Crash and Burn - A Supernatural One-Shot

Crash and Burn

"What would I do without you?"

"Crash and burn."

"SAMMY!"

Sam was jolted awake at the loud noise of his head's own creation, eyes squinting to adjust to the darkness. Even in almost pitch black, the motel room still looked crappy. Where had his life gone so downhill?

He remembered exactly when.

With a slight groan, he sat up off of the uncomfortable mattress and immediately looked over to the other bed. To his surprise, Dean wasn't snoring away. In fact, Sam could safely say that he was awake – he could see his eyes were open from the laptop balanced on his chest. That was an odd sight, indeed. Usually he would be the one to research cases. For a split second, Sam wondered if he had woken up in an alternate universe. However, his suspicions were easily disregarded as Dean reached for a beer. Nope, that was definitely his brother.

"Dean? What are you doing?"

Dean looked over to his younger brother, shifting to sit up a little more in his bed with a tired grin. "Hey, Sammy. Thought I'd give you a chance to rest and do some researching myself for a change. This ain't a one-sided relationship."

Sam huffed out a laugh, shaking his head and reaching out for the laptop – his laptop, he might add. "Then what've you found?"

Dean immediately shifted the laptop further away, shutting it quickly. "Nothing of any importance. Y'know, the usual old crap. Couple of crackpots claiming they got abducted by aliens, someone that thought they had a poltergeist that ate their food but turned out they were just sleepwalking. Like I said, the usual old crap."

"Then why aren't you letting me see?" Sam paused, before rolling his eyes lightly. "I swear, you better not be watching porn on my laptop."

"For once, no." Dean replied, letting out a sigh. "Fine. I did find one, but I don't think we should deal with it."

"What?" That confused Sam. They always checked things out. Even if they turned out to be fake in the end, they always checked it out. "Dean, come on. If it's a genuine problem, we can't just leave them to it. They could be in real danger."

"They're not." Dean sighed again, before opening up the laptop once more. "Fine. There's a hit in California. Relatively new house built around ten years ago, but sustained damage after a fire around eight months after the first residents moved into it. The family that moved into it always said that odd things've been happening, but it's gotten real bad. There's these – three words, that keep on appearing everywhere. Computer screens, on walls, on the mirrors, everywhere."

Sam had an odd feeling in his stomach. It sounded so familiar, but he couldn't put his finger on it. "What are the words?"

Dean looked reluctant to say – but he knew that Sam wouldn't let it go. "'Crash and burn'. The words are 'crash and burn'."

Sam's blood ran cold. Suddenly, everything made sense, why it sounded so familiar. "Jess."

***

They were in California by morning. Sam didn't want to wait a moment longer. He had waited ten years to be able to properly say goodbye, and this was his chance. He wasn't going to let it slip through his fingers. The feeling of familiarity when he looked at the house was blood-curdling. Sam never wanted to go there again, and yet, here he was. He was the one to knock on the door, not even bothering with a bullshit story for once. "We saw your post on the Internet, about the ghost. Can we come in?"