"But," Dean started to say when the robber cut him off, "I said drive."
Dean drove but knew they weren't going to get very far with the amount of gas that was in the tank. He heard sirens coming up behind him.
"Drive faster," the man ordered.
Dean complied, and looked nervously at the gas gauge needle hovering below empty. "We're going to run out of gas," he said.
"What?" the man bellowed and Dean heard Sam grunt.
"Why do you think we were at the gas station?" Dean asked in frustration. This guy was going to kill Sam because he stole a car that was out of gas. Brilliant.
"Turn right up here," the man ordered. Dean did so and they came to a bridge. "Stop half way across it."
Dean didn't like the looks of this, but he had no choice. They ran out of gas as they got onto the bridge and he coasted to a stop a few yards later.
"Get out," the man ordered. Dean got out and the man pushed Sam out and followed behind. Dean considered an escape then, but the man never let go of Sam's arm and even though he had to remove the gun from Sam's temple to let him up, he still had it aimed there.
The police cars pulled to a stop at the end of the bridge and blockaded their escape from that direction. Dean looked over to the other end of the bridge as he heard sirens from that direction. Soon enough they were blocking that route of escape. Dean didn't know what this guy's plan was, but was afraid whatever it was would not bode well for Sam.
"Drop your weapon!" a police officer shouted through a bull horn.
"No, I'll kill them," the man yelled and pulled Sam closer to him and pushed the gun tighter into his head. Sam took a deep breath and closed his eyes, thinking of Jessica. All he wanted to do was see her one more time.
The man started pulling Sam to the edge of the bridge. "Come on, man. Just give yourself up," Dean begged. The man was going to go over the bridge and take Sam with him. Dean could see what was going to happen, but couldn't see any way to stop it. Now, he was definitely too far away to attempt a tackle or anything else before that guy got a shot off. A shot that would go into Sam's head.
Just as he was thinking that, Dean heard a shot. "No!" he yelled and fell to his knees. When he looked up, though, Sam was still standing and the gunman was sinking to the ground. A sniper had apparently found his mark. Dean jumped to his feet and pulled Sam away from the man, in case there was any chance he was still alive.
Sam looked down at the man. He had never seen a dead person before. He didn't know how he was supposed to feel. This man was going to kill him, but now he was dead. Should he be glad that he was dead? Sad at the waste of life? Right now, the only thing he could feel was relief that he was still alive. He sagged into Dean a little. Dean caught him, but when Sam realized what was happening, he immediately stood up straight. Dean was not someone you relied on.
SSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
Jessica woke in an empty bed and figured Sam had already gone downstairs. She showered and dressed and then went to join Sam and his family for breakfast.
"Good morning," Mary said when Jessica entered the kitchen.
"Morning. Where's Sam?" she asked, only seeing John and Mary at the table.
"I haven't seen him this morning. He's not still in bed?" John asked.
Jessica shook his head. "Maybe he went for a jog." Sam had taken up jogging last year as a way to reduce stress and keep in shape.
The doorbell rang and John went to go answer it. Both his sons stood on the steps. "Sam, where were you?"
"Long story," Sam responded with a glare at Dean. If it hadn't been for his stupid genie hunt, nothing would have happened.
"What happened?" John asked in the stern voice that Dean was so used to hearing. He hadn't seen the marine side of his Dad since he got here, but it was coming out now. Dean was always the one to think up stories to keep them out of trouble when they were kids, so he was pretty good at it. He was just about to tell the one he had come up with when Sam blurted out the truth.
"Dean wanted to go hunt a genie, and on the way back we stopped for gas and got involved in a holdup. The guy took us a hostage and was killed by a police sniper."
John looked towards the kitchen. "Let's not worry your mother with this," he said. "What the hell is a genie hunt?"
"No idea," Sam said, looking to Dean.
Why had he told Sam the truth? Now his dad thought he was crazy. "It won't happen again, sir," he said.
"It better not. You're Sam's big brother. You're supposed to keep him out of trouble, not get him into trouble."
At that Sam laughed. The idea of Dean keeping him out of trouble was ridiculous.
Dean's cell phone rang. It was Carmen. She had just gotten home from work and was wondering where Dean was. He went home to try to smooth things over with her. Sam and Jessica left for the airport shortly thereafter without speaking to Dean again.