Keeping up with the Joneses

Part Eighteen

Sara had been asleep for almost a full day by the time the boys arrived. The pounding on the door was immediately followed by Bobby opening it, looking the boys up and down.

Sam and Dean both looked scared out of their minds. Sara hadn't talked to or heard from Dean since that night, but she had been keeping up with Sam on a regular basis. In fact, she had called him on her way home from work hours before she and Joey were abducted.

Bobby stepped aside, telling the boys to prepare themselves. Dean was the first one through, stopping dead in his tracks at the sight of Sara lying on the makeshift bed. Tears gathered in his eyes, the immense guilt he felt making it hard to breathe. Sam stopped right behind him, staring in horror at the state of his best friend.

Sara was covered mostly with blankets, but her face was blotched with bruises and horribly swollen. Her lip was split in two different spots, and dried blood caked around her mouth. Both of her eyes were blackened, and her jaw and cheeks were just as black and blue. She had a bandage around her head, a gauze pad poking out by her temple soaked with blood.

"What," Dean said, his voice coming out hoarse. "What happened?"

Both boys turned to look at Bobby, their faces reflecting the expression on Bobby's. Bobby took a deep breath before he spoke.

"Demons. From what I can tell, they took Sara and Joey from their apartment and brought them to this warehouse. Sara texted me at two in the morning the night before last telling me that her GPS was on. I'll give it to her, the girl is smart. I'm positive she used her fake phone to throw the demons off."

Dean gulped, looking back at Sara.

"Where is Joey?" Sam's voice was tiny, as if he were afraid of the answer.

Bobby looked away, hating that he had to bear this news. "They... They killed him. Tortured him, while Sara watched. When I got there, they were just wailin' on her. Looked like they were doing it just for the hell of it."

Both boys wobbled on their feet at Bobby's words. Dean walked to the side of Sara's bed, breathing heavily. Tears fell from Sammy's eyes.

"Is she gonna be okay?"

Bobby cleared his throat, his own tears choking his voice up. "Physically, yes, as far as we can tell. We're not sure how bad her head is, but she was conscious when I found her. Her ribs are broken, but luckily they didn't puncture her lungs." The brothers breathed out, trying to feel relief despite what had happened.

"But boys," Bobby said darkly, as though he had yet to deliver the worst news. "Before... Before she passed out, she asked me..." He trailed off, looking anywhere but the brothers.

"What, Bobby?" Dean's heart clenched even more if possible, fearing what the older man was going to say next.

"She asked me to let her die."

Dean closed his eyes, squeezing the bridge of his nose with his finger tips. Sam walked to Sara's bed and sat, stroking her hair as tears fell from his eyes. Bobby left them in silence as he went to go talk to his friend, the ex- doctor. Dean walked to stand next to the bed, on the opposite side of where Sam sat. He pursed his lips, and despite his best efforts, tears fell from his eyes. He sat in a chair next to the bed, lifting Sara's hand and grasping it in his own.

Eventually, Sam went out to get supplies and Dean took his spot on Sara's bed. He brushed her hair back, caressing her face lightly with his knuckles.

"God, I'm so stupid," he said, his voice breaking as the tears spilled over again. "You don't know how many times I almost asked you to come back, Sara. I just... Didn't want to put you through that again, because I didn't know what would happen, and I didn't want to disappoint you again. And now..." He broke up, biting his bottom lip as the tears came steady as ever. His lips trembled as he spoke again. "If I had just... Stopped thinking of myself for once-- maybe... Maybe I wouldn't have made you leave. Maybe you wouldn't have gone through... This." He took a long, shaky breath. "Maybe I would've been able to finally tell you--" He gasped, looking up at the ceiling. He couldn't bring himself to say what he was thinking at that moment, knowing that the moment for admitting feelings had long since passed.

"I am so, so sorry Sara." He pressed the hand that he was holding to his forehead, crying more openly than he probably had since he was a small child.

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Sara's ears were ringing. This was the first thing she noticed as she slowly regained consciousness, noticing a sharp pain emanating from where her ribs were and a fogginess in her head that she couldn't quite explain. Ever so slowly, she opened her eyes. They couldn't go past about halfway open, but she looked around in her limited vision. Her heart jumped when she saw Dean's face, taking in the sleeping man in the chair beside her bed.

She was horribly confused, not knowing where she was or how she got there. The first thought that came to her mind was Joey.

Her body jerked in an attempt to sit up, and she yelped from the pain. This caused Dean to wake abruptly, practically falling from the chair.

"Sara? Sara. Oh my god, can you hear me?" He was standing over her now, and she felt the pressure of his hand on hers. It took her a moment to make out what she said, his voice muffled by the ringing in her ears.

"Yes," she croaked, her voice having been in disuse for a while, and after all the screaming. She watched as he breathed a sigh of relief, shock in her face when she saw tears well up in his eyes.

"Thank god."

"Dean," she whispered, her throat aching. "Where's Joey?"

Dean's face fell, causing Sara's heart to cramp painfully. "You... You don't remember?"

She put her head back on the pillow, thinking hard. A wave of nausea hit her as the memories came flooding back. Being kidnapped by the demons, waking up in a strange place, the sound of Joey's screams as he was tortured. She made a noise unlike any she had uttered before. Dean quickly shifted himself onto her bed, pulling her into his lap as she began to cry.

What Dean heard he wouldn't even describe as crying. It was guttural; the hoarseness of her voice made it even worse. Her body shook horribly as the sobs washed over her. She curled into a ball, whimpering in pain as her ribs screamed in discontent. The sobs became louder and even more horrible, Sara grabbing at Dean's shirt as if to ground herself in a place she didn't even want to be grounded in. Dean shifted her gently so she was basically sitting in his lap, her hands balled against his collarbones.

Sam and Bobby came running in, and Dean looked at them helplessly. Sara cried into Dean's chest, trying to muffle the sound in his clothes. Dean had one arm around her waist, and the other going wrapping from under her armpit, his hand braced around the back of her neck. She cried, screamed even, until her voice was completely gone. Only hitching gasps were left, her body feeling tired and empty.

Sam had sat next to Dean while Bobby stood off to the side. When Sara couldn't possibly cry anymore, she looked at Sam with pained eyes. He looked back at her, the same pain in his own. Bobby eventually left the room to let Sara have time with the boys. They stayed in the same position, Dean holding Sara and Sam as emotional support from behind, for a long time. Sara eventually pressed her face into the crook of Dean's neck, letting her head rest and falling asleep after a few long minutes passed.

Sam and Dean made eye contact after they were sure she was asleep, neither one of them daring to move for fear of waking her up.

"Do you think she'll be okay?" Sam asked, eyes fixating on the back of Sara's head.

Dean considered, twirling a piece of her hair in between his fingers. "I don't know, honestly. Of course I hope, but Joey was all she had left."

Sam nodded sadly. "She has us," he offered.

Dean pressed his lips together. "But what if I died? Would you be okay?"

Sam looked down, biting his bottom lip briefly. "No... No I wouldn't."

"Yeah. Me neither."