04. One Is One Time Too Many ― 5.01 (Sympathy for the Devil)

"This kinda thing don't get forgiven boy!" Bobby yelled, nearly stumbling down the stairs in his blinding rage, wrath directed at Sam.

Dean moved his gaze and found his younger brother, jaw clenched, staring tensely at the floor. He watched from the corner of the dusty motel room as Sam's face melted into one of distress at Bobby's harsh, heartbreaking words.

It was true, this sort of thing really couldn't be forgiven, but Dean was trying desperately to put it behind him. Sam had brought about Armageddon, setting Lucifer free from hell by killing Lilith after drinking a shit ton of demon blood from a demon called Ruby, whom they'd met occasionally in the past. Yet none of that mattered anymore, what was done was done, there was no getting past that, and Dean didn't have the luxury of abandoning Sam. They were brother's after all.

He'd tried to stop the kid, he truly had, but Sam hadn't listened. He had tried so damn hard to protect Sam, make sure he didn't make any stupid decisions. But, oh how spectacularly he'd failed. If their dad were alive, Dean was sure that he'd be skinned alive for letting Sam slip up so magnificently under his watch. Plus, he'd known what Bobby's reaction would be and had tried to stop Sam from confessing, but Sam just hadn't listened, and Dean knew what the consequences would be. However, all that aside, Dean knew why Sam had had to confess himself, why he'd had to explain himself to Bobby.

Because the grumpy old drunk was like a surrogate father to the both of them. Dean knew Sam couldn't live with that guilt on his chest. Sam was still innocent compared to him. Dean had been to hell and back… he'd tortured souls for crying out loud! All Sam had done was make a few stupid decisions.

It was obvious to Dean that the youngest Winchester felt exposed and ashamed in the middle of the room as Bobby's disappointment blazed clearly in his eyes. Sam clearly wanted to get down on his knees and beg for Bobby's forgiveness, but he knew he couldn't. He didn't deserve Bobby's forgiveness. Not after what he'd done.

"If by some miracle we pull this off," Bobby continued with a small shake of his head and fierce, angry eyes. "I want you to lose my number, understand me?"

Sam looked as though he were about to cry and even Dean wanted to tell the old geezer that he was being unfair, not that he was being unfair. Bobby had every right not to want to see Sam ever again after this. They'd dragged the old hunter into their mess, he didn't deserve the loads of crap that the Winchester's had piled on him over the years. Still… Sam's distressed face made it hard for Dean to swallow and push back tears of his own.

Completely distraught, Sam gave a tiny little nod at Bobby's words and his nostrils flared from the shock, while Dean moved his sight away from the younger, he couldn't look at Sam's face anymore. It was too much.

"There's an old church nearby," Sam managed to choke out, still reeling from the rejection. "M-maybe I'll go read some of the lore books there…"

"Yeah," Bobby's gaze hardened ever further as he eye-balled Sam. "You do that."

Sam didn't even bother to nod this time, instead he simply turned away from the man who had acted as his father for so many years and headed for the door, closing it softly in his wake. The younger Winchester didn't once look at his older brother, but Dean watched the whole exchange with mixed feelings, even though he'd been hanging back and refusing to get between the two. It took him a minute to realise that Bobby had turned around and was now glaring at him instead.

"You got somethin' to say?" Bobby frowned, his upper lip twitching and nearly reaching a snarl.

"No." Dean replied tersely, feeling guilty about not sticking up for Sammy. "Let's just find out where that Michael Sword is."