Supernatural 4/?
Characters: Dean W, Sam W, Jessica M, Jo H, Ellen H
Pairings: Sam/Jess, Dean/Sam(past-future), Dean/John(implied-past)
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: angst. allusions to incest, violence, child abuse, non-con, dub-con
Summary: AU from the word go – John never raises the boys as hunters instead while he hunts he leaves them with others like Ellen and Bobby. The boys believe their dad is crazy when they find out he believes in demons but Dean is starting to doubt that belief when his dad does missing.
Chapter Two – Coming Home to Strangers
Monday 3rd November 5pm
When Dean arrived he was exhausted from driving all day and all night but nothing could keep a small smile from finding its way to his face. Ellen's Roadhouse was a sight for sore eyes an no-one had sorer eyes than hunters after a long, hard Hunt. Dean could honestly say that the only home he had ever really had since his mother's death had been Sammy but this – and others like it e.g. Bobby's scrap yard and Pastor Jim's church and Missouri's Kansas house – were the next best things.
Sammy and Jess were far better rested although Dean could see Jessica obviously wasn't used to driving for long periods of time from the way she winced when she moved and the look of upset that crossed her face when she looked down at the wricked clothes. A smile lit up Sam's face and Dean looked at what was making him smile, unable to see jealous as Jo Harvelle came bounding out of the house, all blonde hair and black clothes. It was her latest kick – once it would have been enough teenage rebellion for her to simply flirt with Dean and play with her daddy's knives, but now she had to dress like a Hunter and talk like a Hunter because she wanted to be a Hunter. After all, if Dean could do it – after having known about demons for less than two years – why couldn't she, after having known about demons since she was fourteen and her momma sat her down and explained it all. Ellen's only response to that was that Dean wasn't her daughter. A response that clearly wasn't doing anything to alter Jo's opinions.
"Sam Winchester!" Jo cried out and threw herself into Sam's waiting arms. Laughing Sam spun around lifting the petite pretty blonde off the ground as he did so. Dean observed a flash of insecurity on Jessica's face with a little bit of glee.
"It's been too long." Jo told Sam as he set her down. She punched his arm lightly in a gesture of friendship and familiarity.
"Well I've been busy." Sam said lamely, still smiling at Jo.
"I missed you." Jo complained.
Sam nodded his head and Dean felt the need to break up this suddenly oppressive atmosphere.
"Joanna Beth!" He sound loudly, breaking the tension and drawing attention to himself. Jo rolled her eyes at his use of her full name, something only her mother called her and only when she was in trouble. "I know there is one of those in there for me." He said, holding his arms open and gesturing for her to give him a hug.
She gave him a long unimpressed stare and folded her arms across her chest. "I saw you last month. It's not like I missed you or anything." She told him boldly.
Dean placed a hand to his heart. "Ouch – you got me right here." He said, mockingly. "Come one, everybody knows that a month without me is like ten years without Sammy!" He said lightly and winked at Jo who finally allowed a smile to grace her pretty face. She came forward and gave Dean a warm hug, no where near as enthusiastic as the one she gave Sam but Dean knew that it had been out of genuine love and because she had missed Sam so much. He also knew that Jo cared for him just as much as she cared for Sammy.
"Hey!" Ellen's rasping voice broke them apart. Dean looked up to see the owner of Harvelle's Roadhouse with a shotgun and a frown. He smiled – he truly was 'home'. "I wouldn't get too frisky there, Dean, never know when my trigger finger is gonna get bored." She half joked, putting the gun down in order to greet her guests.
"Ellen, it's good to see you." Dean said warmly.
She eyed him suspiciously. "You were here a month ago," she pointed out, but not without affection. The she turned to his brother. "Well, well, if it isn't Sam Winchester. Welcome back, Sam." She said.
Ellen wasn't an overly affectionate or warm woman, the sheer fact that she had said 'welcome' to Sam meant she was glad to have him back and Sammy's memory wasn't so bad that he didn't realise that so he bobbed his head in a very Sam-like gesture and smiled at her sweetly. "Good to be back," he agreed.
"And you must be Jessica Moore, Sam's gal." Ellen said, holding out a hand towards Jess who looked apprehensive but still took it. Ellen's grip can't have softened because immediately Jess's face contorted in a brief flash of pain, and the the hand shake was over.
"I'm Ellen Harvelle. And this is my place. You're all welcome to take rooms for the night of course. I assume you will be staying the night?" Ellen asked, picking up her shotgun on the way inside as the others followed them, Sam carrying both his own and Jess's bags as she nursed her hand.
"Maybe longer." Dean said cryptically. Ellen gave him a sharp look but nodded all the same.
"Three rooms?" Ellen said looking straight at Jess who looked a bit flustered at the assumption that she wouldn't be sharing with Sam. Ellen sounded stern and Jessica didn't know the woman well enough to know if she was joking or not yet so she just turned to Sam who took it upon himself to correct Ellen, who after all had only been teasing.
"Just two. Jess and I will be sharing, thanks Ellen." Sam said as if it was no big deal – which it wasn't. Ash had already told Ellen that Sam and Jessica lived together and Ellen hadn't been born yesterday, she knew what that meant and while she wasn't sure how see felt about the blonde at Sam's side she realised he was over eighteen and that she wasn't his mother.
"Sure. You take yours and Dean's old room." She said handing him a key. "And you can have your father's old room, Dean, if that's okay with you."
