Dean made it back to the apartment. Sam still wasn't there. He sat down heavily in the living room with a beer. He was still in shock after seeing Quillon plunge to his death. Nasty way to die, Dean thought. Seeing the ground rush up at you, knowing that every inch was inch closer to when you'd surely die. He'd even heard of people that survived for a short time, minutes, sometimes hours. Now that had to be pain. Nothing he could even compare to, and he'd been in some serious pain in his life.
So Quillon was dead. His one last lead on where Sam was took the Great Plunge, and was now beyond interrogation. Sam was probably in some mental hospital, some government facility...and Dean didn't even know where to start.
This was all his fault. Like usual. So much for watching out for Sammy. Everytime he turned his back, Sam would slip through his fingers like sand. Sometimes intentional. Other times not. All the time he'd have to go on some desperate search and hope he got there in time.
This last time, outside Washington, he'd barely gotten there in time. Sam was still twitchy, even as he tried to deny it, and tried to hide it. Dean could tell.
He didn't know that he'd be there in time this time.
He picked up the phone and called the senator. "They took my brother." He said, numbly. Numb was a good way to describe it. His father would have gone for shell shocked though. "Quillon is dead and they have my brother."
There was a momentary pause. "We'll find him, Dean." Came the senator's calm and steady reply. "They can't have taken him far in his condition. Might take a couple days, but we will find him."
"Couple days? Do you know what they could do to him in a couple days? And he's completely defenseless." Dean said as he started to pace, getting on his brother's lap top to search out anywhere they could hold him. It was like a needle in a pile of needles though.
"I know... but it takes time to go through all the channels with the hospitals. You did say they were threatening to take him to a mental hospital. If it's an actual hospital, they aren't going to harm him." McKendrick said. "I will put everyone I have on it, but I just can't promise immediate results.."
And what Dean wanted was immediate results. What he needed was immediate results, really. Sam was right, they should have hit the road days ago. This was his fault. "Okay, thanks." Dean said. "Should be easier. Quillon took a swan dive off a building." Dean didn't know how he made the jump and Quillon hadn't.
"Tell me everything that happened." McKendrick said. "What do I need to cover up?" Sam wanted his brother safe, and for now that was something Allen could provide. If Dean cooperated.
"Nothing." Dean said. "I went in there, we got in a fight, I took off toward the roof. He reported that I had already escaped and was long gone. Guess he wanted to kill me without witnesses. He followed me to the roof, nearly kicked my ass. I took off for one of the other buildings. A real Hail Mary jump if you know what I mean. I made it. He didn't. He's dead." And it was as simple as that. "He told his men I was heading toward Wichita."
"Alright... keep your head down for now, they will be looking for you anyway. It's not quite like cutting the head off of a hydra, but they have an agenda so they will still be looking for you, especially if they have Sam. Keep in touch with me, I want to be updated. If you find him before I do... would be nice to know."
"If you get a lead on Sam, come get me." Dean said. "He's going to be freaked, and I've got a good track record of being able to calm him down." He couldn't believe that he let this happen. How did this happen? How had things gotten so screwed up so fast?
"I will, Dean. I promise. Hang in there in the mean time and if you need anything, call me. " He said. "Don't worry about the apartment, or anything like that. You'll need it at least for a little while when we find Sam anyway. "
"Yeah. Will do." Dean said, distracted by everything that was happening as he hung up the phone. Paced the apartment. He shouldn't leave, he had to be near the phone. And he had to stay out of sight. So he went back to the lap top and ran a hacking program Ash had given Sam to look for recent admissions matching Sam's description into local hospitals.
It had been years since Joshua York had set foot in Lawrence, Kansas. He wasn't exactly pleased to be doing so again. He pulled into a gas station and took out his cell phone, dialing Dean's number.
Dean answered on the first ring. "Yeah." He said as he kept typing away. He didn't expect it to be McKendrick, but maybe it was Sam. Or someone who knew where he was. Anything.
"I'm here, so where are you?" Josh asked as he filled the tank of the SUV. The second generation of Nana the sheep dog stuck her head out the window panting at the phone.
Dean gave the address and apartment number, and opened the door, going back to his computer and his search. He hadn't bothered to clean the blood off himself (a majority of it his blood, he hated to admit) and it was hard doing the computer work with one eye swelling. But finding Sam was more important than grabbing an ice pack.
York found the place easily enough and soon he and the dog were walking through the open door. "You two getting suicidal these days?" He asked, regarding the open door then paused looking at theyoung man sitting there battered and bloody. "I think you better report there, soldier."
Dean didn't take his eyes off the screen, but he lifted one hand from the keyboard to pet the dog that came over to him. "Sam was taken. I went to get some food, door was locked, and he was taken. Door locked behind him too." He said. "Followed up on a lead, it didn't go so well."
York shook his head. The boy was as bad as his father about letting himself go when focused on something else. He spotted the worn first aid bag and went to get it. "How much of that blood is yours?" He asked.
"Most of it." Dean said with a shrug. "Told you it didn't go so well. Don't even ask about follow up interrogation. Not going to happen. He's dead." Dean explained what had happened, the whole thing from Quillon's plan to take down McKendrick, the threats, to the final battle with the anticlimatic ending.
"Go wash up." York said firmly. "I need to see how badly you are injured. Not going to do Sam any good if you are too banged up to go in after him. Go on now."
"It's like dealing with Dad again." Dean said with a chuckle as he reluctantly padded off to the bathroom and took a shower. Then he carefully applied steristrips to where his eyebrow was split. It was a lot of minor stuff, then again, after New Orleans, his definition of minor differed from most people's. If he didn't end up in traction, it was minor.
Josh had settled down at the computer to continue Dean's research for him as he waited for the eldest Winchester to return. he looked him over and nodded. "Ribs?" He asked as he opened the bag.
"Ribs are fine as long as I don't take deep breaths, and no one sucker punches me again." He said, leaning over the computer again. "I can't believe this. So are you going to yell at me for losing Sam, again?"
"No." Josh said. "But I am going to wrap those ribs. Come on... you know the drill." That boy had way too much guilt going on where Sam was concerned. Not any way he could have prevented this.
Dean sighed and braced himself on a near by table, not letting out so much as a grunt as his ribs were wrapped. It wasn't painless. He just kept telling himself he'd had worse. And he had. He exhaled once Joshua finished taping. "Okay. So where are we? You were right. Quillon was one messed up bastard."
"Didn't even occur to me that there were people like Sam in the world. I knew there were psychics obviously, but not those connected to a demon. When we were working for Quillon's father, we thought it was a poltergeist. I am starting to think it was Quillon. Sometimes a telekinetic coming into their abilities can mimic a poltergeist."
"True." Dean said, he'd come across the same thing. "I don't know. He threatened to come after Sam if I didn't take care of McKendrick, and sure, Sam, the senator and the squished fed all have these really freaky powers, but they're all still human, you know? Only difference I can see is Quillon was fucked up, still undecided on McKendrick, and Sam is Sam."
"This guy tied in with the people that hurt him before?" York asked, wondering if they were going to have to rescue Sam from another government installation. He didn't relish the thought. But it could be done if necessary. Obviously Dean had managed it before.
