Chapter 20
Wherever I Go
(Season 1, Episode 9 - Home)
"All right. I've been cruising some websites. Think I found a few candidates for our next gig." Dean sat by the window of the motel room with a laptop open. His eyes were glued to the screen as he scrolled through endless articles. He slowly sipped his coffee and started reading off his findings to Sam, who sat on the bed, doodling a tree on a notepad found on the desk in their room. "Fishing trawler found off the coast of Cali. It's crew vanished. We got some cattle mutilations in west Texas." Noticing his brother wasn't paying attention, Dean called to him. "Hey! Am I boring you with this hunting-evil stuff?"
Sam shook his head. "No, I'm listening. Keep Going." He turned his eyes back to his notepad.
Dean tapped his pen against the table, trying not to get angry. "And here a Sacramento man shot himself in the head... Three times." He waved three fingers at Sam in order to emphasize the strangeness of that particular case, but still got no answer. "Any of these things blowing up your skirt, pal?"
The younger Winchester flipped the pages on his notepad and his shoulders dropped. "Wait, I've seen this."
Dean blinked. "Seen what?" Sam ignored this and marched over to his bag. "What are you doing?"
He pulled out their father's notebook and rummaged through the pockets in the front cover. It was full of phone numbers, letters, and old photos. Sam grabbed the one he was looking for, a photo of his mother, father, brother, and himself, and compared it to his drawing. "Dean, I know where we have to go next."
"Where?"
"Back home. Back to Kansas."
His brother scoffed. "Okay, random. Where'd that come from?"
Sam looked down at the floor, trying to collect his thoughts. "All right, um... This photo was taken in front of our old house, right? The house where mom died?"
Dean gulped at the mere mention of his mother. "Yeah."
"It didn't burn down completely. They rebuilt it, right?"
"I guess do, yeah. What the hell are you talking about?"
"Okay, look, this is gonna sound crazy, but the people who live in our old house, I think they might be in danger."
"Why would you think that?"
Sam's eyes darted from his brother to the wall. "Uh... just, um... Look, just... You got to trust me on this, okay?" He tried to run away before Dean could question him further, but Dean wasn't having it.
"Hey, whoa, whoa, whoa. Trust you? Come on, man. That's weak. You got to give me a little more than that."
Sam started to pack his bags. "I can't really explain it is all."
"Well, tough. I'm not going anywhere until you do. Going back home means having to explain everything to that girl in there and I don't want to do that unless I absolutely have to. So start talking." Dean pointed to the bathroom where Sarah was taking a well deserved long shower. She had woken up early in order to be the first inside and had missed this entire conversation. Dean wanted to keep her at arm's length when it came to their family, but going to the old house would change all of that.
The younger brother sighed heavily, knowing he couldn't avoid telling his brother, not anymore. "I have these nightmares."
Dean nodded. "I've noticed."
"And sometimes they come true."
Dean froze. "Come again?"
"Look, Dean... I dreamt about Jessica's death for days before it happened."
"People have weird dreams. I'm sure it's just a coincidence." Dean couldn't even convince himself on that one. He had to sit down after Sam's confession.
"No, I dreamt about the blood dripping, her on the ceiling, the fire, everything, and I didn't do anything 'cause I didn't believe it. And now I'm dreaming about that tree, about our house, and about some woman inside screaming for help. I mean, that's where it all started. This has to mean something, right?"
Dean tried to catch his breath. "I don't know."
"What do you mean you don't know, Dean? This woman might be in danger. This might even be the thing that killed mom and Jessica."
Dean stood up abruptly from his seat. This is too much. "All right, just slow down, would you? I mean, first you're telling me that you've got the shining... And then you tell me that I've got to go back home, especially when..." His eyes began to fill with tears, but he managed to hold them back.
"When what?"
"When I swore to myself that I would never go back there."
Sam took in his brother's oath for a second. "Look, Dean, we have to check this out. Just to make sure.
Dean looked back at his brother. "I know we do."
The door to the bathroom suddenly opened and steam erupted from the once running shower. Sarah was fully dressed in a black pair of pants and a blue plaid button down shirt with her boots and necklace already on. She was quickly running her hair through a towel to dry it. "Sorry, guys. That took a lot longer than I thought. There may or may not be any hot water left, so you might have to wait a few minutes before you hop in." Neither man spoke to her. Sarah quickly read the room, sensing some tension. "Is everything okay?"
Dean pointed to the door with his thumb. "Let's go for a walk."
Knowing this was serious, Sarah decided it best not to question. "Okay..." She was the first to the door and opened it slightly.
Sam started to walk with them, but Dean stopped him. "Sam, pack everything up. We won't be long."
