room as Sam scooped a small amount of balm out with his fingers. He rubbed it on Dean's shoulder so he could massage it in. Sam was careful as he worked feeling several knots and the stiffness. He heard Dean moan softly a few times and sigh knowing he had found the right spots. He dipped into the jar again and worked on Dean's neck and other shoulder for a few minutes being sure to rub the balm in. "There you go bro."
"Thanks Sammy, going to bed now," Dean mumbled slipping under the covers and settling on the mattress.
"Nite Dean." Sam when to the bathroom to wash his hands and do his routine so he could go to bed too. He was weary and hoped they both got a good night's sleep.
spn
The next morning was overcast and dreary as Sam rolled over and looked around remembering where they were and saw the empty bed across from him. He sighed and yawned as he sat up waiting for his body to wake. Sam headed to the bathroom first and hunted clothes to put on before going to find his brother.
The aroma of coffee was coming from the kitchen as Sam made his way toward the room. He found Dean looking in the cabinets and scribbling on a scrap of paper.
"Wha'ya doing?" Sam asked going to the coffee pot to get a cup.
"We need to do a supply run for Bobby if we're going to be here for a few days. He's not got much on hand."
"That's fine, why don't we grab some breakfast at the diner in town and go to the store afterwards?"
"Good idea, I've got a basic list started, bring your coffee with you, let's go, I'm hungry."
"Okay, okay," Sam complained as Dean pushed him toward the doorway. "Let me at least put my coffee in a travel cup." He looked in one of the cabinets and found a travel mug to pour his coffee in. He followed his brother to the Impala to head into town.
"Looks like we're going to get a storm," Dean commented as he looked up at the dark clouds that were rolling slowly across the grey sky.
"Maybe it'll hold off until we can get the shopping done," Sam replied looking upward too before getting into the car.
They drove to the diner and went in to eat breakfast before going to the store to get supplies. The diner was filling up with people wanting to eat before heading on to work. They sat at the bar and looked at the menu before placing their order with the waitress behind the bar. Both were served steaming cups of coffee while they waited. The cooks were hustling in the back and the waitress brought their food to them and refilled their coffees.
"Looks good Sammy; you should try some real food," Dean said as he picked up his fork to begin eating. He had ordered the Blue Plate Special with extra bacon making Sam grimace at his choice.
"At least I won't keel over from a heart attack," Sam replied as he poured a small amount of syrup over his short stack before cutting into them. He had ordered the short stack, scrambled eggs and fresh fruit. He tried to eat healthy, and exercise to keep himself in shape.
The brothers finished their meal and Dean paid the bill and left a nice tip for the waitress. They left the diner and Dean drove over to the grocery store so they could restock Bobby's kitchen.
"You wanna take half and I'll do the other half?" Sam asked plucking the list from Dean's fingers. He looked at it for a moment dodging Dean's attempt to get it back and frowned. "Really Dean? Where's the real food on this list?"
"There's food on there," Dean insisted, giving Sam a smack and grabbed at the paper.
"Junk food maybe. I'm going to the produce section and then the meats. You can use this," Sam decided pushing Dean's list into his chest and pushing the cart away leaving Dean standing there with his mouth opened wanting to say something but there was no one to say it to since Sam was disappearing around the corner. Dean pouted and looked around as people moved past him and decided to get his own cart to use. He stepped over to the line of carts and man handled a cart from there and headed into the store to shop.
spn
Sam pushed his cart, slowly into the produce department and looked to see if there was anything on sale before pricing apples and snagging a bag. He looked over the bananas and picked a bunch, sitting them into his cart. He checked the dates of the bags of precut salads, finding the best ones and picked two out. He moved to the vegetables to get a bag of carrots, potatoes, broccoli and onions. With that done, he headed to the meat department to pick up some ground beef, pork roast and chicken. He was not sure how long they would be staying but wanted some choices for meals.
As Sam was pushing his cart toward the dairy section, he saw Dean with his own cart picking up some cheese and yogurt. He stopped and watched him for a moment as he tossed random containers of yogurt into the cart without really looking at them and now knew why they had the odd flavors of yogurt. He snickered to himself before heading toward his brother.
"You having fun?" Sam asked, smirking when Dean jerked around to see who had spoken.
"Why not, there's nothing to it," he replied quickly to cover up his jumpiness. "I'm heading for the beer to pick up a couple of six packs, you 'bout done?"
"Did you get milk, coffee and bread?"
"Two out of three, no bread."
"I'll grab some and some laundry detergent in case we need to do laundry. Not sure how much Bobby has."
"I'll meet you at the front bro, don't take all day." Dean pushed his cart down the aisle toward a sign that advertised beer.
Sam sighed and went off to find bread and detergent, thinking he needed some shaving cream and toothpaste while he was here. He wandered toward the sign that said health and beauty to get what he needed. He decided to grab some for Dean too knowing he did not always replace his and snuck Sam's when he was out. He finished up in that section and went looking for detergent and ran across the books deciding to grab a crossword puzzle book for himself.
Dean pushed his half full cart to the front of the store and bumped Sam in the butt to get his attention. Sam looked over his shoulder at him and gave him a bitch face before moving forward in the line with his brother behind him.
"Did you get enough food for a week or so?" Dean asked Sam as he looked in his cart.
"Yeah, I think so," Sam answered glancing at his cart to see what he had gotten. It was not as bad as he expected but did see some junk food that only he ate, like peanut M&M's and jerky.
"I got a text from Bobby a few minutes ago, he'll be back in another day. Said to not burn the place down."
"Good to know, that'll give me time to clean out his fridge and cabinets."
"Only you would want to do that. I'm working in the garage. He's got a couple of cars that need my expertise and I want to change the oil in my Baby."
"I guess we both have work to do then."
Sam moved his cart to the conveyer belt and began to unload his items and moved ahead so Dean could add what he had. They checked out and headed back to the salvage yard to do some normal things for a few days to allow themselves time to unwind and recuperate. It was nice to act normal for a short time.
A/N: Thank you for taking this journey with me. I do like reviews. NC