Hallowed (B. Barnes)

Chapter Thirty-Six

Sydney has her cellphone pressed to her ear as she makes her way through the airport. There might actually be a good thing to come out of Sam calling her. It has taken her mind off of Bucky and her loss. She's now worried about whatever the hell is going on with Dean. For Sam to sound so pained and panicked and needy, it has to be something bad.

"I have to grab a connecting flight" She offers to Sam as she walks towards the check-in for her flight. "So it's going to take me a while...."

"How close are you getting?" He asks.

"Phillipsburg Municipal" She answers.

"Why is taking you so long?" He asks her, she hums a little.

"Well...I'm coming from Paris" She answers.

"Arkansas?" He asks.

"France" She answers, she can almost hear him processing that.

"Oh," He whispers. "Okay, just text me before the connecting flight," He tells her. "I'll drive out to pick you up when you land"

"You don't have to do that" She argues. "Just text me to address and I'll grab a rental"

"I'd rather just pick you up" He counters. She sighs a little.

"Fine..." She reluctantly offers. She was hoping for more time to think about a good excuse and reason why she still looks 25 years old, when she isn't that far off breaching 40. That's a sobering thought. She is almost 40 and has nothing to show for it.

..........

Sam shifts nervously on his feet. He hasn't seen his sister in 16 years. This is a big deal. He's imagined this a lot over the years. What Sydney might look like. Who she might be. The life she must have lived. He's imagined her looking like their mother. Like John, that was a little more horrifying. He's imagined her as a female Dean, as a female version of himself. He's imagined her with a family and alone. He doesn't know what he is expecting here. A blonde, beautiful woman steps out of the airport and blows her hair from her face, her eyes scanning around. He knows exactly who she is. She has barely changed. Her face is still the same. She is still so clearly Sydney. He waves at her and she cocks her head.

"Sam?" She asks, he nods and leans up from the car. "Holy shit" She comments. Sam smiles a little and looks down. She actually looks amazing for her age. Where ever she's been, France or whatever, has been good for her. "So...what the hell is going on?"

"That's a very long story" Sam answers and then motions to his car. "I'll tell you everything on the way..." She hums a little and gives him a look. "I just..."

"Okay," She stops him. "Let's go" She holds up her bag and he nods and moves to the trunk, she follows him, her eyes on him because he is so different from the last time she saw him. He was this lanky skinny kid and now he's a full-blown man. All muscles, height and freakin' hair. He has so much hair. He opens the trunk and she sets her case into it.

..........

Sydney sits in silence as she processed everything that Sam has told her about their lives since she left. It's a lot. A lot more than her. She can't believe that they went through all of that and neither of them even thought to call her. They've seen more, done more, than her. Discovered a shit load more. Things that they could never have imagined.

"Why didn't either of you call me?" She whispers. "If things were this bad..." She looks at him. "Someone should have called me"

"Syd, Dean told me he called you" Sam defends. "Every time something big happened, he told me he called...." She frowns at him.

"I haven't changed my number in years; and even when I did, I always text it to Bobby" She assures him. "Dean has never called me" Sam frowns a little. Whilst Dean did tell him that he had called her, Dean has a habit of lying about stuff regarding Sydney and...a lot of other stuff. It's a problem for them. They both fall silent again, thinking about this whole thing. Sydney knew that Dean would likely be the one that was angriest over her leaving. But angry enough not to call her when there might be a chance of their death. They could have died and no one would have told her. She lets out a breath and looks out the car window.

"You okay?" Sam asks her, she hums and nods. "I know this is a lot to deal with...." She hums in agreement. "What about you?" He asks her. "What have you been doing? Where have you been?"

"I travelled" She answers. "Ended up in Bucharest for a while...." She glances at Sam. "Was hunting" he looks at her and then back at the road. "What else was I going to do?" She asks him. "Not good for anything else"

"You've been doing it alone?" He counters. "Syd..." He scolds her, she scoffs a little.

"Don't worry" She stops him. "Dad made sure I was perfectly equipped to be a hunter and nothing else" She crosses one leg over the other and shrugs. "I made do"

"What the hell happened?" He asks her. "Why did you leave?" She looks at him and frowns, he doesn't seem to know why she left. She assumed John would have said something.

"You don't know" She whispers, Sam shakes his head.

"No...no, Dad never said anything, he just....just went about everything as normal..." He glances at her. "What happened?"

"I don't want to talk about it" She warns through clenched teeth. She is not ready to talk about what happened with him, with either of them. They won't understand. She draws her arm around her stomach and clenches her jaw. Sam sighs and nods. He knows it's been a long time and things are going to be awkward and tense between them all. He just wanted his sister back after all these years, with everything that is going on, with Dean, she needs to be here too.