(A/N: to those who have come from the version before- this is straight up the same. Maybe a sentence or two different.)

Unforeseen Future

Chapter Two: A Shaky Start

Words were starting to blur together. He didn't think that he would ever get tired of reading. Even in high school he tolerated the written word quite well, even embraced it. But now he was getting tired of it.

A little human interaction might be welcome about now. Not that he'd get it from his roomie Brady. Well- maybe if he'd done like the guy offered many times, and gone to actual parties with him, maybe he would actually talk to people.

Sam scowled and glanced away from the book in irritation. He raised his hands and rubbed his palms on his eyes and inhaled deep. Maybe he should. He'd studied night and day for the first semester, except for the occasions when his brother and father would come along and force him away from the books. His mother hen would gripe that he'd lost weight- that he'd have bags under his eyes, and for a few days he'd crash at their motel room sleeping considerably better hearing his family's soft breath as they slept.

He turned away the thought. It was clear what he missed, and it wasn't the company of a room of drunk college kids- but he chose this. He'd dreamed of this opportunity, and he'd be damned if he ran and hid.

He was done for the day now though. He was burned out. He needed to let off steam. The law book with all its technical terms and previous cases was slammed shut and Sam put his head down on it. Maybe he'd see what party Brady was at and have a beer.

There was a knock at the door and Sam didn't lift his head. Whoever it was- it wasn't his roomie, and Dean hadn't called recently so they weren't important to go out and meet. Another knock, and Sam still didn't say a word. They'd eventually figure no one was home and leave.

Except they didn't. A persistent knock started. Someone using both hands to bang on the door. He'd never really considered murdering someone before, but there was always a first time for everything.

"Unless you are holding a six pack for me, you are not welcome!" Sam barked loudly his forehead still pressed onto the book.

A warm voice responded from the other side of the door. "I have a six pack, but I think I'll be holding onto it thank you. I work long and hard for it."

Dean! Sam was out of his chair and unlocking the door. The door flung wide provided his brother standing at the doorway. "Dean?! What are you doing here?"

Dean was unshaven, and he had grease on his cheek- or possibly just dirt. His hair was tousled and windblown, and his shirt was rumpled from the long drive. And Sam hadn't seen anything better in the past month since his brother had visited. Even his big brother's irritating, cocky grin made Sam's own face light up.

"Hey kid! Why so grumpy?" Dean was pressing his hands to his little brother's cheek and forehead searching for warmth. "You've been getting enough sleep? Are you warm?"

"No, mom." Sam griped. He ripped his brother's hand and forced them away.

Dean stepped into the room and took stock of his brother's side of the room. Despite being a good 'soldier boy' Dean tended to be a bit messier than his brother. Sam folded his clothes neater and kept his items more organized. Not that you would know from what he saw. The kid was leaving clothes on the floor, books anywhere, and even had an apple core sitting on his pillow. The apple core reminded him- "Eating enough?"

"Not hamburgers and fries, but eating, yes." Sam shut the door behind his brother. "Enough with the twenty questions. My turn. Why are you here? Why didn't you call?"

Dean scowled and took a long look at his brother. The kid was stressed. Beyond the mess his brother just looked off. The shadows under the eyes exposed sleepless nights, and the shirt (Hot Dog with a chubby wiener dog) was fitting much looser than he remembered it being. The work load here was going to kill his brother. He'd have to engrave the tomb stone with 'overworked himself at school.' Maybe add, 'son, brother, dumb ass' beneath it. "Sonny was kind enough to send you his regards. Jody too."

"And you're traveling all the way here to rely that message?"

"No, you ungrateful brat, I missed your musk- and ended a hunt nearby. Poltergeist- Nevada." Dean scooped up one of Sam's texts books from the ground and flipped through it. How the kid understood the legal jargon within, he didn't know. "Worked it with Caleb. He says hello too."

"What's dad up to?"

"Caught sent of the demon in New York, State. He's gone off with the Pastor to check it out. He says he'll check in with me sometime tomorrow." Dean tossed the book on the bed.

"Don't hold your breath." Sam pulled and turned the chair out from under the desk and sat down facing his brother. "Buddy? Bobby?"

"The old man is at home. Last I saw he and Rufus were squabbling like an old married couple. Something about deaths on a lake- what it is or isn't. Buddy is still obnoxious. Keeps licking the bottom of my feet when I sleep, and is entirely too warm when he curls up with me. Snores too."

A hint of bitterness bit through Sam. Buddy warming up with Dean. He didn't want the mutt moping, but it still hurt.

