Tell me where we go from here 26/?
Chapter 26
Sam had tried to find out more about their destination beforehand but as far as he could tell they were heading into nowhere. Somewhere in the middle of the woods and if he wasn't mistaken they would have to hike the last bit. Not that he had told Dean that part just yet, they both weren't exactly fond of camping but Dean liked it even less. He would find out when they had to stop at a Wal-Mart to get the stuff they would need for a day or two in the woods, though.
If Sam had known he would have packed the tents and sleeping bags and all the other stuff they had at the bunker but he hadn't known and the bunker was in the other direction. Easier to buy new stuff. They weren't equipped for three people anyway.
Somewhere along the road, most likely at night in one of the motels, something had happened between Dean and Cas. Sam didn't know what but he could tell that one morning they came out of their room and things were easier between them.
For a while now Sam had noticed that there was something going on between them and he didn't mean the whole "we've finally stopped being idiots" and running around like teenagers in love. It had to do with that but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. It probably did have to do with the one question he'd overheard but didn't stay long enough to hear the answer to. If Dean preferred to top or to bottom. Maybe they just had to figure out the logistics of their relationship.
Sam shifted in the passenger seat with a sigh. Here he was again, thinking about stuff he had no business thinking about.
Coming back to the here and now Sam just enjoyed riding in the car with Dean behind the wheel, singing along to his favorite songs, and Cas in the back seat, just quietly being there. At first he'd thought it would feel strange with one person more around but it fit. And it felt good.
"You have listened to this album three times in a row now, Dean." Cas did speak up at one point and Sam had to look out of the window and bring his hand up to his mouth to hide a grin. "And you sang along to most of the songs."
The singing had stopped rather abruptly by then and Sam didn't need to see his brother to know the dirty look he was shooting at Cas threw the mirror right now.
"It's a classic." He defended himself rather weakly and cranked up the volume a bit more. "And you, stop grinning." There was a finger pointed at him which only led to Sam smiling even more.
Dean kept up the high volume for two more songs but tuned it down after that.
"We're getting closer, aren't we?" He nodded towards the map in Sam's lap. Sam did have the right app on his phone but for some reason he liked the feeling of the old maps and in this car it just seemed appropriated.
"About that." Sam checked the distance one more time. "We have still about three hours in the car ahead." He rustled with the map and didn't look up to meet his brother's eye.
"Three hours in the car?" Of course Dean picked up on that immediately. "And after that?" His tone said clearly that he knew he wouldn't like the answer.
"The location is somewhere in the woods." Sam dropped the map. "At least a day in, maybe two, depends on the terrain." Which meant that they would have to spent at least one night out there, three in the worst case.
"We need to hike?" Dean asked. "You didn't say anything about hiking. He didn't say a word about hiking, right Cas?"
"No, he didn't." Cas confirmed but seemed otherwise unimpressed but this turn of events. "I don't see a reason why he should have mentioned it earlier, though."
Sam couldn't help but grin to that.
"You're supposed to take my side." Dean whined. "I don't wanna go camping."
"Too bad." Sam stretched out in his seat. "Cas' grace is somewhere in the woods so we're going camping." He made a pause. "You could sit this one out, you know, Cas and I could …"
He wasn't even able to finish the sentence before Dean cut him off.
"You think I would let you two go out there alone while I'm twiddling my thumbs?" Dean glared at him. "Not happening."
Sam hadn't expected anything less.
"I didn't know you don't like camping." Cas said after a moment during which he looked at Dean as if he tired to figure something out.
"No, I don't like camping."
"But …" Cas started but Dean cut him off, too.
"And no, Purgatory didn't do anything to make me like it more. Quite the opposite." He glared at Cas through the mirror.
It did impress Sam that Dean knew exactly what Cas was thinking. He hadn't made the leap to Purgatory when it came to camping. But thinking about it, which wasn't exactly his favorite thing to think about, it made sense. Not that Dean had told him much about that specific year of his life and it always ended with "And what were you doing during that time? Oh, yeah. Right. You hit a dog.". So Sam hadn't really asked.
But Sam had been to Purgatory himself, just a short trip but it had been long enough to get where Dean was coming from with his comment.
The rest of the ride Dean was sulking but he stopped at a Wal-Mart to get the things they would need for their camping trip.
"I've never been camping." Cas said when they were examining the sleeping bags. He picked one up and looked at it as if he had no clue what to do with it.
"It's going to be fun." Sam hurried to say before Dean had a chance to spoil this before it had even started. They weren't hunting anything, they were in no immediate danger, they could make this a fun trip. "A sleeping bag can be quite comfortable."
