A/N I'm back. And I missed you dearly. College is my life now, but I'll always fit time in for this fic. Please fav, follow, and review as I read them all and love them always!
Sam looked away from his laptop for the second time and into the kitchen, giving Amy another concerned glance. Her back was turned to him, but he could just hardly see her set the cell phone down onto the table again. Sam frowned at her turned back. He wanted to talk to her, but the silence between them had been undisturbed for a long while.
Since Dean had thundered out the door she had hardly said a word. She had refused Sam's comfort and Bobby's teasing at Dean's temper. They had thought it was better off if they let her pout for a little while, maybe get her friend to pick her up.
Sam understood why Dean had lashed out at Amy. It was all about that first hunt, how Dean led him away from the life Sam had fought for so persistently. Then there was Jess; he had watched her burn on that ceiling five years ago that day. Jess seemed so far away now. Her death was a raw and unforgiving memory of his, but now it was just jumbled with the many faults Sam held against himself. Clutched tight in her memory were his aspirations for college, a stable career, a normal life outside of the job. Without Jess, though, he knew there wasn't anything to peg those goals to any longer. But Sam wouldn't let himself dwell any longer than he had to. He knew he was better off with the life he had, but nonetheless the phantom pain lingered. Sam sighed and ran a hand through his bangs, trying to focus on the laptop screen.
The washing machine in the basement chugged unevenly, making a whooshing noise that Sam had learned to tune out. If Sam didn't know better it could have passed for some alien noise in a cheap science fiction show. It made Amy jump though, and she turned in her chair abruptly. Sam quickly brought his gaze up toward Amy then back to the monitor.
"What was that?" Amy asked him. Her voice rang urgently, making Sam's gaze flit up to her immediately.
"Um," he mumbled, "Just the washer. When it's off balance it makes that noise."
Amy looked unconvinced. She squinted at him. "Are you sure?" She stood and moved to look out the window. "Cuz it sounds like my friend's...ride." She scrambled from window to window, pulling back blinds to peek outside.
Keeping his gaze trained on her, Sam listened again to the washer. The only way that noise could pass for a car was if it was going down the road riding the rims. With a shot belt. And the muffler dragging, maybe. Sam's aback expression lightened humorously and she dashed about the kitchen. "Must have a pretty beat up car then."
"It's old, yeah." Amy huffed loudly, the spurt of enthusiasm gone as her hands fell limply from the windowsill. She resorted to tossing the cell phone in her hands back and forth, staring out the kitchen window. Sam noticed the bored motion.
"You get ahold of your friend yet?" He had lost count how many times Amy had tried calling him. She left messages for the first few times then eventually coming to hang up on the fifth ring. Amy got into the pattern of calling, getting no answer, wait fifteen minutes then call again. Sam didn't even want to think of the phone bill Bobby was going to get that month.
Amy crossed her arms over her chest, her feet wandering into Bobby's library. "No," she sighed gruffly and landed back into the couch. "But I guess I can pass for patient." Her face spoke differently, though. Sam could see the worried darting of her eyes, how she couldn't keep her hands still.
"He'll pick up," Sam promised. Amy steadied her wide gaze on him. "If he's as good a friend as you say then he shouldn't be long, right?"
A secret smile came and went across her face. "Yeah, he's good. Just really bad with time, though." Sam gave her a small smile and looked back to his laptop. He hadn't even raised his hands to the keys before Amy spoke up again. "I waited twelve years for him to come for me."
"Twelve?" Sam stared at her. "Like-?"
"Nope, actually fourteen." Sam raised an eyebrow. "I met him when I was seven," she explained. Sam wasn't sure how this new information made Amy's friend less of a mystery, but he nodded for her nonetheless.
"Old friend then. But... kindof creepy," he shrugged with a dry smirk.
"It's not creepy!" Amy flared with a smile.
Sam's hands shot off his lap in mock-defense. "Well you've hardly told us anything about this guy, I don't know." She rolled her eyes at him, causing Sam to break a grin. He lowered his hands to close his laptop. It wasn't as if he was going to split his attention from her anyways. "So he's 40, 50 years old?"
Amy's gaze on him glowed with answers. She closed her smiling lips tightly, though, and shook her head slightly. She wouldn't reply. Was she teasing him? He couldn't get over this playful nature of hers. Tantalizing, however it was, Sam still needed these questions solved.
Sam continued, hopeful in which direction this game was headed. "You haven't even said his name once. But somehow this guy brings you along to hunt stone angels?"
"Weeping angels. Big difference," Amy pointed, breaking her silence. She crossed her arms over her chest, shifting in the couch. "I just don't think you'd believe me. It's...it's just complicated."
