House of Burden

By Maygin

Summary: Within its walls lives a family that has never been touched by hate, fire or the Supernatural… but for one.

Chapter 4 as promised! Three was pretty short so I thought I'd indulge ya'll. This story has become so much larger than it was originally intended to be. In fact it's already the longest story I've ever written and that just kind of blows my mind. I swear more of a plot line grows in coming chapters, I just need to set up the "Family" so to speak. This is written for ObuletShadowStalker for a prompt she suggested for the SFTCOL(AR)S Round 2 Challenge. Thanks to AnickaMarie for keeping me within the realm of proper grammer ;)

"Walking with a friend in the dark is better than walking alone in the light." --Helen Keller quotes

Chapter 4

"Hey bud."

"Hey dad," Sam greeted, looking up from his homework.

John walked past him and set his lunch pail on the counter. "Your mom said you have a tournament this weekend?"

"Yeah, it's down in Wichita."

John nodded without looking as he turned the faucet and started washing the grease from his hands and arms. "How's it looking? You think you guys will make it to finals?"

Sam shrugged, tapping his pencil against his other hand. "I think we got a chance. As long as they don't let Kyle open his mouth."

John chuckled and turned to lean back against the counter as he dried his hands with the dish towel. "You're mom and I were planning on heading over with Travis to his ranch this weekend on the lake. Take a little break-"

"That's fine," Sam piped up; secretly grateful he wasn't going to have to lie this time.

"You sure?" John searched his son's expression. He knew how much time the kid spent researching and practicing for the Speech and Debate team, the last thing he wanted was to make his son feel like they didn't care.

"Yeah, of course." Sam nodded. "I'm sure Dad," he added for extra measure. "Really these are all just preliminary type tournaments anyway. The finals are the ones everyone invites their parents to."

"Alright," John nodded and tossed the towel onto the counter. "Well we're leaving Wednesday night; make it a four day weekend. Dean's gonna watch the shop."

"Good luck with that." Sam smirked.

John mirrored him. "He may be a pistol but he knows what he's doing."

"Meaning you told Aaron to handle the customers and leave Dean to the cars," Sam stated knowingly with a smile.

John chuckled. "He gets that from his mother's side."

"Yeah, yeah."

"Well, at least you'll have company."

"Wait- what?"

"Dean's staying here with you until we get back."

Sam lowered his head slightly, staring down his father. "Dad, I'm seventeen." He reminded him.

"I know," John sighed, "but it was your brother's idea."

This surprised Sam even more. "What?"

John shrugged as if he couldn't figure it out either. "Said he wants to spend the weekend with you."

"What?!" Sam tried again.

"Sam," John said flatly. "I know you two haven't exactly gotten along these last few years-"

"Try the last several years," Sam muttered.

"Excuse me?"

Sam slumped in his chair. "Nothing."

John sighed and ran a hand over his head. Dean he understood, he didn't have hidden agendas. He did what he wanted and said exactly what he thought. Sam… his youngest boy was quite the enigma to him. His emotions were erratic at times and he never quite seemed to be telling the truth, but how could you tell when he's looking at you with those eyes that sometimes looked like he was facing the world alone?

Not to mention his weird quirks like his sleeping habits, the nightmares he used to have, his reading habits, his inane ability to over-think any situation, and his unusual love for libraries. There were other things too, like how he locked his door on most nights or how he insisted on doing his own laundry. How some days you couldn't squeeze a single syllable out of him and yet other days you couldn't get him to shut up. He was an enigma that John worried he'd never understand. Mary seemed to have a slightly better connection with the kid at least.

"Wait, the weekend?"

John almost literally shook his head to clear his thoughts. "What?"

"You said Dean's coming over to spend the weekend with me."

"Yeah."

"But Dad I'm gonna be in Witchita."

"Yeah I know. He's going with you."

"He can't come with me."

"Well not with you on the bus. He'll drive his own car."

"No Dad… Dean can not come to the tournament." Sam annunciated clearly and firmly.

"Why not?"

"Because." Sam answered as if that were a perfectly good reason.

"Because why?"

"Because Dean is loud, crude and will make fun of everyone in there."

John gave his son a knowing look. "It'll be fine."

"Dad, please… I'm begging you. He'll hate it anyways – he'll be bored to death."

