House of Cards
By: Ada C. Eliana
Chapter 11
When Sam woke up he acted as if the previous day never even happened. The mania of the day before, the conversation with someone no one else could hear, the collapsing in the hall, the tears and his words about not wanting to lose Jessica were all suddenly gone. She marveled at the sudden change, more than a little uneasy about the whole thing. He got dressed, hurried Jess and then they were in the convertible, headed for Stanford for the first day of classes.
Jessica tried to talk to him about the previous day, tried to find out what had happened, but every time she had almost broached the subject Sam abruptly changed it. His good mood, which she usually found infectious now filled with her a sort of dread. And once again something roiled in her stomach as her brain flew with too many terrible possibilities, ranging from Sam being a drug addict to him having schizophrenia. She decided to stick as close to him as possible, which was not too difficult, she lived with him after all. However it was with some trepidation that she kissed him goodbye and watched him walk off to his first class of the day.
"Hey Sam!" Karen greeted brightly over a cup of coffee as she headed into the room where the senior law seminar was held. She sat beside him and hefted a notebook out of her messenger bag.
"Hey Karen," Sam returned the greeting with a little less enthusiasm, as he wondered how much coffee Karen had already consumed.
"You know I stopped by your apartment yesterday," she said, skipping over the requisite 'how are you' and getting straight into the meat of what she wanted to talk about.
"Yeah… we weren't home yesterday," Sam said carefully.
"Well I figured that when I caught the door behind somebody and went straight to your apartment. Weird thing was, there were these two men lurking in your hallway," she added as though nervous to say it. The sight of the two lingering in the hall, wandering around, the older of the two staring at her as though memorizing her face when she knocked on Sam's door had made her anxious. She could not imagine what they had been there for, but felt best to tell Sam about it.
"What guys?" he asked, his voice seemed a little higher than normal.
"Um well the one was like our age-ish, with blonde hair, about six feet tall, the other was older, could be his father, and had dark hair, sort of a gruff look to him." Sam's eyes widened slightly and then returned to normal. "Do you know them?" Karen questioned.
"Uh yeah… sort of… they've been hanging around lately, made Jess uncomfortable so we went to stay at my parents for a while.
"Did you call the cops?" Karen asked, pushing a short lock of strawberry blonde hair behind her ears.
Sam thought of Dean's Lawrence, Kansas police detective badge and shook his head. "I don't think that would really make much of a difference."
"So what are you going to do then? Avoid your apartment forever?"
That certainly was not an option, Jess had already told him they needed to go back to get the rest of her clothes, her books, and some other items. Not to mention Sam had left his textbooks, notes, and other things in the apartment. He would definitely need to find some way to get in without Dean or… (could it be John with him?) realizing he was there. Of course if they were staking out his apartment they would eventually realize he wasn't really living there, and then how long would it take them to go to his parent's house? He could not imagine the confrontation that would take place if John Winchester waltzed up the front steps.
He sighed and focused on the professor who had just cleared his throat to gain their attention, trying to keep his mind off Dean and John and the voice that occasionally spoke in his head, trying to focus on law, on his future.
"Jess! Hey Jessy!" Dave called as he chased Jessica down where she was speed-walking across the quad. He finally reached out to grab her arm, forcing her to stop and acknowledge him.
"Oh hi Dave," Jessica said, her mind clearly elsewhere.
"You looked pretty determined a minute ago, something wrong?" he asked her, his face the picture of concern.
"I just wanted to meet up with Sam, his class got out five minutes ago," she explained quickly, trying to brush him off.
"Now I know you two are devoted and whatever, but jeez Jessy, you live with the guy, is not seeing him for two hours really that painful?" he joked.
"Look I just need to see him, okay?" Jessica said firmly, turning from Dave and continuing towards the brick academic building. What if he had another – episode or whatever – what if someone saw? What if he's upset? What if something happened? Her mind spun with scenarios, each worse then the next, and she quickened her pace.
Dave, confused, followed after her. "Why, is something wrong? Did something happen to you? Did something happen to Sam?" he questioned as he matched her pace.
"I can't talk about it, okay?" Jessica said with annoyance, whirling on him. "It's between me and Sam."
"Well there he is now," Dave said, gesturing to where the tall brunette was walking down the sidewalk, eyebrows furrowed in a look of concentration, Karen just behind him looking miffed.
