Raising Winchesters

Chapter 23

Bobby slammed the door behind him and turned the lock. Once that was done, he moved over to the window and looked out into his front yard. He couldn't believe what he was seeing and he hated to admit it, but he hadn't been as scared as he was in that moment since the day he'd had to kill his wife.

"What the hell is going on?" John yelled loudly from the living room.

Bobby could hear Sam crying and John cursing as he paced the room. Jim was trying to calm Sam down. At the same time, he was trying to get John to put Dean down. The man was still clutching tightly to his oldest son as he paced.

Dean, on the other hand, was unusually quiet. Bobby glanced back at the kid, taking in his paleness and the way his whole body was shaking. Dean was crying, too, but he was doing it silently. And he didn't look like he was ready for his dad to put him down anytime soon. Instead, he was clutching onto the man with everything he had, the knuckles on his hand bone-white.

It wasn't until Sam started coughing and gagging from crying so hard that Bobby stepped into the living room and addressed the group. "Listen up! Everyone needs to calm down and take a deep breath. Right now!" When no one did anything, Bobby's voice grew even firmer. "John, sit down! Jim, take Sam into the kitchen and get him a drink. Dean, breathe, boy."

John suddenly looked at both of his boys and realized what was happening. Walking over to the couch, he sat down, pulling Dean over to settle on his left side. Jim bent down to pick Sam up and started to head to the kitchen. He hadn't gone very far, though, when Dean started screaming for Sam.

"Sam! Sam, stay here! Pastor Jim, don't take him!"

All eyes moved over to Dean, and Sam even stopped his coughing, crying, and gagging for a few seconds. John gave Jim a short nod and Jim moved towards the kitchen with Sam still in his arms.

"Dean, it's okay. I'm just going to take Sam into the kitchen. He'll be just right there."

"NO! No, stay here, Sammy. You have to stay here."

John turned Dean's body to be able to see him better. "Dean, Jim's gonna take care of Sam."

"They're gonna take him, Dad. They said they'd take him and that I'd never see him again!" By this time, Dean was crying loudly, gulping and trying to take in huge breaths as he frantically looked at his dad.

"What do you mean, Dean? Who said they'd take Sammy?"

Dean's eyes jumped over to the front door and then back to his dad. John noticed that his pupils were fully dilated and that his hands were still shaking.

"Dean, who said they'd take Sammy?" he tried again.

"I don't know, Dad," Dean cried in frustration. "I just…. I heard it in my head, I guess."

"You guess?"

"I h-heard it in my head."

John looked over at Bobby, not sure what to make of Dean's words. Bobby shrugged his shoulders, not knowing what to make of the boy's words, either, and without a word, he moved back to the window and looked out into the yard.

"What do mean you heard it in your head?"

"I don't wanna talk about it, Dad. Okay?"

"No, it's not okay, Dean. We're trying to figure out what's going on here, so I need to know."

"I just…. I hear things. Sometimes, it's just buzzing and sometimes it's voices."

"Voices? Like more than one?"

"Yeah."

"And what do they say?"

"Just stuff."

John was quickly losing his patience with the situation. "Dean, I know you don't want to talk about this, but you're going to. So knock it off and just tell me what they say."

Dean sank down against the couch a little more and stared at his knees. "At first, I could just hear one voice. And then it was a couple of voices. Today was the first time I heard so many." Dean glanced up at his dad and then over to Bobby, before continuing. "Can you check on Sammy, Dad? Please? Just make sure he's alright?"

John hesitated, but then stood up and walked over to the kitchen. A few seconds later, he was back. "He's fine, son. He told me to tell you that they're making you some hot chocolate with whipped cream."

Dean smiled a little.

"You still haven't told me what the voices were saying, Dean."

Dean really didn't want to repeat what he'd heard, but he knew his dad wouldn't give up until he knew. "The first voice just kept saying that it was all my fault and that I'd pay for what I did. It said something like the balance had to be restored before they could move on. I guess it was just that whole yin and yang thing that Uncle Bobby was talking about."

"Maybe. What about the other voices."

"They said a lot of the same thing, at first. Then they started calling me a…. a m-murderer. They said I had no right to take the life of one of theirs. And they said that they'd find a way to make me pay."

