Chapter 12

It turned out Missouri's house was only a short distance from where they had stopped for gas. He pulled the car down her driveway. He didn't want to leave the Impala on the street, just in case Amelia's attempt to erase the security tapes had not been effective. He tried to fix the flowers before they got out of the car, but they were pretty much toast after Sam had sat on them in his hurry to get in the car and away from the convenience store. Amelia had thanked him for the thought when he had told her the other one had been for her. She knew Missouri would have also appreciated his thoughtfulness, but she told him no woman wanted crushed flowers, so he left them in the car.

Sam stepped out of the car and turned to see Missouri standing on her back porch. She had the same stern expression on her face she had given Dean all those years ago. But it immediately softened into a look of concern. She just stood there studying him. So much had happened since he had last seen her. He assumed she was reading all his thoughts and feelings of the last seven years. It occurred to him; maybe being around psychics and mind readers was a major time saver. They ought to attend family and high school reunions.

"What do you think I am? Some party accessory you can rent like a beg keg." Missouri said sternly but then smiled. 'Shit. Was he ever going to learn to control his thoughts around these women'? "Watch your mouth, Sam."

He walked up to her as she stepped off the porch and they embraced. When they released each other, Missouri glanced to Amelia, who had quietly gotten out of the car. "Who's your friend?"

Sam turned to Amelia, "Missouri, this is…." He paused. He didn't know if Amelia had removed the shield to her true identity or not. Amelia nodded her head at Sam and let Missouri see who she truly was. "This is Mother Nature. But she prefers Amelia."

Missouri had taken a step back as Amelia had removed her shield. The sudden exposure to the enormous energy of the goddess had overwhelmed the psychic. It didn't take her long to recover. "You really need to give a person some warning when you're going to do that."

"I'm honored to meet you. These are for you. Sam left them in the car." Amelia held out both of bunches of flowers, except they were all intact and more vibrantly colored and smelled sweeter than when Sam had bought them. Both women stared at each other for a few seconds and then smiled warmly. He was sure they had just psychically conversed about something, probably him, but he really didn't want to know.

"Sam, why don't you pull Dean's car into the garage?" Missouri said very matter-of-factly, and then added. "The police didn't get the license plate but they have a pretty good description."

He looked between the two women, who had linked arms and were already heading into the house. He hadn't been sure before but he was now positive he was in way over his head. He opened the door to Missouri's garage then got back into the car and parked it out of sight of neighbors, police cars and helicopters; wondering when Missouri learned had learned about license plates, descriptions and police surveillance. He grabbed his bag with his notes, list of potential people to save Dean and his laptop. By the time he made it into the house, the ladies were sitting around the kitchen table with glasses of iced tea.

"So they just grabbed you because you were with Sam? They really had no idea who you were?" Missouri was asking Amelia as he put down his bag and Amelia offered him a glass of the ice cold liquid.

"What did I miss?" Sam asked as he pulled out a chair to sit at the table.

"I was just telling Missouri what happened at the store." Amelia said as she sipped on her tea.

Amelia filled them both in on the events in the parking lot. The three demons had appeared just as she had finished putting the pump handle back in place. They had grabbed and tried to teleport her away, but were very surprised when they all stayed put. One had made a comment about 'what has Sam Winchester managed to get his hands on'. She had been able to read their thoughts; they hadn't come for her. They were just trying to find out who Sam was travelling with. The smallest one had said something about 'making Crowley happy'. She had let them lead her behind the van. As soon as they were out of sight she had killed them, and that's when Sam had found her.

Sam's thoughts were racing; there was no longer any doubt Crowley's pact to leave the Winchesters alone was over. The anger in his mind made both women cringe. Amelia touched his arm to try and calm him down. "Sam, I'm fine. They still have no idea who I am, and they were not able to communicate your location."

"Crowley's not stupid. He's going to start to wonder why all the demons he sends after me end up dead." He turned to look at Amelia. "And now that you've unhidden yourself…"

"Oh. That was only for a second, it was all Missouri needed." She smiled at the psychic, and they both nodded at Sam.

Missouri added her assurance. "Sam, honey, you're safe here. From the police, and demons; Leviathans, too."

"You know about the Levis?"

