Warnings: Language, violence
AN: The song for this chapter is Bad Moon Rising by Creedence Clearwater Revival.
By the time Sam came back downstairs, John was there with pizza and wings. The delivery driver had shown up at the same time of John, so everything was ready to go. There weren't any formalities exchange Sam and John, and Dean and Benny seemed to notice. Instead, they just loaded up their plates, grabbed some beer, and settled in the living room.
"So, what do you want to know?" John asked, taking a bite of his pizza.
"Start with the night of the fire." Benny said. He had taken it just as hard as Dean had when he thought John had died. He saw John as a father figure, having spent a lot of time at the Winchester house growing up. John sighed and took a big gulp of his beer before settling back in his seat.
"It all started with a set up…"
2001
John and Bill parked their bikes near the bar where they were having their meeting. They were supposed to be talking to a club from Oklahoma, talking about how best to get their goods out of Texas and into the hands of people who wanted them in other states. Bill looked around as he took his helmet off.
"I have a bad feeling about this." Bill told John.
"It'll be okay." John told him. "Things go south and the guys will be here in seconds. We'll be fine." Bill nodded and followed the President inside the bar. It was quiet with a few people lurking at the bar. John and Bill went to a table in the back to wait for their contact.
"How's Sam doing?" Bill asked as he sipped the beer that was dropped off for them.
"Kid's damn smart." John said proudly. "Stanford on a full ride? God damn, that's good." John set there for a second, just staring at his beer. "Pretty good for a kid with family that has known criminal records."
"You and Dean are pretty smart too." Bill said. John sighed. "Dean getting arrested wasn't your fault, you know that right?"
"Yeah, yeah. I'm just the one that sent him out on a coke run into territory that wasn't familiar." John grumbled.
"He was set up. Either by the Horsemen or someone else. But he was set up." Bill told him. John just nodded and looked around the bar. They had been sitting there about fifteen minutes now and no one had shown up.
That's when he realized that the bar was empty. Everyone was gone.
"Bill. I think we need to get out of here." John said.
"What? Why?" Bill looked around then and saw what John did. No one. "Fuck!"
"Come on." John said. But as they walked to the front door, it was bolted shut. John looked around and saw someone in a vest darting towards the bathroom. He ran and grabbed him by the vest, pulling him to the ground.
"Shit!" John said, looking at the guy on the floor. "Horsemen!"
"Shit." Bill groaned. "What are they going to do? Lock us in here like rats?"
"That's not their MO." John said. The Horsemen, a member named Dipper who wasn't too much older than Dean, looked up at John and laughed.
"You're gonna burn." He laughed. John looked back at Bill. "You're both gonna burn and the Hunters will be no more." John pulled out his pistol and shot Dipper in the head then.
"We've gotta get out of here." John said. That's when the faint smell of smoke started to fill the room. It got more intense by the second before an explosion at the front of the building caught things on fire. Bill looked around.
"The kitchen!" He said. "All kitchens have to have a door to the outside!" John nodded and they took off towards the kitchen area, leaving the dead Horsemen on the ground. They made it into the kitchen and John headed for the door when the sound of clicking could be heard.
"What's that?" Was the last thing Bill asked before a fireball engulfed him. John got the door open right as the kitchen exploded. He was thrown out of the building by the force and landed hard on the ground. The place was engulfed by now and John laid there, watching it burn as his skin screamed in agony. He could hear the sounds of sirens in the distance and knew if he didn't get out of there, that they would start questioning him for arson. Despite his body mangled, the adrenaline in his system helped him get to his feet and off he ran.
He was in San Antonio, not Wolfpine. He was alone with one dead member left behind in a burning bar and his bike at the scene. He could only imagine how this all looked. Especially him walking down back alleys until he came to the one building he needed. He knocked loudly, hoping that he was there.
"John Winchester." A man said, opening the door. "Or are we Freddy Krueger tonight?" John hadn't seen himself and had no idea what he was talking about.
"Damn it Robert, let me in please?" John said. Robert opened the door to let the biker in. John walked two steps in before he collapsed.
"Well...shit." Robert sighed. He pulled John to his feet using his right side and dragged him over to a bed.
