Morning came early for Bobby Singer. When the sun peeked out from the mountains he woke. Jody stayed asleep and Bobby made no movement to wake her. He got out of the bed gingerly and pulled a sweater over his head. He fumbled his way down the stairs and was surprised to see Dean sitting at the kitchen table.
"Mornin'," Bobby grumbled. "Did you make coffee?"
Dean nodded over to the coffee pot that was steaming.
"Awesome," Bobby smiled. "Why you up this early?"
"I don't know," Dean said quietly, almost mouse like.
"What's troubling ya'," Bobby asked taking a sip of coffee.
"Your phone rang," Dean stated.
"Oh?"
"Henricksen left a message," he continued. "It played out loud."
"What'd he want?"
"Sam's there," Dean choked out. He looked to be on the verge of tears, happy or sad, Bobby couldn't tell yet. "Said he's gonna bring him over here."
Bobby sat down next to Dean. He thought about waking Jody, she would probably have a better way to calm down Dean than he would. Bobby didn't say anything to Dean, he knew that Dean didn't need to hear anymore from him, the words he had said last night still applied to this conversation. So instead of persuading the man to see his brother, all Bobby could think was to take his mind off it.
"You wanna go work on the cars?"
"Yes," Dean said fast.
Bobby nodded and brought his mug with him as they made their way outside.
Inside Jody awoke to an empty bed. She pulled herself from the blankets and gazed out the window, then smiled when she saw her husband and Dean Winchester walking out towards the workshop. Jody dressed and headed down the stairs. She drank the lukewarm coffee and played the message that was blinking on the answering machine.
Jody, this is Victor. Did you talk to Dean yet? If so call me back, Sam wants to see him, and I don't think he is going to wait much longer. It's early now so call me when you're awake, and let Dean know. I think it will be okay. Okay. Bye.
Jody pursed her lips. She had never spoken to Dean last night. When she got home he and Bobby were having a little heart to heart and she didn't think it was the best time to bring up Sam. Instead she let them have their time together. She could feel the connection her husband had made with the young man. That was one of the things she loved about Bobby, his open heart. Jody poured herself another cup of coffee and called Henricksen back. She only waited one ring before he answered.
"This is Henricksen."
"Hi Victor, it's Jody."
"You got my message," he stated.
"Yes, but I haven't spoken to Dean about this yet."
"Oh," was all Henricksen responded with.
"I think he will be okay though." Jody told him. "I think he just needed a night. Bring Sam over. I know they both need to see each other."
"You're right about that," Henricksen mumbled. "Alright we'll be over around noon?"
"Sounds good," Jody confirmed.
"Okay, we'll see you in a while."
"See you soon."
Jody took a long sip of her coffee before setting the phone down and heading outside to Bobby and Dean. She followed the sounds of her husband. Bobby was giving out directions about cars and Dean was following them silently. She waited until they noticed her.
"Hi boys, you wanna come in for some breakfast?" She asked.
"Sure thing," Bobby said moving her way. Dean wiped his hands off on a rag and trailed after Bobby. She smiled at him and let him go in front of her, her smile fading as she knew telling him that Sam was coming over was going to crack the boy even more.
Back in the kitchen Jody put together a quick breakfast of instant oatmeal. She wanted to break it easy, but it seemed that there was nothing easy in Dean Winchesters life.
"Sam is at the police station," Jody blurted out.
"I know," Dean said in a breath.
"Oh," Jody said and fell back in her chair.
"I heard the message this morning." Dean explained.
"Oh," Jody repeated. "Well I called Victor back. Sam wanted to see you so he's coming over later today, around noon. I hope that's alright."
Dean didn't say anything back. He swallowed hard then nodded ever so slightly. Jody gave him a smile, and Bobby patted the young man's shoulder lightly.
"You'll be glad you did this Dean." Bobby told him.
"Sure," Dean whispered.
Dean wanted to believe Bobby, but believing was something that he had a hard time with. He shoveled warm oatmeal into his mouth and tried to put the future out of his mind for the moment. Next to him Bobby and Jody exchanged a fleeting glance.
With breakfast settling Bobby took to the couch and flipped on the TV. He browsed channels, quickly turning them when a news station appeared in the fear they might show something of Dean's case. Dean sat next to him and although he was looking forward his eyes remained unfocused on the screen. Jody paced. She hated waiting. She looked at her husband and wondered how he could be so relaxed at a time like this. Every second pace she would look at the clock, it was eleven and in one hour things were going to change very much. She found it strange that this boy she had know for only a few days was having such an impact on her. She knew that Bobby felt the same way, if not more. She and Bobby had never had children of their own, but her maternal instinct was still present, and from what she watch with Dean and Bobby, she couldn't help but be sad that her husband would never be the father that he could have been.
