Chapter 11

Sam rubbed at his eyes as he walked into the dorm building, feeling more drained than usual.

Dr. Weather's had changed his mind on what he wanted him to research halfway through the job and he'd been forced to start from scratch, eight hours or more of accumulated effort flushed down the drain. He didn't mind the work, but at times it was tedious as all get out. It also wasn't helping that he was being used as some kind of bragging rights to some of the other professors working on their own projects and struggling to meet their deadlines as well. He'd never dreamed that a bunch of learned people like this could be so childish and backstabbing.

At least all his scholarships were now in place and active. As soon as Dr. Weathers finished this project, Sam wanted out. He now had the cash, and it was only right he spent his time on what he'd come here for in the first place – to go to school, study hard, and get a degree. He just wasn't all that sure Weathers or Forest would let him go that easily. He supposed if worse came to worse, he could start doing a crappy job and then they'd let him go. He didn't want it to come to that though. Just thinking about it left a sour taste in his mouth.

He climbed the stairs, and hoped his roommates might be out. They got along well enough, he supposed, though Mitch had never warmed up to him. Brian was easier to deal with, but he tended to follow Mitch's lead in just about everything, so he was pretty much a dead end as far as forming a decent friendship was concerned. Last thing Sam wanted right now was one of Mitch's highbrowed looks. What he really wanted was to crash and let his eyes recuperate from pouring through all the yellowing paper in archives.

He reached for the knob and heard voices trickle from inside. Trying not to sigh, he opened the door. He found a lot more than he bargained for in there. Not only were his two roommates in, so were three others. They were sitting on the beds, chairs, and boxes and pretty much filled the place to capacity. Most had cards in their hands and beer bottles at their sides. A decent sized pile of cash sat in the middle.

"We didn't expect you for another hour, roomie." Mitch's voice was pleasant, but the glare he sent his way wasn't. "You don't mind getting lost for awhile so we can finish up, right?"

Sam gave in and sighed. He wondered if he should ask to play, just so he could strip them all of their cash and snide smiles. He wouldn't do it and he knew it, though he could. It was one of the ways the family had of making some quick cash. He just didn't enjoy it. Dean, however, would have been all over it. "Fine. I'll come back later."

"That's a good sport!" Mitch raised his beer bottle in his direction then totally ignored him.

Sam rolled his eyes and closed the door. Guess sleep would have to wait. He was halfway down the hall when the door opened and Brian rushed out into the hall.

"Hey, Sam! Hold up a sec!"

He stopped, surprised, but didn't dare get his hopes up this was something nice. More than likely it was just to tell him to stay gone for two hours instead of one. "Yeah?"

Brian came to a stop before him. "You got a package. I thought you might want it." He handed it over. "I am sorry about this, man. I'll try to get them out on time."

Sam half smiled, more pleased by the gesture than he could say. "Thanks. I'd appreciate it."

"No sweat. See ya in a bit."

Sam watched him go thinking maybe things were getting better. Hell, they had to. This had to all be worth it somehow.

Turning away, he looked down at the package in his hands. For him to get mail was unusual and normally connected to school somehow. So getting a package was definitely a surprise. He was even more surprised when he saw from whom and where it came from.

Feeling an unexpected spurt of energy, Sam hurried down the stairs into the dorm's common area so he could grab a seat. He put his backpack down and sat, settling the package on his lap. He stared at it, elated and frightened at the same time. This had come from Dean.

Taking a deep breath, Sam opened the box. Inside was a three by five card, with something else underneath. His throat tightened and his gaze grew blurry as he read what was on the card.

Consider this an early Christmas present,

cause I'm really getting tired of those postcards.

CALL ME!

The Best Brother Ever:

Dean

Sam moved the card to the side to see what was underneath. It was a cell phone box, one for an SCP-4900. When he opened the box, he found that the phone was active and still had power. There was a yellow stickie over the face – 'CALL ME! I mean it!' Flipping through the instruction book, Sam found the internal phone book and saw there were several entries already there. One said Dean, another Dad, then House, and Jim.

His eyes burned.

He pressed the button for Dean then raised the phone to his ear, barely daring to breathe.

It rang a couple of times then his brother's voice poured out of the earpiece. "Sammy! You called!"

Sam's heart skipped a beat. It was Dean, it was really him. He couldn't help the grin that suddenly tugged at the side of his face. "Like I had a choice."

"Darn tootin'! And that there is the newest, geekiest thing they had, too. So you better like it."

"It's, it's great, really. Thanks." He rubbed at his eyes, hot tears gathering there. Damn it was good to hear his brother's voice, to talk to someone who actually cared if he were alive. For a long moment he was overcome by such a large wave of relief and happiness, he almost drowned in it.

"You surviving okay out there in Califor-ni-aia? Settled in and everything?"

God, how he'd even missed his brother's lousy sense of humor. "Yeah. I have a dorm room on campus and two roommates."

"The two of them ubber geeks too?"

Sam could hear the hungry interest in his brother's voice. Was Dean missing him desperately, too? "No, not exactly…"

"Oh?"

The open question with the hint of possible worry almost made Sam double over, his eyes threatening tears again. He took several deep breaths trying to regain control. It almost felt as if he'd been dying of thirst and only now realized it as a cup of ice-cold water was placed before him.

With this cell phone he could bare his soul again. He could tell Dean of his troubles and successes just as he'd done at home. His brother's advice wasn't always the most sound, but it would feel glorious to be able to talk to someone, to expose his wounds if he needed it. To be himself. To be accepted for whom he was.

Sam opened his mouth ready to let all the frustration, hope, and everything else he'd been through over the last five months pour from his lips. Yet before the first word left him, he snapped his jaws closed.

"Sam?"

He wanted to confide in Dean, wanted desperately to tell him everything. But wasn't that what he'd always done before? How would this prove to himself or anyone else he could do things on his own, that he could survive out here? If he told Dean the truth, chances were he'd drive like a bat out of hell to get out here and try to beat some sense into Mitch or anyone else he felt wasn't treating him right. And that wasn't how the real world worked. You couldn't just let your older brother fix things, no matter how well intentioned. Sam had to learn to do these things for himself, to fight his own battles. He was eighteen, an adult now -- not a little kid. Everything he went through and survived would only make him stronger. He had to deal with things alone.

"Sammy?" The worry was definitely there, maybe even an underlying touch of panic. Though he felt bad for putting it there, it still made him feel better.

"Oh, sorry. Got distracted." He was amazed at how calm and normal he sounded. "They're business majors, Mitch and Brian. Pretty nice guys." One of them anyway…maybe. It felt awkward lying to his brother. He was going through another door he'd always thought would stay closed. He wasn't proud of it, but it couldn't be helped. "The room is small, but not bad. I didn't have any roommates over the summer, so it feels a little cramped now."

Dean laughed. "Yeah like some of the places we've lived in didn't feel like a sardine can." He heard his brother's voice relax. Sam felt relieved and guilty at the same time.

"They have several libraries on campus. They're utterly awesome." This was the unmitigated truth. The facilities at Stanford were everything he'd hoped for and more. "I've even been helping do some background research work for one of the professors on a grant here. He changes his mind a lot, which is a pain, but it's given me access to some of the more restricted stacks, and that's been great."

"Ahhh, book geek talk! My poor ears. Ahhhh!"

Sam half smiled, hearing the amusement in Dean's voice. If he could just stay away from sore subjects on this end, he'd be able to pull this off. For it truly was wonderful to hear his brother's voice again. Like salve for his soul.