Watch Out For Sammy
Chapter 38
Damned If You Do
John Winchester was more than just a little bit tired. The hunt he had been on had gone way longer than he'd planned and it seemed like everywhere he turned there were complications. What should have taken him two to three days tops had taken ten days total. What should have been a relatively easy and safe hunt had been much harder and much more dangerous than expected, leaving him with an assortment of bruises and cuts. He had finally finished the hunt in the early morning hours of Monday and was more than eager to get back to his boys.
John knew that he shouldn't have left Sam and Dean alone for so long. He knew that he was risking a lot by leaving them on their own. He knew he shouldn't even be leaving them alone at all, but ten days was definitely too much. Of course, when he was so caught up in the hunt, he usually never really realized how much time was passing.
And unfortunately, he had been stuck in a place without any means of communication the whole time. He knew that Dean was probably freaked out by the fact that he hadn't called at all in the last ten days, but there wasn't anything he could do about it. He would have had to come down off of the mountain he had been on and make his way to the nearest phone, which was at least twenty miles away. He had been in the middle of nowhere and communication was impossible.
Once the rugaru was killed and the body disposed of, John made his way down from the mountain and found the nearest phone. Before he made the call, though, he realized that the boys were more than likely already in school. After realizing that, John decided to just head back and surprise his boys when they returned from school.
Opening up the door to the small house, John took a few minutes to look around. For the most part, the house looked pretty good, but he realized that he would have to have a talk with Dean about cleaning up the kitchen after they used it. John always thought that there wasn't any good reason to have dirty dishes left in a sink after a meal and it looked like there were several meals worth of dishes currently in the sink. Dean knew better.
He had just taken a long, hot shower and was getting ready to take a nap when the phone rang. Staring at the fluffy pillows on his bed, John was tempted to just let it ring. He was exhausted and knew that he needed to sleep a couple of hours, so he wouldn't be too cranky when his overly rambunctious boys came through the door. He also knew that he needed to sleep in order to deal with whatever mood Dean was going to be in when he realized he was back. A freaked-out Dean could be a handful.
By the fourth ring, though, John decided that he probably needed to answer the phone, just in case it was something important. As he listened to the person on the phone telling him that he was needed at his sons' school, John could feel his temper start to boil.
The last thing he wanted to have to deal with was one of his sons' misbehaving.
Dean tried to listen to the conversation that was going on in the front office between the nice secretary lady and his father. He also tried to discern what kind of mood his dad was in as he listened. Of course, he didn't really know why he was wasting time on trying to figure out his dad's mood. The man only had two….angry and impatient.
He couldn't really make out much of what they were saying and his mind had started to once again focus on how hungry he was, so he was surprised when the booming sound of his father's voice started moving towards him. Seconds later, he found himself face to face with a somewhat battered, extremely exhausted looking John Winchester. John immediately stepped over to Dean and Dean suddenly couldn't contain the relief he felt at seeing his dad whole.
"Dad!" He cried as he jumped up and threw himself into the man. John wasn't quite ready for the full force of Dean's body weight and Dean was surprised when he stumbled back a few steps. After a few seconds of tight squeezing from both of them, John pulled away from his son. He spent several long seconds looking the boy over from head to toe, taking in the small cuts and early stages of bruises.
"Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?" John finally asked.
"I'm okay," Dean answered quietly.
"Are you sure, Dean? It looks like there are a few places that should be hurting."
Dean moved his hand and started rubbing his side. He knew he was going to have lots of bruises from where Dustin had kicked him repeatedly, but none of them were excessively painful. He also realized that his jaw was pretty sore. "I'm okay, Dad," he finally repeated.
John didn't reply as he continued to check Dean out. Eventually, he looked back at his son. "Do you want to tell me what happened? The secretary told me that you were in a fight."
Dean had no idea where to start, so he just kept his mouth shut. Luckily- or maybe unfortunately, depending on which way you looked at it- Principal Nichols chose that time to open the door and usher them into her office. John placed his hand on Dean's shoulder and gently pushed him forward. A few seconds later, Dean found himself sitting in a chair while his dad and the principal introduced themselves to each other.
"John Winchester," John said as he shook the principal's hand.
"It's nice to finally meet you, Mr. Winchester," Principal Nichols said. "I know I've talked to you on the phone a few times, but it's always nice to be able to meet face to face with our parents. I'm sorry it had to be under these circumstances, though."
"Me, too. Although I'm a little unsure of what the circumstances actually are. Your secretary said something about a fight?"
"Yes. Unfortunately, it seems that Dean got into an altercation with another student this morning. As you can see, it looks like he took a few punches."
