This chapter is dedicated to theblkdahlia666. Thanks for giving me the motivation to keep writing.

I do not own Supernatural or any of the characters found there in. Alex and the Mayfair mythology are my own.

Chapter 8

Speaking to Alex had been both a relief and a source of frustration for Sam. Hearing her voice meant she was okay. She was still alive somewhere making trouble for anything that went bump in the night. That thought brought a smile to his face, and that smile brought more guilt.

Sam had to figure out what he really felt for Alex. The only way to do that would be to see Amelia again. He spent a few days debating what to do before packing a bag and setting out for the little Texas town he thought he'd left behind for good, and the woman he knew for sure he loved.

Plaza Towers Elementary was one of the nicest elementary schools Alex had ever seen. It was leaps and bounds ahead of the dumps she had gone to when she was hopping from home to home. Sadly the shiny new building had attracted more than just students and teachers.

The media had been pretty silent about the random happenings in and around the school, but Alex still managed to see police reports about the teachers being found assaulting students in one corner of the facility while teaching class at the other. Local police didn't know what to think of it so no charges had been brought. A few teachers still ended up resigning after a few parent groups threatened to take out a lawsuit against the school district.

Due to the assaults, security had become a lot tighter around the school making it much harder for Alex to investigate. Hence the hairnet she found herself wearing while scooping mashed potatoes onto lunch trays and trying to watch for anything unusual. This was going to get boring fast.

Turning the corner into the little community made his heart race. Sam hadn't planned on seeing this place again, but he was happy he came the moment the little house came into view. He pulled into the driveway and brought the car to a complete stop before shifting into park. His grip on the steering wheel suddenly tightened into a white-knuckled vice.

For a moment, Sam just stood staring at the door seriously considered turning the car around and driving back to the motel. He still had a key, but he didn't feel he had the right to use it anymore. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. I have to do this. He raised his hand to knock once more when the door suddenly opened.

Amelia stood there completely dumbfounded. "Sam?"

He gave her a nervous smile. "Yeah. It's me."

"What are you doing here?" She wrapped her arms around herself in a protective gesture as she took in the man in front of her.

"I – I wanted to see you."

She just nodded. "Well, you've seen me. Now what?"

Sam sighed as he ran a hand through is hair. He couldn't say that he was horribly surprised by her reaction. "I know I didn't exactly give you an explanation for leaving, but..." She cut him off.

"Didn't exactly give me and explanation? Sam, you didn't give me anything. You left in the middle of the night and left me a stupid note saying that you got a phone call and had to leave for a few days. That was months ago. I didn't know where you were or if you were even alive."

Her ranting was starting to attract attention. Sam looked around uncomfortably for a moment. Amelia, noticing the unwanted attention they were drawing.

"Look," said Sam. "Can't I just… come inside for a minute while we talk about this?"

Reluctantly, Amelia stepped aside and let Sam enter the home they had once shared.

Sam gratefully took the beer she offered him as he sat pensively on the couch. "Thanks." He took a sip from the bottle and tried to gather his thoughts.

Amelia took a seat of the opposite side of the couch and turned to face him. She drew her knees up until her feet were resting on the cushion in front of her, forming a wall between her and the man in front of her. The silence seemed to stretch on forever as she studied his face. He never turned to look at her. He just kept sipping his beer and looking down at his feet.

"So," Amelia finally said when she had her fill of the silence, "are we going to talk about why you left or are we going to just sit here in silence all day?"

Sam chuckled slightly, the corner of his mouth turning upward as he glanced over at her. "Yeah, I guess we should probably talk about it."

"Well, I'm listening."

Taking a moment to amass his strength, Sam turned towards Amelia and began telling her about the phone call from his brother that changed everything. He had once told her about losing Dean and Alex's disappearance. Something about the way he described everything to her made her believe that Dean had been a soldier that never made it home. She was shocked to hear that Dean had magically returned, but was even more surprised when Sam told her that Alex had been with him.

