Sam was surprised to awake in New Mexico – many miles and two states away from the city. His head felt clear as he climbed out of the car and stood in the cool, dark air. And he wasn't so hot. He kicked a rock with his foot as Mary got out and stood beside him. It seemed like Dean and him were staying with her and John for a while.
He glanced at the cabin and decided it was time to evaluate everything. There were several criteria he used to judge the places they lived. It was a qualitative way of determining which places were better and which places were worse. Everything got a score from one to ten in five categories, with ten being highest score.
1. Bedroom – Were there bedrooms? If so, did he get his own or did he have to share with Dean?
2. TV – Was there one he got to watch? One in the house he wasn't allowed to touch was not considered a real tv. Also the size and quality of the television affected the score.
3. Smell – Did the place smell like garbage, urine, or cats? All of these led to a low grade.
4. Food – Was there food most of the time? (Food stolen by Dean did not count!)
5. Parents – Sam had a complete sub-list for this one and he added things to it constantly. Depending on how the adults behaved he awarded them plus points and minus points. The main parameters included: Did they ever hit or get rough? Yell? Did they take good care of him and Dean when they were sick? Did they fight with each other? Lock anyone in the closet? Make really good pies? Remember his and Dean's names? There was more. It was a long sub-list.
"Sam? You alright?" Mary pulled Sam from his thoughts and the bags from the trunk. She waved at the cabin. "It's nicer on the inside. There're two bedrooms. Not to mention hot water. And a little kitchen."
He peered at it. Well. It had bedrooms. That put it ahead of the rusted out Ford. "Can I look around?" He said taking in the trails leading away from the clearing. He heard a creek nearby.
"It's late. You and Dean should rest some more."
"I'm not tired anymore." The stars above had begun to fade with morning. "It'll be light soon." He smiled at her. "And Dean can come with me."
Mary frowned.
Dean was leaning against the car resting his eyes. He looked up. "Huh?" He said. "Oh. Yeah. I'll go with the kid." Catching her expression he added, "We'll stay close. Cross my heart."
Her gaze wandered down to Dean's hurt leg and her frown deepened.
"All's clear." John emerged from the front door and came down to grab the bags from her.
"I tell you what." Mary motioned them towards the cabin. "You and Dean get cleaned up and changed, and then I'll take you around the area if you want to go, Sam."
"I can't change." Sam trudged towards the door. "All my other clothes got shredded." He said. "And all of Dean's."
"Don't worry, Sam." She said. "John can loan you both some clothes. Alright?"
"I guess." Sam said. He did kinda want a shower. They'd been cleaning up in the McDonald's bathroom for the last two weeks.
Dean limped up beside him and nudged him in the ribs. "Hey…Mary?" He said. "This place got a tv?"
"Hmm…" She ushered them inside the door. "Over there." The room inside was rustic with a worn couch and a small television in the corner. A very small television.
"And…uh…can Sammy and I watch it?"
She smiled. "Of course, Dean. All you want." Her gaze wandered back out the door. "I don't know if you'll get anything to come in though."
Dean leaned down. "See, Sam." He whispered. "You can already add some points to number two."
Sam raised an eyebrow. "Only it there's good reception." He said. A television that did not come in did not count. Period. Dean knew that.
The cabin smelled like the rocky terrain outside of it; an earthy scent made of wood and rain. Sam reluctantly scored it high for smelling good and followed Mary to a back bedroom. It was a small space with twin beds and a nightstand. She gave them each a pile of sweat clothes, showed them the shower, and then stood in the doorway looking like she didn't want to leave.
"Thanks." Sam said so she would go already. If she kept hovering over them, Sam was docking a point from her tally.
"Right." She said. "We'll be in the other room if you need us." She closed the door softly.
Dean hobbled towards the bed by the window. "Nice room, eh?" He said.
"I'm giving it a seven." He'd seen better.
Dean laughed and sank down on the mattress. "You shower first, Sammy. I'm gonna rest a little longer." He closed his eyes. "How're you ranking John and Mary so far?" He said, cracking one lid back open. There was an edge of nervousness in his tone. Dean always got a little uneasy with new parents – especially ones he liked.
Sam shrugged. "I'm still figuring them out." He said. "Right now, Mary has a four and John has a six."
Dean lifted his head up and caught Sam's eyes. "Mary's lower than John?" He sounded surprised. "I thought you liked her better than him."
Sam rolled his eyes. "It's not about which one I like better, Dean, it's about the list. Besides, I went ahead and gave him a point for his car 'cause I know you'd make me anyway." He told him. "And Mary's gone up since she figured out your name. She started closer to three."
"Hmm." Dean sank back down. "She's tried to take care of you, you know, while you haven't felt good."
