"Dean! ... For the fiftieth time! ... Turn the music down! I'm trying to research!" Sam spoke loudly over the obnoxious base of ACDC blasting out the open windows of the Impala on this cool spring morning. The brothers had been on the road for a week now, driving all the way to South Dakota from Altoona, Pennsylvania.
One week ago
"Sam... we just killed the yellow-eyed demon... can't we celebrate for a minute?" Dean whined. It had actually been about 2 weeks and 3 small hunts since the showdown at hells gate. Sam had been spending every spare minute of his time researching a way out of Dean demon deal but alas, nothing so far. So in the meantime, he had to keep himself busy with work or else he would lose his mind... Dean could clearly see that his deal and his year left to live was weighing heavily on Sam, he remembered how it felt when his father made the same deal for him, however, Dean had to keep a brave face and be strong for the both of them.
"Dean, there has been 5 disappearances in South Dakota all surrounding Rapid City... It's worth checking out" he replied, Dean could hear a husk in his voice and glanced at the black bags under Sam's eyes before looking towards the road.
"Sam... when was the last time you had more than 2 hours sleep?" Dean asked with a worried undertone, this tone didn't go unnoticed by Sam; nevertheless, Sam kept his eyes on his laptop screen.
"I dunno... I think maybe I was 5? Maybe 6?" he chuckled weakly trying to lighten the mood a little, as well as alter the conversation but Dean didn't budge.
"Sammy..."
"It's Sam... And stop... I'll sleep when I'm dead... Oh! Wait! I'm not allowed to do that apparently" Sam spitefully brought up, he figured that if he can't cheerfully change the subject then he'll bring up a subject he knows Dean wants to stay away from. And it worked.
Back to the present
The past week has been brotherly hell for the boys; outside of fighting and arguing there has been nothing but silence. Once at the outskirts of Rapid City Dean parks the Impala outside an old motel named 'Redwood motel', a one or two-star motel, good enough for the boys to crash in during this investigation. Two of the five missing persons had stayed at this motel before vanishing. Sam had thought staying there was a good start to their case, however, he grimaced at the look of the place. "Oh come on Sam, we've stayed in worse places" Dean assured, though he wasn't sure whether he was assuring himself or his younger brother.
The Winchester exited baby and grabbed their duffel bags before checking in at the tiny reception that, for some reason they didn't want to ask, has bared doors, as if for a prison, sitting as shutters for the main entrance. Dean walked up to the old gruff looking man at the desk; he appeared to be watching an old black and white on his small-boxed TV. Dean cleared his throat to get the males attention but to no avail, glancing at Sam for help, Sam reached over and pinged the bell on the desktop, successfully grabbing the mans attention. "Oh sorry boys! Was getting' into me show here" he chuckled and turned to face the boys. "So" the old man looked the brothers up and down, pursing his lips in thought "One king sized room?" he asked questioningly. Both Sam and Dean blink before widening their eyes, blushing and shaking their heads "No sir, two singles man, we are brothers" Dean clarified making the old geezer laugh roughly.
"Ah I see, sorry boys, I have a nephew that swings the other way, I try to keep a judge free thing going here" he smiled, his full bushy beard covered most of his lower face but the brothers could still see a sincere smile behind it. "Here you go boys, enjoy your stay here, if you need anything just holla for Jimmy, 'ats me" he announced handing the boys their room key. Dean nodded and returned the sincere smile before following Sam to the room.
The next few hours were Sam sat at the desk researching both the case and the deal, while Dean uses his friendly banter at the motel bar to get info on the missing people. On his way back to the motel room Dean had memorized all the information he'd received ready to report it back to Sam, but then something churned in his gut, his relationship with his brother for the past week has been nothing but business related... The fact that he can't even remember the last time he'd shared a beer with his brother, talked about anything outside of the supernatural, or even seen his brother smile worried him to the very core... all he could hear were the words of the yellow-eyed demon 'How certain are you that what you brought back is 100% pure Sam'. Those words haunted Dean because he knew the demon was telling the truth, there was something about his little brother that was just missing... His Sammy had changed... The determination, strength, and intelligence to hunt were all there, even the love for his big brother remained in the pure persistence to save him... But there was something missing...
Empathy?
Self-awareness?
Emotion?
Dean couldn't pinpoint what it was but he had to force it to the back of his mind as he entered the room. Sam glanced over at Dean emotionlessly when he arrived before setting his eyes back on the screen "Find anything?" Sam asked. Deans felt sick to the stomach from the belittled tone of his younger brother gave him but he just swallowed it down and sat on his bed. "Yeah, a lot actually" he replied before lying down like a starfish on the hard mattress, Sam stopped what he was doing to listen to what Dean had found out. "So Jimmy said that the two people that had gone missing were headed out to a national park five minutes from here" he began, Sam interrupted "Badlands National Park?" he asked causing Dean and look over at him with a look of 'how did you know?'.
Sam nodded and looked back at his computer "Yeah, I called up the families of the other three missing people and the only relation between them was that they all had visited the park for a camping trip or hike... but that was the last they'd heard of them" Sam filled in causing Dean to sit up.
"But if they all disappeared there wouldn't the police have caught up on that and called a search party? Also, apparently many people go there around this time of year so why have only five people gone missing?" Dean asked curiously trying to connect the dots in his head. Of course Sam had the answers to that too "Those questions were bugging me too, so I found a map of the park and pinned the places the victims were last known to have been" he began and pointed to the map on the table, Dean stood up and looked over the map frowning a bit at the red dots Sam had placed "They all seem to be in the same area of the park" Dean noted, Sam nodding in agreement before looking up at his big brother. "Right, the police had actually sent a search party out there but they found nothing, just empty tents and/or clothes, bags and supplies, like the victims just up and vanished" Sam shrugged.
Deans eyes narrowed try to determine what they could be up against "So what do you think? Wendigo? Or maybe a witch?" the older brother hummed in thought. Sam shrugged and continued typing at his computer while Dean paced back and forth impatiently waiting for more answers when something light-bulbed in his mind.
"Oh! I remember Kelly mentioning something about the two from this motel" Dean started, almost looking proud of himself for connecting earlier information but his pride dropped when he saw Sam's blank expression "Kelly?" Sam replied with a dry tone, expecting that Dean probably grabbed her number while he was at it. "Yes Kelly" Dean spat back before continuing the information he was going to relay "Kelly described both the men to me, their personalities and traits and pasts" he told his younger brother who seemed to be listening. "I noticed there was a vague similarity between them, they both had a bad childhoods and were raised in a hostile environments" Dean hummed thinking of more connections "Both were runaways and had a determined will to escape their lives and be free but there was also a sense of home or responsibility, one had a sister that was starting college and the other had a baby daughter but unfortunate he divorced and doesn't get to see her that often" he described.
Sam took in the information while writing it down on his notes "Okay then, I think we have enough information for now, how about we head over to this national park and take a look around, see if we can find anything the police may have missed" Sam suggested standing up and grabbing his jacket. Dean nodded his head doing the same, both heading out in silence and to the Badlands National park.
A/N: Hope you enjoyed the first chapter, I think I still have editing to do on it and I have large and fun plans for the boys throughout this story ^.- but for now, I hope you liked the opening!
If you couldn't guess, this is taking place after the death of the yellow-eyed demon, sooooo ummmm beginning of season 3? I think XD
