The Other Winchester – Part 3
They had been driving for about six hours, when Dean decided that they should stop for the night. It'd been a long day and both Sammy and Haley were asleep in the back seat of the car. Dean could tell from the angle of Sam's head that his brother was gonna have serious neck ache when he woke up.
Pulling out his cell phone he called Bobby.
"Bobby, I think I'm gonna stop, get a room for the night. I'm seriously hankering for a cheeseburger and some pie...and my road trip buddies are out cold in the back seat, you in?"
Dean listened as Bobby told him that he'd keep going. He didn't want to leave Haley's bike strapped to the back of his truck all night outside a motel, and could manage the rest of the trip back alone.
Pulling into the car park of the motel, Dean got out and went to get them a room leaving Sam and Haley asleep in the car. As he waited for the room key, he found out that there was an all night diner not far from the motel. Awesome I'll get the children settled and get myself some food.
Making his way back to the car he couldn't help but feel that his life was gonna be different now. For so long it had been him and Sam, on the road, roughing it in the car. He couldn't imagine Haley, hustling pool and making money playing poker. Although, she didn't seem to mind sleeping in the back of the Impala. She has barely stirred since she had collapsed in the cemetery. Peering into the car he saw that neither had moved from where he had left them. Great, how am I gonna get them into the room he thought. Not really wanting to wake them, but seeing no other choice he nudged Sam awake.
"Sammy, Sammy come on wake up."
Sam groggily opened his eyes. "Dean... what?"
"Up and at um. I got us a room. I don't want Haley spending all night in the back of the car and you'll be a pretzel if you lie like that any longer."
Looking down at where Haley lay on his chest Sam didn't think that she had moved at all.
"Ugh, Dean, I think you need to get Haley up first. I think she's drooling on me!"
Laughing Dean reached into the back of the car and gently pulled Haley from Sam's arms, trying not to wake her.
As soon as Dean had her out, Sam pulled himself out of the car and stretched the kinks in his shoulder and neck.
"Want me to take her?" he asked.
"Na, I got her. Why don't you grab our bags and open the room door. You know she's heavier than she looks"
Sam smirked. "What, one little woman is too much for you these days Dean?"
"Hey!"
Following Sam into the room, Dean laid Haley down on the sofa.
"Dean, come on man she can't sleep on the sofa all night, put her on one of the beds."
Dean looked from Sam to Haley. "What, you want the sofa man, because the only one of us that could get a decent sleep on it is Haley and she's already out cold, besides she's only little."
"Okay, but we can't leave her sleeping in her clothes."
"Again, do you want to explain to your grown up SISTER that you stripped her and put her to bed? I may not know this version of Haley very well, but I think she'd be pissed"
Dean grinned widely as he watched Sam struggle with having a sister who was a grown woman. There's no way she'd appreciate being undressed and put to bed. If memory served even as a little girl Haley was fiercely independent.
"Jacket and boots?" Sam asked.
"Good idea."
Dean bent down and carefully undid Haley's boots, pulled them off and placed them on the floor, next he removed her jacket. "Hand me a pillow and blanket Sammy."
As soon as he was sure that Haley was comfortable he turned to Sam and rubbed his hands together. "Right then I need food! There's a diner not far from here. I'm gonna go pick up a cheeseburger and some pie. You want anything?"
"Yeah, I'll have the same and a chocolate milkshake... What about Haley, should we get her something?"
"Ok Samantha, I'll pick something up for Haley too." Dean laughed as he walked out of the room.
Sam sat on the edge of the bed, staring at his sister as she slept, replaying his conversation with Dean in the car.
He couldn't understand why his dad had taken her away; he'd always taught them that family came first. Clenching his fists, it made him angry to think that she must have spent the last twenty years believing that they didn't want her with them. That dad had lied to them almost their entire life and never brought her home.
Thinking back to his childhood, Sam remembered his little sister. She was the one who wanted to hunt, keen to learn everything about the supernatural soaking up the lessons that dad had taught like a sponge. Despite that he remembered that they shared everything, were always together, following Dean around and getting up to mischief. He'd always had this sense when it came to Haley, always knew where she was, always knew when she was in trouble. Dean had told him that it was that bond that enabled Haley to follow him into the pit and get him out. It was also the reason that Gabriel had tricked his dad into sending her away. He would never have risked her by saying yes to Lucifer.
Falling back on the bed he closed his eyes and thought about his time in hell. He didn't know what Cas had done to him, but he didn't remember or feel the agonies that he knew he must have endured. It was like Cas had healed his soul as well as his body.
Sam knew that his main priority was to repair the damage done to his and Dean's relationship and to get to know his sister all over again. He was pretty sure that things hadn't been easy for her growing up and he wanted to find out how bad things were. He could remember pieces of her conversation with Lucifer, but couldn't put everything together
Hearing Dean come back into the room he opened his eyes and sat up, catching the bag of food Dean tossed at him with a grateful "Thanks."