"I don't know for sure. I think so." Dean said. "From what I've gathered, he's made a career of manipulating the others like him into his own agenda. What easier way than to get them all in a government facility and then drug them into submission?"
Josh nodded. "Okay... I'll see what I can find out through my channels. In the mean time, you need to eat." He said firmly. He wasn't going to let Dean run himself into the ground if he could avoid it.
"I'm not hungry." Dean said as he took over the computer again, running through searches. It was highly unusual for Dean NOT to be hungry, that was an understatement. But right now he didn't want to waste time. Sam couldn't afford for him to waste time.
"You can eat and type at the same time. Pack up that lap top. We're going for a drive. I'm surprised she hasn't called you yet. Woman is uncanny." Josh said as he reached over and unplugged the computer.
"Who?" Dean asked, distracted. "Hey!" He said as the computer was unplugged and the battery kicked on. "What are you doing? I'm trying to work here."
"Missouri Moseley, who else? And what I am doing is getting you packed up to go over there. You can plug in there or you can tap into her and see what she can come up with. Wear a helmet."
Dean was antsy, but he went. Gave his car a longing look, but he couldn't drive and type at the same time as he settled into Joshua's SUV with the dog settling in the back seat. "Think she'll know something? You think if she did, she'd call. I mean, she called every other time."
"I don't know... but she's a resource. Something we shouldn't over look." She was also the most maternal woman on the planet. Something Dean was going to need. Josh remembered Dean as a child, all too clearly. He remembered the little boy that was willing to take on a shape shifter to save his brother. He didn't think that instinct had lessened over the years.
"Last time I sawMissouri was right before I got out of the hospital. After New Orleans." Dean said, quieting a bit at that memory. And all it encompassed. Their father's resurrection, and all they went through until John died again. "Talked to her when the government was first after Sam..." He looked out the car window. "It never ends. I can't keep him safe."
"You do realize that Samuel is a man now right?" Josh asked in a gentle tone. "I know it was always your job to keep him safe when you were children but Dean... there is no way you can protect him from everything now. What's important is that he is still alive, and that isbecause of you."
"I don't care how old he is. He's my kid brother. It's my responsibility to protect that kid." Dean said, shaking his head. "And every time I turn around, I'm failing. Dad should have picked someone else."
"Picked someone else? Dean, he groomed you for that job from 4 years on." Josh said. "Anyone else might have screwed the pooch and Sam wouldn't be alive now. You need to lighten up on yourself. You didn't fail. You are one man against Homeland Security. Think about it."
"Didn't fail? Is Sam here? No. He's not. He's recovering from impromtu neurosurgery somewhere where I can't find him. And let's not start on why he needed the surgery in the first place. Oh, we can go all the way back to New Orleans." Dean said, shaking his head. "Dammit, Joshua, I failed. There's no sugar coating it. I let him down, I let Dad down andI let myself down."
"Get over it." Josh said, utilizing a different tactic. "It's a luxury you can't afford. You are feeling sorry for yourself. You did everything you could and it wasn't enough. Doubt anyone out there could have done any better than you did but okay... you're right... Sam isn't here. Suck it up, Soldier. Cry in your beer when it's over and done."
Surprisingly, that did it. Dean straightened up a bit in the seat and set his jaw. Nodding. "Yes sir." He said as they pulled into Missouri's driveway. She was already coming out the door as she heard the SUV pull in.
"Joshua York, what were you thinking?"Missouri demanded. "Dean, I can excuse. He's been a little preoccupied. But you, you know better than to come into town without calling me. Letting me sense it on a vision in the middle of a reading."
"Sorry about that, Missouri." He said, although his tone was anything but contrite. "Needed to get to Dean first." Josh told her. " Been in town a little more than an hour."
"You're not in the Corp. Not in my house."Missouri said, smacking him upside the head as he passed by. As Dean passed by, he automatically ducked his head and guarded his neck. "Oh sugar, I am sorry about Sam." She said, instead of hitting him.
"Yeah. I know. Me too." Dean said as he went into the house.
Josh gave her a long suffering look at the strike to his head but didn't say anything. Truth be told, he found her amusing, in an indulgent sort of way. Not that he would dare tell her that. He figured she would take it as an insult and it wasn't what he meant at all.
Dean made his way into the house asMissouri closed the door behind him. "So, uh..." Dean said, "do you have anything on Sam? Anything?" He hoped she did. Because he didn't. And it was killing him.
She sighed, and rested a hand on his shoulder. "He's out there, baby. I can feel that, but I'm not getting a location. I think it's because he is confused." She hated to tell him that. She knew what he was going through inside, and he didn't need any more put upon him. "I'm not picking up that he is in pain or afraid... just confused. Probably drugged."
Dean sighed and sat in one of the chairs in the hallway, running his hands over his face. "Great." He said. "Drugged." Again. "Okay, he's alive, we'll go on that." He said as he plugged in the lap top.
"I'll get you something to eat. "Missouri said, heading toward the kitchen. She knew there was no point in trying to pry him away from the computer. It was the only way he had to try and find his brother right then, and nothing would slow the man down on that quest.
S/S/S/S/S/S/S/S/S/S/S/S/S/S/S
The nurse checked on the dark haired man lying on the bed. He was sedated, heavily so, and restraints weren't needed. IV antibiotics, along with fluids and more sedatives, dripped through the IV in his hand at a controlled rate.
He didn't want Sam Winchester hurt. Or even terrorized. So he wasn't.
The nurse picked up the phone and called her contact for her hourly report. "He's still sleeping. Temperature is down, the wound looks clean." The wound on the back of his neck where the tracking device had been removed before they could get to him. "Vitals are stable."
The man on the other end of the line smiled. "Good. Keep me posted, we'll be moving himin a day or twoas he seems stable now." Things were working beautifully. He was pleased.
"Yes sir." The nurse said as she hung up to go recheck her patient. Adjusting the drips. She looked down at the young man in the bed and shook her head. If she wasn't being paid so well, she'd feel badly for this young man. But that was a luxury she could not afford with the money she was earning for this. It wasn't like he was being hurt, he was kept as comfortable as any other patient she'd ever worked with. But she'd never had a patient that was as wanted as this one.
S/S/S/S/S/S/S/S/S/
Joshua looked over at Missouri. "Good coffee." He said taking a seat at the kitchen table, stealing a glance through the door at the living room where Dean sat at the computer.
"Better than that mess hall sludge you try to pass off."Missouri said as she poured herself a cup. She shook her head, glancing at Dean also. "That poor boy. Joshua, you have no idea what those boys have been through the last year or so. Second hand stories...third hand stories. Doesn't quite measure up. You heard how their father came back?"
Josh nodded. "Yeah, leave it to John Winchester to crawl his way out of hell." He said with a smile then sighed. "I heard that he died exorcising the boys. Both of them at once. Damned fool." He said the last with more sadness than accusation. "Should have rested before going on to the second one."
"There wasn't time."Missouri said. She'd been there. "If the demon left Dean voluntarily, he would have had to watch Dean die. Bad enough that boy was broken at the end of it. But the doctors fixed him up. John...he knew something. He couldn't risk losing Dean."
"John knew a lot of things about both of those boys that he didn't bother to tell anyone else. There was something about Mary too... He would never say what it was but I remember he went on a bender for almost a week when he found out what ever it was."
