Saving Sammi

The Hunt Begins (And Ends)

Our search for a ride had been a quick success. It turned out that Sam and Dean made many allies doing what they did, so the first place we tried was the local police station. The sheriff recognized Sam right away and asked what he could do to for us. "Anything you need, you just name it," were his exact words. Sam explained the situation with Dean, and the sheriff handed him the keys to his own personal vehicle. "Take as long as you need," he told us. "I can take my squad car to and from work for the time being." Sam thanked him and shook his hand, promising we would take good care of the car. We got into the car and started driving to the usual spots where we knew Dean would hang out. There was no sign of either Dean OR Baby anywhere. While Sam drove, I tried calling Dean from my phone. "It's still going to voice mail," I told Sam after the third or fourth call. We had both left him about five messages or so, hoping he would just call back already. Where are you, Dean? Are you in trouble? It was so nerve wracking. We drove for hours and hours with no luck. "The sun is beginning to set," I said. "He has been gone for over 24 hours and still nothing. I'm really scared now, Sam. And I can't even imagine how you feel right now." "I'm a little scared myself," Sam said. "The last time Dean was gone longer than 24 hours, he was in Hell." "Oh no," I said. "You don't think..." "I don't know what to think, babe," Sam said. "It's possible he just wanted some time alone." "He still could call us, let us know he's alright," I told him. At that very moment, my phone decided to ring. I didn't even look at the caller ID before answering. "Dean???" I was panicked. "No, Cas," said the voice at the other end. "I take it that you have not yet located Dean?" "He's been gone for over 24 hours," I said. "He never leaves for this long. And he always calls if he's going to be gone a while. We've heard nothing." "I think I may have found him," Cas said. "I am definitely looking at his car right now." I turned to Sam and said, "Cas found Baby. Dean has to be nearby, right? He would never just abandon his car." "Have you SEEN the way he treats that car?" Sam said. "He's definitely in the same area." "Where are you, Cas?" I asked. "The sign across the street says Motor Inn," Cas said. I typed the name into my phone's GPS and waited a moment. "We are ten minutes away," I told him. "Can you wait for us, please?" "Yes, I will," said Cas. I hung up the phone and turned to Sam. "At least we know he's still in town." Sam smiled. We got to the inn pretty fast, and met Cas over by the car. "Have you tried to find out which room he may be in?" Sam asked. "I was waiting for you," Cas said. The three of us walked toward the office until I had an idea. "Instead of trying to figure out what alias Dean is using," I started, "can't Cas just make himself appear in the rooms real quick? There aren't very many of them, you know." "I don't think Cas wants to invade people's privacy, sweetie," Sam said. "I didn't think of that," I said. "I guess let's go inside and find out what we can." "Sammi's right," Cas said. "There aren't many rooms to check, and I can tell you two of them are vacant just by looking at them. I'll go." He was gone for about two minutes. When Cas reappeared, he pointed to a room and said, "Dean's in there." Sam and I walked over to the door and knocked. "Dean, it's me, Sam," Sam said. "Can we come in?" There was no answer. I turned to Cas and said, "Did he look like he was sleeping?" "Yes," Cas replied. Sam tried turning the knob, but it was locked. He turned to Cas and me and shook his head. Cas disappeared again. Before I could ask where he went, the door to the room opened. Sam and I slowly made our way in, and there was Dean, passed out cold on the bed. Sam ran over and checked for a pulse. "He's definitely alive," he said. "He's either severely drunk or he's been drugged." "What do we do now?" I asked. "Grab the keys off the table over there and go in the trunk," Sam said. "There are some smelling salts in the first aid kit." I took the keys and ran faster than I ever remember running before. When I had the salts in my hand, I raced back to the room and handed them to Sam. He waved them past Dean's nose a few times until Dean opened his eyes and sat up. "What the..." he started. "Where are we? What's going on?" Sam answered. "Don't you remember? You left yesterday to go for a drive and you never came back." "Where did you go?" I added. "We were so worried about you." "I went to go play pool for a few hours," Dean said. "I had a few drinks with this really pretty girl, and that's the last I remember." "That's why Baby is across the street and not in the parking lot," Sam said. "At least robbery wasn't her motive. Your wallet is still full, your car is still here, and it doesn't look like anything was taken out of it." Something inside me forced me to check Dean up and down for bruises, bites, needle wounds, anything out of the ordinary. I didn't see any, so what the hell did this chick want from him? He was fully clothed, so obviously she hadn't taken advantage of him (although Dean would have loved that). "Maybe the few drinks you thought you had were way more," I said to Dean. "Maybe the girl realized that fact and brought you here to sober you up. It would explain a lot." "Sammi's right," Sam said. "It would explain why your car is still here, although it doesn't explain why she left it across the street..." "Unless this lot was full when she brought him here," I suggested. "True," Sam said. "And it would also explain why you're still fully clothed. Obviously you weren't drugged, and she saw how drunk you were and still didn't take advantage." "Sounds to me like just a random act of kindness," I said. "I'm just glad you're alright," Sam said to Dean. "You had us all worried, even Cas." "I'm sorry guys," Dean said. "It won't happen again, you have my word." "Let's just get you back to our hotel," Sam said. He took Dean's keys from me, handed me the keys to the sheriff's car and we made our way back to town. Dean still disappears from time to time, but he is more cautious about how much he drinks these days...