Dean's face scrunched as he tried to interpret his brothers face. "So, you still have that stick up your ass?"

"I'm not partying-no. But I am getting a hint of cabin fever. I look at one more book, and I think my head may explode."

"A soft college girl can help with that." Dean waggled his eyebrows. "You've got a nice selection here, I don't know why you're not diving in. Besides, you're not hideous. You got Winchester genes. You could get any girl you want."

"I was thinking more going for food."

"Lame." Dean stood back up. "Whatever, food it is. Get some crap packed up and you can crash at my hotel room." He wasn't sleeping well obviously, and Dean knew the solution. They'd slept in the same room from day one. So, rinse and repeat. Dean was far from admitting it himself, but it helped him get a full night's rest too. "You call the place, just no health crap. Allow for a decent amount of grease."

It didn't take long for Sam to pack necessary items and lock up the room behind him. At the car however, Sam's hand hoovered on the door handle.

Dean took notice, and paused midway into the car. Using the roof, he pulled himself out of the seat. "What? Want me to come around and open the door for you, Princess?"

Sam raised his weekend bag and tossed it over the top of the car. Dean of course caught it with ease. "Do me a favor. I have to drop something off at a professor's office." Dean's face went sour and Sam tried at appeasing him. "Real quick. Then back to beer and bonding."

"What building?" Dean sighed dramatically.

"You're the best. I need to go back and grab it. Give me five." Sam offered his brother a wide, innocent grin, before running back towards the dorm."

"Hurry or I leave without you."

Sam gave the car a little pat before going back into the building. Once he made it into the main room he glanced at the stairs wondering if they would be quicker, just as the elevator came back down. As fate would have it he would take the elevator. He waited patiently for people to exit and stuck a foot in the door before it could shut so he could fit in as well.

"Wait! Hold it please" A young woman was running towards the elevator pressing a purse to her side so it wouldn't bounce.

Once again Sam stuck a foot in the door and they bounced back outward. He put his foot back in once the blond had made it inside.

"Thank you." She expressed a little winded.

"No problem." Sam shrugged as he instinctively watched the numbers go up as the elevator rose.

Sam frowned when he felt the woman's eyes on him. He glanced down and offered her an awkward smile. Being tall sucked sometimes. Reaching upper shelves were awesome, and seeing over crowds was a God-send. However, he hit his head on a lot of things, and always got stares. Especially in elevators. In elevators, he looked like the Green Giant. At least that's what his brother always told him.

One second the elevator was rising, and the next there was a jostle.

The unexpected shift in the elevator was violent and threw Sam into the wall jamming his side in a bruising blow against the jutted-out hand hold. Sam went to brace himself, but stopped and throw out his arms to catch the blond falling towards him. Before the woman could crack her head on the wall Sam had her wrapped in his arms in a crushing hold. Sam resettled his right arm around her waist and shot out a left arm. His elbow banged against the wall painfully before he got a grip on the handhold, using every ounce of strength to absorb the vibrations jostling them.

It didn't need to be said what was happening. They lived in Palo Alto, California. It was an earthquake. Some were good and some were bad. This one was just a little worse than usual. While Sam balanced them, the woman shot out her own hand to press all of the levels on the elevator. Press them all the door opens at the nearest floor and you can get out. It was a sound theory. Only before she was able to press anything there was one final jerk and the elevator whirred to a stop. As if to finalize the situation the lights killed, leaving only the eerie red emergency lights.

The shock took a while to absorb, but the woman was the first to take a breath and say something. "We're between levels 3 and 4." She didn't move from the position against Sam when he released her from his arms. "At least I think we are."

"Sounds about right." He recalled the numbers he'd last seen and he would have come to the same conclusion. "My guess is something blew out. Especially here, an elevator should withstand something like that. Once they fix- whatever it is- they should get us out." Despite his calm exterior Sam jammed the emergency button a little. The light was just dim enough to make the situation creepy, and the chance of the elevator falling (though slim) frightened him. "I could always-"

He was mid-way reaching for the trap door on the ceiling when she stopped him. "Lets leave that for worst case. Like you said someone will come check." She wrinkled her nose at a thought, and the word cute inexplicably popped into Sam's head at that singular action. "Although you certainly are tall enough to reach it Paul Bunyan."

Sam usually hated quips on his height but to the blond he just grinned. "Even had the giant ax and blue ox." His grin wiped off. Damn it. Dean would throttle him. Nothing worse that lame flirting.

The girl laughed however as she lowered herself to the ground using the hand holds. "You'll have to show me sometime." She shot out an arm to wrestle her purse back to her and dug through until she found her phone. A sharp curse followed when she pressed a button on the device and it lit up her face.