"Wouldn't believe you? The guys who hunt demons?" Sam rose a questioning eyebrow. "Whatever you say I'll believe it, Amy."
Sam's face creased worriedly when she rolled her head back and sighed heavily. Amy draped a hand over her face. "I've heard that my whole life." Sam waited for her hand to slid off and her gaze to catch his. He could see she had exchanged her light smile for something much more fragile now, making a small frown weigh his mouth."It's just really hard to explain something no one else has seen before."
Sam gave her an small, earnest smile. He could empathize without question, knowing exactly what to say. Sam offered softly, "Then start with something I have seen."
Amy's rigid shoulders slackened, and the shadow over her eyes pulled away. Her gaze became bright and crinkled as she stared at Sam with those brown eyes. Sam smirked back at her when she rolled her smile in and patted at the couch cushion next to her. He didn't need to be coerced anymore than that.
"You've seen some pretty crazy monsters? Ran to the rescue plenty of times?" Sam sat back into the couch, looking over to see Amy's face much closer to him than he had anticipated. For a moment, he felt he had sat too close to her, that she would feel uncomfortable with them nearly sharing one cushion. He waited for her to object, but Amy only played with her hair watching for him to respond.
It seemed like a stupid question to Sam. "Yeah, plenty."
Amy nodded, suddenly pensive. "I guess I have a monster story, too. I don't know what it was exactly, but it was a monster. It lived with me for twelve years, and I didn't even know. But then, my friend, he came. My friend that I travel with." Amy paused, looking up and across the room, "And he saved me. Little late, but he came back. After so many years, I thought I had imagined him. I dreamed and dreamed about him for twelve years, stuck to that tiny hope. But he came back. Scared the thing back into its hole, then brought me along to travel with him."
Her words pooled inside Sam's ears with care, given kindly and secretly. Sam hadn't realized how absorbed he had been until Amy brought her full attention back to him.
Sam blinked, "How could a monster live in the same house with you for so long? Couldn't you see it?"
"The monster hid. It could make me forget it was there, so I couldn't remember it. It watched me grow up, watched me wait for my raggedy man." Sam noticed her mentally backpedal over her words. "Okay, that was a little creepy."
Sam chuckled. "You know, you seem more like a hunter than I think you realize."
Amy shook her head immediately and leaned away from him slightly. Sam didn't blame her for disagreeing. It wasn't exactly an eye-catching occupation. "Hunting looks so much more barbaric. Sorry. It's just, the Doctor, he saves things. He wouldn't hurt anyone."
Sam caught the name, his head tilting. "What doctor?"
Amy looked as surprised as him, quickly replying, "I didn't say doctor."
"Yeah, you did, just now. Is that what you call your friend? The doctor?" Sam knew he had gotten his foot in the doorway now by seeing the reluctant stare she held on him. He felt torn for a moment, knowing that she didn't deserve to be prodded like this. She had no intention of telling him about her friend anymore than the minimum, but Sam was determined.
Amy closed her arms, widening the space between her and Sam. "Usually people start calling me crazy by now. Do you think I'm crazy?" Her steeled eyes reflected upon him.
Sam's expression fell. "No, no! It's just..." He stammered to raise a loose smile at her. "Doctor who?"
Sam didn't know if he had said the right or wrong thing for several seconds, unsure of her blank expression. Just as he figured he had screwed up any hope they had to find out more about Amy, her arms loosened and reached out to him, tangling around his neck and bringing him into a tight hug. His hands hovered behind her, cautiously touching her back.
"You'd really believe me if I told you?" she gushed.
Sam nodded into her shoulder and inhaled. She still smelled like the cologne on Dean's shirt. "Yeah...yeah, I'll believe you." He didn't understand why this was such a big deal to her. Then again, she may not have been exaggerating; if hunting demons couldn't faze her then whatever doctoring stuff she did with this friend must be pretty extreme.
Amy unwrapped her arms from Sam's neck and sat back into the couch, still close enough to him to make his heart thunder nervously. She smiled sincerely at him. "I've seen the stars, Sam. All of them. I've seen them so close up I could nearly touch them."
Sam was near certain he had misheard her when the screen door creaked and slammed from outside. His eyes tore away from her, feeling his heart plummet. He was off the couch before he could guess whether it was Bobby or Dean coming in, quickly sliding back behind the desk. He didn't need either of them berating him for having a thing for Amy or better yet taking the girl from his brother.
"Hey, we got anything cold in the fridge to drink?" Dean ducked his head into the library, turning his gaze between Sam and Amy. Sam looked back to Dean as casually as he could manage, opening his laptop up again.