"Or he might surprise you and enjoy it. You two might actually have a good time."

Sam slumped in his seat even further swallowing down some very colorful phrases he knew wouldn't be appreciated by his present company. This would require some in depth planning. He sighed and stuffed his papers in his book, closing it and rising from the table. "This sucks out loud," he grumbled as he left the kitchen.

John watched him turn the corner to head upstairs before slumping against the counter with a sigh of his own and running a hand over his head. He really had no idea how to communicate with that one. Sammy seemed to have secrets hidden within every orifice.

It had been Mary's idea; to finally take Travis up on his offer and let Dean try to get through to the youngest Winchester member. And wasn't that three kinds of messed up? Dean who used to sneak out of the house to go partying, they were hoping he'd be able to straighten his kid brother out. John snorted and shook his head. It would be a miracle if the boys came back from the weekend unscathed.

"What are you thinking about?" Mary asked as she strolled into the kitchen.

"If we're going to have a house to come back to on Sunday."

Mary snorted, leaning down to check the pasta she had cooking in the oven. "They'll get along fine."

"Mary, they haven't gotten along for a long time."

"Which is exactly why they need this… to reconnect."

"I just don't know if forcing them into this situation together is a good way to do it."

Mary stood up with a smirk on her face. "We're not forcing them. Dean was all for it."

"Which is something else that just completely stumps me."

"What, Dean at a Speech and Debate Tournament?" Mary asked humorously.

"Yeah." John chuckled.

"I almost want to hide behind the bleachers and watch that instead of going to the lake."

John crooked an eyebrow. "No."

"I'm just kidding." Mary defended.

"No, you're not." John said knowingly as he grabbed his wife around the waist and pulled her in.

"Oh come on," she whined good-naturedly, "we could pack a picnic, watch Dean go stir crazy and watch Sam kick ass all without being seen."

"Now I know where Dean gets it."

Mary grinned leaning into a kiss.

"That's still a no," John murmured as he pulled back from the kiss.

Mary tried not to smile as she pouted.

Sam sighed again as he listened to the opening keys of a Motorhead song fill the car for the umpteenth time in a row.

"Do you have to keep doing that?" Dean growled.

"What?" Sam asked curiously, it was the first words that had been spoken since they'd pulled out of their driveway.

"That pansy assed sighing thing you keep doing every five seconds."

Sam begrudgingly pushed himself further into the corner between the passenger seat and door to stare out the window at the passing scenery… silently. It lasted all of five seconds.

"Don't you have any other songs to listen to?"

"Look man, no one asked you to ride with me. You coulda been perfectly happy with all your little emo friends on the bus."

Sam's expression smoothed out, dropping the conversation just like that. Dean noticed however.

"What, not getting along with the rest of the teammates? Little spat amongst the ranks?" Sam wasn't budging though; he just continued to stare out his window ignoring his brother. Dean huffed. "It's a speech and debate team for cryin out loud, aren't you supposed to be able to talk this kinda shit out?"

"I don't have a problem with anyone on the team."

"Then who? The leader? The bus driver?"

"No Dean, I don't have a problem with anyone on the bus!" Sam ground out frustrated. How was it that Dean always managed to grate on his last shredded nerve?

"Then what the hell dude? I know you didn't ride with me for my sake." Dean asked just as frustrated.

When his mom had suggested this he hadn't planned on his brother riding with him for the three hour trip.

"Where is the freakin bus anyways?" Dean glanced in his mirror and along the wide expanse of road ahead of them. Kansas wasn't known for its hills which made spotting other cars a breeze… especially a huge yellow one. "You'd think we'd have passed it by now," he muttered.

Sam swallowed and kept his gaze fixed firmly out his window. The reason they hadn't seen the bus that left a half hour before them was because the bus wasn't headed to Wichita. It was headed to Kansas City. A little known fact he was hoping to keep to himself. His original plan was to hop a public bus to Wichita without his parents being any the wiser. Having Dean in the mix made things a little more difficult. He had no idea how he was going to work this out, but he had something in the works. Something messy and would only work if he caught Dean in a good moment and he didn't let his innocent bluff slip even the tiniest bit.

Who was he kidding. He was totally screwed. And the opening cords of the same Motorhead song filled his ears once more.

