Chapter One
"Dad?" Annie asked in surprise, sitting up as Sam moved off her, secure in the knowledge that while everyone in the room was shocked stupid, there'd be no danger of any brawling for the moment.
"Where is he? Is he all right?" Dean asked, he stuck out his hand. "Gimme the phone."
Sam pushed his hand away. "Dad, where are you?"
Annie watched a myriad of expressions on Sam's face. He finally seemed to settle on irritation. "What? What are you-No. Dad, forget it."
"Forget what? What's he saying?" Annie asked half hoping Sam gave her the phone so she could give daddy dearest an earful.
"Yeah. She's here. I know but. Dad-Dad-Dad! We're not going to Seattle."
"Seattle? What the- Gimme the phone!" Dean demanded grabbing Sam's arm but he jerked back, not allowing Dean to take the phone from him.
"Is he in Seattle?" Annie asked.
"I don't care. You disappear off the face of the earth, and when you finally call it's to give us a case?"
"He what?" Annie asked with horrified indignation.
"Dammit give me that-Dad?" Dean asked, having finally wrested the phone away from Sam. "Where are you?" He met Annie's gaze. "Yes, Sir. No. I wouldn't have but she's deter…" he blinked, his face darkening. "Yes, Sir."
"You tell him if he has a problem with me coming with you guymmkph!" Annie began but Dean reached out a hand to cover her mouth.
He listened for a few more seconds, punctuated his end of the conversation with a nod and then hung up.
"Well?" Sam and Annie asked at the same time.
"We're going to Seattle," Dean said pocketing his cell phone.
"Like hell," they replied in unison again.
Dean stared at them both and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, we are. Get your stuff. I'm gonna go check out."
Sam and Annie stared at each other. "That jerk has got to be the poster child for blind obedience. I mean, after everything dad has pulled over the years…Unbelievable!"
"Yeah well, that's Dean. But if he thinks I'm just gonna fall in line he's got another thing coming," Sam promised, even as he stuffed his clothes in his duffle bag.
"So is this how we work now? Dad stays behind the curtain like the Goddamned wizard of Oz and pops up to send us on cases every once in a while?" Annie asked, leaning her elbows on the window of the car.
"Get in. Unless you're gonna actually do as you're told and go home like a good little girl."
Annie narrowed her eyes at him and pulled the passenger side door open.
Sam slid in the backseat. Annie watched him through the rear view mirror sending him a sympathetic weak smile. His eyes softened for a split second but he continued to stew silently and Annie got the feeling he was trying to keep himself from blowing his top. She just hoped Dean had the good sense not to goad him. The three of them sat in silence as Dean pulled out of the motel parking lot and onto the highway.
"So, what's in Seattle?" Annie finally asked after a few minutes.
"Babies. Four of them found dead in the past two months. Bodies completely drained of blood."
"My God," Annie gasped raising a hand to her mouth.
"So any chance your buddy Randall was headed to Seattle when you let him escape?" Dean asked, his voice hard.
"That's not funny," Annie snapped.
"Good, cause I'm not joking," Dean shot back. "My head is still killing me."
"Must be all that hot air," Annie replied curtly.
Dean gave a humourless laugh and then shrugged. "Anyway, dad doesn't think it's a vampire."
"Really?" Sam growled behind them. "And what does dad think it is? Assuming that he took the time to tell you after barking out his order so that you could fall in line like a good little soldier."
"Hey, what the hell is your problem? Dad just wants us to check this out. You'd rather we just let these babies die?" Dean asked, glaring at Sam through the rear view mirror
"No, of course not. This isn't about the case. This is about you just blindly obeying dad. Ever since we were kids, Dean, his word has been like the bible with you."
"Right, it's called being a good son," Dean reminded him.
Sam's eyes glittered dangerously and Annie knew she had to step in before punches were thrown and they drove into a ditch.
"Okay, guys. Guys? As much as I can appreciate that for once, I'm not the other half of this little battle, I think we should all just cool down and give it a rest-"
"This is exactly why I left in the first place. Dad just expects us to jump when he orders it and not question him-"Sam said.
"And we're off," Annie groaned throwing her hands up.
"The man disappears and without so much as an explanation he calls you and you're off like some damned programmed robot."
"Oh screw you!" Dean sneered. "Nobody is forcing you to come along on this one. You want out? Here, I'll pull over." Annie watched in growing horror as he proceeded to do just that.
"What are you doing?" Annie asked in disbelief.
"You think, I won't?" Sam challenged. He opened the door as soon as Dean stopped the Impala.
"Sam, wait!" Annie pleaded.
"I think the area code on the screen said 213. Dad's somewhere in California. That's where I'm headed."
Dean followed him out and Annie turned and dug her forehead into the head rest of the seat before climbing out as well.
"Hey, you think I won't take off? I will leave your ass!"
"Good. That's what I want you to do," Sam countered.
"No!" Annie pleaded. "Sam, you don't mean that. Dean, he doesn't mean that. Just, come on, Sam. Get back in the car, please."
"You're one selfish bastard," Dean said, turning back towards the car, he faced Annie. "So, you want to take off too?"
Annie stopped, unsure and if it was possible, Dean's eyes got colder.
"Forget it," Dean turned and stormed back to the car.
"Sam, come on," Annie pleaded, grabbing the edge of his jacket.
"It's okay. Go with Dean. He should have someone watching his back. He's pissed and that'll make him careless. I'll feel better if you're there."
Annie fought a pang of guilt at her relief that Sam was making the decision for her. She wanted to find John. But she didn't want to leave Dean. She cursed his damned invisible pull on her. If this had happened when he had first come back in her life, maybe she would have found it easier then, as furious as she had been with him. But their truce seemed to be taking hold and remembering his mouth on her in the motel bathroom she was honestly torn.
"Dammit, Sam," Annie whined. "If you find dad-"
He leaned in and kissed her cheek. "I'll call you, okay? And you call me if you need anything."
Annie blinked away the burning in her eyes and walked back to the Impala.
Dean stared at her in surprise as she opened the door and slid onto the seat. Buckling herself in, she stared straight ahead and waited for him to start driving again.