Caught off guard Dean froze. His mouth opened and snapped shut a few times and his skin, already pale from the strain of the hunt and the need of a good meal and a good nights sleep paled even further. Everyone noticed but Dean could hardly say 'no thanks, Ellen, that's' the room my dad raped me in, can I have another'. Well that and the fact that it had paper thin walls and was right next to Sam and Jess's room which meant he would be able hear everything they did. But apparently it was his lucky day because Jo came to his rescue.
"No, he can't mom. Don't you remember? It's one of the rooms with the bug problem. Al was going to look over them tomorrow morning so it won't be ready in time. Give him room ten, instead." She said. Room ten was at least two doors away from his dad's old room and three from Jess and Sam's which was perfect. Dean thanked whoever was listening that he had run into Jo that night, otherwise he would have had to go back into that room which was something he fully intended on avoiding doing until the day he died.
"I thought that was just Phil Mackey's room?" Ellen mused out loud but Jo shook her head and handed Dean the key for room ten. Dean sent her a grateful look and then the moment was over.
"Um, Ellen aren't you forgetting something?" Dean said as Ellen moved away to serve a hunter at the bar.
She pretended to give it some thought and then shook her head. "Nope."
"My hundred?" Dean reminded her, pointedly looking at his brother.
Ellen smiled. "We didn't shake on it."
Dean glared. Not at Ellen exactly, because she was scary sometimes, but in her general direction. "We were on the phone." He pointed out Her smile widened as she poured the man a whiskey on the rocks.
"That'll teach you to make bets on the phone, Dean." She told him.
"You made a bet with Ellen that you could convince me to help you?" Sam figured it out. He sounded half amused and half annoyed with a tinge of disbelief running though his words.
"For a hundred dollars!" Dean said, as it the amount meant he should be forgiven his insensitivity and crudeness. "Which apparently I won't be seeing any of now." He moaned at his loss.
Ellen gave him a stern look. "You're getting a roof over your head and some food in your belly that's what you're getting. So don't go sounding ungrateful or I'll make you pay like all the others." Dean grinned at her.
"You know we love you, Ellen." He said charmingly. Ellen didn't look impressed.
"You're letting us stay for free? No, Ellen, that's not right. You should let me pay." Sam said, doing the honourable and stupid thing because Dean knew that he didn't have much money – and reaching for his wallet.
Ellen placed a hand on his arm to stop him. "It's not like I'm losing any business because of it. Only people who come out this way looking for a place to stay are Hunters anyways." Hunters. Jo and Dean tensed up when she said that, worried Sam might think it was odd, but he just put his wallet away and gave Ellen a kind smile and said thank you. After that they made their way up to their rooms with Ellen yelling that dinner was at seven and not a minute after.
Sam smiled to think about the memories that Ellen's brought back, of being young and playing with Dean and Jo, the pranks they had used to play and the feeling of having people around him who cared about him.
Once Sam and Jess had reached their rooms Jess turned to Sam, looking a little scared and said, "we don't have to stay here!"
Sam frowned. "What do you mean, Jess?" He asked, thinking that perhaps she wanted to go home or something.
"I mean there are other places Sam. I saw a motel about forty miles back. We could get there before it gets too late." She said, pleading in her voice.
Sam was confused and a little upset at Jessica's attitude. "Why would you want to leave? Ellen's letting us stay for free. Besides, it's Ellen." He said as if that was the deciding fact.
"Sam; she greeted us with a shotgun!" Jess said, sounding desperate.
Sam just smiled. "She wouldn't be Ellen if she hadn't."
Jess changed tactic. "Alright, then what about Jo?" She asked and at his blank look she continued, "you were all over her, Sam." She sounded hurt but Sam just laughed it off.
"Jo? Me and Jo? No, no way. I mean, I took her to prom but us as a couple? Never gonna happen. For one there is Ellen. Number two is the fact that she has only has eyes for Dean. Not that he'd ever notice, he thinks of her as little sister." Sam noted the irony of that statement. Dean may think of Jo as a little sister but back a few years ago he certainly hadn't been thinking of Sam as a little brother. "And three; Ellen."
Jess sighed heavily, her arms winding themselves around Sam as she leaned into him, keeping eye contact. "So you are set on staying here? With these people? In these beds?" She gestured to the twin queens that had a table with a lamp in-between them.
"These people are the closest thing me and Dean had to a family growing up. I never really understood it, why they were willing to take in strangers but they did and Ellen and Bill were really good to me and Dean, feeding us, sending us to school, treating us like Jo. And this room was where I used to stay so it has sentimental value. Besides, it'll only be for a few nights and if you want we can push the beds together." Sam said and kissed her. Jess deepened the kiss only to have Sam draw back quickly as if he had been burned and step out of their embrace. "Look, I'm gonna take a shower. You should change, before dinner. It's not the Ritz but Ellen does have some standards." Sam said and left Jessica standing in his childhood room as he retreated into the shower.
He remembered what these taps were like so he knew how to turn them to get the perfect mixture of hot and cold making the water warm on his skin. He flexed his muscles under the water and thought about how he had flinched away from Jess. It must have been a reaction to the fact that only a few minutes before Sam had been thinking about Dean and their different relationship. Yes, he reassured himself, it must just be because of that.
- X -
I have decided to call these first however-many parts the Innocence Arc. The whole thing is going to be split into phases, this is the phase where Sam is innocent of the knowledge of demons and he is with Jessica. The next arc will begin after Jessica and with just Sam and Dean. Hope you guys approve.
Please leave comments.