Chapter 4: Hush

Sammy turn the damn alarm off!

As the blaring continued, Dean turned over onto his back, refusing to open his eyes. His arm flailed over the side of the bed in search of the intrusive alarm. He finally found it and slammed down on the snooze button a little harder than was necessary. He let his arm hang back down as he tried desperately to cling to the sleep bogging down his brain but unfortunately it was too late and the fog began to lift.

Great not even an extra couple of minutes. That alarm got off easy…

While he lay in his bed, his eyes still closed, he noticed that he didn't hear anything coming from the other bed. Normally if there was noise it would be coming from the bathroom or the little table in the corner of the room where Sam would be tapping away on the keyboard. But there was nothing so he knew he had to check to see if his brother was even still there.

He cracked his eyes open cautiously against the glare of the sun coming through the window next to the door. He sat there for a minute waiting for the door to open and his brother to appear holding a nice big cup of coffee for his awesome big brother. But as time passed and nothing happened, Dean got bored so he turned to sit up. Then he spotted something he hadn't expected at all.

Sam was lying in bed with his back towards his brother. Dean quickly glanced at the clock, 7:06 am. A small smile appeared on his face.

Finally the poor kid gets to sleep without the damn visions or nightmares.

But his smile slowly faded when he saw that his brother wasn't moving and he wasn't making any noise, not even the quiet snores that always accompanied the little sleep that he got. Quickly his instincts took over as he got off the bed and hurried around his sibling's mattress so that he could crouch in front of his brother and look him in the face.

As he crouched he lay a hand on his brother's shoulder in preparation to shake him but also to know that his brother's skin was still warm. He sighed with relief when he felt that it was, now he just had to wake him up. He softly shook his brother's shoulder.

Sam?

Nothing. He saw his brother's chest rise and fall gently with the deep breaths of sleep. He had a content and relaxed look on his face and it even looked as if some of the colour that Dean had noticed his baby brother seemed to be missing nowadays, had returned. He almost felt sorry for having to wake his brother up, but they had to get going or they'd lose interrogation time.

Again he shook his brother's shoulder, a little harder this time. Sam only responded by turning over onto his back and falling back into the black of sleep. Dean sighed and stood to get a better grip on his little brother's shoulder so he could shake him harder. And as he shook he finally got the groan that he was looking for, the one that signified Sam's return to the real world.

Dean, five more minutes.

He waited to hear his words so that Dean would back off. Suddenly his awareness came back and he slowly opened his eyes, blinking the sleep from them. He stared up at Dean confused, trying to figure out what was going on. Dean saw his brother's expression and returned Sam's look of confusion.

What time is it? he asked Dean. Or at least he thought he asked. He didn't hear anything come from his mouth and suddenly had to keep down a rising sense of panic.

Dean had seen Sam's mouth move and his confused expression only grew more intense as he tried to make out what his brother was trying to say. When he saw the slightly panicked look in Sam's eyes he knew he had to say something.

It's ok Sammy. What are you trying to say? He waited for Sam to answer before he realized what Sam had noticed about himself. He didn't hear anything come out of his mouth.

Both boys simply looked at each other before realization hit them like a speeding train, sending them into a moment of shock. Then as quickly as it had impacted Dean he recovered and turned, rushing to the small motel room table grabbing up a pen and a pad of paper when he got there.

Alright Sammy. We can't talk to each other anymore so I guess we're just gonna have to write everything down. Damn…my hand is gonna hurt like a bitch.

He scribbled out his message to Sam before turning back to his brother who was still sitting on his bed in shock, staring at Dean. He offered the pad in Sam's direction waiting for him to snap back to reality. That seemed to do it as Sam slowly got up and walked towards Dean, taking the pad from him. He just stood there for a moment as the fog of sleep and shock lifted from his brain before looking down and reading the message,

"This bitch is going down," it said in Dean's hasty scrawl.

Sam couldn't help the smile that broke out on his face as it sliced through the remaining emotions weighing down his psyche. He stepped beside Dean and grabbed the pen from him, placing the pad on the table in order to write his response. When he finished, he angled it towards Dean so he could read it.

"All this writing is gonna be a bitch."

It seemed that even though they couldn't talk to each other they still understood each other just fine. It was Dean's turn to give into the smile that crept onto his face, he couldn't believe how well his brother knew him but he would never tell his brother that.

The boys knew what they had to do next and so they didn't really have to go over that part of the plan. They decided to save their hands the torture of writing it all out by just going with what they had planned before. First they go to the morgue to examine the bodies and try to pick up any more details that the news articles missed. But before that they figured they should pick up some extra pads pf paper so that they wouldn't run out in mid sentence and have to play a very embarrassing game of charades in the middle o the interrogations.

It was eerie to get ready in silence. Normally they would be running over details and sorting out a game plan for the future, going over any other things that might need revision for this case. Instead they took turns in the shower, darted around the room getting dressed and packing any things they might need without a syllable being said, not that it would come out. Once they had gathered everything they glanced at each other and both nodded at each other to show they were ready and steppe out into the parking lot, Dean closing the motel room door behind him.

They reached the Impala and threw heir things in the back seat before settling in the front. Dean turned the ignition and the car sprang to life, making more noise than the brothers had heard all morning. It calmed them both, just the reassurance that it was indeed their voices that had been stolen and not their hearing.

Reaching forward out of habit, Dean turned on the radio and settled back in his seat while Drown You Out by Crossfade blared through the speakers. Both boys stopped to glance at the radio then each other, grimacing. As their eyes met they both shook their heads and Dean reached forward to his Metallica tape in.

Yah sure…just rub it in.

Now that Seek and Destroy was playing Dean changed gears and pulled out of the parking lot onto the nearly empty roads. They figured they'd stop to eat because stores wouldn't be open yet anyways, then they'd get their paper and go to the morgue.

Unknown to Sam, Dean was silently thanking whatever it was that took their voices. He didn't like that he was, but he'd rather not be able to talk then to have to hear Sam beg him for that secret one more time. Another chick flick moment like the one beside the water and he might just give it up. He couldn't let himself do that, both for himself and for his baby brother.

Maybe for a while it won't be so bad. He doesn't get to beg me and there's no chance I'm going to spill now. Sorry man but you've got to wait…hopefully a lot more.

As he was thinking he didn't realize that he was 'singing' along to the music because if he had he would have also been aware of the look he was getting. Sam sat in the passenger seat, staring at his brother with a look that said 'psycho much?'. He had his mouth open and was smiling incredulously at his sibling. Obviously the older man hadn't quite gotten the whole 'no voices means no singing' idea through his head.

Sam decided he'd let it continue and see how long it would take his brother to figure out what he was doing. And so Sam sat in silence watching his brother with a smile on his face thinking evil thoughts on how he could use this against Dean later.

Maybe for a while it won't be so bad. No singing, no sly remarks, no flirting…could be worth it. Sam thought to himself.