A time for everything

I was absolutely FURIOUS! What the hell had she been thinking? What did she think she'd been doing coming back here…and so help me…shooting the damned lead wolf? The woman had lost her freaking mind! I mean, it lunged at her on its death bed…and even before that…before she took the shot. Any one of the other werewolves could have attacked her, bitten her or killed her. We wouldn't have known she needed help. We couldn't have saved her because we thought she was all the way out in Kansas!

Tossing the dead werewolves on the pyre only fuelled my anger. Every heavy, hairy dead carcass I struggled to carry had been a possible threat to her life. Every smelly crackling mass on the fire had been an attacker lying in wait as she strolled up here all by herself with suicidal disregard for her own life. I could barely even look at her I was so damned mad. I could have lost her!

I wallowed in my anger through the clean up. It kept me going, helped me move through the pain. It felt like it took forever, until at last the only ones left were survivors… and Jack.

She was sitting on the ground, covered in blood and grime, cradling Jack's head tenderly in her lap. There were tears in her eyes, and streaming down her cheeks. Ah hell! How am I supposed to be mad at her when she cries? I can't be. So I sat down next to her and stowed my anger deep inside me until later. There would be a time and a place for me to let it out, but now wasn't it. She needed me.

Wanting to make it easier for her, to share something meaningful that would help her come to terms with losing him all over again, I somehow found the words. "You know… that last night years ago Jack said something to me that, at the time, I couldn't understand." I hesitated, chancing a look at her to see if she was actually listening. She didn't look up, just gently brushed Jack's hair back from his forehead as if he were a child. Not knowing what else to do I cleared my throat and went on. "Before we left that morning he told me… he said he hoped that one day he'd be half the man I already was. I didn't understand why he would say that to me…I was just a kid. I still don't understand what he saw in me that day for him to say that. I'll tell you what I do know though… Jack spent the past sixteen years watching over you, taking care of you and keeping you safe without your knowledge. It must have killed him to watch you grow up and not be able to be there…He gave everything he had to you… I think…I think your parents would have been proud of him… and…and I hope one day I'll be half the man he was." Annie didn't say anything, I don't think she could have even if she'd tried. The only part of her that moved was the arm she stretched out in invitation to me. I took it in my own and shifted myself closer to her so she could lean on me and cry.

Sam came out of the darkness again and looked at me sadly. "That's the last one Dean." He knew what would come next. Annie did too. I just hoped she was ready for it. "Sweetheart…it's time." She turned into my shoulder and let out a quiet sob. "I know…it just hurts so much…" That's all it took. That was it for me. I melted inside. "Oh Annie…I know it does. I know." I held her close and shushed softly in her ear. "I know it's hard honey, but we have to do it. He'd want us to." They were the words she needed to hear. I felt it the moment she made up her mind.

She sat up and sighed, the tears still streaming down her face. Wiping them away with fierce determination she sighed again, then steadied herself for what we were about to do. "All right then" she announced "let get to it." Obviously feeling lost she looked to me for strength. "Dean, will you help me to do it?" Like there was any way I could resist those sad doe eyes. Besides, she was right, Jack would have wanted it this way.

We didn't toss him onto the bonfire like we did the others. Instead we built something resembling a funeral pyre. Annie wanted it to be special for him. Knowing what kind of things were out there in the night, and knowing how most of them came to be, she wanted to give him a chance to move on. So we lay him on top of the unlit kindling as Sam recited a short but powerful blessing from one of the many books he has stashed in the trunk of the Impala. Annie ceremoniously lit the kindling and as the fire burned turning Jack to ash and dust in the distance the rock and roll music he'd loved played on.

Hell hath no fury…

We called the cops in just before sunrise. It didn't take them long to have the whole place taped off with nothing short of an army swarming all over like so many ants looking for crumbs. We'd left them nothing substantial of course, nothing but a bunch of burned out logs and kindling. The story we'd given them? Wolves. Heh heh. It wasn't that far from the truth after all, and it was a story that would be easy for the kids to stick to. Perfect.

