Rails (SPN Fic)

[Sawyer]

I know, I know, it's me again! Okay, so I haven't gotten around to continuing Duvet yet so I thought I'd tide you over with this thing... I already posted it on livejournal but I thought maybe some people here haven't seen it yet!

I wrote it before we found out about Dean's cat allergy (yum oh my god I can't believe it's canon yes so awesome and hot... maybe I will do something with that too...) so this is sort of an AU, in a sense, I guess... I hope you like it anyway!!

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Dean notices it before Sam does. He doesn’t say anything, but he picks up a bag of cough drops and a bottle of cold medicine from the drugstore.

Sam frowns, looks at Dean quizzically as he enters the Impala.

“For you,” Dean explains, but tosses the bag in the backseat. “You’re getting sick.”

“What? No I’m not.”

Dean raises his eyebrows. “You are. I can hear it in your voice. Come on, get in. The bones aren’t going to burn themselves.”

It always starts up in his throat, an achy feeling when he swallows, but progresses into something constantly sore that worsens whenever he eats or drinks. Sam’s stubborn about fluids during this stage, which Dean knows will make whatever illness he’s fighting about five times worse.

“Hey. Drink up.”

Sam looks at Dean, then at the bottle of water, then back at Dean again. His eyebrows crinkle as he unscrews the cap and finally obeys. He winces. Dean quickly gives him a pat on the shoulder. He’ll be okay.

The sore throat doesn’t let up for days, even when Sam’s sinuses swell up and he loses his senses of taste and smell. But today they’ve got a case to work on at an old, supposedly haunted mansion that’s so secluded that the only way to access it is by a four-hour train ride.

“How’s your cold?” Dean asks when they pull into the station, although he already knows the answer.

“I’m okay,” Sam replies vaguely, runs the back of his hand across his nose. He tries to inhale, tries to sniffle, but his nose just makes a little snnk sound that says there’s no way he’s going to get any air through.

Dean palms his forehead, checking for fever, but Sam moves his head away with a bitchface and exits the car. Dean relaxes because he knows it means his brother’s not feeling too bad yet, not really.

“Train leaves at nine,” Dean announces, grabbing his bags and locking the car. “I figure we check in as guests, take a look around, gank the sucker and take the first train back tomorrow.”

“D’you have the tickets?” Sam asks.

With a grin, Dean confirms that he does. They’re in his pocket next to a pack of travel tissues (because he doesn’t want Sam leaking all over the place, especially when they’re going to be stranded on a train for two hours) and his car keys.

Dean hands them over to the conductor while Sam coughs into his sleeve.

“Poor thing,” a young woman coos as she passes them to enter the car. She’s carrying more than a couple suitcases, as well as some sort of box with holes on the sides and a pink blanket draped over it. “You make sure he takes something for that cough,” she instructs Dean, then pats Sam’s arm sympathetically and steps into the car.

The brothers exchange a look, raised eyebrows and exaggerated frowns, and then Dean shrugs because really, he’s been trying to get Sam laid for how many months now? And of course he’s got women falling into his lap when his nose is red and chapped and he’s breathing exclusively through his mouth.

The train’s whistle blows and they step hurriedly inside to find their seats. The train is obviously older; it’s cramped inside, and Sam has to slouch to avoid bumping his head on the ceiling. When they sit down their shoulders are just barely touching –Dean accidentally elbows Sam in the ribs when he reaches into his pocket for a cough drop.

Instead of accepting it, however, Sam turns away to face the window and sneeze once, urgently. Then a second time. And a third, followed by a short pause before the fourth one hits, stifled between pinching fingers.

“Wow. Gesundheit,” Dean says, and hands his brother a tissue instead. Sam doesn’t usually start getting sneezing fits until the congestion lets up a little, and even then, it’s never one after the other like this – they’re always slow and torturous when he’s got a cold, leaving him panting and stuffed up and sore. The quick, light and ticklish ones are usually reserved for…

“Hey, you allergic to something?”

“Feels allergic,” Sam agrees and presses against his nose. Dean hands him another tissue. “Thanks.”

“Wonder what it could be,” Dean says. The train might be old, but it’s not really dusty, and pollen season doesn’t start for at least another month.

Sam shrugs and sneezes again, fast and light but powerful enough to pitch him forward, his head hitting the headrest of the seat in front of them. The backrest of the seat rocks a little, emitting a surprised noise from its inhabitant.

“Shit. Sorry.”

The seat rock again, and the lady from before turns around, her eyebrows furrowed together like Sam’s are when he’s sympathizing with a victim.

“Bless you,” she says, out of what Dean suspects is more than politeness. (She's cute, though, he shouldn't complain.) She sits up and leans over the headrest of her seat. “That’s some cold! The New England weather getting to you?”

Sam sniffles and clears his throat. “I guess so,” he answers, his eyes glistening a little. He clears his throat again, awkwardly, and smiles.

“It’s been doing that to a lot of people,” she says. “I’m Cindy. You’re not from around here then?”

