Replies to reviews:
SilverDragonflymoon: Thanks for the review, the chapter was filled with angst. I hope Sarah can make this one a bit cheery.
Blondie20000: *squeaks* I am super glad you found this chapter so good. Just for that, I will write that demon in the story. Can I name him Caym? Lol. Just kidding. Put a smile on my face, this review of yours, especially the last part where you say you loved how Sam and Juls grew closer together and the feelings they developed. They are just so perfect for each other, right? Thanks for the review.
Summer (on review of chapter 25): Thanks for the review. Don't worry their time will come.
Summer: There, there... Don't cry, it'll be alright.
NCsupnatfan: I am glad you liked it. Sammy is just awesome in that way. ❤️
Secretwrittenword: Yup, we are going to encounter the demon and tear him a new one. But it was the rest of the review that made my heart flutter, I love you dude. You figured out everything I wanted to say. You are awesome, thanks for the review.
Scootermom: Thanks for the review and for reading the story. The reunion is just a chapter away.
NoilyPrat (on reviews of multiple chapters ): Thanks for leaving reviews and yes, you picked up on it early, Sam's love interest has some Dean qualities, and Dean's love interest is a bit like Sam. And you noticed the birthday thing, lol. The radio will be addressed in this and next chapter and I am glad you liked my song choice.
A/N: When I started writing this story, I wrote down how I wanted the girls to be, and I think it is as good time as any to share it with you.
Julia is a bit like Dean, rough around the edges but deep down scared and scarred, she just wants to feel loved and safe. This is where Sam's role turns from being protected (by his big brother) into being the protector.
Sarah on the other hand appears soft and easy going, cheerful and a bit shy, but she has some amazing inner strength that shines so bright. Dean's role has also changed from being the protector to having someone take care of him, and his needs and saving him, sacrificing her whole life to do so.
What do you guys think, did I achieve this?
Chapter 27: Owner of a lonely heart
Sarah followed Dean to his room, but he shut the door in her face, not on purpose. Anger fueled him and once the door was shut, he took a moment to lash out on the closest wall, punching it with his fist, cutting himself in the process. He has been so enveloped in his rage he didn't even know she followed him until he heard her on the other side of his door. "Dean?" She sounded, gently rapping at his door.
"I just... I just need a moment." Dean replied. Dean, the big hunter, the hero of God's great story, ran into his room like a scared child, hiding from the fact that he is useless.
"We... We will find him. We just need to try harder..." Sarah's reassurances came from the hallway and for a moment he just wished she would go away. Why was she even here, why was she helping him? He kept telling himself he was bringing her to the bunker to keep her safe, but she didn't need his protection, she didn't need him. He needed her. And it easy fair. It wasn't fair on her, none of this was. He opened his mouth to say something, maybe sorry, maybe goodbye, maybe I need you, but he never got the chance.
"Ok, how about this? I will go and make some late lunch since you skipped breakfast and once we eat we could hit the books and try to find another way to... Find them, ok?" Sarah asked and waited for an answer that never came. After a few minutes she said "Ok, I'm gonna go make that lunch." and then she left.
Dean breathed in and out trying hard to calm himself and reel that anger back in. Looking down on his bleeding knuckle, he clenched his jaw and pressed his lips into a thin line. He hated this. He hated that he couldn't find his brother, that he couldn't help him. He hated that when Sarah sees him, she is going to see that hand and worry over something that isn't important. He isn't important. Sam is. Sam is still missing, he is still out there alone and...
Suddenly Dean's eyes widened and Sarah's words from merely a few minutes ago echoed in his head. "...try to find another way to... Find them..." Of course. Sam wasn't alone. He was with that woman, Julia, the one that disappeared at the same time he did. Dean didn't have a clue as to why someone would take her, maybe it was part of a greater plan, maybe she was just at the wrong place at the wrong time, but that didn't matter now. No, what matter was that she was a lead he shouldn't have overlooked.
"Hola?" Said the voice on the other side of the line.
"Pablo?" Dean spoke into his phone.
"Who are you and how did you get this number?" The Hispanic voice of Pablo asked with wariness and alarm.
"It's... It's Dean, Sarah's friend. We met over the bike..." Dean tried to explain but was cut off.
"You! What do you want?! You are nothing but trouble, hombre! La policía came to ask questions about the motor..."
"Please tell me you still have it?" Dean cut off Pablo's rants, hoping the mechanic didn't chop it down for parts. It was a long pause before Pablo answered.
"And what if I do?" Pablo might have been Sarah's friend, but he was also a business man.
"I'll give 500 bucks to save it and another 1000 to holler it to Lebanon, Kansas." Dean set down an offer. He knew Pablo could get more just on the parts, never mind the engine, but he hoped that Pablo's soft spot for Sarah might influence his decision.
