Revelations 2: Lost and Found

by everfaithful

Sequel to Revelations: Johns death revealed two secrets, not just one. Sam is willing to sacrifice it all to give his brother a chance at life, a real life, But Dean isnt willing to let that happen.

10. Chapter 10

-1Dean climbed on, but man was it a bumpy ride. He thought he was going to get thrown off a couple of times, only to come to with Jack shaking his shoulders. "Dude, get off." Dean said, waking up slowly. Though he didn't want to.

"Do you have any idea how long I have been trying to wake you up?" Jack asked, looking more than a little pale. "How much did you drink last night?"

"Who knows?" Dean said with a forced chuckle as he rubbed his eyes. But dammit he didn't want to wake up. He knew where Jack was. And he'd finally found Sammy, if only in his head. "Hey, I've got, like, a month of drinking to make up for."

"Don't scare me like that. " He said with a sigh, then picked up the bag of donuts and set it in front of Dean, along with the cup of coffee. "Breakfast?"

Dean chuckled. "Sure." He said and took the coffee and opened the bag, taking a donut. "You're up awfully early. Don't tell me Kaylie's losing her touch."

"Couldn't sleep." Jack confessed. "Something felt odd last night. Felt like I was being watched. Which is probably just me being paranoid but... with everything that's been going on... I get to be paranoid."

"Dude, you don't think your crazy whack job aunt was watching you have sex with your girlfriend, do you?" Dean said, with a way too innocent and shocked face to be serious. "That's just wrong."

"That would be seriously creepy. No I don't think she was watching us have sex, I just... it's just a feeling. waiting for the other shoe to drop ya know. "

"Yeah, believe me I know." Dean said as he stared pensively out at the ocean. "Jack, do you have your life planned out, or are you just living moment to moment, hoping two moments from now you're still breathing?"

"More or less planned out. Plans changed though. I dropped the business major and opted for medicine instead. Plan to get married one day, have a home, blonde haired green eyed children, maybe a dog and a couple of cats."

"Yeah, you've got a good shot at accomplishing that too." Dean said with a laugh. Ben and Dean considered it a given they'd be planning a bachelor party at some point. Just waiting for Jack to get the nerve up was all. "Course, the kids could have dark hair and dark eyes, in which case you'd pretty much have failed at your life plan. I don't even know how to come up with a plan for next week, never mind life."

"That's cause you haven't let yourself dream." Jack said."Life plans... it's all about getting to that dream. I've always wanted a family... a real family of my own. I guess it's a small dream compared to most people, but it's mine. So everything has been built around that... you just gotta let yourself really dream."

Dean chuckled. Dream? He did that. Then he woke up. Though, sure, he'd had some really good dreams not involving Sam (not even close, not even anywhere close). "I don't know. Maybe I'll be a beach bum.

"It's easy... except for that whole food, shelter and booze thing. All that crap that costs money." Jack said with a smile. "You'll figure something out. Even if it's just how to legally support your rock salt habit."

"Dude, the government is going to pay that for me." Dean said with a laugh. "Oh, you missed that part. Hush money. Gotta love it. You know, for being persecuted and nearly executed." He took the paper out of his pocket, naming the amount, and passed it to Jack. "That's a shitload of rocksalt right there."

"Man, that's a house of your own, maybe a garage... AND enough rocksalt and Tequila for a year or three. " It wouldn't keep Dean in high style but it could get him a good start in life. If that was what he wanted. "And all I have to do is limit my statements to one statement on how I'm happy to be exonerated blah blah blah. But I wasn't even planning on doing THAT. No talk shows for this guy." Dean said with a laugh. "I don't know. Gives me some leeway for whatever I decide, right? When I decide it. Definitely pays for car parts."

"There is that. Could get the wreck fixed up easy with that. I don't know, man... I would give it some serious thought as to what you want out of life cause this nest egg here could make up for some lost time for you."

"Guess it's as good a time as any to be a little selfish." Dean said, echoing his other brother's words, even if Jack didn't know that. "Find out who Dean Winchester actually is other than what he's made sure everyone else sees."

Jack nodded. "Yeah... it is." He smiled. "Who knows? You might actually like that guy when you figure out who he is."

"I might." Dean said. "Or I'll hate his guts, in which case the government can still pay for the tequila. It evens out. So we're doing this dinner thing for real? They didn't by chance call to cancel while you weren't sleeping?"

"I wish they would cancel. I don't know what the hell makes them think I will come around. They abandoned my mom. It's one thing for her hunter boyfriend that wasn't in love with her in the first place to kick her to the curb but for her own parents to do it? That's messed up. Then there is the whole kidnapping fiasco. I would so rather have dinner with an angry porcupine in a phone booth."

"Dude, there's better applications for one of those old fashioned phone booths you know." Dean said, shaking his head. "Well, it's in public. And I got your back. It'll be fine. Free food too. Hard to turn down free food as long as they didn't make it."

"True enough, and I picked the restaurant so it's going to be good food too." He said shaking his head. "And you know... I think after dinner we are taking you over to the club and letting you hit on the girls for a while. Someone will take pity on you and take you home for the night cause... man... you obviously need to get laid if what I said made you think of sex."