Sarah's heart pounded in her chest. They're finally sick of me. They're going to ask me to leave. I know it. Hold yourself together. This is why you don't get attached to people. They just end up leaving. She started to run everything she might have done wrong through her head, but found it difficult to pinpoint any single one thing that would have caused this meeting between her and the oldest Winchester.
Dean walked alongside her, not really knowing how to start. The two walked in silence until they reached the end of the street. "Listen, Sarah... I know Sam and I haven't been totally honest with you about certain things... And this is just really hard-"
She couldn't take it anymore. "You know, if you're asking me to leave, you should have just done it at the motel. That way I could just grab my stuff and go without the awkward walk back."
His heart dropped. What could have possibly made her think that? "What? No, no, no, no, no, no, no. That's not... No. I don't want you to leave. I... uh... Damnit. Sam and I need to go home."
"I don't understand."
"It's... a long story."
Sarah gently placed her hand on his arm. "If you don't want to tell me, you don't have to."
"No. You need to know. When... When Sammy was a baby, there was a fire. Our dad grabbed him from his crib, handed him to me, and told me to go. He wanted to save our mom. She died in that fire. It's the whole reason we're hunters in the first place. He found her on the ceiling and was convinced that it had to be something... supernatural. He spent the better part of 22 years looking for it and dragging us along with him. A few years ago, Sam had enough and decided to go to college instead of carry on the family business. Man, that pissed off dad. Not too long before we met you, I went to Sam's and asked for his help in finding dad because he was hunting and I hadn't heard from him. Sam was the only one I could count on to help me. We looked for a couple days, but he had to get back. He had his own life, you know? He found his girlfriend, Jessica, the same way our dad found mom. I had to pull him out of there. There was no way we could save her. Ever since, we've been looking for him to try and get answers for what the hell this thing might be." Tears started to form in his eyes once again and he tried desperately to hold them back again. The last thing he wanted to do was cry in front of her. He never cries in front of anyone. I have to be strong.
Sarah gave him her full attention throughout his entire story and did not interrupt once. She felt the same pain that he did and knew exactly what he was going through. She didn't know the proper response, however, so she took a guess. Without hesitation, Sarah put her arms around his waist and pulled him into a tight hug. "I'm so sorry, Dean. I had no idea."
Thrown off by her action, Dean tensed up. "You're sorry?" He chuckled. "I should be the one that's sorry. I shouldn't have brought you along with us because of the family drama. This is our problem and I should have been straight with you from the beginning."
She pulled away, but didn't release him. "Why are you telling me now?"
"Because we need to go back to the house. Sam... uh... He told me that he has this... feeling that the family that lives there now is in danger."
Feeling massive concern, Sarah finally let go of Dean. "How could he possibly know that?"
Dean took a second. Do I tell her what Sam told me? I still don't know anything about her past. I just spilled everything about us. Should she know? "I'm not exactly sure to be honest. It doesn't make any sense, but it's important to him. We have to go. Listen, if you don't want to go, I get it. This isn't your problem. I can drop you off anywhere you want to go-"
"Did you really think you're going to scare me away that easily?"
"What?"
"Dean, I'm glad you told me why you're searching for your father. It's nice to understand you and Sam a little better. But, I'm not going anywhere. I've been fighting monsters my whole life. If I can help you put the monster that destroyed what you loved six feet under, then you can be damn sure that I'm going to be there. Even though this is kind of weird and I know you're not telling me everything, I'm going to the fight with you. I trust you. You're my friend."
He couldn't believe what he was hearing. I thought she would have taken off. Why is she staying? She could die. I can't ask her to do that, not that I am. I can't ask her to stay behind now. She's too stubborn. I would get hell for it.
"So, Winchester, when do we leave?"
He took a deep breath. "Hopefully as soon as we get back, but that depends on if Sammy packed everything up or not."
"He probably did. If this is as important as you say, I'm surprised I don't see him cruising the streets looking for us already."
Dean pulled the keys to the Impala from his pocket and dangled them in front of her face. "I got the keys. He's not touching my baby."
"Nobody touches your baby," Sarah joked.
"Damn right. See? You're learning."
"How could I not? That is you're one and only rule. That car is like your child and you would rather die than anyone go near it. It's weird, but I just go with it."
"You truly are my friend."
The pair laughed and traveled back to the motel. They didn't say much to each other during that short walk back, but that's the way they wanted it. Enough had been said and no more needed to be added. Dean still wanted to know more about her, but didn't want to push her. He somehow knew she would tell him when the time was right.
A/N: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I'm sorry I haven't posted for this story in a really long time. I love writing this one and hope to put up as much as I can. Please leave a review of what you thought of the chapter. I love you all and thank you! This chapter is named after Wherever I Go by OneRepublic.