"That's not going to happen, Dean," John said as he started pacing again. "We're not going to let that happen."

Bobby stepped away from the window and turned to look at Dean. "What about just now? What happened?"

Dean studied his hands, not wanting to admit to what he'd done. He knew that both his dad and Bobby would be furious about it. Pastor Jim, too. He knew he had to answer, though, so he took a deep breath and looked up at Bobby. "They told me that if I didn't come out they were going to hurt Sammy. That they'd take him and I'd never, ever see him again. They said that I had to make a choice…. Me or Sammy."

"So you got up and walked outside?" John suddenly came unglued. "You didn't say a word to us and you just took it upon yourself to walk outside?"

"I didn't know they were out there, Dad."

"You didn't know that they weren't, either. What the hell were you thinking, Dean?" Now John's voice was thundering through the house.

"I have to watch out for Sammy, Dad. I have to. I couldn't let them hurt him."

"The only thing you have to do, Dean, is tell us when something like that happens. We can't keep you or Sammy safe if you're not telling us things like this. You know that!"

"I-I d-didn't know they were out there," Dean answered weakly.

"That doesn't matter. You're not supposed to go anywhere without me or Bobby, remember?" John scowled. "And don't think we're through talking about this, either."

Dean shifted his position, angling himself even deeper into the back of the couch. He knew he'd screwed up, but he couldn't bring himself to worry about that at the moment. All he could think about now was the sight he'd seen when he opened the front door and stepped onto the porch.

The bird pecking so violently against the upstairs window had been disturbing enough, but to see the whole front yard covered with birds and snakes and other animals had been too much. He hadn't had much time to take it all in before his dad had whisked him back inside, but he'd definitely noticed the variety of creatures. He also noticed that they all seemed preternaturally focused on him.

"Are they still out there?" he asked Bobby in barely more than a whisper.

"Yeah, they're still out there," Bobby answered simply. "They can't get in, though, okay?"

"Are you sure?" Dean asked.

"I'm sure. This house is warded against things like that, Dean. They won't be able to cross the threshold into the house."

Dean didn't look convinced, but he didn't seem to notice the uncertainty in Bobby's voice, either. Bobby and John shared another look, but their attention was quickly called away to the sound of scratching at the door.

"Dad…."

"It's okay, Dean," John said as he moved over to where Bobby was standing and looked out the window. "We won't let them get in. I promise."

Dean looked up at his dad in surprise. He wasn't used to John promising anything, unless it was in regard to doling out some sort of punishment to his boys, so he really didn't know what to make of that. He trusted the man more than he trusted anyone or anything, but he knew better than to underestimate the supernatural. That lesson had been drilled into his head by his dad.

John stepped back into the living room and over to the couch. "Dean, I want you to go upstairs with Pastor Jim and Sammy, okay? He'll keep you both safe."

"NO!" Dean jumped off of the couch and threw himself at his dad. "Dad, no! I wanna stay with you."

"Dean, I can't figure this out with you here. Bobby and I need time to work on this and I know you'll be safe with Jim."

At that exact moment, Jim and Sam walked back into the living room. Sam was holding a plate of cookies and Jim was holding three cups of hot chocolate. He had obviously heard what John was saying, so he tried to get Dean to move towards the stairs.

After several minutes of Dean refusing to go upstairs and John threatening to take the boy over his knee if he didn't do what he was told, Dean finally followed the pastor and his brother up the stairs. The second they heard the bedroom door shut, John sank down onto the couch and looked up at Bobby.

"What the hell are we going to do?" he asked. "Bobby, what are we going to do?"

Bobby didn't answer.

Author's note: So, I'm going to apologize for the longer than usual wait and the shorter than usual chapter. Thanks so much for hanging in there with me.

I'd sure love to hear your thoughts on the chapter/story. And if you're so interested, I've posted a few one-shots recently that you all might like.

Thank you all for the happy birthday wishes. That was so sweet of you. I also wanted to say thank you to those reviewers who aren't logged in. I'd love to respond to you, but I can't. So, special thanks to Kathy, Michelle, Ullswater, Elliesamdeangirl, and None (?). Thanks to the rest of you, too, but you all get some review replies, lol.

Take care, y'all.