The Price We Paid

Sam had been back with Dean for 6 months now, and even now Dean could tell there was something different about his brother. Sam had always been shy, but now when they weren't on a case, he shied away from all people, keeping his eyes to the ground, and tensing his shoulders when they came into his space.

It was odd; out of all of them, Sam had always been the one at ease with people, the one chasing normal. Dean had expected more of that, but Sam had come back a bit of a shadow of his former self, fading into the background and allowing Dean to take the reigns when dealing with the public.

To Dean's chagrin, he had lost a bet with Sam so he was now sitting at the back of the bar behind a laptop doing research while Sam was at the bar getting them more beers. Fortunately, it seemed like there wasn't much going on in this town or the surrounding areas, and Dean was looking forward to a night off.

"Do we know that kid?" Dean frowned and turned his head slightly to the side, where two burly truckers were sitting at one of the tall tables against the wall. They both had eyes on Sam, and Dean sat back watching carefully as each man looked his brother up and down.

"Actually, you know who that is?" Dean struggled to hear over the music, but they were speaking too quietly. They laughed and the younger of the two men walked over to the bar. Dean clenched his fists as the mans hand landed on Sam's lower back, but he kept himself planted to the seat by pure will, because he knew Sam could break the guy in half, but he had a watchful eye and would jump in if he needed too.

Sam tensed and turned around, and Dean watched as recognition hit Sam's face and his eyes lowered to the ground. The man whispered something in Sam's ear, and Sam just smiled in an awkward little boy way before shaking his head and saying something back.

Dean had had enough, and he threw some cash on the table, before walking over to his brother, and grabbing his arm possessively.

"C'mon Sam, time to go." Sam blushed, but the awkward little boy look was gone, replaced by the hunter Dean knew.

"Yeah okay." Sam turned away but not before the trucker smiled darkly one last time.

"Come back later, if you want to go for a ride around the block kid. We miss you up in Cali." Sam didn't turn back, attempting to make it look like he didn't hear.

The ride back to the motel was quiet, neither brother saying anything, but both thinking about the same things. Dean made a quick stop at the liquor store; he was going to need it, before steering the Impala into the parking lot.

Dean sat on the bed, drinking straight from the bottle of whiskey when Sam went into the bathroom. When he returned, freshly showered, Dean simply passed him the bottle, allowing Sam to catch up before they had this conversation.

"Did you know them?" Dean asked, keeping his eyes plastered on the far wall. Sam sighed, and took another sip of whiskey.

"I am assuming that if I just ask you to let this go, you won't right?" Dean snorted, and grabbed the whiskey out of Sam's hands.

"No, I'm not."

"Yeah… I figured that…they are long haul truck drivers, at least they were. They made their rounds up through San Francisco, and surrounding areas over the years."

"Pre-Law students make a habit of hanging around drunk truckers?" Sam made a loud swallowing noise, and he sat up on the bed, hanging his legs over the edge of the bed.

"When we have to." Dean clenched his fists in anger, and sat up to face his brother on the edge of the bed.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Sam kept his eyes on the ground, refusing to look up at the shadow of disappointment that was soon going to be marring his brother's face.

"Dad always said I wouldn't be any good at hustling… guess that was only half true…" Dean breathed in sharply, on of his worst nightmares had been realized.

"I thought you had a full ride." Sam laughed.

"I did during the school year. Doesn't cover food, or summers, or breaks. Had to find other… rides that would pay for all that stuff." Dean teared up at the hatred in his little brother's voice.

"Sammy…" Sam looked up at the squeak in his brother's voice. "Why didn't you call me?"

"I couldn't… I wasn't supposed to come back…"

"Damn it kid, if Dad knew…" Dean jumped when Sam grabbed his wrist and squeezed tightly.

"Don't tell him, hit me, scream at me, just please don't tell him." Dean winced but made no move to remove his arm from Sam's grasp.

"I'm not gonna hit you Sammy…" Sam sniffed and let go, dropping his head into his hands.

"I didn't think I was going to see you again, I just needed some money… I know you are disappointed in me, I'm sorry...I'm sorry… I'm sorry…"

"It's not you I'm a disappointed in. I'm disappointed in me and Dad… we shouldn't have put you in that situation, I didn't even think about the things that weren't paid for."

"It isn't your fault Dean, I walked away."

"Yeah well… I let you go. I let you walk away that night, and didn't check on you…"

"Am I still your brother?" Dean choked at that question, it was so random and he couldn't believe Sam thought this would change anything.

"You'll always be my brother Sammy." Sam nodded and wiped his eyes on his shirt.

"I'm tired." Dean laughed.

"You're drunk. Go to sleep kid. I'm just gonna go for a walk, clear my head."

"Mmkay." Dean waited for Sam's breath to even out, before slipping out the door; it was really good that the bar was within walking distance.

Nothing had changed in the two hours since Dean had been gone, and the two men were still sitting in the back of the bar. He slid into the seat beside them, and smiled nicely.

"Still interested?" Dean asked with a cocky grin on his face. The older man quirked an eyebrow at Dean, and smiled at the other man.

"Definitely." He replied. Dean nodded and paid up their tab.

"C'mon boys. We will discuss price." Dean led the two men, out of the bar, and into the back alley, and when the bar tender came out back later to throw out the trash, she pretended she didn't hear them scream.

When Dean returned to the motel, he was achey and sore, and he was shocked to see two hazel eyes watching him from the bed. Dean sat down on the edge of Sam's bed.

"You throwing up yet." Sam shook his head.

"Not that drunk." Sam breathed in deeply. "Did you kill them?" Dean sighed, he should have known that Sam would know exactly where he was going.

"No… I just left them hurting… made them pay for what they did. I wanted to kill them though." Sam looked genuinely confused.

"Why?" Dean scoffed.

"They made a huge mistake praying on a scared eighteen year old kid… they made an even bigger mistake picking my kid brother. I couldn't let them get away with that." Sam nodded.

"At what point did it become my fault though? I kept going back." Dean winced at the comment. He knew Sam hustled more then once, but it hurt to hear him say it out loud.

"I don't care, you weren't left with a choice… and they hurt you… just because they paid you for it doesn't make it okay."

"I hated what I was… I didn't ever want you to see me that way…"

"I don't see you that way Sammy, just promise me one thing?"

"What?"

"Never again, okay?"

"Never. I promise."

Dean didn't know everything Sam had done, he wasn't sure he wanted to know. He did know that he had to owe something to Jessica, because he was sure, that she had something to do with Sam getting cleaned up, and back to normal. He wouldn't ask any questions, maybe Sam would tell him someday, but for now he had his little brother with him, safe, and two men had paid the price, for the scars they had left behind. And for now, that was enough.