"That was John's way of handling truth when he found it."Missouri agreed as Dean typed away, half heartedly eating the sandwichMissouri had put next to him. "I don't agree with much of how he raised those boys, but they're good men. They didn't ask for this, but they'll handle it."
"I suppose that depends on how long it takes us to find Sam." Josh said. "Dean is gonna lose it before too long." He was worried about him. Almost more worried about Dean than Sam.
"They are co dependent to nearly a disturbing degree."Missouri said. "But we'll find Sam. Because something...I can't put my finger on it...it doesn't feel...right. Sam's not going to be hurt or killed, and he will be found."
"Must be nice to be psychic at moments like this. Unfortunately Dean isn't psychic and he is going to sit at that computer until he finds a clue or passes out."
"I'd rather he sit at the computer until he passes out than go out hunting."Missouri said. "But I spiked his coffee. Same way I did his daddy's. He'll pass out soon enough, he needs his rest."
Josh chuckled. "I knew there was a reason I liked you. How long before I have to carry him to bed?" Sleep was exactly what Dean Winchester needed.
Missouri winced as she heard Dean's head hit the laptop. "About now. Just remember, he's a grown man, and you're not so young anymore." She said in reference to Dean being carried.
"That's an understatement." Joshua said as he got to his feet. He was old enough to have been a mentor to John, and he felt every year of it keenly. He was careful as he hefted Dean, one arm around his waist the other holding Dean's arm over his shoulders. It was more of a half carry, half drag as he got him into the bedroom, and removed his shoes before tucking him in and turning out the light.
Missouri wrapped Dean's sandwich, for when he woke up, and made Joshua one and handed it to him as he came back into the room. "When I was growing up, being psychic was extraordinary, but it wasn't strange. We called it the gift. Or the sight. Everyone in my mother's line had it, including me. So I was prepared for when I started receiving my messages. These babies, like Sam, they're not. There's a world full of confused psychics of varying degrees. Even without that demon's interference, they've all got the potential to be dangerous. Even Sam."
"Everyone has the potential to be dangerous." Joshua pointed out. "Every human being has the potential to surpass any demon out there in their evil. It's all about choices and the condition of a man's soul."
"Yes, yes."Missouri said, waving off that comment. "But these kids, they won't even mean to be dangerous. It's all a mess." She sighed and took out a map, spreading it out on the table as she brought the lap top over and started x'ing out locations that Dean had already considered, and rejected.
"What if it isn't a government installation ora federal hospital? What if it's private?" Josh asked, looking over the locations.
"Then he'll be even harder to find."Missouri said as she handed Joshua his sandwich again. Dean wasn't the only one who would forget to eat in a time like this. "He could be anywhere."
Josh looked at the sandwich and took a bite of it. "I know. But if he was trying to use Sam in some personal agenda or makesure that Dean didn't find him, that would be the most logical route to go. Especially since they rescued him from a military installation once already."
"Well, he made a mistake. Because when it comes to his brother, that boy is a juggernaut. He's not going to stop until he finds Sam." Missouri said and rubbed her eyes. "I'm going to meditate. See what I see."
Joshua nodded. "I'm going to try and rest. Long drive from Wyoming." He said. "Come on Nana, let's hit the sack."
S/S/S/S/S/S/S/S/S/S/S/S/S/S/
The man kissed his wife good bye. He hadn't told her what happened last week, when he was at the doctor's. Or what had happened last night when he had gotten a phone call. Telemarketer, he had said.
But he drove his car to the location, and parked it, leaving the keys in it as he got into the moving van. Modified, air conditioned inside, with places to strap down a stretcher and seats for the nurse that would be with them on part of the journey.
"I'm on my way." He said into the phone when it range, with a note of resignation and finality.
S/S/S/S/S/S/S/S/S/
Deans cell phone began to ring. It went to voicemail, then started to ring again, continuing this routine until Dean answered. "Winchester, this is McKendrick. I have a lead."
Dean woke fully up at that. Fully aware he'd been drugged, and he was pissed at that. "Where? Where's the lead?" He said, shoving his feet into the boots as he left the room to the kitchen for some coffee. Fresh coffee that wasn't drugged. He tossed a glare atMissouri as he found the coffee and made a fresh pot.
"I've gotten word that there is a patient matching Sam's description being transported into Topeka. They alerted the highway patrol, procedure since he is being taken to a hospital for the criminally insane. I don't know for certain that its Sam... but it's a lead. What do you need done?"
"I need to know the highway." Dean said. "I'll cut him off myself. If it's not Sam, well, I'm good at quick getaways, especially in a car. If it is Sam...I might be the only one that can calm him down." Of that he was sure.
"Fine bring him back here to my place. I can cover you until it blows over." McKendrick said "I'll have the doctor here to check him out, and run blood work to find out what they have been giving him... so we know what to expect. "
"Fine." Dean said and wrote down the highway that McKendrick provided and hung up. "Okay, think I know where he is. Joshua,we gotta go. Now. And I hopeyour SUV is ready for some highway acrobatics."
"Fine. Where are we going and what do you know?" Joshua asked as he got up and grabbed his keys. He wasn't going to allow Dean to go anywhere alone. The probability of a trap was just too high.
"I know that the highway patrol's been alerted because they're transporting someone matching Sam's description to an institution for the criminally insane. Also know they're not in an ambulance ora prison shuttle." Dean said as he waved good bye to Missouri. There wasn't time. "They're getting on I-70."Topeka wasn't far from Lawrence. Time was of the essence.
Within 10 minutes they were racing down the free way. "Any idea what we are looking for? Not an ambulance leaves alot to choose from."
Dean thought then pointed. "There! Cut that one off." He said. "How many non descript, unlabeled moving vans are equipped with air conditioning and climate control?" He said, spotting the apparatus on the undercarriage.
Josh pulled forward and then in front of it sharply, forcing it off of the road. "Okay, let's do this quick, they're gonna be radioing the cops soon."
Dean had the door open before the cars even stopped, and pulled his pistol. "Hands where I can see them!" He yelled to the driver. The driver put two fingers to his mouth and put his hands up. Then slumped over. Dean checked on the driver...who was dead. "Fuck!" He yelled and went to the back.
The nurse had already been dropped off at another location, shortly before they got on the highway. Leaving a sedated Sam on a stretcher. Not restrained, really, just the belts over him that they used in ambulances and such.
"Sam? Sammy." Dean said, opening the back and seeing his brother. "Joshua, he's out! Gonna need some help." To do it quickly, anyway.
Josh hurried to the back and climbed into the van. He took down the IV and lay it over Sam's stomach, figuring it was better to do that later when they had time. and grabbed Sam by the arms and hefted him from the gurney, while Dean took the legs. "Stay in the back seat with him." He said as the settled Sammy into the back.
He then got into the front seat. "Okay, ole girl, let's show him how it's done." He said to the car as he revved the engine once before pulling out onto the highway.
"Show off." Dean said. Already a weight was lifted. Not completely. But lifted a bit as he sat in the back, Sam draped across him. Sam was so freakishly tall, his legs were bent up against the opposite door, but Dean was holding onto his brother as Joshua drove. "Okay, here's an address to go to. I don't trust the guy, but he'll cover for us for a bit."