There was another long pause before Pablo sighed and then finally gave an answer. "Fine! But just because of Sarah. You better take good care of that girl, cabrón, otherwise..."
"I will." Dean promised, not wanting to lie, but it was a lie. He wanted to take care of her, he wanted to be the one to keep her safe and sound, but considering recent events, he wasn't equipped to do that, not the least. In fact, Sarah would be better off without him.
Shoving his feelings aside, Dean hung up the phone when Pablo told him the bike could be there in the morning and started out of his room.
He found Sarah in the kitchen, and stopped at the doorway just to watch her with wonder. She was there a day and already she managed to familiarize herself with the entire kitchen, swaying back and forth to some cheery music. No, not just any music, not just any song. It was Rick Astley's "Never gonna give you up" and it made Dean mentally shiver remembering how he couldn't get the damn thing out of his head for weeks when he first heard it.
He batted the song out of his head and instead chose to focus on Sarah, as her actions and movements brought a smile to his face. She was just moving around so gracefully, frying something and at the same time checking another pot, all the while slowly moving to the rhythm of the song, her hips swaying, her long legs straightening and bending at the knee. Her shoulders moving up and down and her... That's when he noticed it. The shirt, the jeans... those were the same she wore back at the hospital. Those were the only items of clothing she had left, if he didn't count the AC/DC shirt he gave her.
"Hey... I was just making some tomato soup and fritters with zucchini... It was all I could find... But don't worry, you won't taste the zucchini at all." Sarah brought him out of his thoughts when she spotted him standing by the door, watching her. "Should be done in a half an hour."She added as she turned back to the stove. Sarah sensed the change in Dean, that the anger softened down and she was picking up curiosity and some warm and fuzzy feeling she did not want to identify. Yet.
"Good, great. So listen, I was thinking about what you said..." Dean started and smiled when Sarah turned her attention to him once more. "You said we would find them. And I remembered Sam might not be alone in this, so it would be a bad idea to exclude the woman that was taken with him..." As he spoke he could see Sarah's eye light up with intrigue and he could tell she was glad he had a lead. "So, I called Pablo and asked him to holler the bike here. I could use some stuff from it to try a locating spell for this... Julia. He said the bike would be here by morning." Dean informed and peeked around Sarah at the boiling pot that threatened to spill.
"Oh, sshhhhh...oot..." Sarah said turning her attention back on the stove and Dean smiled, figuring that's not at all what she was gonna say. He watched as Sarah turned the heat down and turned back to him with a oops smile that was just so adorable on her.
"OK, so you said an hour, right? That should give me time to go on a supply-run, there are some things I need and... Do you need anything?" He asked.
"No, nothing, thanks... Well, actually, you're all out of milk. And eggs." She replied smiling. She did need a few things, it was true, but it could wait. Helping Dean out was a priority for her now and that meant helping him find Sam. She would think about herself later.
"Ok, be back in an hour." Dean replied and watched her turn back to the stove, picking up a mixing spoon and tasting the tomato soup. He couldn't help his eyes that decided to linger on her form, some strange longing flashing in his eyes. There was just something about that girl that made his heart skip a beat any time she looked at him, something that made his heart swell watching her move and do regular things.
But Sam was priority.
Sarah went back to cooking, humming to the song on the radio. She picked out some of the fritters out of the pan and put on another batch, swaying to the sounds of her favorite songs. Next came the song "Owner of a lonely heart" by Yes and she couldn't help think of Dean. From what she could see, all Dean is, is Sam. It almost feels like if there wasn't Sam, there wouldn't be Dean.
But no matter how much of himself he gave to his brother, he will always be lonely.
Not because Sam doesn't love him, or care about him. No, it is because Dean just keeps giving and giving and not taking a single thing for himself, not allowing himself to feel the love and care of others, and at the end, he is left empty and alone. Dean really needs to start thinking more about Dean.
Still, Sarah knew that can't happen now, not while Sam is missing. So in order to save Dean, to save that little scared boy inside of him, she needs to help him save Sam first.
Figuring that out, Sarah tried to refocus on the song as she steered the boiling pot, adding some pepper and a mixture of spices. She couldn't help but be reminded of her childhood, of how she once ran away and ended up in the city of Angels, wondering it's streets alone. That was when Uncle Dom found her. His 70's Dodge Charger almost hit her while racing, and he almost lost the race because of her.
But it wasn't the races she remembered, no, it was how he took her in and helped her by finding Doc. It was the long nights that they ordered pizza and played video games. Uncle Dom liked to play football, but Sarah was mostly interested in, and Dom found it hilariously ironic, GTA Vice City. *
It was a racing, steel money, beat people up and accept missions kind of video game. And every time the character would steel a car, you could change the radio station from Rock and Heavy Metal to Soft Pop and Latin Jazz. There was even a station that had Politics talk 24/7 and nothing else. But there are a few songs that stuck out to Sarah, one she memorized and every time she heard them, it would remind her of her time with uncle Dom. Like this song "Owner of a lonely heart."
