Seven Bridges Road

III. Phantom Traveler

As the door opened, Dean awoke and slipped a hand under his pillow for a weapon. He glanced at Johanna to see her fast asleep and angled his body in front of hers.

He turned to see Sam entering, carrying coffee and pastries.

"Morning, sunshine," Sam greeted, kicking at Johanna's bed, causing her to wake with an incoherent mumble.

"What time is it?" Dean asked groggily.

"Uh, it's about 4:45."

"In the morning?"

"Yep."

Johanna yawned and sat up and asked, "Sammy, you get any sleep?"

Sam nodded. "Yeah, I grabbed a couple hours."

"Liar," Dean said. "'Cause Josie and I were up at three, and you were watching a George Foreman informercial."

"Hey, what can I say? It's riveting TV."

"When was the last time you got a good night's sleep?"

Sam shrugged. "I don't know, a little while, I guess. It's not a big deal."

"Yeah, it is."

"Look, I appreciate your concern-"

"Oh, I'm not concerned about you. It's your job to keep my ass and Josie's alive, so we need you sharp."

Johanna looked at her younger brother. "You still having nightmares about Jess?"

Sam crossed the room, sat on the other bed, handed a coffee to Dean and Johanna. "Yeah. But it's not just her. It's everything. I just forgot, you know? This job. Man, it gets to you."

"You can't let it," Dean told him. "You can't bring it home like that."

"So, what? All this it... never keeps you two up at night?" Dean and Johanna shook their heads. Sam continued and looked at his siblings. "Never? You're never afraid?"

"No, not really."

Sam reached under Dean's pillow to pull out a large hunting knife and held it up as evidence.

Dean took the knife back. "That's not fear. That is precaution."

"All right, whatever. I'm too tired to argue."

Dean's phone rang and he answered. "Hello?"

"Dean, it's uh, it's Jerry Panowski. You, your sister and your dad helped me out a couple years back."

"Oh, right, yeah. Up in Kittanning, Pennsylvania, the poltergeist thing. It's not back, is it?"

"No. No. Thank God, no. But it's something else, and... uh, I think it could be a lot worse."

"What is it?"

"Can we talk in person?"

Dean eyed Sam and Johanna and they eyed him back.

---

The Impala drove down the road and eventually, they reached the hangar.

Jerry greeted the three Winchesters. "Thanks for making the trip so quick. I ought to be doing you guys a favor, not the other way around. Dean, Johanna and your dad really helped me out."

"Yeah, he told me," Sam said with a nod. "It was a poltergeist?"

"Poltergeist? Man, I loved that movie," a man stated.

Johanna rolled her eyes at the man's comment. Unlike her twin, she wasn't a fan of horror movies. She preferred movies with a happy ending, movies that didn't scare her.