And Justice for All

"Its 9:00 you need to get up," Dean yelled to his sleeping child.

Braden slowly sat up unsure of which was throbbing worse; his top or his bottom. The visions had slowed at some point in the night but he had no idea exactly when. He made his way to the bathroom and washed his face noticing how terrible he looked. He had to shake it off; he couldn't look like this when he faced Mrs. Stolski. He had no idea that the spell would work without ingesting the herbal paste, it appeared there was a lot he didn't know about the supernatural world but unfortunately he had recently gained a lot of information.

Braden reached into the medicine cabinet for some aspirin to help his aching head and decided a shower would probably serve him better. He eased himself in and allowed the hot water to melt some of his tension away. He suddenly remembered the woman across the street from the school. Had it been the woman from the soccer field and if so who was she? Was she stalking him? What could she possibly want from him? He got out and reevaluated himself in the mirror. He ignored his discomfort and tried to find a look that would show Mrs. Stolski that he had fared just fine and that she hadn't won anything. But he had to balance that out with a look of remorse and defeat showing his father that he had learned his lesson and had no intentions of doing anything like that again. He decided his look would just have to change depending on who he was looking at.

The visions had settled down somewhat and Braden hoped that things would remain quiet for the time being. He got into the car and stared out the window hoping his dad wouldn't say much to him as they both prepared for what lay ahead. As they turned the corner the first pictures of the day came streaming behind Braden's eyes.

"You two knock it off or I will stop the car and believe me you do not want that to happen," an angry John yelled back at his two young sons in the backseat.

Then it was Dean taking some kind of tool and slamming it down on the Impala's trunk over and over again. An irate John hugging a young Sam while asking Dean what happened.

"Answer me son," Dean asked for the second time.

"What?" a bewildered Braden asked.

"You need to pay attention to me. I asked if you are going to abide by the new rules today and not cause any problems."

"Yes sir," Braden replied.

The gathering in the small room included the Winchesters, Mrs. Lane, Mr. Osborn and Mrs. Stolski.

"Okay we all know why we're here so now we'll discuss the ramifications of young Mr. Winchester's indiscretion," Mr. Osborn began.

"Indiscretion? It was vandalism and you are just lucky I'm not pressing charges," Mrs. Stolski said.

"Now Edith lets take a breath here; I don't think he meant any serious harm after all he did leave plenty of air so the rims wouldn't sustain any damage," Mr. Osborn stated. "Now I brought Mrs. Lane in since she has Braden most of the day to get her opinion."

"I have to say for the most part Braden has been great in my classroom. His work is fine and I really haven't had any problems with his behavior at all. I'm not seeing what Edith is at all," Mrs. Lane said with a weak smile.

"That's good news. I understand that there were some problems this summer and I think we are dealing with a severe personality conflict. Now I am not condoning Braden's actions but after speaking with Ms. West who unfortunately couldn't be here with us this morning I think that maybe it would be better if she was the one who dealt with Braden in the future. She doesn't recall Braden's behavior as being all that difficult. Now I know sometimes things are missed by people but I think we can develop a plan and put this all behind us. I think it best if Braden stayed out of school for the rest of today and tomorrow returning on Monday and he will suspended from the after school program for thirty days," Mr. Osborn explained.

Mrs. Stolski didn't appear happy with that at all, but since public caning wasn't allowed nothing would have satisfied her.

"Thank you Mr. Osborn I think that is more than fair. I would just like you to know that Braden has been disciplined and is grounded for a month and has something he would like to say to Mrs. Stolski," Dean said handing Braden the written apology.

Braden took the paper and cleared his throat and stood up to ease his discomfort slightly. He read his words and gave a quick smile to Mrs. Lane as he returned to his seat as gingerly as he could.

"Well Braden I will accept your apology and surely hope that anything like this will never happen again," Mrs. Stolski responded.

Braden's eyes did a quick glance towards his father and he replied, "Yes ma'am."

"Okay then I think we can all get on with our day," Mr. Osborn said standing up. "Braden I trust that this will be the end of this type of behavior."

Braden nodded as he stood up and then quickly added, "Yes sir."

"Mr. Osborn could I have a word with you before we leave?" Dean asked.

Once they were in the privacy of the principal's office Dean voiced his concerns. "Mr. Osborn I was very disappointed in my son's actions and he was very wrong with what he did, but I think there is something going on with this teacher. Braden doesn't lie and he comes home with all kinds of issues with this woman. Now I know my son is no angel and I'm not saying he might not be skewing the truth a bit, but I don't believe this is all him."

"I can understand your concerns and I have already asked Mrs. Stolski to meet with me as soon as you leave. I agree there is something going on and I intend to do my best to discover what it is. I have spoken to Braden a few times in the past weeks so I feel I have his side and I have also spoken with Ms. West and I think I have my own take on what is going on. Don't worry I don't think Braden is responsible for all the discord in this situation. I will do my best to take care of it," Mr. Osborn assured.

As the Winchesters drove to 'Classic Winchester' so Dean could get some work done the meeting between the teacher and principal proceeded.

"Have a seat Edith. I know that you feel Braden wasn't punished enough for what he did but I have some concerns that you may be nit picking him quite a bit. The reasons that you send him down here are awfully petty, they are things that other kids do all day long without consequence. After speaking with his other teachers I'm afraid you do have a personal vendetta for the boy and it needs to stop. When he is in lunch have Mrs. Groves keep an eye on his section and in after care let Ms. West keep track of him."

"Mr. Osborn I can't believe what you're saying. You think I am picking on this boy? He is heading down a terrible road and I am just showing him that it leads only to bad things. Do you know that he toilet papered my house and put gum on my shoe?"

"You know this for a fact? You saw him do these things?"

"Well not exactly, but I'm sure it was him," she insisted.

"Has it ever occurred to you that for him not to feel completely helpless he may need to lash out at you? You keep pushing him he is bound to react. He sees how you treat him in comparison to everyone else; don't you think that will have an effect on the boy?"

The woman just sat quietly as Mr. Osborn continued.

"My first memory of Braden was 5 years ago; he was standing next to his father holding his hand so tightly it had to cut the man's circulation off.

He was standing in front of his mother's coffin. My next memory of the boy was holding onto his dad so tightly nobody could've pried him off, they were about to lower his mother's coffin into the ground. He was 5 years old, Edith. And now he has to go to school in a building where her memory is bouncing around everywhere; cut him some slack. Send him to me when and only when he needs it. You can go now."