Josh drove, managing to get out of the scene and out of sight before the state police arrived. He took side roads to the Senator's mansion, and was surprised when the gates opened for them and he was directed to a parking space behind the house, out of sight.
McKendrick was coming out a side entrance as the SUV stopped and opening up the back door. "Okay, let's get him out. I've got a doctor ready to check him over." He said as Dean scooted to Sam's feet.
"Joshua, Allen. Allen, Joshua." Dean said as he hefted Sam's legs up once more to get him out of the SUV.
Joshua moved in once more to take his shoulders. He nodded to the senator. "Lead on. We need to get this crap out of him."
McKendrick led them to a back guestroom, where the doctor was waiting. As soon as Sam was lying on the bed, he unhooked the IV bag and hooked up one of saline mixed with vitamins, colloquially called a 'banana bag' for its bright yellow color.
"This will help with the meals he's missed. And flush out his system." The doctor said as he checked the wound. "It looks good. They've been taking care of it, at least."
Dean sat down in a chair. "Well, that's one thing, right?" He said with a tired smile.
"Not a mark on him... he hasn't been hurt." Josh pointed out. "Not even any signs of struggle, doesn't look like he has even been restrained. I think he's slept through it all."
"Thank god." Dean said with a sigh of relief. "The driver, he offed himself. Poison or something. No ID on him. No registration in the truck. Bet the plates are stolen or fabricated. But at least he's okay."
"Sounds like they were afraid of getting caught." McKendrick said. "Quillon's death must have spooked them. Probably why they were moving him so soon. No sign of where he had been kept either, I take it?"
"Nope." Dean said as he pulled the chair closer to the bed when the doctor finished. "Once Sam wakes up, we're hitting the road. So, you know, thanks and...stuff." He thought. He wasn't sure on McKendrick. But Dean's trust in others wasn't very high to start with.
McKendrick sighed. "Are you sure that's wise?" He asked. "They are going to be looking for you... at least give a little time for them to fixate on someone new for their agenda."
"Everytime we stay in one place, or return somewhere familiar, Sam gets captured." Dean said shaking his head. "Forget it. We've all got jobs, he's mine."
"That's because you have a pattern, Dean. You go from cheap motel to cheap motel along back roads. It makes you hard for cops to find, easy for profilers and that's what they use."
"Thanks for that." Dean said. "I'll beat them at their own game. Or Sam will, he's the smart one." He just wished his brother would wake up. Though, with the amount of fluids they were pumping into him, Dean was sure he wouldn't get so much as a 'hi' when Sam woke up. It would be a mad dash to the toilet. "Where's the nearest bathroom?" He asked, thinking about that.
"It's just across the hall." Allen said with a smile. "At least stay long enough to get him back on his feet." He asked and started toward the door. "Neither of you have to do this alone." He went out. "I'll send up lunch." He added as he closed the door behind him.
"So that's the politician we were supposed to X out." Dean said tiredly to Joshua as he watched his brother. "Apparently he and Quillon have been in a prick waving contest for years. Leave it to us to get caught in the middle of that."
Josh frowned. "He comes off all squeaky clean." He said. "But I got a bad feeling... speaking of feelings... you better call Missouri or she will thump you long distance.."
"Good. You don't trust him either. Thought I was just paranoid. But two paranoids means there'sa chance we're right, and not just paranoid." He said as he took out his cell. "Yeah, she probably would too." He said as he dialed Missouri's number. "Missouri, we've got him. He's sleeping it off right now."
"Good. I knew he would come back to us in one piece, poor baby. You take care of him and bring him by here before you leave town. I think I might have something to help you out with that quest of yours."
"Sam's quest." Dean said. Dean was just going along with it because it kept him occupied. But come on. An angelic sword once wielded by Attila in a curiosity shop in the Dust Bowl? Clearly a drug induced hallucination. But he went along with it. "But we will. Waiting for him to wake up right now."
"Alright, baby. Be careful."She said as she hung up.
It took several hours for the drugs to finally start to work their way out of Sam's system. He moaned softly, stirring in the bed.
"Hey." Dean said, going over to the bed. "Finally waking up, huh princess?" But it was a good sign to Dean.
"Dean?" Sam asked, his eyes darting around the room, not recognizing his surroundings, taking in the unnatural looking yellow tint of the IV bag. "Are you alright?" He managed to get out, he was still groggy, and wasn't sure he could stay awake for more than a moment or two.
"I'm good." Dean said. "They got an IV on you, the one usually given to drunks. And here you thought I'd be the first one to get one of them." He said with a grin. Sam was still woozy and foggy, but he was awake. That made Dean a happy camper.
"What? Why? Where are we?" He asked struggling to sit up, but he had no motor control yet and fell back against the pillows.
"Easy there, kiddo." Joshua said and frowned when the windows started to rattle for no obvious reason.
"Dean..." Sam started to repeat. "Where..."
"We're at McKendrick's place right now." Dean said. "You got taken again, I don't know by who. Think it was by Quillon, but he did a swan dive off the roof, so we'll probably never know for sure. You remember Jacob, right? He got old. But just rest up. When everything's out of your system, we'll talk more, okay?"
The windows rattled even more violently, the glass seemed to bow outward a little more each time. "Taken?" He muttered, fighting to keep his eyes open. "We're at Allen's?" He asked, and groaned, running a hand over his face.
"Dude, takea deep breath." Dean said, noticing the windows and squeezing his brother's forearm for emphasis. "Yeah, we're at Allen's. Saved your butt again. Don't worry about it, you can pay me back in beer and tequila."
Sam lay back against the pillows once more. "Not... not captured now though... right? You're okay?" He asked again, having a hard time with short term memory. Of course when you aren't completely conscious its not hard to lose track of what people have said to you.
"Yeah, dude, I'm fine. Not captured. Neither are you." Dean assured him. "Just get some rest so we can get out of here. The guy doesn't even drink real beer, must be afraid that the voters might find out and all."
Sam relaxed and let his eyes close, no longer fighting to keep them open. He began to breath deeply and steadily once more.
"Was that Sam...doing the thing with the windows?" Joshua asked with a frown.
Dean covered his brother up and laid his hand against Sam's forehead. "Good, no fever." He said and looked at Josh. "Uh, yeah. That was him. Told you he was...special. And not 'riding the short bus to school' special, either."
"Well good to know your definition of special has changed where Sam is concerned." He said with a faint laugh. He remembered when the boys were old enough to start arguing. Or more to the point, old enough that Dean was relegated to brother status, not surrogate father any longer.
"Yeah well, eventually I started to grow up I guess." Dean said with a chuckle. "Had to happen eventually, right?"
"Jury is still out on that one." Joshua said bluntly. "But for now, it seems to be leaning in your favor." Grown up? Not in a million years. Not with the last name Winchester. More mature than a 16 year old? Hecould concede that much.
Dean laughed. "I said 'started to grow up,' not grownup in all actuality." He clarified. Though in some ways, he had been more grown up than John by the time Dean was eight years old. "Okay, guess we should finish lunch now." He was starting to get his appetite back, that was a good sign.
