"A Dollar Short: Part 1/?"Rating: T for Strong Language
Characters: Sam, Dean, Jo
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CHAPTER 1
It's been almost ten months to the day that Dean Winchester made his deal with that bitch of a demon. Painted himself into one shit filled corner. But he figures it's worth it just to see his baby brother up and about in the world of the living. If he could just get Sam to accept this fate that Dean's chosen...
Right now Dean's sitting in a hard wooden chair while Sam tears furiously through a dead woman's private library. He'd say it again but it would be a waste of breath. It's no use, Sammy. Just give it up. And he doesn't want to get into another fight. He watches Sam as he tosses yet another book to the carpeted floor having declared it useless.
It takes another half hour of this before Dean's impatience propels him out of his chair. He's sick of sitting and saying nothing while his brother drags him from one random town to another searching for a loophole they both know doesn't exist. He wants to be hunting. Sending things that don't belong in this world packing. Go down fighting, dragging every son of a bitch monster he can get his hands on with him into Hell.
Dean says as much and watches the line of Sam's mouth go tight. Good, he thinks. Dean's ready for a fight even if it's with his own brother. And there in that damp and dusty study they argue like they haven't argued in years. It's a shouting match equal to the one that drove Sammy off to Stanford and left Dean alone with their prideful, angry, heart-broken father.
Dean's going to spend what's left of his time hunting. Sammy won't go with him. Says he's close. Says he knows the answer is just around the corner. Just a few more things to check out.
Dean looks at his brother and feels a kind of numbness. He can't bring himself to care anymore. He's already walking towards the car. There are no goodbyes here. They just give their back to each other. Outside a storm has picked up and its thunder and howling winds drown out retreating footsteps, the flipping of pages, and the turning of an engine.
End Part 1
TBC