A/N: Sorry such a shortie! That's just how the scenes broke.
When John's phone began to sound its shrill ring in an otherwise silent room, the hunter was not in a sociable mood and was tempted to throw the phone into the wall to shut it up.
Good thing he glanced at the caller ID before he did.
In an instant, all of John's anger and frustration vanished, replaced with relief.
It was Dean's number.
John answered. "Dean! Hey, kiddo."
"Hey, Dad."
John froze. He knew his boy, knew him like he knew any solider in arms, could read him from fifty yards away just from the way he held his body.
Dean's voice was all wrong. It was listless. Flat. Somber. UnDean-like.
"You okay, son?"
There was a heavy pause. When Dean spoke again, it wasn't with the answer to John's question. "Where are you?"
John frowned. What his boy didn't say said a hell of a lot. "Salt Lake City, Utah. Where are you?"
Dean's answer was a heartbeat late, almost like there was a time delay, but John knew that wasn't the case. It was Dean faltering on every syllable. Like dragging each sentence through waist-deep water to deliver it to his father.
"I can be there in a couple of days… will you wait?"
John swallowed an unexpected lump in his throat. For his son, he'd wait forever. Especially hearing the worrisome tone in Dean's voice.
His boy needed him. John wasn't going anywhere.
"I'll be here."
"Kay."
Before the connection broke, John said, "Dean!"
There was an expectant silence.
"What's going on?" John asked in concern.
Again, a telling second's mark of time.
"Have you heard from Sam?" Dean asked.
That stopped John cold. It was code to them now. John wouldn't answer that, so he knew that meant that Dean similarly wouldn't answer John's question.
John didn't like it, but he didn't press the matter. That could be dealt with when Dean arrived.
When Dean hung up, John lowered his phone and frowned down at it in his hand. He'd finally heard from Dean, and he thought once he heard his son's voice all his worries would be put to rest.
But the fretting of a parent was never done. Now John was anxious for Dean to reach him, if only to see just how bad the situation was.
Because John could tell from Dean's voice that there was a situation.
To Be Continued…