Disclaimer: Still not mine… none of it, except the dust bunnies in my head.

NOTE1: Thanks to cold kagome for the review of Chap 4 of this story. Thanks for the continued reviews, favs and alerts.

Chapter 5

When they pulled in front of the room Dean put the impala into park and held the key out to Cas. "Go ahead Cas; I'll be just a minute."

Cas frowned at Dean before saying softly, "It will be ok, I will take care of this for you."

Dean smiled wanly at Cas, "Thanks, Cas I was starting to feel pretty alone in all this."

Cas smiled back, nodded and got out of the car.

Dean smiled at how gently Cas shut the car door. Dean watched until Cas had unlocked the door, closing it behind him before he let his smile fall away. Coming back to this place was hard enough without having to stay the damn night, shit. He scrubbed at his eyes as he thought, keep the goal in mind, don't let go… don't forget… This. This was all about getting his brother back… getting Sammy. He closed his eyes and leaned his head back after turning his Kansas cassette down low. Just for a minute he thought.

Dean startled at the knocking on his car window. Shit, he'd fallen asleep. He hadn't meant to but he was so emotionally drained that he guessed he was more tired than he realized. He blinked at his window trying to make his eyes focus on the face pressed against it. Dean shook his head and wiggled his shoulders, then rubbed at his neck, rolling the window down a little with his free hand. "Cas."

Cas frowned at him as he said, "I have waited longer than a minute."

Dean smiled asking, "How many minutes Cas?" as he shooed Cas away from his door, rolling the window up and shutting off the car. Pulling his keys he slowly opened the door so he wouldn't hit Cas with it.

Cas waited until Dean closed his door and headed towards the trunk, opening it he noticed Cas was following him. Cas waited until Dean looked at him, "Seventy-four minutes." he said.

"Sorry Cas. I didn't mean to fall asleep." Dean said grabbing his duffel and closing the trunk. He checked the doors on the impala, locking them and heading towards the motel room. His steps slowed as he neared the room. He ended up stopping in the doorway and looking around the room. The layout was the same as the other one, but the decor was different. He released a breath laced with relief he didn't realize he'd been holding and stepped into the room.

Cas walked in behind him and closed the door.

Dean sat his duffel on the first bed out of habit.

Cas said out of the blue, "This room is… red."

Dean snorted, that was probably under stated, it was red wallpaper with huge white swirls and everything was accented in red.

"I will ward the room Dean, you should sleep." Cas said flatly.

"I don't need to. You whammied me and then I slept seventy-four minutes earlier, I'm going to grab a shower." Dean said grabbing clothes out of his bag and his shaving kit and going to the bathroom for his shower. Dropping the kit by the sink he shut the door and leaned against it. Then he bowed his head as he prayed, God, please. I need Sammy back. Please everything has been taken; I have nothing left. What kind of sick joke is it to give a shell of him back to me? He saved this world; doesn't he deserve a second chance too? Peeling off his clothes he set the temperature of the water, letting it adjust while he looked in the mirror. The circles under his eyes were dark, and he had at least six day stubble that he rubbed thoughtfully as he contemplated how the morning would go. With his Winchester luck he probably made this trip for nothing. It wouldn't be here… because shit just never went that easy for them.

He sighed dropping his hand and pulling the shower curtain open as he climbed into the shower. His head fell back as his eyes closed, letting the water run over his face an down his neck off his shoulders and sliding down his chest to run warmly over the rest of his body. He could feel the tension starting to leave his body as he stood in the shower. The steam had already filled the room and it felt like he was in a sauna. He opened the motel soap and threw the wrapper out of the shower onto the floor. Soaping up he remembered how Sammy had to have certain soap, shampoo and lets not forget the conditioner. Dean was not above using motel soaps and stuff, it was free. As long as it got him clean, he really didn't care where it came from. Shit, the things he thought of when he had too much time on his hands. He turned off the water and pulled back the shower curtain.