Sam considered that for a moment. "Fine. I'll give her another half point then. But that's all. You were already taking care of me. So she doesn't get full credit."
"Dude." Dean sounded amused. "You are such a little hard ass sometimes."
Sam headed into the bathroom. "The same rules apply to them as everyone else." That was necessary or the list wasn't useful. Sam gazed at his brother's prone form. He hadn't told Dean…but…well…while they were living in the car they hadn't had parents, so Sam had been forced to rank Dean by proxy as he was oldest and claimed to be in charge. He'd ended up with a seven and three quarters. It would have been higher, but Dean lost points for not taking care of himself and being grumpy.
Sam turned on the light in the bathroom. It was nice having it connected to the bedroom. "I'm upping the room to an eight." He heard Dean laughing as he shut the door.
John came in about an hour later; after they'd both showered and changed. He made Dean show him his leg despite Dean's protests and then he rebandaged it. Sam reluctantly gave the man a point for it. It put him higher than he deserved, but rules were rules.
"Mary's making breakfast." John told them. "C'mon. Let's get some food in you boys."
Two things became clear at breakfast. One, Mary was not a good cook. Rice did not belong in tomato soup. If Sam had realized people cooked as bad as her, he'd have given Beatrice double points for her food skills. And, two, breakfast was a ruse to have a long, uncomfortable talk about things neither Sam nor Dean wanted to talk about.
"Just try to eat a little of it, Sam." Mary said.
He pushed his spoon through the red, lumpy mixture. The rice grains reminded him of little grubs squirming in red dirt.
"Sam. It's good, man." Dean said. He held up his empty bowl. "I'll have some more."
Sam raised the spoon tentatively to his mouth. Dean liked it. But Dean ate almost anything. Or maybe eating was his way of avoiding answering the questions. Sam slurped a little bit into his mouth.
Mary watched his reaction, looking anxious. "So…um…how is it?"
It wasn't that bad. Sam's stomach growled. It actually tasted much better than he expected. But that was probably because Sam had been eating convenience store food for the last few weeks.
"It's okay." He mumbled. He'd eat it. But he wasn't giving her points for cooking. Not until she proved herself.
John cleared his throat. "Like I said, we know you were in foster care until a few weeks ago. We need to know what happened." He leveled his gaze at Dean.
"We left." Dean made a show of putting a big spoonful of soup into his mouth.
"You mean you ran away?" He said.
Dean shrugged. "Something like that." He smirked at them.
John's face twitched. Sam ate another spoonful of soup. Dean didn't like talking to adults in the best of times and he didn't do well with confrontation. It was kinda funny to watch, though. John looked stern and Mary looked all concerned. Dean didn't respond well to this bad parent/good parent game. The two of them didn't really know who they were dealing with. Sam bit back a laugh.
Mary shot him a quizzical look. Sam smiled and ate more soup. Eating was a great avoidance tactic. He'd have to remember that. Mary put her hand on Dean's. "You need to tell us." She reached over and placed her other one on Sam's shoulder. "We're trying to understand what happened."
Dean pulled away. "There's nothing to tell. Things got bad and we skedaddled. Found us a nice, rusty Ford to squat in. Then we found you. End of story."
"You were living in a car?" John did not sound happy.
"Well, we weren't living at the Four Seasons." Dean climbed out of his chair. "Um…Sir."
"Dean. Sit down. Answer the question."
Dean paused; then eased back down in the chair. "What do you wanna know, John?" He said it calmly, but he was getting agitated. Sam could tell.
"Did your foster parents treat you well? Was there anything odd about them?"
Dean snorted. He shot Sam a knowing wink. "Depends. Which ones?"
"The ones that were going to adopt you and Sam." John sounded irritated. "Frank and Beatrice Reynolds. You'd been with them for the last year and a half."
Dean's face flashed with a hurt at their names that Sam also felt deep in his chest. Dean recovered first.
"How do you know about-" He started.
"We've been trying to find out what came after you, Dean." Mary leaned across the table. "John's been making calls. We just need information. So we can protect you boys."
Something occurred to Sam. "They were gonna adopt both of us, right? That's what you said you found out." He gave Dean a pointed look. His brother ignored him.
"Whatever." Dean said. "Look. Frank and Beatrice treated us great. Even me. And they freakin' adored Sam, here."
Mary nodded. Her face twisted like puzzle pieces were fitting together inside her head. Suddenly her eyes narrowed and her mouth thinned out. "And which ones didn't treat you well?" She said with surprising fury. "And how so?"
Sam expected John to complain they were getting off topic, but his arms were crossed and his gaze was steady and solid.
"Answer your mother, Dean." He said.
