Chapter 10
"Bobby? Sarah?" Sam called out as he searched the junkyard.
"Sam…" Sarah murmured, waking up.
"Sarah!" Dean yelled out. "Bobby!"
"Dean." Sarah said, waking up completely and looking around, trying to figure out what was going on. She slowly stood up and leaned on the truck for support. "Dean?" she croaked out, her throat dry from all the smoke. She tried to move away from the truck but fell back against it crying out in pain.
Looking down, she saw a large piece of glass sticking out of her left thigh. Sucking in a deep breath, she put pressure above the wound with one hand and pulled the glass out with the other. "Aah!" she cried out, breathing heavily. She took off her belt and placed it above the gushing wound. Sarah took another deep breath as she prepared to move again but fell back against the truck again and sliding back to the ground before everything went dark again.
"Sarah. Sarah wake up." Bobby said trying to rouse her.
"Bobby?" She said opening her eyes. "Oh Bobby! Thank God!"
"What happened?" he asked as he grabbed the med kit from inside the truck.
"I don't know. Sam disappeared. I stayed here while Dean went looking for him then this guy showed up, knocked me out then torched the house. I barely made it out alive." Sarah explained as Bobby started sewing up the gash on her leg. "Ah!... Hey, where's Dean and Sam?"
"I don't know. Let's get you patched up first, then we'll track them down." Bobby stated moving to check the other places she was bleeding from.
"Bobby, they could be in danger! We have to find them!" Sarah said trying to get up.
"You won't be able to help anyone if you lose any more blood." Bobby stated.
"There are Leviathans here?" Sarah asked as Bobby pulled into a parking spot at Sioux Falls General Hospital.
"Yep. Here, I'll go in and find the boys, you find us an ambulance to use." Bobby said before exiting the vehicle.
"Great." Sarah muttered as she slowly climbed out of the truck and slowly made her way over to the ambulance dock. She spotted an ambulance than waited for the paramedics to disappear inside the hospital before walking over and hotwiring it. 'Come on, come on.' She thought as she waited impatiently.
After several minutes she saw Bobby run outside, pushing Sam on a stretcher. Sarah ran outside to help get Sam into the back of the Ambulance.
"What's wrong with him, Bobby?" she asked worriedly, getting in the back with Sam.
"We'll find out later." Bobby said closing the doors then running to get into the driver's seat. "Balls. Come on, Dean. Come on, Dean!" Bobby muttered watching the side mirror.
Dean then got into the passenger seat of the ambulance. "Go, go, go, go, go, go, go!"
Bobby floored the gas, speeding away from the hospital.
Whitefish, Montana
Three Weeks Later
Sam sat at a table reading while Dean and Sarah were curled up on the couch. Dean was watching a Spanish soap opera on TV and Sarah was reading. Bobby walked inside.
"Dude… Ricardo." Dean said to Bobby.
"What happened?" Bobby asked, concerned.
"Suicidio." Dean answered. Sarah looked up at him, shaking her head.
"Adios, ese." Bobby answered as he looked at the TV screen. "Well, this ought to cheer you up." Bobby said tossing a set of keys at Dean.
"My baby! Now I just got to get this stupid thing off and I can drive again." Dean said gesturing at his full leg cast.
"Well until then, I'll just take these." Sarah said snatching the keys from him, and smiling wickedly.
"Over my dead body." Dean retorted moving to snatch them back.
"So how is it out there?" Sam asked, interrupting Sarah and Dean's playful banter.
"Weird with a side order of bloody. Talked to a few hunters. They're running into the same kind of thing that set up shop at that hospital." Bobby said walking over to the small kitchen and getting a cup of coffee, before sitting down at the table with Sam.
"Yeah, and don't forget tried to kill us at your place." Dean added.
"Well, consensus is they're, um, they're like shape shifters only a lot more into eating folk. And nothing can kill 'em."
"Good times. Anything else?" Dean asked.
"Yep. They bleed black goo." Bobby added.
"Like that stuff that came out of Cas – those things from Purgatory. Uh… Leviathan." Sam stated.
"Yep."
"Awesome." Sarah muttered.
"What about those chompers that you and the sheriff saw at the hospital? They still making spleenburgers?" Dean asked.
"Yeah, made some calls. That doctor never showed back up to work. Ditto a nurse and some administrator." Bobby explained.
"So they could be at any hospital in America." Dean stated.
"Yeah." Bobby admitted. Sarah got up to get another beer.
"What do you think, Sammy?...Sammy?... Sam." Dean said trying to get Sam's attention. Sarah put her fresh beer on the counter and walked over to Sam. "Hey, ground control! Sam!"