Noon rolled around and the house could feel the tension in the air. Dean was still on the couch, his leg bumping up and down as his nerves set in. Jody had made herself scarce when the phone had rung and she left to answer it. It was now Bobby's turn to pace. He only made it a few laps before Jody came back in with the phone in hand.
"They are pulling up the driveway," she said, unsure if she should be happy or a little frightened.
"Well lets go greet them," Bobby huffed and aimed for the door. "Come on son," he waved to Dean.
Dean took one long breath before getting up from the couch. He walked with Bobby and Jody out onto the porch. Even from there he could see the car approaching. As it got closer he could vaguely make out two figures in the front. The car crept in and Dean looked down. He felt sick. He was going to throw up at any moment. He heard the car stop and he chanced a glance up. He saw a blur of whom he knew was his brother before he was running off towards the forest.
"Dean!"
Shouts chased him away from the salvage yard and a voice, that he knew he should have never heard again, hunted him. Dean ran faster. He flew past the broken cars and right into the thick of the forest. Leaves and branches crunched underfoot, trees were melding together as tears marred his vision. He couldn't do this. He couldn't see his brother, not after everything he had done. He was never going to see Sam again and this time he was dead set on making that happen. He slowed his pace when he could no longer breathe properly.
Then he heard the sound of someone else running. Dean's eyes widened as he peaked over his shoulder to see Sam running after him. Dean blasted off again. He weaved through trees and tried to make it further and further away from his brother. Sam was yelling for Dean to stop, but he couldn't.
Sam was getting closer, Dean didn't need to look back to see that, he could hear it. Sam was so near him and before Dean could take another stride his brothers body collided with his. They both tumbled to the ground, panting and weak. Dean scrambled to get to his feet but Sam was faster. The younger Winchester got to his knees and spun around to grab Dean by the shoulders before he could escape once more.
They stared at each other for the first time in years. Sam blinked multiple times almost not believing his vision. Dean in front of him was so real, there was no other word for it. Dean still looked like his brother, same face same build, but his eyes were so different. Sam wanted to cry just from seeing the age of Dean's eyes.
"Dean," Sam finally spoke.
Dean shook in Sam's grasp. His little brother was no longer little. Sam was a man now, not the teenager Dean remembered. He couldn't quite fit it into his mind that this person was Sam. He looked like their mother, and sadly, Dean thought, like their father. Dean swallowed hard before placing a hand on top of Sam's shoulder.
"Hi Sammy," he choked out.
Sam pulled his brother forward into a tight hug. Slowly Dean's arms made their way around Sam's back. Once there Dean squeezed back a hard as he could. They settled on the ground, arms around one another, neither wanting to be the first to break the connection.
Slowly, like letting go of glass, they released each other. Sam kept his hands on Dean's forearms, just to ensure that he wasn't going anywhere. Dean curled in a little, not knowing the next step in this reunion. Luckily Sam did.
"I'm so glad you're alive," Sam breathed. "I wasn't sure, for the longest time I thought... Then all this and now you're here and alive and real, and here."
Dean knew exactly what Sam was trying to say to him. For the longest time he feared that Sam may be dead, then to get the information that he was alive and well was overwhelming. There was so much Dean wanted to say to his brother, but at the moment he couldn't form a single word. He opened and closed his mouth a few times only to fail at some sort of reassurance.
"Dean, you don't need to say anything," Sam smiled. "I know."
And Sam did know, to some extent, he knew his brother, although in most ways he knew nothing of the man before him.
"I just, never wanted you to know," Dean told.
"I know," Sam agreed.
"I mean," Dean said thickly. "I wanted you to have a good life."
"I know."
"Did you?"
"Yeah," Sam breathed. "Yeah it was good, but having you in it again is going to make my life better, and hopefully yours too. I mean if you want to, that is. I'm not gonna force you to do anything you don't want, but I want you back in my life Dean. If this is all I'm gonna get then I guess I can learn to live with it-"
"Sam stop," Dean interrupted.
"Sorry, I'm nervous," he admitted.
"s'okay," Dean murmured. "So am I."
