Title: Greatest Hits
Author: Roth
Rating: T
Spoilers: Bloody Mary, Benders, and maybe others.
Disclaimer: I don't own Supernatural and neither do you. We don't have a problem so please don't sue.
Summary: An accident on a hunt leaves Dean fighting for his life, but the question is, does he want to?
Note: I don't own the song Swing Life Away. It belongs to Rise Against.
Greatest Hits
Chapter Three: Swing Life Away
"When I was a kid I used to pray every night for a new bicycle. Then I realized that the Lord doesn't work that way so I stole one and asked Him to forgive me." Emo Philips
Am I loud and clear, or am I breaking up?
Am I still your charm, or am I just bad luck?
Are we getting closer, or are we just getting more lost?
"What the hell is with over-dramatics?" demanded Dean angrily, opening his eyes to see children playing outside of a school.
"It's just the way things are done here," replied Molly, calmly. "They like to get their point across."
Dean looked over to her to see her straightening out her skirt, and adjusting the straps of her tank top. All the children outside were wearing coats, and Dead could see wind blowing the branches of trees. However, Dean didn't feel any of the chill, and judging by Molly's casual attitude, she didn't either. Dean turned back to the playground and looked out at the kids playing. "Can they see us?"
"No," replied Molly. "We can only see them. We can't interact with anyone or anything happened. These are memories."
"What?"
"These are your memories, plucked right from your head."
"So, am I like Mr. Scrooge, and you're the ghost of the bad things past?"
"If you want to explain it that way, go ahead."
Dean looked back to the schoolyard. "I went to school here for about three months of junior high."
"Yep. There you are right there." Molly pointed across the playground to where a young Dean was leaning against a tree. Even from a distance it was easy to tell that Dean was scanning the playground.
"I was a cute little guy back then, too." Dean looked around the schoolyard again. "There's Sam." He pointed to a mass of children standing in line to play four square; Sam was last. "This school was fifth through eighth. I remember that now. This is lunch recess."
Dean started toward the playground with Molly following right behind. "Do you remember this day yet?" she asked quietly.
Dean stopped and watched as a boy who was about thirteen years old walked toward Sam and purposely knocked him down as he went past. Sam didn't look too happy at all and got back to his feet. "Hey!" Sam shouted loudly.
"Oh god," muttered Dean. "I do."
I'll show you mine if you show me yours first
Let's compare scars, I'll tell you whose is worse
Let's unwrite these pages and replace them with our own words"What do you want you little freak?" the thirteen year old said as he turned back around.
"Why did you do that?" demanded Sam, trying to make himself appear taller. Dead remembered that Sam didn't have his first growth spurt till sixth grade.
"Don't do it, Sammy," muttered Dean, taking a step toward the two kids.
"You can't change this, Dean. It's only a memory."
"It was an accident." The older boy shrugged and stepped up close to Sam to try and intimidate him.
"No, it wasn't."
"Sorry. Maybe I just have a tendency to bump into people who are little freaks."
"I didn't know your brother was so willing to stir up trouble," said Molly nonchalantly.
"This had been a week where Sam was sick of just about everyone, especially this kid, Max Walters," said Dean. "He'd been making fun of Sam since we started school here."
"What about you?" asked Molly.
"He stayed away from me. He didn't like me, but he stayed away from me."
Dean watched the situation rise. Max turned like he was going to walk away but instead turned back around quickly Sam catching him completely by surprise when he punched him in the nose. Sam fell the ground with blood gushing down his face.
Max took a step toward Sam, but an angry voice stopped him. "What the hell do you think your doing?"
Dean watched as the younger version of himself marched up to Max. "I don't have a problem with you, Winchester. I have a problem with your brother."
"If you have a problem with my brother, then you have a problem with me." Young Dean took a step toward Max, and the bully took a step back in return.
We live on front porches and swing life away,
We get by just fine here on minimum wage
If love is a labor I'll slave till the end,
I won't cross these streets until you hold my hand
"I want you to leave my brother alone," said Young Dean, clenching his fist tightly.
"You and your brother are freaks, Winchester," said Max as he stopped backing up and standing his full height. Young Dead was intimidating, but a crowd had formed, and Max couldn't risk looking like a wuss. "My dad says you live in a hotel room."