As soon as Sarah put her hand on Sam's shoulder he jumped and said, "Yeah. What? I'm – I'm right here."
"You okay?" Dean asked.
Sarah tried to move the hair away from Sam's face but he shook her off and said, "Yeah. I'm fine."
"Sam." She said.
"Sarah, I'm fine."
After a long pause, Sarah walked back over to the counter and grabbed her beer and took a long sip.
"Good. Every last bit of info I ever had burned down, so…" Bobby said.
"What about this place? Rufus leave anything? Did you check the basement?" Dean asked Bobby.
"C-rations and dust. I don't think he'd been here in years. So, I got to go round up my old library."
"I thought you said most of those books were one-of-a-kind." Sam said.
"Yeah. That's why I stashed copies all over the place." Bobby replied.
"Okay, good. Um... Hey, uh, two-legs. We're fresh out of grub. Want to make a run?" Dean asked Sam.
"Wha..?" Sarah started to say but got a look from Dean that quieted her.
"Sure. Yeah." Sam answered slowly.
Dean tossed the keys to Sam and said, "Be careful with her, would you? And, uh, Sam?"
"Yeah?" Sam asked at the door.
"Pie."
"Obviously." Sam retorted then walked outside.
"So?" Dean asked Bobby after Sam was gone.
"So what?" Bobby asked.
"Before you bail again – "Girl, Interrupted" over there. Any thoughts?" Dean asked.
"Looks to me like he's doing better." Bobby stated.
"Better? What do you mean, better? You just saw him!" Dean said, gesturing to the seat Sam had just vacated.
"Saw him check out once. That's progress." Bobby replied.
"You're kidding!"
"Look, seems to me that Sam's head ain't no different than your leg. People heal on a curve." Bobby stated.
"Not diff– Bobby, I get this thing off in five days, I'm golden. Sam's not a curve. He's a frickin' time bomb." Dean said exasperated.
"It ain't like he's keeping secrets. What you see is what you get. What's so nuts about calling an upswing?" Bobby asked.
"Because that's not how it works, Bobby, ever! All right? Especially not with Sam. The other shoe is gonna drop. It's just a matter of when." Dean replied.
"Okay. How 'bout we worry about today's problems? And today, we need intel. I'm going. You sit there and stew." Bobby said pointing to Dean then over to Sarah, "You make sure they don't do anything stupid. I'll check in. Look... you sitting here wringing your hands ain't gonna do nothing. Maybe he'll surprise you." Bobby said before leaving.
"What was all that?" Dean asked Sarah obviously pissed.
"Hey, you're the one that just let Sam drive out of here in your precious car." Sarah retorted as she walked back over to Dean.
"You're not helping." Dean stated.
"I know." Sarah sighed as she kneeled down next to Dean so she was on his level. "But I did notice that this is the first time we've been alone together in weeks." She said with a playful smirk.
"Well what do you know." Dean replied, his mood changing instantly before he pulled her in for a kiss.
Sarah was just getting out of the shower, when she heard Sam get back from getting some food. She finished getting dressed and walked out to hear Dean ask, "Think it's getting better?"
"Honestly? Uh… I don't know. I just know I'm managing it, so… So don't worry." Sam answered.
"Where's the pie?" Dean asked as Sarah walked into the room.
"I got cake. It's close enough, right?" Sam asked.
Sarah burst into laughter at the look on Dean's face.
Sometime later, while Dean was passed out on the couch with the TV still on and Sarah was curled up on the cot in the other room, Sam quietly snuck out.
The next morning, Sarah woke up to the sounds of Dean quietly snoring on the couch. Smirking at him, she changed into her running outfit and placed a soft kiss on his forehead before going outside to start her run.
About an hour later, Sarah returned to the cabin, to hear some sort of loud squealing sound.
"Dean? What are you doing?" She exclaimed, walking through the door and seeing Dean cutting his cast off.
Dean finished his cut and pulled his leg out of the cast, "Where have you been?" he growled.
"I went for a run. Same thing I do most mornings. You know that. What's going on? Where's Sam?" Sarah asked.
"Gone." Dean said bluntly.
"What?"
"He left a note. Says' he'll be back in a few days." Dean stated pointing to the note on the coffee table.
Sarah walked over and looked at it. "Maybe he needs a few days to himself."
"Not in my baby." Dean grunted. "We're leaving in 10."
"Dean. Are you sure it's a good idea to chase after him? You're leg's not completely healed yet and it's not good for you to be on it." Sarah said as she walked over to him and placed a hand on his cheek.
Dean shook her hand off. "Sarah, I don't know if I can say this clearer. I am leaving in 10 minutes. It's your choice if you come or not but I'm not going to let my cuckoo nest brother just go wandering off with Satan as his co-pilot." Dean growled moving away from her to start packing.
