Disclaimer: Supernatural and all its characters belong to Kripke and the CW. Bugs Bunny and Looney Tunes are the property of Warner Brothers.(I think)
Happy New Year everyone!
Previously on Supernatural- They huddled close together in front of their warm fire as the winter storm raged outside.
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December 23
Dean groaned as an annoying beeping sound made itself known. Bringing up his arm he quickly pushed a tiny button cutting the alarm off before it could wake his little brother. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and glanced over at the now small fire. Knowing he needed to get more wood Dean carefully climbed out of the blanket tucking it back around Sammy. Walking over to the window he looked out smiling when he noticed that the snow had slacked off a good bit. It wasn't enough for them to leave yet but hopefully it would continue to taper off during the day so they could make it home.
Turning away from the window Dean made his way over to the fireplace. He threw the last few pieces of the chair into the fire and then grabbed his coat. Thankful that the fire had dried his winter clothing Dean quickly put on his coat, hat, gloves, and boots and walked toward the door. He glanced back at his sleeping little brother before opening the door and stepping outside.
At Bobby's house
"Oh, I'm sorry…thank you anyway…Merry Christmas to you too, ma'am…goodbye" Jim sighed crossing another hotel off the quickly diminishing list.
"Any luck yet?" Caleb asked as he walked inside carrying a huge bundle of firewood. Dropping the wood in a box beside the fireplace he took off his coat and gloves and stood in front of the fire to warm back up. "Anything I can do?"
"No and yes" Pastor Jim replied with a mischievous grin. "No, I haven't had any luck finding Bobby and John but I still have a few numbers left. They have to be staying at one of them."
"Yea, probably the last one on the list" Caleb mumbled tossing his coat and gloves over the back of a nearby chair.
"What was that?" Jim questioned.
"Nothing" Caleb answered before quickly changing the subject. "So I take it you have something you want me to do."
"Yes, go down to the basement and see if you can find any of Bobby's Christmas decorations." Jim directed. "I want the house to be ready when John brings the boys home."
"Oh, that'll be easy" Caleb grumbled. Seeing Jim's raised eyebrow and no nonsense look he rolled his eyes. "I'm going, I'm going. Just make sure you come looking for me if I don't make it back by lunch. A whole family of Wendigoes could be living down there. It's not like Bobby could find them in all that crap."
"Less talking, more walking" Jim instructed picking up the phone once more.
"Less, talking, more walking" Caleb mimicked. He stomped across the room and into the kitchen grumbling with every step.
Chuckling at the younger man's antics Jim dialed the next number on the list.
At the motel
John stood by the window fuming as he watched the snow plow inch its way up the street toward their motel. "Can't that thing go any faster? At this rate they won't make it to the motel before nightfall." He huffed as he began pacing in the small space between the window and the table. "Who's driving that thing anyway, Mr. Magoo?"
"Calm down, Johnny. They're doing the best they can." Josh said.
"Yea, well they're best isn't good enough!" John fired back. "We need to be out there looking for my…" John's rant was cut off by the room phone ringing. Immediately tensing he asked, "Bobby, you expecting a call?"
"Nope" Bobby replied walking over to the nightstand. Sitting on the bed he shared a look with the other two hunters before answering the phone. "Ellsworth…Jim? How did you?...You're where?...They what?...Are you sure?...You got a number?...Okay, thanks Jim. You're a lifesaver." Hanging up Bobby smiled up at his two anxious friends. "That was Jim. He and Caleb thought they'd surprise the boys by coming for Christmas. They knew something was wrong when they got to my place last night and nobody was th…"
"That's all well and good Bobby." John interrupted, "but how does that help us?"
"I'm getting there Johnny. Just cool your jets." Bobby assured. "Anyway, as I was saying they decided to wait at the house for us. Jim said he was about to go up to bed when he saw my answering machine flashing. Seems Dean called my place after he and Sammy got away from the apartment. He said they were staying at Matt's place."
