44
"This is going to be much more complicated than I thought," Mandy voiced in frustration from the kitchen table. She had an empty cup of coffee in front of her and a stressed expression on her face.
"What's wrong?" Anna questioned and sat next to her. The two women had become closer in the last few weeks, and had plenty of time to bond while Sam and Dean were down south in Arizona.
"I'm looking into selling our house back home, and trying to decide on a realtor willing to do business in a different state isn't exactly proving to be an easy find."
"Selling your house? You're serious about Sam then, huh?" Anna couldn't stop the hopeful grin from appearing on her face.
"Trying to. And yes, I am serious about Sam," Mandy replied as her face tinged pink.
"I'm sure Sam will be happy to hear."
"Yeah, if they ever get back. Is this how it always is? I mean, when the boys go on hunts?" Anna thought about Mandy's question, remembering all the hotel rooms and unpredictability of "The Job."
"Sometimes, yes. These things aren't an exact science." Sam and Dean had taken longer than expected. Anna had just passed the seven-month mark of her pregnancy, and Mandy had taken to accompanying her to the doctor's appointments in town.
"I thought once Cas went down there to give him his blood, gross by the way, that they could fix the problem and come back."
"Yeah, I thought so too. I'm sure it won't be much longer. The best way to pass the time is to stay busy. We'll get an update as soon as they have one."
"Right," Mandy agreed. The two women remained at the table for at least another hour, searching realty sites. Anna wasn't completely focused, as her thoughts continued to drift to Dean and Sam in Arizona. She knew that when Dean had called a few weeks prior, that something wasn't right. They hit a speed-bump, which wasn't unexpected, but each day that passed she missed Dean more and more.
"I don't understand why it is not sealing the gate," Cas stated in confusion. There was an uneven stack of books next to a table of various items required to seal a Hell gate.
"Do you seriously need to say the most obvious shit you can think of?" Dean snapped at the angel. Clearly offended, Cas disappeared and left Bobby, Sam, and Molly to glare at Dean in annoyance. "What?"
"You hurt his feelings," Sam explained.
"I don't have any patience left for this crap," Dean retorted before walking to the fridge to grab a beer.
"Little early, don't you think?" Molly offered with concerned eyes. She didn't receive a response, as Dean rolled his eyes and turned his attention out the window. Brown dirt and colored river rock scattered the yard of the second abandoned house they'd taken up residence in. His eyes focused on a tall cactus just outside the window. When he'd first arrived in Arizona to help Bobby with the gate, he had enjoyed the change of scenery. They never spent much time in Arizona or desert states before. It was something unfamiliar to him. However, after multiple weeks away from Anna, the cactus was just a mocking reminder that he was far from home. Far from his unborn child. Far from her.
"We've got to have a wrong piece to this puzzle. Somethin' ain't right," Bobby mused aloud.
"Maybe it's the herbs. Maybe we don't have the right ones?" Sam chimed in.
"Or they aren't fresh enough or something?" Molly's voice rang through.
"Did it ever occur to any of you that maybe we're just wasting our time and this whole thing is one big distraction? For all we know, Zachariah is just sittin' back laughing his ass off at us while he plots how to kidnap my child!" Dean finally exploded. His eyes wide and muscles tense in anger.
"That's enough!" Bobby's voice boomed. "I've had it just about to here with your shit attitude," his hand was raised high. "We all know the risks of this job, and you damn well knew the risk of being away from Anna when you agreed to come down here and help. Ain't nobody stoppin' you from leaving, you're free to go. In fact, you're becoming more of a nuisance than help at this point. So, shut up and make yourself useful, or get the hell out." Everyone was silent after Bobby's outburst. Dean had the respect to at least look scolded by his father figure.
"I'm gonna step out for a minute," Dean mumbled and left the modest house. The rumble of the Impala engine soon sounded from the driveway, and he made his way to town and stopped at the first bar he saw.
A few days later, Anna was in the living room writing down items on a list. Collin was wandering around, clearly bored, and came to sit next to her on the couch. "Where's your sister?" she asked.
"In the shower. What are you writing?"