"No service?" Sam guessed.

"No." She jammed the phone back in. "This building always has crappy service. You have to step out to make a call."

"Don't worry. My brother is a worry-wart. He came by to visit me, and is expecting me to take five to run up and grab something. When I don't show up again, he'll come around and investigate. Especially if he felt half of what we did." He gave a grunt as he used the hand rail to lower himself down as well. It wasn't terrible, but his side pulsed and his elbow complained as he sat.

"You okay, Sam?" The woman's eyebrow shot up at the sound of his discomfort.

"Yeah I'm fine. I banged against the railing but it's just a bruise. I've had-" Sam paused. "Wait, how do you know my name?"

The blond froze, and hastily tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. She almost seemed nervous. Why? He was the boy next door, she was the super model that lived down the street. "Well it's a small campus."

"It's a huge campus." Sam countered. "Do we have a class together?"

"Uh, yeah. Professor Cantu. It's large, but I sit in the back, and you usually sit somewhere in the middle. You're so tall it's easy to spot you." Sam wasn't sure if it was the red lighting, but she started to go a little flush.

"Oh, uh. Yeah." Sam rubbed a spot at the back of his head. "I'm sorry, I've never seen you."

"You really don't see anyone but the professor." She found her purse more interesting. "I mean you're always studying. Even in the library you're stuck in books doing homework, writing essays."

Sam shrugged, a little shocked by the attention. Sure, he got noticed by pure height. People would always joke he must have played basketball in high school, when he hadn't. He even sucked when his gym class had played for the week. This kind of attention was something new. It almost sounded like she was purposefully paying attention to him. He studied her while she fumbled with her purse. She was pretty. Too pretty. She was way to pretty to pay any attention to him. Maybe Dean's league but not his.

"I have a scholarship to maintain. No good grades, no school."

She nodded. "I know what you mean. My father's helping, but without the scholarship he couldn't afford this place."

Sam nodded back at her. "So, I'm kind of at a disadvantage. You know my name, but I don't know yours."

The woman dropped her purse and wrung at her hands. "Well, yeah, that's not really fair is it. I mean I obviously know who you are-" She squeezed her eyes shut and froze. Sam recognized the motion. It was what he would do every failed flirting attempt. "I mean, not obviously. It's not like I was watching you all the time. Just when we were in the library together, or in class, or- my names Jessica."

Sam waited for her to open her eyes again and thrust out a hand. She collected herself to accept it and shake. "Well it's nice to meet you Jessica. Officially I mean." When his hand went back into his own possession, he leaned his head up against the wall. "Although this is a crappy way to meet."

"I don't know…" Jessica threw her head back too with a smirk. "It could be worse. We could be trapped in Professor Cantu's class for 12 hours."

Sam gave a warm chuckle. "I take it you aren't a big fan of math."

"Or, professors with very dull tones." She squinted her eyes and finally noticed an offensive drawing of male parts on the ceiling. Funny what being trapped in an elevator would uncover. "I mean he sounds like the teacher from Ferris Buellers Day Off."

"He kind of does, but he's a nice guy." Sam lowered his head and regarded the woman. He read pure amusement on her face as he listened to him. "But- that makes me a-"

"A nerd." She laughed. "Uh, yeah. But I knew that. My friends kept telling me that you were a huge nerd."

Sam's eyebrows shot up. "You talked to your friends about me?"

Her flush returned. "Uhhh- yeah. I mean it wasn't all the time, just when we were in the same room, and they saw me staring. And- and I am totally coming off as stalker material, aren't I?"

Sam laughed. "I would be lying if I didn't say yes, but-" He met her eyes. "I'm kind of flattered. I'm starting to think that maybe meeting afterwards at let's say if we were to meet up for some coffee I wouldn't be opposed to the idea."

Her expression became serious and she bit at her lip. "I would not be opposed to that idea either. In fact, if you aren't spending time with your brother tomorrow morning then I would love to get some coffee with you tomorrow."

"Even if he was, he wouldn't mind." Sam shrugged. "Then we could talk in a less-" He tugged at his collar as he registered the heat accumulating in the elevator. "-stifling environment."

Jess glanced at the closed doors. "Think their figuring out how to get us out?"

An image of Dean yelling at anyone who could hear him, while technicians sat over a comedic tall pile of wires and hardware fumbling franticly came to mind. "My brother is a professional mother hen. Complete with fretting and sobbing if anything were to go wrong. I bet he's yelling at everyone right now, so yeah, someone's on it."