"Wait a minute. I thought you checked Matt's house yesterday?" Joshua asked from his spot at the table. "You said they weren't there."
"Yea" Bobby replied shaking his head. "But the thing is I never really got a chance to search the house. That Brookins woman was there."
"Wouldn't she have found Dean and Sammy by now?" John questioned as he resumed his pacing. "I mean, I know Dean's damn good at hiding but it looks like she would have heard some kind of noise unless…"
"Unless she's not staying at the house." Josh finished snapping his fingers. "That's it! She's just checking on the house. That's why she hasn't found them!"
"We've gotta get inside that house." John declared grabbing his coat.
"Wait John. How do we know she won't show up while we're there?" Josh asked. "We don't want her calling the cops on us when we're this close to the boys."
"So what do you suggest?" John quizzed.
"I think I've got a way." Bobby announced. Sighing he walked over to the trash can and dug around inside for a moment before coming up with a slip of paper. "Here" he said handing the paper to Joshua.
"What is it?" Josh asked holding the crumbled paper between two fingers.
"It's her phone number" Bobby whispered.
"What was that? I couldn't hear you." Josh teased putting a hand to his ear.
"I said it's her phone number." Bobby growled stomping over to the window. "Happy, now?"
"Extremely" Joshua answered handing the number to John. "Here you go Johnny. You call Bobby's girlfriend while I go see if I can't get the snowplow driver to speed up just a little bit."
At the cabin
Dean trudged through the snow to the back of the cabin. Noticing a small enclosure off to the right he made his way over. Inside the shed he found an axe and various other tools. There was also an empty space big enough for the snowmobile. Deciding to come back later to park the vehicle inside the building Dean grabbed the axe and walked back out into the snow. Shutting the door he turned and dropped the axe. "You have got to be kidding me!" he muttered staring at the back porch that was practically covered floor to ceiling in firewood. Opening the shed door Dean set the axe back inside and hurried to the back porch.
The first thing Dean noticed when he got on the porch was the lack of a door. The only way into the cabin from the back seemed to be a rather large window. Storing that info for later he carefully picked up an armload of firewood and slowly walked down the steps. "Stupid bass-ackwards cabin" he grumbled as he made his way around to the other side of the house where a tall, thin building with a moon carved in the door stood. Plodding over he turned the wooden latch and peeked inside. Crinkling up his nose in disgust he quickly closed the door and backed away from the outhouse. "That is so wrong." He thought as he made his way back to the front of the house and up the stairs.
At the motel
"Finally!" John breathed out as he watched the snowplow drive past the motel parking lot. Grabbing Bobby's keys he headed out the door and to the car. Climbing in the driver's seat he waited as Josh piled in beside him. "Where's Bobby?"
"He said he'd stay here in case Jim calls back." Joshua replied with a smirk. "Actually I think he's just afraid that we're setting him up and that Brookins woman's going to show up while we're there."
Chuckling at the thought of anyone scaring Bobby John asked, "Now, would we do something like that?"
"In a heartbeat" Joshua answered with a laugh.
"Thought so" John said driving out of the parking lot.
At the cabin
Dean walked in the door of the cabin and smiled when he saw Sammy wide awake. "Morning sleepy head." He called as he stacked the wood next to the fireplace. "Bout time you woke up."
"Morning Dean" Sammy greeted sitting up. "Is it still snowing?" he asked with a yawn.
"Yep" Dean replied. He snatched up his book bag before walking over to the mattress and dropping down beside his little brother. Unzipping the bag he pulled out two juice boxes and a couple of different kinds of snack cakes. "You get to pick your breakfast today, kiddo. We have Christmas tree cakes and zebra cakes. Take your pick."
Sammy took a Christmas tree cake and tore off the plastic wrapping. He bit off the top of the tree and smiled. "Fanks, Dean" he said around his mouthful of food.
"No talking with your mouth full." Dean gently scolded as he stuck the straw in one of the juice boxes and set it in front of his little brother. After fixing his own juice, he grabbed a zebra cake and quickly dug in.