"I didn't know she was there," said Sam as he once again found himself looking of into the distance and then down at his folded hands. "When I got the call from someone claiming to be Dean, I thought it was a hoax. I'd planned on just going up there and checking it out for a few days before coming home. Then I saw him. I suddenly had my brother back, and then…"

"And then Alex walked in the door." Sam nodded. He could not trust his voice to keep from breaking under the emotion of the memory. "And now what? You're… going back to her?" Sam shook his head again.

"Things are different now, Amelia. I gave up on her." He met her gaze. "I found you. I love you, Amelia. That's why I came back here. I couldn't just walk away without…"

She cut him off. "Without saying goodbye."

"No it's not that. It's just…" She held up a hand to stop him.

"Sam, I remember all the stories you told me about her. When we first met and I asked you about the woman that had left you so broken, I saw how much you missed her. Now she's back. That doesn't leave a place for me anymore."

Sam moved towards her and took her hand in both of his. "Amelia that's not it at all. I love you."

"I know you do, Sam. I love you too. The question is, do you still love her?" He swallowed thickly and he pondered her words. She asked him again. "Do you love her?"

"I don't know." She gave him a questioning look that caused him to throw himself back against the cushions in frustration. "I guess I do. I'm not sure."

"You're not sure?"

He wasn't sure how to explain what he felt to her. How could he explain something that he didn't completely understand himself? He started rambling as he tried to process his thoughts. He spoke of remembering being terrified of being separated from her and feeling like he needed her there to survive. Now when he looks at her, he still feels for her. It's just not the same anymore.

"What about when you look at me?" Amelia asked. "Do you feel that way when you look at me?" There was a pause that spoke louder than any words ever could. She began to nod. "Okay then."

"Okay?"

"Yeah. Okay, Sam."

"I-I don't understand."

"You may not know what you feel for Alex anymore, but you know that you don't feel for me the way you did for her. That's all there is to it."

"But.."

"No, Sam. No buts. When we started this, I knew what I was getting into." She chuckled. "Okay maybe not all of it. I don't know what it is you actually do or how you ended up here, but I knew that I was playing second fiddle to a memory. Now she's not just a memory anymore. I get it."

There was no malice in her voice as she spoke. Amelia truly did understand. A love like the one Sam had once described to her only comes along once in a lifetime if you're lucky. There was no way she would ask someone to give that up.

"But I chose you," Sam said. "Alex left and I didn't go after her. I came back for you."

She gave him a sad smile. "I know you Sam. You may think you're choosing me, but I'll always come second to her. The minute she needs you you'll be gone. That's just the way it is. I'm not upset, Sam. Really. I'm just not sure I could watch you walk away again when she calls."

Sam watched in complete befuddlement as she turned and walked away. Everything she said made since. There was just one thing he wasn't sure about. Would she ever actually need him again?

School food was even worse now than when she was a kid, if that's even possible. She wasn't sure what she was trying to pass off as food to those kids. All she knew was that there was no way in hell she was going to eat it.

Once all the kids had been fed and were back in class, Alex set off to investigate the building. The EMF hadn't gone off once as she worked her way through the building. Not even when there had been another incident. It was frustrating to say the least.

Lucky for her, there had been a security camera in the area this time. She waited until dark and used her key to gain entrance to the building. Alex took special care to avoid the cameras as she made her way to the room that held the monitors. It was going on three hours of sorting through footage. Then she found it.

One of the janitors was going after a child. Just as he turned the corner to follow the boy, he looked back in the direction of the camera and his eyes flashed. Alex paused the footage and sat up straight. Shifter, she thought. I'm gunna need some help with this one.

The stress of everything was starting to get to Sam. His muscles were so tight that he could barely turn his head. He rubbed at the back of his neck in search of relief as he thought about his conversation with Amelia. He'd come here to get some clarity. Instead he found himself in need of even more answers.

The two of them had spent a fair amount of time together over the last few days. She said she was willing to try but, he could tell that she was keeping him at arm's length. He couldn't blame her, not after how he'd left. He just hoped that they could make a final go of things.

