Getting To The Bottom of This.
Summary: Tall Tales wasn't all it was cracked up to be. The majority of Sam's irritability came from the fact he was sick, and not only of his brother. The boy's stay at Ellen's to recuperate, but she ships them to an old family friend after she gets fed up with their bickering. As both brothers recall old memories of their so-called 'Aunt Mandy' more questions surface than answers; why does she move so much? Why did she disappear for such long periods of time throughout their childhoods? How does she know Bobby, Ellen and John? And what is with her fascination of water and local aquariums? As Sam gets better, neither brother can help but wonder what her secret is and why she hid it for so long.
Disclaimer: I don't claim to own anything belonging to the "Supernatural" realm. I will put my stamp of approval on all original characters, and hope they meet the fandom's high standards. All characters pictures can be found on my homepage. Special thanks goes out to all my reviewers, especially Swenglish who I can't reply to!
Chapter 3
"Sam! You're pushing a half-hour here!" Dean yelled as he pounded on the wooden door. It had been less than twenty-four hours and already the fighting had begun.
"And?"
"And I know you heard me talking to Ellen about getting ready to take a shower!"
"Why can't you just use the downstairs bathroom and leave me alone?"
"That bathroom doesn't have a shower, only a tub. And I'm not taking a bath dude," Dean said shuddering.
"FINE!" A few seconds later a clearly disgruntled Sam opened the door and pushed past Dean. "You are so full of-"
"Shit? I could say the same about you bitch."
"Jerk!" Sam rounded on Dean, pinning him against the wall and knocking his towel and change of clothes to the floor.
"Bite me Princess!"
"Hey! Hey! Sam off Dean now!" Ellen ran up the stairs as Sam backed away. "Dean, you should know better than to pester your brother when he's ill!"
"What?" Rolling her eyes at Dean, she turned to Sam and cupped his chin.
"Sam, I know that stomach of yours must be cramping something awful. Why don't you go downstairs and I'll bring you some tea and a hot water bottle eh?" Sam nodded. "I'll meet you down in a few." Sam pulled away, and with one last look at Dean, stuck his tongue out and bolted down the stairs.
"Hey, Sam just-"
"You should be ashamed of yourself Dean Winchester," Ellen scolded, slapping him hard on the side of the head.
"Ow!"
"Serves you right for pestering the poor boy when he's already ill."
"He's not ill-" Dean started as he began picking up his scattered clothing.
"And for your information Dean, I sent him up here to try and move things along. And no, I didn't see the issue with you using one of the multiple other bathrooms to bathe, all I knew was that I had just calmed Sam down enough that I figured he'd have a fightin' chance- but you certainly shot that idea in the foot."
"I didn't know-"
"That you were stressin' him out? Well duh."
"But-"
"And your teasin' him does nothing but embarrass him and aggravate the situation more!"
"Aggravate?"
"Why don't you go downstairs and find your brother, huh?" Ellen put her hand on his shoulder. "Maybe after you see how much pain he's in you'll stop pickin' on him." She quickly pushed Dean into the unoccupied bathroom and shut the door behind him, leaving him to think about his actions.
After taking a quick shower, Dean found Sam curled in an arm chair by the fireplace reading a thick book. Truth was, he couldn't keep the words from blurring into one grey blob, but he shoved that aside and continued to try reading. Buried under a warm knit quilt with his legs folded against both a hot water bottle and his aching stomach, Dean cleared his throat to get Sam's attention.
Sam made no movement.
"Sammy?"
"What?" He said dryly as he licked his finger and turned the dusty yellowing page.
"I'm sorry."
"No you're not."
"Sammy, how long has it been?" Sam paused his reading to look up at Dean. "Sam?"
"Too long."
"Really? I was gonna ask you since you got laid dude-" Scowling, Sam focused back on the book. "Oh come on man, you set me up for that!"
"I hate you."
"No you don't. That's just your bellyache talking."
"No, I really hate you. You really know how to kick a man when he's down. You suck." The venom in his voice caused Dean to raise his arms in defeat and walk away, unsure of how to fix this. For a brief moment in time, it seemed like Dean was going to leave his brother alone, but Dean suddenly turned on his heel and opened his mouth. He just couldn't leave well enough alone.
Ellen paced in the kitchen, making sure neither brother could hear her conversation on the phone, trying to also ignore the fight that was going on in the living room. She was half-heartedly expecting to hear something break as Dean hollered at Sam, and was quickly rewarded with the clear sound of paper being ripped. As Sam yelled that the book Dean had just ripped in half was Bobby's (causing Dean to rip it yet again,) Bobby himself spoke on the other telephone line.
"Ellen, you know just as well as I do how Sam is when he's ill."
"Yeah, but this isn't just a sick Sam we're dealing with Bobby. Dean is driving me crazy just being here!" Bobby laughed. "They've been here a day and already I want to kill 'em."
"Both or just Dean?"
"Mostly just Dean."
"That's what I thought. Maybe you should…"
"I should what? If you say to give her a call-" Bobby cut her off.
"When was the last time she talked to you?"