Josh laughed. "You're a Winchester. You'll never completely grow up." He could remember when John was young, before the demon took his wife. John had been a good marine and a responsible husband and father, but grown up? Never. There had been an odd sense of humor about the man, a need to laugh and make others laugh. It had hurt to see that die with Mary and the realization that the world wasn't a happy place.
"Yeah, well, that would be boring." Dean said with a chuckle as he finished his sandwich. "When we're outta here, I gotta talk to you about what Sam wants to look for next." But he wouldn't do it here.
Joshua nodded and looked up as the food was brought in. He didn't say anything about Sam having wakened. Didn't see any need for the senator to know every detail about what went on in the room. He didn't trust the man. Politicians... worse than Demons almost every day of the week.
"You should have seen Dad when he came back." Dean said. A safe subject. "He was a different person, but still Dad, you know? Wonder what life would have been like if that was the version of him that raised us sometimes. He was...relaxed."
"Your dad... was a good man. But he had a wicked sense of humor, and a dirty mind that kept your mother blushing most of the time." He said with a smile. "I don't know what sort of men you would have become, or what your relationships would have been, but I can guarantee there would have been a lot of laughter. "
"Somedays I'd trade the laughter for everything else we've been through." Dean said, the 'we' in the statement meaning more Sammy than him. "Just seems too unreal that this all happens to actual people and not something Stephen King thought up."
"I wish you could have known the man I knew in the beginning." Joshua said. "He loved your mother... I know you know that but it's not the same. He used to look at her and the feeling between them was almost physically tangeable." He said. "It was electric... not often you find a love like that. "
"I don't remember much about my parents as a combined entity." Dean said. It was understandable. He was so young when his mother was taken. "Did I ever tell you what happened after the exorcism, in New Orleans? Mom was there. She came for him."
"I'm glad... being apart from her... it wasn't just that she died... or even how she died... it as as though she took everything but the shell of John Winchester with her. The man you knew as your father... was only John Winchester in name only. Well ... that and the bull headed streak."
"And he did have one hell of a bull headed streak. Crawled out of hell after all." Dean said with a chuckle. Only his father would be stubborn enough to do that. He wasn't even sure Joshua would have tried it if he were in his position.
"Yeah, I have a feeling he knew he had to get back to you two." Joshua said. "He didn't tell me everything he knew. There were some things that he kept close to his chest and never shared... but he knew things... things about the two of you and Mary..."
"Mom?" Dean said, putting his food down as he looked at Joshua in surprise. "There was something about Mom?" He couldn't imagine what it would be. His mother was angelic in his mind, made even more so in New Orleans.
"Don't know what it was but... if she came to get him, it obviously couldn't be anything about her that was... wrong... probably just some detail that attracted the demon perhaps."
"Maybe." Dean said. And dropped the subject in his mind. With everything else completely screwed up in his life, his mother was a symbol of all that was pure, and light and golden. For his own sanity, he couldn't afford doubts on that matter. "When Sam wakes up, we'll probably move."
"I don't blame you." Joshua said. "When we get out of here, you can tell me where. Don't know when he's gonna wake up though. He's pretty out of it."
"So what do you know about fallen angels and non fallen angels?" Dean asked. If that conversation was overheard, it wouldn't matter. It was common knowledge by those who made it a point to know that Sam and Dean not only had a fallen angel chasing them buthad beenpossessed by two at one point.
"Not as much as I probably should, given our line of work." He said. "I know there was a war in heaven and a third of the angels were kicked out for insubordination and that's where the first generation demons come from."
"Yeah, I got that part." Dean said. "Wish they'd get a new hobby other than screwing with humans. Really, if we're God's favorite creations, hate to see what happens to the ones He doesn't particularly care for."
"They probably don't exist anymore, and that's the whole reason we're on the demonic shit list. Angels don't really have a choice. They don't get to crawl on their knees and make up with the boss. We do."
"Yeah, guess you're right." Dean said. "Sure am sick of being used asa punching bag though." He mused. "Guess it'll all turn out all right. Gonna have to. Because if I have to crawl out of hell, I'm gonna make plenty of demons sorry."
"Well let's see if we can't keep you out of hell for a few years longer, shall we? Not sure the rest of us here could contain Sam if you went any time soon."
"You're right." Dean said. "God I wish this day would just end. But then again, tomorrow might be even worse, so I shouldn't think like that. I just need Sam to have one coherent moment, and then I can sleep without Missouri drugging me again. That was a cheap trick you know."
"Yeah well if she hadn't you would have collapsed in a few hours anyway. Just as well that she did. Needed you rested to go after him."
"I can stay awake longer than that." Dean said with a scowl as he watched his brother sleep.
It took a couple of days, but Sam finally came around and got his strength back. Dean was itching to get out of there, and McKendrick could tell.
"I've arranged for a political speech today in downtown." McKendrick said. "That will draw all the troopers, marshals and cops for security. You should be okay." He said.
"Thank you." Sam said. "I appreciate everything you've done." He told the senator. This had definitely turned out differently than he had expected. In some ways it gave him hope. After all, McKendrick was doing good deeds. Sure Dean pointed out it was for political brownie points... but what if it wasn't?
"Thanks." Dean said as he picked up the bags.
"If you need anything, don't hesitate to call." Allen said. "I mean it. You two are trouble magnets."
Dean laughed. "Yeah, well, it's part of the charm. We're also chick magnets too."
"Well, Dean is. I just attract trouble... and mad scientists apparently." Sam said, blushing slightly. He sighed as Dean grabbed the bag he had been reaching for. "I'm fine, you know."
"Yeah, yeah, shut up and get in the car." Dean said, Joshua was meeting them at a rest stop where he'd finally be told about the latest adventure they were embarking on. Because that damn sword thing just wouldn't rest. Sam spent enough time mumbling about it in his sleep.
"Jerk." Sam said with a laugh as he did exactly that. He was ready to shake the dust of Kansas off his feet. Every time he came here it was trouble... serious trouble.
Dean laughed as he pulled out of the estate. "Okay, well, at least that adventure is done. Should we check out some curiosity shops or find an ugly ass demon to kill?"
"Let's check out a couple of shops while we research an ugly ass demon to kill." Sam suggested. "I'm sure Uncle Josh has a few in mind. That's why we're going to meet him, right?"
"Well, that and to tell him about your visions you've been having. Didn't want to discuss them in that house. I know you like the guy, but still. I'm not convinced on which side he's working for." Dean said as he drove. "I just want to find the damn sword so you stop keeping me up at night as you ramble on about it in your sleep. And dude, you talk pretty loud." He had to turn the radio up in the senator's guest room so Sam wouldn't be over heard. Because Dean was that paranoid.
"Do you think we should let him in on it?" Sam asked. "You dont think he is going to think I'm... well... evil or nuts or something?"
Dean stared out at the highway as he drove. "Well, actually, he kinda knows." Dean said. "I told him. Had to. You know him, he doesn't take half answers to anything." And waited for the explosion. He just hoped Sam didn't take it out on his car. He'd hate to have to beat the shit out of the younger man when he was still recuperating.
"What? How much did you tell him?" Sam demanded. "You didn't tell him about the others, did you? About the order? Dean, we swore not to tell ANY one." He couldn't believe his brother had already broken that oath.