"Gee thanks." Dean said with a chuckle. "I bet I can get my own girl though, that has nothing to do with anyone taking pity on me." Because women wanted it just as bad as men did, they just chose to never admit it. "Dude, I just got out of prison. Where the kind of sex I'm into, well, it doesn't happen. So I've been denied, deprived..."

"For a month. Hardly long enough for anything to turn blue. Admit it... you are obsessed." Jack teased.

"And it's a good obsession. Really." Dean said with a laugh. "Even when I was in the hospital, I never went a month without sex. You think just out of prison is a good line, you should see I was just in a major car accident."

"Man... you scare me." Jack said with a laugh. "So what do you want to do today? I have the weekend free then it's back to classes on monday. Thankfully they were willing to be understanding with that whole brother on trial thing."

"Dude, that's low. Using me as an excuse to get out of homework and all that. And I don't get anything out of the deal." Dean said. "I don't know. I got some beer to finish up, tequila bottle to open up...and just...wow...breathe. I haven't actually done that for a while."

"Dude, you get plenty out of the deal."Jack said with a laugh, indicating the paper Dean had showed him earlier. "Regan gets her cut, and a lot of publicity... Ben gets another excuse to bitch, which we both know makes him happy ... me? I get ulcers and behind in class."

"Oh you got lots of sympathy sex, don't even start." Dean said with a laugh. "Ulcers? She'll cook something that won't bother your stomach. Behind in class, I'm sure she'll help you study. Geez, try to play the pity card much? That's my game, bro."

"Then she that got kidnapped? Ha! She is mad at me for hovering too much." He said, although she was more frustrated than mad. "It's all good. And if you wanted to get someone to do all those things for you... the trick is to ask a girl out more than once."

"And why would I do that?" Dean said with a smirk. Though, really, he had an undeniable fear of them leaving. So if he left first, no one could leave him. Jack had a good luck streak going that he was family, therefore he didn't apply to the above conclusion. "Well, better her than me. Because my aim is much better."

"Nice." Jack said. "My brother is a man whore who would shoot me for being over protective. The things ya find out about a guy."

"Aw come on, not like I'd shoot to kill. Just shoot to stun with a tranq dart or something. Something so I can get away." Dean teased. "You know, run off with one of Ben's girls for the weekend. I'd return her by Monday."

"I don't know, you go off with chicks and wind up in intensive care- dying on us." Jack teased. "Then again... I think the torture that Carla would put you through would be of a much less traumatic nature." He said referring to one of Ben's kinkier dancers.

"Hey, there was this one nurse's aide in the ICU...she was pretty frisky. Had a thing for guys so banged up they weren't recognizable." Dean said with a smirk. "See what happens when you go off for coffee and don't return for a few hours?"

"You are such a slut." Jack said with a laugh. "Can you even remember how many women you have been with? Have you had an AIDS test? Wow...you know... I have had one girlfriend... One... since before my voice changed. "

"The prison gave me the full work up. No AIDS, hepatitis, TB, herpes, clap. syphillis...I'm clean. Well, at least that way. Mind completely in the gutter." Dean said. "Yeah, you and Kaylie are adorable. And I might be able to come up with a number." If he thought hard enough, but eventually they just blended all together in his mind. "But you're happy, right?"

"Very much so. It wasn't a complaint. It was just a comparison." Jack said. "I don't need variety. I got lucky enough to find the real thing early. Don't get me wrong, I'm all guy and I find other women attractive, indulge in the occasional fantasy that Kaylie would kill me for, well... if I acted on it anyway... but she's all I need. All I really want. "

"Then good for you." Dean said and clapped his brother on the shoulder. "Don't let me rub off on you then. God knows anyone with Winchester DNA is dysfunctional enough without adding more problems than you need to. See, my thing is relationships. Sam's got that whole demon thing, and nephalim thing. You've got abandonment by parents, raised by a demon and now some freaky ass magical powers. I'll take the women thing."

"I am so not getting into the freaky ass magical powers. I don't mind the seeing magic thing... that can be useful but using it ... that's another story. I think you and I... we have the same problem... just deal with it in the reverse. Abandonment. You push people away before they can get close and hurt you.. I hang on for dear life. I tell you it's a miracle I'm not some sort of stalker or something. I don't let go easy." He laughed.

"Oh really? Hadn't noticed." Dean said with a laugh. "You just checked on your incredibly above age brother, who can definitely take care of himself, because you're so easy going in that department. But seriously, it's okay to let Kaylie go to the bathroom without timing her."

"Yeah... at home." He said. "She went for a soda... in a crowded courthouse... and poof she was gone." Jack shook his head, still not dealing with it well. "I don't think any one is as safe as they think they are."

"I heard a quote once, I forget where. Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you." Dean said. "Vigilance can be good, but you get carried away with it and start building a bunker or something, and people start issuing restraining orders. All I'm saying, dude."

"I know... not that far gone... I mean I don't follow her everywhere, I don't monitor her every move but... My mother's family is evil. They sent Hendrickson after you... thank God that had nothing to do with me... but they kidnapped her in broad daylight in a secure building. I don't know how to protect her against that. Not without giving in to them."

