Chapter 23

After his little tantrum, Sam decided Amelia may be right. Charlie may not be their nursing mother; but she was a definite fourth person willing to help save Dean. That meant they were over half way there. They still had a full day to get to Canton and make contact with Jody. Canton was less than a half day's drive from Columbus. It didn't give them enough time to drive to Wisconsin to find either of the boys, well, young men now, he was sure would be willing to help. He told Amelia he thought he'd use the time to try calling them.

She asked him why he felt so strongly about these two boys. Sam thought about it; it was a valid question. It had been over six years since they had seen either of them. Years they would have grown from pre-teen boys, whose lives had been drastically interrupted, into young men on the threshold of their adult lives. How could he be sure they hadn't fallen victim to the normal trials and tribulations of adolescence? How could he be sure what had happened to them hadn't sent them down the wrong paths?

Sam told Amelia he knew these boys would help Dean because his brother had saved more than just their lives, he had shown them what a real man could do with his life; and it had nothing to do with breaking down doors, guns, vengeful spirits or shtrigas.

"Lucas Barr was a broken little boy when we arrived in Lake Manitoc, Wisconsin." Sam paused remembering seeing the pain in his little face. Amelia didn't ask for details, she'd let Sam tell his story in his own way and time. "He had been mute since seeing his father killed by the spirit, and was trapped in his mind with the horrible images of another young boy's murder. While we there, the spirit killed two more people and tried to kill his mother." He stopped, remembering the terror on Lucas' face, trying to tell them what was happening but unable to cry for help for his drowning mother.

"Dean was able to get through to him. Able to show him a hero wasn't the guy with the cocky grin and a gun, a hero was the guy who did what had to be done to save other people's lives.' He looked up at Amelia. "Lucas was talking, smiling and" Sam rolled his eyes and shook his head "listening to Led Zepplin when we left." He smiled at her and added. "According to the local paper, Lucas is a strong, healthy, well-liked young man. He's a living a good life and is going to do good things, and it's because of Dean Winchester." Sam's pride in his big brother was practically radiating out of him.

"And even though the rest of the world will never know how or why he overcame the trauma of his childhood, Lucas does. He won't help us out of sense of obligation; he knows we never expect to be repaid for what we do. He'll help us because we need him to and it's what Dean would do."

"And the other young man, Michael?" Amelia asked after a minute.

It took Sam a few minutes to find a way to start telling her that story. "He started out nothing like Lucas. Mike was a Dean junior; a self-confident smart-ass except with no bigger concerns than making sure his little brother didn't change the TV channel when he got up." She wasn't reading his mind, but she remembered seeing how close to home these boy's lives had been for Dean and Sam. And how personal it had been for Dean to stop this monster. And even now, she could see on Sam's face, how hard this job had been for the both of them. She sat silently and waited for him to go on.

"Our dad had sent us to Fitchburg because he had figured out it was the same shtirga that had almost got me when I was little kid. I didn't remember any of it, but Dean did." He stood, and paced back and forth, unable to sit still while retelling the story. "When the thing grabbed Mike's little brother; Dean became a man possessed. Mike was a reflection of himself, a devoted big brother who had failed in his only real purpose in life, to protect his brother." He sat down to face Amelia. "He wanted to use Mike as bait. I wasn't sure, but Dean knew. He knew Mike needed to do it, to be part of killing the thing that hurt his brother, to be part of saving his bratty kid brother." Only someone with such a devoted sibling could appreciate the love behind being called a brat by their older brother.

Amelia wasn't sure which she admired more from the recitations Sam had just finished. The true heroics of the man she was going to bring back or the absolute devotion of the man she already knew and loved. She had already known Dean and Sam had grown up saving the lives, the flesh and bone, the physical existences of all these people. Now she understood how they saved the lives, the heart and souls, the happiness and futures of so many of these people. Sam was right about these boys. And Cassie. And Jody. And she also knew they would find everyone they needed to activate Apsu's power and get Dean out of Purgatory. There was no way she was going to fail these boys.

X

It was lunch time when Sam finished sharing his thoughts about Mike and Lucas. Amelia wanted to go for a walk, to get something to eat and some fresh air on a sun-filled summer afternoon. Sam knew it wasn't smart to be parading around a large city, a state capital filled with all levels of law-enforcement, with his criminal history and Amelia's status as …..well, whatever. He knew she was too recognizable for her escape from Spokane and trek across the country, to just go get some fresh air. They had been lucky so far that she hadn't been spotted at any of the stops they had made.

But, it did give him an idea. He told her to stay put for an hour and he'd bring back lunch. She knew there was something he was hiding, just from his goofy expression. She had promised to not routinely read his mind, but she wanted to, really wanted to. She was not used to being surprised and really didn't like it much.

Sam had been gone about an hour and a half and Amelia was starting to be concerned. She knew if he was in trouble she would sense it. She was debating trying to sense his whereabouts when there was a light knock on the door.

"It's me, open the door." Sam's voice called quietly from outside.

Amelia knew he had taken his key this time and quickly wondered why he couldn't open the door. She unlocked and opened the door to find Sam standing there with his arms loaded with bags. She stepped back, letting him into the room. She was hungry and could smell the food. She could also smell…. the scents of several other people.

"You must have had to wait with a lot of other people. I can smell at least ten others on…." She paused and took a couple of sniffs. "Wait, the scents aren't on you, they're coming from those bags."

Sam had sat the bags down while she was talking. A smaller paper bag with the food was on the table, the other, larger plastic bags he had put on her bed. He opened the first bag and pulled out a shirt and pair of jeans. "I know you don't care about clothes, but you need more than that one dress. I hope these fit."

"You bought me clothes?" Amelia said quietly, looking between Sam and the items he was displaying.

"Yeah." He put the pieces he was holding down and reached into the bag and pulled out a pair of sneakers. "And some practical shoes. Those thongs won't be very helpful if we ever have to 'make a run for it'." He sat the shoes down and was reaching for the other bag.

"Stop." She said even quieter than her last statement. Sam turned to look at her, and saw an unreadable expression on her face.

"What's wrong?"