Chapter 10
They stayed at Bobby's for a few days, recuperating after their last few cases. Dean attempted to talk with Sarah a few times about what all was going on but she was still giving him the silent treatment. She spent most of her time, combing through as many of Bobby's books as possible, trying to find something that would help to take away or lessen her feelings for Dean.
On the third day at Bobby's, Sarah was sitting on one of the old beat up cars in the salvage yard. She had spent the morning pouring through a few rare manuscripts about spells and listening to her iPod. One song on her playlist came on and she found herself singing it whole heartedly, not realizing that Dean was just walking out to find her.
"You don't need to bother; I don't need to be.
I'll keep slipping farther,
But once I hold on, I won't let go 'til it bleeds.
Wish I was too dead to car,
If indeed I cared at all.
Never had a voice to protest,
So you fed me shit to digest.
I wish I had a reason; my flaws are open season.
For this, I gave up trying.
Once good turn deserves my dying.
You don't need to bother; I don't need to be.
I'll keep slipping farther,
But once I hold on, I won't let go 'til it bleeds.
Wish I'd died instead of lived.
A zombie hides my face.
Shell forgotten with its memories.
Diaries left with cryptic entries.
And you don't need to bother; I don't need to be.
I'll keep slipping farther,
But once I hold on, I won't let go 'til it bleeds.
You don't need to bother; I don't need to be.
I'll keep slipping farther,
But once I hold on, I'll never live down my deceit."
When she finished singing, Dean quietly walked back to the house, feeling unnerved by her song.
"Did you find Sarah?" Sam asked.
"Huh?... Oh… No. I didn't." Dean managed, snapping out of his thoughts.
"Ok…" Sam mumbled giving Dean a confused look. He then walked outside and called out for Sarah to come inside. A few minutes later, Sarah walked in with a 'What's up?' look on her face.
"I found a case. In Baltimore a lawyer was killed in a locked office with security cameras watching but there is no-one on the film. But get this, he claimed to have seen a ghost not long before he was killed." Sam explained.
"What? You thinking vengeful spirit?" Dean asked.
"Yeah. Seems like an open and shut case."
"Alright, let's pack up. Sam, you check the weapon supplies in the trunk. Sarah, pack us up some supplies for the drive." Dean ordered. Sam moved to leave the kitchen but Sarah stayed in her spot.
"Actually… I was thinking of sitting this one out. Stay here and help Bobby out with the phones." Sarah said softly, speaking for the first time to either of them in days.
Dean looked at her for a moment then remembered what he'd heard her singing. "You know what? Whatever. Do you want." He said a little harsher than he meant before walking outside.
"He didn't mean that, Sarah. He's just being pissy right now." Sam said putting his arm around her.
"I know. He's frustrated but believe me, I'm even more frustrated." She said before turning fully to look at him, "I need this time to myself. I need to find a way to fix this."
Sam gave her a confused look. "Just promise me you will still be around when we get back. That is the best fix you could do."
"Yeah, sure." Sarah said avoiding his eyes.
After weeks of searching, Sarah still hadn't found anything that would help her with Dean. She was losing hope and was reaching the point of true desperation and leaving again for good. As she was trying to make up her mind, Sarah suddenly started to get a very uneasy feeling in her stomach. She shrugged it off and kept researching on a case for Bobby.
A day later and that feeling of unease was continually growing in the pit of Sarah's stomach. And it seemed to intensify if she thought or talked about Sam or Dean.
"Bobby? When was the last time you heard from the boys?" She asked trying to hide the worry in her voice after Bobby had answered his phone.
Bobby was silent a moment for a moment then said, "A few days I think. Nothing unusual. Why?"
Sarah shook her head, "I don't know why, but I have this horrible feeling that something has happened."
"What make you say that?" He asked.
"Sam doesn't usually go this long without calling or texting me. It's at least every other day." Sarah explained.
"How long's it been?" He asked getting more concerned.
