Winchester & Sons
Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural. I own my imagination! Oh, wait, it owns me.
A/n: Instead of concentrating on the schoolwork that is no doubt more important in the long run, I've decided that I cannot wait for the free time I'll have during October break. So for this week I'm writing fics instead of doing homework at work like I usually do. Homework will just have to be done only during breaks between classes instead of during breaks and work. So here's one of many fics I hope to be pumping out in the next few weeks.
"Slow ride, take it easy." -Foghat
Sam Winchester was currently brushing up on his wendigo folklore in the comfort of his friend Bobby's house. Of course Bobby was more like a father than a friend, but researching how to correctly kill a wendigo was much more important at the moment than correctly labeling Sam's relationship with Bobby. Unfortunately the oversized male in plaid was having difficulties focusing on the ancient tome in front of him.
Adam Milligan was currently bored out of his mind sitting in the dusty, cluttered house of this sarcastic old man who would not know a facebook from a twitter, but who did have a fairly cool collection of antique weapons. Bobby and Adam were friends by family; the two only acknowledged one another since their families were friends. Unfortunately the young male with blondish-brown hair did not have any access to weapons or the World Wide Web, so he was tapping a pencil against the table just for something to do.
Dean Winchester and Bobby Singer were currently out of the house at the moment so if you would like to leave a message, don't. They would not care anyway. The two hunters have their own problems to deal with.
Sam turned another page and tried to block out the tapping. A few seconds passed; the incessant noise continued. Sam wanted to growl at his younger brother, but nothing good ever came from tension between Winchesters. The middle son decided to sigh instead.
"Adam," the tapping stopped and the boy looked up. "you want to help me with this research?"
"Not really," was the reply.
"Are you hungry? You could make a snack."
"Not really hungry."
"You could go outside, take a walk."
Adam just shook his head.
So an awkward silence settled in the room. The two brothers sort of stared at each other, but really looked at anything but the other person in the room. The silence made itself comfortable and surveyed the proceedings.
Sam broke first and focused back on the wendigo text. He knew this information by heart, having put it into practice at least once, but strange goings on were occurring in the supernatural world lately so re-researching provided a chance for new information to crop up. So far he was learning nothing new. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Except that he would never get any research done at this point.
The loud but muted sound of the tall man shutting the dated book stopped the tapping and caught the attention of the young male. Adam glanced up at his brother sitting across the room. The youngest Winchester was confused at the return of the pause in studying. He became even more bewildered when Sam stood up and walked over to where Adam was sitting.
"Come on," Sam motioned for Adam to rise. "You're coming with me."
Adam's reaction: "What?"
"We're going to go find something interesting for the both of us to do."
"Where?"
"Outside. Now grab your coat and follow me."
Sioux Falls, South Dakota was, of course, a Podunk town in the middle of nowhere: meaning there was not much to do in town. Luckily, Sam and Adam had a whole salvage yard to mess around in at their disposal. Who knows what kind of junk Bobby has just lying around?
About thirteen minutes after they entered the scrap piles, the two brothers had found a nice little 1968 Chevy Nova SS. It was blue (but it sure as Hell was not that powdery blue older cars used to be painted in), with three flat tires, and over forty years of depreciation. The thing was in appalling shape, but anyone who appreciated cars could see the potential underneath the decay.
Sam was just sort of staring at the car, Adam could almost picture his brother smiling and nodding too; nothing was happening.
"So…" the young Winchester started, "you brought me out here to stare at some cars? Real stimulating stuff, Sam."
"Not stare at. Fix up," answered Sam, use to the sarcasm that regularly came from both of his brothers. "I thought we could work on this car. Do some repairs on it; maybe get it running again. Bobby has all the tools, pieces, and parts we'll need. It'll take up a good chunk of our time while we wait for Dean and Bobby to get back. What do you think?"
"I think…I don't know the first thing about fixing up a car. I mean, I can know a good car when I see one. The Impala, for instance; I appreciate a sweet ride just as much as the next man, but I wouldn't know how to fix it if it ever broke down."
"Well, now you're gonna learn. Pop the hood."
The metal protested with the opening of the hood and dust rose to the air. Adam looked at Sam.
"Sam, what are we suppose to do with a car that has no engine?"
"Ahh, yeah, that might be a problem. Guess we start lookin."
"In all of this?" the shorter male's tone was slightly incredulous.
Sam smiled. "Yeah. Come on, it'll be fun."
