Update time again. Humm, judging from the reaction of chapter 14, I'm on the mind set that you guys weren't that impressed with Dean's confession. Ah well, nothing I can do about it now, that part of the secret is now out and there's no way it's going back in the box.
Thank you to those who did leave me a review, it was nice knowing what you thought of the situation and of course where you think this is going now. Extra credit to the reader who spotted that Dean only told Sam part of the truth, you get the extra cookie :o)
Well hope you guys like this chapter, its a little looksie to where John's been since he took off from 'Forsaken'.
Chapter 15- Dearest Daddy
Sam Winchester marched along the sand, angrily ploughing into the dry, grainy substance with every step he took. The night air was peaceful and on any other night, Sam would have enjoyed the scene of serenity that was Clearwater Beach.
Tonight however was not any other night.
Sam finally stopped stomping and sank onto the sand in the darkness and drew his knees up to his chest. He heard his stomach rumble, he'd still not found the time to eat.
He knew behind him a couple hundred feet, sat his temporary home. Sam felt a sarcastic chuckle escape his mouth.
Temporary home.
All of half an hour it hadn't had the word temporary in front of it.
It was just home.
The Winchester home.
And all Sam had been waiting for was for their Dad to come back from his trip and join them in their home.
Sam shook his head, he could feel the anger stewing through his veins, but realised more dangerously that the anger was passing and sadness was quickly descending on him. Sam wasn't ready to deal with the sadness; he still wanted to deal with his anger. Part of him wanted to punch him, oh man did part of him just want to grab Dean and bash some sense into that head of his.
The other just wanted to wrap his arms around him and tell him that everything would be ok.
That he forgave him.
That they would be ok.
Sam sighed as he let his chin rest on his hands, the wind gently blowing his shaggy brown hair off his face. The sea air was warm and thick with salt. Just a wonderful experience that any other night would have been heaven sent to the youngest of the Winchesters.
He'd died.
Sam shook his head, Dean must have been in some warped, confusing reality for him to believe that he could actually die and come back to life. Those things didn't happen, those things couldn't happen.
At least Sam was pretty sure they couldn't happen.
" No way..." Sam murmured, " He can't be..."
Dean couldn't be right; yet it explained Dean's completely freaked out behaviour.
Sam sighed as he thought about Dean. His warrior brother, his protector. The idiot had been so busy trying to protect him that he'd never stopped once to consider how things would actually turn out; Dean had assumed that things would just be ok.
Lies, it wasn't something Dean and Sam did. In their line of work, in their relationship, lies simply didn't pay. I mean, of course there were times where they'd both covered up over stupid things they'd done, those kinds of things were allowed, those were ok; but this lie wasn't ok.
Which is why it puzzled Sam even more, to why Dean had continued to lie to him..? This just wasn't how Dean operated; the normal Dean would have sat him down as soon as they had got out from the hospital and told him the truth.
Sam chuckled out loud again at his own wistful thinking.
Who exactly was he trying to convince..? Himself..? Dean would have never told Sam the truth about their father, simply because he was trying to save Sam feeling the same empty loss and abandonment that Dean had been experiencing the last few weeks.
Sam for a minute tried to place himself in Dean's shoes, and truth was, he'd do anything to try and keep Dean's peace of mind. To feel that alone, to wake up from the crash and find out that their father had bailed on them, to discover that your brother was dying; it would have been enough to send Sam into the loopy bin. But it had been Dean who had woken up and was left to fend for himself again, Dean had been left to pick up the broken pieces that were once again the Winchester family.
And Dean had done it without once asking for help. He hadn't asked once, he'd just sucked it up and got on with it, like he did each and every time.
Sam felt his anger grow suddenly; how could his father have been so stupid to leave both his children in hospital and take off the way he did..? Did John just assume that Sam would wake up from the coma and that everything would be alright again, the soldiers would be ready for another battle..?
Dean's obvious anger and flinching at the mention of their father recently suddenly made a lot of sense. Dean was stinking mad at what his father had done, and judging from Dean's broken performance tonight, Dean was also feeling very, very alone and unwanted.
Sam sighed heavily.
Dean didn't deserve to feel unwanted.
No matter what he did, and no matter how angry Sam was with Dean; Sam knew his brother had done what he did because he cared.
" Stupid idiot..." Sam said with a chuckle as he slowly got to his feet.
Dean was scared.
Sam was always sure that behind all that bravado that Dean oozed, lay a young boy that had never been allowed to show any emotion, to grieve, to celebrate, or just be normal. Dean had no idea how to deal with what was going on inside of him, and tonight he'd just imploded on himself.
As Sam trotted back to the house, still unsure of what he was going to say to Dean, how he would deal with Dean, he knew that he didn't have the right to make his brother suffer for this. Yes his stupid brother had made a huge mistake by lying to him, but that was all it was; a mistake.
Dean was beating himself up enough over it; Sam wasn't going to add to the blows that Dean was raining in on himself.
There was just too much to think about.
Sam wasn't quite ready to deal with the fact that he'd been dead and was now, well, very much alive; he'd deal with that another day.