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, I'll be sending a nice message to them through Hendrickson." Dean said. Since he was sure Hendrickson wasn't human, that made him fair game, right? Besides, it was needed. Hendrickson talked smack about his father, hounded Dean and Sam around the country, then kidnapped the baby brother's girlfriend. That wasn't allowed to stand.

SNSNSN

Sam looked at the tray of liquid and wrinkled his nose. Broth, juice, coffee without cream. Not so much as a cracker. He sighed. His stomach said it was far hungrier than that but he knew it was lying. Especially when he took a spoon full of the broth and it actually took effort to get it down.

"I don't know if I can handle this vacation thing." Sam said to the aging priest.

"Nonsense. It's good for you." Father Pavel said with a chuckle as he took a seat at the bedside. "I know, it's hard. But when you can outrun me, we'll talk about getting back to work."

"Depends on what's on our heels. You would be surprised how fast I can run when injured or half dead." He said with a faint laugh of his own.

"I can run fast in those circumstances also." Father Pavel said with a chuckle. "You're doing well from what I hear. A lot of that medical stuff flies over my head, but I understand the terms progressing well."

"That's what they say, then they feed me... this." He said with a half a smile, pushing aside the broth in favor of something hopefully more palatable.

"Oh you poor child." Father Pavel said. "Imagine the horror of doctors and nurses and your friends doing what is best for you. I suppose they could not feed you at all, and you can survive on the intravenous things if you really want to. I'll just tell the kitchen not to bother anymore."

Sam laughed and winced, between the bruised and busted ribs and his incision. It really hurt to laugh, but it felt good on a different level. "So tell me about this vacation spot we are going to?"

"Very peaceful. It's a retreat we use on a lake, when we need some time away to just reflect. It's not overly religious, we've kept the statuary to a contemplation garden only." Father Pavel said. "The sunrise over the lake is one of the most remarkable things I've ever seen. There are ducks that make their home there. Once, I saw a family of swans."

"Sounds nice... the sort of place that would drive my brother insane after the first day." He said with a smile. Dean was on his thoughts a great deal. Even more since that dream. It had been so real... as though he were really there.

"Ah, the brother that is at home in a noisy bar." Father Pavel said with a laugh. "Yes, that sort of rest would get on his nerves fairly quickly I would believe. But it might be good for him too. But people have their own way of finding peace."

"I don't think we ever really looked for peace. Just...a moment of not fighting. Everytime it got too peaceful, of things started going too well... that's when all hell usually broke loose... sometimes literally."

"Yes, I can also see that too." Father Pavel said. "There is no hell on the lake though. Just recovery and quiet."

"Now if they would just spring me out of here... you know we can cut out of here early... I'll be good. " He said giving his best puppy dog eyes, and laughing at the look he recieved in return.

"The doctors said you were progressing. But they did have their hands in your gut for a few hours. Perhaps a little bit more rest here with the nice staff here wouldn't be such a bad thing?" Father Pavel said with a twinkle in his eye. "I heard they use restraints for the more difficult patients."

"Somehow... that doesn't sound as fun to me as it would to Dean... of course that could be because the nurses are nuns." Sam said, easing back against the pillows. "Not that... that would... stop Dean."

SNSNSN

Sunday was up on him sooner than he liked. Jack wasn't up for this dinner. He wasn't up for this whole new aspect of his family. He probably could have forgiven the whole tossing his mother to the wolves thing. He had sort of forgiven his father posthumously. But kidnapping Kaylie and going after his brother for no reason He could define... definitely made him uncomfy.

"So you ready for this?" He asked as he helped Dean unpack his beach gear from the car. "Sure." Dean said. "It's not a big deal. We eat, she buys us food, we pretend to listen to her, and if she gets annoying, we leave. Stop making a big production out of everything." He teased as he lugged his sleeping bag out of the trunk.

"I'm not... I just... It wigs me out is all. Still pissed beyond belief about the whole abduction thing. I hate that there is no way to make them pay for that. "

"Sure there is. Subject them to your completely rude and unmannered older brother. Not all pay back has to be violent after all." Dean said. "It'll be fine. Come on, ready? I'll drive."

Jack laughed at that. "And to think the woman chose you over Ben. I gave them the option you know. Only when she objected about me bringing any one along at all. But hello, I wasn't born yesterday. Not going in there alone."

"Maybe she's not a fan of second hand smoke." Dean said with a laugh. "I'm surprised you chose me, thought for sure you'd go with Kaylie. Hope you don't expect sex, because you are completely NOT my type."

"Oh yeah... that would be good, take Kaylie back into the lion's den. Not giving them a second chance at her. I know that's insane and paranoid but seriously would you let someone you cared about go have dinner with their kidnapper?"

"Probably not." Dean said with a laugh. "Just letting you know this is a sex free evening is all. Come on, let's go so we can get a little drunk before they show up. Or at least me, I act worse the more alcohol I have, and I definitely do not want to make a good impression."

Jack shook his head as he got into the car. "Man... even if you werent my brother... wouldn't go there with someone else's equipment. God only knows where that thing has been." He teased back.

"On many a delightful journey." Dean said as he pulled out and headed to the restaurant. He pulled in and got out. "Well, here we go. Could always change your mind you know."