"I told him about you. That was it. Had to, Sam, you were shaking the windows. And he knows Quillon was one too." Dean said. "I didn't break the oath, but what was I supposed to do?"
He sighed. "I don't know... I haven't seen him in years, I don't know how much I can trust him. He was Dad's friend, not ours... I want to think we can trust him, but the other hunters... they aren't going to understand."
"Which is why no one's telling the other hunters." Dean said. "Besides, he's kinda tight with Missouri, and if you think she doesn't know, you've got another thing coming. And no, I didn't tell her if that's your next question. Didn't have a chance, she drugged me almost as soon as I got there." Because he was that exhausted and that stubborn.
Sam laughed. "Nice. You must have been pretty messed up for her to drug you into unconsciousness. Although she said she did the same thing to Dad, so don't feel so bad. "
"Don't feel bad? Dude, I was drugged. Then I was tucked in." Dean said. "Eventually they'll see us as adults. Okay, here's the rest stop where we're supposed to meet him." Dean said pulling in and parking the car, getting out for a needed stretch.
Sam got out as well. "Yeah well... I've done it to you too... so ... you'll live, you always have in the past." He said as he stretched and sighed as his neck popped and it didn't send him to his knees in pain. "Although I didn't tuck you in... and I wasn't ... exactly me at the time..well.. .I was me but... not... never mind."
"Sometimes my head hurts listening to you." Dean said with a chuckle. He saw Joshua's SUV come rolling in. "There he is." And looked at his watch. "On the dot. Like usual."
"Well my head doesn't hurt." Sam said with a grin. "Thank god. My self control was wearing pretty thin." He looked over at the SUV. "Oh wow... he still has a sheep dog. I wouldn't have expected that."
"Yeah apparently Nana got out one night...and...you get the rest." Dean said with a laugh as he waved to Joshua. "Sam's feeling a lot better. Even starting to use those college words again."
Sam laughed. "Sorry, I will try to keep it down to 5 letters or less so you can keep up." He teased in return. "Well I understand you have seen a lot more of me lately than I have seen of you. Thanks."
"Any time... don't do it again." Josh said with a grin.
Dean chuckled and slugged his brother in the shoulder for the five letters or less comment as he pulled out a map. "Okay, so Sam's having visions of a sword. Way whacked out, and keeping me up at night. Here's what we've got so far, curiosity shops in the area. We're gonna hit the one outside Topeka."
"So in the interest of getting a good night's sleep, you are going to hunt for a sword that may or may not exist, or may or may not be tied to the yellow eyed demon..." Joshua nodded. "Alright. Well... I can keep an eye out for curiosity shops and swords. Any particulars about it?"
"It's supposed to be the sword of Ares... you know the sword Attila the Hun carried." Sam pointed out.
"So it's mythical... and if it isn't, it was used to wage war... nice... you two sure this is a good idea?"
"Well, it was either this or build up Sammy's porn collection." Dean said, straight faced. "And he's still embarassed we know about his love for porn, so in the interest of not having my eyebrows shaved while I'm sleeping, yeah this is a good idea."
"Dude, I so don't have a porn collection. And you were the one with the habit of removing hair when people sleep." Sam pointed out.
"Someone has to remove your hair from time to time." Dean said with a chuckle. "So that's where we're at." He said to Joshua. "Maybe you can figure out exactly what Sam's supposed to do with this mythical mystical sword of war. Other than lop his toes off. And mine."
"Oh I figure it has something to do with fighting a war." York said. "At least that's the most obvious answer. Mystical creatures sometimes need mystical weapons to defeat them."
"Great." Dean said with a chuckle. "Good to know our lives are so nice and simple and uncomplicated. Okay, so we'll head this way and cover the ones over here. Let us know if you hear of anything on your end."
"Will do." Josh said looking at John's Boys. "You know...everything in life is simple. Like computers... everything breaks down into if A, then B. Zeroes and Ones. Keep it simple, because contrary to popular belief, most everything else follows that pattern too. " Josh said as he headed toward his truck. "And buff the rust out of the back bumper. You're spilling too much salt on her."
Dean had to go check the bumper. "It's not rust, it's dirt!" He said defensively as he brushed it off.
"Then wash it!" Joshua called out. Dean shook his head as Josh got back into his vehicle.
"Ever notice how all of Dad's friends think we're twelve still?" Dean said to Sam with a chuckle as he brushed the dirt off the bumper.
"Could be because you act twelve." Sam suggested doing his best not to smirk as he did so.
Dean playfully punched him in the shoulder. "That makes you eight, egghead." Dean said. "Come on, let's see what we can find on the wide open road. Oh, here." Dean said, handing him a cell phone. "Brand spanking new. Totally clean too."
"I didn't say you WERE 12, just that you acted it." Sam said with a grin. "Thanks." He said about the cell phone. "So where to first?"
"I don't know, Topeka?" Dean said. "That's where we were going to go anyway, right? Pick up a lap top for you on the way, all that nerdy stuff."
"Gotta do something with my hard earned paycheck." Sam said with a laugh. "You know I think it's completely ironic that we spent less time in the apartment than we do in most hotel rooms." He got into the car, and settled comfortably into the passenger's seat.
"Yeah, that was weird, wasn't it? I never even got to hook up with one of the cute girls either." Dean said mournfully. "And I also think it's strange he paid you for being all sick and crap in his back room. No, not weird. Completely twisted. Not complaining, the money is nice, but man, that's weird."
"We have... things in common." Sam said. "He was just... I don't know... responding to that I guess. I feel a little less like a freak though. I mean... he's as normal as you can be under the circumstances. Living a life society considers normal... whether it is under the surface isn't always the point, ya know."
"Well, still not sure if it's less lucrative than selling you to the circus, but it'll do." Dean said lightly. "Ironic. When you think about it, anyway. His life is completely on the up and up on paper. Could be all twisted behind closed doors for all we know. Us? On paper we're completely screwed up. But you know what? I think underneath it all, we're kinda normal."
"Normal? Dean... name one normal thing about our lives." Sam gave Dean an incredulous look. "Cause I don't see it." On paper they were wanted felons, with a fixation on graveyard hijinks, and homicide. Underneath it all... they were basically good people, but they still did most of the things they were accused of, just not the homicide. Monsters didn't count.
"Okay. Normal." Dean said as he pulled back onto the highway and got off the next exit. "We like going out and having fun. We like The Simpsons." He named off a few more of their more normal attributes. "And when push comes to shove, I know you've got my back and you know I've got yours. Because that's what family does. Nice, normal families."
Sam laughed. "Yeah I suppose, but there are men on death row that could say the same thing." Sam said then shook his head. "Then again... you almost wound up there because of all this ... again."
"I'd do it again, Sam." Dean said as he drove. "So any more visions or dreams on this sword? You've been mumbling a lot in your sleep, you know."
"Yeah, more of the same though... a lot of post apocalyptic stuff too... sometimes I think I am just tapping into some second rate movie writer." Sam said with a sigh.
"Always knew you were a geek." Dean said as he opened a bag of M&Ms and held it between his knee as he drove. "Anything helpful in those dreams? I mean, we're not post apocalyptic yet. Well, maybe parts of New Orleans, but I kinda don't want to go back there."
