Thank you to my chapter six reviewers Fanspired, Dirtdevil76, Moira4eku, Sharlot, and Baltimoron48. Thanks also to my new story followers glad to have you on board the ship. I really appreciate the support and encouragement. It's fun getting something in my e-mail that isn't spam. I have won the UK lottery too many times. I know you're all jealous. I don't own Sam and Dean, they belong to Eric Kripke. I just like to play with them… a lot.
Dean awoke at 8 a.m. feeling refreshed and hungry. He looked over to see Sam still asleep. He thought about waking Sam up for breakfast, but decided against it. Sam woke him up at 5:00 in the morning coming to bed. It really was inconsiderate of Sam to wake him up so early in the morning.
Dean realized the ship wasn't moving. They were docked at their first port, Labadee. Dean hastily dressed in dark grey cargo shorts and a light grey muscle shirt looking forward to his first sight of a Caribbean port. He slipped his feet into the comfortable Birkenstock sandals and headed for breakfast. He stood at the elevator waiting. Three elevators passed by his floor without stopping. His stomach growled at him in anger. He gave up and used the stairs.
Once at deck eleven he headed out to the pool area into the steamy tropical morning. The air was crisp and clean, but the humidity caused a layer of sweat to form on his body causing the muscle shirt to cling to his chest. His first glimpse of Labadee took his breath away. The ocean wasn't the vivid blue he was expecting, instead stunning emerald green. It was so crystal clear that he could see the white sand at the bottom. Dean could see a lush tropical rainforest in the distance. He was surprised to see bananas hanging off a large plant he had mistaken for a palm tree.
He could see crowds of happy cruisers slathered in sunblock carrying blue Royal Caribbean towels leaving the ship. They were chatting excitedly about the beauty of the island. Dean took in his fill, still finding it hard to believe that such beauty existed in the world. The bright blue clear sky mocked him, as a hunter of the night, the sky was a rare sight indeed. Dean closed his eyes and just listened to the sounds of the island; the sound of the waves lapping against the side of the ship, a child's light, sweet, laugh of pure joy, the click clack of heels hitting the wood of the pool area, and the chirp of a seabird defending his fish from greedy competitors. A feeling of peace filled him as the gentle tropical breeze bushed across his face cooling the sweat on his body. Finally realizing he couldn't delay any longer Dean headed to the buffet for breakfast.
The peaceful feeling was quickly broken by the chaos of over 3000 passengers eating breakfast all at once before heading off to port. He stood politely in line with his tray, when a middle age lady cut in front of him and said "I just want to get some bread." Grabbing a roll and heading off not waiting for a response to her rudeness.
No way in hell was Dean eating in this mess! If the ghost needed advice on who to attack next he had a perfect victim in mind. He watched rude bitch and was shocked when she cut the line again this time for eggs. Dean quickly made up two plates to take back to the room for him and Sam. Sam's plate had that pink grapefruit he so loved, none of the yellow grapefruit, only pink. For a Sasquatch his little brother was quite a fussy eater. Dean decided to buy a couple of travels mugs for coffee instead of trying to balance those ridiculously tiny coffee mugs. Seriously who just drinks a thimble of coffee at a time? Dean piled on the cream and sugar for Sam. This time he was determined to catch an elevator.
He was balancing the trays and shifting impatiently from one foot to the other waiting for the slow ass elevator. But finally he was able to catch an elevator and get down to the cabin. He looked at the door wistfully; he really hadn't thought this through. He had no hands to reach into his pocket to grab his key and open the door. He could either knock with his elbow and hoped Sam woke up and let him in or he could set the tray of food on the floor.
Neither option was appealing; he was saved from making a decision by their cabin steward, Melinda. "Would you like me to get the door?" She asked smiling at his predicament.
"Yes, please." Dean replied in a relieved voice.
She opened the door and held it for Dean. Melinda couldn't help but noticed Sam asleep; he was shirtless with the sheet bunched around his hips. Her eyes greedily took in the sight, while trying not to be too obvious in her staring. Fortunately, she averted her eyes as Dean thanked her for the help. She shut the door and walked away whistling, this was definitely her favorite cabin.
The smell of coffee woke Sam up. "Dude, put on a shirt! You almost gave poor Melinda a heart attack." Dean laughed. Sam looked confused but put on his shirt. He was sporting a killer headache and his eyes felt like sandpaper had been rubbed over then. Dean turned on the overhead light.
Sam shot him a glare through swollen eyes and mumbled something that sounded like. "fuckin' light, pain in the ass brother. Shove my foot up his ass." But Dean wasn't sure he heard him right.
