Hello! And welcome back to "Jamie had midterm exams and thus has written a fever dream!"

As of right now I'm planning on posting a chapter a day. I have 5 chapters written right now and I'm *planning* on about 11 (10 and a prologue). I've had this idea for awhile but it really took hold recently. This is like my Whumptober gift to you since I'm not actually writing Whumptober lol. There's general all around angst and whump both emotional and physical and maybe even a bit of a Mystery for Spooky Season.
Maybe not.
Idk lol
Okay but here's the thing guys, you've got to trust me on this one. I know. There's gonna be some confusion and some "no way what on earth are you thinking they would never-" But trust me, okay? Give me at least to chapter 5 before you freak. I promise I haven't (completely) lost it. Just don't run out before you give it a try. Anyway, that's enough rambling. Onto the Prologue!

~TH~

The loud crash coming from the Hunter's Tomb had Doctor Mackland Ames on his feet. It had been disturbingly quiet. The Farm always had a peace about it, but it was filled with laughter and excitement and ill behaving boys. There was none of that now. Now, there was only one boy, and that one, broken. The physical wounds had mostly healed. But Dean had barely spoken to either of them in the weeks that he had been healing. Mac knew that he could have left at this point, but he couldn't bring himself to leave the boy. His condition, both mental and physical, was in fact the Triad's fault and it only felt right that at least two-thirds of the Triad to watch out for him. Especially when the final and most desired member had no intentions of reappearing any time soon.

A door slammed and only a few moments later, Dean appeared, bag slung over his shoulder. His limp was still pronounced but Mac had confidence the leg would make a full recovery.

Jim followed a moment later, looking as panicked as the pastor tended to get.

"Dean, you don't have to leave."

"I know." The boy snapped, not turning around. "I'm my own person, Murphey, I can make my own decisions." The disrespect in Dean's voice caused a small thrill of fear in the doctor. He hadn't heard the hunter speak like that since he'd been infected with a virus that made him out of his head. He'd nearly died and without the Guardian's knowledge of supernatural artifacts, there would have been nothing the doctor could have done.

"Son, please stay. Don't do something foolish."

A harsh laugh had Dean spinning around "Foolish? You know what was foolish?! Sticking around! Sam had the right idea. I should have gotten out of here a long time ago."

The full gravity of the situation was sinking in. This wasn't just about being kept at the Farm, this was about the Brotherhood in general.

"Dean," he interjected. "The Brotherhood isn't perfect, I'll be the first to admit that, but we are doing good. It's not foolish."

The hunters attention was shifted towards the doctor. "And what's your point Mackland? That's all I've heard my entire life. How much good the Brotherhood is doing. But what good has it ever done for me."

"Dean-"

"No! I'm not done! I'm tired of getting talked over! Did you ever consider that just maybe I have a freaking opinion for myself!?"

Mac pressed his lips together but kept silent. He'd never seen Dean like this, but the boy was right. The doctor had always encouraged the children to think for themselves. Dean was the one who tended to keep quiet and do as he was told. A rage like this from Sam or even Caleb would be unpleasant but expected. But from Dean? Maybe they had finally pushed their most loyal and obedient member too far.

"Ever since I was a kid I've been told that the Brotherhood is doing good. That we're a family. That the Brotherhood would keep us protected. But it was nothing but a screwed up fairytale." That was directed back at the pastor. "Where's the good? Where's the family? I see none of it."

There was the beginning of tears in Jim's eyes. "My boy, we're still here. I know that things have gotten off the rails as of late, but we're still a family. We still do good."

"Good for who? Not for me."

"Dean-"

"No! Stop it! You sent Caleb away. Let my Dad run off to get himself killed. And let Sam leave the Brotherhood all together! But I can't go? What am I? A prisoner? Slave? Indentured servant? Can I somehow earn my friggin' freedom or is this a life sentence? Make up your mind so I at least know what to expect!"

"It's not like that-"

"Like heck it isn't!"

Mac was wracking his brain for what to say. They should have expected this, seen this coming. But Dean had always been the easy one. The one who didn't ask uncomfortable questions and seemed unwaveringly loyal to the cause. And yet what had they expected when over half of his support system had fallen away in the span of only a few days? Before Mac could formulate an argument, Jim was speaking.

"You can go, son."

The doctor snapped his head towards the Guardian. "Jim-"

"Thanks for you permission." Dean growled in response, shouldering his bag and making a beeline for the door.

"But Dean,"

The boy stopped, one hand on the door.

"I'm not your father. You're always welcome to come back."

Dean froze for a moment, bringing his hand down to twist the ring on his finger. "Thanks for the offer." Was the eventual answer. "But I'm not coming back." The ring fell to the ground, louder than it had any right to be for such a small piece of metal. "I'm done."

The door seemed to shut with a terrifying finality.

Jim silently went over and picked up the ring, clutching it tightly in his hand.

"Why?" Mac whispered, "Why did you let him go?"

"What was I supposed to do, Mackland?" Came the soul weary sigh. "He's an adult. And I'm not John Winchester."

"But Jim, he's not-" He pressed his lips together, trying to make his thoughts tactful. "Jim, he's not stable."

The pastor gave a tightlipped smile. "Could you not argue that Sam was just as unstable when he left? And yet no one even tried to convince him to stay."

"That was different, Sam was going to college, he had had a plan!"

"Mac," The pastor sighed, "I don't want him to go either, but we can't keep him here. We can only hope that he'll come back on his own."

"We should call Caleb-"

"No." The resoluteness in Jim's voice was a surprise. "No, don't tell him. Don't tell anyone. Give him the space that he is requesting. Dean will talk to Caleb when he sees fit. Forcing it won't help anyone."

"I don't like it."

A brief and pained smile, "Nor do I. But our boy had a point, it's not our life or our decision to make. We have to let him go."

~TH~

Did this start as a vent fic?
Yes.
Yes it did.
Then I was like "wait a second this fits perfectly with that plot bunny I started chafing a couple months ago and never wrote... hmmm... Then I had written 7k words and was like "oh".

So Dean's out, huh?
How long will this last?
What caused the argument?
Is Dean stable enough to be on his own right now?
Well, we'll have to wait and find out more tomorrow (Sunday)!

Love you guys, please let me know what you think!
And also make sure you check out "Haven't to Deserve" which just had its big reveal chapter uploaded.

If you love me comment. Even if you disagree with Dean or Mac or Jim. Even if you agree. Just let me know thoughts!

Much Love and God Bless,
Jamie