Disclaimers and notes in chapter one
A/N: Thanks for all the awesome reviews. Sorry to all of those that wanted it to be John riding to the rescue. As much as I adore the man, I just don't think he's got a psychic 'sons in danger' sense in his retinue, it'd probably be going off far too often. Would drive the poor guy nuts. I'll see if I can't get a nice JohnFic up soon to make up for it.
Sam grabbed the shotgun, checking both barrels were loaded with rock salt before hiding it behind his back, creaking open the door and looking out.
Standing on the doorstep was an old man. No, he was beyond old. He was stooped over, his limbs thin with thick veins threaded just below the surface. His face was a maze of wrinkles and his still sharp green eyes were decorated at the corner by numerous cragging crows feet. He gave a smile to Sam, pushing a hand back through hair that was still thick but as bone white as the stark winter sky. Sam felt himself relax until the man spoke with a voice as strong as a man a quarter of his age, "My name is Padraig Finnegan, I believe you'll want to talk to me."
In one fluid movement Sam swung his shotgun from behind his back to level it at the old man's chest, "What the hell did you do?"
The old man didn't deny it but lifted frail hands in a pacifying gesture, "Please, may I come in? I have much to say and only so much time to say it." His accent was a thick Irish brogue, only a slight twang the legacy of a life lived in the states.
Sam glanced once backwards to where his barely conscious brother lay, hoping for some guidance which wouldn't be coming, "Fine. You go nowhere near my brother. Do nothing suspicious or I won't hesitate to shoot you."
A soulful sad look filled the old man's gaze as his eyes met Sam's, "I promise you that I wish no harm on you or your brother."
"Why don't I believe you?" Sam dripped acid, not even needing to look around to where Dean lay, twisting in the grip of the fever.
"Your brother's condition is unfortunate…"
"Unfortunate?!" Sam didn't usually use his height against people but he had no regrets in towering over the shrunken old man. "He stopped breathing."
"You tried to leave. I'm afraid he can't leave." Sam was chilled by the man's level reasonable tone.
"Ever?" Sam mocked then shuddered when he saw the concordance in the man's eyes, "Ever?! Fuck that. My brother and I will smash this little protection thing and this whole godforsaken town can chew on our dust."
"And they'll choke on it." The old man stated, "You remove the protection and every man, woman or child in this place will die before the light of your headlamps fade from view." The Irish tones were heavy with regret now.
"What?" Sam exclaimed stilling his voice as soon as he heard Dean's murmured protests.
"A curse," The man said, "And a powerful one at that."
"Against the village?" Sam asked, unsure if he believed the sorrowful man, especially about being Padraig Finnegan.
Padraig shook his head, "Against me, against my kith and kin and their kith and kin and so on until it covers the entire village."
Sam nodded, taking that in before fixing his eyes intently on the man's, "I'm sorry but how does that concern my brother?"
The man's face lit with a wry humour, "You may not have noticed this but I'm old. I'm very old and so very tired. I've borne the weight of this protection spell for almost eighty years. I need a successor."
The implication of that recoiled through Sam, "Dean? Can't you just pick one of your precious villagers to be your successor?"
Padraig chuckled, "A slight flaw in the protection spell. It protects from anything supernatural including itself so no-one under the protection can take on the protection."
"How convenient."
"Not at all. This place gets few visitors and until now none were suitable. I have carried this burden a long time."
"What does the burden involve?" A croaking voice came from behind Sam and he rushed to his brother's bedside. Sam pressed a hand to Dean's sweat-damp still hot forehead, "Dude, hands." Dean protested.
Padraig sensibly didn't move from his spot except to turn towards the brothers, "The protection is sealed to your blood. For as long as you stay within the shrine, the curse can not come through."
"Then how are you here?" Sam asked.
"Winter solstice." Padraig answered, "The natural magic protects us now as it does at summer solstice. You can also leave at the Equinoxes when all magic is weakened in the balance."
"So what else?" Dean asked.
"The unsleeping guardian." Sam remembered the piece of the gravestone he'd translated.
Padraig nodded, "I haven't slept for almost eighty years. The spell protects you from most of the degradations of sleep deprivation."
"It doesn't seem to be doing a great job so far." Sam spat out.
"The passing of the protection responsibilities is only half-complete." Padraig said, "For it to be complete, Dean will need to come to the shrine to perform the last parts."
"So if Dean doesn't come to the shrine, he won't get stuck with this gig." Sam had already made the decision, just needed to figure out how to break what Padraig had done so he and Dean can get out of here.
"Sammy," Dean chided, "Can we bring someone else here? Someone who'd want this kind of gig?"
The old man shook his head sadly, "I have already begun the rite to pass over protection. If I undo it on Dean, the half he now carries will be lost and the curse will get through."
"So that's what that walking in the snow gig was about, right?" Dean asked, "Getting me to the shrine."
The old man looked sheepish, "I had forgotten the fragility of the normal human body and I didn't realise how deep the snow was down here in the town. One of the guys running the motel saw what happened and sent his daughter up to talk to me to make sure I found a different way. Not sure how the motel owner knew it was me but I always suspected he had the Sight."
"So the whole town is in on the gag?" Sam said bitterly, "If I'd accepted Diarmuid's help to get Dean home, would he have absconded with my brother up into the forest?"
"These are good people." Padraig protested, "All of them know about me and the protection but only the motel owner and Declan, the guy who runs the bar, know about you being chosen as my successor."
"Maybe I'm missing the point here," Sam said, "But why exactly should my brother do this?"
"Sammy," Dean growled but Sam wouldn't let him speak, knowing what the ever sacrificing Dean Winchester's decision would be and refusing to let him make it.
"Shut up Dean." Sam snapped at his brother, glancing back to face the old man, "Well?"
Padraig ignored Sam for the moment and spoke directly to Dean, "When I pass over the protection, you will inherit my half of it which means that all my kith and kin and so on will be protected from the supernatural. You will also add your own half." He paused to let the implication of that sink in.
Sam had never felt like punching an old person before so much in his life as he saw realisation sink in on Dean's face and he knew in that moment that there was nothing that he could do to stop his brother giving up his life for this place, "My dad? Sammy? They'd be protected?" Dean asked, so much hope in his voice that Sam couldn't stand it.
"You bastard." Sam couldn't help speaking now, not at the tone in his brother's voice, "You knew exactly what effect this would have on my brother and you manipulated him into this. You picked him because you knew he'd be the only sucker who cared enough about a bunch of other people to let you fuck up his life."
"Sam." Dean hissed.
"Shut. Up." Sam repeated, "Well, isn't that why you chose Dean?"
Padraig shook his head, "When I said your brother was the only suitable person, I didn't mean in that way. The incantation is very specific. The person who takes on the protection spell must be a protector themselves, it has to be the kind of person who would give up their life for others. So in a way I did but not in the way you put it." Padraig looked a little disgusted at Sam.
"One more question." Sam said, holding up a hand to silence his brother, "This curse on you, the one affecting the whole village, who did it?"
The man gulped a little, the glistening of tears in his green eyes, and it was obviously taking some effort to work the words up from the recesses of his throat, "My little brother did."
A/N: Kudos to NovemberSN who saw the whole Dean guardian thing coming back in chapter 5 inspiring an equal part panic and joy reaction. Half 'yey the plot makes enough sense that someone figured it out' mixed with 'Oh boy, it's another five chapters 'til I get to that.'
Next update will be on St. Paddy's day as is appropriate as long as I remember to post before going out and getting slaughtered on Guinness.