Chapter 3: You wouldn't believe me

On the way to Bobby's, the absurdity of what he was doing struck Sam. He was going along on some larger-than-life mission with absolutely no proof that anything he had learned was true. He was so desperate to save Dean that he was willing to listen to even the most ridiculous of ideas. Somehow he knew that Bobby was going to give him hell for this. He called said hunter earlier to check if he was at home or on a hunt. Bobby had been very surprised to hear from him; they had not spoken for a month. Not since we buried Dean. Sam hadn't wanted to tell Bobby anything over the phone. He was unsure of what to say in person as well.

Somehow he knew that Bobby was going to try and talk him out of this. Tell him that he had been tricked, because it was what he wanted to hear, but Sam could not let go of this feeling of trust he had in the virtual stranger he had spent the night with. Every time he thought about the craziness of the whole thing something inside him just told him to go along with it. If it didn't pan out, no harm done. But if it did...

Sam was desperately trying to keep from thinking too much about what it would mean if it did work. He knew that if he did, and everything turned out to be just a trick, he might not be able to pull himself back together again. He was already drinking too much, and telling his friends to fuck off when they were only trying to help him. Not to mention the whole bit with Ruby.

His indifference had gotten him through the past month, but if he got his hopes up... No, the new Sam needed to be in control now. The one that was like Dean: strong, determined and in control. The old Sam would not have survived on his own for this long. He needed strength now, so strength he would have.

That brought Sam back to another thing he refused to think about; what Dean would think about the new Sam. Not to mention what their father would have to say about this "new and improved" soldier. It was something that they had never really talked about when his family had been alive. I can't believe I'm the only one that's left. Part of him now understood why there was so much you had to sacrifice and talking about it did not help. It just reminded you of everything you'd had to give up. He'd been lucky in that way. He'd never really had to understand before. Now that he did, there were so many things he wished he'd done differently, but you cannot change the past, and to dwell on it was just as useless as trying to change it. Besides, he was doing what he was supposed to be doing now, and once he got Dean back, everything would be right on track again.

He tried to put things to order in his mind before he arrived at Bobby's place, but he knew that he had not completely managed to do so. Now he had arrived, there was nothing to do, but get out of the car and get the show on the road.

Trying not to think too hard about how Bobby would react to everything, Sam got out of the Impala and walked to the front door. He had not even raised his hand to knock before the door opened. Bobby had obviously been waiting for him.

"Sam."

"Bobby." Sam nodded in greeting, but Bobby grabbed Sam into a hug which Sam didn't really return.

"Damn good to see you, son." He stepped back and took a good look at Sam. Sam could see that he was disapproving of something, but didn't really care. The other hunter seemed to notice this and got to the point. "So, what was so important you had to drive all the way out here to talk about it in person?" he asked as they walked into the house. He pointed to Sam to take a seat, but Sam just stood.

He took a deep breath, released it, then said, "There's a way to free Dean." He waited for Bobby to respond.

It took a while. Bobby seemed shocked at first, followed by confusion, until finally he settled on anger.

"There ain't, but one way to get out of hell, and I sure as hell hope your brother won't take that one. He was an idjit for selling his soul like that. No offense, but I don't want to have to hunt that boy."

"No, there is another way. We can save Dean!" While he still doubted it somewhat himself, he needed to convince Bobby or there was no hope at all.

"Who has been selling you this crap? That demon you keep around?"

Sam ignored the barb pointed at Ruby. This was not the time. "No, it wasn't Ruby, but it's someone I can trust."

"Who?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you, but you'll get to meet her in a few days." He paused and sighed, the old Sam coming to the surface. "Please Bobby, just trust me."

It was obvious Bobby wanted to keep fighting him, but for whatever reason he decided not to. Sam didn't care why. He was just glad they wouldn't have to fight, especially as he had never thought Bobby would give in so easily.

"Meet her? Someone's coming here?" Bobby didn't seem to happy about that either, but Sam knew that he would allow it, if for nothing else but answers.

"Yeah. She's coming here in a few days to talk details. Just hear her out and then we can fight about it, okay?"

