As Close as Family

Disclaimer: see chapter 1

Summary: see chapter 1

Warnings/Ratings: see chapter 1

Author's Note: My thanks as always to Rae Artemis who acted as beta/coach/advisor as needed.

Author's Note 2: Reviews continue to be welcomed.

Chapter 7 – Planning it out

'Okay, what do you want to know from the Pastor?' Sam's already picked up both cell phones.

'We need to know firstly how many girls there were, their names and where they are now and as near as he can the order they were rescued. After that, you need to tell him to get onto the families of all the girls and the hunters who found them. We need to make sure that any who haven't been found or taken yet are kept safe. Then we need to know any hunters who are near here and could get to us quickly to help us take this demon out and get the girls away. This is too big for just us.'

'I'll call Dad too.'

'Fine, for what it's worth, do it. Don't expect anything though; we've not had much luck getting any answers from him lately.' I wished it were different, I wished I could have enough faith in Dad that he would come for Suzi. I had always believed that we had saved her, that she was safe from this life in a way I'd never been able to do for Sam. But Dad… well, he didn't return calls when I was on my own, he didn't come for Sam when Jess died, he didn't come when we were in Lawrence. He didn't return Sam's call when I almost died. He just sends co-ordinates. If he wouldn't come for Sam and me, somehow, I couldn't believe that he would come for Suzi either.

'Dean…maybe this time… it's worth a try…'

'Yeah, you're right; it's worth a try… Go, Sam, we haven't got time to waste talking about whether he'll answer or not. There are too many girls' lives at stake here for us to debate.' If Sam could believe it, Sam who had never expected the best of Dad, the least I could do was agree with him. Sometimes, even though I have always followed his orders as if they are law, I doubt he's doing the right thing, I have only ever needed to look at Sam to know that sometimes Dad gets it wrong.

'Yeah right,' Sam walked outside with the phones.

I grabbed the map I'd picked up earlier from the motel office, showing the town and its immediate area. 'Where's the clearing?'

Suzi and I sat, poring over the map, marking the clearing, where the girls she knew about were living and making lists of who they were, who they were with and any other information she had managed to glean from the girls she had spoken to.

'There are some other girls, I know their names but I've never got to know much more than that, some of them seem to be really into it you know, so maybe they're not like, maybe they're here by choice…'

'Maybe… maybe not…' I'd got no idea, but I did know that people react differently to situations; maybe some of these girls hadn't been able to deal with what happened as well as our Suzi and so maybe they had gone back. If we'd got the choice I wanted to try and get them out but we'd have to see. Suzi and the girls who wanted out were the biggest priority. I wasn't willing to risk their safety for someone who was going to fight being rescued.

I looked down at the pages of notes I'd made as we talked, 'You've done well, Suzi Q.'

She nudged me in the ribs, gently with her elbow, 'You used to call me that.'

'And you used to hit me a whole lot harder when I did.'

'Yeah, funny that. I used to hate it, now I kind of like it when you do it. It brings back good memories.'

Sam came back in. 'I got through to Pastor Jim. He's emailing me all the details he can find. He's spoken to Bobby, who's only a few hours' drive from here, he's already set off but he's going to call you for directions when he gets a bit nearer. Caleb is too far away but called to say he was trying to get through to Jordan. He thinks he's nearer to us, but doesn't know what he's doing, whether he can get away.'

'Anyone else?'

'Pastor Jim's still trying. He said he'll get in touch if he gets anyone else, but not to hold out much hope, we're not exactly close to any known major action here. Just goes to show 'cos this seems fairly major to me but no-one seems to have picked up on it so far.'

'And Dad?'

'Nothing.'

'Thought not.'

'Dean, where's your Dad?'

'Hunting.'

'Hunting?'

'Yeah, we don't hear from him so much, now, unless he wants us to do something. Guess he figures we're old enough to manage without him. Okay, right Sam, we're going to need another car or preferably something bigger. We've got to get as many of these girls as we can and much as I love her, the Impala just isn't big enough.'

'Luke's got a suburban'

'I thought you said he was out of town?'

'He is but they went in Callan's truck.'

'Sounds good.'

'I could call Leanne; see if she could bring it down here.' Sam handed her his phone. She moved to the other side of the room to make the call and I started on filling Sam in on what I'd found so far and how I thought we could go.

