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By the time the two siblings were only an hour out from Palo Alto, Mallory thought she was going to lose her shit from being cooped up in the car for so long. Other than the occasional bathroom break and drive-thru stop, they had been driving nonstop to Stanford. Dean had bitched at her at least ten times for propping her feet on the dash but she had told him they were either going on the dashboard or in his face because she needed to stretch out. It had been growing dark out by the time Mallory had finally fallen asleep, arms folded protectively over her chest as she leaned her head against the window the way she used to when they were children. She was roused a couple of hours later when she heard voices from outside the vehicle.
"Alright, now where the hell did I put that thing?"
Mallory lifted her head from the window, scrubbing the sleep from her eyes and glancing into the rearview mirror. The trunk was open and she could barely see Dean over the top of it.
"Why didn't you go with Dad when he left?"
Mallory's heart lifted a bit. The voice was muffled due to the car doors between them but she'd know that voice anywhere. She pushed open the passenger door and stepped out, pulling her coat tighter around her when the biting autumn air swept over her.
Sam Winchester's face poked from around the edge of the car when he heard the door shut, his eyes widening a bit when he saw his big sister was awake. "Mal," he smiled softly.
"Hey, kiddo," the elder brunette murmured, pulling him into her arms. He was taller than her now, but her grip was forever protective when she held him. "Good to see you," she leaned onto her toes, tugging his head down so she could kiss his forehead. "How's school?"
"Good. I uh, got the interview I told you about."
"Oh yeah?" Mallory grinned. "See? What'd I tell you? I knew you would."
Dean frowned. "When was the last time you two talked?"
"Uh, maybe a week ago," Sam murmured, rubbing the back of his neck, almost guiltily. It was no secret that Sam and Mallory kept in touch far more with each other than they did with Dean. They tried, they really did, but trying to keep up with him was like pulling teeth with as much as he and their father moved around and changed cell numbers.
"Yeah, because Sam actually picks up the fucking phone." Mallory pointed out, thumping Dean upside the head as she rounded the trunk.
"Ow," the middle Winchester hissed. "That's a big ring."
"What are you looking for?" The elder asked, leaning against the side of the car.
"The folder I had with stuff printed out about the case Dad is on."
"What was he hunting, anyway?" Sam questioned as he pushed his hands into the pockets of the sweatpants he had thrown on.
"That's what we're trying to figure out," Mallory answered as Dean finally managed to fish a manilla folder from the trunk.
"Alright, here we go," he murmured as he flipped it open. "So Dad was checking out this two-lane blacktop just outside of Jericho, California." He handed one of the papers to Sam. "About a month ago, this guy - they found his car, but he vanished. Completely MIA."
Sam's hazel eyes scanned the paper for a moment before he glanced back up at his older brother. "So maybe he was kidnapped."
"That's what I said," Mallory said, tugging another paper out of the folder. "Until I saw this." she flashed the page at Sam. "Here's another one in April."
"And another one in December 'oh-four, 'oh-three, ninety-eight, ninety-two; ten of them over the past twenty years," Dean noted as he took the article back from Sam and put it with the rest of the stack inside the folder. "All men, all the same, five-mile stretch of road. It started happening more and more so Dad went to dig around. That was about three weeks ago. I haven't heard from him since which is bad enough..." he trailed off, digging around in his duffel before pulling out a tape recorder. "...then I get this voicemail yesterday."
The middle Winchester hits play. Mallory can barely make out the sound of her father's voice in the sticky, garbled mess of the breaking-up signal.
"Dean...something big is starting to happen...I need to try and figure out what's going on. It...be careful, Dean. We're all in danger."
We're all in danger. Those words sent Mallory's heart into her shoes and her fingers twitched with the urge to reach for her knife or gun, anything to protect her little family from further damage.
"You know there's EVP on that?" Sam questioned, eyebrows lifting, and Dean grinned.
"Not bad, Sammy," he complimented. "Kinda like ridin' a bike, huh?"
The youngest Winchester merely rolled his eyes and shook his head before Dean spoke again.
"Alright. I slowed the message down, ran it through a gold wave, took out the hiss, and this is what I got." The middle sibling pressed play again and this time, there was a woman's voice in place of her father's.
"I can never go home."
Sam frowned. "Never go home."
Mallory and Sam exchanged a long look as Dean shut the trunk before leaning against it.
"You know, in almost two years, I've never bothered you. Never asked you for anything." he pointed out to his little brother.
"Dean," Mallory warned quietly, shaking her head. She wasn't about to watch her baby brother get guilt-tripped back into the life the two of them tried so desperately to escape. Her getting involved was one thing, but not Sam. Not when he had his whole future waiting for him.
Sam looked away with a long sigh before looking back up at his brother. "Alright, fine. I'll go. I'll help you find him."
Dean nodded, seeming rather pleased with himself, ignoring the long stare his sister was giving him.
"But I have to be back here first thing Monday," Sam told him, already turning back towards his apartment to retrieve his stuff.
"What's first thing Monday?"
"My law school interview?" Sam arched an eyebrow.
"Damn, law school?" Dean merely smirked at his little brother.
Sam cocked his head. "Do we have a deal or not?"
Dean glanced over at Mallory, who only arched an eyebrow.
"Don't fuckin' look over here. If he misses that interview, I'm gonna bust you both up for it."
The brothers exchanged a familiar glance. "We believe it."