Dean squirmed in his chair uncomfortably when both adults turned to look at him. He hated being under anyone's scrutiny in such a way. He especially hated it when his father scrutinized him so closely, because he always felt like he came up short in the man's eyes. He immediately stopped squirming, though, when he saw his father eyeing him firmly.
"I'm afraid that I really have no idea what or who instigated the fight, Mr. Winchester. Neither Dean nor the other student involved have been forthcoming about the events."
"Dean?"
"Yes, sir?" Dean knew what his father was asking, but he didn't want to talk about it. He couldn't talk about it. He couldn't let his dad find out that he had been essentially gambling in order to get money to take care of Sam. He couldn't let the man find out how desperate he was to find a way to get food. And he definitely didn't want to take a chance that the principal would find out that he and Sam had been left alone for ten days. So, in his mind it was better to just stay quiet, even if that made his dad angrier.
"Miss Nichols and I would like to know what the fight was about." When Dean didn't answer, John's voice got louder. "Dean, I expect an answer, son."
Dean hunched in on himself a little, trying to figure a way out of the situation. He could feel both his dad's and the principal's eyes boring into him and he knew he had to say something. But all he could do was shrug his shoulder, knowing his dad would be furious. Sure enough, he could practically feel the anger rolling off the man.
John couldn't believe the audacity of his son. Dean knew that shrugging his shoulders and refusing to answer was not an acceptable response, but the kid just sat there and did exactly that. John could feel his frustration reaching new heights and he struggled to rein it in before he lost his cool. The irritation he was feeling was just adding fuel to the raging fire inside of him brought on by his exhaustion.
Before he could say or do anything else, though, Principal Nichols spoke again. "Well, like I said, I couldn't get anything out of Dustin, either, but that's okay. The reasoning behind the fight is irrelevant at the moment. Mr. Winchester, I'm not sure if you had the chance to read the parent handbook that was sent home with Dean on his first day, but it details our policy on fighting. We have a zero tolerance policy on any such activity, which means that I have no choice but to suspend Dean for the remainder of the week. I will have his teachers prepare any homework he'll need to complete and you can pick it up tomorrow after lunch."
"Thank you, ma'am," John said politely as he continued to frown at his son. Dean seemed to shrink even further into the chair, making John even angrier, for some reason. After discussing a few more things, John finally turned to Dean. "Let's go," he growled.
Dean quickly got to his feet and made his way to the door. John stopped him just before he could open it, though. "Dean, I think you have something to say to Miss Nichols, don't you?"
Dean turned back to the principal. "I'm sorry, Miss Nichols, for getting into a fight. It won't happen again, I promise."
John didn't miss the way she seemed to melt a little at the earnestness of Dean's words. He wanted to roll his eyes at her, wondering what it was about both of his sons that had women everywhere melting, but he didn't. Instead, he grabbed Dean by the shoulder and led him to the door.
Once they were out of the office, John started leading him to the front door. He was completely surprised when Dean suddenly stopped in his tracks, pulling away from the hand on his shoulder.
"Dean, knock it off," John growled.
"Wait, Dad! What about Sam? We can't just leave him here!"
"Sam's fine," John answered somewhat harshly.
"But, Dad, what if something tries to take him again?!"
"Dean, Sam is perfectly safe here."
"He's not!" Dean yelled. "He's not safe unless I'm here to protect him!"
John wasn't really surprised that Dean was worried about his little brother, but he was surprised by the intensity of that worry. Dean was nearly working himself up into a panic and John was immediately reminded that the whole thing with the shapeshifter really hadn't been that long ago. Of course, the boy was still a little freaked out.
John looked down at his watch and realized that it was almost one in the afternoon. Making a decision, he led Dean back to the office and asked to check Sam out for the rest of the afternoon. He didn't miss the immediate look of relief that covered Dean's face.
The ride home was more than just a little bit uncomfortable for Dean. He knew that he was in a lot of trouble, but it was hard to stay focused on that with Sam talking a mile a minute to their dad. Dean listened as Sam told John everything that had happened since he'd left. He was only half-listening to the words coming out of Sam's mouth, so he was surprised when he suddenly heard his father calling his name.
"Dean! What's gotten into you, boy?" John asked in frustration. "Didn't you hear me calling your name?"
"Sorry," Dean answered sheepishly. "What did you say?"
"I said we're here," John answered as he motioned towards the small house.
Dean looked surprised to see that they were already home as he opened the door and stepped out. He moved to open the back door so Sammy could get out, too, and seconds later, Sam was rushing to the front door, eager to get into the house and more specifically, to the bathroom. Dean grinned at his brother's antics, but the grin quickly faded when he saw his father still looking at him.