The standing over Sam's bed, prodding him awake every night, checking on him all the time; it now all made sense.
Dean was terrified that Sam was going to die.
No wonder Dean resembled a thirty year old man at the moment, the boyish youth his brother seeped with his smile, charm, eyes; in the last few weeks they'd just vanished. Instead Sam had been on the receiving end of confusion, nerves, agitation, anger, and guilt.
Lots and lots of weird guilt.
Sam considered the thought as he approached the house. There was something not quite right about tonight, something that he couldn't quite put his finger on, but something wasn't making sense to the younger Winchester.
And then it hit him.
...It said if I told you the truth that I'd lose you forever; please don't let it be right...
Dean's voice echoed in Sam's head like a painful premonition.
Sam's foot rested on the bottom step of the beach house, an intense look filtered across his face.
Who the hell was Dean talking about..?
Sam's face was registered on determination; there was only one way to find out.
Ask the man himself...
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John Winchester grabbed his cell phone off his bag, just as his ring tone cut out. His hair still dripping water from the earlier shower he'd just had, pooled droplets onto his bed.
Sitting down on the bed, he noticed the three missed calls, all from the same person.
Bobby.
John swallowed as he sucked in a deep breath and hit re-dial. The phone was answered instantly.
" Where the hell are you Johnny..?" Bobby spat down the phone, " I've been trying to call you all day.."
" Is everything ok..?" John curtly asked, purposely ignoring the anger that was clear in his old hunter buddy's voice. " My boys, are they alright..?"
" You would know the answer to that John if you were here.." Bobby muttered, which was then promptly followed by a groan.
John's heart skipped a beat.
" What's happened to them...?" John demanded, " Is Sam alright..? Dean..? Bobby for god sakes, what's going on..?"
" They've vanished..." Bobby finally said in a small voice, " I'm trying my best here John, I was keeping an eye on them, but it's hard to spy on them when you're not supposed to be seen by them; your boys are good at tracking.."
A small smile flickered across John's face, despite the situation. " Did Dean catch you tailing them..?"
" No..!" Bobby said sounding disgusted at the thought, his voice however then dropped; the hostility vanished, " John where are you..?"
" I'm checking into a few things..." John said tightly, " Look, is everything ok with my boys, cause I really have to go.."
" I just told you they vanished, and you're telling me you got to get going...?" Bobby snapped, " What the hell is wrong with you..?"
" Look, Dean's probably taken Sam out of the hospital for the day or so, you know, the boys are probably climbing the walls in there..." John said with a sigh, " Dean goes crazy if you leave him anywhere too long, and a day in a hospital is too long for that boy.."
" John, I thought we could find them, there are so many people looking out for them, keeping an eye and we've all turned up nothing.." Bobby finally said. " John, I know you're following up on the bastard you're after, that's why I didn't get in contact sooner, but, man, now we're running out of ideas and options.."
John was silent; the blood was running cold in his system. He finally found his voice.
" When was the last time you saw them..?" John whispered, his voice barely audible.
" About two weeks ago..." Bobby said quickly, " Johnny, we've got every hunter under the sun looking for them.."
John's heart somersaulted into his mouth. This could not be happening. It couldn't be. Not know. Not when he was so close to getting to the one thing he needed more than anything. Not when he was so close to finally finding a way to killing the yellow eyed bastard.
" Call the hunters off..." John said in a small voice.
" What..?" Bobby said, unable to hide the shock in his voice. " Why..? John they're better than the freaking police...!"
" How the hell did this happen..?!" John said feeling his anger boiling, his frustration growing. This was too unfair, he'd come so far, come so close; and now everything was about to come tumbling down around him.
" John, calm down..." Bobby said in a plain tone, " Last time they were spotted was in the parking lot with the Impala..."
" Two weeks ago..? But Sam wouldn't have even been well enough to leave the hospital..? Bobby, god sakes, I ask you to do one thing..!" John shouted, unable to hide his anger no more, " Just keep an eye on them, but instead, you let them take off, and then not bother to tell me about it until two weeks after it's happened..!"
" Now hang on a friggin second John, no way in hell are you pinning this crap on me..!" Bobby spat, " I care about your boys, but god damn it John, they're your boys, not mine ! You're supposed to be looking after them, taking care of them !"
" You son of a bitch..." John snarled, the truth hitting him like razors.
" I told you not to take off, I warned you that Dean and Sam would realise that you bailed on them, I told you not to leave them...!" Bobby yelled, his voice filled with intensity " Now your boys are gone, gone where nobody knows; yet you want to pin this on me..?"
There was silence from the other end.
" John, is the information you found worth this much to you..? Is it worth losing your sons, cause if you don't be careful, you're gonna lose both your children, if you haven't done so already..." Bobby said heatedly, however there was a hint of sadness in his voice; sadness that John heard.
" John..?" Bobby snapped, " John, we have to do something, now..."
" I'm gonna start looking..." John said in a small voice.
" We'll find them..." Bobby said simply, " Every hunter I know is looking for them.."