"A grocery list. Want to come?"
"Sure," he responded and went with her to the local store after leaving a note for Mandy. On their way to the store, Anna tried to keep her mind off Dean and focused instead on what she was going to pick up from the store. Her worry grew each passing day that the Arizona gate wasn't sealed. Bobby had called her just that morning, stating that they were trying to find a different herb to complete the ritual to seal the gate. Problem was, that particular herb wasn't exactly easy to come by.
That left her driving with Collin to the store to pick up some groceries and a few supplies from the drug store. The best she could do was to keep her mind busy and hope they reached a solution soon. She knew Mandy was much more nervous, but she had little to no experience with the supernatural world. It was all pretty brand new to her and Collin, so Anna understood the reasoning behind the worry for Sam.
Pulling in to the parking lot, she parked the vehicle and smiled as Collin rushed to open the door for her. "Thanks," she said appreciatively. They made their way inside, quickly grabbing a cart and starting down the first aisle. "So, Mandy told me you'd be starting school next week, right?" He rolled his eyes at the mention of school. Instead of verbally answering her, he just nodded his response. "New school, new start. I remember switching schools when I was in elementary school. It actually wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. I made a lot of good friends faster than I thought I would. I'm sure you will too," she tried to encourage. He remained silent as she threw in a few bags of chicken.
"Ice cream?" he asked, holding up a small tub of peanut butter chocolate ice cream. She grinned, and nodded her head in agreement. Grocery shopping at seven months pregnant was dangerous, she decided. It was easy to impulse buy any food that satisfied a craving. Especially ice cream. They continued through the aisles, not really speaking much, but both placing items in the cart that were from Anna's list. Some were not, like the chocolate cookies Anna threw in, but they tried to stick to the list as much as possible.
Just as they were going through the check out, her cell phone rang. "Hello?" she answered distractedly, trying to simultaneously load items onto the conveyer belt.
"Anna, my dear. It's been a while," a voice she recognized all too well greeted her. Her stomach sank, pulse picking up, and her left hand holding her phone began to shake. Zachariah. She remained silent, and luckily Collin didn't appear to notice as he mindlessly continued to place the groceries on the conveyer belt as the person in front of them paid. "I hope your pregnancy is progressing without difficulty. Just thought I'd check in on my little prophecy child." She remained silent, too furious to even make sense of her own thoughts. "You didn't really think I forgot, did you? That I'd just go away because pathetic Cas whisked you and Dean away to a safe house? Please, tell me you are more intelligent than you're coming off to be." She still remained silent, partly because of her shock of the phone call, and partly because she was in a very public grocery store with Collin standing mere inches away form her. "Ahh, it appears I've got you at a bad time. Well, I'll let you go. Just wanted to give you a little reminder that I'll be seeing you soon." The line disconnected, and Anna was left holding the phone to her ear.
Collin must have finally noticed something was off, and he gently nudged her elbow when she hadn't moved forward to stand in front of the register where the teenage girl was ringing up her groceries. Jerking out of her stance, she moved to stand in front of the small computer to watch the price continue to add up with each scanned item. "Paper or plastic?" the bag boy asked to her right.
"What?" she softly spoke.
"Paper or plastic?" the boy hesitantly repeated.
"Plastic is fine," Collin answered for her when she failed to respond. The girl recited the total cost after a few minutes, and Anna wordlessly swiped her card to pay. Moments later, after Collin helped her load everything into the backseat, she was driving back to the cabin. "Is something wrong?" he asked with slight concern.
"N-no, everything is fine," she plastered a fake smile on her face that she'd perfected over the years. He didn't question her, and didn't push for more information. Once they walked through the front door, Mandy greeted them with a smile and asked how their trip to town went. Anna tuned out the simple conversation and busied her self by putting stuff away.
"Anna? Is something wrong?" Mandy questioned as she too decided to help put away the items.
"Sorry, just feeling a little light-headed. I'm fine, really. Just ready for a nap," she lied to her friend. What she really needed was to talk to Dean without alarming everyone. What she needed was for her child to not be brought into the world already in danger. What she needed was a miracle.