"Someone's grumpy this bright and sunny morning. We need to get a move on. It's already 9 a.m. I can't let you sleep the day away. We have to scan this massive ship to find one cursed object and perform salt and burn. Just as soon as. Fun, fun, fun!" Dean said sarcastically. "How big is this boat again?"
"It's a ship Dean." Sam tiredly protested. Dean smiled at striking his target so cleanly. Sam was as predictable as the sun rising in the east. "The ship is 1,112 feet long and weighs 154,407 tons, now let me sleep." he said dropping his head back onto the pillow. However, the sudden drop caused a jolt of pain to zip through his head leaving a strange metallic taste in his mouth. He moaned in agony slowly sitting back up as Dean handed him a bottle of Tylenol and his cup of coffee. The aroma of the coffee lifted Sam's eyes to half-mast. Dean had already added the creamer and sugar to Sam's cup. He gave the coffee a suspicions look, Dean laughed at the look, causing more pain to radiate through Sam's head.
"Dude the coffee is fine, drink the damn thing and take some Tylenol. I need your help to scan the ship. I'm not going to screw with you while we hunt."
Sam took Dean at his word popping the pills and drinking his coffee. Dean dug into his own meal enjoying his sausage, eggs and gravy. Sam slowly made his way through the fresh fruit, yogurt and blueberry muffin grateful Dean had brought him edible food, unlike the greasy pile of goo Dean was shoveling into his pie hole. After the meal Sam got dressed in black cargo shorts and a black V-necked t-shirt slipping his feet into Birkenstock sandals. Both boys brushed their teeth and headed out with EMF meters on. Sam was still dragging ass, but he seemed more alert after eating.
They started on Deck two. Sam checked port side while Dean checked starboard. They went deck by deck for hours, with oddly annoying results. Dean's EMF meter went off on deck three, he called Sam over to the spot but the EMF meter was now silent. The same thing happened to Sam on Deck seven and his patience grew thin as they made their way through the ship. By deck ten Sam wanted to throw the useless thing at the wall when it went off again only to be silent a moment later. They made it to deck eleven with the EMF meters still in one piece and Sam got his first view of Ladabee. His swollen eyes opened wider than they had all day. Even though Dean had already seen the island, after hours of searching the ship he was again amazed by the splendor around him.
"Wow, the ocean is so green and clear." Sam said in awe. Just then Rose came over, she was once again wearing her pink Himalayan salt crystal necklace.
"Hi lads." She greeted with a smile. "It's a gorgeous island isn't it?" She asked. She had noticed their wide eyed stares. It was always fun for her to see the first time cruiser's reactions to the island; it was almost like seeing it new all over again.
"I've never seen anything so exquisite before. The ocean is so green." Sam said as through he couldn't believe what he was seeing.
"Wait until you see Grand Cayman." The three of them stood for a moment and enjoyed the peaceful beauty that surrounded them.
"So Xavi left the ship this morning and I got my necklace back." Rose said smiling in relief.
"No other problems with the ghost?" Dean asked.
"Nope, what's in your hand?" Rose asked.
"These are EMF meters; we're trying to get a read on the object the ghost is attached to." At Rose's puzzled look Dean continued. "A ghost can haunt a place if his DNA is attached to an object. His energy will set off the electromagnetic field meter, EMF for short."
"This ship is powered by Six Wartsila 46 V12 diesels each rated at 12.6MW driving electric generators at 514 rpm. In addition to the propulsion gear, ABB Maritime also supplied medium-speed switchgear, including 43 panels of 11kV uniGear with protection devices, six generators, 19 transformers and low-voltage distribution apparatus." Rose said showing her impressive knowledge of the ship. "Won't all the power make your readings unpredictable and unusable?"
"Yes it would." Sam said in disgust turning off the meter.
"Well look, its 2PM ship time. They're serving a buffet lunch at the beach. All you have to do is take the tram over to the beach area. Have some lunch and a swim while you figure out a new way to find your needle in a hay stack. The ghost's main target is off the ship and safe so you have some time." Rose reassured the boys.
"That's a great idea." Dean quickly agreed. Sam was to tired to care, sitting on the beach with an ice cold beer was a great plan. He was already sweltering under the hot Caribbean sun.
The boys headed to the cabin to change into swimsuits. Dean was relieved Sam had agreed to take a break. Sam did look a little like the walking dead. As they walked down the dock to the tram Dean was staring at the ocean. He saw these electric blue long nose fish swimming by. He elbowed Sam who gave him an irritated glare. Until he saw what Dean was pointing at.