Robert was a doctor for years, until over prescribing drugs to the wrong people took his license away. He still practiced by the light of a Chinese grocery and restaurant. He had been great at what he did, but one too many strikes and he was out. But he worked up a partnership with the Hunters. What Jim couldn't fix, they brought to Robert or called him in. If it was too bad for Robert, then they knew it was time to visit the hospital. It was just pure luck that John had been able to find his way to Robert.
John awoke two days later to Robert standing over him, examining him. Everything felt fine for the most part, but John was sure that it was due to the IV that he could feel in his arm. The biggest problem was he couldn't see out of his left eye.
"I haven't called anyone from the club yet. I know the rules you gave me when we started this partnership." Robert said. John groaned and tried to sit up and that's when pain flooded his left side. "Easy John. You're on some high powered pain relievers, but they don't help with everything."
"W-what?" John started. Robert gave him some water then, since words were hard to make out.
"You have a lot of burns on your left side." Robert explained, looking down at John. "I've got them bandaged up and they should heal, but you'll probably have some scarring. Unfortunately though, the blast that did that to you burnt your eyeball. The only way that you could get that fixed is if you went to the hospital…"
"No." John said.
"Which is what I knew you were going to say. So now you're going to be a cool as fuck biker with an eyepatch." Robert laughed some. "So, who do you want me to call?" John laid there for a minute. This was an attack set up by the Horsemen. They had set him and Bill up and tried to kill them. They had succeeded with Bill. John wasn't sure if it was the drugs and pain or what, but he made a plan then. A plan to run and hide until he was well enough to fight.
"No one." John said. "Get me a ticket out west."
"Why?" Robert asked.
"I'll pay you extra." John told him. If he could get money out before anyone filed him as dead, then he would have plenty to pay off Robert and anything else he needed. "Not a word that I was here." John pushed himself up, gritting his teeth through the pain. "I need to hide for awhile."
"Whatever you say." Robert said. "Just be careful."
That's how a day later, John was on his way to California to hide out. He couldn't stay in Texas, but he could venture too far away. He had to be able to watch the Horsemen and he had to make sure that Sam was okay. And the call of the club soon became too strong, and John started recruiting misfits from the streets, just like he had done all those years ago…
Present
"That's intense." Dean said, sitting back in his seat. John nodded and sipped at his beer.
"I've been hiding out here. Andy was the first one that I convinced to join, followed by Gabriel and Lucifer. Meg and Ruby proved themselves, so I let them in. Sam was the last one to join." John explained.
"I'm still surprised you let women in. Very progressive of you." Benny joked. Dean watched Sam during the story. He had just played with the label on his beer bottle while John told his story. John didn't notice, neither did Benny. They were too busy chatting away, Benny very interested in everything. But Dean was more worried about Sam, who hadn't said a word.
"Sammy." Dean said. "You okay?"
"Fantastic." Sam answered a little monotone. "I'm going outside for a second." With that, Sam quickly left, heading out through the front door. Benny looked from John to Dean.
"He okay?" Benny asked. John sighed.
"He's been like that ever since the fire." John said. "Kinda nice not arguing all the time, but god, sometimes I miss that rebellious teenager that I used to butt heads with." Dean stood up then, heading to the door that Sam had just walked out of. "He doesn't talk when he gets like this." John told him.
"So. Maybe I want some air too. After all, my dad is a fucking zombie." On that note, Dean headed outside. Sam wasn't on the porch. Instead, he was sitting on a rickety looking picnic table that had probably been left at the house by the previous owner. He was drinking his beer and looking up at the stars. Dean just sat by him.
"You're quiet." Dean said finally. "I remember we couldn't ever get you to shut up."
"I've just been through a lot." Sam said. Dean nodded.
"Why don't you tell me about it?" He asked.
"You don't really care." Sam said, looking down at the grass under the table. Dean stood up and grabbed Sam by the front of his shirt and vest. He pulled him so he was looking right up at Dean.
"Don't you ever fucking say that again." Dean growled. "When in your entire life have I ever told you I didn't really care. I would say I was busy, it might take me awhile to get around to it, but I was always there."
"Dean…"
"And I'm tired of your self-pitying, woe is me shit. We've all been through a lot. Not just you." Dean let go of Sam. "So when you decide you want to quit being Donnie Darko, you know where I'll be." Dean turned to walk away, when a small voice caught his ears. A Sam from his past is what it sounded like. But the words were something he never thought he would hear come from his brother's mouth.
"I tried to kill myself."