A/N: I think everyone knows who's on the cell. We'll get more of that conversation in the last path. Thank you for the support and thank you to the guests who have left reviews. I appreciate all of them. Reviews keep me going, please take a moment and leave one. NC
Chapter 37
"H'llo?" Sam said cautiously, frowning and wondering who wanted to talk to him. He looked at Shadow and Storm as a voice he had wanted to hear answered him.
"Hey Sammy, how ya holdin' up?" Dean asked gently, caring noted in his tone.
Sam gasped in surprise as tears sprang to his eyes at the sound of Dean's voice. His eyes widened in surprise and he stumbled out of his chair and made his way to the other room wanting some privacy to talk to him.
"Dean..." Sam choked out.
"Yeah kid, wanted to check on you."
"It's...It's good to hear your voice." Sam said his voice quivering as he tried to control his emotions. He sat on the bed and held the phone tightly to his ear wishing Dean was standing in front of him where he could touch him.
"What happened?" Dean questioned knowing without even seeing him that something was wrong. Once he saw the last picture that Shadow had sent, he knew something wasn't right. His eyes were too haunted in it for him to be faking it.
"I'm fine..." Sam whispered as he wiped his watery eyes with the sleeve of his shirt trying to be brave.
"Sammy...Don't lie to me kid I know you're not fine. You know I can read you like a book." Dean chastised him. "Do I need to talk to Shadow or Storm?"
"No!" Sam said quickly looking toward the other room. He drew in a slow breath and knew Dean was waiting on the other end for him to talk. "I screwed up..."
"Talk to me Sammy." he encouraged. "It can't be that bad."
"We were being followed..." Sam started letting out the breath he was holding. He continued to talk to Dean and the more he talked, the better he began to feel. It was like just hearing Dean's voice seemed to help lift the dark cloud that had settled over him. By the end Sam couldn't talk as he sobbed softly into the cell. He listened to Dean talking and said his good-byes when they were done. Sam went into the bathroom and turned on the cold water and washed his face hoping to mask his swollen, red eyes and blotchy face.
spn
Shadow and Storm looked up when Sam emerged from the other room clearing his throat and trying to act calm. He moved to the table and laid the cell down by Shadow's elbow before sitting down. Neither man said anything to him as they ate their food. Sam's sandwich and drink were sitting where he left them at the table.
"Sit down and eat Sam. You need to keep your strength up." Shadow told him gently, nodding toward the food.
Sam sat down again at the table and looked at the food thinking of what Dean had told him a few minutes ago. He picked up the sandwich and took a tentative bite, slowly chewing it so he could swallow. He sipped on the cold drink to wash it down. It tasted good even if it was a little watered down. Sam took another small bite knowing Shadow was right; he needed to keep his strength up since they still had a ways to go before getting to Austin. None of them knew what or who else might be out there to stop them and that scared the crap out of him. He was able to eat half his sandwich before stopping, afraid to eat anymore for fear of not being able to keep it down.
"I think I'll get ready for bed." Sam told them pushing the food away and getting up. He went to his bag and got his bathroom stuff and stepped into the bathroom closing the door behind him.
"He gonna be okay?" Storm asked looking toward the door.
"He will be now." Shadow said knowing whatever Gunny had said to him seemed to have helped. He noticed Sam didn't have that defeated look in his eyes anymore.
"I take it that was Gunny on your cell."
"Yep."
"Thought so. You want the bathroom first?"
"Thanks." he said slipping off his long sleeved shirt and wincing slightly.
"What happened?" Storm asked seeing some dried blood on Shadow's arm.
"Just a scratch, nothing serious." Shadow said eyeing his arm. "Gotten worse sparring with you."
"If you need me to look at it I can."
"Naw, I'm good. Just need to get a quick shower and slap some cream on it." Shadow grimaced as he pulled his tee shirt out of the dried blood.
"Suit yourself."
"Remember when Gunny got nicked and he slapped duct tape on it and Nitro tore into him." he laughed as he examined the cut.
"Yeah." Storm chuckled. "I think she was worse than the enemy we were fighting."
"I'm just glad she was on our side. She was one tough woman." Shadow said his voice trailing off at the end as he thought about them out there alone.
"Gunny'll be ok with Ni having his back. You don't need to worry about them; we've got our own concerns." Strom assured him looking toward the bathroom door when it started opening.
spn
The bathroom door opened and Sam stepped out, dropping his things back into his duffel and stood there a moment not sure what to do. He looked to the open doorway wondering which room was suppose to be his and looked to Shadow.
"You can have the other room, it has a king size bed. We'll take this one."
"Alright." he said picking up his duffel to move to the other room.
"We'll be getting up early to leave in the morning. If you need anything just call out."
"One more thing." Storm said stepping into the other room. He checked the locks on the door and window and wedged a chair under the door knob so no one could get into the room without making a lot of noise. "Now we're good." he nodded checking over his handy work.
"Umm...Thanks." Sam said after watching Storm go over the room. He went into the room leaving the door open since it made him feel safer and easier to reach them if needed.
Shadow smirked knowing how meticulous Storm could be about things. He had seen it enough during their tours together. Storm would triple check everything even if he had just looked it over earlier. He had a place for everything and everything had to be in its place. No one ever teased or said anything about his tic because to be honest, they all had one.
spn
Sam turned the bed down and sat down on it for a moment letting Dean's words roll around in his head as he played them again in his mind. He was still a little shaken up, but not near as bad as before. He noticed a clock/radio on the nightstand and thought maybe some music might help him sleep. After flipping it on and adjusting the volume, he twisted the dial until he found something to his liking. With a sigh, Sam slipped under the covers and settled down on his side pulling the extra pillow close and draping an arm over it. It seemed to give him some comfort of not feeling as alone as he lay there in the motel room. Words from the radio caught his attention and he lay there listening to the lyrics of the song as his eyelids grew heavy.