Sam starts to answer, but is interrupted by another sneeze, aimed into his wrist while he politely twists away from both Cindy and his brother. He stays still for a moment, and Dean can’t tell if it’s out of embarrassment or if he’s just waiting to see if he’ll sneeze again.

“Sorry. I think this is allergies, actually,” he explains at last. “It—huhhh—” he presses a finger to the side of his nose, “—it wasn’t this bad before.”

“Oh no, poor thing. What are you allergic to?”

“Nothing you’d find on a train,” Dean answers for Sam, who is busy sneezing once more. “Pollen, dust, cats—”

“Cats?” Cindy interrupts.

Dean’s eyes become narrow. “Yeah. Why?”

“Oh no. I’m sorry. This is my fault.” She pats something that’s on the seat next to her. Mystery solved. “They’re in a case but I’m sure their hair is all over my clothes… I’ve got a job at the mansion this weekend and couldn’t find anyone to take care of them while I was gone. I can move.” Her tone isn’t malicious – it’s nothing but apologetic, actually – and before Dean responds she’s already standing up and packing her things.

“Thanks,” Dean says. “Sorry, it’s just – Sam’s had problems with asthma before and he’s already sick and sort of a mess—”

“No, no, of course. Of course. Hey, don’t worry about it! Feel better.” Cindy’s gone in a flash, bags in hand as she waddles through the skinny aisles toward the back in search of a vacant seat.

“You okay, Sammy?”

“M’good,” Sam responds stuffily through a thick string of coughs. “Allergies aren’t that bad anymore.”

“Yeah, nice joke, Sam. Remember wheezing out of that old library three weeks ago? Or ragweed season in Texas last September? What about when we sat behind a girl with cats on a train that one time, remember that?”

Sam rolls his eyes. “Shut up. I’m sick.”

“Thought you were fine.”

“Whatever,” answers Sam around another coughing fit.

“That’s starting to sound like bronchitis,” Dean says disapprovingly.

Sam shakes his head. “Asthma.”

Shit. “You okay?” Dean asks again, a little more panicked now. Sam really hasn’t had problems with asthma since high school, even during pollen season, so Dean hadn’t thought much to worry about it this time – but Sam had never been this close to an allergen with his respiratory system already compromised, either.

“I’m…” Sam pauses to sneeze twice, soft but unrestrained. He groans afterword, probably more out of annoyance than pain, and slouches into his seat.

“Sam?”

“Don’t feel good,” Sam just murmurs, defeated, sounding like he did when he was six and had caught the flu. He coughs again, and Dean’s heart sinks.

“Okay. Okay, here,” he says and begins to rummage through his duffel with one hand while rubbing his brother’s back with the other. He finds the bottle of antihistamines and pours out a couple of pills. “These’ll help. You’re okay, Sammy. Can you breathe?”

“Yeah,” Sam chokes out, takes the pills and swallows them dry. “These always make me…”

“Sleepy, I know. You need the rest anyways. We still have a few more hours to go.”

Sam’s head is already lolling to the side, his eyes half closed. The sudden relaxation is probably more placebo than anything; since there’s no way the medicine’s worked that quickly. He breathes in through his mouth, slowly but not desperately, and even with the slight wheeze Dean knows he’s going to be fine.

[ID2006]

Im reading this and accidentally hit the back button on my phone. instant panic. "no no no no, come back." reclick link. sigh of relief. the amazingness comes back. And the differences between cold sneezes and allergies and worried Dean and omg I love you.

[Ciuty80]

this is wonderful!!

i don´t like sam´s suffering..BUT his sneezes are so ADORABLE!!! :drool:

thanky for sharing!

[purpleninja]

This...is...*heaven*!!! Pleasepleaseplease continue!! Not only sick, sneezy Sam, but sick, sneezy, asthmatic, vulnerable Sam?? Yes, please!!

[iluvsneezes]

Aww, I LOVE this so much!! Please write more sneezy Sammy goodness.

[HoneyBunny]

Jeez girl, how do you do it? I've only been gone for like a week and I come back to find three new awesome fics? You're spoiling me.

Awesome as always

[Sawyer]

Im reading this and accidentally hit the back button on my phone. instant panic. "no no no no, come back." reclick link. sigh of relief. the amazingness comes back. And the differences between cold sneezes and allergies and worried Dean and omg I love you.

Shut uuuuupp I love YOU! You give me all of these ideas!! Hehe oh my god that's so nice of you to say hehe you leave the best comments!

this is wonderful!!

i don´t like sam´s suffering..BUT his sneezes are so ADORABLE!!!

thanky for sharing!

They are, aren't they?? And don't worry! He won't be suffering too badly... probably!

This...is...*heaven*!!! Pleasepleaseplease continue!! Not only sick, sneezy Sam, but sick, sneezy, asthmatic, vulnerable Sam?? Yes, please!!

You're so sweet, thank you! Ahh I have a weakness for combining all of those things... they're all equally my favorites!