In the distance the brothers could hear their names being called, but neither made a motion to call back. They sat across from one another on the forest floor both trying to figure out how to go about the rest of the reunion. Silence claimed them for to long for Sam.
"Thank you, Dean," Sam spoke.
"What?" Dean asked and tilted his head.
"Thank you for saving my life," Sam told him.
"Your my brother," Dean responded as if that answered every question Sam wanted and needed to ask, and after a moment of contemplation he realized ,that in a way, it did. Sam decided then and there that he was going to try to be as good a brother to Dean as Dean was to him. That started with getting off the ground and going back to Bobby's.
Sam stood and offered a hand down to Dean. With little hesitation Dean accepted. Sam wrapped an arm around Dean's shoulders, marveling at how small his big brother was. Together once more they made their way back to the salvage yard. Sam let his arm fall from Dean as they approached, as he could feel him tensing up. Jody was standing in the middle of the yard and heaved a huge sigh of relief when she spotted Sam and Dean. Soon Henricksen and Bobby were out of the forest and looking mad as hell. Bobby gave Dean a gruff look and grumbled his way into the house without a look back. Henricksen looked like he wanted to lecture Dean, but held his tongue as he caught sight of how close Sam and Dean were standing. He quirked a small smile and hid his face before either could catch it.
They went into the living room where Bobby had already settled himself in a lazy chair. Sam and Dean sat on the couch while Jody and Henricksen pulled in chairs from the kitchen. Eyes shifted from one to another, all unsure as to who should start the conversation.
"Okay I'll start," Henricksen sighed. "I know we all want what is best for Dean in this situation so this conversation shouldn't last to long. I think it's best if he stays here for a little bit longer, just until John is moved to the prison. That way some of the media will leave with him. The trial won't take place for a while, so in the meantime I think we should work on trying to get Dean off any charges. With Sam here his story checks out, but a jury will still need to decide on weather or not he is guilty, which I don't think they will."
"Do you know where the trials gonna take place?" Bobby asked.
"No," Henricksen said. "It'll be a while 'till that's revealed."
"Will I have to go to jail?" Dean asked in one quick breath.
"No." Sam and Henricksen said at the same time.
"There's no evidence of you at any of the crime scenes," Henricksen explained. "The only link investigators have is that you are John's son."
"Without that evidence they can't make you stay which is good," Sam said. "That means you can come with me. But, cops will probably want to check in constantly to make sure you haven't run away."
"Stay with you?" Dean asked, confusion crept into his voice.
"Y-yeah," Sam stumbled. "I mean if you want to, you don't have to but you can if you want."
"I don't know," Dean admitted.
"Son, if you want you can stay with us," Bobby offered. "I ain't got no problem with it, and I don't think Jody will mind much. Would you dear?"
"Not a bit," Jody smiled.
"You have options Dean." Henricksen told him. "But for today, forget about it. Take the day. We'll leave you two alone for awhile." Nervousness showed on Dean's face. "Or we can stay, whatever you like, but I think you should talk to your brother."
"Okay," Dean nodded although his face betrayed his actions. He was happy that Sam was there, but Sam was almost like a stranger, a familiar stranger, but a stranger nevertheless.
"I'll be out in the workshop if you need me." Bobby said and got up. Dean was glad for Bobby's insight, the man knew he wanted to have some privacy but to also have the security of someone nearby.
"I'm gonna head over to the station," Jody said. "Victor, wanna tag along?"
"Sure," Henricksen said. He rose with Jody and gave Dean a nod before they left the house.
With the room now empty the brothers sat in silence. Sam fidgeted in his seat, once again unsure of how to begin another conversation with Dean. Dean felt the same. He stared at the floor and licked his lips. He waited, waited for Sam to question him, interrogate him, something.
"Is there anything you want to ask me?" Sam asked. "I mean I have a million and a half questions for you, but, I wanna know, do you want to know anything about me?"
Dean wanted to know everything about his brother. He wish desperately that he could have known every trial that Sam had gone through, every class he had taken at school, who his friends were, did he have a girlfriend? Boyfriend? Dean realized that besides raising the man in front of him, he knew nothing of his life. He knew that was all of his own doing but it still hurt more than he ever could have imagined.
"When I left you to go to school," Dean began. "Where did you go?"
"California," Sam answered happily. "I got accepted to Stanford, full ride actually. You remember all those letter from the colleges you kept from me?" Dean nodded. "Well most of them were acceptance letters. You have no idea how much I wanted to tell you about all the schools that wanted me. Hell I even wanted John to know!" Sam laughed.
