A/n: I'd like to thank everyone who reads, reviews, follows, and/or favorites thus story. Special thank you to hectatess, SparksFlyAngel, mckydstarlight, Guest, LilyBolt, and 14fox for their recent reviews and continuous support.

Chapter 20

Dean's sleep was interrupted by the sound of someone's fist pounding on his door. He groaned and twisted his upper body so that he could read the glowing green numbers on the motel alarm clock. It read 2:10 with no green light, which indicated it was AM. With eyes half closed, he clicked on the light next to his bed, threw back the sheets, and padded over to answer.

"S'mmy," he mumbled perplexed. "'S wrong?"

"There's something you need to see. C'mon."

Picking up on the urgency in his sibling's voice and his energy level seemingly high for two in the morning, Dean followed his brother back to his room. "By any chance, do you have a light?"

"Uh...just my phone, why?"

"You're going to need it."

The elder brother flipped his phone up and Sam let them in with his key. Instinctively, Dean flicked the switch. Nothing happened. "What the-?"

"Over here." Dean directed his cell in front of him as he moved to stand nice to his brother further into the room. The light wasn't much, but it was enough to see what his sibling had been so eager to show him.

Bourbon had soaked into the motel carpet, leaving a dark stain surrounded by what was left of the bottle while the motel chair was still laying with Sam's phone trapped underneath it. Glass glistened as the light from Dean's phone glided over the shards that laid in piles on the floor.

"You ok?" He asked, now awake enough to notice the red line across Sam's face as he shone it over him.

"I'm fine."

"What the hell happened here?" The twenty-six year old's eyes were wide as he looked around the room some more.

"I-I was talking on the phone and then...the Bourbon it-it flew at the wall," Sam explained.

"By itself?" The younger brother nodded. "And the lights?"

"I don't know. They just...blew out."

"All of them?" Dean asked incredulously.

"Yeah."

They stood in silence as the elder brother continued to move the light around the room, carefully stepping around the glass as he made his way into the bathroom where more pieces sat in heaps on the floor.

"Jessica was here, wasn't she?" He asked returning to his sibling.

"She didn't mean to Dean," Sam quickly responded, his voice pleading.

"This is exactly what that Robert guy was talking about."

The younger brother's eyes began to shine with tears. "I know, I just...I can't lose her."

"Sammy," Dean's voice was gentle and calm. "She's gone. You already lost her, and the longer you keep her here, the more you're going to lose her." His expression grew soft, "I'm sorry man, but there's nothing anyone can do. You've gotta let her go."

"We don't know that for sure. If things like this really do exist, then there has to be some way to bring her back."

"Sam-"

"I'll call Robert, maybe he-"

"He already told you what you need to do. You just don't like the answer."

"We never asked about this though. It's possible that there's some kind of...I don't know...magic or something." Sam bent down to retrieve his phone from under the chair, with a huff he looked back at his brother. "It's dead."

The elder man handed his sibling his phone and Sam pulled out the card he had been given weeks ago. He dialed the hunter's number.

"Agent Willis," the man bellowed after a few rings.

"Robert, it's Sam again."

"Sam? It's before the butt cracka dawn boy, why're-"

"You said there's such thing as ghosts and ghouls and vampires and stuff. Does magic exist too then?"

The man on the other side sighed deeply into the phone. "Yes, magic's real. But there's nothin' out there that can help you with yer wife and even if there was, magic like that don't come without a price. And a big one at that. That's dark magic and it isn't meant to be fooled with. Besides, there's no body fer her to return to."

"I'll do whatever it takes. Please."

"Now you're talkin' like an idjit. I don't mean a slap on the wrist, boy. I'm talkin' death more'n likely."

"Look, I'm going to find a way. With or without help."

Robert exhaled. "Ok. I'm no longer in California though. Headed back home in Sioux Falls."

"Sioux Falls? South Dakota?"

"Yeah."

"I can meet you there, or somewhere there if you'd rather I don't come to your house directly."

"Alright, grab a pen and paper." Sam began to spin around looking for something to write on and a utensil to write with. Dean seeing his reaction began to do the same, using the dim light of his phone to find a receipt on the table and a pen by the motel room phone. He handed them to his brother and Sam got to work writing down the address.

"Thank you Robert, I'm on my way. See you soon."

The younger man ended the call on his sibling's phone and handed it back to him.

"So?"

"How do you feel about a road trip to South Dakota?"

"South Dakota?!"

"It's only a two days drive from here. Knowing you it'll be one."

