Tell me where we go from here 36/?
Chapter 36
Sam could tell that there was something on Dean's mind and at first he thought it was something between his brother and Cas, getting used to their new relationship, making it work, something like that, and he would have never asked about it. But whatever it was, it got worse after Cas had left so it had to be something else. And there was only one something else.
Knowing his brother Sam was sure that Dean wouldn't start talking on his own but they'd learned from experience that keeping secrets from each other never worked out and Sam didn't want to go down that road again. They'd finally reached a point where they were good, with nothing between them, and he didn't want to risk that for something stupid.
So he waited for the right moment to speak up. When they had an evening together with a movie and a few beers, not that Sam wanted to loosen his brother's tongue with alcohol or anything, he figured he wouldn't get a better chance.
Of course Dean knew that Sam wanted to talk and tried to cut him off before he'd even opened his big mouth but Sam just asked rather bluntly if it was the Mark bothering Dean.
For a second Dean blinked at him as if he'd been totally blindsided by that question which made Sam wonder if there was something else eating at him but then Dean smiled softly and shook his head slightly.
"I'm fine, Sammy." He assure him and it sounded genuine. But he was a professional liar, Sam had to keep that in mind, but on the other hand, so was Sam and he knew his brother for a while now, he was pretty sure that he could tell if Dean was lying here or not.
"You feel nothing from it?" Sam asked anyway because there was no chance that the Mark didn't effect him at least a little bit.
"Nothing I can't handle." Dean avoided his eyes by reaching for another beer but he didn't open it. He just held it in his hand, thumb brushing along the cap.
So there were effects.
"You can talk to me." Sam repeated and waited for Dean to open up. "You don't sleep well."
"The Mark is there, I can't change that." Dean glanced at him. "But I won't get the hammer back out, promise." It was meant as a joke, Sam got that, but spoken out loud it didn't sound like Dean was joking.
"I'm not afraid." Sam said softly. He knew his brother would never hurt him. That thing chasing him through the bunker had worn his brother's face but it hadn't been Dean. Not really, not the part that counted.
"Never said you were."
"So if it's not the Mark, what is it then?" Sam got him talking maybe he could get Dean to talk a little more. But now he clammed up.
"Nothing you can help with anyway." He uncapped the bottle of beer and took a big gulp.
So there was something but Sam could tell that Dean wouldn't talk about it. Not now and probably not ever.
"You have another movie ready?" Dean asked instead and a part of Sam wondered why he was still here. They were sitting with their back propped up against the headboard of Sam's bed because this was still the only place in the bunker with a TV set up. Sam would have bet money that after his attempt of a talk Dean would be over in his room in a heartbeat, claiming that he was tired. But no, he was asking for another movie.
"Sure." Sam answered easily and read off the titles he had at hand.
They watched another movie, a martial art one with a title Sam had forgotten as soon as the title card disappeared. But it was fun, watching those people fight as if the laws of physics had no meaning.
They barely spoke but the silence was comfortable and when the movie was over Dean wished him a good night and carried out the empty beer bottles before he went over to his room. He wasn't drunk, a few beers had never been enough to make Dean drunk, but Sam got the feeling that Dean had wanted the alcohol. Maybe to help him through the night? Which was not a comfortable thought, not at all.
Alone in his room Sam mused about the few bits Dean had revealed. The Mark was bothering him but he had it under control. Sam believed that part and so far he hadn't seen anything making him think otherwise. But there was something else and that bugged him. Dean didn't want to talk about it but it was big enough to lose sleep over it.
"Why can't things be easy for a change?" Sam muttered and made himself comfortable in the bed.
Dean didn't look better the next morning than he had the day before. If anything the bags under his eyes were even bigger.
Sam thew himself back into researching the Mark of Cain because that was the thing he could do. However, there wasn't much to find he hadn't read before and there was nothing about how to get rid of it. Considering that Dean was only the second person carrying the Mark it had been a far fetch from the beginning. His only guess was that Dean could pass it on to somebody else just like Cain had done with Dean but Sam doubted his brother would agree to something like that.
Not that Sam liked that idea either, burdening another person with the Mark? No, he had to find a way to get rid of it once and for all.
His fruitless research carried on over a few days and with every passing day Dean became more and more restless. He didn't sleep well, Sam could tell, and he paced around the bunker like a caged tiger.