Bobby looked at Sam again and noticed that the boy seemed very tired. Tired and worn out. He could understand why and didn't really want to fight anyway. In the end the only thing that mattered was that he had seen a glimpse of the old Sam, and that was worth meeting whoever Sam thought could help. He would make sure that they were prepared for anyone or anything.

"The answers better be good. Now, how about we grab some dinner and you tell me what you've been doing this past month."

Sam smiled gratefully. "Thank you, Bobby. It'll all make sense, you'll see." And for some reason, Sam felt that it really would all make sense.

Sam awoke the next morning feeling unusually well rested. In the past month he had not been getting a lot of sleep, his nights filled with strange dreams that he could not remember come morning.

The fact that he'd taken to drinking himself stupid didn't help; it just made the dreams worse. Especially if he didn't stop in time. So usually he spent his nights hunting as much as possible, the fight leaving him exhausted enough to get some dreamless rest.

After a quick shower, he was sure that this was the best he had felt in weeks, and he had the sneaky suspicion that when he got some more answers in a few days time, things would get even better.

The wonderful smell of freshly brewed coffee was calling to him from downstairs, and he felt eager to answer its call.

Bobby was in the kitchen when he got there, throwing quips about Sam sleeping in late. Sam simply told him that he did not respond to such accusations until he'd had at least two cups of coffee.

As the morning went by in comfortable discussion, Sam felt more like his old self then he had since Dean died. He knew that Bobby wanted to ask him about the mood changes he seemed to be having, but thankfully the older hunter kept his questions to himself.

In the early afternoon, Bobby got a call asking for help with a situation that seemed to involve a ghost. Sam was actually glad that something had come up. He was pretty sure that he would not have been able to just sit by and wait for Michelle to show up. If she shows up, part of his mind whispered. No! Sam answered himself. She will be here.

For some reason he just knew that he could trust that. Part of him still wanted to be cautious. He should be wary, but the small part in him that still believed in unicorns (no matter what he'd told Dean) was throwing a heck of a convincing case in favor of complete trust. He smiled at his silly thoughts, then went out to the Impala to gear up, his focus shifting to the upcoming hunt.

Working with Bobby was, in some ways, very much like working with Dean. They had the same vast knowledge and confident aura of law enforcement officers. They did, however, not have that perfect understanding of the other's role that Sam and Dean had, so Sam spent most of the time just listening, letting his 'partner' do the talking. He had a feeling that Bobby appreciated that. He was, after all, used to working alone. Sam also knew that his own mind wasn't completely on the case, at least not as much as it should be, so he was glad to be able to go on autopilot on this one. He'd be focused when they got to the actual hunting.

When evening came they were ready and eager to fight. Sam could feel the adrenaline begin to flow as they waited in Bobby's truck for the house owners to leave. The case wasn't big or that dangerous, but the owners still decided to live with a sister that lived nearby until it was over. Obviously the strange things had become too much to handle. Sam also suspected that Bobby's friend had something to do with things.

So when the lady of the house suddenly flew out through the large bay window, the pair of hunters was surprised to say the least. Sam was out of the car screaming for Bobby to check on the woman before he had even realized that he was moving. He was breaking through the front door as he heard Bobby screaming at him to wait, but Sam had no intention to wait for anyone. So shotgun at the ready, he ran into the dining room.

He found what he assumed to be the woman's husband convulsing on the floor, seemingly suffering from some kind of attack. No sign of any ghost though. A few moments later Bobby appeared in the door.

"Nothing here. I'm checking the rest of the house." He could tell that Bobby was about to protest, so he quickly moved into the kitchen.

As the rest of the house turned up no clues to a ghostly presence, Sam made his way back to Bobby. The older man called an ambulance prior to them getting out of there before the police showed up.

"They should be okay, but I figure it'd be best to stay close by in case whatever did this decides to come back."

They stayed with the couple until they could hear the sirens, at which point they returned to the truck. They watched as the paramedics and police did their jobs, all the while Sam could tell that Bobby wanted to say something. Sam had a good idea what about and he did not want to talk about it.

"So first thing tomorrow we'll go talk to them, right? Seems this was a bit more complicated than we thought."

