They stopped at a rest stop about an hour away from black water ridge. The three of them got out of the Impala to scope around for a car for Sara to take. This wasn't on her list of items that she wanted to do in her life, but stealing a car seemed to be necessary at the time being. Sam and Dean stood watch as she hotwired an old looking blue dodge truck, hopping in when the engine sputtered to life. Dean had gotten a license plate off another car, switching the one on the truck while Sara gathered her things from the Impala.
After tossing her things into the passenger seat, she turned to the boys with a glum expression on her face.
"I'll see you guys soon. Please, please call me if you need anything at all. I'm always here." The boys nodded, and Sara hugged them both. First Sammy, giving him a reassuring squeeze and a soft pat on the back. Then Dean, the hug lasting longer than a normal one might've. She pulled back, her hands holding the front of his jacket. "I mean it. Anything."
"You, too," Sam said, his eyebrows furrowed but his lips pulled into a tight smile. Sara nodded, taking one last look at the boys before climbing into the truck and shutting the door. The boys didn't walk back to the Impala before she drove away, exhausted but ready to see her brother again.
"You think she'll be okay?" Sam looked at Dean, the question that stirred in both of their chests brought up.
"She's Sara. She'll be fine," Dean said, trying to reassure himself more than anyone. Sam nodded, leading the way back to the Impala.
They began to drive then, making their way to Black Water Ridge. Dean looked to the back seat every once and awhile, being reminded that Sara wasn't there anymore. The car was quiet, without the sound of her humming along to the music.
--
Sara picked up her phone and pressed on a contact named 'Avery' and held the device to her ear. It rang a few times, but then the call's recipient answered.
"Finally," it was a female voice, husky and exasperated. "Where are you?"
"Coming back to South Dakota. We can meet, I'll send you an address. I'll be there in five hours." Sara had been driving already for almost six hours, and exhaustion was pulling at her eyelids. But she had to get this over with.
"Okay, no flaking on me this time. You know what will happen."
Sara didn't reply, only shutting her phone with anxiety crawling around her chest. No music played in the car, a sort of punishment for herself for what she was doing. It was a painful drive, but she got to the address she sent Avery just after dark.
Avery was tall, slender, with long black hair and angular eyes. She wore a professional looking outfit, carrying a duffel bag over her shoulder. Sara compared herself for a moment to the put-together lady, looking down at her own low-rise baggy jeans and college sweatshirt she stole from Sammy.
Sara walked slowly to meet the taller woman, looking around cautiously.
"Aw, what? Afraid that I'm breaking our deal? And what's with the look? Very... I am Legend."
"Let's just get to it, okay?"
Avery shrugged, beckoning Sara to follow her with her finger. The two women walked into a warehouse, Sara wishing she had scoped the place out before giving Avery the address.
"Mm," Avery grunted, a disgusted look on her face. "When I told you secluded, I didn't mean rapey-murdery dungeon looking place."
"Beggars can't be choosers," Sara muttered, following closely behind Avery. The pair walked up to the middle of the space, Avery placing the duffle bag on the ground and motioning for Sara to sit. She did, reluctantly, and watched as Avery emptied the duffel bag and sat on it.
"This place is disgusting," she said, placing a goblet, a knife, and a few candles around her. Avery motioned for Sara's hand, and she obliged shakily. Avery seemed to notice her reluctance, and gave her a smirk. "You know, pretty thing, we could do away with this whole deal and you won't need to do this anymore."
Sara glared at her. "And let you run around killing people every time you need to contact big daddy bossman? No, thanks."
Avery shrugged, grasping Sara's fingers and cutting into the palm of her hand. Sara bit her lip, watching as the blood oozed from the wound and dripped into the goblet. It was a long bit of bleeding before Avery seemed satisfied, letting go of Sara's hand and waving her back. Sara clenched her fist to try to stop the blood, moving back so whoever Avery was communicating with wouldn't notice her presence.
Avery spoke into the goblet, but without hearing the other end of the conversation, Sara couldn't make head or tail of what the conversation meant. When the blood stopped gurgling, Avery stood and looked at it with disgust.
"Well?" Sara asked.
Avery looked up at her, as though just then remembering that she was there. "Satisfied."
"Good. So I'll be on my way then."
"Yes, fine. But Sara," she said, her eyes glinting. "Don't you go running off like that again, you won't like the consequences."
"Meaning?"