I had a hard time fending off the paramedics who wanted to take me to a hospital. Then there were the police who had about a million questions about what happened, when and how. I did my best to make the story as believable as possible… turns out I didn't have to try too hard. They bought it pretty quickly.

The kids were whisked away to their families as soon as it was clear their injuries weren't more than surface scratches, burns and bruises. The young couple took the ambulance ride to the hospital. I felt for them…the experience had changed them. How could it not? It was pretty clear when the ambulance left that they were both in shock. It was a raw deal, I just hoped it wouldn't stick with them past the odd nightmare.

The police had been dealt with and an end was in sight. Sam and Annie came up behind me as I thanked the last officer. A worried Sam put a steady arm on my shoulder as I swayed a bit. The sun was rising finally and as it did the adrenaline that had been keeping me going all this time began to ebb. I wasn't ready to give in to it yet though, there were still a couple of things I needed to take care of. Besides, if I gave in to my exhaustion and passed out they'd probably haul me off to the hospital too. I've seen more than enough of those to last a lifetime and I didn't want to go back for a few scratches and a little tiredness.

So I stood up a little straighter and shook him off. First things first I had to know that he was alright. Aside from a couple of nasty looking claw marks on his arms and a lot of dirt and soot he was just fine. Once I was positive of that, I turned to Annie. I went to her a man in the desert to an oasis. Running my fingers over her face, my hands into her hair, up and down her arms I asked her question after question and swore that if I found more than the smallest scratch on her I'd take her straight to the hospital. Somehow she caught my hands in hers and stopped their roaming. Before I knew it she was in my arms and I was holding her to me trying hard not to cry. "You're sure you're fine? Nothing more than a couple of scratches?" I asked hoarsely. She nodded and laughed a little at my concern. I don't know why but the combination of my relief and her laughter triggered my anger again. I kissed her forehead, taking a minute to just be happy she was alive… and then slowly let the my anger seep back in. I took one last long look at her and then cocked my head towards the car. It had been a long, long night, it was time to go. "What about you Dean? Are you okay?" Annie asked, worried that I was still more than a little unsteady on my feet. "Yeah Dean, you're looking pretty rough around the edges. Are you sure you won't let any of the doctors take a look at you?" Ah, great! Now she had Sam worried too. "I'm fine Sam, let's just go home." I caught Annie's eye and cocked my head toward the car. "Get in the car Annie. We're going home." It came out a lot harsher than I expected. She must have known I was close to cracking because she chose her battles. Annie Morgan does not back down when she believes she is right, but she was not about to push me to the edge when I looked like I would pass out just from standing there. Instead she got in like I'd told her to and Sam took the wheel.

I don't remember climbing in myself… and I think I probably slept the entire half hour drive back to the house. I woke up to the sound of the Impala's wheels turning onto the gravel of the driveway. Sore all over, cuts burning, gashes stinging…I was a throbbing mass of pain and flesh. I was tired, dirty and starving. I couldn't decide whether I wanted a shower, a bed, a meal or all three. I didn't think I had enough energy to get out of the car let alone into the house for any of those things. I didn't think I could even lift my head off the headrest…until I had a flash of the night before. As I started really waking up the night before hit me full on in the form of a crystal clear memory of Annie coming out of the smoke, and the werewolf making a jump for her. Then it wasn't a matter of not being able to go inside, it was a matter of not wanting to.

Sam was opening my door, ready to carry me in if he had to. Again I brushed him off. "Sam. I'm fine." I told him tersely. "Oh you are, are you?" It wasn't Sam, but Annie. I gave her a dirty look. "Yes actually. I am." "Really? It's funny you should say that because from where I'm standing you look like death warmed over." Nice. "Thanks Annie. It's nice of you to point that out for me. All things considered I'll take 'death warmed over' against just plain dead. You know, since I just took on a werewolf with nothing but my knife and a homemade torch." Her face turned an interesting shade of pink as she built up steam. "Yeah, about that Dean. What the hell we're you thinking taking him on with practically your bare hands anyway?" Come again? "What the hell was I…?Not that I need to explain myself here, but I was doing my job. Never mind me. What the hell were you thinking shooting at the damned thing? Better yet, what the hell were you doing at Franconia Notch in the first place?" fury didn't even begin to describe what I was feeling. "If I remember correctly, I was quite literally saving your ass Dean!"

