Survive, Boy, Survive

Chapter 60

We got out at a hospital,
Cas said" Thanks for coming."
Sam said" Yeah, of course."
Dean said" Cas, look, we're always glad to help, but Claire and I aren't exactly on the best of terms. I mean, should I even be here?"
Cas said" I need help from both of you. You were both troubled teens. River is a troubled teen. You speak her language." I went to open my mouth, Sam covered it before I could speak.
Sam said" All right. How is she?"
" Well, I-I haven't gone in yet. I was waiting for backup."
Dean said" B-Backup? Three men and a lady. Let's do this." I pulled Sam's hand off my mouth,
I said" Next time I bite. And do I have to go in? And I'm not a troubled teen, I'm a demonically-charged teen!"
" Oh, you're going in, Chucky." I held out my arm, he sighed then grabbed my arm and dragged me with him.

Claire said" What are you doing here? And why the hell did you bring him?" Looking at Dean,
Dean said" Awesome." Then looked at Cas,
Cas said" Um, the-the police found my number in your emergency contact list."
She said" Yeah, well... that was a mistake. You can go now."
" Claire... why were you at a bar?"
" I wasn't."
Sam said" Claire, what were you doing in an alley outside of a bar?"
" Wrong place, wrong time. Story of my life."
" Look, we're not leaving until you tell us what the hell really happened. So if you want us gone... talk."
" I was looking for my mom. I wanna find my mom and tell her she ruined my life."
Cas said" Your mom didn't-"
" She left me, and so did my dad. But Jimmy's gone, right? Has it easy up in heaven. So... mom's the only one left I can tell off."
Sam said" When's the last anybody heard from your mom?"
" Um... when I was living with my grandmother, she used to send me postcards. This is the last one." She handed Sam the card," I got it just before my grandma died. Two years ago. Nobody's heard from her since. It was sent from a motel here in town. That's where I've been crashing. I was at Susie's bar looking for a loser named Ronnie Cartwright. Mom's diary said she was gonna meet him around the time she disappeared. Before he knocked me down, he remembered her name. He knows something."
Cas said" Why was Amelia looking for him?"
" She went looking for miracles. She went looking for you."

We were in the hallway,
Cas said" This is all my fault."
Sam said" You know, Cas, say it is. What can you do about it? Find Amelia."
Dean said" She did disappear trying to hunt down an angel. Might be a case."
" Yeah, but we don't know that."
" Close enough. Come on, give me something to punch already. I'm kidding. I'm fine. I'm just... I'm fine. Why don't we go back to the bar, see if we can't track down this Ronnie guy, huh?"
" Yeah. We should let Claire know where we're going first."
" Perfect." He walked to the room...

We walked in,
Sam said" Hey..." Claire was gone.
Cas said" Damn it."
Dean said" Well... she either went looking for Ronnie again or, uh-"
Sam said" Yeah, or she went to go grab her stuff before taking off again."
" Well, she's got a concussion. Maybe that'll slow her down."
" All right. I'll head to the motel. Y'all check out the bar."

Claire walked in,
Sam said" Took you long enough."
Claire said" How did you..." He held up the post card she left with him,
I said" Also, you checked in under the name Claire Novak. A little pro-tip? Use an alias."
" Okay." She opened the closet door,
Sam said" Claire, we just wanna help."
" I didn't ask for your help."
" You know, this is good. I was impressed. How did you get the information that..." She tossed him a book,
" It's mostly empty promises and regret, but... there were enough bread crumbs to get me here."
" How did you get your mom's diary?"
" The motel manager sent mom's stuff to her last known address after she disappeared. It bounced around, eventually found its way to me at one of the foster homes."
" You came all this way just to tell her off?"
" You always get along with your mom?"
" Never got the chance to find out."
I said" I watched her get ripped apart by a werewolf." Sam covered my mouth, I'mma bite him!
" My mom died when I was a baby."
Claire said" I-I'm sorry- I didn't-"
" Oh, no, it's okay. I-I got to know her later in life. And, yeah, I suppose we got along okay."
" What?"
" In this line of work, death isn't always goodbye." I bit Sam's hand, he let go of me,
" This is different. My mom left me."
" Claire, I'll be home soon. We'll be home soon. Doesn't sound like somebody who wanted to abandon you. Did you check her credit cards?"
" They wouldn't send me her records."
" Okay, I know you need to be somewhere far away from all of us, but let me get my laptop. I'll teach you how to hack into her credit card records. It'll help you get a lead on your mom."
" Show me, but then I'm gone."