-1Siren's Song Chapter 2
Disclaimer: (And this goes for the first chapter as well) The characters aren't mine, I made no money from this bit of fan fiction.
Dean finished a rather bad sounding coughing fit then flopped down on the hotel bed and rubbed his nose with a very well used tissue.
"You know Dean, we have more of those." Sam tossed the box onto his brother's bed and sat down next to him. He made a move to feel his forehead.
"Dude, no." Dean put up a hand to ward him off. "I'm fine. I'm not that sick, it's a cold."
"Yeah, last time you said it was nonexistent allergies. I don't think I'm going to be listening to you about your health any time soon."
Dean held out Sam's laptop. "Sit down and let's go over this case, will ya? If I feel any worse, you'll be the last one I tell, okay." He blew his nose on a fresh tissue, even though it looked as if it pained him to do it.
Sam peered at him in concern. "I thought you said you got the extra soft kind."
"At five plus bucks a box, they should go on the mantle as a work of art, not be used like this." He motioned to his rather pale face. "Now, enough about me, let's talk about these guys. Five guys on a fishing trip out in this lake all drown. But the boat hasn't been touched. It's not overturned or anything that shows that there were even five guys on that boat, except the life jackets, and they were in a jumbled heap, like they'd all been taken off before the guys went into the water."
Sam took a drink of coffee and held up a finger. "But," he started, after swallowing, "how do we know they didn't just get drunk or something and think it would be a good idea to go for a swim. Weirder things have happened, you know."
Dean nodded, his words hitching. "I thought that too, but this isn't the first time it's happened. Besides..." His voice trailed off and he raised his hand before sneezing five times into the crook of his elbow. "Goddamn cold." He blew his nose again. "Besides," he tried again, "they found the mangled corpses on an island. they were naked and all that creepy stuff." He sniffled and took some aspirin.
"Dean! How many have you had today? That stuff can screw with your liver if you aren't careful."
"Sam, can we focus here?" Dean sounded mildly annoyed, but set the aspirin bottle down. "People's lives are sort of on the line, you know."
"Yeah, yeah, but I'd rather not see you do anything to yourself, either." He read the news paper article from a week ago. "This says the drownings happened two weeks ago."
"What do you expect from news from Nowheresville Wyoming? I mean, the paper I bought today was already out of date. I don't think this place really matters too much. When did the first disappearance take place?" He sniffled and leaned against his pillows, closing his eyes, his head throbbing mercilessly. "Where the hell did I put that Dayquil?" Sitting up, he pawed around the bed, under the printed out news paper reports and used tissues.
"You are going to clean those up before you go to bed, aren't you?" Sam nodded at the crumpled Kleenexes in Dean's hand and scattered all over the bedspread.
"Yeah, I am. And I think I'm gonna have to go buy more before we're done here. Aha!" He found the Dayquil and took more than the recommended dosage.
"Dean? That stuff wasn't cheap." If he couldn't make Dean look out for his health, Sam could at least make him look out for his wallet. It would be a few days a the very least before Dean was up to hustling another guy at a game of pool and small, out of the way stores rarely took credit for smaller items. "The first drowning on record was a few years ago, and it was just one guy. There was alcohol found on the boat, so it seemed like a pretty open and shut case."
"Yeah, except I bet they left out the part where he was stark naked on the rocks." Dean sniffled and rubbed at his itching nose.
"Yeah, me too."
Sam was typing the name of the lake into his computer. When he'd found a good map of it, he frowned a bit. "Where were the bodies found again?" Dean tossed the most recent used tissue into a waste basket before joining his brother again. "Dude, hand sanitizer. I'd really rather not have your germs, thank you very much."
"Sammy, you hurt my soul. Here I was thinking that we shared everything." He shook his head, smiling. "You got any?"
"Huh? Yeah, in my coat pocket." Sam didn't look up from his work.
"You are such a chick, you know that?" Dean dug around in Sam's pocket until he found the small bottle. He helped himself to a handful and rubbed his hands together as he went to sit down. The sharp alcohol smell tickled his already sensitive nose and he sneezed a few times.
"Bless. Okay, so the bodies were found on an island, but I'm not sure what one. There are a few in this lake."
"We won't know for sure until we talk to the locals. See what went down before all this happened. The paper isn't a prompt or reliable source, as we can see." He snagged his coat. "You coming?" He blew his nose loudly and leaned against the wall.
"Dean, it's pretty late. Let's do that tomorrow. No one's gonna be out on the lake tonight. You should rest up a little."
"I know I should, but I need to go back to that store anyway. Much as it kills me, I'm gonna need more tissues."
Sam sighed and snagged his coat too. "Fine, but I drive and you don't get carried away grilling everyone you see there, deal?"
"Deal. You wanna shake on it?" He held out his hand playfully.
"With a walking germ factory? No way." Sam lead the way to the car and opened Dean's door for his brother.
"Dude, Sam, I'm not dying, my arm isn't broken and all that good stuff. I can open my own door."