Chapter Nine

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Dean pocketed his phone and took a long gulp of the steaming coffee the waitress had just delivered. The hot liquid almost burned his tongue but if ever he needed something to ground him, it was right now.

Life had been good to him so far; he and his dad had a great relationship, he'd been blessed with intelligence, optimal health and without false modesty, a great body and a handsome face that got him nearly everything he wanted or needed, so why did all that suddenly seem so unimportant when the thought that his baby brother whom he had believed long dead, might still be alive and living in Sioux Falls?

He deliberately didn't include Mary Singer, for the few loving memories he had of his mother were hard to reconcile with what the woman he'd seen at Singer's might have done; abandon himself and his father. No, he would take this one step at a time.

He fingered the phone in his pocket. Sam had said he would call back

To Hell with this, Dean grunted. He was too fired up to sit around on his ass waiting; it was time to act.

x

He stopped off at home, flung a change of clothes and some other bits and pieces into a bag; undecided whether to leave a note for his dad or contact him later.

He compromised by scribbling a few words on the kitchen note-pad. At least dad would know he had gone off voluntarily and was all right; that would avoid Dean having to answer his father's calls for a bit, when they eventually came.

Somehow Dean felt that there was going to be a huge kick back from whatever he was about to discover.

He snatched a glance at the clock in the hall as he exited the house and threw himself and his bag into the Impala. One o'clock. It would take him over five hours to get to Sioux Falls and as he drove it seemed that the hours were excruciatingly long, so great was his desire to arrive at his destination.

x

Singer Salvage

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"Listen Sam," Bobby began, trying to reason with the kid. There was no way he was going to give Sam a straight yes or no answer. "I don't know what you think you've found out, but could be you've got your facts mixed up. I've only been away a day and in that space of time you've found yourself a long-lost brother! Don't you think you're sorta rushing into things here, boy?"

The older man saw a flicker of doubt in the teen's eyes but it was quickly replaced with a look of conviction.

"No Uncle Bobby. Maybe I have rushed through this, but that's only because all the pieces fit together like a perfect jigsaw puzzle. The guy that was here yesterday is my brother, I just...know it." Sam declared holding Bobby's gaze; waiting for the older man to confirm or negate what he had just said.

But Bobby gave him no satisfaction, simply averted his eyes. It wasn't his place to say anything, so he kept his mouth closed. This was Mary's business to deal with, and her's alone.

They stood there facing each other like some strange participants in a duel, the boy searching for answers and the man possessing them all, but not wanting to give them; until Sam backed off and ran out through the front door with Bobby's "Where are you goin' kid?" ringing in his ears.

Sam ran through the yard, down the driveway onto the main road and continued until he was well away from the house, then he pulled out his phone and called Dean Winchester's number.

X

Dean was already on the freeway, the Impala's hood pointed towards South Dakota, when the call from Sam came through.

"Uh, Dean. I uh.." Sam began, at something of a loss as to what to say. He had been certain Bobby would have been more forthcoming with his answers, but the older man had given away nothing and though Sam was ninety-nine percent sure of his facts, Bobby had managed to instil a grain of doubt in his mind.

"Sammy! I'm on my way to Sioux Falls. I.. well I started to dig around when I got back home yesterday, and, uh.. I think you and I might be brothers."

At the other end of the line, Sam was struck dumb.

He had believed his idea of him and this random stranger who had shown up in Sioux Falls being brothers was a long shot, and yet here was the other guy telling him the exact same thing; that he thought they were brothers too.

What were the probabilities that both boys had felt the same need to investigate the simple afternoon of bonding they had shared; and what were the odds that feeling had been correct!

x

"Sam? " Dean's voice pulled him from his reverie." You okay there, kid?"

"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine. I was just taken aback, is all," Sam replied. "I did some digging myself and I came up with the same theory, Dean; that we might be brothers. I'm freaked out, but if it's true, then somebody has a lot of explaining to do."

"Listen kid, I'll be there in about five hours, then we can talk face to face, " Dean said, his voice calm despite his churning emotions at Sam's confirmation of his own discoveries.

"I'll meet you at the diner where you ate last time, " Sam suggested.

"Fine by me, I've a feeling I'm gonna need a lot of caffeine to get through this," Dean replied, before cutting the call and concentrating on getting the Impala to its destination as fast as possible.

X

Bobby watched from the doorway as Sam ran off down the drive, sighed and shook his head in uneasiness.

He knew why Mary had done what she had, separating herself and her youngest from the rest of her family, and he was also aware of how much pain and sorrow it had cost her, but her sacrifice now seemed to have been for nothing if Sam had discovered it all.

Maybe some things just couldn't be avoided, he mused. Some things were simply fated to be and whatever one did to try and change them, they had a way of coming back and hitting you in the face regardless.

Bobby's well-honed instincts told him that this was one of those times.

x

He picked up his phone and put a call through to Mary.

Better that she should be prepared for the storm that was about to blow all her carefully worked out plans to kingdom come.

Mary placed a shaky hand on the desk to hold herself up while she listened to Bobby. She could feel her legs giving way, as the older hunter explained how Sam was certain he and Dean were brothers.

She had stupidly convinced herself that the meeting between her sons yesterday had been just a coincidence, and that her almost perfect self-control when she had seen Dean standing in Bobby's living room had been enough to make sure that the boys' encounter would have no lasting effects, but she had been so so wrong, and now her carefully constructed life was about to crumble around her.

"You okay, Mary?" she heard Bobby's worried voice ask through the phone.

"No, I'm not okay, Bobby, " she answered. " I... just... I wanna come home but I can't leave the hospital right now. I'll be back as soon as my shift finishes. Is Sam there?"

"Nope, he asked me if it was true about him and Dean, but I didn't give him an answer. I figured it had better come from you. He'll have holed up in the library or someplace," he said, trying to console Mary, but truthfully he had no idea where Sam could have gone. He was a smart kid and if he didn't want to be found then he wouldn't be!

x

It took Sam a good while to get to town. Bobby's yard wasn't far out, but he had no need to hurry. Dean wouldn't be here for hours yet, so he had time to fill in.

He wasn't sure if Bobby or even his mom would come looking for him; he was certain Bobby would have informed Mary by now about what had just happened, but he had to talk to Dean first.

Despite his confusion, a smile came to his face at the knowledge he had a big brother; that he wasn't alone any more.

He didn't understand why they hadn't been allowed to grow up together; why they had been separated, but they would find out; he and Dean side by side.

x

Five hours later he approached the diner where he was to meet Dean, he glanced through the window but there was no sign of the older boy.

He went to pull out his phone when he saw a black car pull up, engine roaring, into the parking space at the side of the building. He quickly made his way towards it and stopped next to the door as Dean switched off the engine and exited the gleaming black classic.

They stood there awkwardly, studying one another.

When they had met before, they had just been two boys who had instantly bonded; now it seemed they were brothers. Strange how things go down.

"Dean."

"Sammy."

The words came out in perfect synchrony as the older brother came forward and pulled the skinny youngster into his arms, and after a brief moment of hesitation, Sam's arms mirrored his brother's and held on as tightly as they could.

X

TBC