Three or four days went by, 98% of which Dean had spent trying to restore his "baby", the Impala. It was a mess... Sam came out and looked at him worriedly.
"Uh, can I help you?" he offered.
"You don't know anything about mechanics." Dean said gruffly.
"No, but I could hand you tools and stuff if you had to get underneath." Sam shrugged.
"It's cool." Dean waved off.
"Um, there's a couple of things we need to talk about..." Sam said hesitantly.
"No, not really."
"Dean... Alex hasn't had school in a year!" he blurted.
It hadn't been what he'd meant to say; he'd wanted to try to get Dean to talk...
"Yes, she has..." Dean snorted. "I've been teaching her. We don't stay in places long enough that she can exactly do like we did and go for two weeks to a school and switch. With the way we split places, she'd be in for a day. And, I seem to recall that you hated 'always being the new kid'?"
"Yeah, I did." Sam said quietly. "But, we should start homeschooling her at least." he said, sitting on the trunk of one of the numerous junkers in Bobby's backyard.
"Dude, I told you... I have been."
Sam made a face. "Dean, teaching her about weapons and buying her the new Harry Potter book doesn't count as actual school!"
"It's... required reading, isn't it? For kids her age?"
"In some schools, I guess---"
"Then, there ya go." Dean said, going back to what he was doing.
Sam grit his teeth. He didn't want to start an argument, but, he finally had Dean talking after three days, and he was going to have an actual conversation, not be brushed off.
"There's a testing center. A Sylvan. In town." he said. "We can see what level she's on, get her some home-school credit."
"What is it with you and getting us on the radar?"Dean asked, looking at him.
"She needs credit for what she knows. Besides, they can maybe tell us what level she's at, and what she needs to know to progress further. I think it's important."
"Now you think it's important all of a sudden? You haven't brought it up at all before now."
"Don't look at me like that; maybe I was being self-absorbed, or overly focused on other things. I dunno. But... you went and got yourself a GED, doesn't she deserve at least a shot at that?"
Dean's back stiffened.
"Oh, so Mr. College Boy thinks he's smarter than me, 'cause I don't have a 'real' diploma?"
"Dean, no! I never said that!" Sam said, shocked. "Besides, a GED is real--- you got it 'cause you were sick of school and Dad wouldn't let you drop out otherwise! It's the same thing!"
"Yeah, right." Dean said, looking at his hands.
Sam sighed heavily, dying to break the silence that was building an ever-growing wall between them. He couldn't have another wall... not again... He needed Dean more than ever; he always had.
"I, uh, broke the voicemail code in Dad's cellphone."
Dean looked up at him, raising an eyebrow. But, he didn't say anything, so, encouraged, Sam continued.
"I found a message on there, a coupla months old... Some woman called asking him for help. I know he kind of ignored everyone in favor of that last..." Sam swallowed, "but... I think Dad would've wanted us to go."
"What Dad would've wanted." Dean repeated, staring at him now.
"Well... yes."
"Since when did you give a rat's ass what he would have wanted, Sam?!" Dean burst out. "You butted heads with the man your whole life!"
"And maybe I feel guilty about that, Dean! For all I know, the man died thinkin' I hated him, and that's just not true... Look, I miss him. More than I thought... and I'm not all right."
"Life's a bitch, then ya die." Dean said blandly. "That's just how it is, and the fact that he spent his life chasing monsters, what did you expect? That he'd die in an old folks home?"
Sam closed his eyes. He knew Dean didn't mean that...
"Look, just... take Alex to the testing place, see what you can find." he said finally. "And... go do it now, 'cause I got work to do here." he said, going back to the car.
Sam sighed, walking back into the house...