"It's like a storm
That cuts a path
It's breaks your will
It feels like that
You think you're lost
But your not lost on your own
You're not alone
I will stand by you
I will help you through
When you've done all you can do
If you can't cope
I will dry your eyes
I will fight your fight
I will hold you tight
And I won't let go"
Silent tears leaked from Sam's eyes as the words hit home and made him miss Dean that much more. It was so good to hear his voice, even if it was only on the cell phone. He swiped a hand across his face to wipe the wetness away hoping Dean was safe.
"It hurts my heart
To see you cry
I know it's dark
This part of life
Oh it finds us all (finds us all)
And we're too small
To stop the rain
Oh but when it rains
I will stand by you
I will help you through
When you've done all you can do
And you can't cope
I will dry your eyes
I will fight your fight
I will hold you tight
And I won't let you fall
Don't be afraid to fall
I'm right here to catch you
I won't let you down
It won't get you down
You're gonna make it
Yeah I know you can make it
'Cause I will stand by you..."
It didn't take long for Sam's body to finally start warming up and he snuggled deeper under the covers letting his body relax and his mind to drift away into a sea of nothingness not hearing the last few lines of the song.
Sam didn't move when Shadow eased into the room to check on him and turn off the clock/radio. He was lucky no nightmares plagued his dreams and he slept undisturbed until Shadow called to him and shook his shoulder to wake him up. Sam struggled to pull himself from the deep sleep he was in and stared bleary eyed up at him.
"Time to get up kid. We need to move out." Shadow told him being sure he was awake before leaving the room.
Sam yawned widely as he rubbed his sleep heavy eyes and pushed himself from the bed, sitting on the side as he tried to make his mind start working again. He went to the bathroom and did his routine feeling a little more awake now. Sam reached over to get his duffel and looked through it to find clean clothes to put on. He looked around the room but didn't see any shoes and then realized he must have left them in the other room. After packing his sleep clothes, he got up and headed into the other room to find Shadow and Storm drinking coffee and talking quietly between them. They stopped and looked over at Sam.
"Can't find my boots." Sam said shyly not sure what else to say.
"I sat them over by the chair." Storm nodded to the other side of the room.
"Thanks." he said moving to the chair and sitting down to put them on.
"Do you want a cup of coffee before we leave?" Shadow asked. "We're stop on down the road to eat breakfast since its still early."
"I'm good; I'll just have some water."
"Suit yourself. Are you packed?"
"Yes." Sam said standing up and picking up his duffel. "I'll grab a water on the way out."
The three left the room and went to the truck and car. Sam dropped his duffel off and went around to the vending machines to get a bottle of water before joining Shadow in the truck. It was still dark outside and he curled up on the passenger side letting his head rest against the side window as Shadow pulled out of the motel parking lot and headed back to the main road with Storm following behind him. Shadow wanted to make up a little time since he had stopped early yesterday. He wanted to make it to Hobbs, New Mexico today putting them almost in Texas. He had the contact information for the DA once they got close to Austin to let them know Sam was near and see if anything had changed about him testifying. He hoped Gunny wouldn't be too far behind them and this would be over with for the kid.
Shadow looked over at Sam and saw his eyes were closed and his head was rocking with the motion of the car. He chuckled to himself knowing he was going to fall asleep as soon as he got still again.
"You owe me ten bucks." Shadow said quietly loud enough for Storm to hear over the comm.
"So he's out for the count? That was quick." Storm responded in his ear. "You'll get your money when we stop. I should of known better than to bet with you."
"Easy money." Shadow laughed softly so not to wake Sam.
spn
"I plan on stopping in the next town, do you read me?" Shadow asked and listened for a response from Storm.
"I'm on it, will scout ahead and let you know what I find." Storm replied and less than a minute later his car moved past the truck and passed them heading down the highway.
"How long before we're to Austin?" Sam asked not sure what Shadow had in mind.
"We'll be there in less than two days, but we're not going directly to Austin."
"We're not?"
"No, we're stopping in Dripping Springs just outside of the city. It's a small place, but should be easy to hide until you needed in court."
"Alright." Sam sighed. "I'll be glad when all this is over. I don't want anyone else getting hurt or killed because of me."
"Take it easy on yourself kid. We knew what we signed up for. No one twisted our arms to do it."
"I know, but those others..." Sam mumbled hanging his head as he worried his jacket zipper.
"Hey! They were idiots and stupid trying to make easy money, so they thought. We did leave them alive, so maybe they'll learn their lesson. Nothing in life is smooth sailing. There's gonna be ups and downs. It's how you handle it is what counts."
"But Jo...How can I face her parents knowing she died because of me?" he questioned clenching his hands into fist to stop them from shaking.
"Look kid, I know that was rough, but you didn't pull the trigger and I don't think they will blame you. It was a twist of fade is all and that is something you can't control no matter how hard you try. We have to accept what has happened in the past, that can't be changed and look to what lies ahead because that is never set in stone. We make the most of what we have right now. I have a feeling things will work out."
"I hope so." he said looking out the window at the passing scenery wondering what Dean was doing right now and if he was safe.