Disclaimer: I don't own Supernatural or its characters - these were created by Eric Kripke - I'm just borrowing them. I'm not making any commercial gain from this. No harm or infringement intended.
The Three Faces of Winchester - Chapter Three
Dean didn't want to show it, and certainly didn't want to discuss it, but he was worried about Sam. It was Dean's role to be the bad-ass protector and his brother had always been the caring, sharing one, but it was as if Sam had burned and buried all his memories and feelings for Jessica.
Dean had tried in his awkward, stilted way to bring the subject up, but Sammy had quickly shot him down, making it clear that this wasn't a topic for discussion; Dean had had his misgivings, but didn't need to be told twice. Sam had then closed his eyes and feigned sleep, and so the rest of the journey had been spent in silence.
They eventually pulled over for a quick bite to eat and a chance to stretch their legs - or rather it was Dean who was famished and demanded junk food, and Sam who'd felt claustrophobic with the need to get out of the cramped legroom deficient conditions of the car.
"Sammy, d'you really think this note might be grid coordinates from Dad?" asked Dean, waving his half-eaten burger at his brother.
Sam referred to his map, "Yes, it's weird, I know, but does Blackwater Ridge mean anything to you?"
Dean couldn't quite bring himself to meet the intensity of his brother's gaze, they were both avoiding acknowledging the inconvenient truth that their father was very obviously ignoring Sam and had only been communicating with Dean.
"No," said Dean finally, "but Dad disappearing, and this thing showing up again after twenty years? It's no coincidence. Dad'll have answers; he'll know what to do," even to his own ears the words sounded hollow.
Sam threw away his untouched burger, "Well, dude, there's only one way to find out I suppose, let's get going we're nearly there."
Dean looked longingly at Sam's discarded lunch, "I guess you're right," he sighed quietly as he climbed back into the Impala.
The boys arrived at the ranger's station later that day, and started questioning the ranger.
"You aren't planning on going out near Blackwater Ridge by any chance?" asked the Ranger, smelling a rat.
"Oh no sir, we're environmental study majors from UC Boulder, just working on a paper," reassured Sam.
"Recycle, man." smirked Dean, unable to help himself.
The ranger wasn't an idiot, he could tell he was being interrogated, "You're friends with that Hailey girl, right?" he frowned at Sam, ignoring Dean.
"Yes, yes that's right, ranger", Dean looked at the ranger's nametag, "Wilkinson."
Still ignoring Dean, the ranger continued "Well, I'll tell you exactly what we told her. Her brother filled out a backcountry permit saying he wouldn't be back from Blackwater till the 24th, so he's not exactly a missing person, now is he?"
As Dean shook his head in agreement, the ranger acknowledged him for the first time, "You tell that girl to quit worrying, I'm sure her brother's just fine."
Thinking that he might be onto something, Dean turned up the charm a notch, "Actually, y'know what would really help is if I could show her a copy of that backcountry permit, y'know so she could see her brother's return date?"
The ranger grudgingly agreed without any further persuasion required, making Dean wonder what sort of pain in the ass this 'Hailey girl' actually was. Thanking the ranger for his trouble, the Winchesters made their way back to the Impala, and set off for the address shown on the copy of the permit.
Knocking at the door, Dean grinned broadly at the hot girl who answered, before toning it down slightly after reminding himself of the circumstances for his visit, "You must be Hailey Collins. I'm Dean, Ranger Wilkinson sent me over, we wanted to ask you some questions about your brother Tommy."
Hailey looked at him curiously, "Let me see some ID," she demanded suspiciously, looking closely at the fake 'Samuel Cole' ID offered by Dean, "hmmm, that yours?" she asked, looking past Sam to stare at the Impala, "Nice car."
I think I'm in love, Dean smirked to himself.
The next day Hailey was arguing with Roy, the professional tracker she'd hired, about bringing her younger brother Ben along. I've lost one brother, there's no way I'm taking my eyes off him for a second, she thought to herself. Misplaced, not lost, she corrected herself sternly.
The guilty self-recriminations were cut short as Hailey watched the fine-looking black Impala pull up and Dean jump out - he shouted something she couldn't quite catch back to the car, then walked towards her while seeming to practically inhale the contents of a jumbo-sized bag of peanut M&Ms.
Ah, the cute fake ranger, she thought. The guy was more than a little odd, what with his strange twitchy mannerisms, and he obviously hadn't noticed the discrepancy between the name he'd given her and the name shown on the ID. But although she couldn't quite understand why, she had a good feeling about him, and at this stage was willing to accept any help she could get if it meant getting Tommy back.
Hailey watched with mild amusement as Roy and Dean immediately sized each other up and took an obviously intense dislike to one another. You can almost see their fur bristling, she snorted.
"So, you're out hiking in biker boots and jeans?" she couldn't resist making a few snidey comments to drop the hint that she saw right though Dean's act.
"Well sweetheart, I don't do shorts," he quipped back, mockingly.
More's the pity, she leered to herself. Reluctantly putting aside the mental image, Hailey decided that enough was enough, "Look, I can tell you're not a ranger, so who the hell are you?" she demanded.
Dean blinked at her, Hailey could practically hear the gears turning, finally he answered, "Sam and I," he said glancing back at the car, "are brothers, we're looking for our Dad who's missing and we think he might be here. Then when I heard about your brother I just figured that you and me are kinda in the same boat."
