Ready Set Let's Go

04. Phantom Traveler

As the door opened, Dean awoke and slipped a hand under his pillow for a weapon.

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

"Morning, sunshine," Sam and Josh greeted.

"What time is it?" Dean asked groggily.

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

"In the morning?"

"Yep."

"Sammy, you get any sleep?"

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

"Liar. 'Cause I was 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?" Josh asked.

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

"Yeah, it is," Dean said.

"Look, I appreciate your concern-"

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

Josh looked at his twin brother. "You still having nightmares about Jess?"

Sam crossed the room, sat on the other bed, handed a coffee to Dean. "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 Josh shook their heads. Sam continued and looked at his brothers. "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 brother 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 Josh 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 and your dad really helped me out."

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

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

Josh chuckled at the man's comment and grinned.

"Hey, nobody's talking to you. Keep walking," Jerry told him. "Damn right it was a poltergeist, practically tore our house apart. Tell you something. If it wasn't for you, your brother and your dad, I probably wouldn't be alive. Your dad said you and your brother were off at college. Is that right?"