"Sam!" Jess called out, and sighed in relief as Sam's eyes caught hers and he seemed more contemplative than depressed, more troubled than crazy.
"Hey Jess," Sam greeted.
"How's your day going?" she asked, not being more specific in deference to Karen and Dave who were standing there listening and watching.
"Fine. Look, I have a two hour break, so I'm going to head back home and get our stuff, okay?" Sam whispered.
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Jessica asked. "If you wait a little while then I can go with you, wouldn't that make more sense?"
"Nah I'll grab Pete, it won't take long, and then I'll be back for my last class and we can go you know, back to my parent's place afterward."
"I'd really rather you waited for me," Jessica said, furrowing her eyebrows and wondering exactly what Sam wasn't telling her. The last few days had been a whirlwind of confusion and the last thing she wanted was Sam out of her sight for any extended period of time. Something was going on here, something bad, and she needed to know what it was, needed to know how she could help him.
"Come on Jess, it isn't a big deal okay," Sam said with a reassuring smile that used to placate her. Now it just caused her to stare at him with suspicion. He should have counted on that, she always knew when he was lying. But, no matter how angry it made her, there was no way he was letting her anywhere near that apartment with John and Dean staking it out.
"Alright Pete, here's the deal, I'm going to go in through the window, when I call you, you get those guys away from the door, ring me when they've cleared the area and then we'll get away from here."
"Uh sure Sam, but who are these dudes anyway, and why don't you just call the police?" Pete asked. They were leaning against the side of Sam's car, planning how to get into the apartment building. Pete had been quite curious when Sam asked him to help him move some things from his apartment, and that curiosity piqued when Sam mentioned somewhat nervously that there were people waiting outside of his door that he needed to avoid at all cost, but he had refused earlier to explain exactly why those men were there.
"Alright I'll tell you the truth. The one guy I know is definitely my biological brother," Sam sighed.
"Sam what the hell, when did he get here, why didn't you tell me?" Pete looked affronted, the news that Sam's biological brother had turned up in his life sort of sounded like something one should tell their friends.
"He's working some sort of angle okay, and I don't know… I don't like the way he looks at Jess," Sam said, taking a bit of poetic license with his description.
"You think he would hurt her?" Pete asked, surprise and fear crossing his features.
Sam thought back to the voice, to the nightmare with the fire and the blood. "I know he would," Sam ground out. "Fact is, he's messed up, really messed up, but he's also a cop in his hometown, and technically he hasn't done anything except loiter so involving the police would just make everything more complicated."
"Jesus Sam, that sucks. What about the other guy?"
"Sounds like it could be my… uh… my brother's father," he shrugged, unwilling to refer to John Winchester as his own father as well. "I don't know for sure, but I'm definitely not going to walk up to my door with the two of them standing there. This is just a mess, and I don't know…" Sam sighed, rubbing a hand over his face. "But we need this stuff, so I have to get in there."
"Okay Sam, we'll follow your plan, should be easy," Pete said, trying to reassure his friend.
They parked behind the building, below Sam's kitchen window. Pete watched as Sam carefully climbed the tree next to the apartment, heading for the window, hoping that Sam wasn't about to fall out and crack his head on the pavement of anything.
Sam was glad they left the window open and unlocked, it would make his life easier. Though he should really be concerned that breaking into his home was so easy, Sam knew that most people would not have gone this route unless they knew the place particularly well. After all, just about every person knew how to bust into their house in case they locked themselves out, it was a necessary part of life. Of course it would be easier if he were on the first floor.
He pulled himself up on the branch, thanking Jess for dragging him to the gym every other day as he perched precariously and then balanced himself against the wall. He grabbed the window ledge with his right hand and jostled at the screen, pushing it in until the clips broke and the screen fell onto the kitchen floor. That done Sam grasped the window frame with both hands and pulled himself into the apartment. He sidled over the counter and landed on the floor.
He gave Pete the 'all clear' sign before heading for the bedroom. He pulled out Jess' favorite Samsonite Spinner suitcase and quickly tossed in clothes and her jewelry boxes. The shampoos and lotions they would just replace. He tossed his clothes on top until the suitcase couldn't hold anymore weight, and then zipped it up and pulled out his duffle bags. He chose just the books he needed for now as he packed it, but took most of Jess'. He also put both of their laptop cases inside.
