Disclaimer: Don't own 'em, not gettin' paid for this.
A/N: We're about ready to wrap this up. One, maybe two, more chapters should do it. I hope you like where we're going and thanks for sticking with me.
Scars from the Past
Chapter 10
Wally heard about the fire and somehow knew Ellen was dead. He had no idea who Ellen had been working for, but he had no doubt it was someone more powerful than she. That idea made him very nervous because he knew how powerful she was and he was afraid he would be next.
He'd driven until after the sun was up and was now back at the house where he had held Dean captive. He thought he'd be safe there, at least for a little while, because Ellen put a protection spell on it so John and his friends wouldn't be able to find them. He paced, rubbing his face, thinking about his options. There were precious few of them and he was starting to panic.
If he'd been thinking more clearly, he wouldn't have been hiding in the exact place he could be found by what killed Ellen.
OOOOOOOOOOO
John agreed to stay behind, but only because Caleb promised he would call as soon as he found Wally. He avoided Jim's gaze until the pastor decided to go to the Galaxia Hotel, hoping to find some useful information. Waiting in the Dean's room, John thought about everything that had happened in the last few days.
John still believed that it wasn't his job to deal with evil humans, but he couldn't let someone hurt his son and get away with it. Maybe if he'd dealt with Wally in some other way all those years ago, things would be different today. Wally was bad before he'd gotten sent to prison, but he came out with a whole new level of evil and John couldn't help but feel responsible for that. He knew that Wally's attention had turned from children, but he still felt bad for the adults Wally must have hurt.
He thought about his younger son and hoped he was safe. Caleb told him some of their friends were keeping an even more watchful eye over him, and although John spoke to one of them earlier, he still felt uncomfortable. Not for the first time, he wished he'd handled things differently with Sam. He'd always been so different from his brother; always wanting to know why and questioning everything. Dean was just as smart as Sam, but he was willing to take his father's orders at face value, believing that John knew what was best for them. John used to believe he did know what was best, but since Sam left he questioned that. He felt completely incompetent right now; having let Wally outsmart him.
After Jim left, and before John returned to Dean's room, he'd gone to visit Michael Barrett. A nurse told him his condition was worsening and they'd yet to diagnose the problem. That was something else John felt guilty about. If he'd figured things out sooner, maybe he could have saved him.
John stood up when the hospital room door opened and an orderly pushed Dean's wheelchair in. He helped his son back into bed, noticing that Dean refused to meet his eyes. He still hadn't spoken. A lunch tray was brought in a moment later, but Dean ignored it.
"Dean," John said sitting on the edge of the bed. "you should try to eat something. You know as well as I do that doctors like to see that kind of thing."
Dean turned his face away from his father. John hesitated a moment, then put his hand on Dean's leg. "Okay, Kid, here's the deal. I know you hate hospitals, but they're not going to release you if you're not eating and not talking. I also know you've been through something awful and I want to talk to you about it. More important, I want you to talk to me about it."
Dean didn't turn his head, but John saw him blink slowly.
"I have some news about Ellen." John said after a moment. "She's dead."
Dean looked at him.
"And Caleb is out looking for Wally." he felt Dean stiffen. "As soon as Caleb finds him, he's going to call me. I'm not going to let him get away with what he did."
Dean closed his eyes and leaned back against the pillow. He put his hand on top of John's and after hesitating a moment, John enclosed Dean's hand in his.
"I'm proud of you, you know."
Dean squeezed John's hand, but his eyes remained closed.
OOOOOOOOOOO
Caleb stood next to the van that Wally had left in the parking lot, talking to one of his contacts. The van had been examined from one end to the other and only one potential clue was found. A piece of paper with directions written on it, was lying crumpled under the driver's seat.
"It's in the middle of nowhere." Caleb said as they consulted a map. "I'll bet it's where they were holding Dean."
"Are you going to call John?"
Caleb thought about it. "Let's check it out first. It's a long way out there and he needs to hang with his kid."
"Dean okay?"
"Physically, he will be. Otherwise?" Caleb looked at him. "I don't know."
OOOOOOOOOOO
Wally jumped at every noise and, out in the middle of a forest on a windy night, there was a lot of noise. He cowered in a corner, then moved to the couch, then moved the kitchen and paced. Finally, convinced he was about to be attacked he raced out of the house and ran right into Caleb. The other man pinned Wally's arms behind his back and thrust him back into the house. He pushed him onto the couch and stood in front of him, flanked by six other men who were all holding guns.
"Hi, Wally. Even with the directions we found in your van, we had a hell of a time finding you. Glad to see we didn't miss you."
OOOOOOOOOOO
Jim poked around the hotel as much as he could, but didn't get any useful information. He knew several of the fire investigators who were still on the scene, but he already knew what they had to tell him. No one understood how the fire could start on the ceiling of the suite, but everyone was happy that the hotel was completely evacuated and there was only one casualty.
