It had never occurred to Sam to look at the news this morning, which was completely out of character for him, but could be forgiven since he had been a little distracted. So when he saw the stares at the McDonald's, he didn't think too much about it. After all, it was the middle of the day and most dads were at work, not playing with kids in the Playground of the neighborhood MickeyD's. God how he wished it had been just that. Now though, he had a scared little girl in his arms, a frantic Bobby on the phone, and the FBI breathing down his neck. Yeah, the day could have gone a little better.
"Daddy, we go to zoo now?" Dee asked, looking at her Daddy with wide eyes.
Sam had known that was coming, he had hoped to postpone it to another day, only because he was still getting used to this new side of him and didn't want to ruin it for her. "I'm not sure Dee, I tell you what, let's get some ice cream and…"
"FBI FREEZE! DOWN ON THE GROUND WINCHESTER!"
Standing as still as he could, Sam managed to pull Dee closer to him with one arm and hold up his other to show he wasn't a threat. Confused about what had just happened, he was about to ask one of the many agents surrounding him when he suddenly felt Dee being ripped away from him. "HEY! Bring her back!" Sam yelled, and moved towards the agent that had taken her away from him. It wasn't until he heard the voice behind him that he knew he was thoroughly screwed.
"Well, I must say, I really didn't think I'd be able to add kidnapping to your list of charges Sammy, but then again, you always like to follow that psychotic brother of yours don't you?" Hendrickson asked as he walked up, ignoring Dee's screams in the background.
"Damn it, you're scaring her! Leave her alone, she's just a baby!" Sam yelled, pulling away from the agents who had already grabbed his arms and held him back.
Smirking, Hendrickson looked at Sam, "Right, and suddenly you're what… father of the year? Give me a break, more like following in your crazy daddy's footsteps!"
"DADDY! LET ME GO! DADDY!" Dee screamed, as she kicked and squirmed trying to get out away from the man holding her. Finally she had enough and bit down on the man's arm before she turned and kicked him in the shin as she head butted the man's groin. "My Daddy a good daddy!"
Sam watched as Dee started to run towards him, only to be snatched not too gently by the arm and yanked backwards sending the little girl off her feet and Sam into a rage.
Before Hendrickson knew what happened, Sam had pulled away from one agent punching another in the face hard enough to send him to his knees. Before the others could do anything, Sam had grabbed the first one in a headlock and unarmed the man. "Dee, come on sweetheart, we need to go now." Sam said calmly, all the while watching the other agents for any movement. When he noticed Dee not moving, he tried again. "Come on baby, it's time to go."
When Dee ran forward she made sure to stay away from the other agents, but not fully looking at Sam either which made him feel as if he'd been kicked in the gut. As he backed away towards the Impala, he heard Hendrickson mocking him.
"There's no where to go Sam. I don't know how you and your brother escaped last time, but I'm not going to let it happen again. Speaking of which, where is good old Dean? Did you and he have a little spat? Maybe you two didn't agree with what to do with the girl. Come on Sam, turn yourself in, we'll return her to her parents… it'll be better than being chased all over the place."
Sam could hear the man, he could see what he was doing, and it pissed him off more now than the last time they met. Having already put a gun to an agent's head, he wasn't just an accessory anymore, and there was no way he was going to let them take Dee away – none. "Dee, baby, can you get in the car and sit in your seat for Daddy?" he asked, he knew she was three, but that didn't make her helpless; she already proved that with the same moves Dean taught him when he was small.
Dragging the agent backwards with them, he looked straight at Hendrickson before saying, "I'm not letting you take my little girl from me… she's all I have left. So, here's how we're going to do this. We're getting in the car, with your agent, and we're leaving. I'm not stupid Hendrickson… I know that no matter what you say, you'll follow. I'll release your man as soon as I know she's safe."
"Man, you must think I'm as crazy as you are if you think I'm going to allow that. I'll tell you what's going to happen. My guys will shoot your ass in front of the little girl if necessary and she can spend the rest of her life in therapy for all I care. Now, put the gun away!"
"Open the door." Sam commanded the agent and was pleasantly surprised when the man did as he wanted. "Dee, get inside your seat." When he was satisfied that she did as she was told, he backed into the car, dragging the agent with him. Still holding the gun firmly to the man's head, Sam spoke directly to him. "I don't want to hurt you. I want out of here, preferably in one piece. If you do that, I'll let you go on the side of the road unharmed. If not, I won't hesitate to put a bullet in your brain so deep…"
"I understand, you want out, and I'm your ticket. You know though that I'll have to try and find a way out of this; I can't just let you go free." The man said calmly while Sam used one hand to start the car.
