The months following Sam's leaving were rough, to say the least. John was more pissed off than usual. He was typically never in the best attitude and gave as crap about a lot, but this was even worse. He would lash out at Dean when a hunt would go wrong and I would typically have to separate them when I began to worry for Dean's safety. All this blame put on him didn't help his problems with self-hatred. He believed John when he said it was his fault for the hunt going wrong, even though I constantly assured him that half the time it was John's drunk self that screwed it up. Dean would never admit how much he was hurting, of course, he thought he deserved it. But, I could see it.
Sam sometimes called; I could see a glimmer of happiness in Dean's eyes when he did. It was obvious how much he missed him. We both did. Sam's calls would always cheer me up as well. He talked about how fun Stanford was and how much there was to do. He talked about this girl Jess a lot who he insisted was just a friend. But, Dean and I agreed that Sam didn't think of her as just a friend. When, John wasn't around, Dean would sometimes let himself hang loose. It was usually when he was drunk, but I took would I could get. He would dance on the table and sing while I giggled and applauded him. But, when John was around, he had to be a perfect little soldier.
It was about four years later when John left for a hunt, promising to be back in a night or two. Only he didn't come back. Dean and I didn't start to really worry until it had been four days and he wouldn't answer any of his calls.
"Damn it!" Dean cursed as another one of his calls went to voicemail. "Where could he be?!" Dean asked. I shrugged.
"I don't know, maybe the hunt is just taking longer than expected?" I attempted to calm down my brother. It didn't work though, I realized, as Dean began to shake his head.
"No, no he's never this late and he always calls every night. He hasn't called in three days!" Dean exclaimed, beginning to dial again. I stood up and swiftly made my way to my brother.
"Dean, hey! Look, I'm worried, too. But, there's not much we can do but call and that doesn't seem to be helping us out much," I said, holding Dean's hands in mine. Dean pulled his hands out of mine and start to pace.
"No, we have to do something. We can't just do nothing." Dean continued to pace, mumbling to himself slightly. I soon sat down as I realized there was no getting through to him. After a few minutes, Dean stopped and looked over at me. "We need to get Sammy." I shook my head.
"No, Dean, that's a bad idea," I argued, while standing up and walking over to my brother.
"No, Kate, it's not," Dean said sternly. I opened my mouth to argue but Dean was quick to cut me off. "He may not be the man's biggest fan, but he's our dad. He'll help."
"Dean, he made it pretty clear he wanted nothing to do with John, or with hunting." Dean looked confused.
"Who said anything about hunting?" I gave him a 'come on' expression.
"C'mon, Dean, you don't think that dumb, do you? You won't let him go back to Stanford after you get him back. You'll want to continue hunting with him-"
"Don't tell me you don't," Dean interrupted me.
"Of course, I do! But, that's not what he wants," I said.
"Correction: he doesn't want to hunt with dad. Come on, Kate. Don't you want to see him again?" Dean asked, begging with his eyes.
"If you're trying to do Sam's puppy dog eyes it's not working," I said, a small smile on my face. The thought of seeing Sam again did bring a smile to my face and I knew he would be happy to see us again. Dean saw the smile and continued to mock Sam's puppy dog eyes. I stood my ground for for a few seconds, but I soon broke under the pressure and sighed. "Fine!" A smile spread to Dean's face and he threw his fist in the air. "But, we bring him back to Stanford if that's what he wants!" I interrupted his celebrating.Dean continued to smile and gave me a large hug. I groaned as I instantly struggled to breathe.
"Okay, Dean. Can't...breathe," I choked out and Dean instantly pulled back, the smile never leaving his face.
"We're gonna see Sammy," Dean said as if he couldn't believe it. I smiled largely as well.
"We're gonna see Sammy."