"No... this was the price to get Kaylie back. I'll go. But unless they break out some sort of genuine charm... we won't be back a second time." He said as he got out as well.

It wasn't one of his favorite restaurants but it was a good one. "Reservation for Hsiao." He said and they were led to a table and menus set on the table before them.

Dean was completely unaccustomed to places that took reservations. But he shifted a bit in his chair, with his beat up jeans, biker boots, worn tee shirt covered by a flannel and ordered a beer. At least the place served beer.

Then Mei, and an older gentleman approached the table. "Hello, Jack. We are glad you could come." Mei said. "I told you your grandfather might come."

Jack rose, because it was polite. He nodded to his aunt, and grandfather, locking gazes with Teneke Hsiao. The man who had made the decision to cast his mother to the wolves. Who was ultimately responsible for the abduction, for Hendrickson. "Yeah... Nice to meet you." It wasn't, but manners so often required little white lies.

Teneke bowed his head. "And it is very nice to finally meet you." He sat down, then Mei did. "I understand your trepidation."

"Trepidation? Dude, you kidnapped his girlfriend." Dean said. "Not to mention sent your little hitman after me, his brother. Not exactly the best way to get in the family way with a guy you know."

Teneke leveled an even gaze on the oldest Winchester. "And you must be Dean Winchester. Son of John Winchester." He said calmly.

"Yeah... my brother." Jack said as he took his seat. "You two have things in common. Dean's a hunter... I understand that Mom's family is a hunter family. I suppose that's why you decided to disown your own flesh and blood."

"Yes, well, hunters have narrow foci on such things." Teneke said. "But we are not here to discuss our relationship with your mother, for good or for bad."

"Well, yeah, because then you'd have to admit that you were a total asshole to her." Dean said.

"The same could be said for your father." Teneke said cooly.

"Dad was an asshole to just about everyone." Dean said with a grin.

"Your relationship with my mother... colors your relationship with me." Jack said honestly. "I can probably get past it. Not that I accept it or condone it, considering you were the one the demon was wearing when mother was conceived... a demon that I learned to call grandfather by the way. "

"Hopefully that is a habit of which you have broken yourself." Teneke said. And Dean had to agree, considering this was a demon who was related to the one that was trying to kill Dean, had killed John and Mary and was after his brother in a bad way.

"Perhaps we should order?" Mei suggested as she waved the waiter over.

"It is... I suppose the point was, I had a grandfather when I was a child. This isn't a vacancy I am trying to fill in my life. Not trying to be a jerk, but... after everything that has gone on... I'm not sure about any of this." He picked up his menu to look at it briefly.

"Yeah, demons pretty much filled the void for him. Grandfather, father. That sort of thing." Dean said as he glanced at the menu and ordered some red meat. Because he liked red meat. "Shit, in some ways, Ben's a better dad than most dads I know. Including mine. And I had him my whole life." Kinda had him, as much as anyone had John Winchester after Mary died.

"Ben is a great dad." Jack said with a genuine smile. "Kept me out of trouble, taught me to work hard whether I had to or not, taught me how to care about people and the impact I had on them. A lot of dads... don't know how to do that." Jack ordered prime rib and a scotch and soda. He was going to need it if he was going to sit here with the people that had made his mother cry. When she still had a soul that could still ache.

Teneke looked uncomfortable with the turn of conversation. "I have no great love for demons. I was violated by one so many years ago, in a way that I cannot forgive." He said. "Therefore, it is best if we do not discuss the demonic side of life over dinner."

"Yeah... and I was almost killed by narrow minded hunters at three. " Jack said. "Would have died a slow agonizing death if it hadn't been for that demon who violated you, Ben and my mother. Doesn't leave us alot to talk about if we make old pain off limits. So what is it you wanted to talk about anyway?"

"Ooh, I've got an idea." Dean said as Mei excused herself to go to the restroom. "We could talk about Hendrickson. Apparently you people sicced him on me. I would sure love an explanation for that one, seeing as I don't even know you people."

"Hendrickson is no longer our concern. You may deal with him as you see fit... if you can."

"Ooh, that sounds like a dare, dude. Didn't that sound like a dare, Jack?" Dean said. "couple of questions. Is he human? And why did you sic him on me and Kaylie. Neither of us did anything to you guys after all."

"The young lady isn't your concern. " He said taking a sip of the tea he had ordered. "As for you, your family is dangerous. You are dangerous. If you had not been so obvious it would not have happened. You have only yourself to blame."

"Wow. So you think I'm dangerous? Cool." Dean said. "But you didn't answer my question. Is the son of a bitch human? Because I'm not like you, and if he's human, he's off limits. I'll find another way." Much like Sam did with Gordon. And...accidents could be arranged. "I don't really get off on terrorizing humans, especially young girls and their boyfriends."

"He is not human." Teneke said, assuming that Hendrickson could take care of himself. "And the young woman was not terrorized. She slept peacefully through out her stay. "

"That's not the point." Jack said. "The point is kidnapping is wrong." He said as though speaking to a child. "And your lap dog had me scared out of my mind thinking some freak psycho had her and was leading me on a wild goose chase all around town."

"She has been returned to you safe and sound." Teneke said, echoing Jack's tone. "And we are having a peaceful dinner, are we not?" The waiter brought their salads over as Mei returned to the table.