Grabbing a red towel off the shelf above the toilet to rub his hair dry tossing it on the floor as he then wrapped another one around him while he grabbed a hand towel to scrub his face dry, he opened the door and went over to the sink to grab his shaving supplies, dropping the hand towel beside the sink. He began shaving as he hoped by this time tomorrow he would be well on his way to Bobby's to shove Sammy's soul back where it belonged.

He heard Cas clear his throat from across the room.

Dean looked in the mirror to see Cas sitting on his bed with his hands clasped across his knees. "Yeah, Cas?"

"Did you loose your clothes? Do you need me to acquire more?" Cas asked as his head tilted to the side while he waited for his answer.

Dean laughed, "No Cas, I got it covered. I just wanted to shave before I get dressed."

"Why?" Cas asked.

"I don't know Cas, Sammy and I just never thought about." Dean stopped and went back to the shower area, closing the door and getting dressed. Coming back out he finished shaving in silence. This remembering doing this or that a certain way it happened with Sammy was starting to annoy him, what was he… a chick? Cause he sure as hell was acting like one. He shook his head as he walked over and plopped down on his bed. Hanging his head he sat there a few minutes, listening to the silence. Then he heard Cas move.

Cas stood before him and waited.

Dean started to feel a little unnerved and finally looked up.

Cas told Dean earnestly, "I will help you get Sammy his second chance." Dean's eyes widened as he saw Cas' two fingers coming at his forehead once again.

Dean tried to launch himself back and away from them, knowing Cas was about to knock his ass out again, "Don't you fucking dare, Cas." Dean snapped as he tried to evade Cas.

Cas watched indifferently as Dean fell boneless against the bed. Cas pulled Dean further onto the bed and covered him with a bedspread from the other bed. Cas knew Dean, if he didn't help him, this motel would bring him a restless sad night full of nightmares about the last time he stayed here. Afterwards, he sat down at the table to wait for Dean to wake. He figured Dean would be mad but he would explain everything; Dean could be a logical man.

Dean came awake slowly, groggily he sat up. A few seconds of blinking and rubbing at his eyes had him glancing around the room. Spotting Cas he remembered exactly how he went to sleep the night before. "What the fuck, Cas? Why do you keep knocking my ass out? If you do that again, I'll…"

Dean can be a logical man unless pissed, amended Cas tuning out what bodily harm Dean had in mind. "Dean, I just prevented nightmares for you."

Dean instantly shut up and looked sheepishly at Cas. "Um… I'm going to take a shower."

"But you just…" Cas started to protest.

"Cas…" Dean whined as he grabbed a handful of clothes and made a dash for the bathroom.

Ten minutes and eleven seconds later, Cas timed him, Dean was fully clothed and back in the room.

"Breakfast after we talk to the clerk and see if the maids are here yet?" Dean asked, breaking the silence.

Cas stared.

"What?" Dean asked, repacking his stuff.

"You always eat first thing. Are you sick? Cause normally you eat a lot. You had nothing yesterday and now…" Cas asked, sounding worried.

"Cas, I just need to get this fixed. Everything is on a backburner until then, ok?" Dean asked going to the sink and shoving his stuff back into his kit and zipping it. As he went into the bathroom to retrieve his dirty clothes he heard Cas say, "We will back burn everything until Sammy's whole, except you taking care of your self. It will make you sick not to eat for too long."

"Now you decide to get stubborn?" Dean asked grabbing his kit as he passed back to his bed to finish packing.

Cas just stared at him.

"Fine," Dean groaned as he muttered, "And to think I was missing all this shit." Zipping his bag and slinging onto his shoulder, "Come on. Let's get some chow."

Cas smiled "You missed me?" asking as he followed behind Dean.

"I didn't say that Cas." He stated, grinning back over his shoulder at Cas. Almost like old times. Dean thought before amended, not the old times he needed in order to survive though.

Breakfast turned out to be a quick affair with Cas staring at Dean the whole time. In under thirty-seven minutes they were done. He continued to watch Dean until they were back in front of the motel office.

