Chapter Twenty-One
"What?" Sam ran to the window and peeked through. There was a squad car parked outside and two police officers were examining the Impala. "Shit."
"Sam, do you know why the police are here?" Ellen repeated, her voice low but urgent.
"How the hell should I know? I mean, Dean and I are both wanted by the police right now, but there's no reason they should come here!" Sam's voice was strained. "Unless…"
"Unless what?"
"Unless…the girl that Rachel had possessed. She was still alive, and I took her to the police station. She was pretty out of it, but she might have been able to recognize this place. Shit! They're probably investigating her beating."
"And you would be a suspect in that?"
"Yeah, they saw my face when I dropped her off."
"Would Jo or Dean be a suspect?"
"No. They weren't with me at the time."
Ellen chewed on her lip for a moment. "Sam, you need to leave."
Sam stared at her. "What?"
"You need to leave. If they find you here, they are going to arrest you."
"What about the rest of you? What are you going to do?"
"We're leaving too, but we're going out the front. They have no reason to suspect us of anything, and there's no way we can sneak out the back with Dean in the condition he's in. You, however, need to leave. Now."
"Like hell that's going to happen." Both Ellen and Sam turned at the sound of Dean's voice. They hadn't realized he was listening. "We're not splitting up."
"Dean, there's no other way. Unless you want Sam to get arrested."
"Of course not. Which is why we're all going out the back. Together."
"You're in no condition to be sneaking through the woods in the middle of winter."
"And we have no time to argue about this," Dean gritted his teeth and struggled to sit up. By the time he was upright, he face was pale and he was taking deep, pained breaths. His legs immediately collapsed when he tried to stand. Sam barely made it to his side in time to catch. He eased him back down on the couch, looking at him with concern.
He could see Ellen was right. Dean was in no condition to be standing, let alone running from the cops through a snowy forest. And he had no doubts that the cops wouldn't hesitate to arrest him as soon as they saw him. If they had more time, maybe they could come up with a better plan, but with the police right outside the door…
Sam sighed, defeated. "Fine."
"Sam, no…" Dean managed to say as he struggled to catch his breath. He looked at his brother, his eyes pleading, begging for him to stay. Sam's resolved wavered as he saw something else in Dean's eyes. Fear. He couldn't remember the last time his big brother looked so scared. And who could blame him? Dean was hurt, vulnerable, his normally stoic walls weakened by pain and exhaustion, and here he was, abandoning him. God, he hated this, but he had no other choice.
"I'm sorry, Dean, there isn't another way." Dean looked at him for several long moments before he sighed too.
"You're right."
"Here, I found this," Sam dug through his pockets, pulling out Dean's lost amulet. He gently tied it around his brother's neck, making sure the pendent wasn't resting against any wounds. Dean seemed to relax a little with the familiar weight on his chest.
"I'll see you soon, Dean," he smiled, giving Dean's uninjured shoulder a gentle squeeze.
"Be safe, Sammy," Dean whispered as Sam turned to leave.
While Sam and Dean were talking, Ellen had woken up Jo, and they were in the process of packing up their supplies. They paused when they noticed he was leaving.
Jo intercepted Sam on his way to the back door and wrapped him in a hug. "Don't worry, we'll take care of him."
"I know you will. I'll catch up as soon as I can."
"Be sure that you do."
Sam gave Ellen a quick hug and threw one last reassuring smile to Dean before walking out of the room and to the back door. Or at least he hoped it was a reassuring smile, because he sure as hell didn't feel reassured about this plan.
He glanced out the window beside the door, making sure the coast was clear. He saw one officer in the back yard, examining something on the ground. Apparently they were doing a perimeter search before coming into the cabin. Which was just as well, it gave them more time to plan. Once the cop rounded the corner out of the house and was out of sight, Sam bolted to the trees.
Ellen made sure Sam was safely in the tree-line before turning back to the room. "Jo, unhook Dean from the IV's," she ordered as she hastily put the dwindling embers out. Jo nodded and immediately did as she ordered.
"What's the plan?" Dean asked hoarsely as Jo stopped the flow of fluids and blood and carefully unhooked them from the back of his hand.
"The plan is to get out of here as quickly as possible with as few questions as possible. Put a jacket on. The fewer wounds they can see the less curious they'll be."
Dean grunted as Jo helped him into the jacket that had been laying across him. Sam's jacket. He groaned when he realized that meant Sam was outside in the snow with no jacket. That stupid asshole. He better be ok. He had to be. God, he wished he was here. Dean wanted him here more than he cared to admit, even to himself.
"You alright?" Jo asked as she zipped his jacket up.
"I can manage. You'll need to help me up," Dean grunted.
"Not what I meant." Dean looked away. He knew what she meant. She wanted to know if he was ok now that Sam was gone. Of course he wasn't, but there was no point in crying over spilled milk.
Before he could voice this, there was a knock on the door.