"Dude, you're hopeless." Dean said, shaking his head.

"With that sort of attitude... it might be our last. Kaylie is going to be my wife. She isn't a pawn. Your lack of remorse at the situation isn't winning me over."

"Has the young lady said yes?" Mei asked. "There wasn't an engagement ring on her finger." She said to her brother, who nodded.

"Jack, we are family. If this man here is considered family by genetics, why can't we be considered the same?" Teneke asked gently.

"You have this attitude... and it comes off like being my family gives you the right to do what ever you want... and it doesn't. You're family. I'm not going to deny that. We share genetics, and a last name. You raised my mother. But it's your actions that I am still struggling with."

Teneke sighed. "Perhaps one day we will move past this." He said. "In the meantime, why don't you tell me about your self? I'm interested in anything you have to say."

"Why? You want someone else to use against me? Why is remorse so hard for you people? " He sighed in frustration , leaning back in his seat to take a few bites of his food. "I have an associate's degree in business management... but I am now working on a paramedic's license. " It was neutral enough.

Teneke nodded. "That does not surprise me. Your mother had healing powers inherited not from the demon, but from my side of the family." He said. "It does not surprise me that you in your own way find enjoyment in healing people."

These people were driving him insane. How could he trust them when they didn't feel the slightest bit of remorse in terrorizing him? Now they wanted to chit chat as though they were simply estranged all these years. He shook his head and glanced over at Dean.

"Yeah... something like that. What is it you do in Hong Kong?"

"I run a chain of natural and organic foods, with a homeopathic branch." Teneke said. "It's quite popular, actually. I have branches in Taiwan, Japan, the Phillippines. Perhaps one day the United States."

Dean shook his head. He was a grocer? He didn't see THAT one coming!

"Must be lucrative if you can drop everything to come to the States to ... terrorize your grandson into submission." He felt strange. Not entirely unlike his one and only experience with drugs. But he had been watching his drink the entire time... there was no way that could be the case.

Dean made a face. He didn't feel right. In fact, he swore his flu was coming back. Well, at least this time he could go to an actual doctor early on. Maybe. If he felt like it. But he shook his head and took another drink of his beer.

"It's profitable." Teneke said easily. "People are tired of the pollutants, and hormones, and chemicals in their food. There is always a need for it. But I'm glad we could finally meet."

"I would be... except for the coercion." Jack said. "So let's cut through the crap, and get to it then. What is it you want? You didn't put all of this together just to meet the bastard child of a daughter you couldn't care less about. "

"I had a son, your uncle. He died a few months ago. Left no children. That makes you my only grandchild. And the last remaining Hsiao of my line." Teneke said sadly. "Our spirits cannot rest, when we die, without a male to light our ancestral fires and perform certain rituals of honor. Everything I have built will be cast to the four winds. You are my family, Jack. And we are yours. What has been awakened in you will need a guide, a steadying hand to grow and prosper."

"What was awakened in me.. is going to be shut down as soon as I figure out a way. You want me to light the ancestral fires... I might consider learning those. But more because I don't want to be the reason restless spirits are created. I can't trust you. You terrorized me. You say Kaylie was sleeping... but I wasn't. You did that to me intentionally. And you feel no remorse. Because I'm just replacement parts.. just something to light the fires so you can rest peacefully in the afterlife."

"We underestimated how much the young lady means to you. For that we apologize." Teneke said. "And please extend our apologies to her as well. But here is our number in Hong Kong." He said, sliding a card across the table. "Along with our address should you ever wish to visit."

Jack looked at the card and honestly thought to tear it up in front of them, which wasnt like him at all. Instead he picked it up and tucked it into his wallet to deal with later. "Maybe another time you can tell me about my mother." He said as the main course arrived.

"As a child your mother was exceedingly bright and curious." Teneke said, noticing how the mention of Maggie made Dean uncomfortable. And he enjoy that. So he kept going. Relating a few childhood anecdotes. Dean concentrated on his food, and tried to ignore Teneke. Because this was Jack's show. He wanted to hear about Maggie. Even if the very mention of that woman made his skin burn.

"So there was no sign of her going evil when she was little or a teenager... or even later in life." Jack said. "Wow... guess if it had been your son that had come up being a nephilim you would have given him a chance huh?"

"Hindsight does no one any good." Teneke said. "All we can do is look to the future and try to build on it. We could sit here tossing back what might have beens, but it changes what happened not at all."

"Did you read that in a fortune cookie or something?" Dean said, shaking his head.

"You know... You're a son of a bitch." Jack said. "Because you and John both turned your back on my mother I almost died, and she gave up her soul so to keep me alive. If you hadn't done it... I would still have a mother, Dean wouldn't have been tortured... But you don't care. It's not that it doesn't do any good to look back... it's that you don't give a damn about the repercussions of your actions. You dont care about anything or anyone but yourselves. " He said as he stood to his feet. "And I wont have MY family anywhere near that. I've lost my appetite, how about you?" He asked his brother.

"Oh yeah. From the moment they walked in." Dean said as he got up also. "See ya." He said and they walked out quickly. "Okay, that didn't go too badly. No punches were thrown, right?"