Dean put the car in park and shut it off, pulling the keys before finally turning to Cas, "What Cas? Where are you staring at me like that? It's starting to bug me."

Cas blinked then told him, "I have never seen anyone eat that much that quick, even you."

Dean grinned as he stated, "Turns out I was hungry after all. It's been a few days since I've seen food in front of me."

Cas nodded as he commented, "Looked like famine had taken control like he did with me that time." And with that statement Cas blinked out the car.

Dean looked around, spotting Cas standing at the front of the impala. Dean shook his head as he exited the car, meeting Cas at the front of the car. "Dude, you probably shouldn't do any zap-age out in the open like this. Remember we talked about that."

Cas nodded, and then followed silently behind Dean as Dean entered the office.

The old man was still there and behind the counter already. "Mabel!" he bellowed while Dean gave the room key back.

With that name Dean was expecting the woman to be as old as the clerk, so when she came in he stared. She was a twenty-something with blond hair streaked with auburn and purple eyes. Purple eyes? What the hell? Colored contacts; had to be to have eyes that color. She was tall and slender. Cas poked him in the back.

Dean turned with a glare, "Dude, what the hell did you…"

Mabel said with a chuckle, "I think he was just trying to let you know my grandpa was talking to you."

"Oh." Dean jerked turning slightly pink as he looked at the old man, "Yeah?"

"I was saying my grandchild will help with your item you lost, but you keep your hands to yourself. Hear me boy?" The old man glared as he pointed his finger at Dean.

Cas answered in his helpful voice for Dean, looking around past him, "He is not deaf. Remember he told you that yesterday."

Dean couldn't help laughing at the look on the old man's face. Now someone else got to experience the wisdom of Cas. It was awesome.

"Boys, if you will follow me." Mabel said turning and going down a long hallway. At the end of the hallway she turned and went down a flight of stairs.

Dean started to comment, only to stop at a shove from behind from Cas, which in turn earned him a glare from Dean.

Finally at the other end of another long hallway at the bottom of the stairs, they stopped in front of a door. She turned and said, "Welcome to my dungeon, even gramps won't come down here."

Dean smiled, "Ah, it can't be that ba…" Then she turned and flipped on the light.

Dean whistled, "Wow, people have actually left this much crap?"

Mabel smiled at him, "This is from the thirty-one years we've been in business but, yeah. We just keep it here and I catalogue when and what room, name and stuff that was on the registry. It makes it easier to find everything."

Dean nodded but shook his head, "Ok… I need to find an amulet. We find it; I'll even give a reward."

She nodded as she went towards a table beside a wall of filing cabinets with shelves next to them. She turned and looked at them, "This necklace, what did it look like?"

Dean frowned, "On a black chord, it looks old. The figure head is gold with…"

She narrowed her eyes, "How long ago was this?" She had an idea of what he was talking about and if she was right this man probably wasn't going to be happy.

Dean pulled out a picture from his wallet, one with him and Sammy together. His necklace glistening on this chest. He once again felt a pang of quilt for throwing it away. "About a year and a half ago, maybe?" Dean said cautiously.

Mabel nodded taking the picture as she chewed on her lip, "Crap." she muttered.

"What?" Dean asked, anxious as he took the picture from her, asking, "You didn't throw it away did you?"

She shook her head no and went to the G filing cabinet. She shuffled several pages before she stopped and read the page. She bit her lip again.

Dean started to fidget from one foot to the other.

"Mr. Nolty, I'm afraid it is no longer here." Mabel said softly as she looked at him as if trying to gauge his reaction.

"What? I thought you didn't…" Dean's heart sped up as he tried to stay calm.

She quickly interrupted, "About two months after you… left it, a very handsome man." She looked at Dean, "Tall, dark and handsome came by to see me. He picked it up."

Dean glanced at Cas nervously, "Did you get a name?"

Mabel smiled, "Of course I did. Nate Falcon."

TBC