Thanks again to those of you who reviewed, followed, or favorited. Bear in mind, Dean and John have been without Sam for a few days and have no leads on how to find them, so I decided to make them more desperate, less...angry. The anger will come though! Leave me your thoughts and opinions in a review, I'd love to know what you think!
I still own nothing.
Bobby bit his lip as he dialed. He knew this wasn't going to be pretty. He'd ease in and alert Jim Murphy first. Jim would be all pissed to hell that Bobby got involved with Ian Foster, but the man would certainly be willing to help him out. Especially with Sam Winchester caught in the crosshairs.
As soon as he heard the other line come to life, Bobby said, "Hi, Jim."
"What's wrong, Singer?"
"You know me too well, Pastor. I've gotten myself into a spot of trouble."
Bobby could hear a wry smile through the phone as Jim responded, "That seems to have become your modus operandi, my friend." Bobby knew his voice would lose all humor once he explained himself.
"Jim, do you know a Sam Winchester?"
"Certainly. A very bright boy- his father John is a hunter. Said he'd be bringing the boy to my neck of the woods around his birthday. Why do you ask?"
"Well I'm getting to know him under less than desirable circumstances, Jim. I, uhh...I took a hunt with Ian Foster."
Jim Murphy let out a disapproving cluck through the phone, "Now, Bobby, you know that man is bad news-"
"Let me finish, Jim. It gets worse unfortunately. Listen, Jim, you're a man of God and you know the Winchesters so I'm hoping I can trust you with what I'm about to tell you. Foster told me that he had some demon related case and that he was only about an hour and a half from the salvage yard, so I thought it would be a quick exorcism but...it turned out to be more complicated. Foster has it into his head that Sam is...is some kind of demonic weapon. He's got the kid in the basement of the hunter's cabin nearby, he's all beat to hell-" Bobby broke off as Jim hissed in anger and let out a curse through the other line. "Jim, this is bad. Foster came stocked to fight a war and I've got nothing, I won't be able to get the kid out without someone to help me."
"That man is reprehensible. Bobby, I'll be on my way shortly but it's gonna take me awhile to get there-"
"That's alright, you head to the salvage yard and let me know when you get here. I'll try Caleb too and hope he's in the area."
"That's a good idea, Bobby. But keep in mind...he doesn't know the Winchesters, Bobby. You may have to hold your cards a little closer to your chest with him. I trust him with my life, but I don't know that I'd be willing to risk Samuel's life with all the details you gave me."
Bobby sucked on the inside of his cheek as he mulled it over, "I'll be as vague as possible, Jim, but Caleb's no fool; he'll know something's up. I have faith in him, Jim. Once he sees the kid..."
"Yes, Sam has a gift for endearing himself to those around him quickly. It's something in the eyes."
"And the goddamn dimples," Bobby muttered.
"Alright, Bobby. I'm getting in my car now. You call, Caleb. I suppose I'll give the Winchesters a call, they must be going out of their minds with worry."
"Nah, Jim, I, uh...Sam wanted me to say a couple things to them. Maybe...maybe give them a call later and vouch for me so they don't shoot me when we finally meet."
"Will do. Be careful, Bobby." A click indicated the end of their conversation. One down, two to go. Bobby checked the time. He wished he could make a trip back to the salvage yard but there and back it's take 3 hours and Foster would be far too suspicious - if he wasn't already. Besides, Bobby felt sick enough leaving the kid with Foster for an hour tops.
He dialed the phone again and almost instantly heard a grumbled, "Yeah?"
"Tell me you're in my neck of the woods, Caleb?"
"Funny you ask, Singer. I'm headed your way right now. I was finishing up a job a couple hours away. That idiot Ian Foster left a message saying he needed a little help on a job a few days ago so I thought I'd come by and see if he still needs any help-"
"Oh, he needs help," Bobby muttered. "That little bastard, I wasn't even his first choice? Figures."
"No, but I take it you are the schmuck who offered your assistance?" Caleb chuckled.
"Caleb, you trust me, right?"
