After thanking Julie Lynn for her help, Sam put Dee in the back jump seat of his new ride; an early 90's model Nissan King Cab 4x4, and drove back the direction they came. Dee loved the truck because it was black and reminded her of the Impala, Sam liked it because he got it fairly cheap since the guy selling it was making a point to his son not to drink and drive. Checking the rear view mirror again, he saw that no one was behind him and felt it safe to make the turn back to the barn.
It took another half an hour to unload the Impala completely and put everything in the back of the truck, covering it with a tarp to make it look more like camping equipment instead of the arsenal it was. Dee had wanted to help, but Sam hadn't wanted her to see what he was doing and instead distracted her with coloring the next couple of pages in her book. Finally satisfied that he had cleaned out his brother's baby, he sent a text to Bobby with the co-ordinates of the barn and asked if he could arrange for her to be picked up discretely.
As he was about to put Dee's car seat in he was startled by his reflection, having forgotten about what he had done earlier. Looking at himself a little closer he was glad that he hadn't cut it as short as he thought otherwise he probably would have had curls instead of waves, and the new color blended better. Having heard Jess talk about the mistakes her friends had made while coloring their hair, he had already known how to make it look more natural; and didn't that just make him sound like the girl Dean kept teasing him about?
"Daddy, you look like me!" Dee squealed when she noticed what he was doing.
Smiling, Sam had to agree. With the blonde hair and the green eyes, there couldn't be much doubt about their relationship. Feeling better about the situation, he settled the car seat firmly in the front and beckoned her to climb to the front. "Come on baby, let's get moving. The sooner we leave the sooner we get to where we're going."
Hearing that made Dee practically jump over the seat; she didn't know where they were going, but she knew that her Daddy gave great surprises. "K, Daddy… Le's go!"
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Bobby was nervous, and he wasn't one to get that way for no reason. The last call he got from Sam had him worried, but the text that had been sent had him almost panicked. There was no way in hell that Dean would allow the Impala to be hauled across the country. Not unless… NO, he wasn't going to think that. Sam would have said something, and wouldn't have been able to talk straight much less have a full conversation. Something was definitely going on.
He had just grabbed a sandwich and a beer from the kitchen when he thought he'd catch the local news, and then at least part of the puzzle fell into place making Bobby spit out his beer.
"In the National news, the search for brothers Samuel and Dean Winchester is still in full force today after a federal agent had been taken at gun point by the younger brother. The FBI had listed Dean as one of their Most Wanted, with Sam as an accessory. However that has changed with the kidnapping of both a Federal Agent as well as an unidentified little girl. The unidentified agent had been released with moderate injuries, no word on the girl.
In other headline news…."
"Damn igits! I swear I'm going to rip them apart! What the hell were they thinking?" he ranted for awhile, knowing that it wasn't doing any good, but now had the answer to one question… they got cornered and had to ditch the car. Now he had to wonder about why Dean had hardly been mentioned, after all he was the more impulsive one; and what did a little girl have to do with anything?
His thoughts were interrupted when he heard a car slide to a stop outside and Ellen ran into the house. "Bobby… the news… I heard…"
"Yeah, I heard it too. I don't know what those fool boys have done, but they're hip deep in it this time." He let out a frustrated sigh and couldn't help but think that both boys were more like their daddy than anyone knew. "I have no idea when they'll get here, but I have a feeling they're going to need a place to hole up for a bit longer than I thought. I'll make a couple of calls. Do me a favor, try and find out what happened in Virginia."
Ellen was already on the phone and changing the channel for another news update when he asked. There was no way she wasn't going to find out what those boys got themselves into now.
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He didn't know why he had driven to Washington D.C., his only excuse was 'because he could'; that and the knowledge that if Hendrickson ever found out he had been right in his own back yard, it would drive the agent completely insane. That knowledge is what spurred him to do something so totally Dean that he had to wonder if he was actually somehow channeling his brother; or maybe as crazy as Hendrickson claimed.
"Daddy, we go now?" Dee asked not able to contain her excitement.