"Not for lack of wanting to. I have never wanted to wipe the floor with a man as much as I wanted to him. Butter wouldn't melt in his damned mouth. " Jack growled as he headed for the car.

"Dude, you okay? I mean, I'm the hot tempered one." Dean said with a small laugh. "You're the one always telling me to cool down. Now, well, you need to cool down a bit. It's over, you upheld your end of the deal and we found out Hendrickson isn't human."

"Yeah..." Jack grumbled. "I don't know. Something tonight just set me off. Guess I have the Winchester temper after all." He tried to smile but he didnt feel it. He was angry. And he was scared. Neither of which was anything he was used to. He had been pissed off before but this was different. This was something that settled in his gut and refused to let go.

"Possibly." Dean said with a shrug as he pulled out of the parking lot. His own gut was acting up, that dinner just didn't settle well. "How about we hit the burger joint and get some real food?" He suggested. "You did promise me dinner, even if there is no sex."

"Sounds good." Jack said. "Got a nasty taste to get out of my mouth anyway. A couple beers sounds like just the way to do it." He shrugged. "Wanna head over to Ben's club?"

Dean laughed. "You want to go to Ben's club? Mr I grew up with most of these strippers babysitting me and it's just too weird to see them take their clothes off? All right. Finally proving you're a Winchester after all." He said with a grin. Going to a strip club wasn't infidelity after all.

"The food's good, and you could use the entertainment after being locked up for a month. Besides, I think Amber has been aching to give you a lap dance anyway. With or with out the handcuffs." He teased.

"Ooh...so the evening might end in sex. Music to my ears." Dean said as he headed toward Ben's club.

"Just cause I'm not putting out doesn't mean someone else won't." He said with a laugh. "Kaylie is probably just as glad to be rid of me for a while."

Dean laughed. "Dude, you know that Ben's on Kaylie Watch for you. So she's probably in the back doing their hair, or teaching them how to fold napkins into swans or something."

"Yeah... that's true, she will be there. But that's okay. I think once the wicked bastard of the east is back in Hong Kong, I won't be so twitchy."

"I hope so, cause you're annoying when you're twitchy." Dean said with a laugh as he pulled into Ben's club. Even on a Sunday night he was doing good business. One thing Dean would always say about Ben that was good, the man knew how to run a strip club.

"Yeah... well... Twitchy is better than what I wanted to do back there. I have never been that angry before. I don't know, it just hit me there. " He said as he got out of the car. "And I will buy a couple of rounds. Since you are poor as a church mouse till your settlement comes in."

"Ah, not quite." He said with a laugh as he produced Teneke's credit card. "I figure he owes us a couple of lap dances, don't you?" So he swiped it. Some habits just died hard, and Ben had the foresight to get an ATM machine at the entrance. That way the men never ran out of money and he could make more. "Give me a few to figure out the PIN."

"Man, you are incorrigible. " Jack said laughing. "But what the hell, knock yourself out. Just don't get caught. It's just my inheritance you are spending anyway."

"Hey, everyone's got a talent in this world, right? This is just one of the few I can show in public, or show to my brother for that matter." Dean said with a laugh as he figured out Teneke's PIN number and withdrew a couple hundred dollars. He passed a few twenties to Jack. "So, about that first round of beer?" He said as they walked into the main room of the strip club. Where the girls were circulating, or on stage, and the bartender was weighing down the waitresses' trays with drinks and food for the customers.

Jack laughed and headed for his preferred table. Yeah, he knew that most of these girls he had grown up with, some as his baby sitter, some he had gone to school with, and he wasn't sure which was stranger to watch dance, but what the hell. He wanted good food, and familiar surroundings. And well... it couldn't hurt to watch a good striptease. Wasn't like Kaylie would care.

Amber came over with a grin as Dean took out the wad of money. Easiest way to get a stripper's attention was to flash the cash. "Now, see, that's what I'm talking about. Don't get this sort of service in prison!" Dean said to his brother with a smirk.

"Sure you do... but you know it just isn't the same when it's some bald bruiser with tattoos in questionable places."

"Okay, point taken." Dean said as he got his requested lap dance. Sure, he had every intention of bringing Amber home that night, and sure, she was doing nothing to dissuade that idea, but hey, the girl had to make a little money, right?

Jack excused himself, allowing Dean his lap dance, and went to get a pitcher. His mind was still on the meeting with his grandfather, and it was just making him angrier with each passing second.

Kaylie was sick of playing poker with Ben. He cheated too well, and she wasn't very good at it to begin with, so when his phone started ringing, she escaped to the bar to get something to drink and saw Jack. "Hey." She said with a smile, then turned concerned. "Didn't go well?"

"Depends on your definition of well. We didn't throw any punches. Dean says it went well because we didn't... I think it went badly because I really wanted to." He admitted. "So how has your night been going?"

Jack? Wanting to get physically violent with a vengeance? She had thought that Winchester gene had somehow passed him. But she smiled a bit. "Ben conned me into cooking. Then he proceeded to kick my ass at seven different kinds of poker. He's getting a kick out of this, you know."

