Chapter 10

Stranglehold

Sam and Dead decided the safest and best place for Stephanie to be was at Bobby's. They drove straight through to South Dakota, only stopping once in a while for restrooms and food. Stephanie clung tight to one of the brothers wherever they went; she was not going to take the chance of getting separated from them. This was the safest she had felt in a year and she intended to never let that feeling go away.

When they stopped to switch drivers Sam had simply slipped into the backseat, beside Stephanie and pulled her against him. "How are you feeling?" He had asked her.

She looked up at him, "As good as a person could under these circumstances, I guess." That was vague, she knew, but she didn't know how to answer the question. The fact was that it had been such a long time since she had felt happy and safe that she couldn't really answer the question. "I'm a lot happier now that I'm back with you."

He smiled down at her, "We are too. We've both been extremely worried about you."

She nodded, "I want to know everything that you know, but not just yet. If I hear any more bad news right now I think my head will explode."

He gave her a sympathetic smile, "I understand. Why don't you just close your eyes and get some sleep?"

She shook her head, "When I sleep the nightmares get me."

Sam ran his hands over her hair, "It's alright though, they're just dreams. They can't hurt you. Besides, I'll be right here when you wake up."

"Thanks Sam." She told him, snuggling up close to him and allowing herself to be taken on to dreamland.

A couple hours later Stephanie awoke screaming. Sam was trying desperately to calm her down from her nightmare. The nightmares were always the same; demons….demons everywhere. Also Lucifer; he somehow always seemed to be there whispering things to her trying to trick her and force her hand so that he could get what he wanted from her.

"Shhh." Sam said.

Dean looked back at her with so much concern in his eyes that Stephanie actually felt bad for causing him pain. She couldn't help the fact that she had the nightmares but she hated that they had to hurt the people that she loved.

"I wish there was a place in this world that I could feel completely safe." She said, running her hand over her face.

Sam's arm was wrapped around her tightly, trying to calm her fears. "I think we know just the place."

Within the next couple of hours they arrived at Bobby's house. The boys helped Stephanie from the car, got her into the house and introduced her to Bobby. They couldn't believe that with all the time they had spent with the girl that she and Bobby had never met. That was kind of weird.

After the introductions and Bobby's hospitality, they took her the one place they felt could be a safe haven for her….the panic room. She smiled when she saw it, running her hands over the lead-lined walls. "Wow. This is incredible."

Bobby beamed brightly, "Glad you like it. I made it myself."

Dean rolled his eyes, "He's real modest about it too."

Sam laughed, "It's a very cool place, except when you're detoxing." Sam's tone had a bitter end to it, which tore into Dean with precision.

She made herself comfortable on the bed, covering herself up in the warm blankets that they had grabbed for her. She was content to make this be the happiest place on earth for her for that moment in time. "I like it here." She told them.

They all looked at each other, taking turns stepping out of the cell so that they could talk. Dean was the last one out. Before he left he went to her, kneeling down beside the bed. "Are you going to be alright in here, alone?"

She smiled up at him, he was so sweet. He was such a wonderful, caring man. She reached out to stroke his cheek, watching as his eyes closed instinctively. "I think so. Are we talking about hours?"

Dean shook his head, "No, just long enough for us to talk. I'll be back after that and I'll sit with you, okay?"

She sat up and looked at him, "Thank you for looking for me and thank you for finding me. Thank you for always being there for me, taking care of me."

He looked deeply into her eyes, "Sweetheart, I'll always be here for you. As long as I'm breathing you can count on me." He leaned his forehead against hers, unsure about whether to kiss her the way that he really wanted to. He didn't know what would be welcomed after everything that had happened.

He didn't have to ponder about it too long because she kissed him. She kissed him gently, quickly and softly. It was probably the most benign kiss the two had ever shared but it meant so much more to them than any of their other kisses had. "Promise that you'll be back?"

"Of course, I'm not going anywhere. Sam and I just need to discuss everything with Bobby and get him up to speed and then I'll be back. If you need me at all, for anything, I'll be right upstairs." He ran his hand soothingly over her hair, calming her.

She smiled at him softly, enjoying the specialness that she was feeling from his touch. Dean was just such a special guy to her and she wanted to keep him in her life this time. She just couldn't let him go so easily this time. As much as Dean meant to her there was someone else who meant a lot too. There was someone else that she needed to talk to; someone who was worried about her. "Can I use your cell phone? Is that alright?" She asked him.

He nodded, "Of course. Can I ask who you're going to call?"

She smiled, "Paul. I want to call him and let him know that I'm safe."

Dean smiled back, "I think that's a great idea." He handed her his phone and stood up to head upstairs with the other hunters. Before he left the room he bent his head down to kiss her head, showing her the affection that he felt inside for her.