"Wow, cool fish." Sam stopped to watch the fish swim away from the dock.
"This place is so amazing." Dean said smiling.
They caught the tram and were at the beach in record time. Some of the other passengers had called it a day so the beach wasn't too bad. They got two striped beach chairs under a palm tree. Dean got them a couple of Coronas with lime in wide mouthed plastic bottles, while Sam rested his eyes.
"Okay lazy ass I got you breakfast and a beer. You're getting your own lunch. The buffet is down there." Dean said pointing to a shaded area.
Sam sighed as he headed over to get his lunch. As he was nearing the buffet he saw a Haitian woman, with two thin small children. The mother's eyes held her sadness and desperation, while her 4 year old daughter clung to her leg partially due to shyness, partially out of fear. Her 8 year old son was braver and determined to be the man of the house for his momma. The son started to approach Sam, but the closer he got the bigger Sam looked. His fear suddenly overtook him and the rushed back to momma tripping over his clumsy feet and falling to the ground with a painful sounding thud.
Sam saw the fall and his heart gave a little jolt of fear for the boy's sake. He looked so thin it didn't seem like he could recover from a fall like that. In an instant Sam was at the boy's side. He arrived at the same moment the mother did.
"Are you okay?" Sam asked in concern. The mother had been alarmed at the large man hovering over her eldest son. But when she saw the gentle look in his eyes and the way he was looking over her son for injuries she recognized him as a healer.
"Are you doctor?" The mother stammered out, uncertain that she said the correct words.
"No, but I've cared for my brother." Sam said with a smile. "You're okay." He said to the boy, who despite fall, had not cried out. His knee was skinned, but he refused to show any signs of pain that might distress his momma.
The boy got the courage to look Sam dead in the eye and ask, "manje." As he pointed at the large buffet tables covered in food.
The mother approached the boy pulling him away, but he refused to go holding his ground and said, "pou manje pou sè" he said pointing to his wafer thin baby sister.
Then he found one of the few English words he knew and with a sad voice said "Please. pou manje pou sè. pou manje pou manman. Please."
Sam understood this poor family was hoping for cast offs from the buffet and it broke is heart to see this. Sam nodded his head and said to the mother. "Wait here, I'll get you food." Seeing the mother's blank look, he pointed to the food. "Manje, for you." She understood smiling.
Sam rushed over to the buffet. Antonio the assistant waiter at his dining table had seen the interaction and was already loading a plate for Sam. "Mr. Osbourne over here." He called.
It took Sam a moment to realize the call was for him. "The homeless people of the island come here on days the ship is in dock. We feed them the leftovers from the buffet." Antonio said. "I saw you with the family, it's sad to see them suffering."
Sam nodded, "Thank you for making this plate for me to bring to them. Is it okay if I get them some water or ice tea also?"
"That will be fine." Antonio said smiling.
Sam hurried over with the loaded plate. The boy's eyes got big when he saw the amount of food. He smiled at Sam and said the only two other English words he knew. "Thank You." Sam smiled while the family found a place to eat their meal.
Sam got his own food feeling grateful for his life. Sure when they were young they ate a lot of Lucky Charms and Spaghetti O's, but he had never experienced the type of bone gnawing hunger this family dealt with day after day. He looked back over at the family seeing the little boy helping his sister to eat before taking a bite himself. Feeling in his pocket he found a twenty dollar bill and rushed back to the mother.
He handed it to her, "For your family." He hoped the money would help her.
Her eyes got huge and some of the sadness lifted. When she smiled, he could see the beauty that was hidden behind her suffering "Thank You."
"You're welcome." Sam said smiling and walking away to get his own lunch. He even felt like making up a plate for his annoying older brother. He came back to see Dean enjoying his beer and relaxing with his sunglasses on.
"Here I got you lunch." Sam said handing over Dean's plate loaded with fried chicken, a hamburger, a hot dog, macaroni and potato salads.
"Thank you Sammy." Dean said with a smile, plowing into the food with enthusiasm.
Sam smiled back enjoying his salad and beer. After lunch both brothers were feeling the heat of the Haitian sun. They stripped off their shirts, the emerald ocean calling their names. Dean was shocked at the soothing warmth of the sea. It still amazed him how clear the water was. The soft wet sand of the ocean floor squished between his toes as he walked deeper into the ocean. He floated on his back staring up at the blue sky. He noticed a few fluffy white clouds. They made sky appear an even brighter blue by contrast. His tension, he wasn't even aware he had been carrying, drifted away as he floated along.