"Of course." Missouri got up from the table and showed Sam and Amelia her stash of borax cleanser under her sink. "And the garage wasn't just to keep out of sight of the police. It's protected with demon traps and warding spells, just like the house. You're not the only one to learn a lot in the last few years." Sam looked around; now that he was looking for it he could see the subtle signs of protection everywhere. "So, why don't we talk about why you're here?" She added as she sat back down at the table.

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The rumble of Sam's empty stomach interrupted their discussion of the best way to approach the people on his list. Amelia's stomach followed with its own gurgle a few seconds later. "Oh my, look at the time." Missouri said looking at the clock on the kitchen wall. "When did you two eat last?"

"Well, now that you mention it, breakfast was a long time ago." Sam replied.

"My mother would be ashamed of me for not offering guests something to eat." Missouri was shaking her head as she got up from the table. "Sam, you clear the table; put all your notes and the computer over on the sideboard." She pointed to an antique cabinet across the kitchen." Amelia, you set out plates and silverware. I've got some wonderful leftovers from a BBQ yesterday." She was already pulling containers out of the refrigerator.

Sam was reluctant to stop until he saw the food Missouri was setting out. His stomach rumbled again in agreement. They all sat back down after the food had been piled on the table, and dug in. Amelia and Sam had only had a couple pieces of fruit since dinner the night before. He relished the home cooked food, knowing if anything with additive had made it past Missouri, Amelia would have sensed it and stopped them.

They had covered a lot of information in the time they had been sitting at the kitchen table. Missouri now knew all about Dean killing the head leviathan and being sucked into Purgatory. He had also told her about Castiel; not everything but enough. After meeting Mother Nature, learning about Angels hadn't been hard for Missouri to believe. That most of them were dicks, and now dead, had hit her a little harder. Amelia had told them about her arrival and that she had sensed Sam's distress; and that saving both Winchesters was the reason she was here. Well, she was sure the One wanted her to focus on sealing the weakened barriers and protect the planet; but now that she was here she'd set her own agenda. Missouri seemed to accept Amelia's explanation of the One easily.

They both told Missouri about finding the amulet, what it will be able to do, how many and who they needed to find to help them and how the chosen ones would help it to be prepared. She could sense there was something about the amulet Amelia hadn't told Sam yet, but she already trusted the goddess to have his best interests at heart.

Sam had showed Missouri and Amelia his list of people they had saved. It turned out to be a much shorter list than he had thought it would be when he started. There were so many he had never learned their names; or they had been killed after wards; or he or Dean had had to kill someone they loved or had basically destroyed their lives. And the list of those that never even knew what he and Dean had done for them was even longer. He had managed to put together a list of just over two dozen people. People that knew what Dean had done to save them; people that as far as he knew were still alive and even though their lives had been pretty badly shaken at the time, they hadn't been completely destroyed.

Of the people on his final list, he knew some had moved; hell, they had seen the Pikes of Oasis Plains loading the moving truck, and Susan and Tyler Thompson leaving the Pierpont Hotel in a cab. Missouri had scolded him about the swearing but hadn't threatened him with bodily harm, so he figured he got off easy. But there were others who had strong ties to their communities and he was sure they would still be in the same towns at least. There were a few kids on his list; a couple would be old enough now they had probably gone off to school. There were two boys, well they'd be teenagers by now, that Dean had done so much more than just saved their or their loved ones lives. If they could find Lucas Barr and Michael Sorenson, he knew they would do whatever was asked of them to save Dean.

Sam had tried to explain a couple of names 'were women Dean had known….'. 'Well, of course he knew them, so did you.' 'Not in the way Dean knew them, you know knew them.' 'What are you talking about, boy?' 'You know. He knew them,…in the biblical sense.' That exchange had garnered him a dirty look from Missouri but no scolding. Sam was actually kind of amazed by the fact Dean had so rarely mixed business and pleasure. He assumed there were probably more from the years Dean was hunting while he had been at school; but his brother hadn't written down a lot details in his journal. He had found a few details on the job he had done in New Orleans, just before he had come to Palo Alto to get him to help find their dad.

"It's good that you've included Jody Mills on your list. We liked her." Amelia had commented as she looked at his list. "But you've left off the best, our strongest connection to Dean." Sam stared at her, at a total loss for who she could be talking about. "Sam, it's you!"