It was two o'clock in the morning when a soft knocking on the door alerted Bobby to Dean's return. He had been pacing back and forth across the tiny hotel room, waiting nervously for Dean to get back, anxious that it had taken so long. Releasing a sigh of relief, Bobby rushed to the door, his nervous fingers slipping on the locks as he fidgeted with them. A few seconds later, he opened the door to a sorry sight.
"Holy…"Bobby's mouth hung open slightly, his hand frozen on the doorknob at the sight of his surrogate-son. Dean's clothes were dirty, his usually spiky hair in a disarray. There was a dark and nasty looking bruise along his jawbone, and dark circles under his puffy and red eyes.
"You gonna let me in, Bobby?" What would have usually come across from Dean as a smart-ass comment was merely a tired statement. Paired with a hoarse voice and the low volume at which he had said it, Bobby barely recognized Dean's voice at all.
"Yeah… Come on in, boy." Bobby hurriedly stepped aside to let Dean in, closing the door firmly behind him. He bolted the locks quickly, turning to look at Dean with concern. "Dean, what happened to you!?"
Dean hadn't moved since he had been ushered into the room. He just stood there looking lost, as if he didn't know what to do next. After a minute, he raised his eyes to Bobby as if seeing him for the first time. "…what?"
Suddenly seeing the shocked dead look on Dean's face, Bobby took a few slow steps towards the boy, putting his hands gently on both shoulders. "Dean?" He looked over his glasses, waiting for Dean to raise his eyes. "Dean, look at me." Finally, Dean seemed to notice Bobby's touch and reacted by looking up. He looked really pale. "What happened, Dean?"
"She…"Dean licked his lips, looking like he was having a hard time getting the words out. " She's…"He hesitated, is eyes looking at something invisible over Bobby's shoulder, looking like he was gonna –
Suddenly Dean had ripped himself from Bobby's grasp, rushing to the bathroom. Bobby took a few cautious steps foreword as he heard the sound of Dean spilling his guts out in the other room. He leaned against the doorway, crossing his arms against his chest until the poor boy was finished throwing up. When Dean stopped, his fingers curling around the edge of the toilet bowl and his shoulders shaking, Bobby moved into the room towards the sink. He grabbed a glass from beside the tap, filling it halfway with lukewarm water, and knelt down close enough beside Dean that he could reach it but still had some air. "You done?"
Dean turned his head to acknowledge Bobby, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. He nodded slowly, holding out his hand for the glass. Bobby set in into his trembling fingers, sighing deeply as Dean gulped it all down at once. The glass was left on the floor, and Bobby set it back on the counter. He patted Dean on the back gently, rubbing circles over that stupid leather jacket that Dean still hadn't taken off. Then he slid a hand into the neckline and nudged Dean gently with his elbow. "Common, let's get this off you."
Dean nodded again slowly, letting his shoulders slump back so Bobby could just pull it off him. His arms slid from the sleeves without any effort at all. Bobby turned to throw the jacket on the bed in the other room.
Bobby listened to Dean take a deep breath, than another, than another. After four or five did he finally believe that it was alright to let the kid stand up again. He offered Dean a hand, helping him to his shaky feet. Dean leaned against the sink, splashing water on his face and washing his hands, and Bobby leaned against the far wall beside him. "So Dean… you going to tell me what happened? What did Jane do?"
Only after patting his face down with the towel enough times to get on Bobby's nerves did Dean finally turn to meet his gaze. His eyes were still red and puffy, but he looked like he could stand on his own two feet again. He just looked horrified. "It's not what Jane did…"Dean cleared his throat, acting as if he had lost his voice for a very long time and had forgotten what it had sounded like. "…It's what I did. It's what Jane's going to do."
Bobby followed Dean as he walked numbly into the other room, feeling more confused than ever. "And just what is that?" Bobby raised his eyebrows in dismay. "What did you do? What the hell are you talking about?"
"That's exactly it! Hell!" Suddenly Dean was in Bobby's face, practically grabbing on to his jacket. "You know what I did. Don't you get it? She's back!"
