Secret Santa for Anilkex! [Supernatural - 1/?]

[MoonDuck]

@Anilkex—I got you for Secret Santas this year!  I hope your holidays have been going well. I had a lot more fun than I had anticipated writing this.  I really love your Supernatural fics, so I hope you like this! This is just the first part, there's more to come.

 

Sam reread the newspaper article as Dean navigated the Impala through the uneven road that led up to Mount Rainier National Park. “This thing has already taken four people from surrounding towns. It sounds like there was enough pollen left behind that its mass could make up for the missing bodies, so they could be destroyed in some way, but this also hints that they’d been dragged away…” Sam’s voice trailed off, falling deeper into thought. They weren’t even sure that the monster would be here in this forest—it just seemed like the most likely suspect for a creature to create its base. It had to be taking its victims somewhere, assuming they were held captive and not eaten, or something. 

Dean kept his eyes focused on the road. “I don’t know what to tell you, Sammy, no one’s seen a Mandragora for centuries. If this is really it, we have no idea what it’s up to. For all we know it could just be lonely and looking for a few friends.” He also didn’t want to think harder than he already was concentrating on driving—his pounding headache made it difficult to pay attention to anything. Dean figured it was from the sleep deprivation. Once the adrenaline kicked in, he’d be fine. He reached over to turn down the heater. It was cold outside, but the car had gotten a little too warm for his tastes.

“Dean, what are you doing?” Sam caught him fiddling with the temperature settings, peeking up from the newspaper he was analyzing. “It’s freezing out there.”

“Alright, alright.” Dean turned the heat back up, but he kept it a few degrees lower than it had been previously. He could feel the sweat collecting around his hairline and beads of sweat forming along his forehead. It was definitely too hot, but he didn’t want to do anything to worry Sam, who was always too overprotective of him. They had come a long way to get to this point, and they were too close to turn back now. 

It wasn’t long before they reached a rest area with a wooden lodge and a small, nearly-empty parking lot. Dean pulled into the nearest parking space.

Dean shivered as he stepped out of the Impala. The air was shockingly cold, yet it also soothed him, balancing out his body temperature. Surprisingly, there was no snow to be seen. The only visible signs of the weather were thin layers of frost and the condensation of his breath. 

Sam zipped up his jacket and rubbed his nose before shoving his hands into his pocket. It may have been cold, but that didn’t stop his allergies from acting up. The evergreen trees were aggravating them, and he had left the medication at the hotel, completely spacing out and forgetting it. 

“Heh’dzheh!” Dean sniffled thickly and pushed on his nose with his fist, trying to get rid of the itch. The congestion and frosty air weren’t helping him succeed. “Huh-h’IKCHHh!” He bent forward, pausing in his path. Surprisingly, he was the first one to sneeze at the park.

The only response he got from Sam was a frown. It was unusual for Dean to sneeze so violently, and Sam couldn’t help but gape at his brother.

“It’s cold, okay?” Since when did Dean get defensive about sneezing? Time to change the subject. “C’mon, help me get the gear out of the back.” He turned away from Sam, not wanting to look him in the eye. He popped open the trunk of the car and started to unload it. His brother sighed and followed him, pulling out the necessary weapons and supplies and shoving them into a suitcase. 

The pair trekked up to the lodge, hoping to find something there that could guide them to the Mandragora. Sam was looking forward from escaping the cold climate, if just for a brief moment, but they soon found that it wasn’t much warmer inside than outside. All the building seemed to do was provide slight shelter from the wind. 

Only one man stood at the desk wearing a wrinkled park ranger’s uniform, leaning on his elbows and staring blankly at a home design magazine, barely managing to not fall asleep on the job. He didn’t react when the bell rang, signaling that guests had arrived.

Sam cleared his throat. “Good morning.” His voice felt scratchy, most likely from the pollen. 

The man looked up and eyed the two brothers, puzzled, as if he were trying to figure out why anyone would come to the park. 

Since it didn’t seem like he would say anything, Dean pulled out his usual forged identification, getting right to the point. “FBI. There’ve been reports of suspicious activity in the area. What can you tell us about that?” 

The park ranger scratched his head. “Y’know, I think there might be something.” His voice was raw, his tone weary, and his speech slow. “There’ve been some unfamiliar sounds from the forest, and there haven’t been enough people here for me to check it out. If you head down th—”

“EH’krshh!” Dean had tried his best to stave off the sneeze, but it was too strong for him to fight, and he had no choice but to interrupt the man. 

“God bless you, sonny.” 

Fortunately for Dean, the cold air had already made his cheeks a deep pink, which covered up the embarrassment that otherwise would have shone through. 

“As I was saying, if you head down that path up to the base of that hill over there, by the boulders, that seems to be where all the commotion is coming from. I thought it was just some ragamuffins messing around, but if you think there’s suspicious activity, it’d be there. Y’know, I used to have a grandson that’d come up here on vacation…” 

Dean was ready to fall asleep; the ranger’s monotonous voice couldn’t be harder to listen to. And he was already exhausted. He blinked and straightened his posture, as if he had suddenly woken up, and snapped out of his daze. The man hadn’t seemed to notice. 

Sam nodded. “Thank you.” His smile was tight. He too was eager to leave. 

“Good luck out there…” The ranger barely held his tongue as his voice trailed off for the second time. The “you’ll need it” he was about to say would have been a bit much. 

The brothers walked out the door as quickly as they could. 

Dean coughed as the winter wind directly hit his face. “That was strange.” 

“To say the least.” They hadn’t even gotten to the supernatural part of their hunt yet. There was still a lot of investigating ahead of them. 

Edited January 1, 2017 by MoonDuck

[cherrishish]

Sick!Dean and I'm guessing one allergic!Sammy soon to be coming up  looking forward to it 

[Anilkex]

WOOOOOOO MOONDUCK! YAYAYAY! Love love love this! My list so far...

1) Love the demon baddie!

2) Loved that park ranger! 

16 hours ago, MoonDuck said:

Only one man stood at the desk wearing a wrinkled park ranger’s uniform, leaning on his elbows and staring blankly at a home design magazine, barely managing to not fall asleep on the job.

16 hours ago, MoonDuck said:

“Good luck out there…” The ranger barely held his tongue as his voice trailed off for the second time. The “you’ll need it” he was about to say would have been a bit much. 

These were gold.

3) Yum!

16 hours ago, MoonDuck said:

“EH’krshh!” Dean had tried his best to stave off the sneeze, but it was too strong for him to fight, and he had no choice but to interrupt the man. 

4) Love casefics!

I'm thrilled you're writing for me! Thank you so much!

[telltale]

Ooh, this is awesome already!