The sound of knocking drew him from his thoughts. He ran his hands through his disheveled hair as he made his way to the door. He jerked back in shock when he saw who was standing outside.

"Dean," he said as he opened the door. "What are you doing here?"

"Good to see you too, Sammy." He gestured to the Impala parked in the lot behind him. "Now come on. Get your things. We've gotta hit the road."

"What? No. Dean, I'm not going anywhere." Sam really shouldn't have been that surprised that his brother tracked him down. There wasn't much either of them could hide from the other. What caught him off guard was that Dean had just assumed he was leaving. He didn't have a reason to. "I'm trying to get my life back. Whatever it is you can call Alex. I'm sure the two of you can take care of it together."

"You see that's the problem, Sam. The issue is Alex."

Sam's face fell. "What?"

His heart stuttered in it's rhythm at the thought of her being in trouble. It scared him more than he thought it would.

"She called. She's hunting a shifter that's going after kids in Oklahoma and she needs our help. If we hit the road now we can be there by 3. Come on."

It took Dean a moment to realize that Sam wasn't following him. He turned to tell him to get the led out and found his younger brother standing in the motel room doorway scowling. He could practically see the tempest raging in his mind.

Sam could feel himself being torn. He wanted to fix things with Amelia and live a normal life, but the instant Dean had said Alex needed him he felt the urge to drop everything and run to her. In that instant Sam knew the answer to the question Amelia had asked him. He would always come running when she called. There may not be anything between them anymore, but he could never turn his back on her.

He knocked on the door with a heavy heart while Dean waited for him at the curb. Amelia answered the door, took one look at Sam and knew why he was there.

"You're leaving again." It wasn't a question. Just an observation.

He nodded. "Alex needs our help. I should be back in a few days."

The moment she heard her name, Amelia knew that their time together was over for good.

"No you won't Sam." He looked confused. "I don't want you to come back. You owe it to the both of you to see what happens." He started to interject, but the shake of her head told him there was no point. "You owe it to yourself to see where it goes. She'll forgive you Sam. If she loves you the way I think she does, she will. Just give it some time."

He just clenched his jaw and nodded. Without ever voicing it, she had discovered his deepest fear when it came to his relationship with Alex. A fear he hadn't even wanted to admit to himself. It was that fear that had been holding him back all along.

Sam gave her a tight smile. "Take care of yourself okay?"

Amelia did her best to smile and keep herself together and she pulled him into a hug. "I will." The tears were barely contained as she watched him walk to the car and the man she assumed was his brother. She smiled brightly and waived when he turned to her one last time. He gave her a small waive before getting into the car and disappearing from her life forever.

"Son of a bitch," Dean said as he struggled to see through the torrential rain and hail pummeling his baby. "We've got to pull in somewhere. I can't drive in this."

They could just barely make out the light of the inn sign up ahead. They quickly exited and pulled into the parking lot. They had just dashed into the office when the tornado sirens began to sound. The man behind the counter quickly motioned them into the back to take shelter.

Ten minutes later they came out of hiding and turned on the news. There was a wide path of destruction only a few miles away in Moore. An EF5 tornado had cut a path through the heart of the town. Sam quickly grabbed his phone and tried to call Alex, but nothing would go through. He tried to text her. Still nothing. There was no way to get through to anyone.

"It took out the cell towers," he said as he walked back towards his brother and the manager watching the television. He watched the color drain from his brother's face as he watched the screen.

The newscaster was talking over live footage of what had once been a school. Early reports said that all of the students and faculty were still trapped inside. No word yet on casualties. The name on the screen seemed familiar, but Sam couldn't place it.

Dean grabbed Sam's collar and moved towards the door. "We gotta go."

Sam followed. "Dean's what going on?" he asked in confusion.

"That school," Dean began.

Sam nodded as he got into the passenger side of the Impala. "Yeah."

"That's where we were supposed to meet Alex."

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