"So what? You think that gives you a right to pick on my brother?"
"Stop, Dean!" ordered Sam from behind him. "I can handle this."
"No, Sammy," replied Young Dean. He turned toward his brother for a second and that was the first mistake he made.
"Don't turn your back, stupid," muttered Dean as he watched the younger version of himself get tackled by Max.
The kids surrounded the two fighting boys, but they all remained silent the boys threw punches at each other. Young Dean managed to get on top of Max and threw one punch directly to his nose. Everyone heard breaking cartilage as Max cried out in pain and covered his face to prevent any more blows.
"I really messed him up," muttered Dean, watching the fright and remembering every move right before it happened.
I've been here so long, I think that it's time to move
The winter's so cold, summer's over too soon
Let's pack our bags and settle down where palm trees grow
Max got in a good punch right to young Dean's mouth which split his lip and caused him to bite down on his tongue.
"Looks like he messed you up a bit, too," said Molly. She turned toward Dean. "What finally happened?"
Dean never took his eyes off the fight. "Just watch."
Two teachers came running across the playground through the mass of children and pulled the two boys apart. Young Dean was still trying to throw a punch at Max, but the teacher had pulled Max far enough away that he couldn't reach.
"What the hell is going on?" demanded the teacher holding Max; several students in the circle gasped at hearing a teacher swear.
"He started it!" shouted Max. "Him and his brother just attacked me out of nowhere. I was just defending myself!" The two teachers looked to Sam who was standing close to where young Dean; his nose was still bleeding badly, and it made Max's story all the more believable.
"Is that true?" the teacher holding Max asked a sixth grader who was standing on the inside of the circle. The little girl took one look at the angry glare on Max's face and nodded nervously.
"No one stood up for you?" asked Molly.
Dean let out a sigh. "No one ever wants to stand up for the freaks."
"Okay," said the teacher. "Dean, Sam, and Max, I want you all to go the principal's office. We're calling your parents."
A look of horror came over Young Dean and Sam's faces.
"I take it your dad wasn't going to be happy?" said Molly, finally getting tired of standing and taking a seat on the grass.
"No," replied Dean. "Not happy at all."
The teachers walked off with the three kids, and the other students dispersed still whispering to each other.
"You want to go?" asked Molly, starting to get to her feet.
"No thank you." Dean shook his head. "I had to go through that meeting once, I do not want to go through it again."
"Fine. We'll fast forward."
I've got some friends, some that I hardly know
But we've had some times, I wouldn't trade for the world
We chase these days down with talks of the places that we will go
Dean was expecting everything to fly forward, and he could watch it all as it went by incredibly fast, but he was a little disappointed when "fast forward" seemed to mean fade in and out instead. Everything around him went dark for a second before brightening up again to reveal the outside of the shoddy hotel they had been living in.
"I almost forgot about this place," muttered Dean, looking around at the rundown hotel. The hotel office was barely even a shack, and it was a good hundred feet from the actual hotel rooms.
"It's not exactly the Ritz, is it?" said Molly as she and Dean started to walk toward the rooms.
Dean laughed. "It's not even the Bates Motel." Dean paused for a second when he saw the Impala and then looked toward the room it was parked in front of.
"What happened when you got back?"
We live on front porches and swing life away,
We get by just fine here on minimum wage
If love is a labor I'll slave till the end,
I won't cross these streets until you hold my hand...until you hold my hand
"Dad was pissed." Dean walked up the room door and grabbed the door knob, but stopped when he heard Molly.
"You don't have to use the door," she said quietly.
Dean turned back to her. "What do you mean?" Before she could answer, Dean heard another voice. He turned back around and found himself inside the hotel room looking at himself and his brother. Sam and young Dean were sitting on the bed while their dad was slamming things around in the fridge as he looked for a beer. Sam's nose had stopped bleeding, but it had now turned a nice shade of purple. Young Dean still had blood on his chin and shirt, and his lip was lip was swollen. It was the looks on both their faces that made their appearance look worst.
"I can't believe you two," muttered John as he opened his beer and took a long drink.
"Dad, that fucking Max kid started it," said young Dean, trying to defend himself and his brother. "We just tried to fight back."
