A/N: Set around the events of Ep 2.10 Hunted. I own nothing but my OCs, just playing in the Supernatural sandbox!

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"Hello!" Dean's voice answered, sounding desperate.

"Dean? It's Izzy, just calling to check in. Are you ok?"

"Izzy, hi. Um…" there was a pause, and Izzy walked anxiously into the family room where Travis was reading, mouthing 'Dean' at his inquisitive look and putting the phone on speaker just as Dean spoke again, "...no, I'm not really ok. My idiot brother took off, and I've been trying to track him down." She could hear the underlying fear in his voice, and shivered herself in response.

"I'm so sorry, honey. Did you boys have a fight?"

"A fight? No, not exactly…I told him something he didn't want to hear, and I think he decided he needed to look into it on his own."

"Dean, it's Travis. Do you need us to help look for him?"

"Travis, hey. No, thank you though. I finally had a contact tell me she'd talked to him and knew what city he's in. I know that kid, through and through, so it shouldn't be too hard to track him from there."

"What will you do when you find him?" Izzy enquired anxiously. There was hurt and anger in Dean's tone too. It said something about his state of mind that he was letting them hear all these layers, rather than masking them.

"Besides beat the crap out of him?" he snarked.

"Dean…" Travis gently reprimanded.

"What? He ditched me, in the dead of night no less, and now won't answer his phone? He deserves to be set straight, at the very least." They could hear Dean's long exhale, then he said in a more steady tone, "I'll make sure Sammy's ok first, and I promise to leave him mostly in one piece."

"Dean, you call us when you've found him, and I expect to talk to him too when you do, you hear me?" Izzy instructed.

"Yes ma'am."

"Ok. Take care, be safe, and find our boy."

"Will do."

Izzy stared at Travis as the call ended, fear and worry written all over her face. He drew her down into his lap and she snuggled into his chest. "Don't worry, Iz. That boy loves his brother more than life itself. He'll find him, and he'll be no more worse for wear when he's done."

"I know," she murmured into his chest, "But what on earth would have possessed Sam to leave Dean in the first place? He loves his brother just as much as he is loved…"

"He does, but sometimes that causes us to do foolish things, to shield our loved ones. I imagine he thought he was protecting Dean in some way…we won't know till they call us back."

"Well, till then I'll be praying Sam is safe and that Dean finds him quickly. And that those boys work out whatever's going on between them." Izzy murmured, Travis nodding in response.

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"Hey Izzy, it's Dean."

"Dean!" she cried, beckoning Travis over, "Tell me you found Sam - "

"Hey Izzy."

"Sam," she said, smiling broadly, "So good to hear your voice!"

"Yeah, you too." he said sheepishly. "How are you guys?"

"We're well," Travis interjected, "More importantly though, how are you boys doing?" They could almost hear them exchanging glances, and could definitely feel the lighter atmosphere in the call, which answered the question even before Sam did.

"We are good. Dean and I worked through some things, with the help of some others…" They could hear Dean's scoff of derision in the background, "...and we're good now. I'm sorry to have worried you."

"We're just glad you are both okay." Travis responded, emphasizing the both. He wanted Dean to understand he was as important to them as Sam was.

"Thanks for that," Dean responded, hearing the underlying concern and care loud and clear. "We have to hop off, got a stop to make, but wanted you to know I found the wayward child."

"Who you calling child, jerk?"

"If the shoe fits, bitch."

Izzy and Travis laughed, thankful that the boys seemed to be reunited and on the same page once more. "Be good and stay safe boys." Izzy said, wrapping up their call, "Love you both."

Sam glanced over at Dean as the call ended. He was glad to be back riding shotgun with Dean, and while he felt guilty for leaving him, he was not sorry the end result put them back on the same page. Now if he could only get rid of this unease in the pit of his stomach…picking the phone back up he tried Ava again, but it still went straight to voicemail.

"How far are we from Peoria?" he questioned, and Dean glanced over in concern, before pointing the car in that direction.