In-Air Comfort

A Little Comfort From an Angel

The sun has long left the sky by the time you and Sam slump back into the car. You've checked every abandoned and even a few in-use warehouses in the greater Las Vegas area. Finding no trace of Dean or demons, your resolve falters further; you're starting to feel completely hopeless. Then you hear Sam's phone buzz in his pocket. He pulls it out and he sits up straight as he looks at the screen, his eyes wide.

"What is it?" You ask.

"After that night when you said a demon was in the bunker, I took some precautionary measures for the future. I installed a motion-activated security camera in the garage. I knew Dean would feel it was an invasion of privacy to have cameras around so I kept it to myself. But uh, they just caught this ..." he says as he hands his phone to you.

You take it and watch the screen in disbelief. "Wait! So he was at home this whole time? He just went back to the Bunker? Why would he go back and not call?"

"I'm not so sure he's been there the whole time. That's the first notification I've received. I don't know when he got back but he's definitely just left. He's got the Impala. There are spare phones in the glove compartment, namely our dad's. He'll answer that, if not any of the others."

You pull out your phone and Sam recalls John's number to you as you dial it. You hold your breath as you listen to the dial tones ... one ... two ... three ...

"Hello."

Tears fill your eyes at the sound of his gruff voice. A sense of relief that he's alive and safe washes over you.

"Hello? Is anyone there? I'm hanging up now, lose this number."

"Wait!" You swear you hear his breath catch in his throat. "Dean? Baby, it's me. I'm so glad to hear your voice. Where are you?" When you finish talking you notice the line is silent. "Dean?" When you get no response you pull the phone away from your ear to see that the call was dropped. You look at Sam in shock. "He-he hung up on me."

"I bet the demons told him everything about wanting your child and now he thinks he's being chivalrous and protecting you by cutting you out ... again."

"You don't think he'll do something stupid, do you?"

"Leaving you isn't stupid?"

"You know what I mean ... a deal ... or something worse."

"Honestly, I don't know. But I do know some places to start looking. Let's go back to the hotel and grab your stuff and then we'll hit the road and start searching his usual haunts. At least now we know he's not with demons."

While you gather your belongings, Sam calls Bobby and fills him in on the new intel and asks him to get his hunter buddies to drop a line if they see Dean or the Impala. You come back downstairs with all of your and Dean's belongings from the hotel and stuff them in the trunk. Before getting back in the car you decide to try Dean again. You know he'll be on high alert now and be looking out for your number, but you just hope his love for you will force him to answer anyway. You press the green button and hold your phone up to your ear. One ring ... two ... three ... four ... five ...

"You've reached John, if this is urgent you can call my son, Dean on 866-907-3235. He can help."

You hang up and shake your head before pressing the call button again. It rings straight through to the voicemail again. "Damn it, Dean. Please don't shut me out. I know you think you're protecting me from what the demons said and want. But please ... I love you."

Once the voicemail beeps you shut off your phone and climb into the front passenger seat. Sam gives you a sad, knowing look and drives off.

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