"I wish I could have known." Dean said solemnly.
"Dean," Sam began. "I know that you did what you had to do to keep us safe, don't think for a second that I resent any of it, because I don't. You know the only reason I chose Stanford was because you said if you could live anywhere you would have picked California."
"I did?" Dean asked, confusion set on his face.
"Yeah, when I was a freshman in high school you said something about it, I think it was because of the weather and that there were beaches everywhere. And, when Stanford offered me a scholarship I wanted it because I thought if I went to school in California you would want to come with me."
"I did want to go with you," Dean whispered.
"Then why didn't you!" Sam nearly yelled. Dean cringed a little and Sam instantly regretted it. "Why...why did you stay?"
"I didn't want him to find you." Dean said, his voice finding strength that Sam didn't think was there. "I was not going to let him find you. I made myself promise that once you were gone you would stay gone so that Dad would never be able to hurt you. I had to protect you Sammy. That was my job."
"You did a good job Dean," Sam smiled. "You protected me, so let me return the favor. You don't need to run away because you think I will get hurt, I won't. And I promise to try my best not to let you get hurt anymore." Sam stared into his brothers eyes, in them Sam could see doubt. "Please try and believe me, even if it is just a little, let me take care you for a while, just for a while, Dean."
"Okay."
"Okay?"
"Okay."
For the next few hours Sam told Dean all about his life. He told him of starting college and really liking Law, and how he is going to be a lawyer and whatnot. Dean listened intently, he didn't want to miss one word, he had missed so much of Sam's life that he couldn't bare to lose another word. Sam went on and told him about meting a girl, Jess. Sam gushed about her. Dean could see it in his eyes that he was in love with her. Dean let Sam talk about Jess for ages until Dean felt as though he knew her. Sam then began to tell about how he had looked for Dean and their father. Dean felt the blood leave his face. He stayed quiet though, he listened to the story and was thankful (which made him feel worse) when Sam story ended in him finding nothing. Sam said that he never gave up on finding Dean and that when his criminal justice class studied serial killers they spoke of the Cross Country Killer, and that was when Sam found out a dark secret of his past.
"I'm sorry you had to find out that way," Dean said sadly.
"How would you have liked me to find out?" Sam asked curiously.
"I wouldn't have wanted you to know at all." Dean stated.
"I'm glad I know," Sam said thoughtfully.
"What?" Dean sputtered.
"I'm glad that I know." Sam repeated. "I'm glad that I finally have answers to what happened in my childhood. I'm glad that I know what happened to you and to our father. I am not happy with what has happened to you but I would rather know and suffer with you then be in the dark about our entire lives. This story might not have a happy beginning or middle but it can still have a happy ending. I want it to have a happy ending."
"Me too Sam, me too." Dean agreed as he held tight to a small smile.
"When this is all over here will you come back to California with me?" Sam asked.
"I don't have anywhere else to go." Dean replied. Sam opened and closed his mouth as he realized that Dean was right, he really had nowhere to go. "But you were right, I do like California." He smiled.
"Great," Sam grinned back. "I can't wait for you to meet Jess and my friends."
"Do...do they know who I am?" Dean asked worriedly.
"No, they don't." Sam frowned. "I didn't have time to tell Jess or anyone where I was going before I left. And I never told them much about my past. I know more about them than they know about me, and I kinda liked it that way. But I guess things are going to change."
"They don't have to," Dean said hurriedly. "You could still go back. You can pretend that this didn't happen, no one else needs to know. I bet we can convince Henricksen that-"
"No, Dean." Sam stopped him. "We are not pretending, I have finally got you back in my life, there is no way in hell that I am giving that up. We've pretended long enough, there is no need anymore."
"If you're sure." Dean mumbled.
"I am. Dean, you're my brother I would do anything for you, just like you have done for me-"
"No." Dean cut in. Dean searched his brothers face. Dean never wanted him to have to do the kinds of things he had done. "You don't have to," he said. "You...you didn't watch the tape did you?"
"What?" Sam asked confused. "I only watched a little, not much really. Why, did you want me to?"
"No, please, don't." Dean begged. "Never watch it please, please."
"Okay," Sam promised. "But Dean, I hope one day that you feel comfortable enough with me to tell me all the things you said on that tape."
Dean didn't say anything. That was something he could not promise his brother. Dean had secrets, so many dark secrets, the tape told some, but Dean kept the rest.