"Neither do I... this was Seattle. I recognized the space needle." He said. "It was bad... not zombie movie apocalypse either. I don't think it's demonic in origin... at least not the state humanity is in... but who knows..." He sighed. "I don't think there is anything helpful there other than a warning."
"Oh nice. Gotta love those warnings." Dean said. "Wish they came with instruction manuals or something too though. Subtitles maybe."
Sam laughed. "Nice, dreams with subtitles... voice over... Yeah that would be helpful but it would also be creepy as hell. " Sam adapted a soothing voice over worthy of a disney nature flick. "The space needle, once an icon of space age architecture, stands empty now. Grafitti covers the once pristine surface..." he shook his head. "I could do without it."
"Dude, you start talking like some nature show or cartoon, I'm smothering you in your sleep." Dean said with a laugh. "Hey, the space needle was in one of those sci fi shows a fewyears back." Dean said. "The chicks in itwere hot."
"Thank you... that's where that imagery came from. I loved that show... even if that one guy looked way too much like you for comfort. You know the one killing and stealing people's teeth. "
"Yeah, he was a little messed up." Dean said with a laugh. "His clone was a total player though. You know something weird, Dad liked that show. Probably because it had no demons or any restless spirits in it."
"Probably." Sam said. "That and the whole subset of culture thing trying to make the world a better place." He shrugged. "Still.. even if the imagery was something from pop culture... I still think it's a warning."
"Could be. But is it a warning of what happens if we don't find the sword, or if we do? Or a fake warning from the demon to throw us off course? LikeI said dude, you need subtitles and a program." Dean said with a chuckle. They'd find the sword, because that was the first vision.
"I don't know... for all I know it's not connected to the sword at all." Sam shook his head. "It could have been nothing but side line imagery too. Not going to worry about it until I get something more clear."
"Or maybe you should have stayed asleep longer because you were working up to a nice hot porn like dream with Jessica Alba." Dean suggested with a smirk. "Not everything is dark and heavy you know."
Sam shook his head and rolled his eyes. "Pervert." He said with a laugh. Okay, maybe there was a little bit of normal in their lives.
Dean laughed as he drove. "So?" He said. "It's fun, you should try it. Tell you what, when we get to the first store, you can talk dirty to the proprietor and practice."
"Dude, you're the one that flipped out that I had watched porn once... I am so not going to talk dirty in front of you. " He said shaking his head. "I'm starving... let's pickup some thing to eat soon."
"I did not flip out at you watching porn. I flipped out that I had to catch you watching porn. We should have a signal or something, so next time I know you're watching porn and I take an extra long walk to a bar or something." Dean said. "Okay, how about Arby's?" He said with a shrug, seeing one up a head.
"Arby's is good and you didn't have to watch me watching porn you came in and turned the tv off. " Sam pointed out. "And it's been burned into your little brain ever since. I'm not a saint you know.." He grinned a little.
"Dude, I know you're not a saint." Dean said with a laugh. "You're just weird. I've offered to get you a real girl, not a relationship, just a girl, and you prefer to watch videos. Weird. Sometimes I have no idea how we're related." He joked.
"I'm just not a... one night stand kind of guy, I guess." Sam said with a shrug. Every one he got close to wound up dead, so why bother even tempting fate?
"Don't worry, I'll pick up the slack for you." Dean said with a laugh. "Give Andy a call, let him know we're free and clear for the moment, see how things are going. See if he's scored with Zoe yet." He said with a smirk.
"Pervert." Sam repeated good naturedly as they pulled into the Arby's parking lot. "While I do that, why don't you go get us some food?"
"I'm the pervert? You're the one fixated on whether Dad and Ellen got a little busy." Dean said. "Yeah, just don't disappear on me again, okay?" He said as he reached over Sam into the glove compartment and grabbed some cash.
"Not going anywhere." He said as he started to dial Andy's number. "And it isn't the physical I wonder about." Sam pointed out.
"That's because you're a nerd." Dean said with a laugh as he got out of the car and headed into Arby's, to get a whole bunch of food. Nice, greasy, bad for you fast food. No salads or deli sandwiches or whatever. Grease. Salt.
The man looked up from where he waited for his order. He was tall, strongly built, with dark wavy hair, pulled back at the nape of his neck. Dark eyes locked on Dean's for a moment as though looking into his soul then he simply nodded and returned his attention to the counter.
Dean nodded back a bit. That was..weird. And he felt like he'd been stripped naked in the middle of Arby's and examined. But he turned his attention back to the person taking his order as he ordered for his brother and him. His first thought was he was a cop, and had recognized him or something. But he didn't SEEM likea cop, and Sam had enough worries without mentioning it.
"Can't imagine what would bring anyone here." The man said, with a hint of an Australian accent. "Nothing here but dust bunnies and cattle."
"Topeka has a good zoological park. They recreated a whole rainforest in there." Dean said idly. He'd read that in some brochure. "To others, it passes as home."
"Recreated a rainforest in Kansas huh... now there's trip." He said with a grin. "Still," he said taking his food and double checking the contents of the bag, "it's a real waste of time... and that's the gospel truth." He added, dark eyes twinkling as he started toward the door.
Dean stared after him for a moment. Strange man.
"Sir?" The counter person said, holding out his bags of food.
"Yeah, thanks." Dean said, taking the food. He looked back toward the door, the man had already left. So he shrugged to himself and went back to the car, dropping the bag of food in Sam's lap. "So is Andy getting lucky yet?" He asked with a grin, forgetting about the man. People made small talk waiting in line after all.
"I didn't ask him." He said giving his brother a long suffering look as he took the bag to dig out something to eat. "They are starting to look for alternative housing. I figured if we were found it might be compromised some how. Too risky to stay put."
Dean took the fries as he started to drive. "What do you mean you didn't ask? Dude, I give you one small little task, and you decide to discuss housing for our escaped psychics? What kind of leader are you? You're completely msising out on the big issues."
"I'm not going to invade Zoe's privacy because you're curious. You wanna know, you can ask him." Sam said with a laugh. "So how far to this curiosity shop?"
"Fine. I will. Pansy." Dean said with a laugh, around a mouthful of fries. "Ah, I don't know, an hour?" He said. "Probably one in a long line, but hey, we haven't had a good road trip in ages."
"Yeah. Couldn't get so lucky as to have it be in the first place we look." Sam said as he readjusted in the seat and took out another beef sandwich.
"Dude, that would totally negate the whole idea of a quest if it was at the local corner store." Dean said with a laugh. "And every good fellowshipneeds a quest, right, Samwise?"
"Yeah, don't go losing any fingers there, Frodo." Sam said shaking his head. "Quests are trouble... but what choice do we have?"
"Well, there's the obvious. Don't go." Dean said. "But you'd keep having the visions and the dreams, I'd never get any sleep, and we'd end up going anyway. At least this way we're well rested, right? So you'll be able to recognize it as soon as we step in it? Would save some time."
"If it looks just like the vision, maybe. But since they are throwing in imagery from pop culture, who knows how literal the vision is? These are different. The ones I got from the demon were literal, exact images. This is different. No wonder all the prophesy in the world is written in riddles. You can't figure the damned things out until they actually happen."
