Thanks so much for reading.

Getaway

Sam stretched his body along a suede brown couch. His head rested on one of its arms while his legs dangled over the other. He tried to focus on the small print words of the journal he attempted to read. It was falling apart by its leather binding. The pages were a tarnished dark color as if coffee accidentally were spilled on it. Perhaps it was age that'd blemished the book. There was no title on its cover or along its spine and it didn't dare mention an author or whom the book formerly belonged to. There was however, a scribe on the upper hand corner of the first page. Written with an ink quill, the message cautioned the reader.

Lucifer's Calvary. Fare with trepidation.

Sam tried to read the handwritten encyclopedia of Demons but his mind was stuck on one person. The line breaks diminished and nothing but black dizzied his vision as words began to overlap. He tossed the book on the wooden coffee table in front of him. Light reading wouldn't solve his restless mind. He fidgeted and thrashed about as his body attempted to find a position that was compatible with the sofa. "Where the hell are you Diem?"

She left to go to the store a little over – glancing over his shoulder, Sam read the time on a grandfather clock that ticked away in a corner – an hour and thirty minutes ago. Diem was punctual. When she gave a time of arrival, she always met it with minutes to spare. While he didn't want to worry about her being thirty minutes over her estimation, Sam's gut instinct made him a little on edge. Maybe it was just the eeriness of being alone in a house he wasn't familiar with.

Sam sighed. He could hear his brother laughing at him for worrying. If Dean were there he'd tell him to chill out. He'd say that women taking hours to shop was their favorite pastime and Sam would smirk at his brother's oblivious use of a pun. Good thing Dean wasn't there. That did ease Sam's mind a smidgen. For the next week it would be just him and Diem. No hunting, no petty arguments, no woes. Only relaxation and bliss.

"SAM!"

The scream ripping from outside made him jump to his feet. His heart leapt to his throat at the sudden jolt. It was Diem's voice calling for him and he heard her running across the unkempt lawn to get to him. She bursted through the door. "SAM!" she screamed once more, frantically twisting her head from side to side to find him.

"What's wrong?" he asked from the living room. He took a few cautionary steps towards her, praying that she wasn't hurt. He didn't see any visible scars but her eyes swallowed her face whole. She was panicking. "Please tell me you're okay."

She stood in the entrance way, pointing outside with her jaw slacked open. Sam waited as she tried to find the words to speak. She looked like she saw a ghost – which he wasn't that farfetched. She rubbed the side of her head probably because her mind was racing with thoughts. Once she figured out what she wanted to say her words came tumbling out so quickly that he almost couldn't decipher them.

"Dean found me at the store and I almost had to run him over to make an escape for it. He's following us so we have about twenty-two seconds to spare. We have to bail like right now. Do not pass go, do not collect two hundred dollars."

Sam always thought he was the calm, cool, and collected one between him and Diem. Hell, he thought he was the collected one no matter what hunter he got paired with, but he cracked just as much as Diem did if not worse. The chill that ran shook his body felt like a roll of thunder. His head buzzed the way it would after firing a rifle. With the name of his brother, fight or flight mode began to have a tug of war over Sam's next few actions. He could be a sitting duck and wait to be caught, or-

"Helllllooooo!" Diem's voice stretched across the yards separating them. Sam left his head and settled back into the moment. "Maybe you didn't understand me the first time, but time is of the essence."

Flight won.

"Alright let's leave."

She nodded outside like she knew what his reaction would be before she even pulled into the driveway. "Car's already started." She took off and it didn't take much for Sam to catch up. She was a sloth in speed compared to him. He hopped in the driver's seat. The slam of his door was followed by hers. Sam put the car in reverse and began backing out the driveway. He was almost free.

The screech of a car driving over the speed limit forced Sam to smash his foot on the brakes. Their bodies jerked forward from the sudden halt and the Impala was now unable to leave the driveway. A rusted red pickup truck blocked the exit.

Diem looked in the rearview mirror. Her dark brown eyes squeezed shut when she saw the car. "Nooo," she groaned. She looked over her shoulder then slammed her head against the headrest. "Let's tweak the plan. Drive on the grass and punch it."

Sam was stuck, his body as stiff as a cadaver. He wanted to listen to Diem, but the angry ramblings of his older brother caught his ear and drowned out her pleas. Pair that with the sight of Dean yanking himself from his car and marching up the driveway, that scared Sam more than the average hunt would've. He turned to Diem and said nothing. He could only look to her with remorse. She was a casualty too.

Her brows were furrowed and her words were sharp. "No Sam, we're still in this. There's still time. You just have to do what I say."

With a solemn shake of his head Sam hoped for the best and let the chips fall.

"Son-of-a-BITCH!" Dean caught him. Stomping along Diem's side of the car, he hunched his body until he was face level with the passenger window. His fuming exhale made the glass streak with condensation, his eyes were on fire with betrayal once he caught sight of the two lovebirds trying to make a getaway. Sam sunk a little lower into the front seat with shame. Diem took the drawstrings of her sweatshirt and pulled them tightly, hiding her face beneath its hood to avoid eye contact. This was going to be bad.