"Alright, fine. But whoever finds the right engine first gets first dibs on the car if we get it up and running."
"Deal."
"Sam!" Adam called from across the cluttered lot. "I think I found some tires!"
The hunter in question lifted his head out from the car's front end and looked towards where his younger brother's voice was coming from. He spotted the blonde about four rows down and to the left, pointing at a bulky pile of rubber and plastic. The boy was behind one tire he had already worked to remove from the mess; Sam glanced at it, squinting from the distance.
"If you think they look good, bring them over!" Sam shouted back. "Let's see if they work!"
Adam got to work removing two other tires from the pile, while Sam stuck his head back under the hood to finish tightening the mechanisms that held the engine in. The youngest Winchester had a good eye for picking out perfect pieces out of considerable chaos (including engines). After twenty minutes of crashes, clangs, and one or two muttered curses, Adam was rolling three slightly used tires over to the work in progress.
Sam looked over at the tires that thudded to the ground near the car. He glanced back at the car, comparing the old rubber to the new(ish). He did a few quick calculations in his head. Sam drew his gaze to Adam's face.
"I'd say these'll work perfectly," the taller male remarked.
Adam grinned. "That's two different parts I've found before you. This car is so mine."
"Yeah, but who's doing all the work here?"
"You're just doing all the heavy lifting, Sasquatch Sam."
"So that's all I am to you? The muscle?"
Adam just nodded, smirk set upon his lips.
"Well then, let's have you do some hard work. Think you can put those tires on by yourself, baby brother?"
"Watch and learn Sammy."
Adam began his task by getting rid of the less than stellar remaining tires one by one. Sam, meanwhile, supervised. To his credit, Adam was doing a reasonably decent job of changing the tires, even if there were a few curses when something slipped or did not go on just right. The kid was making a mess, but he was working hard at the task at hand. Sam had to smile at the perseverance.
"Alright, so you've proved you can change a tire," the brunette said when he saw the transformation from old to new for the first wheel, "I guess I can help you out now. We'll get further faster that way."
"Flattery's not gonna get you the car though, Sam," replied Adam.
"I don't even think you'll be able to drive this thing. Can you even reach the pedals?" the older one quipped back.
"I can reach the pedals just fine, but can you even fit? It'd be like stuffing Bigfoot into one of those little clown cars."
"Just change the tires."
The two brothers were smiling and smirking, pleased with the conversation. They usually did not have a lot of one on one time together; Dean barely let them out of his sight and the big baddies were always ready to jump a couple of Winchesters. So most of the time their conversations were either short, filled with monster talk, or fueled by anger. They got along for the most part, but sometimes the two younger siblings were reminded that they came from completely different backgrounds.
For the next couple of minutes, the sounds heard were those of various parts being removed, moved, and moved on. It was the sound of concentrated labor. Then, all of a sudden, Adam brought up a new conversation.
"Hey Sam," he said, and his brother looked at him, "where did you learn to fix up old cars? I didn't think you would have time for this sort of stuff, you know, with the 'job' and all. Did John teach you?"
Sam took a moment to answer, looking at the younger Winchester to gauge the seriousness in the boy's voice. "Dean taught me, actually. Any chance he could get, he was under the hood of that Impala. And most of the time I was sitting on the ground right next to him. Ready to hand him a tool or a beer. I mean, I always knew that Dean was going to be the old cars and rock music brother, but I usually paid attention when he was trying to teach me things. I learned all about the carburetor, how to change the oil, and when to make sure all the lines were going to the right places. Most of the time, I think Dean just wanted the company. Along with his compulsive need to keep an eye on me 24/7. And sometimes, he was making sure I was ready in case we reached a point where we were no longer together. But I'm not really a car person, usually."
"So how come you're out here teaching me? If you don't really care about cars, and I don't ever see any hope that Dean's ever going to let me ride off into the sunset on my own?"
"One, because I thought you would like it. And two, I'm not Dean. I realize that one day you might be on your own. There's always a period of time where a Winchester finds himself without his family by his side. That's when we're the most vulnerable. I want you prepared."
"By knowing how to fix up an old car?"
Sam smiled, pausing in what he was doing, to look at Adam again. "Well that's only one lesson. Next, I'll teach you how to properly make a bed. You never know when that might come in handy, my little grasshopper."
"Haha," the younger brother rolled his eyes. "We go from motel to motel. That's what maids are for."
"Well here at Bobby's house, I'm not your maid."