Off to his right Dean noticed a play area in the ocean for kids. There were inflated toys to climb through and bounce on. The water trampoline looked like a blast. Dean secretly wanted to go over there and play, but figured the parents might be freaked out by an adult man playing on the kids toys. Plus he was really enjoying just floating along and letting the light current slowly move him back and forward. He looked over to his brother's blissed out face and knew he wasn't the only one enjoying this break.
Soon enough their break was over and they headed back to the ship with a stop in the tourist shopping area to find anything made of iron to defend against the ghost. Dean received a lot of compliments from the shopkeepers in their attempts to get him to spend his money. A one point a man offered him porn at a low price, which Dean declined with a laugh.
Sam was up ahead in a stall looking for iron, when Dean spotted a mother with two young children a boy and a girl. They looked to be homeless and begging for money. The boy looked him in the eye with a challenging look, letting Dean know that he would protect his family with his life. Dean gave him a look of respect and a head nod of acknowledgement. The boy understood and softened his gaze. Dean bought a doll at one of the stands. Walking back over to the family he handed the little girl the doll. She immediately hugged the toy to her chest. Dean then handed the mother a twenty. Shook the boy's hand and headed back to meet Sam. Neither Sam nor Dean found anything made of iron in the small shopping area.
Sam was refreshed from his nap and the relaxing afternoon at the beach. Dean was hungry again and wanted pizza so he went to the pizza place called Sorrento's on the Royal Promenade deck five. Sam headed for the cabin and a much needed shower. By the time Dean came back to the cabin raving about some tasty desserts, Sam was bored and wanted to roam the ship. They agreed to meet at the dining room as dinner was in an hour.
Sam ended up back on the Royal Promenade watching a demonstration of the fresh fruit being turned into different animals and it gave him an idea. He stood in front of the Cupcake Cupboard with a plan that he hoped would work. After conducting his business and setting up the delivery for later that night he left the Cupcake Cupboard with an evil grin gracing his face. He was on the lookout for their cabin steward, Melinda. He was lucky to see her from the stairs on deck six. "Melinda." Sam called out to get her attention.
She stopped and turned to look up and see Sam's face. She smiled, "How can I help you Sam."
Sam felt a little stupid and rubbed his neck sheepishly, "Well, uh I just wanted to uh warn you about the room. I'm having a special cake delivered for my brother and I didn't want to alarm you." Sam explained, badly, judging by the blank look on Melinda's face.
"Why would a cake alarm me?" Melinda questioned clearly confused.
"It's the shape of the cake." Sam tried again, but saw that Melinda didn't understand. "Okay it's a prank I'm playing on my brother." He went on to explain in detail by the end Melinda was laughing and quite impressed with the whole idea. She had Sam tell her a time the big reveal would take place, because she was dying to see how this played out.
"Go down to the guest relations desks and get tickets to the ice skating show. It's right after dinner and will keep your brother out of the room until you're ready." Melinda advised with a smile on her face.
Sam gave her a quick hug and rushed back down the stairs to get the tickets. Melinda was left feeling entertained and flushed from the very pleasant hug. She was proud of herself for resisting the strong unprofessional urge to grab his ass. He had such a nice ass. She saw her friend Serena, who was enjoying hearing the tales from cabin hottie's room. "Is that him? The shirtless sleeper?" Serena asked. "Damn he is tall and such an adorable smile. What did he talk to you about?"
"He's pranking his brother. This is going to be great. Can you meet me in the hallway of 7298 at 10:30?" Melinda asked.
"His brother is the guy in the Speedo from the contest?" Melinda nodded her head. "Heck yeah," Serena exclaimed.
Sam was ten minutes late to the dining room. He had his tickets in hand and was a bit out of breath from the jog down the stairs. Dean was already seated at the table munching on a bread roll. "Hi Antonio." Sam greeted the assistant waiter who smiled and brought him a menu and his usual ice tea.
"You're late." Dean greeted.
"Sorry some people were raving about the ice skating show so I got us tickets." Sam replied.
Sandy joined into the conversation at that point seeing Dean's doubtful expression. "June and I saw the show yesterday. It's amazing what the skaters can do with such a small area. I think you'll really enjoy it."
June noted Dean's expression was still doubtful so she added her two cents worth. "I agree, the female skating with the hula hoops was so amazing; the way she could move her hips to hold all those hula hoops, wow." As predicted Dean suddenly looked interested in the show. Men were so easy, she thought with a smile. She caught Sam's eye, he clearly understood what she did and was grateful for it.
"Well since you already got the tickets and everything. It can't hurt to check it out." Dean said "I wonder where the rest of our tablemates are?"
