A Torn Family

Chapter 8

"Dean." I groaned when I was woken up by a cell phone ringing. Of course, Dean didn't wake up. I had shared a bed with Sam that night, but I was closer to the dresser. I debated picking up, before deciding I would rather pass the baton to Sam.
   
I reached my arm over to tug on Sam's hair. He grumbled in complaint when I did. Ever since telling us about his visions, Sam had been sleeping through the night, his nightmares only occurring once or twice a week.
   
"What do you want, Lucy." He rolled over in bed.
   
"Dean won't wake up. Answer his phone."
   
"It's right next to you."
   
"Sammy, I swear I will murder you, Dean, and whoever is calling him this early if you don't make it stop ringing right now."
   
"Hello?" Sam picked up the phone, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He shot up from bed though after answering. "Dad? Are you hurt?"
   
"Dad?" I sat up too, scooting closer to Sam to eavesdrop. He just pushed me away. "Is that really Dad? Sam? Sam! I wanna talk to Dad."
   
Dean was woken up by Sam and when he heard Sam say "Dad", he too quickly requested access to the phone. He shot me a look, wanting to know what was going on, but I just shrugged. I didn't know any more than he did, which was kind of annoying. Why did I have to be so lazy?
   
Eventually Dean snatched the phone away. He listened to Dad before hanging up, which kind of pissed me off. Didn't Dad even want to talk to me? But soon enough, we were on the road again, heading to Indiana to hunt down some being before another couple went missing. I dunno. Apparently Dad assigned us the case. Sam, who was driving, pulled the car over though, shocking both me and Dean.
   
"What are you doing?" Dean asked him.
   
"We're not going to Indiana." Sam said matter of factly.
   
"We're not?" I asked, sharing a look with Dean. We were confused as heck.
   
"Nope. We're going to California." Sam said before turning to face us. "Dad called from a payphone- Sacramento area code.
   
"Sam..." Dean trailed off.
   
"Dean, if this demon killed Mom and Jess and Dad's closing in, we've got to be there." Sam tried to explain himself. I kind of agreed with him, but I wasn't about to disobey orders. After spending so much time blindly accepting his leadership, I wasn't used to anything else. "We've got to help."
   
"Dad doesn't want our help." Dean argued, and I sat back in my seat, unsure of who was right.
   
"Well, I don't care."
   
"He's given us an order." Dean grew impatient.
   
"I don't care." Sam snapped back before turning to meet my eyes, but I quickly diverted my gaze. "We don't always have to do what he says."
   
The boys kept fighting, but I couldn't listen. I was too caught up in the last thing Sam had said to me. All I knew was that the fight was escalating, and the comments were becoming more and more accusational. Eventually, Sam got out of the car and Dean followed. When Dean got back in, I realized Sam wasn't with him.
   
"Get out of the car, Lucy." Dean held his head in his palms.
   
"Dean, are you-"
   
"Lucy, get out of the car!" I flinched at his tone, and he looked apologetic. "I'm sorry. Sam's leaving though, and I'll be fine. But Sam- he's not really in a good headspace right now. Look after our pain-in-the-ass brother, will ya?"
   
"Dean, I don't want to leave you."
   
"I'll be fine, Kiddo." He smiled weakly. "You've got my cell and I've got yours."
   
"Take care Dean." I said, grabbing my bags after a moment of hesitation. "Don't get yourself killed, Big Brother."
   
"See ya, Ghostie." I patted his shoulder quickly before hopping out of the car. I ran a few steps over to Sam, who looked confused to see me.
   
"Luce, what're you doing?"
   
"I'm gonna tag along with you, Baby Brother." I grinned at him, pressing my foot gently over his. No matter what we were feeling, and how impossible it was to explain in words, Sam and I could understand each other perfectly through that one simple action.
   
"Come on, Sis." He slung an arm over my shoulders, squeezing me tightly. "We've got quite a trip ahead of us."

***

"You're an idiot. I can't believe you thought this was a good idea." I grumbled at Sam as we waited on the side of the road. I had given up a long time ago, and was sitting on my ass complaining. Sam was still patiently standing and waiting. I jumped when I realized there was another girl sitting nearby, I pulled gently at Sam's pant leg to grab his attention.
   
We called her a few times, but she had headphones in and didn't hear us. She freaked out when Sam tapped her shoulder to grab her attention. We talked to her for a few minutes, I think she was flirting with Sam. A white van pulled up and offered us a ride.
   
"Sam, no. No. No, no, no." Sam looked at me, unimpressed. "It's a white van with no rear windows, Sammy. This is a kidnap, rape, and murder story just waiting to happen." Sam accepted anyway, but the guy quickly confirmed my suspicions when he refused Sam a ride, claiming he would only take me and the blonde girl.
   
Sam quickly wrapped an arm around me, protectively, and I instinctively stepped closer to him. The blonde girl, however, grabbed all her stuff and started to get in the van with him. She and Sam exchanged some flirty banter before shady-van-guy drove off with the poor girl. I had a feeling that I'd see her again. Her face would be in the news regarding a story on either kidnapping, rape, or murder.
   
"Thank you." I whispered to Sam after the vehicle had pulled away. Sam didn't know, but I had been sexually assaulted twice over the two years he was away at college. Dean knew, he saved me one of the two times. But I hadn't been able to tell Sam yet.
   
"For what?"
   
"Protecting me." I reached to squeeze his hand. "I know it's technically me who's supposed to protect you, but I need some protection every once in a while too."
   
"Are you kidding me?" Sam seemed surprised. "You're fearless around guys. You're constantly flirting with them."
   
"That's different." I pulled his arm tighter around me. "I'm in control when I flirt. The second I can't decide where a situation with a guy will lead, it becomes terrifying."
   
"We'll always protect you." Sam squeezed my hand back. "That's what family does."
   
"Dean does." I looked up to meet Sam's eyes. "You do. Dad doesn't, not me. He only really looks out for his boys."
   
Dad had walked in on it, the second time it occurred, the time that Dean had saved me. Dean, Dad, and I were at a bar looking for information. Some guy dragged me into the men's room. He apparently forgot to lock the door, and Dad walked right in, and either didn't realize it was me, or just didn't care. Whatever it was, he did the wrong thing and just walked back out.