"Yeah, and I'm sure you understand that I'm screwed no matter what I do. So, get us out of here."
The agent looked at Hendrickson and knew that his supervisor was pissed, but he had a six month old baby at home, and he knew that if someone tried to take him away, he'd be a little on the crazed side too. "Yeah, I get that. I'm only promising breathing room… other than that, you're on your own."
He wasn't stupid, he knew that the agent had signaled something to Hendrickson, just by the slight change of expression on the other man's face, but that wasn't his number one concern at the moment. Right now he had to get Dee out of there – one way or another.
After smashing through a couple of fences to avoid being blocked into the parking lot, they had rushed down a street, with a full police escort in their wake. It was obvious that they thought they were dealing with a mentally unstable man, and he wondered if that had been part of Dean's plan, make him look completely dependent on him so it would be easier to claim that he had been coerced into helping. Shaking his thoughts away, he somehow managed to keep the gun at the man's head while at the same time buckle the car seat and make sure Dee was alright.
"Dee, how are you?" Sam asked, trying to get her to say something… anything; she was too quiet.
Finally in between her hiccups, she asked, "Daddy, why bad man mad at you?"
Groaning, he could only answer, "It's a very long story sweetheart, and it starts with a huge misunderstanding."
The agent that was driving introduced himself as Mickey Tuttle; he was married, with a baby at home. After all, that's what agents being held hostage is supposed to do, find ways to relate to the kidnapper. Sam had about enough of the man when they noticed the car behind them, and although the agent had kept talking as if they were best buddies, Sam had no idea what the other agents were going to do. Finally something clicked, and he suddenly knew what was going on. They had hoped to get him on the highway and try to force him off the road or to stop. Trying it in neighborhoods is risky, but on open road is a lot more manageable.
Looking over at Dee, Sam saw that she was shocked about what was going on and the only thing that he could think of was to give her the stuffed hound she loved so much that morning. Seeing that she was clutching it as if it was the only thing that could help, Sam knew that he had to do something. Looking at the agent, then back at the road, he had an idea. He just hoped that he could fix the Impala before Dean came back.
Agent Tuttle had been talking almost non stop for the last forty five minutes. He knew that just driving around wasn't going to help, but he hadn't been able to get into a position to take the guy down with less trauma to the girl. He was closing in on the outskirts of town now, again, and he hoped that this Sam guy hadn't caught on yet. The roads become more dangerous, and it was the main reason there was hardly anyone out of the city limits anymore; too much death and destruction by the roadside. He was just about to check for a turn when he heard the other man yell for the girl to hang on, and then everything lit up before he felt himself tumbling around.
Sam had noticed that the agent had been doubling back for awhile, but he had allowed it, just so they could get a little further out without getting lost in the process. Seeing his chance, he yelled to Dee to hang on before he grabbed the wheel with one hand and elbowed the agent with his other arm. Opening the door, he pushed the agent out of the moving car, trying to ignore Dee's terrified screams. Once he was satisfied that he hadn't run the man over, Sam pushed the accelerator down further, and crashed through a barbed wire fence to cross a pasture in the hopes of losing the other agents.
"We managed to get away Bobby, but we need a place to stay and I hate to ask, but…"
"Don't worry about it. The main thing is that you two get over to my place. Now, where are you?" Bobby asked, wondering if he had enough time to get back home and make sure Ellen hadn't completely taken over yet.
"At the moment Bobby, we're in Virginia. I don't dare go a direct route and we need to find another ride, so it's going to take us awhile."
Sam heard Bobby's snicker in surprise. "Right, I can just see you and Dean pulling up in something else."
"Bobby, uh, Dean doesn't have much say so at the moment. Look, you'll see what I mean when we get there, but right now I need to find a place to stash the car and get a new one, then we'll be on our way."
Bobby didn't like the sound of that, but decided it was best to leave it alone for now. "Alright, but you had better be able to explain what's going on a whole hell of a lot better when you get here."
Hanging up, Sam smiled, he knew that Bobby cared, but he had no idea how he was going to explain that the only reason why Hendrickson was in the area was because someone fitting Dean's general description had been carjacking young mother's and after dumping them, would then take the car across the state line to dispose of it. That was it; a general description had the FBI back on their asses, and a terrified little girl in his lap.
Sighing, he knew he would never be able to get the questions she kept asking out of his head. 'You not bad guy, righ' Daddy?... why they want me to go 'way?...you not bad guy, righ' Daddy?'
Leaning back, he hoped that he had driven long enough to take a small break. Closing his eyes he snuggled Dee closer to him so he could feel her heartbeat against him, just to make sure she was really there with him. 'No one's taking you away, I promise Dee.'