"Keep playing with Ben, and he'll have you kicking Dean's ass in no time, and that would be pretty funny. I'd pay to see that " He said with a laugh, although it was a humorless laugh. "Turns out Hendrickson isn't human. So Dean is probably gonna go off on a vengeance. I don't know that I'm gonna risk my damned license for him a second time. He can go to the hospital like normal people now."

Kaylie cocked her head a bit as he talked. His tone was...well, it was strange. She chalked it up to the stress of meeting his mother's family under less than ideal circumstances and a hell of a lot of blackmail. "He hasn't picked up a nurse in a while. It'll be good for him." She said. Not that she wanted Jack to risk his license and all that, not at all, but that stance (the logical one) usually was hers or Ben's, not his.

"Right now I think he is going to be taking home a stripper. " He said as he placed their food orders with the bartender. "Probably just what he needs. To be on the other side of the handcuffs for a chance."

"Ew...so not an image of your brother that I want in my head." Kaylie said with a laugh as she got another soda. "Then again, you're probably right. Poor Amber, she should just call in for a few days in advance."

"Why? All she will have to do is come down stairs. If Ben doesn't hear her up there tonight and figure it out on his own. Look, I am wiped and in a pretty foul mood. I'm gonna go for a walk. You wanna let Dean know if he bothers to come up for air?"

"Sure." Kaylie said. Weird, the not hovering. She wasn't sure which bothered her more, the not hovering or the distance. "I'll let him know." She said, confused a bit, but headed back to the backroom.

Jack slipped out the back door, and started walking.

SNSNSN

Sam was finally allowed to eat real food and get up out of bed. Although he was happiest about the tubes and wires being removed. All that was left was the IV in the back of his hand, and even that wasn't hooked up to anything, except when they came into give him his antibiotics.

He was twitching. Foot wiggling impatiently. He was bored, he hurt more from the hospital bed than he did the wounds now, and well... did he mention that he was bored? "It sucks being blessed with understanding." He muttered as he pushed away his tray.

Father Pavel heard that as he entered the room. "So I understand you will show your brother far more compassion and patience the next time he gets himself hospitalized?" He asked with a chuckle as he started to pack Sam's clothes. "They are switching you to oral antibiotics. That's good news!"

Sam smiled, even though it felt like he had been sucker punched. "I'm not Dean's keeper any more. Just gotta hope that Jack doesn't have any such understanding and will make him stay put." He told the priest. "Yeah... orals are good. Too bad it doesn't mean they will get this skewer out of my hand."

"Are you not still your brother's keeper?" Father Pavel said. "You did destroy evidence, interfered with many an official government investigation to keep your brother in your own way."

"I can't go near him again. His being in the hospital... nothing I could do anything about. The investigation thing... it was probably one of the few things I could actually do and even that got the demon's attention. It was all I could do to convince him that it wasn't a breech of our contract."

"The doctors were cautious, child. But they were deeply worried when it took so long for you to wake up. Finally you do and the first thing you yelled for was your brother." Father Pavel said with sympathetic eyes. "It's all right to hold the memory close."

"I dreamt he was here." Sam said quietly. "I didn't know if I should be relieved or hurt that he wasn't, you know...It wasn't this hard when I went away to college. after the first couple of years we just lost contact.. he got busy, I got busy... got involved with a girl... it didn't ache inside, ya know."

"He wasn't here because he didn't know." Father Pavel said gently. "But I understand. I do, and I do grieve for what you've lost in order to gain."

"I don't blame him...I'm the one that left... but after that vision... I had to go. I can't be the one that kills him. Hunters die young. It's the way things are but I don't want to be the cause of his death, and not just cause I'd nose dive into the unspeakable either."

"God always has a plan, even if it's not quite foreseeable to us. Even if we don't understand it at all." Father Pavel said. "And sacrifices are never made in vain, no matter what that demon told you."

"If I go too far into the darkness... will you take care if it?" Sam asked looking up at his mentor. He felt like it could be any day sometimes. Others, he felt so normal that he wondered how he could have let himself believe it would happen. And those were the nights that he cried.

"I promise you, Samuel. If I have to, I will take care of it." Father Pavel swore. "And before you even ask, I will not ask your brothers for help with it either."

"Thanks." Sam said, visibly relieved. "Dean doesn't need to ... know." He would rather his brother thought he had gone down fighting the demon or in a car accident or hell of a ruptured appendix, anything but put down like a monster.

Father Pavel had no doubt that if the time came, Dean Winchester would know anyway. And would most likely shove himself in to assist in anyway possible, if the man was anything like the brother that was before him now. But if Sam found a modicum of peace in denying that to himself, Father Pavel wasn't going to disillusion him. "You are welcome."

"Don't suppose you would consider letting me sneak out of here tonight, would you?" Sam asked. He didn't hold out much hope of that. He also didn't hold out hope of Dean having the sense to stay away if he ever had the faintest clue where to find him. Which was why he didn't talk to Ellen and made Bobby swear to keep it to himself. Of course that only was achieved after telling him the truth.

"Absolutely not." Father Pavel said. "Do not worry so much. I understand your predicament. And you are not officially registered at this hospital, as a favor to me. Should your brother start trying to trace you through hospitals, he will not find you at this one."

Sam nodded. "Okay." He said, although that was only half of the reason he wanted to get out of the hospital.