Sammy finished off his cake and snatched up his juice emptying the box in one go. Picking up his trash he threw off the blanket and looked around for the trashcan. Not finding one Sammy settled for throwing the wrapper and box in the pile with Dean's. Walking over to the window he gazed out longingly. "Can we go out and play in the snow, Dean?" he asked.
"I don't know Sammy. I'm not sure you should be out in the cold right now." Dean replied taking their trash and throwing it in one corner of the cabin.
"Just for a little while. Please?" Sammy pleaded turning his kicked puppy expression on his big brother. Dean had never been able to say no to that look.
Seeing his brother's sad expression Dean relented. "Okay, Sammy. Tell ya what. You take your medicine and we'll go out. But when I say it's time to come in, you have to come right in. No whining or begging for more time."
"Okay Dean! I will! Promise!" Sammy hollered. He raced over to the mattress and threw his arms around his big brother.
"Alright, alright. That's enough." Dean laughed. "If you don't let go so I can get your medicine, we'll never get outside."
Sammy immediately dropped his hands and plopped down on the mattress. He watched as Dean took the medicine bottle and spoon out of the book bag and carefully measured out his next dose. Grimacing Sammy reached out, took the spoon, and swiftly downed the dreaded liquid. "Ewwww, yuck!" he squealed sticking out his tongue. "I hate that stuff! It's gross!"
Chuckling Dean ruffled his little brother's hair. "Good job, Sammy! There's only a little bit left to go." Dean said glancing at the almost empty bottle. He placed the bottle and spoon back in the book bag and then walked over and retrieved his little brother's coat and gloves. "Come on squirt! Let's go outside!"
"Yea!" Sammy shouted grabbing his coat and quickly putting it on. He pulled his gloves on next while Dean secured his hat on his head. Afterwards, Dean helped him put on and tie his boots before leading him out the door to have some fun in the snow.
At Matt's house
John slowly made his way down the stairs and across the room to the huge bay window. Looking out he scanned the yard and the field beyond looking for any sign of his boys. Seeing nothing he angrily spun around and kicked out knocking a Looney Tunes punching bag to the floor.
"Dang, John I think you killed it." Joshua teased as he came into the room. Walking over he poked at the rapidly deflating toy with one foot. "Yep, old Bugs is a goner."
"Not the time Josh" John warned glaring at the other hunter.
"Sorry man" Josh apologized. "So, I take it, you didn't find anything?"
"No" John said dropping into a chair. "I couldn't find any sign of my boys. What about you?"
"Nothing inside the house but I haven't checked the garage yet." Josh informed his friend. "You coming?"
"Yea, okay" John softly replied. Climbing out of the chair he followed Joshua through the kitchen and into a large two car garage. John walked over to the car and peered inside the small vehicle. Spotting nothing of interest he started around to the trunk stopping at Josh's call. He hurried around the car and across the garage to where his friend was squatting beside a grey tarp. "Whatcha got?" he eagerly asked.
"Looks like some kind of small vehicle was parked under this tarp." Josh noted pointing to a tiny drop of oil on the ground. Standing he walked over to the garage door frowning when he noticed the garage door opener on the ground beside it. Picking the remote up he pressed the button ducking under the door as soon as there was room. Once outside he glanced at the new fallen snow on the driveway for a moment before walking over to the side of the house. "John, look!" he called pointing at something on the side of the house.
John raced over to Joshua and stared in the direction his friend was pointing. There on the ground protected from the snow by the overhang of the roof was the clear tread of a snowmobile. And beside the vehicle's track were two sets of footprints, one smaller than the other. Looking back up John studied the field in front of him for a minute. "Josh, do you know what's beyond those two fields?" he asked.
Joshua peered out into the distance. "Yea, it's that old service road." Josh replied grinning from ear to ear.
John returned the smile before grabbing the keys out of his pocket and rushing toward the road where they car was parked. "They're going home, Josh!" he called over his shoulder. "My boys are headed home!"