Chapter four
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"Dean."
John's husky voice whispered his son's name from the obscurity beyond the half-open door.
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Dean had been pottering around the bathroom, trying to keep out of his father's way in the hope of avoiding this moment, praying John had forgotten or had decided he didn't want to share what Dean was sure to be a bone-chilling disclosure about Sam.
But in a motel room there was nowhere to run or hide and he couldn't come up with an excuse to put his father off any longer.
If he didn't get a move on John would just come in for him!
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He slipped out into the parking lot where his father was waiting, his large frame braced against the passenger door of the Impala.
Dean had never considered premonition to be one of his qualities, Sammy was the one who wallowed in the moody empathic crap, but when he went to stand next to his father he couldn't shake off the sinking feeling in his stomach.
"Son," John began hesitantly.
If what he had to say to Dean wasn't easy for the older Winchester himself to accept, he understood how difficult it would be for Dean who doted on his baby brother.
"You know the hunt I was on a few weeks ago? It was a demon."
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Dean's head came up from the defensive stance, arms crossed and head bowed, he'd taken to confront his father.
"A demon?"
Dean personally had never encountered one and he knew it was a rarity for John too.
"Yeah, a demon, " John repeated. "A mouthy one at that. Said some things before I sent its black ass back to Hell."
"About Sammy? " Dean couldn't stop the question bursting from his lips.
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Before turning his head to catch Dean's eyes, the anguished expression in them making it all more difficult to continue, John's gaze went to the room where his youngest was sleeping.
He would rather face a herd of vampires than Dean right now, but it had to be said. His son and right-hand man needed to be informed.
"It knew about your mom, how she died on the ceiling. I always thought whatever had happened to Mary was some kind of random act; supernatural bitches killing off family members in a mindless spate of evil just to get their rocks off. But this demon told it different."
"Demons lie, Dad. You've been telling us that forever. Why should you believe this one?" Dean's voice held an unmistakable ring of panic.
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"He told me the fire was caused by a demon, a demon that came because of Sammy. He said your mom just got in the way and that's why she was killed. You understand what I'm sayin' here, son?" John asked.
"No way dad! The demon was lying. Why can't you see that? Sam was a baby. He was lying in his crib, for god's sake! What use could he be to a demon?"
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John tendered a hand towards his son but Dean drew back, staring at it as if it were some slimy tentacle trying to grab him.
He raked his teeth over his bottom lip, the sharp incisores drawing blood and stamping its coppery taste on his tongue.
"Why do you believe THIS demon?" Dean asked, confused. "It's as though you want to accept his lies as truth. You and Sam butt heads sometimes, but hell, that's what teens do. You're not gonna tell me there's anything demonic in that!"
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But John's face had taken on a stubborn expression, the one that meant he was convinced of what he was saying and that nothing could change his opinion.
"Because it fits, Dean. The demon couldn't tell me anything else. Said that was all he knew. Sam has been marked in some way and we've got to find out why. Your mother died that night..."
"And it was Sam's fault! Is that the bullshit you're peddling?" Dean spat out. " I don't care what the son of a bitch told you. I know my brother. Hell I raised him when it should have been you looking out for him, feeding him and sending him to school, so there's no way I'll ever believe a demon over myself. Sam hasn't got one drop of evil blood in him. Not one!
I might have believed it if the demon had come for me, but not Sammy!
I want to gank the monster that killed mom as much as you, dad, but I'm not gonna let you blame my kid brother for her death."
"I'm not blaming him Dean. But Sam is mixed up in this somehow and we've gotta find out the truth," John insisted.
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Dean took a step back, a sarcastic smile on his handsome feature. "So that's why you've been creeping Sam out, studying him like some rare butterfly. I told the kid he was imaging things. Didn't believe him, but he was right, wasn't he? That's why you haven't run off again on a hunt.
I just don't get you, Dad.
Why are you so up and ready to believe a lying demon when he spews poison over your kid. Or is it that you need someone to blame for mom's death and now you've got a name,... Sam Winchester?"
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Dean saw the anger flare up in his father's eyes.
John was used to being obeyed especially by his eldest who usually went along with his father's actions, trusting him implicitly, but Sam was a bone of contention and Dean became a guard-dog when his little brother was threatened, even by his own father!
"Listen, Dean. I'm gonna be looking for answers. You have to understand. I'm doing it for Sam too. The more I can find out, the more we can protect him. But I'm not gonna pretend. Demons are evil and if one is interested in Sam..."
"What? " Dean cut in. " There you go again! Sam is not evil and even if he was, he's my baby brother and nobody gets to touch a hair on his head."
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There was nothing more to be said as far as Dean was concerned. He would try even harder to protect his brother from the evil out there, or even, he reflected ruefully, from the dangers nearer at hand.
He shivered at the thought that John might find out more about what had gone down that night if it truly involved Sam.
Dad didn't discriminate shades of grey in hunting.
You were either a monster that needed to be put down or an innocent human to be saved. If dad thought Sam was tainted with evil, Dean wasn't all that sure he'd be safe from his own father.
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The pale face that drew quickly back from behind the room's curtains told him Sam had witnessed his little tête-à-tête with dad in the parking lot and he knew Sam would want to know what had been said.
Dean sighed. He had a lot to think about.
When he lay down on the bed next to his brother who was unsuccessfully feigning sleep, he came to the foregone conclusion that if ever he had to make the hard choice between his dad and Sammy..., well there was no choice!
TBC