They needed something to do, Sam realized and started searching for a possible hunt.
Which was easier said than done even with both of them searching, this was the only activity Dean seemed to have patience left for, and it took them another two days to come up with something which was at least worth checking out.
"Look at this." Dean said with more enthusiasm than Sam had seen on him since Cas had left. "They say he was alone at the construction site, after work, and he got electrocuted."
Sam read over the article Dean was showing him.
It probably is a bust, Sam thought when he read the article about a construction worker who had died in what was officially considered an accident which was tragic but didn't scream supernatural by itself.
"Let's check it out." He decided more to get out of the bunker and away from the cloud of heavy thoughts over Dean's head than anything else. Half an hour later they were on their way and instantly Dean's mood got better. Sam just shook his head and rolled with it.
Their destination wasn't that far away, only half a day's ride in the car, and during that time they talked easily with the music playing too loud and eating junk food in the car and everything was good.
They had a rather late start and reached the place just after dark. Dean parked in front of the construction site but neither of them got out of the car. They were only here to have a first look, they weren't dumb enough to just jump in without any clue what they were dealing with. Not as long as it wasn't an emergency.
"That's huge." Dean whistled through his teeth at the sight of the building under construction.
They didn't even know where the accident had happened so there was no point in wandering aimlessly around. They needed more information first.
Sam had used the ride to check out a few things online and so far it only had been that one accident which had been days ago. No need to go in guns blazing.
"Looks like they're still working here." Dean observed. At this time of the day the shell of a building lay dark and abandoned in front of them but it was clear that the workers would be back in the morning.
"Hmm." Sam made and didn't like it. They wouldn't stop the whole thing because of one accident, he knew that and it probably was just that, an accident, but if this was something else, he'd like to have the site cleared until they were done with their job.
"Let's find a motel and start asking questions in the morning." Dean started the car and slowly she rolled past the half-build complex.
This would be a new apartment complex, Sam had found out, with almost one hundred and fifty units. There was money behind this, a lot of money, so they would only stop the work for something really big, people dying like flies, maybe, but Sam wouldn't bet money on that. What were a few lives against the millions they would lose with ever day the site stood still? It was a cynical thought but Sam knew how the world worked.
They found a motel and booked a room for the two of them which reminded Sam that they hadn't heard anything from Cas in days. Which wasn't unusual for the angel, he used to go off on his own without leaving a note more often than not, however, this time was different. Sam pretended that he didn't notice how often Dean checked his phone or how he seemed to suffer more with every day they didn't hear from Cas. Not that Dean was showing how bad he felt but Sam knew his brother.
Sam spent the rest of the evening with research. The building wasn't even finished so he focused more on the place where it stood, the history of there and anything that was connected to it. Not that he found much. The neighborhood had become worse over the last decades and somebody had the fantastic idea to demolish all the houses there and build this new and shiny apartment complex with wide parking lots and some small green areas and right next to it a shopping center was planned. They would start on that next year.
The area was quite large and Sam found out that the former residents didn't all leave peacefully. There had been protests and the lawsuits which came with such a big project and Sam wasn't surprised that in the end the side with the money won.
Sam shook his head at that and wondered if somebody had been upset enough about the turn of events to curse the place. But the houses had been demolished and the construction was going on for month now and so far this has been the first fatal accident.
"I found nothing." Sam closed his laptop and rubbed his eyes. Maybe they would find out more in the morning. He glanced over at Dean who had been busy with his own project. They'd figured that going in as FBI wouldn't cut it this time so Dean had been working on some new IDs for them.
"Maybe there is nothing to find." Dean admitted and handed him a fresh ID with his picture looking back at him. "What do you think?"
Sam had a closer look at the card that confirmed that he was Sam Barnes, construction inspector. The name didn't ring any alarm bells so he probably wasn't the butt of a joke this time. He had a look at Dean's as well.
Dean Rogers, also construction inspector.
"Looking good." He handed the cards back to Dean and then stretched in his chair. "I'm beat, man. Let's turn in."
They took turns in the bathroom but when they were about to turn the lights off Dean's phone rang.
He checked the caller ID before he hurried to answer.
"Cas?"
Chapter 37
Masterpost