Dean was already shoving his third burger into his month and mumbled an unintelligible "No problem." back at him.
He joined Dean at the table and started to eat his food, sending a concerned glance towards his sister as he did. "Do you think she's okay, she's been out for a while?"
"I think so; Cas said her body is reconnecting with her soul, whatever that means. He said she'll be fine."
Sam frowned. "I hope so."
"She'll be fine Sammy." Dean insisted, as he pulled the container with his pie towards him and popped off the lid. Grinning appreciatively as he picked up his fork and took a bite. "Hmm that is so good. Lisa couldn't make pie like this."
"So Dean, how is that working out for you?"
"What, the pie?" Dean asked puzzled.
Exasperated Sam said. "You know, with Lisa?"
Putting down what was left of the pie Dean looked thoughtful.
"Sam, I only stayed as long as I did because I made a promise to you. If Haley hadn't turned up this morning I would left soon anyway. The thought of you being in the pit with Lucifer and not doing anything about it was killing me." Throwing a glance towards where his sister lay sleeping, a soft look passing across his face. "No matter what, I will thank God, every day of my life for bringing that girl back into our lives." Dean paused. "She put me on my ass this morning."
"What?"
Dean laughed. "Yeah, but that's not the best of it. First I checked out her ass, you have no idea how scarred for life I'm gonna be knowing that one... I thought Bobby was her sugar daddy and told her so and yes I am the pervert who thought his sister was hot."
By the time Dean finished recounting the events of that morning Sam didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
"And do you know what else?" Dean said.
"What?"
"She beat me in a race against the Impala on that monster of a Harley that she calls her baby. I am so on for a rematch when she's back on her feet."
That was enough to set Sam off again, laughing uncontrollably at the thought of his macho brother being not only decked by a girl half his size but beaten in a drag race by the very same girl.
"It's not that funny, bitch." Dean said, but he was laughing too. It was good to see his brother laugh, it had been too long.
"Sounds like our sister has grown up kind of cool, huh Dean?"
"Yeah it looks like she did." Dean replied, a soft smile appearing on his face as he glanced across the room at his sleeping sister. He yawned suddenly. "Jesus I am in serious need of some shut-eye."
Without another word he got up and walked across the room; not bothering to remove his clothes he flopped straight down on the bed and was almost immediately asleep.
Sam sat for a few minutes listening to the sounds of his siblings as they slept, savouring the knowledge that he was home. He wasn't sure what the future held for them but for the first time in a long time he had hope.
xxOOxx
The next morning Haley woke up to the sounds of the shower running. Sitting up she could see Dean at the table and assumed that it was Sam in the shower. She was pretty sure that Uncle Bobby wasn't sharing a motel room with them.
"Dean, where are we?"
"Haley, you're up. You had us worried; you've been out for a straight twenty hours. How do you feel?"
"Okay I guess." She replied vaguely avoiding Deans concerned gaze. "Is that Sam in the shower?"
"Yeah."
Dean frowned as he took in the tension in his sisters face, tension that hadn't been there the morning before."
"Hey Haley, are you sure you're okay?"
Clenching her teeth, she looked squarely at Dean. "I said I'm fine Dean."
Of course to Dean that meant that she clearly wasn't. He raised an eyebrow but didn't press the issue.
"Not a morning person then?" he said. "Want some coffee?"
With a response which resembled a grunt Haley got up from the sofa and approached the table.
"What is that?" She asked.
"It's a burrito I've got one for you too. Do you want it now or after your shower, because you know..." He paused. "You stink."
Haley let out an indignant screech. "I don't stink."
She looked down at herself and saw that she was wearing the same clothes that she had on the morning before. "Well, maybe I do, but you try being in the same clothes and sleeping in them for twenty hours and see how much you stink"
"Should I have let Sam undress you like he wanted to?" Dean said with a laugh. "Because, I didn't think you'd take kindly to that."
"He wanted to what?"
At that point, Sam came out of the bathroom looking and smelling rather good, but wearing the most god awful shirt that she had ever seen. Her baby brother did not have good taste in clothes.
Noticing that Haley was up Sam moved to stand in front of her; looking into her green eyes searchingly. He placed a kiss on top of her nose in the way he used to when they were kids. "Good morning sis."
Haley looked up at him with tears in her eyes. "Morning little bro," she replied, her voice thick with emotion.
Sam found himself tearing up as he pulled her into a hug and wondered how the hell Dean must have felt finding out who she was and then sending her to hell, it would have killed him inside. She was still the sister he remembered from so long ago, only now she was a little taller, not much mind you but a little.
"Little?" he said incredulously, "Come on sis have you looked at yourself in the mirror lately? I don't think you've grown since you were eight."
Watching from his place at the table, Dean smiled happily at his siblings but hearing that comment from Sam, Dean thought maybe he should duck and cover. As predicted, Haley let out a growl and pushed past Sam.