"That protective?" Jess shot up an eyebrow.

"It's kind of a long story." Sam rubbed at the back of his head. "I mean- a very long story."

Jess shrugged and pointed to their surroundings. "I have the time."

He told Jess about his mother dying, about his brother always watching over him while his father traveled as he sold things a salesman (He wasn't going to say anything about the hunting). Then he got hurt, bad, while in one of the towns. His father was drunk and out of it and didn't act properly. When they went to stay with a friend while he recovered he ended up staying with his dad's friend, Uncle Bobby, after a misunderstanding. Later they were a family, with their father recovering. Dean remained a constant mother figure through everything. Jess injected questions every so often but for the most part she stayed riveted to his story and wondered what he wasn't mentioning.

"He sounds nice." Jess smiled.

"He'll try to portray himself as anything else, but yeah he's pretty nice." Sam chuckled. "Used to cut the crusts off my sandwiches."

"Aww." Jessica smirked and put a hand to her mouth. "That is way too adorable."

"What about you?" Sam smirked at her shocked expression. "I mean I just blurted my life story to you. So, what about yours?"

"Well, here's the story of a lovely lady who was bringing up three very lovely girls-" She smirked back at him when she realized the question.

Sam laughed. "No, seriously."

"Seriously." She brought her hands up in a defensive manor. "I was one of three. Middle child. All very blond pig-tailed, adorable dressed girls. And I loved it. My dad was Air Force, so like you it was a new town, new home, new school."

Sam nodded but didn't correct her in her assumption that the Winchester's definition of move was the same.

"Never really made friends with people. Then he retired, and we ended up in sunny California. I was about 16 when he did. Mom was a nurse and she had quit to raise my sisters and I. She started working again once we settled in California." She looked up at the ceiling again. "I wanted to get into medicine like my mother so I worked my tail off in school, and here I am pre-med."

"Nice."

Jess got a little embarrassed. "Kinda boring."

"Nah, boring is pretty nice." Sam thunked his head back to the wall again. "You don't know how much I wanted the Brady Bunch and not Young and the Restless."

Jess studied Sam's expression. He wasn't lying, he'd only given her the cliff notes version of his life. Of course, she wasn't going to ask for an expansion on the story now, that would have to be saved for later. He'd gone through a lot. Maybe that was what she liked about him so much. He always had this sad expression. Always stuck to himself. On some level she could understand, and she wanted to break that barrier and meet the real Sam. "I don't know every detail, but I do know that not everything is perfect with normal. Before I went to school, mom got diagnosed with breast cancer. She's still fighting. Getting treatment, and I call to check up on her often."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. Point is, that life isn't perfect for anyone. Yeah, maybe someone has it better, but then something comes along to derail it. My mom always says, life doesn't throw things at you, you cannot handle." Jess stated sagely.

Sam had been told that many times before. The phrase was beginning to stretch him a little thin. "Yeah I've heard that. Doesn't make it any better."

Jess laughed. "That's what I tell my mother, then she tells me that I need to suck it up and deal with it. That life doesn't get any easier. I need to fight and push for the surface, or drown in my sorrows."

"She sounds like a walking philosopher." Sam chuckled.

"Oh she is. She has a phrase for everything."

Jess opened her mouth to say something else when the lights flickered back on with a whirr. Sam stood defensively knowing that flickering lights could mean many things, and it was better to be prepared for whatever was going to happen. Rather than Jessica's eyes going black, or a sudden chill in the compartment, the elevator jostled again and started to move down. It was very sluggish but Sam inhaled in relief. He didn't have an aversion to tight spaces, but it had been getting a little too snug. The numbering on the elevator didn't show, and Sam wasn't sure what level they would stop at. Being a sluggish speed, Sam couldn't rely on his knowledge of how long it took to reach each level. He started to wonder where it would stop.

The elevator shuddered to a stop and they didn't open. There was a scratching and a bang from the thick door. The door started to widen inch by inch until Sam recognized a crowbar being wedged between them. The grunt of the effort was all too familiar.

"Sammy." The name was spoke loud and strained. "You better be in there."

"Sir we can-" As the door opened more Sam recognized the maintenance staff behind his brother trying to take over the situation. Surprise, surprise, Dean wasn't biting.

Dean's voice held a lot of irritation, but Sam sensed a level of panic that he had been unable to smoother. "I can do it."

"Dean-" Sam said loud enough to inform his brother that he was in fact there and okay. He added his own hands into the crevice and helped pull apart the doors with a grunt. Once they were about halfway there the springs did their job and the doors jolted apart.