"Did you forget we aren't allowed to leave town?"

"You were going to," Sam reminded his sibling. "Besides, who would think of looking for us there? I don't know anyone, do you?"

"You mean other than this guy who pretended to be FBI?" Dean shot back sarcastically.

"He has answers. Maybe not all of them, and maybe not who Jessica's killer is, but he knows something," Sam insisted. Dean shook his head.

"I don't know Sam, this doesn't sit right with me."

"Well I'm going."

"Alright just, hold on there, Tonto. If we're skipping town, we need a game plan first. Otherwise we're going to end up right back in those holding cells."

Sam nodded in agreement to his brother's words.

"We need cash. It's the only form of payment that's not traceable. I'll pull some today at the bank here in Palo Alto. I can't pull too much or else it may spark suspicion. We're going to need gas. We have to careful about cameras. I'm not sure they'll be checking for that with us, but better safe than sorry. If they see us a few States over, we're fucked," the younger brother explained.

The room fell silent. It was clear to Dean that his little brother was going to stop at nothing till he found out more about his wife, even if it meant possibly risking the chances of getting caught.

No one knew exactly what the reason was for killing Jessica nor what they had in mind next. Not to mention, they could be doing all this, and it really could have just been an accident. Of course, his little brother was hell bent that it was a murder and he knew that even suggesting it could have been a gas leak or something, would only start another fight.

"Alright so the plan is grub, gas, and go?"

"And cash. I figure we should probably grab some cash, hit up the gas station, get gas and maybe some snacks and drinks to tie us over, and then leave."

"And there's nothing I can do or say that would convince you that this is a stupid idea and has a good chance of ending badly?" Dean asked trying not to sound too hopeful.

"If you don't want to go, then don't. But I told you, I'm going."

"And how would you get there without me when I have the car?"

Sam shrugged, "I'd hitchhike."

"Like hell you would." The brothers stared at one another in silence before the elder huffed and rubbed at his eyes. "Ok. Fine. Just let me call mom first." The older man raised his cell to scroll through the names, but before he could press send, it was snatched from him. He looked dumbfounded from his hand to Sam. "The fuck, dude?"

"We can't tell Mom about this," he insisted, pocketing his sibling's phone.

"She's our Mom, Sam. She deserves to know what's going on. She'd be pissed if she found out and we didn't tell her and you know as well as I do, Mom always finds out anyways. Besides, she's already worried about you."

"It's not safe," Sam countered.

Dean furrowed his brow and scoffed. "Not safe? What you think they'll find out we skipped town and go and interrogate Mom for our whereabouts?"

"They wouldn't interrogate her per say, but she'd be aiding us in fleeing. Sorta like an accomplice."

"You watch way too many movies."

"Look, let's just get there and find out a bit more before sounding the mom alarm. Alright? If we say something now, she'll worry about us."

"It's a little late for that. And, if she found out you went off alone, she'd be beside herself," Dean added. The younger brother's eyes shot over to him and he had a shocked expression on his face. "That's right, I heard you when you were on the phone with Mom nights back. You're only putting up with me because: one, I have wheels and you need to get around and two, you know Mom would blow a gasket if she found out you were out being stupid alone."

"That's not true Dean," Sam shot back. "I don't need you because of your 'wheels' and maybe Mom would be upset if I was off alone, but she wouldn't be any happier if she knew we were both being stupid together. So, for now, let's just leave her out of this. Ok?"

"If it's not for the ride, and you're right Mom'd be pissed either way...why do you want me to come with you?" Dean asked. "I mean you haven't stopped ripping into me since I showed up to see you and let's face it, you weren't exactly thrilled to see me. Not to mention only a couple of hours ago you told me to 'get out of your life,'" the older brother tried to keep his voice as neutral as possible as he spoke. He lost his sibling's eyes for a quick second as they sat in silence, then were met with them once again.

"Look, all I'm saying is this. If you want to help me with this, fine. If you don't want to, that's fine too."

Dean nodded. "You say that like I've got a choice," he scoffed. "Alright, I'm in."

A/n: SparksFlyAngel: Lol! I'm glad you enjoyed the last post, I hope you like this one too. Thank you as always for reading and reviewing. I really appreciate and look forward to hearing from you.

Guest: You got it! I'm so glad you're eager to read more! Of course Dean's not going anywhere, Sam needs him even if he doesn't think he does. Yep, now it's time to deal with Jess before she gets completely out of control. Thank you for reading and reviewing! I always am excited to see what you think.