John winced at what he was about to say.
" I need you to call all those hunters and tell them that you made a mistake, that my boys had gone on vacation somewhere, anywhere; just get them to stop looking for my children.." John said in a no nonsense tone.
" Why..?" Bobby asked in confusion, " You need all the help you can get John, you said so yourself, Sam isn't well enough to be leaving the hospital, yet he's taken off with Dean somewhere. Unless your brain has switched off John, Dean loves his brother more than anything, there is no way in hell that Dean would drag Sam's butt out of that hospital without having a damn good reason why.."
John was quiet for a moment as he considered the suggestion. His heart tightened again.
" Something's after them..." John finally concluded with a sigh.
" It's the only thing that makes sense.." Bobby muttered, " You still want me to call the other hunters and tell them to back off...?"
John chewed his bottom lip as he thought about the new dimension to the equation.
" Yes..." John said in a breathless tone as he heard Bobby gasp in confusion.
" Johnny, what the hell is going on...?" Bobby demanded, " I want to know, now...!"
" I'll talk to you soon Bobby, I promise..." John quickly said as he watched his bedroom door open, " Please, just get the others to back off them, please..."
Before Bobby had a chance to protest the order, John hung up on him.
John's hazel eyes looked up from his sitting position on the bed and met with a pair of concerned brown eyes.
" You look like you could do with a shot of whiskey..." Ben Vetorio said as he sat down on the bed beside John.
The forty-six year old man smiled at John Winchester, who was deep in thought.
" John, you better level with me..." Ben finally said.
John sighed deeply as his head dropped.
" My boys.." John said quietly, " They've taken off..."
Ben's eyes widened, " Taken off, where..?"
" I don't know, but from what I can guess is that something must be after them..." John said scrubbing his face in frustration. " All the hunters are trying to help find them..."
Ben clicked his tongue as he looked at John's profile, " You think that's such a good idea considering, well, you know, everything..."
" They've been missing two weeks..." John finally admitted, as he looked up at Ben, " Ben, I left Dean some co-ordinates sending them to New York..."
" To us..?" Ben said in disbelief, " So you've sent hunters here, after everything you said..."
" I've got Bobby calling them off, I promised you I'd keep you can your family safe, not to mention my own boys, after everything with Sam and his visions and stuff, he's a walking freaking target to those people.."
" And this friend of yours whose calling off the hunters, can you trust him..?" Ben asked curiously, his ebony black hair falling into his eyes as he refused to break the eye contact with the uncomfortable looking John Winchester in front of him. " Or is he also a hunter..?"
" Bobby is a hunter, but he's a good guy Ben..." John said, " He won't do anything to hurt any of my boys..."
" It's not your boys I'm worried about, it's mine.." Ben said now standing up, his bronze skin seemed to boil in anger as he looked at John. " I knew this was gonna happen..."
" I told you that I wouldn't endanger your family, and I meant it Ben.." John said in a reassuring tone, " You're my last hope at catching this freaking thing, if I wasn't desperate, I wouldn't be here.."
" I don't like lying to my boys..." Ben hissed as he trained his ears to keep listening for the bedroom door, " They think you're just an old friend of their dads..."
A smile mustered on John's face, " That's technically not a lie, we are old friends..."
" Johnny, you're a hunter, your kind kills my kind for a friggin living..!" Ben snapped heatedly, " The situation is anything but laugh worthy, do you have any idea what would happen if hunters blew through this town and worked out who my kids are, what they are...?"
" I will not lead anyone to you, I gave you my word..." John said with a smile, " I won't let anything happen to your boys, I've got to know them in the last couple weeks, and they remind me so much of my own; I won't let any hunter come near them..."
" You better not..." Ben said simply, a small smile filtering onto his handsome face, " Cause I won't protect your ass from them if you get busted, cause after my two are done with you, then you'll deal with me..."
" I can't think of anything more scary than dealing with three Vetorio's..." John said with a smile, but his face slowly clouded as he thought once again about his boys.
Ben sighed loudly and looked over at his old friend.
" Any ideas where your boys would go..? Or what they're running from..?" Ben asked with a sigh, which John shook his head at.
" I don't have a clue, they've been gone for two weeks and nobody has a clue to what direction they took off from..." John admitted, " It's like they just dropped off the face of the earth..."
John's stomach suddenly plummeted to his feet, the colour drained from his face.
" Unless they're de..-" John started to whisper, but the words wouldn't allow for completion.
" Uh-uh..." Ben said furiously shaking his head, " No way, not your two. If there even half as good as you say they are, then there fine.."
" God I hope you're right..." John said in a small voice, " Ben, if anything happens to them, if I lose them..."
" You won't..." Ben said putting an arm on John's shoulder and giving it a squeeze, " I promise you, we won't let anything get your boys..."
" Thanks.." John said with a weak smile.
" But first we got to find them..." Ben said with a smile. " Leave that to me..."
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Hope you enjoyed it, and please if you get a chance leave little old me a review. I'm dying for some freaking inspiration here people !