Mute 𖤐 Sam Winchester

FIVE

Cole pierced Sam's injured arm with his hand, crushing it. Sam groaned in pain, staring up at Cole as he screamed.

"Shove it up your ass."

"Okay, okay. Okay. I guess it's time to crank up the volume, then."

Joyce continuously rubbed the zip-tie against the chair as Cole placed the head of his hammer against Sam's knee. "Right there."

Before anything, a phone went off. Cole peeled off his gloves as he exhaled.

"Ain't you lucky, boy?"

As Cole pulled his phone from his pocket, Joyce noticed something fall to the ground as he pulled the phone out. Cole answered the phone and walked away, speaking sweetly to whoever he chatted with.

Sam looked to Joyce, who had broke through her zip-tie as soon as their eyes met. Once Cole exited the barn, Joyce rocked forward and landed roughly on her hands and knees. She was still attached to the chair as she crawled across the ground, grabbing ahold of the keys. She hurried and cut her legs loose, hurrying towards Sam.

"Are you all right?"

Sam nodded as she cut through his restraints. "I'm okay."

Sam was taken by surprise as she gripped his chin, tilting his head up to examine his bloody face.

"I'm okay." He repeated himself, using a tone of reassurance. Sam stood from the chair and pulled the woman towards the opposite exit of the barn.

Joyce hurried across the property with Sam and they both started at a walking pace once they reached the main road.

"How's the arm?"

"It hurts." Sam said, pulling his phone from his pocket. "I'm calling Cass."

"Who?"

Sam held the phone to his ear. "You need to get to Beulah, North Dakota— now. Crowley and Dean were there. We got to pick up their trail. Cass, Dean's a demon. . . The mark, I guess it just messed him up. I don't know. Now, Cass, listen. I know you're not feeling so hot, but this is kind of an "all hands on deck" situation here, so. . ."

When Sam hung up, Joyce cut him off and signed again.

"Castiel, he's an angel." Sam explained to her. "And he's family."

"Is he going to help us?"

He nodded.

The two approached an old home, where an old truck sat on the property. Joyce took notice of the For Sale sign in the windshield, and she looked back at Sam.

Joyce stiffened. "Sam."
"It's the only thing we can do, Jay."

Joyce rose a brow at the new nickname, but she watched as Sam walked towards the driver's side.

"You're going to steal it?" She smacked the car to gain his attention.

"Look, I don't like it either, all right? But we have nothing else."

The woman shook her head in disbelief before walking around to his side of the car. She pulled the truck door open, bending down beneath the dash. Sam watched as she began fiddling with the wires.

"You know how to hot-wire a car?" Sam asked.

"I'm not completely useless, Sam."

Sam shook his head. "You're not at all."

The truck revved to life, and the man scoffed as she slid out and looked up at him. She wore a proud smile, placing her hands on her hips.

"Yeah, good job."

Joyce hurried to the other side of the truck and got in.

"All right, maybe we can find something on Dean— can you check while I drive?"

Sam handed his phone to her, and she pulled up the news. Joyce scrolled down the page to find something close to Dean's location.

Joyce snapped her fingers, and Sam turned his head.

He stared at the phone, glancing to the road once every second. He read the article, and he scoffed. "A strip club. Right."

"Dean really loves women."
"Yeah, you have no idea." Sam sighed. "Look, Joyce. I didn't realize how crazy this was all gonna be. If you want to head back and keep going on, you can—"

Sam stopped talking when Joyce placed her hand on his thigh, taking him by surprise. His eyes met hers, and she shook her head before giving a small smile while signing.

"You're stuck with me."

Sam took a deep breath as he nodded.