There was a long pause over the line, Caleb's sarcastic exterior melting as he took in Bobby's tone. "Yeah, Bobby, of course. What's going on?"
"Listen, Caleb, I think the less you know, the better. But Foster's gone off the deep end. He kidnapped John Winchester's kid and has his mind set on torturing him. The John Winchester. The hunter. Now I want to be straight with you, it's possible someone has future plans that involve the kid...but...but I've met him. He don't have an evil bone in his body, and Foster has his mind made up. He's gonna kill him, man-"
"Bobby, Bobby," Caleb interrupted as the grizzled hunter began speeding up his speech. "Ian Foster is a fool and a sadist. I ain't about to let him hurt some innocent kid, especially one of our own. Gimme your location, I'll be there in thirty."
Bobby smiled. He knew he could count on Caleb. Bobby squeezed the bridge of his nose as he prepared for his final phone call. This one was going to hurt, but he couldn't stall any longer.
Blowing out a breath Bobby dialed once more.
"Hello?" A gruff voice said from the other end of the line. When Bobby didn't speak immediately, the man added, "Who is this?"
Bobby cleared his throat, "Uh, is this John Winchester?"
After a pause on the other end, the man said, "Who's asking?" The voice had an edge of anger, but it had begun to take on a strained, desperate sound as well as if the man on the other end knew what sort of news Bobby's call would bring.
"My name is Bobby Singer, I'm...I'm a friend of Pastor Jim Murphy's. I, uh, I'm trying to get some help for Sam Winch-" before Bobby could even finish the name the man on the other end
Began shouting.
"Sammy?! You know where Sammy is? Is he hurt, I mean he's alright, right?" The voice had morphed from a gruff hunter to worried, frightened young man. Suddenly Bobby realized he was talking to Sam Winchester's brother.
"Is this Dean?"
"Yeah, yeah. My brother- is he okay?" Bobby could hear another voice in the background urging Dean to not be so open in his distress without knowing what Bobby's angle was, but the voice was laced with concern despite the frustration it seemed to express.
Well that answered Sam's question as to whether or not his family was looking for him. They were panicked.
"Listen, I don't have a lot of time. I'm gonna level with you, Dean: Sam is in trouble. This hunter nabbed him outside of the library he went to and he's keeping him in one of the hunter's cabins in South Dakota. This guy, Foster...he asked me for help on this 'hunt,' but as soon as I got there I knew something was up. I'm doing what I can to get Sam out, but-"
"You have coordinates for the cabin?" A new voice rumbled through the phone.
Bobby rattled them off before saying, "John? I want you to know, I am trying to keep your son safe, but this guy is hell bent on killing him. I...he made it seem like it'd be a quick exorcism, I'm not exactly equipped for a shoot out."
"We'll be ready." Josh paused through the phone before adding, "How do I know this ain't a trap? Because I swear if you've hurt a hair on his head...how do I know my son's even..." John Winchester trailed off, his voice softening, as he contemplated even the thought that his son could already be dead.
"John I'm not gonna lie to you, Sam doesn't look too good. I checked his wounds over and I didn't see anything life threatening, but he's gotta be in a hell of a lot of pain. You got no reason to trust me, I know that...but I want to get Sam back to you safe and sound." The silence on the other end of the phone made Bobby suspect that John Winchester wasn't quite convinced, but he supposed the man had every right to be skeptical. Hell, Bobby had been wary of trusting Caleb with information on Sam and he wasn't even his kid.
Bobby remembered Sam's request and quickly continued, "He...he said you had a fight. That he was sorry for storming off and loves you. He, uh, wanted me to tell Dean something too." He heard rustling through the phone before Dean's voice urged him to continue. "Sam said, and this is a direct quote...'Don't worry about me, jerk.'" There was an odd choked laugh on the other end before Bobby added, "I assume that's a brother thing."
"Yeah," Dean said, "a pain in the ass, little brother thing." There was a stretch of silence before Dean's voice returned thick with emotion, "You keep my brother safe, Singer."
"I'll do everything I can to protect him."