"If you ask me," Dean said, and Sam shot him a look, clearly saying he hadn't asked, "that whole space needle thing? That was just the start of a really freaky, in a good way freaky, dream. But we'll hit as many as we can along the way. Curiosity shops aren't the big business they once were, so it's not like we've got a million. Maybe just a couple thousand." He said with a chuckle.
"No doubt all of them have some sort of supernatural thing going on. That much weird shit in one place is going to attact something." Sam said with a laugh. He didn't believe Dean's take on the whole dream thing. He thought there was something coming... something dark enough to over shadow everything they had experienced to date.
"Well, we'll see. At least it will keep us busy." He felt better when he was hunting, when he was being productive. When he was just DOING something period. This quest seemed so aimless. "But, I don't know, I don't think it's in Kansas at all, thinking about it now. Just a feeling."
"Any ideas where else to look?" Sam asked. He had spent his entire life trusting Dean's instincts. Not necessarily his logic, but always his instincts.
"I don't know, you said Dust Bowl, right? Nebraska? Northern Texas? I just don't know that Kansas is the place to look. Call it just a funny feeling." Dean said with a shrug. "So pick which way when we come up to this intersection."
"Head south." Sam said. Nebraska just didn't feel right, and in a search like this instinct was as important as hard core information. Besides, maybe his next vision would give him more details.
"Yeah, maybe Oklahoma." Dean mused as he switched tapes in the tape deck. "Besides, we should hit a pawn shop anyway, we're running low on silver."
"Need to stock up on rock salt too. Harder to come by this time of year. Unless we get the ice cream salt." He suggested. "So, when we get to the next town I'll find a hot spot and check out the locations of curiosity shops."
"Sounds like a plan." Dean said. "Do you realize we have a better grasp of road geography than pretty much everyone else?" He said with a laugh. "All this criss crossing and back again."
"You, me and long haul truckers." Sam said with a laugh. He fell silent for a while, lost in thought. Out of his entire life, there had only been 4 years that he had been able to say he had a home. The rest of his life had been utterly nomadic. Ironic that Dean also only had 4 years of so called normal life.
"But hey, sometimes it's fun, right? I mean, we've been known to have a good time." Dean said as he headed south, towards Oklahoma. Out of Kansas, because bad things usually happened in Kansas, or had their start in Kansas. Bad, twisted dark things.
The last time they had been in Oklahoma, they had found Andy. Which was why Sam picked up his cell phone and called him as they crossed the Oklahoma state line a few hours later."Hey man, just stay on Route 66, there is all sorts of interesting shit you can find there. Granted, not all of it's supernatural but I don't know that what you are looking for is going to be found in a supernatural hotspot... I mean... that would be kinda dangerous wouldn't it? Anyway... you gotta at least check out Commerce. It won't be there.. but man... it's Mickey Mantle's home town... how can you pass that up?" Andy asked. "They have a museum there and everything. "
"Dude, we definitely have to check that out." Dean said, having turned the radio off to listen to the conversation. "He's an American icon. Maybe we can find a baseball hat to fit Sam's big head."
"I do not have a big head." Sam said defensively, before going back to asking Andy questions about how things were going, then asking him to tell Ash he wanted him to keep an eye on McKendrick. He was grateful to the man, but didn't trust him completely.
"Sure, will do." Andy said.
"Hey, Andy! How are you and Zoe doing? Or what are you doing?" Dean called out, and if it was possible to hear someone blush, Sam would be hearing Andy blush a nice deep scarlet right now.
"So, ah, Sam, we'll hear from you soon, right?" He said instead.
"Yeah, I'll start checking in every couple of days again. Thanks man. Talk to you then." Sam said and hung up. "Dude, you are fixated." He said to his brother. "Seriously."
"Dude, I'm not. I was curious, and if you had asked him when you talked to him last, I wouldn't have had to." Dean said pointedly. It was all Sam's fault, after all, right? Made sense in his big brother world in any case. "So, we swing by Commerce then."
"Yeah we can swing by Commerce." Sam said with an indulgent smile. Dean was seriously into baseball. One of the things he was really good at as a kid that had nothing to do with the huntand it didn't matter if he had to move all the time or not.
"Oh thanks." Dean said with a laugh. "Seeing as I'm driving and it's my car and all. Thanks for the permission psychic wonder boy." He teased. "Besides, this is so absurdly normal, visiting the Mickey Mantle museum. You wanted an example of normal, right?"
Sam laughed. "Yeah I guess it is the height of normal... baseball ... Oklahoma... can't get much more banal than that."
"Banal?" Dean said, and started into a nice lecture on how baseball was anything BUT banal. At least to him. He could read a simple box score and envision the whole game in his head. Helped, since he missed games, what with his unorthodox and unpredictable work schedule!
Sam let Dean continue with his lecture. He was animated, getting into it with an excitement that Sam rarely saw anymore. In some ways it made him feel bad about their childhood, how much Dean had lost, because part of him could see Dean playing ball professionally if he had been given the chance to do so. Even if it was only in the minors.
"And Mickey Mantle...he drank more than both of us combined. Got laid more than me, even. And he was STILL the best player that ever played the game." Dean said. "I tell ya, he's my role model. Sure his liver was fried and he needed a transplant, but still. He's a role model."
"Yeah, that would explain a lot." Sam said with a grin. "Although let's try and keep the fried liver and all down to a dull roar. I have a feeling that would be harder to pull you back from than a failing heart."
"Just because two beers and you're singing bad kareoke..." Dean said with a laugh. "But, that's what you get for doing all that studying and stuff in high school and crap. And I'm not the worst one in our little fellowship. Ash drinks more than me. I think Bobby does too. And Andy...we can burn his ashes and get high off them. Over and over again. So what did Missouri give you to help us on our little mission?" He asked, they'd stopped there the day before they'd left.
"Nothing much. Just that someone would show up... a guide or a teacher or something. She didn't have details, but she said it was someone that could help us with the sword."
"Well, that's something." Dean said. "Hopefully they come with a resume and excellent credentials." He joked. "Though I wish visions were clearer, I really do. Everything is so freaking vague."
"Yeah, well I would settle for not splitting my head open when they hit, but yeah it would help. Seems like everything since the battle in New Orleans has been seriously encrypted."
Dean laughed. "Sounds like some old historical battle we had to learn in school. The demonic battle of New Orleans. Wonder how the history books are writing this one up." Since the damage had been major, and the news coverage had been 24-7 while it was going on. "So we're gonna get a guide, huh? Hope it'sa she, and I hope she's cute."
Sam laughed and shook his head. "Dude, I think you need to stop by a bar or something tonight. You're fixated again."
"Dude, you make me sound like a junkie." Dean said with a scowl. "But it wouldn't hurt for us to go out, right? I mean, we broke the Hooter's curse. You were injured BEFORE we went there, after all. And you didn't pass out until AFTER I paid the bill."
Sam looked at his brother like he had grown a second head. "Yeah I guess we can go out. Probably need a beer after checking out the curiosity shop. "
"You're probably right." Dean said with a laugh as he pulled off onto the main road of a town, finding a motel.. "Okay, let's bunk down for the night. We can talk about strip clubs in the morning." He said, fighting a yawn. They'd been driving all day, and he hadn't slept that great at the senator's.
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