"I did sleep in one of these before." Cas put the bag back.
"You did?" Dean shared a look with his brother but they both couldn't think of a situation when the angel could have slept in a sleeping bag of all sorts. The need to sleep was a recent thing anyway and as far as Sam knew he was sleeping in a bed or maybe the back of the car but otherwise?
"When I was human." Cas explained. "I was working at the Gas-N-Sip." He made eye contact with Dean so Sam guessed Dean knew about this. "I didn't have the money for my own place so I had a sleeping bag in the back."
He said it as if it was the most normal thing to do and then turned around to have a look at another one of the bags.
Next to Sam Dean swallowed thickly. "Man, I'm sorry. I didn't know. I would have never kicked you out, you know that, but …" His gaze wandered over to Sam. Yeah, it had been his life on the line and there was never another option when it came down to that. Not for Dean.
"I know." Cas nodded knowingly.
"So." Sam clapped his hands to break the uncomfortable silence hanging over them. "Sleeping bags. You guys want a double or one for each of you?"
They already had a tent in their cart which was supposed to be big enough for four people and Sam just hoped it was big enough for the three of them but they didn't want to carry more than one with them. Thinking about it …
"One for each of you." Sam made the decision before one of them could recover from his question and could give the wrong answer. If Sam had to spent the night with them in one tent they were not sharing a sleeping bag, just no.
Maybe we should go for two two-men tents after all, Sam mused but dropped that thought. One tent was just fine.
An hour later they came out of the store with their cart loaded and a credit card maxed out. Getting all the stuff in the car was the next challenge but they managed. They would pack their backpacks properly at the motel later.
It was too late in the day to do anything so they settled for an early start in the morning.
With the upcoming camping trip in mind Dean had opted for a slightly better motel again, he wanted to have at least a hot shower and a good night's sleep before they got lost in the woods, his words not Sam's.
Sam wasn't exactly looking forward to the trip either so he didn't complain and enjoyed the night in a real bed. Living in the bunker with his own bed had made him soft. Or he was just getting old. But he did enjoy a good bed and looked now in disgust at the ones in the cheap motels they usually stayed at.
Well rested and freshly showered they met in the morning and headed over to a nearby diner for breakfast.
"You eat all this and we have to roll you through the woods." Sam commented when Dean ordered his meal which only led to Dean adding a short stack to his breakfast. The waitress shook her head to that with a smile.
"You boys going out in the woods?" She asked while she wrote down their order.
"Yeah, anything you can tell us about it?" Sam put his arm on the back rest of the bench and turned towards her. She fiddled with the pen as if she wasn't sure if she should speak up or not.
"It's not dangerous or anything, isn't it?" Dean had caught up as well.
"Not exactly dangerous." She finally said.
"But?" Sam prompted.
"For a while now people tell strange stories." She dropped her voice and had a quick glance over her shoulder to make sure nobody but them was close enough to hear.
"What kind of strange?" Sam asked. This could be Cas' grace. They'd seen the effects an angel's grace could have on the environment when they'd been looking for Anna's. Strange was good.
And it was still possible that Metatron had left something out there to guard it, though.
"Some people have seen strange lights at night. There are trees, old trees, that haven't been there a few years ago. The animals act strange, too." She shook her head as if she wanted to dismiss it.
"Do you know when this started?" Cas spoke for the first time.
"Last year." She answered promptly. "In May."
"That's pretty specific." Dean commented and Sam's mind was racing. The angels had fallen at that time.
"You remember that weird meteor shower last year? That's when it all started."
"Okay, that was quite memorable." Sam had to admit. He for sure remembered that night. Not much after that but he did remember leaning against the Impala while the angels were falling.
"They say one hit right here in the woods." She knew to tell.
"Do they now." Dean looked over to Cas.
"Oh, you fooled me." She tapped the pen at her writing pad. "You know all that, don't you? Let me tell you, you're not the first looking for that meteor."
"Are we too late?" Sam had to clear his throat. It would just be their luck if somebody had found it first.
"Nobody found it as far as I know." She spread her arms a little as if she wanted to say: But I'm just a waitress, what do I know? "Fact is, though, people go out there, searching for that thing, and when they come back, they've changed."
"Changed?" Sam asked.
"They're just not quite the same." She shrugged and went to hand in their order.
"This is going to be an interesting trip." Dean jerked his head and took a sip of his coffee. "I hate camping."
Chapter 27
Masterpost