Ian Watts was 25 minutes into a lecture on what constituted the understory of a rain forest when a knock sounded on his classroom door, and the office secretary peeked in and motioned him over.

"You have a phone call in the office, Ian." she whispered. "Says it's an emergency but won't give a name."

Ian stared, he had no family - certain none close enough to call in case of an emergency. It had to be a joke.

"I'll keep an eye on things here if you wanna take it. It sounds like a student."

Ian nodded, "Okay. Thank you, Darlene. I won't be long." he stepped into the hallway and strode quickly to the office.

"What line?" He asked Becky, as she turned from the filing cabinet.

She smiled, "Line three."

Ian nodded and picked up the receiver, punching the lit number three. "This is Ian Watts."

"Oh, hi, uh, Mr. Watts. I'm sorry to call you out of class."

"That's not a problem. Who is this?"

The voice on the other end of the line cleared its throat nervously, "Uh, Sam. Sam Winchester."

Ian's gasp brought a concerned look from Becky and from Principal Towers, who'd just entered the room.

"Sam! Where are you? Are you okay?"

"Sam Winchester?" The principal mouthed silently.

Ian nodded.

"Uh, I'm fine. I'm just calling because I wanted to say, you know, sorry about the science fair. I … I couldn't come. I'm sorry. I know I let you down."

Ian shook his head as though Sam could see him, "No Sam. You didn't let me down. I'm just glad you're alright. Are you alright?"

There was a pause on the other end of the line before Sam answered in a strained voice. "Yeah, I'm … fine. I just wanted to let you know I was okay so everyone there would stop worrying."

Ian frowned. Something was wrong. "Are you coming back to school?"

"No." Sam said, his voice breaking.

Ian was starting to feel desperate. He could tell there was something very wrong with this conversation. "Sam listen to me. Where are you? Is somebody with you? Do you need help?"

"No. I don't need help. You can't help me. Nobody can. I have to help myself now."

Ian didn't like the sound of that. "Sam! Don't hang up, okay? I need you to tell me where you are."

"I'm sorry, Mr. Watts. I can't. I … I have to go away."

"Sam, you're not planning to hurt yourself, are you?" Ian pleaded, locking eyes with Principal Towers.

But the principal had heard enough. "Get the sheriff on the other line," She instructed her assistant quietly.

"What? No. I wouldn't do that. I just meant I had to leave town. I'm on a bus a few states away. I just wanted to say … bye, I guess. You were always good to me. I liked being in your class."

Ian couldn't reconcile the despondent voice coming over the line with the smart, happy kid he knew.

"Sam, listen, whatever's happened, it's not the end of the world, okay? I know it can feel like that when you're 16, but nothing is ever so bad that you have to run away. You have friends here, Sam. We can help you."

"I know. That's why I can't stay. My dad …"

Ian's eyes narrowed. "What Sam? What about your dad."

"He'll be angry when he finds out I'm gone. I don't want to bring trouble down on someone because they tried to help me. That's not why I'm calling. Honest. I just … didn't want anyone to worry. I'm fine."

"Sam, did your dad hurt you?" Ian felt his anger building.

Silence.

"Sam? You can tell me. We can get you out of there. Send the sheriff over if we have to."

Sam chuckled then, but it wasn't a happy laugh. In fact, it was the laugh of someone much older, and it sort of made Ian's blood run cold. This sounded so far removed from the Sam he knew that he was suddenly terrified for the kid. "No sheriff is any match for the mighty John Winchester." He stated coldly. "I'm sorry, Mr. Watts. I have to go now. Thank you for everything."

"Sam! Sam, wait!" Ian practically shouted. But the line was dead.

"Dammit!" Ian slammed the phone down, turning to Principal Towers. "Something's really wrong. He says he's on a bus out of town, but that … it didn't sound like Sam."

She bit her lip. I had Becky dial up the sheriff as soon as you mentioned Sam hurting himself. They're on the way. Maybe they can backtrack the call or something. She brought Ian a cup of water from the cooler. Here, try to calm down. Sam's going to be fine. He's a smart boy."

###

Sam sat on the westbound bus for New Mexico, second-guessing his decision to call Mr. Watts. He really had only wanted to set the man's mind at ease, but he had the feeling he'd just made things worse. Now they thought he was a suicide risk. They might try to send a cop after him to bring him back. And if he showed up on John Winchester's doorstop with a cop beside him, the whole world might explode.

Sam had never felt so lonely in his life. As bad as his old life had been, at least he had known what to expect most of the time. Now he was on a bus full of strangers, heading to a town he'd never seen to meet yet another stranger he didn't know. He really only wanted to talk to one person in the whole world right now. He flipped open the phone that Lily had provided him. It was just a cheap prepaid contraption. Hard to trace, she'd said. But she'd still cautioned him to be careful. Sam didn't really know if it was possible for the police to find him by tracking his phone, but he didn't want to take any chances.

But he wanted to talk to Dean so badly he almost couldn't stand it. It was almost a physical thing. Almost without realizing it, he dialed the familiar number. It picked up before the first ring ended.

"Hello?"

Sam's eyes closed and he smiled at the familiar voice. That voice was instant comfort to Sam. It was balm to his torn and bleeding soul and food for his starving heart. That voice was gentle hands treating his wounds and worried eyes searching his own. It was …

"Hello? Anyone there?"

Still Sam didn't respond. He hadn't planned to. He just wanted - he needed - to hear his brother's voice. But then Dean surprised him.

"I got your letter, Sammy."

Before he could help it, a gasp escaped his surprised lips.

Encouraged now, Dean continued on desperately. "I got it, and I don't deserve it, Sammy. I don't. I'm so sorry for what I did. You have no idea how … how much I …. Dammit Sam. You didn't deserve any of that. I know I can never make it up to you, but please, Sam. Just, at least talk to me. I have to hear your voice, dude."

Panicked, Sam flipped the phone shut and turned it off before it could ring back. How did Dean know? How did he always fucking know?

Sam turned to gaze out the window and startled himself again with his own reflection. Changing his appearance had been Lily's idea. But even with the blond hair and new cut, Trevor had recognized him. When the boy had called his name back at the bus station, Sam had almost wet his pants in fear. He was sure when he turned that he'd see John standing there.

And John was not someone he ever planned to see again. He'd happily give the man up for life and never feel one qualm of guilt or sadness.

What sucked was that in order to give up John, he had to give up Dean as well.

And Sam was in no way sure he'd ever be able to survive that particular loss.