A/N: Finally, another chapter! Sorry all, my life is a little all over the place lately. Also, this chapter is a bit less humorous and a bit more dramatic, but there was no other way to jump into the Season 1 timeline. I've still got a few future plans for the furball, though, so more will come, at some point! Thanks to all my lovely readers!
She was one of the first things Sam noticed when Dean came to find him at Stanford. April, sitting shotgun in the Impala.
"Hey you!" Sam said, smiling and reaching out his arms. "Remember me?"
In response, April jumped right up into Sam's arms and ran a rough tongue across his chin. Sam laughed.
"Apparently you do." Sam turned to Dean. "So, you took her? I always figured you'd leave her to Dad or something."
Dean shrugged. "We tried that. She wouldn't leave the Impala, and well, neither would I. It was like a compromise."
"Well, at least she seems to remember me." April was happily settled in Sam's arms as him and Dean got into the car. "Maybe if you want a break she could come live with me and Jess for a bit." Sam muttered more at April than at Dean.
Dean stiffened for a moment at the sound of that. Then he shook his head. It's just a cat, and Sam's cat for that matter. Who cared where the cat lived, plus he could always swing by.
Dean started the car and began to give Sam the lowdown on the case. April jumped back into her backseat bed, which is where she stayed until the fire.
It was April that made Dean stop and turn around. He had barely gotten halfway down the block when she screeched and jumped right on the seat behind his head. He swerved for a moment, then pulled the Impala off to the side of the road.
"What the fuck was that, April? You see Sam for two days and suddenly go crazy?"
April mewed loudly and jumped into the backseat and then up against the rear window, staring back at the building where they left Sam.
Dean was confused. April hadn't acted this erratically in years. He looked at her, and then looked out the back in the direction she was staring.
That's when he saw it. The shadow in Sam's window. Dean didn't know what it was, but it wasn't Sam or Jess, and he didn't like it. He quickly spun the Impala around, slamming it into a parked position just across the street from Sam's apartment. He bolted toward the stairs.
The rest is nearly as much of a blur as it was 22 years ago. There was fire and heat, and his little brother fighting to go back and Dean dragging him outside.
They stayed in a motel that night. Sam was so quiet, and Dean didn't know what to do. For a while they both just sat in silence.
April was the one who broke the silence with a small "mew" as she stretched on the bed next to Sam, paws and head on his leg. Sam reached down almost still by habit and scratched the back of April's head. She crawled up into Sam's lap, and Dean watched his brother pick up April and hold her tightly. His head was bent down and she reached her neck up to nuzzle against his chin. His shoulders began to shake as tears slid down his cheeks and into April's fur. She didn't seem to mind.
Dean wasn't the praying type, but he sent the universe a silent thank you for April because she was able to do for Sam what he couldn't even begin to know how to do. Dean didn't think Sam got much sleep that night, but he knew that April was there. That was enough.
April didn't leave Sam's side that whole week. The boys spent every waking hour, which was most of them since no one was really getting a whole lot of sleep, searching for something, anything that would give them a lead.
Dean was the one who finally called it.
"Listen, Sam, there's nothing here. Dad left us coordinates, let's check them out. He knows more about this then we do. If we can find Dad, we can find out what he knows. Hanging around here is not helping, and it's not good for you."
Sam was hunched over his computer, April at his feet. He sat up and looked at Dean sadly.
"I know." He stood up, causing April to quickly dart across the room. "Just, let me think for a bit, okay?" His eyes pleaded with Dean. Dean knew his brother. He knew that Sam wouldn't be on board unless he made the decision on his own.
"Okay, fine, but we have to decide today, because I need to know if I have to rustle up cash for another night here."
"Gotcha." Sam's thoughts were already clearly drifting away. "I'm just gonna take a walk. I'll be back."
Dean watched Sam carefully. He hadn't let him go anywhere alone the whole week. He wasn't sure he wanted to let him go now. Dean realized suddenly that Sam had lost his furball shadow. He glanced around the room and saw April curled up on Sam's bed, content.
Dean sighed. If April was okay with Sam going out alone, Dean could be okay, too.
"Alright. If you aren't back in an hour I'm coming after you though." Dean raised his eyebrows at Sam. Sam managed to give him about a half smile in return, and a nod, and then he was out the door.
The sound of the door closing caused April to stir on the bed. She sat up and looked over at Dean. He pointed a finger at her. "You better be right about this, or I swear ..." His statement was interrupted by April taking a leap off the bed and then another up onto Dean's lap.
"Oh, I get it. That was just all a ploy to get some good old-fashioned Dean time, huh?" April purred in response. Dean scratched the brown patches of fur behind April's white ears. Dean didn't really want to admit it to himself, but he kind of missed having a cat on his lap, her being on Sam's all week. He looked down at her and her yellow eyes peered back up toward him.
"We're gonna find Dad." He said to her, very quietly. "We have to."