"I call, you come. That's our deal. Or I might just have to track down those precious boys of yours," Sara gulped, eyes becoming sharply focused. "Or better yet, I'll find where you've stashed your baby brother." Sara's eyes widened at that, never having told Avery that she had any kind of family that she could get to. Her heart was racing a mile a minute, and Avery smiled at the look of horror on her face. "Oh, don't worry, sweetheart. As long as I collect, I'll hold up my end of the bargain." She snapped her fingers, and Sara was suddenly back outside, next to the blue dodge truck that she had stolen.
She took a moment to catch her breath, clutching at her chest. After a second, she climbed into the car and began the rest of her drive to Bobby's in Sioux falls. She took many detours, making sure that she wasn't followed. What should've taken her thirty minutes took her closer to an hour and a half until she pulled into Bobby's place. She disconnected the wires that kept the car going, turning off the headlights and tightening a piece of one of her shirts around her hand.
She knocked on the door, breath coming out in a fog as she waited for it to open.
When it did open, Bobby looked down at her as laughter died on his face. "Sara, back so soon?"
"Yeah," she replied. "I can't miss Joey's birthday."
"Of course ya can't," he said, moving aside for her to enter. She looked around, spotting Joey looking at her from the couch.
"Hey, JJ!" He got up from the couch, walking briskly over to her and hugging her.
"Sar, I missed you!" She smiled, tears stinging her eyes.
"I missed you too, bud." Though Joey didn't, Bobby noticed the expression on her face. He decided to leave it for when the kid went to bed, though, fetching glasses from the kitchen.
Bobby walked over to the two siblings who were now catching up on the couch, handing Sara a glass of whiskey who took it gratefully. He glanced down at her hand, giving her a questioning look. "What happened there?" She looked down at her hand at the same time as Joey, who seemed to have just realized the makeshift bandage as well. He grabbed her hand, turning it over and his eyes widening to see blood staining the fabric.
"Oh, it's just 'cause I'm an idiot." Sara gently pulls her hand out of Joey's grasp, ruffling his hair. "Stopped for a bagel on my way here and I guess I got carried away cutting it open." She laughed, and Joey scoffed. Bobby, on the other hand, didn't look so convinced. Again, he didn't say anything for the time being.
Juno walked up just then, his whole body wiggling with his tail when he saw that Sara was there. She squealed in delight, rubbing his ears and planting a kiss on his snout. Joey turned on the television which played Courage the Cowardly Dog and put his head on his sister's shoulder. They watched for a while, Sara eventually telling him that it was about time for him to go to sleep. Joey trudged up the stairs, Juno in toe and Sara listened as the door clicked shut.
Bobby walked from the kitchen, bottle of whiskey in his hand. "So are you gonna tell me what's going on?"
Sara glanced at him, eyes tired and not in the mood for the conversation. "Bobby--"
"Am I gonna have to call the boys and tell them that there's somethin' going on that you won't tell me?"
"No," she sighed, trying to quickly come up with something to say. "Sam's girlfriend, Jessica... She died. And Sam watched. I just-- I feel so torn between being there and being here."
"Well, were they upset with you when you said you were leavin'?"
"No, no they weren't."
"Well, there ya have it. No hard feelings. But that's not what I'm talking about. There's something eating at you."
Sara took a deep breath. "I-- Look, Bobby. It's not that serious. I'll tell you all about it when I can, but I just can't right now. Please, believe me."
He paused, studying her face. "Yeah, I believe you. You never were good at lyin', girl." She chuckled, taking the bottle of whiskey from Bobby and pouring herself another glass. "You better get to sleep, too. You look like hell."
"Why does everyone keep saying that to me?"
"Well, you do. You need to start catching some z's before you collapse." He places his glass in the kitchen, heading toward the stairs. "Goodnight, try to get some sleep." Sara smiled at him, nodding and sitting back down on the couch. She sipped her whiskey and tapped away at her computer for a while. Then, she picked up her phone and wrote a text to Dean.
You awake?
Not even five seconds later, Dean's name lit up her phone and she answered.
"So I guess you are, huh?"
"Sara, what time is it there?"
"I think it's only like, an hour ahead. Why?"
"Because it's 3 am here."
"Oh shit, I'm sorry, did I wake you?"
"No, no," Dean sounded exasperated, like she wasn't getting the point. "When was the last time you slept?" Sara stayed quiet, sipping her whiskey and willing the anxiety in her chest to go away. After a few moments, Dean spoke again. "Are you okay?"