"Five."
"Have you tried calling him?"
Sarah nodded. "Several times. But it always goes to voicemail. I've even tried Dean a few times."
"So what are you doing here, still? Why aren't you tracking them down?"
"I wasn't sure I should. I thought maybe…"
"You thought that I would find them for you. So you could keep your feelings from being hurt." He said gruffly.
"Bobby, I…"
"I'll tell you what. I'll give you the name of one of my best trackers. How about that?" Bobby said interrupting her and sounding annoyed.
"Ok…"
"Alright. You ready? The name is Sarah Reynolds. Now get off your wussy ass and find them, ya idgit." He said before hanging up on her.
Sarah just stared at the phone in shock. She couldn't believe he'd just did that, but knowing he was right, she grabbed her stuff and hopped into one of the working cars in the junk yard.
After exhausting all the numbers she had for Dean and Sam, she tried the few that they kept of Johns. She was just about to call Ellen when her phone lite up.
"Dean? What's going on? Are you and Sam alright?" She hurriedly asked.
"It's a long story. Have you heard from Sam lately?" he asked.
"No, I've been trying to find both of you. What happened?"
After a pause, Dean growled, "Sam took off."
"What?!"
"Are you still at Bobby's?" Dean asked.
"No, I'm halfway to the Roadhouse in one of Bobby's junkers." She admitted. "Why?"
Dean was silent a moment before saying, "I need your help."
"What? I could probably track him down for you at the Roadhouse. You don't need me. I'd just end up in the way.
"Look, I'll explain later. Just meet me in an hour in Newton." He said before hanging up.
Sarah rolled her eyes at her phone. If it weren't for Sam possibly being in trouble she would have called him back and told him off.
A little over an hour later, Sarah pulled up next to Dean at a truck stop in Newton, Iowa and hopped into the impala with her stuff, to find a pissed off Dean.
"You're late." He growled throwing the car into gear.
"Well, you didn't really give me enough time to get here, even with breaking every speed and driving law there is." She spat back. "Now if you're done being a bitch, tell me what is going on."
Dean gave her a 'Don't mess with me' look before saying, "We've got no time to loose. Sam's in Layfette, Indiana."
"Okay. If you know where he is then why do you need my help? What aren't you telling me?"
"I may have said something he… uh… couldn't handle hearing." Dean admitted.
"Which was?" Sarah prodded. Dean stayed quiet. "Look Dean, you want me to help then you have to tell me what is going on. If not then let me out."
Dean sighed then said, "A couple of days ago, Sam and I went investigating one of his visions in a small town in Oregon. While we were there, there was an outbreak of a virus we're calling croaton. It took over people after blood to blood contact. The affected people became highly violent. For a while it didn't look like we were going to make it out of there. Sam was even exposed but not even this crazy virus could dent his gigantor armor."
"What? How?"
"No clue."
"Okay. So how did that make Sam leave?"
"Well… when I thought we weren't going to make it out of there, I started to confess to something, but then we made it out and Sam dragged my confession out."
"Which was?" Sarah asked curiously.
"It was something I promised Dad before he died."
"What did you promise him?" She asked, silently remembering her own promise to John.
"I promised Dad that I would save Sam."
"Save him from what?" Sarah asked sensing that wasn't the whole promise.
"Dad said I had to save Sam and if I couldn't… I'd… have to kill him."
Sarah gasped, "What?"
"Yeah, I know. I'm a jerk for keeping from him. But what was I supposed to do? Just walk up to him and say. 'Hey, Dad says better watch out or I'll have to kill you.'" Dean said sarcastically.
"No. I get it, you were trying to protect him. I just can't believe John would put that kind of pressure on you. That's not right." She said getting angry. "You know you can talk to me if you need too."
Dean about swerved off the road. "I can talk to you? When? Between you running away or refusing to talk to me? Tell me when am I supposed to confide in you?" he spat.