"Yeah. Things aren't like I expected at all."

Sam decided to ignore the underlying meaning of Bobby's words. "So, any ideas?"

"No, but I suggest we do a proper EMF sweep once the law leaves."

Sam fully agreed. This was not turning out as expected, but that didn't mean they wouldn't deal with it. He just hoped they would have it worked out soon.

The EMF scan had showed that they were indeed dealing with a ghost, but at the moment it was no longer present. So they packed up their stuff and went back to Bobby's place, the silence heavy and uncomfortable between them. Sam had immediately retired to his room and Bobby had not pressed the issue. During the night Sam was again haunted by dreams that left him tired and on edge. It would be a long day.

The next day was indeed completely different than the one before. Where there had been companionable silence, was now filled with a straining silence. Sam had the feeling that Bobby would start asking him about things at any moment. And he really didn't want to answer anything before he had some answers of his own.

But they had a job to do, thankfully, and so they were off to the hospital.

It would seem that it was, in fact, just another ghost after all. This one just liked to possess people and then harm their loved ones, leaving the victim with the immense guilt of having hurt the ones they loved most. Sam would be glad when they got rid of this one. Hopefully it'll get violent. He felt pent up with all the emotions of the last day. Violence or sex. He'd kept going on those for awhile now. Not forgetting alcohol, of course. And right now I could really use a drink... or five.

That was, of course, wishful thinking at the moment. When they were done with this ghost, he'd have to hole back up with Bobby and wait for Michelle to show up. He just hoped she would hurry and get there, or else he might not be responsible for his actions, but as Sam should have known, he was not that lucky.

The husband who had been possessed had called them a short while after they had left the hospital. He'd remembered something about the ghost that had eventually helped them find the body it belonged to. So the fight Sam had been hoping for turned into just another case of salt and burn. The ghost had appeared as they were about to salt the body and had tried to posses Sam, but Bobby had stopped it short with the flick of a match.

So now Sam was stuck driving back to Bobby's place, adrenaline pumping through him, and no way to get rid of it. Just friggin great. What do I do now? The thought of sitting around and just waiting made him grasp the steering wheel harder. Luckily I have a lot of guns to clean. Not that the guns needed cleaning. Sam made sure they were spotless and in perfect order, just like Dean had taught him, but it was something to do and he knew the familiar action would take his mind off waiting. At least for a short while.

Sam hadn't had time to really start cleaning the guns before Bobby decided they needed to talk.

"Jesus boy, when are we going to talk about it?"

"Talk about what, Bobby?" Sam decided he'd give playing ignorant a try.

Bobby let out a frustrated sigh. "About the damn weather. What do you think, Sam? You've barely said anything, but small talk since you got here, and I don't know which is worse: the silence or the attitude."

"What attitude?" Of course, Sam knew exactly what Bobby was talking about. He was just not in the mood to give even an inch right now.

"The-devil-may-care-go-down-guns-blazing one." He sighed again and changed his approach. "Look son, I miss him too, but do you really think he'd want you being reckless like this?"

Sam froze, but Bobby didn't seem to have noticed and instead continued talking. "If you'd just, I don't know, talk to me then maybe you'd b able to..." He stopped, took one look at Sam's deathly still figure, and changed tactics again. He walked over to where Sam was sitting and joined the younger man. "I know it's tough, but it'll get easier. I know what you're going through. You just-"

The rest of his sentence was cut off as Sam stood up violently.

"How dare you?! You have no idea what I'm going through."

Bobby got up and stared Sam down. "I lost my wife in this very house, so I think I do."Sam flinched slightly at that.

"No disrespect, but I still don't think you do. I lost my brother, the only family I had left. We were supposed to take care of each other and now he's dead! Dead, because of me. And I could have stopped it..."

"So now you're on a guilt trip instead, ready to believe anything, desperate to believe in anyone claiming to be able to help. Can't you see that you're being tricked? This woman has you going against everything you are and you're just going to sit by and let her? Well, I ain't okay with that."

Sam was just about to answer, but he was beaten to it by a soft female voice.

"Sorry, am I interrupting something?"

TBC.