Dean sat up without hesitation, he was awake as ever.
"Dana." Dean slapped his palms down on his knees once he put his feet on the ground. The sun was starting to shine through the blinds of the window.
She looked exhausted, but she got up from her place on the ground, between Sam and Dean's beds. Her head hung low, her tail swishing from side to side slowly as she walked over to Dean.
"You wanna ditch Sam, go somewhere?" He asked gently when she sat down in front of him, just barely between his legs as he rubbed his hand roughly up and down the back of her neck. He knew the resting of her jaw on his knee was a definite yes, and kissing the top of her head he headed to the bathroom.
While Dean stood under the shower, Sam woke up as well, far slower than Dean, though he eventually did, with the help of a cold nose nudging his own.
"Oh god, Dana." Sam pushed her snout away with a limp hand, eyes still closed, a low chuckle leaving his lips. But when the blanket was slowly pulled away from over him, he didn't try to stop her, muttering a 'alright, I'm up' as he rubbed a hand through his shaggy hair.
Sam was used to it, Dana creating a sort of pile out of his blanket, and laying on top of it dramatically, clearly trying to keep it away from him. "Don't get hit by a car…." Sam joked as he pulled open the motel room door, as he did every morning. And Dana raced outside, as she did every morning. He loved it, that she made her rounds, going where she wanted, but never too far. And neither Sam nor Dean ever truly worried about time. They could pack their things, and hit the road. And the would find her at the side of the road, waiting patiently for them. It was rare, as she usually returned after merely an hour. But Sam had owned, and taken care of dogs before. And by now, he sometimes even caught himself thinking he would never want a 'real' dog again. Dana had all the pros, and none of the cons. He even thought she smelled better than any dog he'd met.
Sam the large metal bowl beside the door next to the table, now full of the dry lumps. Before showering he went around the block, picking up coffee and breakfast. When he returned, just as he sat down, and turned on the television for some background noise, the bathroom door opened.
"Thank you." Dean sung as he picked up the large cup of coffee from the table in front of Sam.
Sam was biting into his breakfast sandwich when he thought Dean had burned himself on his coffee, a spluttering sound, and a heavy breath coming from behind the sofa.
"Dude, turn up the volume." Dean slapped Sam's shoulder until he reached for the remote, finally looking up to the screen of the television.
"Is that… taken from a helicopter?" Sam frowned at first, until his eyes widened.
It was a nice neighbourhood, a sweet footpath between yards, greenery everywhere. And right on that path was a large animal. Not a cougar, or some lost bear.
"Dude that's Dana!" Dean shrugged on his jacket quickly.
"We implore all parents to keep their children inside until the animal has been removed. Back to the studio to Nat and Chris." the voice of the narrator of the live footage explained as the volume rose.
The shot changed to two people in a studio. "What street?! Oh my god just tell the important stuff!" Dean groaned impatiently as the two hosts began talking.
"Really an impressive animal." the man with the grey hair said, nodding to his co-host.
"Frightening, you mean." The woman frowned astonished, causing Dean to grin, nodding in approval. "Animal Control is attempting to catch this dog as we speak. We've been told they suspect it to be a German Shepherd Mal- Malinois mix." the woman read off the card, stumbling over the name.
"In addition, the dog is of unusual size. It may not look like it from a birdseye view, though this is truly a large animal." the woman continued, and the man beside her snorted.
"I mean, otherwise we wouldn't be talking about it." the woman ignored him, continuing to glance at the cards in her hand and back at the camera.
"The dog appears to be wearing a collar an-"
"Oh shit." The man sputtered, chuckling, his eyes on the side of the screen.
The news set disappeared, and the birds eye view returned.
"Oh god." Sam dropped his head, rubbing a hand across his forehead.
"Say the damn street name already!" Dean yelled at the television, lifting a flat hand to point at it.
Dana was completely surrounded, but she didn't know it yet. Sam frowned pitifully when he noticed her tail tucked between her legs, hip low as she darted around the alley between yard fences.
"Nets? Are you kidding me?" Dean frowned. "Hey, whoa what's that?" Dean walked around the sofa to stand beside the television, pointing at one of the two groups on either end of the alley.
"That's … some sort of hook, a sling on a stick. They put it around the dog's neck to both keep it away and take it where they want it…." Sam mumbled unhappily.
"They trying to hang my girl?" Dean's shoulders moved back, lifting a hand and a coffee, expression and posture conveying nothing but 'what the fuck?'
As soon as the street name was mentioned both brothers exchanged a look, and bolted for the car.
They saw the news helicopter from afar, then a cop car, another, and finally a big white truck decorated with cheap paw stickers. "Sir, you're going to have to take a different route, there's a wild animal on the loose." A cop was immediately by Dean's side when he stepped out of the car parked in the middle of the road.
"Wild animal? That's my dog." Dean frowned, affronted.
The officer looked a little weirded out, expression twisting in surprise for a moment.
"You got your papers on ya?" the officer questioned, brows raising.
"Yeah, sure." Dean bent in the middle to reach into the open car window to get his license and registration, but Sam's hand on his shoulder stopped him.
"He means for the dog." Sam raised his brows, giving Dean a look only could see, one that definitely meant they were in some trouble, and needed to think of something.
"The dog ain't chipped?" the officer widened his eyes in disbelief.
Dean gave him a short, nervous smile as he turned to look at him again.
"She was a gift…?" he smiled, once more, dropping it quickly when he saw the cop's stern expression.
"A gift? Yeah, she come from the back of a truck? Sure looks like it, dog that big don't get that way naturally…." the officer took a step closer to Dean who immediately took a step back.
But Sam saved Dean. "Alright… our neighbour moved out, left her behind. Couldn't find that guy anywhere…." Sam mumbled feigning guilt and shame quite well.
"Nothin' I can do, boy." She officer shrugged almost apologetically.
"The shelter they get her to s' who you have to talk to." he looked from one brother to the other.
"She's a real good dog, I swear." Dean could barely believe the sound of his own voice, and those words leaving him. "She's just scared, we took her to the park and she saw a squirrel and she was gone." Dean sounded desperate, almost like he was begging.
"Look, I'll show you." Dean had no idea where she could be, if she was even really near them at all when he put his fingers into his mouth and a loud whistle left him.
Everything was quiet, until the officer chuckled. "Real good dog, 'm sure." he nodded patronizingly.
Sam threw his hands in the air, as if to say 'it's no use', his jaw moving as his face transmitted nothing but annoyance.
That was, until from between houses a brown shadow came. Every single one of the four officers in the area reached for their guns.
"Dana! Sit!" Sam yelled in a panic, a flat palm held up, voice loud and stern, while Dean simply panicked inside. They all cringed at the sound of her claws on the concrete just as she hit the road and halted, immediately sitting down, various people in uniforms emerging from the same alley.
"Jesus Christ." Dean blew out all the air he had in his lungs dramatically. And still, as she sat, every cop was ready, arms extended holding onto their firearms.
"Pink collar, classy…." The cop that stood by the Winchesters disarmed himself as he turned to look at the dog, a sarcastic smile on his face. The other three were still armed, standing around the squad car that was closer to Dana, and farther from the Winchesters.
A loud and painful yelp made the brothers' heads turn, and their bodies tense. The noose at the end of an iron stick was looped over her head, and around her throat, tightening as she was pulled back. She tried resisting, even standing on her highlight in her last ditch effort not to be pulled off her feet.
"Hey! What're they doing?!" Dean stepped forward, ready to run over to them and rescue her.
"You can follow their car to the shelter, there you can pick her up."