"Dean…"
"No. Forget it. Let's just find Sam." Dean said flatly.
"Fine. What happened with Sam after you told him?"
"I told him we should lay low for a while, at least until we could figure this all out but he didn't quite agree. So he took off in the middle of the night. Something you know about."
"Dean, that's enough. Don't push your anger at Sam off on me and my mistakes." She scolded.
"Oh trust me, sweetheart, there's some anger in here just for you." Dean grumbled, tightening his hold on the steering wheel.
"Don't be a dick, Dean."
Dean growled under his breath and flipped the radio on. Sarah stared out the window until she eventually fell asleep. A few hours later, Sarah woke up with her head resting on Dean's leg. He was gently stroking her hair and humming along to the song playing on the radio. She reveled in the close, familiarity for a few minutes longer before sitting up. She knew if she laid there too long that her thoughts and feelings would lessen her resolve. Her resolve to kill her feelings for him.
"Hey there sleeping Beauty." Dean joked when she sat up.
"Where are we?" She asked trying to hide the slight blush that was spreading on her cheeks.
"Just about to his hotel." Dean said.
A minute later, Dean pulled into a parking lot and parked. The both started scanning the surroundings. Dean spotted Sam through the window of one of the rooms.
"Oh, thank God he's okay." Dean said breathing a sigh of relief. Just then Sam moved away from the window revealing that a girl was with him in the room. "Oh, he's better than okay. Sam, you sly dog." Dean said chuckling.
Sarah rolled her eyes and smacked the back of his head. "Get your mind out of the gutter." Sarah scolded trying to hide her own laughter as she smacked his shoulder.
"Oh, I'm gonna get you for that." Dean said playfully and quickly launched a tickle attack on her. He very quickly had her pinned beneath him on the seat, tickling her as she playfully protested.
"Dean! Oh, stop!" She said in cheerful gasps.
He looked down at her wickedly. He had her legs pinned beneath his. Her arms were pinned behind her back with one of his hands holding them there. "Oh, yeah? And what are you going to do about it?" He boasted, his face very close to hers.
She stopped struggling and just stared back up at him. He moved to kiss her when they heard a gunshot ring through the air.
Immediately Dean let go of her and sat up looking around to see where the shooting was coming from.
"Dammit!" Dean growled running out of the car and to a nearby building.
Sarah got out and saw that Sam's hotel room was being torn apart from the shooter. She quickly made her way over to the room, careful to never be in the line of sight of the shooter. Soon the shooting stopped. Sarah looked up to see Dean fighting with the gunman. Taking the opportunity she ran into Sam's room.
"Sam?!" she yelled out. She quickly found him crouched on the floor next the a terrified girl. She ran over to him and threw her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. "Sambo? Are you alright?"
"Sarah?" Sam asked pulling back a little, "What are you doing here?"
"Dean needed me to help find you. Are you hit?" She asked examining him then she turned to the girl and asked, "Are you okay?"
The girl just nodded.
"Dean? Where's Dean?" Sam asked standing up.
"He's taking care of the shooter." Sarah said looking out of the broken window to the rooftop. "Wait. Where'd he go?"
The three of them journeyed up to the roof across from Sam's motel to look around.
"Wait, I don't understand. Shouldn't we be talking to the cops?" Ava asked.
"Trust me, that wouldn't do us much good." Sam said picking up a shell and examining it.
"That's a .223 caliber." Sarah said looking at the shell in Sam's hand.
"Subsonic grounds, the guy must have put a suppressor on the riffle." Sam stated.
"Who are you people?" Ava asked.
"Oh, we just, uh, we just watch a lot of T.J. Hooker." Sam lied.
He pulled out his cellphone.
"Who are you calling?" Ava asked.
"My brother." Sam said to her then into the phone, "Dean." Sam leaned down so Sarah could hear.
"Sam, I've been looking for you." Dean said.
"Look, I'm in Indiana, uh Lafayette."
"I know." Dean said.