As soon as Dean was gone she dialed the familiar number into his cell phone and waited. Paul picked up on the third ring. "Hey, what's up?" He asked into the phone.

She smiled, so glad to hear his voice, "It's me again."

She could practically hear him grinning from ear to ear, "Steph! Are you okay? I'm assuming that you're with the Winchesters."

"Yes, thank God! I'm okay now. Chuck caught me talking to them, trying to find a way to meet up and he…."

Paul felt his chest constricting. "What did he do? Did he hurt you?"

"He drugged me and tied me up." She told him emotionally.

Paul felt tears filling his eyes, "I'm so sorry. I wish I could have done something to prevent that."

"Paul, you helped me more than you'll ever know. Thank you for what you did. I love you." She told him. She didn't know what possessed her to say those words. She also didn't know how she meant them. She shrugged off the different meaning of the words, knowing full well that she loved him like he was family to her; to her he was family.

Paul's voice was soft and full of emotion, "I love you too."

Dean was upstairs pacing back and forth. Bobby looked at him and raised his eyebrow, "You're going to wear my floor out."

"Sorry." Dean answered back, aggressively.

Bobby folded his arms across his chest, "I think we need to know everything that she knows. We need to know where she's been, what she's been dreaming about and everything that has happened to her since she last left you boys. It's important that we are able to put all the pieces of the puzzle together and come up with something that makes sense." He handed each brother a beer. "So, you said you found her tied up and drugged, right? And the husband did this?"

Dean groaned, how many times was he going to be forced to see this over and over in his head? "Yes! He was holding her prisoner against her will."

Sam put up his hand, "I know as well as you do that what he did was wrong, but what if it's not as simple as black and white on this one? I mean, he certainly wasn't acting much like the guy we met a year ago."

"Are you sure he's human?" Bobby asked.

Dean shook his head, "We were a bit focused on saving her life than splashing him with holy water. Come on Bobby."

Bobby took a step closer to Dean and grabbed ahold of his arms, pulling Dean into his face, "You come on, boy! Just because you're in love with the girl doesn't mean you get sloppy. In case you haven't noticed we're fighting some evil sons of bitches and we can't just run in halfcocked, pull the girl out and run for the hills."

"We didn't run for the hills. But, you saw her, Bobby. She wasn't exactly in any condition to sit there tied up and afraid while we took an hour to figure out what kind of monster he was."

Bobby let Dean go, "So, you think he's a monster then?"

Dean shrugged, "I don't know what he is, but anyone who could do that to their wife; the woman that they're supposed to love…that's a monster in my book, human or not."

"Maybe it's not that simple, Dean." Sam said, chiming in. "Maybe there's more here than we know. I agree with Bobby, we need to know what she knows before we attempt to sort this whole mess out.

Dean sighed, "So, what do you suggest we do? Do you want to go down there and bombard her with questions, forcing her to drudge through horrible memories? Is that what you want?"

Bobby looked at Dean like he had grown three heads, "I think that's the only game in town at the moment. You used to think like a hunter Dean, but you're all emotional about this."

"I'll do it." Sam said. "I'll go down there and talk to her, calmly and rationally."

"No!" Dean exclaimed, "If anyone's going to do that, it's going to be me."

Bobby stepped in, "I agree with Sam. You're too close to this one, it's personal for you. Of course it's personal to Sam too, but I think he's going to be able to take a step back and be a bit more rational and level-headed about this. The last thing that girl needs right now is having someone getting angry and flying off the handle at everything she says."

"I'm not going to do that. I don't exactly want to scare the crap out of her you know." Dean argued.

Sam rolled his eyes, "Dean, I've had to live with you this whole time and you're a mess. You're way too on edge to do this. What if she has to tell you horrible things that you can't bear to hear? She can't afford to have someone being overly emotional about things right now. Trust me, I can do this. I will be tactful and gentle while getting the information that we need."

Dean grumbled but agreed. What choice did he really have? He knew that he was being ganged up on. Maybe they were right though, maybe he was too emotionally involved to go at this rationally. Maybe he would end up just getting mad and scaring her. That was so far from his objective that it was possible he could be a hindrance to the investigation. "Fine, but when you're done talking to her, I would like to see her."

Sam nodded, "Not a problem." He gave Dean a reassuring smile, trying to show him that he was still in his corner, on his team. He was just as passionate about protecting Stephanie and doing what needed to be done to solve all the mysteries, but he knew how to take a step back and go at this as a hunter would. He could do this; he would get the information that they needed and help everyone out so they could catch the bad guys and finally help Stephanie to feel safe again. He had to do this; he had to do it for her. He owed her this much, especially after everything he had almost allowed Lucifer to do to her in his own body.