"Um, yeah. Should be." Dean nodded, turning towards the refrigerator. Sam could sense Amy's confused stare on him. Maybe she'd catch on, Sam didn't care. Feeling guilty nonetheless, Sam couldn't keep his gaze away from her for long.
"You okay?" she said once Dean was out of earshot.
"Yeah," he assured shortly. Sam knew he shouldn't be vague with Amy. Her open expression began to close again now, unsure what to make of him. Sam mentally kicked himself for leaving the couch.
"Your guy pick up?" Dean shouted through the quiet, the sizzle of a bottle cap coming into the study. He looked beat; he had sweated through his gray undershirt, making the fabric cling to his body. His arms looked strained from hours of work, bulging within the confines of his shirtsleeves.
Amy picked at her nails, though, refusing to stare up at Dean. "No," she sighed plainly.
"Oh." Sam noted the small surprise in his voice. "Okay. Sometime soon then, right?" She tilted her head towards him and looked him over. Amy made a face and shrugged, uninterested.
Sam nearly had to cover his face to hide the smile that so badly wanted to grow. She was pissed beyond compare at Dean, and she knew she had every right to show it. Dean didn't know how to react to her silence, stuck between a laugh and an apology.
Sam pulled his hand away from his mouth once Dean glanced over to him. He humored his brother. "How's the Impala looking?"
"We fixed most the holes in the trunk. Bobby's helping put the new back window in. I guess the oil needs changing, too, but that shouldn't take long." Sam nodded. He kept one eye on Amy, watching as she sat quietly outside the conversation.
He wasn't the only one to notice her silence. Dean stood up from leaning on the door frame and moved to the opposite side of the couch. He landed obnoxiously, making the cushions bob with his weight. Her head snapped towards him. "Hey," he grinned flirtatiously at her.
Amy raised an unamused eyebrow at him. "Hello."
"Weather's nice out."
" Oh, really? That's...nice." Amy rested her chin in her palm, briefly looking to Sam before turning away.
Dean agreed awkwardly before taking a long draw from his bottle. He was desperate for a way to apologize without actually saying it, but Amy wasn't giving him any options. Sam wondered if Dean had ever had this problem before, because it seemed he didn't really know what he was doing.
Sam shook his head and chuckled to himself. Just as he was about to go back to his laptop, he paused.
"Hey, Amy." Her eyes rose towards him, suddenly alert as she looked away from Dean. "What you were saying before, um..." He was hesitant to bring up anything unnecessary. "Well, you never did tell us why you ran away."
"Why I ran away?" Amy scoffed. "Does it really matter?"
"Sure it does," Dean played along. Sam had figured Dean would pick up any opportunity to talk to her and get back on friendly terms. "You packed your bags and ended up here. Maybe we could help you figure out how that stone angel zapped you here, then."
Amy tried keeping her mouth into a frown, but Sam could see her struggle. Dean was trying hard for her, she could see that. "Well..." she began, keeping her eyes on Sam. "Have you ever hunted something that was really big and really scary? Something you were afraid to go after?"
"Sam maybe. Me, never," Dean snickered. Sam rolled his eyes, matching Amy's teasing scoff. "What's so big and scary?"
There was a deliberate pause in her voice, keeping her reply securely on her tongue for as long as possible. Amy uncrossed her arms and looked to Dean. "Getting married," she admitted in a rush of air. "I ran off with my friend the night before my wedding."
Sam's expression rose in surprise and he could feel his heart wilt. He looked over to Dean, watching his eyebrows move upwards and a similar smile lift his face. Dean chuckled and returned the look.
"You ditched before your wedding?" Sam clarified.
Her smile became small and embarrassed. Amy shrugged. "I'd say more like an extended bachelorette party. He said we'd be only gone five minutes."
"Yeah, I'd say it's been a little longer than five minutes now, Amy," Dean shook his head.
"But look what I've got to see, though! Just for five minutes he said and then," Amy paused, catching her breath, "Goodbye Leadworth. Hello everything."
Sam couldn't help tsking at her. "If you think so."
"Do you love him?" Dean pressed unexpectedly. Sam's hands clenched in his lap without thinking as he sent a quick glance from Dean to Amy. Sam didn't understand how Dean always complained about Cas's bluntness when he was as inconspicuous as a foghorn.
He thought she wasn't going to reply by the firm stare and aback expression on her face. "Yeah," she nodded, though, at Dean, "Yes, of course I love him. I'd hope so I'm gonna marry him."