Sammy had that 'oh shit!' look on his face as he gracefully bowed out, mumbling something about going inside and making some coffee. I would have laughed if I hadn't been so pissed off. "Yeah, damn fine job you did too: putting yourself right in the line of fire. You're damn lucky my aim wasn't off after it dug its claws in me like that. If I had missed with the knife you'd be dead!" That's when she hit me with it: her reason for coming back early. "Yeah, well I'd rather be dead then see you turn into one of them dammit!" The words stopped me cold. Even Sam, who hadn't yet made it into the house, stopped and turned in his tracks. There was no possible way she could know… still I was walking on eggshells with this one. "That thing never got its mouth near enough to take a bite Annie…" better to play dumb than shoot myself in the foot, right? Unfortunately it was too late for that.

"What's she talking about Dean?" He saw me swallow, saw me hesitate, knew I didn't want to answer. I was hiding something and he wouldn't let me alone until I told him what it was. I'd be damned if I did. No way. "Go ahead and tell him Dean." She was forcing my hand, trying to goad me into saying it. "Tell him what? There's nothing to tell." "Nothing to tell, huh?" she said coming closer. Until then I had been right in her face. When she started coming towards me though I knew what she was after. I wasn't about to let her. "Yeah, that's right. Nothing to tell. Sam was there remember? Backing me up while I saved your pretty little ass." Good old belligerent Dean… too bad it didn't work worth a damn. "Oh he was there last night all right, but not for this. He was driving back from Kansas." I backed up a little further when she reached for my left arm. When I felt the cold metal of the car through my shirt I knew she had me. She unbuttoned my sleeve and pushed it up past my elbow exposing a perfect oval bite mark halfway between my wrist and elbow. My real reason for not going along with them to Kansas out in the open for everyone to see.

I looked right past her at Sam. "Dean… what did you do?" it was a whisper but he may as well have shouted it at the top of his lungs.The effect would have been the same, it cut right through me. Suddenly all the fight in me was gone. "It doesn't matter Sam. What's done is done. It's over now. Everything is okay." "Doesn't matter? Are you out of your mind?" Sam didn't stay stunned long, and Annie didn't let up for a second. "Missouri told me what you'd done about an hour after Sam left. She said she told you not to, but that you were going to go ahead and do it anyway…" she took a deep breath and traced the puffy red toothmarks with her fingertips. "You and Sam would both have died if I hadn't come back… or rather Sam would have died, you would have become just like Jack." "and if I hadn't we would never have beaten it. Sam and I couldn't do it on our own, and Jack couldn't help unless he became an alpha wolf himself… it was my idea, he did it. It was the only way." "The only way? You're kidding right?" I've never seen Sam so shocked. 'Look, it was a stupid thing to do… I know that… but it worked. If I hadn't had that extra strength the werewolf would have finished me the first time it pinned me down. If Jack hadn't done it he could never have gone against the pack and kept them in the cave. We'd all be dead." I looked at them both and watched the horrified look in their eyes as they realized how close things had come. Well at least now they understood where I was coming from. Not that it would change what had happened…

I should have at least told Sam what I was going to do…I'd been so gung ho about getting the job done and keeping him and Annie safe that it never occurred to me the idea might be a bad one. I hung my head suddenly very tired. "I'm sorry… I swear I will never do something stupid like that again. No without telling you about it." My anger was gone, it was over and all I wanted to do now was sleep.

I was running on empty. I had all but used up what little strength I had regained in the car during the argument. My whole body was numb and throbbing. Weak and lightheaded, the whole world shifted beneath me. Wait, this isn't right… I don't do fainting…well apparently my body felt otherwise because the world went black and silent around me and I went down. Hard