Sarah sighed, knowing that he was not going to change his mind. "Fine." She mumbled before grabbing her bag and taking a quick shower. Thank goodness she had been trained to take three minute showers in all of her years of hunting with the Winchesters.
They left eight minutes later and found a car to use, then went to the convenience store that Sam had visited the day before. The clerk wasn't much help but Dean found something useful in newspaper from the day before and travel to Bozeman, Montana.
They got there a couple hours later and started investigating a case about an ice pick killer. Dean believed that Sam had come to this town to investigate this case.
First stop was to the Coroner's office.
"Hi, I'm special agent Morrison and this is my partner, Special Agent Marley." Dean said to the coroner. "We're looking for a colleague of ours. Special Agent Tyler."
"Oh yes, Agent Tyler stopped by. He asked to see one of the bodies." The Coroner said moving to one of the refrigerated lockers and opening it. "This is the one he asked to see."
Dean looked over the body and asked, "Great, great. Uh, let me ask you, did he do anything to it?" Sarah looked over at him, shocked by his abruptness.
"No. He just asked a few questions about the other vics – missing pituitary glands and so forth."
Dean looked over at Sarah as realization dawned on them, "Son of a bitch." He muttered.
They called Bobby after leaving the Coroner's office to fill him in.
"Sam's hunting a Kitsune." Dean said gruffly to the speaker phone.
"Sam's chasin' a what?" Bobby asked.
"A Kitsune. It's pretty rare. Dad and I hunted one back in '98."
"Vaguely rings a bell."
"Yeah, didn't make our highlight reel." Dean stated.
"Well, least now we know he's working a job." Bobby added.
"Yeah, but why pull the Houdini act?" Dean asked. Sarah sat, trying to remember something about that case. She couldn't figure out why she had a nagging feeling that there was more to that case in '98.
"Not a clue." Bobby answered. "What are you gonna do when you catch up?"
"I got a few ideas." Dean said flatly before hanging up the phone. He threw a glance at Sarah, "You're awfully quiet." Sarah didn't respond. "Sarah." Dean grunted, tapping her arm.
Sarah snapped out of her thoughts, "Hmm? What? Did I miss something?"
"You alright?" Dean asked.
"Uh… yeah." She answered not very convincing.
"That sounded convincing." Dean said sarcastically. "What are you thinking about?"
Sarah sighed, "I'm going over that case in '98. There's something that's gnawing at me about it but I just can't put my finger on what."
Dean gave her a confused glance. "Were you with us on that one?"
"Yeah. I had been hunting with you all for two years by then but that was before John would let me help with anything other than research." Sarah said jogging Dean's memory. "I helped Sam with the research on this one, I just can't figure what I'm missing."
Dean and Sarah found the motel Sam was staying in, without too much trouble, and let themselves in to wait for him to return.
Dean paced impatiently as they waited for Sam.
"Dean, you're going to undo the last few weeks of healing if you don't get off your leg for a little bit."
"I'm fine." Dean grunted.
Sarah walked and stood in front of him, blocking his path. "Come on Dean, I know you're upset," She said placing her hand on his cheek, "Let's go and get something to eat. A nice greasy burger with lots of bacon… a big piece of pie… sounds good right?"
"I'm not leaving." Dean stated stepping back slightly, away from her hand.
Sighing for the hundredth time that day, Sarah lowered her hand to rest on his chest. "Fine. I'll be back." She grabbed a hold of his shirt and moved in, placing a kiss on his lips. He didn't kiss her back. Sarah released his shirt and grabbed her jacket off the bed. "Don't be too hard on Sam." She said before walking out the door.
'I should have known better.' Sarah thought as she walked back to the motel from a nearby diner. 'Should never try to get between the boys and their feelings for each other. Never ends well for me.'
Sarah was almost back to the room when she saw Sam at the door already. Before she could call out to him, he opened the door and then immediately flew backward.
"Sam!" Sarah yelled out. Dropping the bag she was carrying and rushing to him.
"Howdy, Sam." Dean said from the doorway of the motel room.
"Dammit Dean!" Sarah swore, kneeling down in front of Sam before helping him stand back up.
"New rule. You steal my baby, you get punched." Dean growled as Sam walked into the room. Sarah retrieved the disheveled bag of food and joined the boys. "The hell were you thinking, Sam, running off like that? I mean, for all I know, Satan could have been callin' your plays."
Sam walked over to the small refrigerator and pulled out a can of soda and held it to his head. "Dean, look, how many times do I have to tell you? I'm fine." Sarah sat down at the table quietly, not wanting to get in the middle of their argument.