"Then why'd you leave?" Sam wanted to stop his brother; this wasn't investigating anymore, it was intruding. He didn't want to hear anymore either. The small hope he had stupidly been clinging to was shredded enough. Sam looked down to Amy's hands; there wasn't even a tan line on her ring finger. He couldn't have known, anyways.
"I wasn't going to let the one thing I wanted most to run off without me," Amy caught back at Dean stubbornly. "Would you miss out on that just to live a boring life in a boring, little village forever? I had to go with him." Sam found himself staring deeply into her seeking gaze, knowing she'd look to him for understanding. "I wasn't going to wait any longer for that chance."
"Hey!" Sam looked up from Amy and Dean, watching Bobby walk into the library. "You were supposed to be bringin' me a beer, idgit." Bobby protested at Dean.
"Oh. Right." Dean shrugged apologetically. "I wanted to say hi to Amy," he frowned innocently at Bobby.
"Yeah, I could smell your BS all the way from the junkyard," Bobby waved him off.
Sam and Dean matched chuckles, looking to Amy. Her face didn't hold even one humored line on it, though, her expression frozen in surprise. Their faces fell, concerned.
"You hear that?" she snapped her eyes onto Sam, waiting for him to hear the noise. There was a fiery, almost mad glimmer in her eye that Sam guessed he had mistook. He briefly recalled her saying something about stars earlier.
He rolled his eyes when he caught the familiar rumbling sound. "Amy, it's just the-"
She was off the couch, though, suddenly a red streak dashing out of the house. He could hear the gravel in the driveway crunching under her feet before the screen door even closed.
Dean glanced over. "You mind explaining what crazy she's on?"
"She thinks the washing machine sounds like her friend's car," Sam sighed. "And yeah, I know how crazy I sound," he added after seeing Dean's lost stare.
"Where the hell does she think she's running to?" Bobby shouted from the kitchen. Sam could see him watching from the kitchen window. "Geez with those legs you'd think she was a marathon runner."
"Oh, you really want to hear what I think about those legs? Or better yet what I'd love to do with them, now that's another story..."
"Dean, really. Stop," Sam chided with a jabbing glare. Sam didn't find it anymore amusing when Dean chuckled and winked.
Dean looked like he was going to tease back with him, but he was cut short. A familiar sound rang through the library, making Sam's smile dry and harden. Sam's hands cursed slowly to the desktop, looking from Dean to the cracks of light from the closed blinds. His brow bent worriedly.
"Who hear that?" he murmured.
He nodded. "Bobby?" Dean slowly raised himself from the couch, the stony focus of a hunter hardening his features. "You see anything?" Dean asked. Sam sat still, waiting for some alternate explanation for the noise.
The gunfire was unmistakable the second time, making Sam's breath tighten in his chest and briskly jump to his feet. Two crisp shots. He pulled open the desk drawer and grabbed a handgun, following behind Dean.
"Boy, you better grab something bigger than that," Bobby told him, tossing Sam a rifle. He caught it and stuck the handgun into the back of his jeans. Sam rathered being over prepared than not enough.
Dean briefly checked how many rounds were in his rifle."Where is she Bobby?"
"She was headed towards the garage."
Dean looked to Sam. "You didn't see her grab anything when she ran out, did you?"
"No, there was nothing out. She can shoot it, but I don't think she took anything."
Dean nodded, but he didn't appear to be relieved by Sam's answer. "Come on."
The three of them quickly made it out of the house, only the slight creak of the screen door exposing them. Sam's heart pounded in his throat, glancing each way for a glimpse of her red hair. He wanted to call out her name, but he knew there was a dreadful possibility with that action. She couldn't be hurt, though. It would be on him then.
On this side of the house the garage was out of sight. From the direction she had run they could hear clumsy footfalls in the dust. From the soft murmur of voices Sam guessed there was more than one person behind the noise. Cautiously, they crept around the side of the house.
Sam saw her first, catching the pooling red of her hair against the beaten dirt of the pathway. His knuckles flexed white around the rifle as he counted the several people crowded around her. One of them was pressing hard against her chest, his back turned to them.
"Amy?" one of them said. "Here, take this." The man reached from the back of his shirt and pulled out a handgun, setting it on the ground.
Sam's teeth ground together and turned his head to catch Dean's attention. "You see her?"
With his jaw set like steel, Dean gave a short nod then lifted his shoulder to wave them forward. In practiced unison, the brothers and Bobby sprung, armed, from their spot behind the house.
A/N I know it's horrible that I don't get to update as quickly as possible. With outside commitments, updating is hard. But I love all your support and will continue this fix no matter what! Ultimate superwholock next chapter!