As she hung up the phone, Suzi started, 'She says the truck's there but he took the keys with him. I said that wasn't a problem. I mean it isn't, is it? You still…'

'I do indeed, not so often now I've got the Impala, but it's like riding a bike, once learnt, you never forget how. Anyway, Sam knows too and he's done it more recently.'

'You! You always threatened to tell on Dean for doing it when he… When did you learn how?' she actually sounded really shocked.

'I know what I said, but he used to do it just because he was bored, or worse because you were bored, not because he needed to. I've only ever done it when I've really needed to.' Ever on the defensive was our Sam.

'Justifying something there Sam?'

'When did you learn then, Sam?' There is a glimmer of the old Suzi, in the curiosity that has been piqued by the knowledge of Sam's misdemeanours.

'Dean taught me about a year or so after we left you.'

'Why did you go through with it?'

'Another time, huh?' I just knew he'd want out of the conversation and there was no way I was going to let him off that easily.

'Oh no, Sam I like it when you tell this story. You go ahead. We can't do anything more until we hear from Bobby and Jordan. We should get comfortable, Suzi Q, it's a great story.' I settled back on the bed, leaning against the wall, leaving enough room for Suzi if she wanted.

She moved up next to me, saying 'Come on then Sam. Dish it.'

'I remember now why I used to hate you two so much when you were together.'

'We didn't need to be together, dude,' He smiled and acknowledged the truth in my comment. 'Brat!'

Sam's ever gracious in defeat, 'Yeah well. The story then. Dad was away, hunting as ever, and he'd left us in some motel. Dean was being a bitch as always and was hassling me about god knows what, so I said I was going for a run. I headed off into the woods and figured I'd just hang out you know. Anyway, I climbed this tree and just sat for a while. The next thing I know, Dean's tramping through the woods, shouting insults.'

'The next thing he knows… what he has not told you at this point babe, is the next thing was more than two hours later and I was well pissed. This is Sammy, we're talking about no way would he spend two hours running, I thought he'd got into some sort of trouble and couldn't get home.'

'Okay Dean, so I lost track of time a little,' Suzi and I both laughed at that description. 'Anyway, so he's calling me all these insults and I just saw red, so as he walked under the tree, I kind of dropped out of it to surprise him.'

'Landed on me and broke my arm is what he did. That's one hell of a surprise in my book.'

'Dean, you were always saying what a great hunter you were and how nothing could get the drop on you.'

'I wasn't hunting, dude. I was looking for my kid brother who I thought had maybe fallen and sprained his ankle and couldn't get home. Last time I checked the Big Brother guide to looking after pain-in-the-ass little brothers, they do not fall upwards into trees when injured. I had no reason to be looking upwards for you.'

'So the car?'

'Yeah, well he was bitching about how much his arm hurt and I had to get him to hospital.'

'Bitching? Dude, the bone came through!'

'Quit whining, Dean. So I knew I had to get him to the hospital. It was horrible and he was next to useless, could barely stand up and you know what he's like when he leans on you, dead weight! Anyway before I could take him to the hospital, we needed to go to the Motel first to pick up the ID that said he was old enough, that we didn't need Dad there, so I couldn't call an ambulance. So we were passing this car on our way back to the motel and I took it to get him there faster – he's such a wuss, he'd gone all green and pasty looking, I was seriously expecting him to pass out or something.'

'So you just took it, just like that?' she sounded incredulous.

'Not quite, he had to talk me through it. I played along, helped keep him focussed and stopped him just giving up.'

'See, it's a good story, but he always misses out the bit where he couldn't do it and despite my broken arm I had to help him out! We'd have been there all year if we'd left it all to our Sam. Anyway afterwards, I convinced him he needed to practise because we couldn't keep hanging around like that in times of emergency. What did he think he would do if he'd knocked me out rather than just broken my arm?'

'What did your Dad say?'

'Nothing, I told him I fell running, landing badly. He put me through weeks of torture once it was healed – how to fall without breaking anything important. Can you believe it? The things I've done for you, bro.'

'Yeah, thanks for that one.' Sam smirked at that.

'You owe me.'

'I owe you for more than just that Dean, if you're really counting and some things I owe you for aren't pleasant.'

'The Nair.' She sounded smug as she said that.

'You know about that?' Poor old Sammy always did assume that I wouldn't have told anyone.

'Dean wrote me.'

'Dean you're a real bitch! You know that.'

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