Strangely enough, as if the radio station she was listening to knew where her mind was going, the next song played was one of the GTA's too - Laura Branigan - "Self Control", and then the next one too - Michael Jackson - "Billie Jean". It kept the smile on her face as she listened and swayed to the songs, finishing up the late lunch. All the memories she had of her time with Dom, him teaching her how to drive and how to drive really good, it all floated around in her mind, a few of the happy memories she had in her life. But soon her thoughts drifted to Dean, starting from their escape from the warehouse and how she drove them out of there to their arrival to the bunker.
Then the next song started and she huffed another smile listening to how video killed the radio star. It was a song about new technology and about the new times, and Sarah just had to smile at the irony of her current location, deep inside a World War II bunker where she was surrounded by old machines. She hummed at first and then actually started singing, looking around for the plates. Dean would be back soon, and the lunch was finished and ready to be served and "Video killed the radio star...Video killed the radio star... In my mind and in my car... We can't rewind we've gone too far... Oh, a, a, a, oh... Oh, a, a, a, oh... Video killed the radio star..."
And slowly her smile faded into a serious face with a slight frown as she kept repeating the lyrics, every time she repeated it, she cut off a part of the sentence until she was left repeating one word. "Killed the radio star... The radio star... The radio..." She didn't even notice when she walked out of the kitchen, she just found herself standing in the War room, in front of the desk-like machine that was the first thing that came into view when a person comes down the stairs. It had a lot of lights and switches and knobs and a speaker, it could have served as a radio. Sarah just stood in front of it, watching it, thinking, wondering... Just when she reached with her hand and came so close to making contact with it, the screech of the old door startled her, and she whipped around to the source of the sound only to find Dean at the top of the staircase.
Instantly, a strange, fluffy feeling washed over her, the machine behind her completely forgotten, and a wide smile that caressed her face mirrored the one Dean was sporting as he saw her from the balcony. He skipped down the stairs carrying some grocery bags, along with a few paper hand bags in his hand. "Hey... OK, so I got milk and eggs and flour and a bunch of other stuff... Pie, of course..."
"Mustn't forget pie..." Sarah teased, but Dean didn't mind.
"Toilet paper... We needed more..." Dean said shyly and then quickly continued " Yeah, I got, beer and orange juice and yeah..." He bit his lip. It was a bit clear that he was stalling, but Sarah didn't know why. Her questioning gaze met his emerald green eyes and after a few seconds, he finally surrendered huffing a breath and reached for the hand bags. "I... I got you something too... I hope you don't mind, I..." Whatever he was trying to say got stuck in his throat as he watched Sarah reach into one of the hand bags and pull out a clothing item.
"Oh...wow..." That reaction didn't really say anything to Dean about whether she liked or disliked the cute summer dress, the color of peach. The dress she pulled out amongst other clothing didn't have flowers on it, but rather flower petals of a bleak yellow color. A wide smile very slowly formed on Sarah's face as she held the dress up, looking at it with eyes filled with wonder. And when those eyes slipped back on to Dean he sucked in a breath, feeling that smile warm his heart instantly.
"Thank you... Than you... I... " She started, her eyes slipping back on the dress and she kept talking. " I love it... And it's my favorite color too... Peach... And these... These are like... Like pineapple. Peach and pineapple... Like a cobbler, peach cobbler... " The more she spoke, the less sense she made and Dean watched her confusingly as she kept the smile on her face, making it all that much more weird. "Ice - cream. We need ice-cream and... and whip cream and... and a cherry on the top. Yeah..." Dean watched, extremely confused as Sarah snapped out of it and just kept talking like nothing strange happened. "Hey, so the lunch... Well, make that dinner since it is almost 8 PM, but... Yeah, the meal is ready." She said never losing the smile.
Dean nodded and followed her to the kitchen, but mid way, Sarah stopped and turned to him just to say "Thank you. Really."
"All things considered, it was the least I could do." Dean replied with a soft smile.
Sarah's face covered in warmth and her eyes sparked as she looked at him, before she replied "Still. Thank you. "
12 hours later, around 8 AM
Sarah was walking back to her room, she and Dean just finished breakfast and Dean went ahead to meet Pablo's guy for Julia's bike. She was going to her room, to pick up a book she was reading last night, while waiting for Dean to return. She went past the same machine from the last night, went past it and then doubled back. Staring at it with wary and curious eyes, she held her breath as she reached for the big on switch.
Immediately, sounds of the static filled the room and she listened, frowning for a good minute or two, but nothing happened. Just as she was about to shut it down and go about her business, a voice broke through, just barely audible.
"...is DYE th... North... Does any... cop... one... there... This... three, North... Can... hear me?"
Sarah's eyes went wide and goosebumps ran throughout her system the more she listened.
"S...Sam?"