"Dean, keep your head down. Small-town cops might not be aware of who the feds are looking for, but better safe than sorry," Ellen whispered before she opened the door. "Can I help you officers?"
Through the crack between the door and the wall, Dean could just make out one of the officer's faces. He looked surprised. Dean guessed he hadn't expected anyone to answer the door.
The officer quickly regained his composure. "Yes, we are here investigating a beating of a young woman. We have reason to believe that this man has something to do with it and could be here." Dean couldn't see what the officer was holding, but he guessed it was a picture of Sam.
"Yes, he was here." Dean jerked his head up at Ellen's words. What the hell is she doing? "I'm Detective Wilson, with the state police. My partner and I have been following this man for a while. We tracked him here, where he had another girl captive. We tried to stop him, but he got away after shooting my partner in the leg." Geez, Ellen, don't make Sam seem innocent or anything Dean thought irritably, but he understood that this was the best they could come up with in a short amount of time.
"Someone got shot? Did you call an ambulance?" the officer inquired.
"No cell service."
"When did this happen?"
"Last night. The weather was bad, and I had medical supplies, so we decided to stay here to treat his injury. We were actually about to leave."
"Any idea where the suspect went?"
"No. But he's probably long gone by now. He's had hours to get away. I would be more than happy to answer any questions you may have later, but right now I would like to take care of my partner."
"Of course. Do you need any help?"
"I think we can manage."
"Alright. Then we're just going to have a quick look around the building, if that's ok."
"Feel free." Ellen let the officers in and nodded to Jo and Dean to head towards the door. Once the officers were in the cabin, she grabbed their bags and headed out to the truck. Dean tried unsuccessfully to suppress a groan as Jo helped him stand. His body didn't want to respond the way it should and was screaming in protest at every movement. When he stood up, his head spun and Dean had to fight down the urge to vomit. Jo slipped under his good shoulder and wrapped an arm around his waist. As they hobbled towards the door, Dean tried to support himself on his one good leg, but still ended up leaning most of his weight against Jo. They made it almost to the door before Dean faltered, dragging both himself and Jo to the floor. Agony flashed through his body as his right side hit the ground hard and Dean cried out in pain.
The next thing he knew he was laying prone on the floor staring up at a circle of people. His brain was slow and foggy, and for the life of him he couldn't place the faces around him.
"Are you ok?" someone on his left asked. Dean tried to focus on the person that spoke. The face looked familiar.
"Are you with us, Dean?" the same person spoke again. I'm Dean he thought vaguely. Who are you? He knew he should recognize this person.
"What happened?" a different person asked. Hang on, buddy, wait your turn Dean thought rather irritably. He was still trying to place the first voice. Someone above him talked again, but he wasn't listening anymore. His eyes drifted closed as he tried to put a name to the first face…
"He's going into shock!" the second voice said right before Dean felt something sting his face. Son of a bitch, you did not just slap me. Dean decided that he was not a fan of Voice #2. He was going to give him an earful as soon as he figured out how to get his mouth to work. Strange, usually my mouth works just fine.
"What the hell are you doing? That doesn't help!" Voice #1 again. Yeah, you tell him. Who does he think he is, slapping me?
"We need to elevate his feet," a new voice said. Who the hell are you?
The sound of feet scuffling was quickly followed by something being placed under his ankles, raising them up. That's stupid, my feet don't need a friggin' pillow.
"What else can we do?" Voice #2 asked. Damn, you're annoying.
There was a pause before someone spoke again. "Jo, get the IV hooked up again." Jo? He knew that name. Why do I know that name?
His thoughts were interrupted by a sting in his arm. What the crap? I think there are bugs in here. He tried to swat the pesky insect off his arm, but his hand didn't respond to his commands.
"Is there anything else we can do?" the second voice asked desperately. Yeah you can shut up Dean thought angrily. Or better yet, get the bug off my arm.
"We can't do much else besides wait." Get the damn bug!
"Why did this happen?"
"Most likely it's because of blood loss. Walking probably didn't help. Falling definitely didn't."
"Will he be ok?" Oh my God, do you never shut up? You're worse than Sam. Crap, Sam! Where is he? Dean struggled to open his eyes to try and find his brother. After several failed attempts, he finally managed to open them enough to see the same faces above him, none of which were Sam. Panic flared up in his chest as he realized his brother was missing.
He wrestled with his tongue, trying to form the words to tell the faces that Sam wasn't there. Obviously they didn't know or else they would be looking for him.
"Uggghhh," he managed. Close enough.
"He's awake!" One of the faces moved closer to him, filling most of his vision. "Dean, can you hear me?" It was that first voice again. Slowly he connected the voice with the face…
"Jo," he stated proudly. Or rather, groaned proudly.
"Oh thank God. How do you feel?" Jo looked relieved.
"Sam."
"Sam's not here, remember?"
