A/N; I actually wrote this first, before the concept morphed into my story No Room in the Inn. I decided to go ahead and post this conversation anyway, as a slightly different version of the aftermath from Ep 2.07 The Usual Suspects.

–-SPN–SPN–SPN–SPN–SPN–

"Hello?"

"Hi Izzy. It's Sam."

"Sam! So good to hear your voice! How are you honey? How's Dean?"

"Good…we're good…Dean's good." The tone was upbeat, but Izzy's mom-senses were tingling. She waited, the silence stretching until she checked her phone to see if they had been cut off.

"Sam?"

"Uh…we had a close call recently, and Dean…I almost wasn't in time…" Izzy stood still in the middle of the kitchen, just waiting. He had said they were good, so she wasn't worried that he was calling with bad news. Rather she suspected - having observed this firsthand - that Dean was completely ignoring the emotional fallout to whatever the boys had just experienced, and Sam was flailing as a result. Izzy looked up as Travis entered the kitchen and mouthed 'Sam' at him. He immediately came closer, wrapping his arms around her as she put the phone on speaker.

"He's ok though?" she confirmed.

"Yeah."

"But you're not." she stated softly.

"Yeah. I mean, I am, it's just…" he huffed a sigh, and she could picture him rubbing his face in frustration.

"Let me hazard a guess. You're trying to work through the residual emotions from your experience, and Dean's acting like nothing happened. Am I close?" Sam's chuckle answered for him. "Tell me about it then." she said. Her request was met with more silence, which stretched long enough they thought he wasn't going to answer.

"Hey Sam, it's Travis. Where's Dean at the moment?"

"Um, he decided to check out the local nightlife." Travis and Izzy exchanged a glance, hearing what wasn't said - he was annoyed with me and needed a break.

"So you can say what's on your mind freely." Travis encouraged him, "It's ok if you don't feel you can answer fully, but I want you to know we're safe to talk to. We know you and Dean don't work a traditional job…more likely it's something outside the law if I had to hazard a guess. We also know you're good men. You can trust us."

There was another long silence, but then they heard a sigh and the squeak of bedsprings as Sam settled back and finally began to talk. "Thank you Travis, for your trust in us. That means a lot. Not to get into specifics, but we were doing a job in a town, and ran into some trouble with the local authorities. We genuinely hadn't done anything wrong, but apparently Dean was the perfect patsy to frame for the crimes…murder...committed, as we later discovered, by a crooked cop. That same cop took off with Dean, claiming to be transferring him but actually taking him intending to kill him and stage it to look like a botched escape attempt…"

Travis and Izzy stared at one another in horror, picturing the situation and the fear the boys must have both felt. Sam continued, "Thankfully the cop's partner and I figured out what he had done and where he had gone with Dean. We got there in time, barely. It was touch and go for a bit, but we escaped, and we're both ok."

"Sam…" Izzy started, but then looked over at her husband, at a loss at how to respond. He shook his head, not having any better idea. This was nothing like they had ever dealt with before. All of a sudden a thought occurred to her, "Sam, are the police hunting you?"

"No." he replied quickly. "Thankfully, the good cop knew the whole truth, and she was going to be able to explain it all so that it was clear we had no hand in the crime and were in fact simply bystanders that were swept up in the mess. Of course, we didn't stick around for the fallout, but we should be in the clear." He hesitated, then added, "There are some charges from before that are still in the system…can't really explain those other than to say we're not the bad guys…but nothing that should make them actively pursue us."

"Good." she said firmly. "Good."

"I just wish Dean would understand…" Sam started, and they could hear the springs as he rose, picturing him beginning to pace. "I wish he'd understand how devastated I would be if he died. He walks around like his life is worth nothing...throws himself into danger without a thought…"

"Sam." Izzy could tell he was working himself up and tried to cut through the anger and hurt she could hear in his voice. "Sam, honey, listen."

A deep breath. "Listening."

"Tell me this, did Dean jump into danger this time?"

Pause, then a slow, "No, but -."

"So it's not really his lack of caution that you're worked up about. Right?"

Sigh, then silence.

"Sam?"

"No, none of this was Dean's fault."

"So maybe the real reason you're upset is simply because you came close to losing your brother, and that - rightfully so - terrifies you."

"I can't…I mean…" came the stammered, broken reply, "I can't lose him, Izzy. I just can't. We lost Mom, then Dad. I lost my girlfriend…" Izzy glanced over at Travis, heart contracting painfully for him. She hadn't known about Sam's girlfriend, although from the nod Travis gave her he apparently did. Sam continued, "He's all I have left. And you're right, none of this past situation was his fault. But he takes insane risks with his life, and I can't make him see that his life is just as important to me as mine is to him."

"Have you told him this?" she questioned softly.

"We…we don't share feelings. 'No chick-flick moments' he'll say if I even try." His tone was almost bitter.

Travis finally spoke up, "Sam, I'm so sorry that you boys were in this situation, and that it was such a close call. I understand your fears, I do. We can't control what others do and say, just what we ourselves do. You need to take a breath and acknowledge that you are both okay right now, at this moment. Release the what-might-have-happened scenarios, the what-ifs will only make you crazy."

He smiled at Izzy as they heard Sam's deep breath in response to Travis' coaching. "Yeah." he said softly, "You're right."

"Son, one more thing. You can't change how Dean is going to respond. He is hard-wired to be a protector, I saw it the moment I met you boys. All you can do is find ways to show him how much you care, in ways you know he will receive it. I think he hears it more than you know."

"Thanks, both of you. It really helps to have someone to talk to about these things."

"We're always just a quick phone call away, honey." Izzy replied warmly, "Hug your brother for me."

"And risk getting punched?" Sam snarked back, sounding much lighter than he had at the beginning of the conversation.

"At least I didn't ask you to give him a kiss for me!" They all laughed at that, then said their farewells.

"Oh, my heart! Those boys…" Izzy hugged Travis tight, "Did we help him at all, do you think?"

"I do." came the reply, "He needed a listening ear more than anything. We can do that."

"Yes, yes we can." Offering a swift prayer up on behalf of these brothers so firmly embedded in their hearts, Travis and Izzy embraced once more, then set about continuing with their day.