"Oh, yeah, no, you're a poster boy for mental health. You have any idea the kind of horror shows I had going on in my head?" Dean asked.
"Dean, I left you a note. There was a job in town." Sam stated, sitting down on the table.
"A Kitsune. Yeah. Yeah. No, I know. And you ignore Bobby, Sarah and I's phone calls why, exactly?"
"Because I wanted to take care of it. And I did. I took care of it."
"Really?"
"Yes." Sam said flatly.
"Where's the body?" Dean interrogated.
"There is no body." Sam said after a pause.
"Why not?" Dean asked.
"Because I let her go. She's gone." Sam said. Sarah looked up at him in realization.
"You what? Why?" Dean snapped.
"Because she's Amy." Sarah interjected, causing Sam to look over at her surprised.
"Who?" Dean asked.
Sam preceded to explain the night in '98 when they had been tracking the Kitsune. He explained about hanging out with Amy at her house, then about her mother finding him and almost killing him. He hadn't realized until just before that point that Amy and her mother were the Kitsune's they had been hunting. Then Sam explained that before her mother could kill him, Amy saved him by killing her mother.
"You never told me that." Dean said.
"I never told anyone. I mean, can you imagine what Dad would have done?" Sam asked.
"If you didn't tell anyone… then how did you know, Sarah?" Dean asked looking over at Sarah.
"Yeah, how did you know?" Sam asked.
"Well, I was with you when you met her. And I covered, so you could go hang out with her, remember? I'm not stupid, you left to meet her so excited and then I got the call that you had killed the Kitsune. I saw how closed off you were afterward. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out some of what happened." Sarah explained.
"You didn't say anything." Sam stated.
"Neither did you."
"So you saw the article in the newspaper, and you just bolted." Dean butted in.
"It was my mess."
"And you call letting her go cleaning it up?"
"She killed her mom, Dean, to save me." Sam replied sternly.
"I hear you, Sam. I do. But look at her now. She's dropping bodies, man… Which means we got to drop her, no matter how many merit badges she racked up when she was a kid. I'm sorry, but it's that simple." Dean ranted.
"Nothing in our lives is simple." Sam muttered.
"Look, man, I get it, okay? You meet a girl, you feel that spark – there's nothing better." Dean said glancing over at Sarah. "But this freak?" Sam grabbed his jacket from the table and stood up angrily. "I didn't mean…"
"Yeah, you did. Look, I see the way you look at me, Dean, like I'm a grenade and you're waiting for me to go off." Sam growled.
"Sam…" Dean started to say.
"Sam, I'm sure Dean didn't…"
"I'm not going off. Look, I might be a freak, but that's not the same as dangerous." Sam said cutting Sarah off.
"I didn't say…" Dean said before Sam cut him off.
"It's okay. Say it. I've spent a lot of my life trying to be normal, but come on. I'm not normal. Look at all the crap I've done, look at me know. I'm a grade-A freak. But I'm managing it. And so is Amy."
"Is she? How?" Dean asked.
"She works at a damn funeral home so she doesn't have to kill anyone, Dean. She's figured out how to deal."
"Okay, well, then explain the bodies." Dean said.
"She's done. Her friggin' kid was dying, Dean. Put you or me in her position, we'd probably do the same thing. Look, you don't trust her. Fine. Trust me. Dean, please."
"Okay." Dean said simply.
"Seriously?" Sam asked.
"Of course, Sambo." Sarah interjected.
"Got to start sometime, right?" Dean stated.
They stayed the night there, then hit the road together the next day, toward a meet up with Bobby. After a day of driving they pulled over at a Motel in Spokane, Washington.
"Hey, why don't, uh- why don't you two check us in? I got to hit the candy store." Dean said, holding up his prescription bottle. "Doctor's orders." Sam got out of the car but Sarah stayed behind. "Sarah, you two."
She gave him a peculiar look. "You're not going to do anything stupid, are you?"
Dean huffed, "No."
"I know you don't trust Sam's judgment, right now, but you can trust mine. Amy may be a monster but I believe she's not a threat anymore." Sarah stated but after seeing the cold look in his eyes added, "You do trust me, right?"
"Of course, I do, Cakes." Dean said, moving in to kiss her, but she saw the look in his eyes. He didn't trust her either. She let him kiss her, briefly, then quickly got out of the car and joined Sam inside the motel lobby.
When Dean returned a while later, Sarah could tell he was hiding something, but he evaded her questioning looks and pretended to fall asleep on one of the beds.
Sighing, Sarah curled up on the couch, not wanting to push her luck with Dean by crawling into bed with him.