"I'm... I'm fine. I just wanted to check in on you guys. How's Sammy doing?"
She heard shuffling on the other end, like Dean was rolling over in his bed. "He's alright, I guess. Still having nightmares."
She picked at her lip, the worry becoming bigger. "Has he talked to you about it?"
"Not really. I'm hoping that he'll let it out eventually, though."
"Yeah. You tell him to call me, okay?"
"Okay."
"And Dean, how are you doing?"
"I'm good, just got rid of a nasty Wendigo."
"Damn."
"Yeah. Pretty gnarly stuff, but I'm glad it's over."
"Yeah, I'm glad you two are okay." She took another sip of her drink, looking at the time on her phone. "I guess I'll let you go, though, you need to sleep."
"Yeah, right back atcha, sunshine." She rolled her eyes, putting her glass down.
"Okay, Dean. Goodnight."
"Goodnight, Sara." She flipped her phone shut, pressing it to her forehead. She had hoped that hearing the sound of his voice would ease her anxieties, but it didn't. She spent the rest of the night cleaning around Bobby's, getting ready for her brother's birthday. She was blowing up balloons when the sun began to rise, and she paused for a minute to look out the window. She took a moment to breathe deeply, trying to go over the things she was grateful for in her head. This helped a little bit with her anxious feeling, and she began placing the presents in a stack on the coffee table with a small smile on her face.
After she was finished decorating, she rummaged through Bobby's cabinets for ingredients for pancakes. They were Joey's favorite, and she only made them every once and a while so they stayed special to him. Luckily for her, Bobby seemed to have all the ingredients necessary for her to make them. By the time she was actually cooking the pancakes, Bobby had gotten up and eyed Sara.
"Sleep well?"
"Yeah, great. How about you?"
He gave her a look, not believing a word she said. "I slept good. Want me to wake the boy?"
"Nah, we've got a tradition."
She piled the fresh pancakes onto a plate, slapping Bobby's hand away when he went to take one. "Just wait."
She walked as quietly as she could up the rickety stairs, opening Joey's door slowly. Bobby hung back, watching with amusement. Sara had a party hat in her hand, and when she cleared the doorway, she took a deep breath.
She began to sing happy birthday, loudly and horribly. Joey rolled over, covering his ears to dull the sound of her very off-key singing. Sarboldened by this, she walked closer, singing ever louder and flailing her arms about dramatically. Joey finally sat up, his eyes squinting in the morning light. She took this opportunity to plop the party hat on his head, finishing the song and looking down at him with a cheeky grin.
"Happy birthday, bud."
"Thanks, Sar," he replied through a yawn. Sara grabbed the younger boy's hand, pulling him from his warm bed and down the stairs. His eyes widened at the decorations, and the big pile of pancakes waiting for him on the table. He looked up at her, and she gave him a smile and pushed him toward the breakfast.
Sara and Bobby sat down on either side of Joey, sharing conversation while they ate. The rest of the day was filled with laughter, chatter, gift opening, and a lot of eating. Sara was over the moon to be celebrating with her brother and Bobby, but she couldn't help but worry about what the boys were getting up to. Dean mentioned fighting a wendigo, and a big part of her was jealous that they were there saving people while she was sneaking around and celebrating birthdays.
While Joey and Bobby were watching television, Sara stepped outside for a moment. She didn't want to bother him again, but she needed to tell him that she would be back soon.
The line rang for so long that Sara thought she would get his voice mail, but he did pick up.
"Hello?"
"Dean?"
"Hey, you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm good. Just finished opening gifts with Joey."
"Good, good. Did you guys have fun?"
"Yeah, I think he had a lot of fun. What are you guys up to?"
"Got another case. I think we've got it figured out."
"Okay, where? I'm gonna come help."
"What? Sara, you just got there."
"I know, but I'm going insane. I can't not help at this point. Do you have any leads on your dad?"
"Sara. We've got it under control. Don't worry about it."
"But Dean--"
"Sara, don't come. Stay with your brother. I gotta go." He hung up the phone, leaving Sara hurt and confused, her mouth agape. Tears came to her eyes then, going back to when she told him not to push her away again. She wasn't sure what she could've possibly done to make him not want her to go back.
Could he actually be angry at her for going to be with Joey for his birthday? He seemed so fine with it when she actually brought it up... She wiped the tears from her eyes and poked her head in the door to tell Bobby and Joey that she was gonna go for a drive. Before Bobby could stand and see what was going on, she was already in her truck and driving away.