Warnings: Language mainly
"What's going on?" Dean asked. "Where's Sammy?" Dean looked around at everyone. Garth, Benny, Bobby, even Cas Novak. But none of them were talking. "He...he wasn't killed too...was he?" Dean asked. Instead of answering, Bobby just laid a newspaper in front of Dean.
The Stanford Daily.
Dean picked up the paper and looked at the picture on the headline. A charred up apartment building. It looked like a beast of fire just took a bite off the end of the building. Then Dean read the article.
A fire broke out at an apartment building near St. Clair Gardens. Severe structural damage was reported and one victim has been identified. Jessica Moore, 21, of Hanford. No word yet on the cause of the fire or if there are other victims.
"Jessica Moore. Why does that name sound familiar?" Dean asked.
"Jessica was Sam's girlfriend." Cas told Dean. Dean looked at Cas, then back at the paper.
"Is...is Sammy…"
"We don't think so." Benny said. "One victim was found. That was Jessica."
"Then he should be home, right?" Dean asked. Bobby sighed.
"Dean, there were reports that the Horsemen were in Palo Alto the night that the fire happened." Bobby told him. Dean gripped the newspaper then, growling slightly.
"I want all those bastards dead then. All of them." Dean stated matter of factly.
"We're getting there." Bobby told Dean. "But right now, we're just glad that you're home."
"Yeah, me too. Just this new freedom comes with conditions." Dean sighed, leaning his head back against the back of the chair.
"I know. A lot of us have been there, done that." Cas laughed. There was a knock on the door then. "Oh, I bet I know who that is."
"Did you guys get me a stripper?" Dean asked.
"Damn, that's what we forgot." Benny laughed. He opened the door to show a scrawny boy standing there, holding a box of good smelling food.
"Traffic was shit." He said, walking into the meeting room. "But I got everything on your list." Dean looked the kid up and down. He was wearing the black vest like the rest of them, but his just had the prospect patch. The new kid.
"What's his name?" Dean asked anyone in the room. Benny elbowed the kid in the side as he took the box from him.
"Uh, I'm Kevin. Kevin Tran." He said. Dean smirked.
"Guys should've got me a stripper. Kid looks like an honor student! How old are you anyway?"
"Eighteen." Kevin said, his voice cracking some. Dean just kept smiling.
"Well, good work Honor Student." Dean said. "My favorite place?"
"Nothing but the best for you." Garth joked. Dean smiled and dug into the thick burger from his favorite place. Kevin stood there awkwardly for a second before making his way out of the room.
"God, this is the best burger I've had in awhile." Dean said, closing his eyes and smiling.
"Well, I think this might make it better." Bobby said as he laid a patch down in front of Dean. Dean set down his burger and picked it up.
President.
"Bobby…" Dean said. "No."
"No?" Bobby asked. "But…"
"I think this would look better on your vest than mine right now." Dean said. "I mean, you and dad did make this club together. It seems right that you have it for now." He handed the patch back to Bobby.
"Well, in that case…" Bobby pulled out a knife from his pocket and flicked it open. He cut the threads of the Vice President patch and handed it to Dean. "I think that this would be a better fit for you then."
When Dean had went to prison, John was the president, Bobby was the vice president. That was how it had been ever since Dean joined. That's how it had been since the beginning. While it was strange to see Bobby sitting at the head of the table instead of John, it was meant to be. It was a better fit than having Dean up there right now anyway.
The conversation flowed easy and before Dean knew it, it was night. Ellen was closing up the office while Jo finished up the cleaning. Dean made his way out of the meeting room and smiled at Ellen when he saw her, sipping on a glass of whiskey in the bar.
"Hello there." He said, taking up the barstool by her. "Can I buy you a drink?"
"Well, now I see why Jo was so excited this afternoon." Ellen said with a tight smile. "I thought you weren't getting out for awhile."
"Got lucky I guess." Dean gave her his signature grin. Ellen reached over the bar and grabbed another glass and the bottle of whiskey she had been nursing. She poured Dean a glass. "How are you holding up?"