"Don't play coy now, Sam, man up. Where's those set of balls you had when you pulled this charade? You look like a damn dog with its tail tucked between its legs." Dean paced back and forth in front of the car, peering into the windshield. He was always great at berating Sam and an expert at making him feel so small. It was the same way John treated the both of them. "Do you how stupid you are for thinking I wouldn't find you. This is my goddamn car, Einstein, I always know where it's at."

"Geez monetti," Diem wheezed out her statement as low as she could. "He is really overreacting right now."

"This isn't even the worst part. Don't say anything or it'll make him more angry. Let him have his moment."

"Did you hear him call you a dog? If anyone's acting like a dog it's him. Cujo needs to respect my house and my neighbors, because everyone on this street is nosy. They're watching this with a bag of popcorn right now. If your brother can't control himself they'll call the cops."

Slamming his hand on the hood of his car, Dean regained all attention back to him. "You think this is funny? I can imagine the good ol' chuckles you two must've had at my expense. You don't touch my car, Sam, and you sure as hell don't let strangers behind the wheel. She could've stolen it! What if she wrecked my baby?" He turned from Sam to Diem. His stare lingered on her for a brief moment and his eyes softened. With the drop of his chin, he lowered his head and squeezed the nape of his neck. John always told them to respect the presence of a woman. Sam watched as Dean realized who he was in the company of and the impression he was giving off.

"You!" Dean bit back through clenched teeth, reeling in his emotions. "I want to talk to you. Can you step out my car?" Huffing a bit, he adding a forced, "please," to the end of his sentence.

"Crap," she said. "What do I do?"

If she got out of the car Sam wouldn't be able to control the situation and he wasn't sure how Dean meeting a girl like Diem would transpire. It was the whole reason why he kept the two away for so long. He hadn't even mentioned his relationship with Diem to his brother and he'd known her for years.

"I'm getting out of the car, Sam," she said as she unfastened her seatbelt. Sam reached out for her but it was too late. She was already gone. "I think I can fix this."

Closing the door, she edged over to Dean, careful not to make any sudden movements. She wore a gentle smile on her face to ease any tension. Dean lowered his eyes and took her into his senses. It was a move that made Sam want to put a stop to whatever plan she had at the moment. Sam didn't want them anywhere near each other. He didn't want them to talk, he didn't want them to be friends, he didn't want them to have a relationship of any variation.

Sam wasn't gonna let this happen. "Dean-"

"Not talking to you right now." Dean pointed a cautionary finger at Sam but kept his eyes fixated on Diem. "I can't seem to talk to my brother here so maybe you can help. Tell me what's going on."

"A few nights ago I called your brother to help me on a case," she replied. Her lie was effortless and believable. The truth was that he called her, wanting to get away for a week. "There were some vampires around here and I didn't want to go at them alone. Their necks are supposed to be on the chopping block not mine."

"You're a hunter?" Dean scoffed as if it were unbelievable. Sam would later apologize to her for his rudeness. "Why couldn't your partner help you?"

Sam cringed at the question. Diem's partner, Trent, was killed years ago. She said it wouldn't be the same having someone else try to fill his shoes and decided to remain solo.

Dean's question didn't sway her emotions. She handled him with ease. "I haven't had a partner in a while. Let's just say I don't like sharing my radio when I'm driving."

Diem remembered Sam telling her how much of a control freak Dean was with the tunes he played on the open road. This was her making a connection with him and ease whatever apprehensions he had of her. Sam smiled.

"It's driver's choice. Everyone knows that," he said. "Just like everyone knows how hunting alone is a rookie mistake. Get yourself a partner so next time you won't highjack mine."

"It's sweet of you to care, but I know what I'm doing."

"If all this runs true, if you needed help with a case and Sam was the one you turned to then why didn't he tell me that? Why would he go out of his way and make up some hooplah about needing a vacation?"

"Would you have believed him even if he had told you the truth? You were going to chase him down no matter what because as soon as he touched your car it became a matter of pride."

Dean kept quiet for the next few seconds. He clenched his jaw before his lips pursed. Diem put him in checkmate. "You threw a pineapple at me and tried to run me over." Sam contained his laugh. His brother's only option was to switch subjects because telling someone they were right was a rarity from him.

"I freaked out when I saw you, it wasn't one of my best moments," Diem smiled. "As an apology why don't you come inside my house and I'll get you a beer."

"You live here?"

"A girl's gotta have a place to call her own. It even has central air. I'll show you it."

Sam took in Diem's house. It was small and looked identical to every other home on the street. Brown brick, one floor, and as plain as a bagel. She chose to add her own flair with ugly garden gnomes and even a kiddie pool sat on the lawn. Sam was happy for her. When she gave him a tour of her home she couldn't contain her enthusiasm. She said that she'd be damned if she wasn't gonna get her white picket fence someday.

"Instead of you getting me a beer," Dean said with a hint of smirk. Where had his anger gone? "How about I buy you one instead."

Diem took a step back. "What?"

Sam didn't understand either. "Huh?"

The glance Dean gave him was so quick that Sam almost didn't catch it. Diem damn sure didn't see it, she was too busy processing the request. But there was devilish gleam in Dean's eye when he looked towards him and it was sickening. "Have a drink with me."