"Sam, hey, are you home?" The apartment was dark but it was late so I figured Sam was asleep. I crept inside not wanting to wake him, up and kicked off my shoes. A night light was on in the bathroom but other than that the whole place was quiet and pitch black.
After I brushed my teeth I tiptoed into the bedroom and went to crawl into bed on my side… And froze. There was someone in my bed but it wasn't Sam. And whoever it was they were flopped all the way across the bed on a diagonal.
I flipped the light on, jumping back as soon as I saw the figure, and grabbed for the heavy vase on the dresser. One because I could slam someone over the head with it, and two because Sam kept a gun stashed inside it.
My heart still pounding I raised the gun and looked back at the disoriented person on the bed.
"Jess…?"
I breathed a sigh of relief. "Dean, what the Hell are you doing in my bedroom?"
He blinked a few times and sat up, "Oh shit… son of a bitch, Jess what time is it?"
"It's eleven thirty, why are you here? Sam said you went to Iowa after the case in Birmingham."
"He said what now? Jess, where is Sam? I came to pick him up and he's not here and then that bitch busted in here…."
"He didn't say anything about you coming today, he told me this morning he was going to run errands and make dinner. I called him at seven to say I was running late at the clinic and I was just going to get something on my way home… Wait, what do you mean someone busted in here?"
He rubbed at the back of his head and pulled his hand away, bloody. "Jess, a woman came here and I think she must have knocked me out and taken Sam. I don't know why he didn't tell you about the case, he was supposed to go with me to Iowa next week to meet up with Bobby but this week we were supposed to be checking a lead in Palo Alto."
"Why didn't he tell me? I mean Palo Alto isn't far but still…" As I was talking I went over to Dean and started checking him for any open wounds or other injuries. Sometimes with him it is better not to ask because he's stubborn and he will say he's fine even if he's bleeding out.
"Jess I'm fine," Dean said pulling away from my touch, "And like I already said I don't know what's up with Sam that's why I'm here but then I got conked on the head and…"
There was a two inch wide gash on the left side of his head near the top of his ear. "Dean you've got to at least let me wash this out, then we can figure out where Sam went off to."
He rolled his eyes but started moseying to the bathroom. He knew better to object because the last time he came over bloodied and disheveled, I locked him in the hall linen closet so he wouldn't try to get back on the road. I don't take safety lightly.
After a ton of complaining and empty threats Dean sat on the sofa, holding a glass of bourbon and an icepack in the other hand. "So when's the last time you saw him?
"Like I said, I left this morning and he was still sound asleep, I called at nine to check in and see what his plans were and he said errands. He never mentioned the vamp nest in Palo Alto. And he didn't say anything different when I called to say I was going to be late getting home."
Dean's mouth twitched in thought. Sam says it looks like a bunny rabbit and Dean gets super pissed about that comparison. "And you're positive there wasn't anything funky about him when you talked to him?"
"Not from what I could tell, no more pensive and brooding than he usually is first thing in the morning."
He smirked, "Sounds like Sam. Okay well if it wasn't a shifter and it wasn't something possessing Sam then that leads me to believe we're dealing with a third party, and that most likely who ever beat me up is who we're looking for."
It was weird to be sort of in on a case for once. Usually Sam tried not to let me even hear any case details because he didn't want to gross or freak me out. But this time around Sam was definitely in jeopardy, so it was almost impossible for me to stay out of it.