"You do?"
"Yeah, I talked to Ellen. Just got here myself. It's a real funk town. You ditched me, Sammy and took off with my favorite pistol."
"Yeah, I'm sorry." Sam said looking down at Sarah. "I have it with me. Look, right now there's someone after me."
"What? Who?"
"I don't know, that's what we need to find out. Where are you?" Sam asked.
"I'm staying at, uh, 5637 Monroe St., Why don't you meet me here?"
"Yeah. Sure." Sam said hanging up.
"What is it?" Ava asked.
"My brother's in trouble." Sam answered.
"What?"
"He gave em a code word." Sam stated.
"Someone's got a gun on him." Sarah finished, feeling her anxiety rise.
"Code word?" Ava aked.
"Yeah. Funky town." Sam said then added, "Well, he thought of it. It's kind of a … long story."
"So, I take it my code name is pistol?" Sarah asked curiously.
"Um… Again, Dean picked out the Code words. I, uh, come on." Sam said frustrated.
They all returned to the hotel parking lot. Sarah went to Sam's car as he walked Ava to her car. When he came back Sarah said, "So what's up with the girl?"
"She's… another psychic like me."
"What? How did you find her?"
"I didn't find her. She found me. Said she had a vision that I was gonna die." Sam confessed.
"How?" Sarah asked very seriously.
"I get blown up, by going in the back of this building that Dean's being held at."
"Great. That's just great. So what's your plan? Front door?" She asked.
"No. I'm thinking something else…" Sam said giving her a weird look.
Sarah crouched down outside the front door of the shake that Dean was being held in. Sam was entering from the back and Sarah was to wait till after the second explosion to start trying to pick the front doors lock, praying that there wasn't an explosive covering this door. They were banking on the fact that whoever was holding Dean captive would be too busy with Sam to notice her.
Boom! Sarah heard a few minutes later.
And then a few agonizing moments after that she heard the second explosion. And then another agonizing minute before she heard scuffling. She then set about unlocking the front door.
As soon as she opened the door she ran into the room and straight to Dean. He yelled at her through his gag.
"Do it! Do it! Show your brother the killer you really are, Sammy." Gordon yelled from the back room.
Sarah tried to frantically untie Dean when they both heard a loud thwacking sound then Sam saying angrily, "It's Sam."
Sam came into the front room as Sarah finished with Dean's restraints.
"That son of a …" Dean growled standing up.
"Dean. No." Sam commanded.
"I let him live once, I'm not making the same mistake twice." Dean said forcefully.
"Trust me. Gordon's taken care of, come on." Sam said grabbing Dean's jacket and pulling him toward the door.
Once they were outside, Gordon appeared in the doorway holding a gun in both hands and he opened fire on them. They all ran for cover.
"Come on! You call this taken care of?" Dean yelled.
Just then Sarah fell and cried out in pain. Hearing her cry Dean turned and saw her on the ground. Trying to get back up. He quickly ran back and picked her up then dove into a ditch by the side of the road.
"Sarah?" Dean questioned.
"My leg. He got my leg." She said grunting through the pain. "I'll live." She pulled off her belt and placed it above the wound to help stop the bleeding.
Dean blew a small sigh of relief before saying, "What the hell are we doing?"
"Just trust me on this, alright?" Sam answered, before 3 police cars with sirens blazing, pulled into the clearing. Within a minute Gordon was surrounded by cops.
"Drop your weapons, get down on your knees!" a cop yelled.
"Do it now!" another yelled.
Sam and Dean grin at each other as they watch Gordon drop to his knees and get handcuffed.
"Anonymous tip." Sam said still grinning.
"You're a fine upstanding citizen, Sam." Dean said chuckling.
"This is a great moment. Really. But could we get somewhere to patch me up? Or do you want me to just bleed to death right here?" Sarah interjected.
"Always the drama queen." Dean said picking her up and following Sam, covertly carried her to his car.