Bobby took a careful step back and pulled Dean's hands from the folds of his clothes, trying to process that information. Yes, he knew what Dean did in hell. Dean had told Bobby one day, depressed and a little too tipsy for comfort. But Bobby had told him that it didn't matter – cause it didn't, of course – because Dean was still the same kid to him that he always was. But another thought came to mind. "Who's back, son?"
"I…"Dean frowned, looking just a little bit insane. " One of the people that I… you know…"He obviously didn't want to say it, and Bobby sure as hell wasn't going to make him. Dean sighed. "And she was the first one, too. The one that broke the seal."
Now that rose Bobby's eyebrows, if nothing he had heard so far wasn't shocking enough. "That was Jane? Are you sure?"
"Yeah…"Dean ran a hand over his spiky hair, pacing a little bit. "I had no clue who she was, but she explained and then I just somehow remembered her. And I can't really explain how, but it kind of fits. She's not the same but… she kind of is. She's just darker now. If that makes any sense…"
Bobby sighed. "It doesn't have to, son. I'll take your word for it."
"Thanks Bobby," Dean nodded gratefully, looking so physically tired that Bobby was almost afraid that he would tumble over any second now. "I didn't really know what… What you would say and all… Considering."
Bobby thought about that for a sec, and rested a hand carefully on Dean's shoulder while he thought about his response. "Dean…"He looked directly into the young man's eyes, hoping that the Winchester gene wouldn't kick in and force Dean to look away out of pride. " I've known you for a long time. I've seen you in diapers, for Pete's sakes! And through all of that I know what you're like. And my opinions of you haven't changed, okay? You don't ever have to worry about me judging you for that."
"I…"Dean seemed kind of shocked, probably not expecting such a foreword answer. " Thanks, Bobby."
Well if that's all he was going to get, then he was going to take it as it was. "So Dean… you were telling me about Jane." He gestured to Dean's scratched up face implicatively.
If possible, Dean seemed to have paled even more. He nodded slowly, his Adam's apple bobbing with the force of his swallow. "Yea well… She said that… She said…"Dean sighed, his hands clenched into tight fists. "She said that she was going to get her revenge. And that she's using Sam to do it. Bobby, if she's hurt him I don't know what I'd do. I can't. I can't let her do that" –
"Alright Dean," Bobby cut in before Dean had a breakdown, because that's where it seemed he was headed. And if what he was saying was true, Bobby didn't feel far off it either. But he had to be the strong one right now. "We're going to find him, alright. We just have to keep looking. Now think, you met her in town, right? And she called you earlier today, right? She couldn't have driven that far in such a short time, so that means that she is probably still in town when she made the call. Heck, she's probably always been in town. We just have to check everywhere we haven't checked yet."
Stubbornly, Dean started shaking his head. "But Bobby… what if we don't get there in time? What if we can't find him? What if" –
Bobby grabbed Dean by the shoulders, shaking him a few times. "No Dean. No 'what-ifs', okay? We are going to find Sam, and he is going to be okay. Now first things first, you go have a shower and then we are going to patch you up. I'm going on Sam's laptop right now, and I'm going to keep searching. Alright?"
"But" –
Bobby silenced Dean by pulling him along, turning him around so he could pretty much wrestle him through the door. Even though he could never win a fight against the Winchester now – he wasn't young anymore, after all – Dean was too tired and out-of-it to fight back. Once he had shut Dean in the bathroom and Bobby could hear the shower running, Bobby finally dug out the laptop. He had lost his wife. He had lost Caleb and pastor Jim. He had lost John. He had lost Sam, then lost Dean a year later. Now, he was about to loose Sam again. And it was pretty much a guarantee that neither Winchester could live without the other… so if Bobby lost one of them, he feared that he would loose the other as well. Those boys were like sons to him, and if he could help it, he wasn't going to loose them again. If that boy was hurt… Bobby was going to give Jane a taste of her own medicine.
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Like I said, sorry for the late update. I'm really trying here but you guys have to be patient with me. I will update as soon as I can!!!!!! You guys are all awesome!
