Chapter 2

Beth glanced at her watch. "Sam, I have to call my son. He'll need an update on how long I'll be."

"Yeah, sure, of course. You don't need my permission, you're more in charge right now than I am." He checked on Dean as she spoke to her son. If she chose to call the cops now there was nothing he could do.

"Andy, my son, is manning the phone until I get back. So far it's been a slow evening; one dog hit by a car and one gun-shot fugitive…typical Tuesday night." She pulled the sides of the sleeping bag tighter over Dean's unconscious form, the air was chilling rapidly with sunset. "What now, Sam? That car of his is a target, and your descriptions were pretty accurate from what I heard on the radio. You can't just drive away now."

He shrugged, at a loss."We didn't really have a chance to plan that far ahead."

She watched him for a minute, then frowned. "Goddammit! Why couldn't you be some lousy scuzbag that I could just leave behind in good conscience? Well congrats; you convinced me that you're worth helping. Thanks a lot!"

"Beth, you can't involve yourself; it's too much of a risk."

"That's very noble, Sam; now shut-up. It's only a matter of hours before they find you here. It's getting cold out and you can't drive that car anywhere; do you have any flashes of brilliance I'm missing?"

"Um…no."

"Then we'll do it my way. Get what you need from your car; I'm going to bring the van down. Wrap your brother up in the sleeping bag and when I'm ready, lay him in the back . Then you lay with him; I'm going to throw a tarp over you. They're more than likely going to do vehicle checks after the press you got. If that happens, just shut up, keep him quiet, and let me handle it, ok?"

Sam didn't have a lot of choice, and this offer was the best he could hope for. Beth Macy was a smart, strong, no-nonsense individual and Sam felt relief in putting their fate in her hands for the moment. "Beth, are you sure? What if-"

She gave him a withering look. "Sam, do as you're told."

"Yes Ma'am."

She headed back up to the road. Sam quickly loaded a gym bag with any weapons that fit in; they could never afford to replace them. He gathered the rest; the shotguns and other hunting paraphernalia, and dug a deep hole in the moldering straw, covering them back over, in such away that it looked undisturbed. And he grabbed anything sentimental from the car since there was every chance Dean would never see it again. He heard her van pull up. When the door was open, he wrapped Dean tightly, and carried him over as she shifted the contents around to make room for them. He laid him on the hard rubber floor gently, hopped up beside and flattened as she tucked the tarp over them. She shut the doors, pulled the barn closed, and got back in.

"You ok, there?"

"Yeah."

"Ok now, silence from now on, got it?"

Her plan was to take her illicit cargo to an isolated motel; she knew of a likely candidate. It was at least a twenty five minute drive and she crossed her fingers that they'd avoid any road blocks.

She drove along, tense and silent. Dean had shifted and moaned several times as they travelled over the rough back roads. "Sam, is he ok there?"

Under the tarp, his muffled voice assured her it seemed so. She reminded Sam that it was imperative that he do whatever necessary to keep Dean quiet should they be stopped.

And they were, just as she'd predicted. They had a cordon set up, and were politely checking every vehicle before letting them pass. Beth warned Sam.

"They're coming up to the van, Sam!" she hissed.

A burly police officer approached the van. "Evening, Ma'am. We need to check the vehicle; there are a couple of fugitives in the area."

"Sure, Officer, absolutely. Just be careful not to touch that dead calf back there, those maggots are probably crawling with disease I have to do a pathology; its been dead for few days and it's getting a little ripe."

The policeman pulled his head back from her window, with a grimace of distaste. He shone a flashlight over the tarp, nodded to her and waved her on.

When Beth finally allowed herself to breath, she couldn't help but laugh out loud. "Cripes!" she snorted. "What a pansy!"

Sam popped his head out from under the tarp. "Nice work! Although I'm offended that he believed we were a stinking carcass."

She turned around, still laughing. "Yeah, I've learned that most people; especially the big, tough guys, are pretty squeamish about the thought of maggots."

She grew serious when she heard Dean moan a protest as the van wheels found rougher road. "I've got a motel in mind, Sam. Is that ok?"

"Perfect."

"Good. it'll be another fifteen minutes or so; keep that tarp on just in case."

Sam pulled it over again, leaving just their heads out. He slid his arm under Dean's neck, raising his head off the hard rubber. He could feel the damp of his sweat through his sleeve and he was anxious to get him laid out on a warm and reasonably comfortable bed.

When his cell rang, both he and Beth jumped. It was Bobby, deeply concerned, having seen the news. Sam filled him in as to what had happened and what their plans were, promising to call later when they were settled.

Beth turned to Sam. "Holy! We're lucky he didn't call ten minutes ago!" she said.

"Yeah, sorry. I never even thought about my phone, or Dean's. I'll turn both off for now."

It was a sobering thought, just how close they'd come to ruin.

They drove to the motel without further incident. Just before their destination, she pulled over and removed the vehicle magnetics with her name and phone number from the side of the van, just to be safe. She parked in front of the unit furthest from the office, thinking wisely that she could shield the brothers from view with the van when Sam carried Dean in. She waited while he arranged and paid for their stay, listening for any sounds of difficulty from her patient, but he remained silent.

Sam returned, unlocked the room, and while Beth pulled back the covers on one of the beds and held the door open, he scooped up his heavy, limp burden and brought him in.

"Sorry about the place." Beth said, glancing around the shabby interior. "Not exactly five star."

"Don't apologize, it's better than most of the dives we find." Sam said. "And a lot better than cold, moldy straw."

She had to agree with the latter.

When he was satisfied that Dean was well covered and comfortable, Sam again tried to express his gratitude. "Look...Dr. Macy...Beth; thanks again, for everything. I'm sure we-" He stopped, at a loss for words. She didn't wait for him to find them.

"Sam, in all honesty, I can't deny it was a rush. And I'm glad I could help. But I have to stress again; rethink the hospital, please… I can't stick around any longer, I have four footed emergencies waiting. And I am a vet; I did what I could for your brother but there's after care that he needs and I just can't provide it."

Sam looked at Dean, still silently sleeping. "I understand. And you did more than I could have hoped for. You need to distance yourself from us anyway, Beth. You don't want this shit to touch your life, believe me. And to be honest; this stage of things is something we can handle, we've been here before."

She looked at him for a moment. She guessed at his age; under twenty five for sure. But he looked world-weary with the strain of this thing, maybe the strain of his whole life right now. She found herself feeling –what—maternal-? Something, at any rate, that she didn't need at this point. And then the other one…well, maternal was far from what she thought of regarding him, she was embarrassed to realize. And after seeing him suffer such pain, she felt strange just abandoning them to their fate and moving on. But she knew Sam was right. She had a good life, she'd worked damned hard to make it so, and staying connected to these two was a risk that she should run screaming from.

She wrote her cell number on a scrap and gave it to him. "Sam, just…give me an update sometime, on how you made out, ok? I can't do anything more for you, in terms of first-aid. If your brother goes downhill; fever, vomiting, anything; you have to get proper medical help, and damn quick, understand?"

"Yeah, I do. And I'll let you know how things turn out, unless you hear it on the news first. Thanks, Beth …for everything."

"Kiss'er for me." a voice whispered hoarsely from the bed.

They both turned toward the source, pleased and worried that he was awake. She leaned over Dean's bed. "Tell you what; kiss me yourself when you can safely come back to visit." Beth said.

He raised a brow, and gave her a crooked little smile.

She made her way out to the van, and smiled sadly to Sam. "Good luck, Sam. I wish you both well."