"I saw Austin and Kayla at the buffet. They wanted a quick dinner and early bed time." Sandy replied.
Waldo and Trudy never did show up and with only four people the dinner service went quickly. Dean got the Braised Short Ribs that just seemed to melt in his mouth. They were so good he didn't want to sip his water and remove that wonderful taste from his mouth. Sam got his normal salad starter that he insisted was delicious but really looked like someone weeded the garden and tossed it on his plate. For his main course he got something called a Vegetable Vindaloo, which looked pretty good for a pile of rice and veggies.
For dessert, Sam got the Ivory Chocolate Fondue, a white chocolate mousse with sweet berries. Since Dean refused to acknowledge white chocolate as being 'real' chocolate he went with a dessert known by the strange name of BBB. Standing for Banana and Bailey's Irish Cream Brulee and it was divine. When Nelda refilled his cup of coffee, Dean declared her to be a dining room goddess and asked her to run away with him. She blushed with pleasure while Sam rolled his eyes at his brother. However, Sandy and June were entertained by the antics of their charming tablemate.
The boys lingered over their coffee listening to Sandy and June talk about their parasailing adventure on Labadee. "You boys should get going or you'll be late for the show." Sandy warned them sounding like a mother hen.
"Wow, time flies with such pleasant company." Dean complimented as they left the dining room and headed to the ice show.
The boys were lucky as good seats were still available. The show hadn't started yet so Sam was reading the screen that displayed the skater's pictures and descriptions. Dean just checked out the pictures rating the female skaters on a scale of 1 to 10. He was delighted to see no female rated under a seven. Sam called him a chauvinist pig. Dean simply smirked as the show started. Both boys' jaws dropped impressed with the tricks the skaters performed. At one point a pirate ship brought was out and delighted children were plucked from the audience to sit in the ship as it whirled around on the ice.
Dean's favorite was definitely the hula hoop girl. Sam had to agree she was amazing. At one point she had six hula hoops on her body and two additional hoops on each hand spinning at eye blurring speeds. She turned circles on the ice while her hips moved to the beat of the music. A man skated by as she tossed the hoops to him one at time. It was incredible to watch her bring the last one from her knees up her body with a series of graceful body movements. She got it all the way to her left hand before gracefully flicking it to her assistant. There was thunderous applause and Dean had to admit he was glad Sam got the tickets.
As they left the show Dean noticed the perverted picture taking couple who had videoed him in the World's sexiest man contest. He overheard their conversation. "They were really good." The lady complimented the show.
The husband looked disappointed. "I like the costumes better on Carnival more thongs!"
The wife laughed, "Come on pervert." She remarked guiding him to the elevators. Dean was left wondering/hoping if any of the Carnival ships were haunted.
Dean was feeling tired from lack of sleep the night before and a busy day today. Sam was also looking forward to getting back to the room but for entirely different reasons. Sam noticed how many cabin stewards were lurking in their hallway. He saw a smiling Melinda. She gave he a subtle thumbs up that the cake had been delivered. Dean easily got the card slot to work this time and entered the cabin.
Sam stood outside the cabin silently counting. By four Dean let out a horrible shriek, the type Sam hadn't heard his brother make since he was infected by ghost sickness and the cat in the locker surprised him. "Snake, snake in our room!" Dean shouted running out of the cabin in a panic; to see Sam and four cabin stewards laughing so hard tears rolled down their faces. The occupants of nearby cabins came to the hallway alarmed by the screaming.
"It's not a snake Dean. I got you a cake. Wasn't that nice of me?" Sam smirked. The audience gathered in the hallway wanted to see this cake that so scared the bejesus out of Dean. Sam finally got a look at it himself and was amazed at the likeness to a real Albino Burmese Python, coiled as if to spring. He brought the cake out to the hallway and everyone oooed and aahed at how lifelike the cake was.
Dean's face was bright red with embarrassment as he took the good natured ribbing about his girly screams. One large man from Texas claimed he hadn't heard a squeal like that since his pig Clara was a baby. Finally, the excitement died down and Sam was given many slaps on the back for his creative prank. Dean thought Sam had no idea of what he'd started. This means war!
I used an internet translator for Haitian Creole hopefully it's correct.
Manje means food, pou manje pou sè means food for sister and pou manje pou manman means food for mother.
Special thanks to North Star Cakes in the UK for making the Albino Burmese Python and giving me a great idea for this prank. I was trying to think of a really unique prank and a co-worker sent me a picture of this cake and viola the idea was born. It really is an amazing cake I suggest you check out their facebook page.