With nothing left to say, Bobby heard a click from the other end. Now all that was left was to gather some food and other unnecessary items to make Foster think he'd come here purely for the purposes of gathering supplies.
*SPN*SPN*SPN*
As Bobby approached the cabin in his truck he felt his veins fill with ice.
Foster's car was gone. Foster's car was gone and the door to the cabin was swinging open in the wind as if someone had fled in a hurry. Foster's car was gone and there were signs of struggle in the grass leading up to where his tire tracks were imprinted from speeding away in a hurry. Foster's car was gone and tiny drops of blood were speckled on the ground exiting the house. No, no, no. No.
Foster's car was gone. Foster was gone.
And he'd taken Sam with him.
*SPN*SPN*SPN*
Bobby honestly couldn't remember what exactly he'd done upon the realization that Foster had taken Sam right out from under him. He flew into a rage and when he came out of it the food he had purchased had painted the walls and several items in the cabin were broken. Descending the staircase into the basement Bobby saw glass littering the floor from what appeared to be Foster's shattered beer bottle.
Bobby tore his baseball cap off his head and threw it across the room. Sam was gone, kidnapped by that lunatic - again - and Bobby all but served him up on a platter. He felt sick, he could practically feel the terror lingering in the room.
Fighting back nausea at the sight of a small pool of blood in the corner where Bobby first found Sam, Bobby tore out his cell phone and punched in Foster's number.
Bobby could practically hear the reptilian smirk through the cell phone as Foster answered, "Well, hello there, Singer. What can I do for you?"
Bobby could hear some background sound that he couldn't place and was straining to hear before responding angrily, "Where's Sam?"
"He's with me. Can't you hear him?" Bobby once again tried to place the sound. A rhythmic thumping noise interspersed with a horrible wailing. Ian chuckled menacingly, "Turns out the kid doesn't like enclosed spaces much."
Oh god, Sam was in the trunk of his car again. Suddenly Bobby began picking up snippets of Sam's dreadful screams, pleading to be let out, insisting that there wasn't enough air. Bobby heard Sam call for his dad and brother, but then he called out Bobby's name as well and he felt all the air leave his lungs.
He'd failed the kid not even half an hour after he'd promised his family he'd protect him. He'd failed him as he was making that promise.
"I have to give the kid credit," Ian continued, "he didn't bat an eyelash at the knife I used on him to get him into the car in the first place. Managed to hold back his screams when I tied him back up, and I know his shoulder must be killing him. He even managed to keep himself together for the first twenty minutes of our drive. But that hot, tight trunk and all his gangly limbs squeezed into that space...it's getting to him now I guess."
"I'm gonna kill you, Foster," Bobby seethed, blinking back furious tears of his own.
"You see this is why I took him outta there. You've got it so goddamn twisted, Singer!" Bobby couldn't bring himself to respond, distracted by the wails he could hear in the background.
He drove a fist into the wall of the basement as Sam's screeched, "Oh god, please God, Bobby come back," filtered through the phone. If he hurt his hand at all be certainly didn't feel the pain.
"Where are you taking him?"
"Do you really think I'm gonna tell you, Singer? Did you think I was stupid? That I didn't know you were calling someone else to come and help you out? I'm taking him somewhere to neutralize the threat. I told you that when I left the house. Maybe I'll just leave him locked in my trunk until he croaks. At the rate he's carrying on that might be sooner rather than later..."
Bobby had to swallow the bile that had risen in his throat.
"Foster, you don't know who you're messing with. You better not hurt that kid any worse."
"Why are daddy and his brother coming to save him? Dean, right? He's been screaming that name a lot-"
"You better hope it's them that catch up to you, Ian. If I get to you first and that kid isn't alive and well, I will make your death last for weeks. I will peel the goddamn skin from your bones. You're a dead man walking, you hear? Do you hear me!"
Evidently, Foster had heard enough as he hung up on Bobby.
Bobby punched the wall again for good measure before groaning and punching in another number. All the phone calls he made today, this was one he really didn't want to make.
"Winchester? I got some bad news..."