"Are you sure this is the right hotel?" Dean asked suspiciously, looking around the parking lot for the yellow bus. They'd reached Wichita in good time and Sam had directed him here where the rest of his team was supposedly staying for the weekend.

"Yeah," Sam said with certainty. "They probably haven't gotten here yet."

"We didn't pass 'em on the road dude."

"Well maybe they made a pit stop in a rest area and we passed them." Sam reasoned.

Dean shook his head as he stared out the windshield. Something just wasn't sitting right with him. "Alright well why don't I drop you by here later after they get-"

"No, Dean- it's fine. Mrs. Larkin said I could go ahead and check in if we got here before them."

Dean sighed. "Maybe I'll go ahead and get a room here then."

"No," Sam blurted before he could stop himself.

Dean's head jerked around to stare at his younger sibling. It had been a long, tense drive and frankly he was fed up and beyond annoyed. "Dude, do you seriously hate me that much?"

Sam's expression smoothed out as he floundered for some kind of response. He hadn't expected that in a million years. "No, of course not." He said softly.

"Then what is it? Is it seriously that embarrassing to have your older brother hanging around?"

"No- I just…" Sam shifted uncomfortably. He never imagined Dean had actually wanted to spend time with him; he just figured his parents had bribed him into coming somehow. But all the same, he had to carry through with his plan and the plan didn't work if Dean was nearby. "I thought you wanted to stay somewhere downtown, closer to the bars so you could go out tonight."

"Yeah, but I'm not real thrilled with leaving you here without the rest of your group."

"I'm seventeen dude."

"Yeah and I remember being seventeen so you'll have to excuse me if I remain a little suspicious." Dean argued.

"Dean," Sam broke off his original thought. Staying annoyed was going to get him nowhere with his brother. "I don't hate you okay? I just…" his brain went into overdrive and stopped on the first thing that sounded reasonable. "Mrs. Larkin never forgave you for the water balloon incident and she still watches me like she keeps expecting me to turn into you or something." He watched a grin fight to break out on Dean's frown. "It took me this long just to get her to call me by my first name instead of Mr. Winchester." He paused again and let a grin of his own show through. "I'm afraid if she sees you she'll go back to hating me."

Dean chuckled, lost in the memories of his own high school experience. "Ahh Mrs. Larkin," he said dreamily with a shake of his head.

"Please Dean," Sam begged softly with a warm smile. "Don't make the rest of my high school year miserable."

It only took one glance at his kid brother's puppy eyed plea for him to cave. He sighed with an audible growl and turned the car off. He didn't even say anything knowing Sam knew he'd won. "Damned debate club," he mumbled as he climbed out of the car and headed toward the trunk, hearing his brother follow suit.

He keyed the lock and lifted the trunk lid. He snatched up his brother's duffle bag and pulled it out, stumbling slightly under its weight. "For God's sake dude! What do you have in there?"

Sam quickly relieved his brother of the duffle, shouldering it like it was no big deal. "Just- you know, books and stuff."

"Sounded like metal clankin' together," Dean made a casual grab for the zipper to see.

Sam neatly side-stepped him, backing towards the hotel's lobby entrance. "Yeah it's uh- some props Mrs. Larkin asked me to bring."

"What the hell kinda props do you need for a Speech and Debate?"

"You'll see tomorrow," Sam smiled slyly, waggling his brow. "You remember where you're going tomorrow?" And this was where Sam's great ploy would come into play.

"Yeah uh…" Dean hedged as he shut the trunk and made his way toward his door. "St. Mary's something?"

"Yeah. Eight o'clock… sharp." Sam confirmed.

"Got it," Dean gave him a thumbs up before dropping into his car. He watched his brother until he disappeared into the hotel lobby and then started the car, and headed off downtown to find a cheap motel near a bar.

Sam watched his brother's car turn onto the main road toward downtown and disappear from his view. He let the corner of the curtain fall back into place, silently thanking it for its hiding capabilities. He glanced around the hotel lobby once, sending a small apologetic smile to the receptionist before ducking out the front doors and pulling out his cell phone.

"Bobby? It's me, I'm here." Sam's gaze floated across the parking lot as he listened. "Okay, I'll be waiting in front of the lobby… bye." Sam closed the phone and plopped down on the nearest bench beside the front entrance doors outside. He released a long sigh. "This is gonna be a long weekend."

TBC…

(So… thoughts anyone?)