Sam regretted not doing the research as his brother drove towards the seedy end of town. Burnt out buildings, skeleton's of stripped cars and trash littered the area. He knew this project was his idea but he should have taken more time to plan it out. Now he was stuck with the information his brother was armed with. As Dean slowed the Impala in front of a darkened building, Sam was having second thoughts.
"Maybe we should reconsider."
Dean glared. "This was your idea."
"I know," Sam sighed. "But I wasn't expecting this."
"Come on," Dean growled, stepping out of the car.
Sam followed reluctantly. The street was quiet except for the familiar screech of the Impala's doors. He was surprised Dean was willing to leave his car unprotected.
"Maybe I should stay with the car," Sam offered.
Dean stormed back across the street, grabbed Sam and pulled him along. They stopped in front of a building. Sam certainly didn't like the looks of it but his brother's grip was unrelenting. Dean pushed open the door, stepping inside. Sam stayed behind his brother as a leather-clad biker chick with a bad dye job stood up to greet them.
"What can I do for you boys?" she asked.
Dean smiled as she leaned across the desk. The leather jacket barely concealed her assets.
"I called this morning," Dean said. "You do custom work?"
"That we do," she smiled. "Here's some of our art."
Sam cringed as she began to open the jacket. He was relieved to see she had a leather vest under it. She proudly displayed her arms for Dean's inspection.
"Nice," Dean smiled, looking closer. "Hey, Sam, check this out."
Sam moved closer to see what caught his brother's eye. On her right bicep was a heart with the letters 'Mom'. Rolling his eyes he pulled out a piece of paper.
"Can you do this?"
She took the paper from Sam. The protection symbol was simple; pentagram in the middle surrounded by a circle with rays, like a burning sun.
"Yeah, sure," she said. "Follow me."
Dean trooped behind her as they entered the tattoo parlor. The area was separated into several work stations. Seeing all the equipment had Sam conjuring all the contagious diseases he could get. Hepatitis, Aids and Ebola just to name a few. Well, maybe not Ebola, that just popped into his mind as one of the most horrible diseases.
"Tiny!" their escort yelled.
They heard a toilet flush. A few seconds later, a mountain of a man stepped from behind a partition. He was Dean's height with at least a hundred pounds extra in weight. His arms were huge and covered with tattoos. Dean took an involuntary step back as Tiny moved closer.
"Roberta, how many times I gotta tell ya to quit the yelling," Tiny said.
"These boys want you to do some work," she said. "It's a simple design, so I figured we could each do one."
"I'll take, Roberta," Sam quickly jumped in.
"How sweet," she smiled. "What's your name sugar?"
"Sam," he said nervously.
"Don't worry, honey, it doesn't hurt."
"So, Tiny," Dean smiled, "guess you're stuck with me."
Dean lost his smile as Tiny took his arm and steered him to a chair.
SNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSSN
"Son of a bitch!"
Sam smiled. His hard as nails, nothing can hurt me, brother was a wimp when it came to needles.
"He always like this?" Roberta asked.
Sam looked down at the work she was doing on his chest. The pentagram was finished as well as the outlines for the rays of the sun. Now she was just filling them in. He'd been surprised when the equipment she used was completely sterile. All of the needles were in sealed packages that were thrown out after every use. The building may look seedy, but the workstations were spotless. Sam smiled looking up.
"Dean's always been sensitive."
"Shut up!" Dean growled. "You don't have gargantuan over here digging into your chest."
"Quit your bitching," Tiny added, reaching under the table. "Take this."
Sam looked over to see Tiny hand his brother a bottle of Jack.
"Now were talking!" Dean said, removing the top and taking a liberal swig. "You're driving."
Sam rolled his eyes as Roberta continued. An hour later, Sam was pulling his shirt back over his head. Roberta gave him instructions on how to care for the tattoo. Dean and Tiny bonded after the Jack mellowed his brother. They were discussing classic cars as Tiny finished the last ray on his brother's tattoo. Tiny wiped the blood from the last few strokes then liberally covered the tattoo with Neosporin. Over that, he placed a sterile gauze pad, taping it in place.
"You know what to do with that?"
"Yeah, yeah," Dean said waving his hand in dismissal.
"Don't worry," Sam assured him. "I've got it."
Sam watched as Dean tried to button his shirt. Dean wasn't totally drunk but he was definitely buzzed. The buttons weren't lined up and Dean finally gave up. Sam grabbed his brother's arm and hauled him to his feet. He thanked Tiny and Roberta and headed for the car. The Impala was waiting for them and Sam deposited his brother in the passenger seat, before walking around to the driver's side and getting in. Dean glared at him when he started the car.
"What?"
"Dude, next time you get any bright ideas keep them to yourself."