Sam's not here? Where the hell is he? Why aren't you looking for him? Is he ok? Dean decided to condense all of his questions into a strained "Where?"
"Not here," Jo repeated, a warning not in her voice. What would she be warning me…oh yeah. The cops. Memory slowly came back to Dean, and he remembered the situation they were in. This sucks.
His tired mine decided to move on to the next issue. "Bug," he moaned.
"What bug?"
"Arm."
"There's no bug on your arm, Dean. There's just an IV." Dean's brain was starting to clear and his tongue was becoming more cooperative.
"Take out."
"We can't. You need it. You were in shock."
"It's annoying."
"I'm sorry, we need to leave it in."
"You're annoying."
"Don't be a baby," Jo chuckled, relieved that Dean seemed to be recovering quickly.
"You're a baby."
She laughed again. "Is that the best you can come up with?" she teased gently.
"Dean, we need you to lie still for a little while, ok?" another voice asked. Dean turned his head to look at whoever had spoken.
"Ellen," he stated, glad when the name came easily to him.
"Yup. Who else did you expect?" Ellen smiled at him.
"Is he going to be ok?" the second voice asked again. Goddammit Duce, shut the hell up! Dean searched for the source of the annoying voice and found one of the police officers standing over Ellen's shoulder. Now that Dean had a moment to look at him, he could see that the guy was really young. This was probably one of his first assignments. The kid was looking at Dean, scared. Dean guessed he had never seen anyone go into shock before.
"He should be," Ellen answered, a motherly tone in her voice.
"Who's Sam?" the other officer asked from somewhere off to Dean's left.
"His brother," Jo replied quickly. "He left for college not too long ago."
The officer that had spoken gave her a strange look before he spoke again. "Hopkins, can I speak to you outside?" The annoying cop nodded and followed his partner out the door.
"Shit," Ellen whispered as soon as the door closed. "Jo, why did you answer that question?"
"I didn't want them asking too many questions about Sam, considering he's the guy they're looking for!" Jo shot back defensively.
"Yes, but they think you're one of his victims. As far as they know, you don't know Dean. How could you know who Sam was?"
"Oh," Jo paled a little. "Shit."
"Dean, I'm really sorry, but we need to leave. Now." Ellen and Jo helped him struggle slowly to his feet. Carefully the three hunters made their way to the door, Dean draped between Ellen and Jo. When they finally made it outside, the cops stopped their whispered conversation and looked at them.
"Where are you going?" the older cop asked, walking towards them quickly.
"We're taking him to the hospital," Ellen answered without stopping.
"I thought you said he needed to lie still for a while."
"And he did. Now we're taking him to the hospital." They had made it to the truck, and Jo was struggling with the passenger side door.
"I think it would be a better idea for him to lie down some more."
"Thank you for your input, but he's my partner, and I think he should go to the hospital." Ellen and Jo helped Dean get into the truck. Dean tasted blood in his mouth as he bit his lip to try and keep himself from groaning in pain. He felt Jo slide into the bench seat beside him, supporting him and keeping him from collapsing exhausted to the side.
"Right, your partner. With the state police, was it? I don't think I ever saw your badge." The officer stepped closer to the truck, stopping Ellen from going to the driver's side.
"And I would be more than happy to show it to you as soon as I get him to the hospital."
"All right, we'll follow you. Give you a police escort. That way you won't have to worry about traffic."
"I really don't think that's necessary." Ellen tried to sidestep him, but he moved to block her.
"I insist."
"Well, in that case…" Ellen suddenly jabbed her elbow into the officer's face. He stumbled back, stunned, gripping his bloody nose. Before he could react, Ellen pulled his gun out of his holster and shot the right tires of the police car. She sprinted around the hood of the truck, tossing the weapon to the side and slipping quickly into the driver's seat.
"I hate cops," she muttered as she threw the truck into gear and steered it away from the cabin.
"Nice job, Mom," Jo said, impressed. She knew her mom was tough, but she never thought she would punch a police officer and shoot a squad car.
A small smile flitted across Ellen's face at the praise. "How you doing, Dean?" she asked, glancing at the slumped hunter beside her.
"Awesome," he breathed heavily. "What about the Impala?"
"As soon as Sam catches up with us and we get you situated, we'll come back and get it."
Dean nodded. He didn't like leaving his baby behind, but, just like with Sam, they didn't have much of a choice. The cops thought the Impala belonged to a criminal, so they couldn't very well take it now and Sam can't use it as a get-away car.
Dean leaned against Jo as they hit the highway. Damn, he was tired. The roar of the engine soon had him drifting off to sleep.
A/N: I hope everyone is enjoying the story! It's almost over, I promise. I haven't decided yet if I am going to do a chapter from Sam's point of view describing how he gets back to them or just have him do a recap when he meets back up with the others. If you have an opinion on which you would prefer, PM me or tell me in a review. Thanks for reading!