Dean collected himself and tugged Sam through the doors pulling his brother in a hug. "Jesus. You said five freakin' minutes Sam. Not hang on and let me get trapped in the freakin' elevator. I swear you attract trouble worse than that Louis Lane chick."

"I get it." Sam squirmed in Dean's hold. "I'm sorry, I wasn't expecting that." Sam glanced around and noticed they were in the basement. The ground was scattered with tools, and a panel next to the elevator was opened wide with wires halfway tugged out. Dean himself had shrugged out of his leather, and was now sweat stained and grease stained.

His brother finally released him and started tugging on his shirt. "You hurt anywhere?"

"No, I'm fine- Dean. Seriously Dean- I'm-" Sam tried swiping at the hands triaging but Dean won out. Sam's head swiveled around and he finally noticed that Jessica had stepped out of the elevator and was now watching the pair with a wide smile. He flushed and fought harder. "Dean- I'm fine. I just got a-"

"A bruise." Dean breathed. He grabbed Sam's head and turned it in all directions checking for bruising or any blood. Last, he looked into his brother's eyes and gauged that there was no sign of sluggishness. "And no concussion."

The maintenance crew went around the scene, set to check up the elevator and have it running perfectly again.

Finally, Sam was able to shove away his brother. "Let me go Dean. It was an elevator, not an alligator."

Dean frowned and looked like he was going to retort, but he stalled when he finally spotted Jessica. His eyebrows shot up and he gave her a suave smile. "And you were trapped in there; with her?"

"Yes." Sam shook his head at his brother and the suave smile dripped away, leaving a snarky one.

Sam had been trapped in the elevator with the hot blond, and he was into her. Sam was invoking his right to stop whatever moves his brother was planning on playing. He had called dibbs. His brother rarely did that, and Dean would let his brother have this one college girl.

Sam continued after clearing his throat to drive the concept further. "This is Jessica. She's in one of my classes."

"Uh, it's nice to meet you." Jess stuck out a hand and nodded towards the panel. "Did you-?"

"Fix it? Yeah, it was simple." Dean shrugged and shook her hand.

"Thanks. For that. That's amazing," Jess kept her smile polite.

Dean shrugged. "Nah, machines are easy. Sammy is the one with all the book smarts. Kids a freakin' genius."

"Yeah, he's like scary smart." Jessica flushed. She clenched the strap of her purse. "Well, I uh got some things to do, but tomorrow?"

"Um, yeah. You wanna say about eight?" Sam gave an awkward grin and rubbed at the back of his head, painfully aware his brother was in the room and his grin was wide. Dean always made things awkward, he tried not to bring his girlfriends over when he was in high school.

She responded instantly. "Yeah, we can walk over to the coffee shop. I can meet you outside the dorms."

"That sounds fantastic." Sam wanted to slap his brother. Now the giant kid was making kissy sounds. "Um, I'll see you later then."

"Yeah," She seemed more amused by Dean's commentary than anything else. "See you later."

She started up the stairs that would take her to the first floor. Sam followed her with his eyes about halfway and turned to smack his brother hard in the chest. "Geeze, you can't stop being you for a minute? I mean, seriously." Sam's face went bright red.

"Little Sammy. Playing the field. Picking up the chicks. I mean trapped in an elevator with a hot blond?" Dean motioned his hands down to gesture curves. "That only happens at the beginning of a porn."

Sam waited for Dean to reach down for his discarded jacket and keys. "And you would be the leading expert on that."

"Hey! It's not only entertaining but educational too." Dean gave his brother a wide grin. "Aprendi todo mi espaniol de Casa Erotica."

"Pervert. Eres asqueroso. Personas mas sanas aprenden espanol en casa o en la escuela." Sam started towards the stairs knowing his brother was hot on his heels.

"Perra." Dean muttered under his breath. Kid wasn't leaving his sight today. Not after this.

He had been in a panic when the earthquake had shaken his car, but he'd given his little brother a few minutes to collect himself and head back out to say that everything was okay. After five minutes, Dean knew something had been wrong. Inside people had been sitting up from where they had fallen, and his brother was nowhere. When he'd been on auto-pilot and tried to call the elevator down, it hadn't moved. And Dean knew then his kid brother was trapped. For an hour, he'd raised hell getting someone over to work on it, then crouching down and working on it himself when they weren't getting it done quick enough. Now that his kid brother was okay, he could breath. Everything was okay.

Hell, everything was better than okay. Maybe now his brother would start doing some actual fun college stuff, now that he had a potential hot girlfriend.