Sam looked down at his little girl and smiled, "Sure thing Baby Girl, what do you want to see first?"
Dee thought a moment not knowing what was there so it was hard to decide. Then she saw a picture off to the side and suddenly knew. "There Daddy I wan' t' see them!" Dee squealed, jumping up and down in excitement.
Laughing, Sam couldn't help but agree. "Alrighty then, the Giant Panda's first." He said as he took Dee's hand and walked past the sign National Zoological Park to fulfill a promise to his baby.
Finding the Panda Habitat had been easy, even finding and watching the Panda family interact was simple, but what Sam had found to be difficult was getting Dee to agree to look at other things. "But Daddeeee…th' baby like me!" she had whined, sure that the Panda cub was watching her every move. It had taken a promise to come back to say 'bye' to the panda's in order for her to grudgingly allow herself to be lead to another exhibit.
Sam had started to worry that maybe it was a bad idea. He had loved the zoo when he was small, but then again, Dee wasn't him, and he worried that he was trying to push what he wanted on his little girl. 'Gee, wonder where I would have got that from.' He thought moodily. As they continued to walk, he noticed that Dee wasn't too enthused about the birds, even though the owls had her perk up a little. The Kid's Zoo had Dee shaking her head so fiercely, that Sam was sure she would have a headache at any moment. Feeling more than a little perplexed, he was about to give in and take her back to the panda's when she gasped so loud Sam was sure she swallowed a bug.
"What is it Dee?" he asked, more concerned than anything, until she pointed behind him and then he realized what caught her attention. "Wolves?" he asked, not sure if there was something else or not.
Nodding, Dee whispered in awe, "They pr'tty Daddy!"
Sam had to agree, they were an awesome sight, and he had to admit just as well that he was glad they were behind the fence and ditch. They reminded him a little too much of a werewolf that he and Dean helped their Dad hunt years ago; it didn't go as well as expected, but thankfully not as bad as it could have ended.
"Daddy, why he by his'elf?" Dee asked pointing to a young wolf that stayed off to the side and didn't interact with any of the others.
"He's still trying to get used to his new environment." a zookeeper said while watching the wolves. "He was brought in after getting hurt. They couldn't find his pack, and were hoping he would be accepted by this one, but it hasn't worked like they thought. Shame though, wolves aren't natural loners."
Dee's eyes got huge until she turned to her Daddy to make it better. "Daddy, make 'em like him!" she cried out, fully expecting her Daddy to be able to talk to them and make them all get along like they should.
Not knowing what else to do, Sam got down to her level and spoke gently, "Dee baby, sometimes a wolf misses his pack so much that he carries his pain with him always, and he just might not want to be a part of another pack in case he loses them too."
Thinking hard, Dee wondered if that was right, but knew that it was a silly reason. Why would anyone want to be alone because they were afraid of being alone? Looking at her Daddy she could only shake her head, 'Silly Daddy, he got it all wrong. They jus' bein' mean.'
Seeing that look on her face, Sam knew that she had made up her mind and wouldn't allow it to be changed. Smiling, he held out his hand for her and they started off again all the while he thought, 'Yep, total Winchester.'
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They had spent three hours at the Zoo, and afterwards when they were driving out of the parking lot, Sam smiled broadly when he heard Dee tell her stuffed hound Page all that they saw and how she loved the panda's and felt sad for the wolf, but thought her daddy was silly when he had called her a monkey after she climbed on the fence to see the tiny monkeys better.
Sam knew that they would need to stop for the night, but he really wanted to put a little distance between them and D.C., they'd stretched their luck as it was. Glancing at Dee, he knew that he made the right decision. It had been a risk, and he had been worried about the stash in the truck, but there was no way he wanted his time with her to be filled with broken promises; he had never wanted to be that type of dad.
"Dee baby, how about we drive for awhile then stop and eat before finding a place to sleep?"
"K Daddy… can Page come too? He hung'y."
Two and a half hours later they pulled into a small diner and made sure that even Page got his fill of french fries.
AN: Hope you liked it, let me know!