Chapter 5
I Feel Like A Hero
The scenery flashed by outside the windows of the Impala. Dean was fighting off a headache, which had sprung from his trip to the bar. He was more than happy to let Sam drive back to the motel room while he leaned back in the seat and watched what counted as rural New York fly by.
He gazed out the window, his eyes not really seeing what was flashing past. A few houses parted the trees and brush as the car sped down the road. Out of the corner of his eye, Dean saw a slight shift, a small change in the scenery, and focused his attention on it.
"Sammy, stop the car," he commanded, squinting between the trees to see what looked like the silhouette of a house. By looking closer, he could almost make out the form of a human struggling with something in the far-of driveway.
Suddenly, it was as if someone had hit the zoom button on a camera, and Dean was looking through the lense. Everything suddenly came into focus with startling clarity. A woman was standing out in the driveway of the house, trying unsuccessfully to lug a couch up the front steps that led to the door. She was blonde, in her mid-thirties, and well-built. She had bright blue eyes, pierced ears, and needed to wax her upper lip, although it wasn't as noticeable as it could have been.
"Hey, Sam," Dean said, blinking as he turned toward his brother and finding that whatever had happened to his vision had stopped, "look at that house. What do you see?"
Sam leaned toward the wheel to see past his brother and into the line of trees. "Looks like a person. Might just be a trick of the light, though."
"She needs help," Dean muttered, getting out of the car and walking toward the house. Behind him, he could hear Sam pulling the car over onto the gravel shoulder of the road, could hear his brother's footsteps, could hear every breath. He closed his eyes as the sound of gravel under his feet intensified, blocked out everything.
By the time he got to the house, Dean's hearing was back to normal, and the woman struggling with her couch looked very shocked to see him.
"Need some help, Ma'am?" the hunter asked, surprised by the woman's good looks, and happy to find that, unless his eyes were in Zoom Mode, the hair on her upper lip wasn't even noticeable.
She blinked up at him, taking a shaky step back. "Um…"
"It's ok," he smiled, holding up his hands to show that he had no weapons, "just a good Samaritan."
This seemed to put the woman at ease, as she smiled and relaxed, taking a step back toward him. "Actually, I could use some help," she admitted, "I just moved in and I bought furniture that won't even move up the driveway, let alone the stairs."
Dean grinned. "Well, maybe I can help you with that." He walked around to the other end of the couch, glancing up at the road to see Sam giving him a warning glance. "On three?"
The woman nodded. "One…"
"Two…"
"Three!" they said together, lifting the couch simultaneously. Dean made sure to angle it a bit, ensuring that the woman wouldn't have to do much work. She seemed surprised at how easy it was to lift the heavy piece of furniture.
Together, the pair moved the couch up the stairs and into the house, where Dean helped her place it carefully against one wall, facing a television that she'd placed earlier that day.
"Thank you so much," the woman gushed as they walked back out of the house together, "that was the last big piece and I wasn't sure that I could make it through."
"No problem, miss," Dean grinned, waving good-bye as he headed back toward the road and his brother. He reached Sam and his smile widened.
"What, she didn't invite you in for tea and sex?" Sam asked, raising an eyebrow.
"If she had," Dean replied, "do you really think I'd be out here talking to you right now?" he looked longingly back at the house, watching the woman walk inside and up to her bedroom. She closed the bedroom door and grabbed the bottom of her shirt, starting to lift it up over her head. "Dude, are you seeing this?"
"Seeing what?"
Dean turned to give his brother and incredulous stare, unable to believe that Sam was missing the peep show taking place before them. "Seriously? The chick is stripping in front of a window."
Sam squinted up at the house. "All the curtains are drawn, Dean."
The older man followed his brother's gaze. "What the hell?" he asked, finding brick walls and drawn shades where a nearly-naked woman had once stood. "But I know I saw her. She was right there."
"Maybe," Sam ventured as they turned back to the road and the car, "you saw through the wall."
Dean stopped in his tracks and stared at the younger man. "Come again?"
Sammy shrugged. "I dunno, but it makes sense, doesn't it? I mean, the strength and speed, the hearing, telescopic vision-"
"What?"
"You knew that woman needed help. And then you went all pervert on me. Does that particular list of powers sound familiar to you?"
Dean shook his head, stepping past his brother as he continued on his way to the car. "Not this again, Sammy."
"What's so farfetched about it, Dean?"
"Oh, I dunno, how about the part where you think I'm Superman? Yeah, that seems a little unusual to me."
"But the cape-"
"Dad's old costume," Dean reasoned as he reached the Impala and leaned against the hood of the car.
"What if it wasn't? What if it was something else? What if this is just the tip of the iceberg. Dean, what if you can fly?"
"What if you can shut up?" the older man mocked.
"Why is this so unbelievable?" Sammy asked, "after everything we've ever come up against, after everything that's happened to us-"
"If dad had a cape that could make him invincible, don't you think he'd wear it? Don't you think he'd take the danger out of everything? Why would he keep that from us? Why would he make himself vulnerable to every monster, demon, ghost, and goblin out there? No. There's some other explanation."
Sam sighed. "But what if I'm right? What if you're like Superman now?"
"If I was Superman," the older man said, "then I could do this." He stared down at his brother's sneakers, narrowing his eyes and concentrating. It was the classic superhero prank, shown countless times in comedy movies mostly aired on the Disney channel.
He blinked a couple of times as his eyes began to burn, rubbing at them with his hands, trying to stop the pain.
"Dean?" Sam asked as his brother shook his head, trying to clear the burning sensation from his eyes. He was still looking toward Sam's shoes, but the younger man wasn't about to let him keep on staring, not if something was wrong.
He tried to step toward his brother, but found himself unable to move. His shoes had been glued to the gravel at the side of the road, melted into it, sticking him firmly in place.
"Dean," Sam whispered, getting his brother's attention.
Dean shut his eyes tight before looking up at Sam, and the younger hunter could have sworn he'd seen a flash of red dart across the usual hazel of his brother's gaze. "Yeah?"
"What did you do?"
Dean shook his head. "Got something in my eyes."
"I can't move."
The older man glanced back down at his brother's shoes and smiled as he saw the melted black goo that had molded itself to the gravel shoulder.
"Hey," Dean shrugged, "at least you didn't lose 'em."
"Very funny," Sam growled, "Clark. Now help me out."
"You kidding me? After comparing me to that geeky alter-ego, you can help yourself." He grinned. "See you back at the motel, Sam." And with that, he was gone.