Disclaimer: The Winchesters belong to Eric Kripke and I will be forever grateful to him for sharing them with us. I hope he doesn't mind me borrowing them from time to time; I promise to return them as I found them.

And I know the rule. If I break them, I buy them.

A/N: I'm trying something I've not done a whole lot of in other stories – some supernatural stuff. Go figure. I know what I've got going on here as far as the paranormal stuff isn't anywhere near the caliber that the show does, but I hope it's acceptable. Thanks, as always, to Kel and I hope you guys enjoy where we're going here.

Father and Son

Chapter 4

Dean walked around for a while, but ended up in the same bar where John had been the night before. He ordered a beer as he took up residence on one of the stools.

"Here ya go." The redheaded bartender smiled at him.

"Thanks." Dean grunted.

Normally Dean would have been flirting with her, but he wasn't interested tonight. He just wanted to finish the job he and John started, then get out of town. He was thinking about leaving John, at least for a while. He had thought about that before; going off on his own and living his own life. But he felt a fierce loyalty to his father and to the mission; deep inside he knew he would never leave. Sam having his own life would have to be enough because someone needed to help their father. Someone needed to be there if he got hurt. Someone needed to be there if he got too drunk. That someone had always been Dean and he knew that's the way it would always be.

John had promised that things would be better once they destroyed the demon that killed Mary Winchester. Dean believed him for a while, but eighteen years had gone by and they were no closer to finding it now than the night she died. As he sat at the bar, sipping his beer, Dean realized that John stopped making the promise. He couldn't remember when that happened.

Dean wondered, not for the first time, what things would have been like if Mary hadn't been taken from them. He was only four when it happened, but he had vague memories of fresh baked cookies and of playing catch with his father in the back yard. He remembered the sound of his mother humming and of his father's laughter. John didn't laugh much anymore.

They had been a normal family and things were even better when Sammy came home from the hospital. Dean was excited about being a big brother and remembered that day vividly. John came into Dean's room in the morning to get him ready, but he was already dressed in jeans and his favorite shirt, waiting on the edge of his bed. Dean still remembered being surprised by how little his new brother was and he was afraid Sammy would break the first time Mary let him hold the baby.

He also vividly remembered the night Mary died. John put Sammy in his arms and told him to run. From that day forward, Dean knew that he was responsible for his little brother's safety. So why didn't he protect his brother from John? Why had he let John send Sam away?

XXXXXXXXXX

John was standing at the window again when he saw Dean walking toward the room. It was almost 9:00 and he knew that no matter what was going on in Dean's head, his son would be back when he said he would be.

He didn't like the way Dean walked with his head was down and hands in his coat pockets. Normally his son walked confidently; ready to take on the world. John decided he would have to give Dean more structure to help him get over Sammy leaving, but in the back of his head, a small voice told him he should be more gentle and understanding instead. John ignored that little voice before and he would ignore it now. There was too much danger out there for gentleness. His boys needed to be strong to survive.

XXXXXXXXXX

The Borders had been buried behind the small church near the edge of town. It was relatively secluded but could be seen from nearby yards if someone happened to be outside and looking in the general direction of the cemetery. There was no moon out that night and the Winchesters would work with as little light as possible; they hoped the fire wouldn't alert anyone to their presence when they burned the bones.

John and Dean were lost in their own thoughts, walking through the cemetery to where the Borders were buried. They turned a corner on the dirt path and stopped in their tracks. A small group of people were standing in a circle, holding hands and chanting.

"What the hell?" John muttered. He and Dean moved to a more sheltered spot where they could watch the activity without being seen.

"Satanists or stupid kids?" Dean wondered out loud.

John watched for a few minutes. "Looks like they know what they're doing. Can you hear what they're saying?"

"No." Dean was involved in the job now and all the anger toward John had been pushed aside.

"I'm going to get closer."

Dean grabbed his shoulder. "There's no where to hide up there."

"Just keep an eye out." John looked at him. "Be careful and stay out of sight."

Dean watched as his father stealthily moved closer to the group of people. He hid behind a nearby tree that didn't provide a lot of cover, but Dean hoped it would be enough. He turned his attention back to whatever ceremony was happening in front of him and watched as the group slowly began to sway back and forth as the chanting continued. A few minutes later, John was standing beside him again.

"Come on," John whispered. "Let's get back to the car."

"What?"

"Come on." John said again as he walked away.

Dean followed, wondering what his father had seen or heard.

"I'm not exactly sure of all the details," John said back at the car. "but I'd bet they're performing an ancient returning to life ceremony."

"A what?"

"They're trying to bring the Borders back. One of them anyway. My guess is the father."

"For what?"

John shrugged. "I don't know. But whatever they're doing, we obviously can't get to the graves tonight."

"Shouldn't we stop them?"

John looked thoughtful. He had considered that, but they were vastly outnumbered. He noticed that most of the people in the circle were older men, but he didn't know what kind of powers they might possess. Normally being outnumbered didn't bother John very much since the Winchesters had weapons and skills the average person didn't have, but being outnumbered and not knowing what they were up against put them at a disadvantage.

"We don't know what we're dealing with. Let's get out of here and give Caleb a call."

TBC