Sam slurped more soup and watched the train wreck. He knew Dean was gonna react badly to that statement right away. Dean slumped down in his chair and scowled at the table. He tapped his spoon against his bowl not saying anything at all. The adults looked at each other caught between exasperation and confusion.
Sam sighed. It was a little early to use the mother card even if Dean wanted it to be true. He was freaking out. John and Mary were going hit negative point ranking before breakfast was over. That might be a record.
"Dean?" Mary said.
Dean looked up, grinning and pale. "I'm beat." His brother made a big show of yawning and rubbing his leg like it hurt. "I wanna catch more z's. Can we talk about this later?"
"Dean." Mary's soft tone faltered a bit. "This is important. We need to know what's happened to you boys and why you ran away." Sam could read the frustration on her face. But this wasn't about her.
"You should let him rest." Sam said. The three of them turned to him. Sam sat up straighter and held their gazes. Just 'cause Dean didn't want to talk didn't mean he was lying about being tired. "He doesn't feel good."
Dean didn't wait for them to say more. He limped toward the bedroom. "Soup was great." He said stretching out his arms. "Better than I remem-" He quieted. "It was good." He stopped at the door. "You…uh…coming Sam?" He said. But Sam heard 'Are you okay alone with them?' clear as day.
Sam considered it. "I'm not tired." He said. "Yet." He could handle the adults for now. And…well…Sam could answer their questions as well as his brother. He could do that so Dean didn't have to do it. That was only fair.
Dean hesitated a moment more. He caught Sam's eyes and nodded. "Yeah. Call me if you need anything." He left the door ajar.
John rubbed his hands over his face, sat back, and looked at open space between the door and frame. He put his hands on the table like he was going to walk after him. Sam gave him another minus one for that.
"We ran away because-" Sam took a deep breath. Their attention refocused on him. "Our foster parents, they got killed while we were at school, and-" This was hard. He swirled his spoon through the remains of the soup, watching a stray rice grain stick to its edge. "And Dean thought whatever'd done it was gonna come after us at the group home too."
John sank back into his chair and Mary watched Sam with intense eyes.
"Do you know what it was?" She asked.
"No." Sam said quietly. "But Dean saw what did it. He-" Sam clinked the spoon against the bowl. "He found them. Frank and Beatrice." Sam's voice dropped to a whisper. "They were gonna adopt us and they were waiting 'til Dean's birthday to tell him. It was a surprise. But-" Sam couldn't bring himself to say killed again. "But it happened two days before that."
"What else, Sam?" John said.
Sam didn't like his tone but he answered anyway. "Dean told the police he saw a man with black eyes." He said. "And Dean didn't think he was human."
"Black? Not yellow?" John asked.
"He said black." Sam pushed the bowl away from him. "They didn't believe him, though."
Mary and John exchanged glances. They believed him. Sam was sure of it.
"Sam." Mary seemed to be thinking hard about her next question. "Do you…We thought we lost you boys for good when you were young. Do you know anything about how you ended up in foster care?"
"There was a fire." Sam shrugged. "I was a baby. That's all I know."
"And Dean?" John asked, eying the door again. "Do you think he remembers?"
Sam dropped him another point. "He won't talk about it." Sam said. "So don't ask him." He pushed away from the table. "I'm gonna rest now." He said and he closed the door tight once he got in the bedroom.
Dean was lying down, feigning sleep. "You were chatty." He said after a minute.
"They need to know." Sam hopped up on his bed, looking around the little room and feeling small. "Maybe they can kill the monster that killed Frank and Beatrice." He said quietly. "You said that's what they do."
"Yeah." Dean glanced at him. "You should give them each a point for that - killing monsters."
Sam lay down and contemplated adding monster killing as a parameter. "Yeah. Okay. But only one each."
"One each." Dean agreed. He was quiet for a moment. "They like you, you know."
"Dean." Sam rolled so he was facing him. "They like you, too."
"Well. They used to." Dean sighed. "I'm not little and cute anymore, Sam. It's not so simple with me."
"You're wrong. They like you." Sam said and he couldn't help but be offended. "And I'm not little either, Dean. I'm almost ten."
"Whatever you say, shrimp." He said chuckling. He stopped suddenly. "But you should…you should give 'em a chance, Sam. I know I'm not handling it well, but they're not so bad. Not really."
Sam didn't want to give them any extra chances. But he had to admit, Mary did seem to be trying, even if it was annoying. And John had promised to keep them safe. Both of them. He chewed on his lip. Beatrice and Frank would have wanted him to give them a second chance too. They had believed in second chances.
"Alright." Sam said, feeling his gut clench. "I guess they might get better." He said. "I'll set them both back to five and see how they do from now on. But that's the best I can do, Dean."
"Good. Now shut-up and go to sleep. I wanna wake up in time to eat lunch."