"No. Just my slave. Now get back to work, lowly peon."
Sam threw a rusty bolt at Adam. "Whatever you say, my liege," he responded.
Adam was sitting on an old cooler next to the Nova. Sam was standing in front of the car, his head buried in the engine again. All four tires were pumped full of air and ready to go. Adam had replaced a cracked side mirror; Sam had replaced a rusty bumper. The older vehicle still had plenty of repairs that it needed, but those were mostly cosmetic. As far as the middle Winchester could tell, this car should have the ability to run.
The boys were into their ninth hour of work. They had only stopped briefly about an hour ago to grab two sandwiches and a cooler full of beer. They had been talking for almost half the time spent outside, the other half the time they spent digging through rubbish piles and lifting up heavy pieces of metal. The two brothers wore matching faces filled with accomplishment.
Suddenly, Sam stood up straight to glance down at Adam.
"Hand me a beer, would ya?" he said.
The blonde got up to turn and dig in the cooler. He pulled out a cold, fresh can for Sam.
"Thanks," Sam took the can, popped the top, and took a sizeable gulp. Adam simply nodded, taking a swig of his own beer. "Looking at the engine, everything looks about set for this thing to start running again. Wanna take a crack at starting it up?"
"We don't have any keys," the young hunter remarked.
"And now you're going to learn a real valuable life lesson: how to hotwire a car. I'm guessing that's something your mom never would have let you learn."
"We weren't exactly a family built for crime."
"That's what brothers are for."
"So what am I suppose to do?"
Sam of course spent the next few minutes instructing his younger brother on the fine art of hotwiring. Adam, of course, was a quick study. Unfortunately, none of their attempts to start the car were working.
So Sam was back under the hood and Adam was back on the cooler when Dean and Bobby pulled up to the house.
The older hunter went straight into his house after nodding to both Sam and Adam. The monsters had not gone down easy, and Bobby needed something stronger that just a beer. Dean however, waved to his brothers, making his way over to their little project.
Seeing his eldest brother headed his way, Adam got up from his perch. He had a beer ready for Dean when he finally reached them.
"Thanks Adam," Dean said, taking the beer gratefully. "I thought we had you two on research duty? Are there some gremlins in this car that Bobby doesn't know about?"
"Adam and I got a little bored so we came outside for something to do. We found this nice car and decided to fix it up. I thought you of all people would appreciate any efforts to restore a car to its former glory," explained Sam.
"Don't get me wrong; it looks like you two have done a great job with the thing. But whenever I try to get you involved with fixing the Impala, you're not quite this invested."
"Probably because I have to listen to you the whole time."
"Right," the eldest brother said, brushing off the comment. "So how's it going?"
Adam jumped right in. "We can't get it started. I think Sam messed something up in the engine."
"I think the engine is just faulty," Sam retorted.
"Step aside and let the expert through,' said Dean. He placed his beer down beside the cooler and walked over to where Sam was standing next to the open hood.
The short-haired brunette searched around the engine for a bit, looking at different pieces and checking out other parts. He nodded and made a noise of approval.
"The engine's actually pretty good. Was this in there or did you have to find it?"
"Adam found it, actually."
"Good job kiddo. But here's your problem. Did you check the spark plugs, Sammy?"
Sam bent his head next to his brother's to see where Dean was pointing.
"They look fine to me."
"That's where you're wrong. This car is never going to run like this. Here, let me show you two the proper way to fix an engine."
A half an hour later had Adam back in the car, ready to attempt another start up. He looked to Dean outside the windshield for a go-ahead nod. Dean gave his youngest brother the signal and Adam reached down for the proper wires. A few seconds later, the Nova roared to life. Adam quickly jumped out of the car.
"Yes!" he cried. "We did it!"
Sam and Dean looked at their younger half-brother. The kid was covered in dirt, dust, grease, oil, flecks of rust, and metal shavings. His hair was tousled every which way; his clothes had new rips. But he had a smile bigger than his face, with a look of triumph to go with it. Sam and Dean smiled back at Adam.
"Thanks Sam. Thanks Dean," the youngest Winchester grinned.
The End.
A/n: It's long. Nice. Now I know I should have been updating WlW, but I really, really wanted to do this first. I think WlW is going to be updated bi-weekly now anyway. So been working on this one the past week, along with another little oneshot that I don't know when will be finished. But I hope you like this one. Thanks for reading and thanks for reviewing! New episode tonight!