Pieces Of Me {Sam Winchester}

Traffic Laws

When they left the lake that day, Josie was in her regular seat in the back--mostly because she was unconscious and had to be laid across the seats.

Back at the hotel, Sam and Dean patched her up. Then she did the same for them.

Then they slept. And they slept, and they slept, and they slept, until the sun rose over the eastern horizon and flooded the hotel room with light.

•••

The next morning, the Impala was stocked and Sam and Dean were waiting outside. Only Josie was still inside the motel room.

She uncapped a Sharpie and made a single hash mark on the bed frame. Then she stuck the cap back on, tucked the pen in her hair, and slung her backpack over her shoulder.

"I believe that's defacement of property," called Sam, who was leaning against the doorframe, waiting for her.

"I beg your pardon!" Josie gasped, feigning offense. She laughed, then smiled.

"Sorry," she said, "It's just kind of my thing. Whenever my dad and I stayed in hotels when I was a kid, I'd mark the bed. Kinda like marking my territory, ya know? Maybe one day I'll stay in the same room twice."

Sam nodded.

"Yeah," he replied. "I know."

Josie adjusted her backpack and walked over to him.

"Lovebirds!" Dean suddenly shouted from the parking lot. "Move your asses! It's go-time!"

Sam laughed. "That'd be our cue."

Josie giggled. "Go-time," she agreed.

They headed outside to the car, closing the hotel door on the way out.

•••

Dean and Josie were shouting along with Deep Purple as the Impala zoomed along the freeway. Sam was covering his eyes and begging them to shut up, but he laughed whenever Josie's voice cracked or Dean took his hands off the wheel to do an air guitar.

"Dean!" he'd exclaim. "You're kind of the only thing between life and death for the three of us right now! Please focus on the road!"

Then Dean would take his hands off the wheel and let the Impala drift for a few feet, while Josie threw her head back and laughed her ass off at Sam's terrified expression.

"Relax, little bro," Dean would reply, placing his hands back on the wheel one at a time. "I've got it."

Soon, the sun began to go down again, and they passed a road sign that read Food: Next Left.

Josie's stomach suddenly growled, and she realized they hadn't stopped for anything to eat since that morning, when they went through a drive through and got coffee.

"Hey," she called. "Take the next left. I'm starving."

Dean nodded, then swerved into the turn.

"Food is a yes," he agreed.

"Apparently surviving this drive is a no," Sam snapped, grabbing the dashboard in a panic and the car lurched.

Josie leaned forward and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry, Sam," she said. "If we all fly out the windshield, you two will break my fall."

Sam wrinkled his nose, but before he could respond, a phone started ringing.

Dean dug his device out of his pocket and flipped it open, then pressed it against his ear.

"Hello?" he said. "Oh, Jerry! Long time, no see!"

Sam glanced at Josie, who was looking worriedly at Dean. He looked away quickly, suddenly very aware of how her hand was still on his shoulder.

"Holy crap," Dean exclaimed in reply to something. "Uh huh. Yeah. Yeah, sure. Okay. Thanks, Jerry."

Dean flipped his phone shut.

"I think we just got ourselves another case," he announced.

Sam's eyes widened.

"Where?" he asked.

"Pennsylvania," Dean replied. "You remember Jerry Panowski?"

"Dad's friend?"

"That's the one. A pilot friend of his just got a plane crashed for no good reason. He thinks it's worth looking into."

"Definitely," Sam responded immediately. "I mean, anything is worth looking into, right? And if he knew Dad..."

"I was thinking the same thing."

Sam felt Josie's hand let go of his shoulder, and he hears her sigh. He glanced back at her. She was smiling sadly.

"I guess that's my cue to leave," she said, her voice cracking. Her eyes shone, and she looked down.

Sam shook his head. "That's ridiculous."

"Yeah," Dean agree. "What're you talking about, kiddo?"

"You guys said just the one case," Josie replied. "So I came, I solved, and now it's over. So...I mean...that's that."

"Okay," Sam started, "first of all, we never said just the one case. Where would you get that idea? And second of all, we could really use your help. You really proved yourself as a hunter."

"Yeah," Dean agreed. "You'd make good backup if Sam is ever too much of a pussy to do something."

Sam shot him a look, causing Josie to laugh-cry.

"Y-you guys want me to stay with you?" she asked.

"Of course we do," Sam said. "You're part of the family now."

"Yep. Sorry. You saved our asses, you contributed to the case, you're now an official honorary Winchester. You can't back out of that, it's a lifetime membership," Dean said.

Josie broke into a smile. "You guys mean it?"

"Always," Sam replied.

Josie sniffed, and wiped her eyes.

"Well," she said, her enormous smile betraying her cool demeanor. "How about that food, then?"

"No candosville, baby doll," Dean answered. "We've gotta turn around if we wanna make it to Pennsylvania ASAP."

Josie pouted.

"We'll stop at the first drive through we see," Sam promised.

Josie's face lit up again, and when she smiled, Sam couldn't help but grin back. Her innocent, excited beam was contagious.

But if there was one cure for a genuine smile, it was one of Dean's U-turn whips.

He did one now, forcing all of their backs against the seats, and producing a gasp of alarm from Josie's lips.

"Dean!" Sam shouted. "Traffic laws!"

"Right!" Dean cried. "Sorry!"

Then he pressed the gas pedal down to the floor and sped up from eighty miles and hour to ninety-five, and cranked up the radio.

Sam sighed, and sank down in his seat.

The only good part of this ride, once again, would be listening to his best friend rock out and have fun with his big brother. That was a pretty good thing to listen to.

•••

Fuck yeah just finished my first semester of high school with A's on all my finals and a 4.0 GPA bless up