"I heard your side of the story in the office," said John, "and it wasn't you two that fought back; it was you, Dean."
Dean knew back then, like he knew now, that last comment was directed at Sam. "The guy took him by surprise. No one even saw it coming."
"Maybe he should have. Maybe then he wouldn't have been suspended, and you wouldn't have gotten expelled. You know the school nurse said that a few of Max's ribs might be broken."
"I'm sorry. I was just trying to defend Sam."
"Sam needs to learn how to defend himself." John shook his head as he took another drink of his beer. "Besides, I didn't teach you guys to defend yourselves just so you can get into fights with kids at school." John looked at the clock on the wall. "I gotta go meet someone." He drained the rest of his beer. "Both of you two stay here. I'll probably be back by twelve."
I'll show you mine if you show me yours first
Let's compare scars, I'll tell you whose is worse
Let's unwrite these pages and replace them with our own words
Sam and young Dean along with Molly and Dean watched as John walked out of the hotel room.
"Pissed seems to have been an understatement," was all Molly said.
"Dad had the power to instill the fear of God in anyone," muttered Dean. "Or the fear of himself...whichever worked." He shrugged his shoulders as he watched as the younger version of himself got up off the bed and walk over to the fridge to get something to drink.
"I'm sorry, Dean," Sam muttered, head hanging low.
"Don't be."
"You got expelled."
Young Dean shrugged. "Who cares? I hate going to school anyway; it's more your thing."
"You didn't have to fight him."
"Yeah, I did, Sam. I wasn't going to let him beat the shit out of you."
"I would have fought back."
"But you didn't; I did. I got expelled; you only got suspended. I don't care, Sammy. I really hate school anyway."
Sam watched his older brother as he opened a can of off brand pop and drank nearly all of it in one gulp. "I have homework," muttered Sammy as he got off the bed to get his bag.
"Hey, Sammy?"
Sam turned back toward him and saw young Dean smiling. "You did a good job of standing up for yourself, even if he caught you off guard. Maybe I can try and show you ways to stop a person when they get you from behind." Sam gave his older brother a huge smile. "After your homework."
Dean watched Sam grab his backpack and begin his homework before turning back to Molly.
"Tough break," muttered Molly; she was "leaning" against the hotel room wall with her chin resting in her hand, and her elbow propped against her stomach.
"Yeah," muttered Dean. "It's not like it really mattered. We left two weeks later anyway."
"Why? It have anything to do with Max? Maybe a lawsuit?"
"Dad said it was because the hunt was over, but I saw the subpoena one day sitting in the mail."
"So you just left?"
"Yep. A poltergeist in a small town outside Seattle caused that move, at least, that's what Sam thought. I started a new school, and I never really thought about it after that. It was just as boring as other schools."
"You get into anymore fights?"
"Yep. I just made sure they weren't on school grounds. I only needed to learn that lesson once. After this fight, though, I usually got into fights with people bigger than me. It seemed to even the odds for them a bit." The scene of the hotel room in front of him was beginning to get blurry.
We live on front porches and swing life away,
We get by just fine here on minimum wage
If love is a labor I'll slave till the end,
I won't cross these streets until you hold my hand
"It was a pity really. Max Walters getting you expelled made you think that school was unimportant, at least to you. You coasted through the rest of your school life which is really sad, cause you are very smart. You always let Sam think school was important, though."
"I don't know what you're talking about. I told him that I thought school was a joke." Dean stared at the girl completely confused.
"But you always congratulated him when he did a good job. You always let him know you were proud of him. Even made him do his homework"
"Yeah right," muttered Dean with a shake of his head. "Are we done here?"
Molly shook her head. "Am I getting through to you?"
"If I say 'yes,' will you tell me if Sam is alright?"
"You know I can't do that."
"No, I don't know that, but since you keep insisting that, I'll tell you the truth. No, you're not getting through to me because I still don't know why the hell I'm here!" Dean was breathing hard as he glared at Molly.
"Come on," she said simply. "We still have a lot to do." She turned toward the door of the hotel room and opened it. Blinding light greeted them from the other side again, and Dean sighed in frustration as they walked on through.
Swing life away
Swing life away
Swing life away
Swing life away
TBC