"You know not everyone is the size of a tree." Grabbing her back pack from the bottom of the sofa where one of her brothers had left it Haley headed into the bathroom slamming the door closed.
Sam looked confused. "What'd I say?"
Dean laughed. "Dude, she's a bit sensitive about her height, she doesn't take kindly to the word little being applied to her."
"Thanks for the heads up Dean."
Dean laughed again. "I thought I'd let you dig your way out of that one on your own Sammy."
"Thanks so much for that."
Sam took a seat at the table across from Dean; he glanced back at the bathroom door and hearing the shower running, turned to Dean, satisfied that Haley couldn't hear him. "She's not okay."
"What do you mean?"
"Yesterday in Hell, we nearly didn't get out." He sighed "I can't remember a lot about what happened, just snatches of the conversation between Lucifer and Haley."
He paused for a moment trying to get his thoughts clear. "He was talking about dad and the people he left Haley with...I think that they hurt her."
Sam could feel his heart beat increase as he struggled to find the words to tell Dean what he remembered.
"She was so brave standing up to Lucifer, talking to him as if chatting to the devil was an everyday occurrence. I didn't know who she was, but then she was crying Dean, and I felt her. She cried out for my help, as Lucifer was laughing talking about punishments and therapists, I even heard electro shock therapy. She said it wasn't dad's fault that he didn't know. I felt her pain deep down in my soul. It was like a dam opened and the memories flooded back. That's when we got out." He met Dean's eyes. "Someone hurt her bad Dean...she was just a little girl."
Dean who had said nothing whilst Sam talked felt anger at the thought of his sister being hurt, anger at their dad for taking her away and letting it happen and anger at the people who were supposed to take care of her. He ran his hands through his hair, fists clenched. Hearing the shower stop he lowered his voice. "Sammy, I'm gonna find out what happened to Haley, then I'm gonna find those sorry sons of bitches and make them pay."
"Yeah, we are." Sam agreed.
Coming out of the bathroom, Haley looked infinitely better than she had going in. She had changed into some black pants and a white t-shirt and had tied her towel dried hair up. She looked over at her brothers, the tension in the air palpable and hoped that they hadn't been fighting, but mainly she hoped that it wasn't over her. Not saying anything she walked over to the sofa and sat down to pull on her boots.
"Hey short stuff, you smell better." Dean laughed. He had twenty years of teasing to catch on and didn't want to waste a minute. He ducked as the only reply was Haley's pillow sailing across the room to hit him square on the face.
"Nice, throw stretch." Sam said. He was practically on the floor laughing at the look of indignation which passed over his sister's face.
Instead of retaliating, Haley stood up, picked up her back pack and walked to the dresser. As she was putting on some lip gloss she noticed that Dean had left the keys to the Impala sitting there. She picked them up, grabbed her jacket and made her way to the door of the motel room. Holding them up for Dean to see she said "So Dean, I'll drive."
Dean jumped up and chased a laughing Haley from the room calling "I told you, girls don't drive my baby."
Sam grabbed the rest of their stuff and followed them out of the room. He returned the keys to the reception and made his way back to the Impala where Dean and Haley were bickering over who was driving. Stopping to watch, he didn't think he had seen Dean this relaxed and this happy in a long time. Sam thought that deep down Dean knew that something was missing from their lives. It was like Haley was the missing link that tied them together, she may have only been back one day but she had fallen right back into the place in their hearts where she belonged, in a way that he didn't think possible. Sam knew that he and Dean would do anything to keep their sister with them and make sure that she was happy.
He walked slowly back to the car; Dean was on one side and Haley on the other still holding the keys.
"Dean, I'm a good driver you know that. You saw me on my bike; I'm amazing on the road."
"You are crazy on the road Haley." Dean argued. "You are not driving. I'm the driver, little girl now give me the keys."
Sam watched with amusement as he realised that Dean was going to lose this battle.
Haley stepped away from the car her shoulders dropping in defeat. She looked up at Dean with big green watery eyes and a hurt expression on her face.
"Fine." She said, tossing the keys back to Dean. She picked up her back pack and with a tear filled look at Dean she opened the door.
Dean stood holding the keys with an expression which said he had no idea what had just happened. He looked at the keys in his hands and straightened.
"Wait, you can drive."
Sam laughed as Haley's expression cleared and she grinned happily as she ran round the car to snatch the keys from Dean and was in the driver's seat in no less than ten seconds.
Sam laughed again at Dean's perplexed expression. "Dude."
"What?"
"Dude, you totally got played by a girl."
"I didn't, bitch shut up!" Dean said embarrassed.
"Yes you did one look at those big watery eyes and you caved. Man, you are never winning any argument with Haley."
"Shut up and get in the car Sasquatch before I make you walk the rest of the way to Bobby's, oh and in the back."
They were both laughing as they got into the car.
Haley was quivering with excitement as she started the engine. She leaned over and gave Dean a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you."
She grinned as she put the car in drive. "Let's see what this baby can do with a real driver behind the wheel."
TBC