Hailey felt herself soften in sympathy, "Why didn't you just say so at the beginning?"
"I'm telling you now," Dean smiled sheepishly, "besides it's probably the most honest I've ever been with a woman. Ever." He gave her a sad puppy-dog eyes look that melted Hailey's heart, although she suspected it was probably a central part of his pick-up repertoire, "So are we okay?" he asked mournfully.
"Yeah, okay," she sighed at the big doofus.
They continued to hike for some time as Roy led them deeper and deeper into the forest. Dean was relieved to see that Sam had finally put in an appearance. Of course the Sasquatch would be at home in the woods, he laughed to himself.
"So what coordinates are we at now?" called Sam.
Roy turned, surprised at the sound of a new voice, then seeing the brothers, frowned in irritation and checked his GPS, "35-111, this is it, Blackwater Ridge."
Within minutes they stumbled into a small clearing and the remains of the encampment, all falling silent at the sight of the torn and blood spattered tents.
Just as they sank to the ground in tiredness, a voice screamed shockingly loud from a dense clump of trees ahead, "Help me! Help me!"
Hearts pounding, the group jumped up as one and dashed off in the direction of the voice. After only a minute they floundered to a halt, looking around in confusion, all sensing the same nameless feeling of dread.
"It sounded like it was coming from here, didn't it?" asked Hailey, not really sure what she meant by 'it'.
When they returned to camp, it was to discover that all the provisions and equipment they'd left behind in their rush to find the source of the screaming, had disappeared like the rapidly fading daylight.
Sam pulled Dean to one side, "I've read about this in Dad's journal – I think it's a wendigo."
When Dean tried to explain the situation to the rest of the group he was met with a mixture of contempt and incredulity, especially from Roy. Although Dean noticed that they all stayed within the protective confines of the Anasazi symbols, well, until Roy raced off into the darkness after another haunting cry for help.
Against all reason, the others chased after him until the deafening sound of shots being fired echoed through the woods, followed closely by the horrifying shriek of a grown man screaming in terror, before being suddenly cut off.
Hailey grabbed Dean's arm in alarm, "It's okay, let's get back to the camp, we'll be safe there, I promise," Dean reassured her.
Hailey looked at him, hysteria bubbling below the surface, "Roy's gone, if he couldn't kill it, what hope is there for the three of us?"
Dean's answer was lost as the wendigo reared up in front of them, and the group scattered in terror to escape.
Sam led Ben down the twisting series of tunnels on the trail of the wendigo. Finally they located Hailey, and while Ben cut her down, Sam revived his brother. Dean took charge immediately and within minutes had found both Tommy and a flare gun to use as a weapon against the creature.
Collectively they carried Tommy most of the way back up the tunnel system when the growl of the wendigo echoed nearby sounding increasingly near.
Hailey turned to Dean in concern, "We'll never outrun it," she whispered, not wanting to scare her brothers any more than they were already.
Dean felt his chest rise protectively, "Sammy'll help you get out, I'm going to use this to go after it," he growled, brandishing the flare gun.
Sam felt a sharp stab of anger at being left behind, as the roar of the wendigo sound louder behind them, "I need to go after him," he begged, then gestured towards the mouth of the cave, "Get them out of here, go!"
Hailey look at him strangely a moment, before nodding her sudden understanding and giving him a sad smile.
Sam ran back down the tunnel at full tilt and collided with the wendigo, sending it flying. In the confusion Dean managed to fire the flare gun at point-blank range directly into the wendigo's stomach; he watched in amazement as, within seconds, flames consumed the creature as if it were nothing more than tissue paper.
Later, back at the ranger station there was a hive of activity in response to the returning survivors.
Ranger Wilkinson glanced over the pattern of Tommy's visible wounds and cast a suspicious look in Dean's direction, "So you were attacked…"
"By a grizzly," interrupted Tommy.
"Yeah, it must have weighed like 800, 900 pounds," added Ben.
The paramedics helped the brothers into the ambulance and motioned towards Hailey.
Hailey signaled she needed a moment, then turned to Dean, "So, I don't know how to thank you," she said sincerely.
Dean gave her a long smirking look.
Hailey sighed, "Must you cheapen the moment?" she laughed.
"Oh, yeah!"
Hailey leaned forward and kissed him long and tenderly on the cheek, then looked him in the eye her expression suddenly a mix of compassion and seriousness, "Look after yourself. I hope you find what you're looking for."
She walked to the ambulance and climbed into the back, "Thank Sam for me," she called gently with a small, sad smile of goodbye.
The paramedic closed the door and a moment later the ambulance pulled away.
Getting ready to leave, Sam checked his cell and realized with a sharp shock that he'd somehow missed a call from his father's number the day before. Shaking from a combination of excitement and fear he listened to what he realized was obviously the original of the message that Dean had played back to him in the diner in Palo Alto:
"Sam, there's something wrong. I think it's starting to happen again. I need to try and figure out what's going on. It may be a while 'till I'm back. Be very careful, someone rang claiming to be 'Dean'. We're both in danger."
"Man, I hate camping," exclaimed Dean loudly, appearing suddenly.
"Me too," said Sam automatically, his heart pounding as his discretely tucked his cell away in his pocket.
"Sam, you know we're gonna find Dad, right?"
Sam couldn't help wondering if that was meant as a promise or a threat.
"Yeah I know," Sam answered, his throat suddenly dry. He swallowed audibly, "But in the meantime…I'm driving."