Sam quietly made his way to the front door and stared through the peephole to see Dean lounging casually against the wall across from the door. A shadow moved just out of the range of the hole to his left and then someone walked towards Dean. It had been years since he had seen that face in person, but between the nightmares and the photo, and the small trill of fear in Sam's stomach he immediately knew it was his father. Breathing heavily, Sam turned away from the door, leaning against the wall and trying to calm his rapidly beating heart.
He can't hurt me, he can't; he doesn't even know I'm in here.
With trembling fingers he pulled out his cell phone and rang Pete, closing it when Pete answered with 'show time!'.
Pete raced up the stairs to Sam's apartment, ready to put years of drama camp to use. Trying his best to school his features in an expression of concern and fear, he bounded up the last step and turned into the hall. Instantly spotting the two men Sam told him about, he passed them and went to Sam's door. Banging on it, he shouted, "Jessica! Jess, you in there?! Come on it's important! Sam's hurt, Jess!" he cried, sounding genuinely worried and frightened. "It's… It's really bad… you need to come with me… we'll… we'll go to the hospital… and… Jessica! Are you there?!" He banged on the door one more time. "Dammit! Where are you?!" He turned and ran back down the stairs, pausing on the middle landing and listening closely. He heard footsteps following him, and, with a smile, raced the rest of the way to the parking lot.
Pete watched as the two men exited the building and climbed into a black '67 Impala and then pulled his phone out and called Sam.
Dean heard a thump behind the door he had been standing near for over a day now. He listened closely for the sound of footsteps as someone wandered around Sam's apartment. The steps came straight to the door and for a moment Dean could see the shadow under the door, the person could be looking through the peephole at them right now. Knowing that Sam must have been tipped off and decided that breaking into his apartment was preferable to having to see him again (and that made him feel sick, Sam hating him that much) Dean pondered over their options. The footsteps receded and at the same time a young man came barreling around the corner running straight for Sam's door.
Seeing easily through the ruse, Dean raised his eyebrows at his Dad, who rolled his eyes in response as this friend of Sam's turned and ran back the way he came. John nodded and the pair followed, allowing Sam and his friend to think they had fooled them. Climbing in to the Impala, Dean started it up and rounded a corner, letting the car idle where it would be hidden by the wall. They watched, craning their necks toward the windshield as Sam exited the building via the back door, a suitcase and duffle bag in his arms. He and the other guy headed for Sam's car. A few minutes later Dean watched as Sam's convertible tore out of the parking lot. For just an instant, Sam turned his head and met Dean's eyes, but then all Dean saw was the car's back end as Sam took off.
"He must be staying at the Jacobs' house," John said. "I wanted to avoid a run-in with them, but it doesn't look like we have much choice."
"Got an address?" Dean sighed. John nodded, pulling out a leather-bound journal and turning pages. "Dad, can we just give him another day? He must be really on-edge right now, I don't see how us storming up to his parents' house is going to help."
"We don't have a lot of time to waste, Dean," John said sternly.
"Yeah I know. But right now we know where Sam is, we know he's okay. It's going to be a lot harder to protect him if he takes off, runs away somewhere. Give him another day to mull this over, then we can go talk to him."
John must have seen the wisdom in this because he nodded and instructed Dean to take them back to the hotel. Dean breathed a sigh of relief, and wished that he believed in his own reasoning, that the real reason he wanted to wait was not because he was afraid to see Sam again; afraid of how Sam would react towards him.
"Good work, Sammy" the voice cooed in Sam's head. He groaned, having hoped it would leave him alone.
"Something wrong?" Pete asked, having noticed Sam's sudden irritation.
"No… well except for the whole breaking into my own apartment thing. Don't tell anyone about this alright?" Sam requested… again.
"Of course not. But dude, you can't avoid them forever. If they know where you live then they might know where you go to school, where your parents live. It's only a matter of time. What're you going to do?"
"I don't know, Pete," Sam sighed as he parked the car in the student lot, grabbing his bag before he slammed the door shut harder than necessary.
A/N: Review if you want to see what happens when the Jacobs and the Winchesters come face-to-face! (though you'll end up seeing that whether you review or not really... oh well.)