"Fine I guess." She said with a bit of a shrug. "Life goes on." Dean rested a hand on her shoulder, and when she didn't shrug him off, he figured it was a good sign. "I kept your apartment clean. I didn't go through anything, except the fridge to get rid of anything that was expired or moldy."
"Oh no, you got rid of Señor Smelly Fish in the back of the fridge?" Dean asked, playing fake hurt. Ellen laughed a little. Something she hadn't done in awhile.
"Don't worry. I replaced him with Ms. Odor Remover. Part of the baking soda family." She teased back. Garth, Cas, Benny, and Bobby stood in the doorway of the meeting room. Dean just had the aura that could lighten people's days. But, on the other side of that coin, he could be your worst nightmare if he was given the chance. A lot of the guys over the years had seen Dean pissed off. He could be very hot headed when he was pushed one too many times.
"Well, if Dean and Ellen are out here drinking, I think we should all!" Cas declared, going around the bar and grabbing a bottle lifting it in the air. Benny and Garth cheered out. They had been ready for a beer all day. They were about to let the booze flow when the doors opened and two guys made their way in.
"Well damn, I think we missed the party." One said with a laugh. Dean looked over and his smile widened.
"Caleb!" He said. "And Jim!"
"Hey there kiddo." Caleb Reeves said, grabbing Dean into a headlock and giving Dean a noogie.
"We were hoping we'd be back in time before you got out, but it doesn't look like luck was on our side." Jim Murphy laughed. Caleb let go of Dean and took up one of the stools.
"Where were you guys?" Dean asked.
"Palo Alto." Jim said, heading over towards Bobby. "Bobby sent us out there."
"What did you guys find?" Bobby asked. Caleb shrugged.
"Shit." Caleb said. "No hide nor hair of little Sam." Bobby cringed a little and Caleb looked over at Dean before looking back at Bobby. "He knows right?"
"Yeah, I do." Dean looked over at Bobby for some answers.
"When Sam stopped answering calls and texts, I had Ash do some digging. He found the newspaper article for us. After that and a little research on this side, I asked for volunteers to head out to California and check for us. We couldn't let everyone go, so I asked Caleb and Jim to do it, since they've known the kid the longest." Bobby explained.
"And you guys found nothing?" Dean asked.
"Sorry Dean." Jim said, patting his arm. "We tore that town apart."
"Yeah, and got a little attention from a new club out there I guess." Caleb added. Bobby looked over at him.
"New club?" He asked. "What new club?"
"Oh, just this club based out of LA or something. They think they're tough shit but they sent one little punk to tell us to back off." Caleb shrugged. "Nothing Jim and I couldn't handle."
"That might have been some good information to share." Cas pointed out, taking a drink of his whiskey. Dean set quietly off to the side while the rest of them chatted away. It was nice being home, but things had changed so much in the time that he had been gone. Out of the original five; John, Bill, Bobby, Caleb, and Jim, only three were left. And as far as Dean knew, he was the only Winchester left. Sam ran off to get away from the club life, but the club life might have done him in.
"Dean-o." Garth said. "Why aren't you the life of the party?"
"I think I'm just gonna call it a night." Dean answered. "It's been a long day. Kinda miss my bed."
"Go on then." Bobby laughed. "Get rested up. Tomorrow you can get back to work." Dean smiled and stood up, letting himself stretch.
"Thanks guys. For everything." He big his farewells then headed out to the parking lot. He could see Jo trying to chat up the prospect, but the poor kid acted like he didn't know how to talk to girls. Dean just shook his head and headed back to his apartment, right over the only sports bar in Wolfpine. For the most part, even during a rowdy game or fight, it was still pretty quiet.
Walking inside, it felt different. The first thing that greeted him was a picture of his family on the wall. Taken years prior, before prison and death and the whole nine yards. The quiet of the apartment as Dean went through, assessing what Ellen had done, was a little too much to bear. And as he stood in the shower, water and soap washing over his back tattoo that he got the year after he patched, a lightbulb went off in his head.
He was going to Palo Alto.
He was going to find Sam himself.