Aww, I LOVE this so much!! Please write more sneezy Sammy goodness.

Wow, thank you! I'm on it! I like it just as much as you guys do!!

Jeez girl, how do you do it? I've only been gone for like a week and I come back to find three new awesome fics? You're spoiling me.

Awesome as always

Oh man, I don't even know! It seems like there was a drought of Supernatural stuff on here until a little after that one totally perfect episode... and then it was like once we had all calmed down from the shock of it all the fics started pouring in! I LOVE IT! And now I can't stop! If it wasn't for you guys I probably wouldn't be doing aaaaany of this hehe! You are so so sweet.

[BlueRandom]

Ah, I missed so many of these! Love this one. Just out of interest, whenabouts in the show did you imagine it set?

Also, this was so hot:

Instead of accepting it, however, Sam turns away to face the window and sneeze once, urgently. Then a second time. And a third, followed by a short pause before the fourth one hits, stifled between pinching fingers.

[Sawyer]

Oh my god, thank you so much!! Ahh! I don't know, actually -- I'm never very good with setting up a timeline season-wise (because I watched the entire show out of order. don't look at me, I'm so strange!) so really whenever you can envision it! Probably an earlier season, though, when things were lighter, maybe? Hehe I'm not sure!

[shingetsu]

Poor Sam! Good thing he's got a big brother to look after him. I loved the part where Dean notices that Sam's coming down with a cold even before he does.

And may I say, I really love that extensive list of allergies...and the fact that he has a cold is a bonus! ;P

Lovely job! XD I think I'm getting rather addicted to your stories.

[Sawyer]

Oh my god, wow, thank you so much! Hehe I like it too... Dean totally knows Sam better than Sam knows himself! He raised the kid!

Also, yes, I love the combination of having a cold and allergies... my headcanon is that Sam is totally allergic to a bunch of stuff. I mean, allergies are genetic, right? And then there's Dean and cats... ahh, wishful thinking!

[Skyler]

Please continue, I'm begging you! I love all your amazing Sam and Dean fics so this applies to the others as well XD

[Sawyer]

You're so sweet! I wrote this at the beginning of February and I'm not really sure where to go from here but I can work on something for you if you want! What kind of stuff do you like to see?

(Also expect a crazy incoming of stuff next week due to the LJ meme... I'm going to be all over the place writing Supernatural stuff from that!)

Edited March 26, 2013 by Sen Beret

[Skyler]

Um... I'm not too sure what I like in particular really, I just love the way you write them and we see the more vulnerable sides of the boys or however you spell that

[Sawyer]

Oh wow! You are really very sweet. I'll see what I can come up with! I've got tomorrow and Friday off of school so we'll see!!

[Zwee]

OH my god you are some sort of angel of SPN fics. I want to live in your mind so I can read every idea you've ever had for a story. I would be entertained for life.

This was SO adorable. Poor Sammy, sick and allergic and starting to get a little asthmatic!! My favorite is when Dean was like "You're getting sick." And Sam's like "What? No I'm not... wait... I guess I am. Crap." and Dean's just like "Yep." Ahhhh, it's too much goodness. Plus picturing the boys on a train together was really cute for some reason! And YES Please narrate what kinds of Sam sneezes go with what affliction. Please do that. Yep.

You're inspiring me here... I'm feeling a little like I should break out some of the stories I have floating around half-created on my secret flash drive of secret stories... Hmmm...

Still not as good as yours, though!

Thank you!!

[Sawyer]

OH NO OH MY GOD you are SO nice to me! Oh man! I really really loooove your stuff so I thiiiiink you should DEFINITELY break them out! Please, please! You are so wonderful!

Heeee and I adoooore analysis of sneezes and the variety of them and I am so glad that you like them too! Combining allergies with colds is one of my favorite things because I love them both A LOT and that way it pleases everyone!!!

[SexualOddity]

I read this on LJ right before I had to leave for work so I didn't get time to comment. I'm glad you put it on here to remind me! I LOVE your descriptions SOOOOO much! Everything is just so detailed and just... yeah. You give me suffering Sam in technicolour and I love you for it. I'm not even really that into colds, but with all your description it's just... be still my heart.

You write Dean's caretaking amazingly. I love how he checks up on Sam without making a huge deal about it and especially the way he knows the signs of Sammy's symptoms - recognises when he's sick, and recognises when his sneezes are from his allergies. I love the urgency in which you write his allergy fits and lol, at Dean being incredulous at girls being attracted to Sam when he's all stuffed up and drippy. If only he knew!

This is lovely

[Sawyer]

YOU'RE lovely! Oh man! I knew that you preferred allergies (I keep track of these things!!) so it's really cool that you enjoyed this anyway! I love both causes equally so I try to write an equal amount (or include both!) to please everyone. Thank you so much!! It's soooo nice of you to let me know all the little details you liked! <3 There can neeeeever be enough of this stuff!

[sneezysammy345]

Adorable. Poor Sammy. Combining a cold with allergies. That's gotta be rough.