Without a word, Dean stepped into the house, too. He had no idea what his dad wanted from him, so he just stood awkwardly in the small living room. John stepped into the kitchen and grabbed a beer. He didn't even seem to notice that the cupboards and refrigerator were almost completely empty of food. Stepping back into the living room, he sat down on the couch and let his head rest against it.
Dean continued to stand awkwardly off to the side. He had just moved to sit down when Sam returned from the bathroom.
"I'm hungry, Dean. Can I have a snack?"
Dean looked over at his father, but the man had his eyes closed and his head resting against the back of the couch. Dean wondered if he was actually asleep, but before he could make up his mind on the subject, John's voiced boomed through the small room. "Dean, go fix your brother something to eat."
Without waiting for anything else to come out of his dad's mouth, Dean turned and high-tailed it into the kitchen. He had no idea what he was going to fix for Sammy's snack, though, since he was pretty sure the kid would balk at the idea of having toast yet again.
And just like he thought, Sam definitely did NOT want toast for a snack.
"I'm sick of toast, Dean,' Sam said just seconds later. "I want apples and peanut butter! And some milk!"
"We don't have any milk, Sam. Remember?"
"But, I don't want just water," Sam whined.
"Sam, all we have is water, okay? And we don't have any apples."
"But it tastes funny!" Sam whined.
Before Dean could say anything, John appeared in the doorway, obviously annoyed. "Sam, stop your whining. Dean, I told you to fix your brother something to eat."
Dean wanted to argue that he was trying to do just that, but he knew it was pointless. He also wanted to stick up for his brother, knowing that the kid had an actual reason for whining. Poor Sam had had nothing to eat and drink but bread, peanut butter, and water for the last three days.
Looking over at Sam, he could tell that his little brother was upset. Luckily, Sam decided to keep his mouth shut, giving Dean a bit of a reprieve.
That reprieve didn't last long, though, because just seconds later John was addressing him again.
"Dean! What the hell is wrong with you?! Are you listening to me?"
Dean pulled his gaze away from Sam and back to his father, who was more than just slightly annoyed. "Yes, sir," he finally answered.
"Well, then, why aren't you doing what I told you to do?"
Without a word, Dean rushed over to the cabinet and took out the bread and peanut butter. Feeling his dad's eyes still on him, he quickly worked to spread a good amount of peanut butter on two pieces of bread. Once he was done, he threw it on a plate and stepped over to the table to place it down in front of his brother. Sam looked like he was going to say something, but after seeing the pleading look on Dean's face, he kept his mouth shut.
John, who was watching everything, stepped over to the refrigerator to pull out another beer. Dean felt himself tense up as the man opened the door, knowing he was just a few seconds from being found out. And just as he thought, his dad stood up and turned back to look at him.
"Why is the refrigerator empty, Dean?" he asked simply.
"Um….. I, uh… I…."
John threw his hands up in frustration. "What the hell is going on here? Did you forget how to speak?"
Dean shook his head and then quickly realized that he had just shaken his head at his father in response to a question. "No, sir," he finally got out.
"Well, then answer me, damn it! Why is the refrigerator empty? I left you money."
Dean knew that he could play this out two different ways. He could be honest and tell him that the money John had left them with hadn't lasted very long. Or he could lie and say that he just hadn't gone to the store yet. He had a pocketful of the money he'd gotten from Dustin that would support that story, at least. Either way, he knew his dad would either feel guilty for not leaving enough money or be furious that Dean hadn't done what he was supposed to do.
He just needed to decide which route would bring the least amount of trouble raining down on him.
Author's note: (cue sad, emotional music) Poor Dean. The kid has a decision to make. Will he take the route that will undoubtedly make his father feel guilty? Or will he take the route that will make himself look irresponsible? I'd love to hear your thoughts on the matter. And also on how you all think John would react to the fighting business.
I wanted to address something that came up in a review. Some people are thinking that Sam is being whiny and selfish in this story. And I agree. But, Sam is only seven years old and I'm pretty sure that most seven year olds are more self-centered and have a tendency to be selfish. I also think that Dean goes out of his way to hide the ugly facts from his brother or at least downplay them a lot. That's just my take on Sam's behavior and I hope that makes sense to you.
One more thing…. I lol'd when I realize that I start so many of my author's notes with a 'Poor Dean' mentality. Apparently, Dean angst is my thing.
Thanks so much for reading and reviewing. I appreciate every review I get and I do try to reply to them. I'm sorry that I can't reply to anonymous reviews.