"A few weeks, she hasn't contacted me for our midnight trip to the aquarium yet."
"Maybe you should give her a ring; you know she'll be able to help Sam out and shut Dean up."
"But is it really a good idea involving her with them again?" Bobby sighed.
"Some things can't be helped, and she's probably in contact with them anyway. You know how close she was to Sam."
This time Ellen sighed.
"Alright, we'll call her. But if anything happens-" Ellen started.
"Ellen, what do you really think could happen here? If it makes you feel better have Dean call her."
"I can do that. Thanks Bobby."
"Don't mention it."
Ellen hung up her phone before she could change her mind and walked into the living room to confront Dean. Thankfully the fight had boiled down, though she had the sneaking suspicion that Sam had stormed to the room and slammed the door. It would be easy to get Dean to call her, but getting Sam to see her might be a different issue, especially with the way they were at each other's throats recently.
"Dean Winchester! What is wrong with your brother?" Ellen demanded as Dean relaxed on the worn couch in the living room, an open beer in hand.
"What, besides the fact that his train hasn't left the station?"
"Aw, how adorable." She hit the side of his head. "You know what I mean!"
"Hey! Sam hasn't told anyone anything Ellen! Come on!" Dean rubbed the side of his head furiously. "That's why he got away with all of this for so long; we were just finishing up a job with a Trickster, we had our heads so far up our asses we had no clue what we were dealing with and had to call Bobby."
"And?"
"And we were both mean and snapping at each other to begin with, so I guess it just carried over into the next few days." He took a swig of the beer before continuing. "I noticed the next day after finishing up with the Trickster that Sam was still snapping at me for stupid shit and he was chewing gum."
"Sam doesn't chew gum."
"I know."
"You know, Sam is usually much more…" Ellen paused as she thought of the right word to describe Sam's behavior.
"Girly? Touchy-feely?"
"Needy would be the word I'm looking for but thanks anyway for the help." Dean smiled at her.
"Don't mention it."
"Last time he was ill here he wouldn't let me put him down."
"He was also two." Ellen rolled her eyes and resisted slapping his head again.
"If he's found some new coping mechanisms, who knows what else he's hiding from us…"
"And how long," Dean thoughtfully took another long drink of his beer. "Isn't mint um… anti-nausea?"
"That's ginger dumbass," Sam muttered from the kitchen doorway, a glass of water in his trembling hands and a blanket tucked around his shoulders like a cape.
"Sam! You can't be storming around the house like that! I could hear you from the saloon!" Ellen scolded, walking up to him. Sam took a step back into the kitchen. "I thought you were relaxing in the living room, not fighting with your brother!"
"Why are you talking about me behind my back?" He said in a deadly whisper, quickly turning the tables.
"Sammy-"
"I never asked for your help Dean! I never asked to sit here while you two baby me constantly since you apparently have nothing better to do!" Sam stormed off, a blur of plaid rushing through the kitchen and up the staircase, slamming the upstairs bedroom door.
"Ellen, we need to do somethin' about this. I can't take any more of this irritable bitchy crap from Sam." Dean tried in vain not to slam down his now empty beer bottle onto the coffee table in front of him.
"We need to call Mandy, I know." She sighed and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I was really hopin' it wouldn't come to this."
"Wait a second; do you really think we need to involve her in this? Can't we just give Bobby a ring?"
"And what's he gonna do? Tell you to do a drug store run and take it easy for a few days until nature runs its course? We've tried that sugar, it's not working."
"But do-"
"If you don't I will." Ellen pulled out her cell phone and tossed it down next to him. "She's under the contacts if you don't have her new number Dean."
"Ellen," Dean muttered as he picked it up, scrolling his way through the contacts until he hit M. "I don't know about this, I mean we haven't had contact with her in forever. I don't even know if she's still living in Nebraska anymore!"
"Give me that you pansy." Grabbing the phone from him, she quickly hit call and took a few steps back from the couch. Dean crossed his arms, brooding as Ellen talked for a few minutes until she casually tossed him the phone. "It's all you sugar."
"Mandy?"
"Dean, are you gonna be able to drag that brother of yours in here or am I gonna have to make a house call? Because lord knows I already charge double for dealin' with the Winchesters!" Her slight southern drawl and hint of sarcasm instantly calmed him. Dean gave a small laugh.
"I'm sure I can get Sasquatch in there whenever you can fit him in."
"I can squeeze him in tomorrow afternoon at the earliest, is that okay?"
"That's perfect; we don't want to cause any trouble. Where are you located now a day's anyway?"
"The pediatric office off Main and Highland. Ellen can give you directions if-"
"The pediatric office?" Dean wanted to press the issue further but paused as he saw Ellen waiving her arms in a signal to stop.
"Yeah, it's a long complicated story." Mandy tried not to sigh. "But we can play catch-up later. Just try to get your brother in here by one, okay?"
"Alright, look forward to seeing you."
"Right back 'atcha." Both hung up the phone simultaneously and Dean quickly threw the phone back to Ellen.
"That wasn't so hard was it?"
"You have no idea."