With Ellen's death confirmed, Jim made a phone call to one of the witches they'd talked to before and arranged for him to work on removing the curse from Michael Barrett. Ellen was no threat any more and he was anxious to repay Jim for a favor he'd owed the pastor for years .
OOOOOOOOOOO
"I have a little bit of unease about this, but I am going to release Dean." the doctor told John later, outside Dean's room. "All the test results came back within normal ranges. I would have preferred to see him eat more lunch, but under the circumstances -- once you get him settled at home, try to get him to eat. He's not going to heal if he doesn't have the fuel to do it."
John watched as the doctor made a few notes in Dean's chart.
"I'm also going to give you the card of a psychologist. I know Jim very well and I know he's an excellent counselor, but he may be too close to Dean to be truly effective. Give this man a call if you can't get Dean to talk to you soon. If he keeps what happened to him bottled up inside, it's likely to manifest in other ways."
"I understand." John said.
"Good. The paperwork will be ready in a little while and you'll be able to take him home."
John nodded. "Thanks."
OOOOOOOOOOO
John was driving to Jim's house when his cell phone rang.
"Where are you?" Caleb asked.
"Dean's been released and I'm taking him to Jim's house. You find something?"
"I did, indeed." Caleb sounded smug. "I'm bringing you a present."
"What do you mean?"
"I found him, John. I'm bringing him to you."
"I'll meet you somewhere." John said. "I don't want him –"
"Got ya. I'll call you when we get there. It will be about a couple hours or so."
"Thanks, Caleb." John glanced to his side as he hung up. Dean was looking at him.
"Caleb found Wally."
Dean turned his head to look out of the passenger side window.
He wanted to talk to his father, but he didn't know what to say. When John said he was proud, Dean felt like screaming. What could he possibly be proud about? That Dean had let himself be kidnapped and tortured? Now Caleb was bringing Wally back to town and Dean knew that John would go off to do something that Dean should have been able to do himself.
John parked the car as close to the door as he could, then followed Dean into the house. The boy slowly lowered himself to the couch. He was in more pain that he would admit.
"Do you want something to drink?" John asked.
Dean shook his head.
"Something to eat?"
He shook his head again.
Jim walked in a few minutes later to find the Winchesters dozing on the couch and the sight warmed his heart. He loved these people like family and he enjoyed having them in his house. He also enjoyed seeing moments of tenderness between John and his son. He'd tried so hard to convince John to be a father first, but the man had his own ideas about raising his sons. Jim understood those reasons, but still thought he was wrong.
Wanting them to sleep, Jim quietly made his way upstairs.
OOOOOOOOOOO
Caleb took Wally to a house across town from Jim's and the church. Sometimes he needed a safe place to stay, and when he couldn't involve Jim, he would stay there. John had used it on occasion, as well. He tied Caleb to a wooden chair that he moved to the center of the living room. He was sure Wally wouldn't have the skill to get away, but wanted to keep everything out of reach just in case.
"Watch him." Caleb told Alex, someone he often worked with. "I'm going to call John."
Alex nodded.
Caleb stood on the porch and dialed Jim's home number. He leaned against the closed door, exhausted and ready for some sleep. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been in bed.
"Hello?"
"Jim, Caleb. John get there okay?"
"Yeah. He's asleep on the couch with Dean. You got Wally?"
"I do."
"Caleb –"
"I know what you're going to say. It's wrong to kill him. It's wrong to hurt him. Whatever. You can't deny John this."
"No, I can't. You know as well as I do that John Winchester does what he wants to do. I just think that, down the road, he's going to regret this."
"Wally isn't an innocent man."
"I realize that, but didn't we decide a long time ago that dealing with guilty people is not what we do?"
"We did decide that, but this is personal."
"It's still wrong, Caleb."
Caleb sighed. "What do you want me to do?"
"Let the justice system deal with him."
"Dean is supposed to press charges? That's not likely."
"You're probably right." Jim admitted. "He's just as likely to take a few swings at the man as his father is."
"So?"
"I've voiced my opinion. I'll talk to John again, but I doubt it will do any good."
"You know what? We could all use some rest. Don't wake John. I'll call back later."
OOOOOOOOOOO
"No!" Dean yelled as he sat up quickly. He immediately regretted the movement as pain pierced every part of his body. John was awake and reaching for his son as soon as he heard his voice.
"Dean, it was a dream." John said, helping him sit back down. He curled up, hugging himself.
"I'm going to get your medicine. I'll be right back." John stood up, but Dean grabbed his wrist. John looked at him, surprised, then sat down next to him. "Dean?"
Without a word, Dean leaned against his father. John put an arm around his shoulders and held him gently, trying not to cause him any more pain.
"It's okay, Dean. I promise you, it's going to be okay."
Jim ran down the stairs, but stopped when he saw the scene on his couch. John looked at him, gesturing for the medicine bottles on the coffee table. Understanding, Jim read the labels and chose the right pills. He went to the kitchen for water, then sat on the coffee table across from his friends. Dean was shaking, but he took the pills handed to him and was able to hold the glass of water. John kept his arm protectively around his shoulders.
TBC