"Samuel, it is a hospital run by friars and nuns. Any more Catholic, you would have to in a monastery." Father Pavel said. Protected by the Church, but not drowning in its relics and symbology. "They said you may leave after dinner if it's any consolation."

Sam smiled brightly. "That is a huge consolation." He said. "So how far away is that lake?" Of course knowledge that he was going to get to leave, and feeling much better than when he had arrived, made him think he was 100 again.

"Forty five minute drive." Father Pavel said, watching Sam. Amazing how someone could get so excited over the revelation of leaving a hospital. "I've been provided a car, they've stocked the cabin already. So that leaves you with..." he looked at the clock, "two hours of, how do you say, cool off your heels?"

He laughed a little and found the remote control for the television, figuring there would be no cable out there at the cabin. "I think I can handle that. So do you like fishing?" He asked. "I do. I plan on fishing also while we are out there." Father Pavel said. "If you know how, and you can get out of bed, you will come with me." He offered. "I don't drink though."

"I think the last time I went fishing was with a pastor." He said remembering pastor Jim and their occasional summer visits with him while their father was hunting. "Me... I drink, but I promise not to get drunk. I'm a miserable drunk."

"Very few people are happy drunks." Father Pavel said with a nod as dinner came into the room. Decent fare, for a hospital. It would last Sam until they got to the cabin at least.

Sam made a point of eating well, because he knew if he didn't, they would question their decision to let him leave. And he sat up right on his bed fidgeting like a little boy until the nurse came in to remove his IV. "Am I glad to see you." He said, smiling, almost looking like the old Sam again.

"That's not what you said yesterday." The nurse said with a grin as she removed the IV with practiced ease and taped a bandaid over the site. "In fact, I remember having to threaten you with sedation and restraints to get a new IV in you in the first place." She reminded him, making the priest in the room laugh as he gathered Sam's things.

Sam laughed. "Yeah well... after the first three, the fourth just seemed over kill." His veins had been crap. And the 3rd had managed to make his arm swell up like a balloon. He apparently moved it too much in his sleep.

"It was all for a very good cause." She said as an orderly brought in a wheel chair. "So I could stand here and tell you, for the love of God Almighty, just get the heck out of my hospital!"

Sam laughed "I make it a point never to stay where I'm not wanted." He said as he got up and into the wheel chair. He had rarely been so glad to leave a place.

The orderly wheeled him down to the car Father Pavel had waiting, and they started on the drive toward the lake, listening to Mozart. Father Pavel knew, without asking, that the hymns he usually listened to were becoming painful for Sam. And the priest abhorred what the kids were passing off as music. Classical music, it seemed, was a good compromise, as the car crested a hill to drop upon a view of the expansive lake. "The cottage is over there in the corner." Father Pavel pointed as he drove.

Sam looked out over the lake. It looked tranquil. Quiet. Maybe it would be just what he needed. He hoped. If it wasn't... he would go mad with it.

SNSNSN

Jack parked his car. He had called the club looking for Kaylie after having a little while to cool off and maybe get back to normal. That is until she was no where to be found. He couldn't believe she had gone off on her own with Hendrickson still out there. How could she do that?

What's more, she went off to a night club with the girls. That had taken him nearly an hour to sort out after his initial panic attack. And that was where he had headed with in seconds of getting her location out of one of their mutual friends, who had passed on the girls' night out.

He paid the cover to get in, yet another reason to be upset. He not only had to hunt her down, he had to pay for the privilege of doing so.

Kaylie was with a small group of female friends. It had been a while since they'd had a completely girls' only night out. Not to mention she was still feeling weird from the vibes she got off Jack earlier. So, she lied to Ben. Said she was going out with Jack. And Jack was off on his walk or whatever, Dean was highly preoccupied and not on "Kaylie Duty" anyway, so she had Andrea pick her up outside the club. And it was fun. Laughing, nothing serious, no one watching her all the time to see if she'd disappear. No stretched, worried faces. No one asking if she was absolutely positive she didn't remember anything. Just pure fun with no strings attached.

Men liked Kaylie. She was pretty, and she was fun, and she was nice enough not to make them feel like something she had scraped off her shoe when she told them thanks but no thanks. It was no surprise to any of her friends that there were men who came over to ask her to dance or if they could buy her a drink.

What surprised them was the sudden expression of pain on the latest would be Romeo's face, as his arm was twisted behind his back. "Move on." Jack barked into his ear and shoved him away from Kaylie.

There was one other time Kaylie remembered Jack getting violent with another man over her. Tenth grade, outside Mrs Foster's English class. A senior girl had taken a dislike to Kaylie, for no reason anyone could figure out, and dragged her quarterback boyfriend in on it. She remembered when the quarterback had slammed her against the lockers, and the next thing she saw was Jack knocking the quarterback out. That was understandable, that was defense. This...this wasn't as she got out of her chair as the young man stumbled away.

"Jack!" She said. "What the hell are you doing?" Was he drunk? Did his brother get him drunk before ditching him to go off with a stripper? Ooh, she'd show the oldest Winchester the meaning of violence if that was what happened... But Jack didn't look drunk.

"He doesn't need to be sniffing around you like that." Jack said. "What are you doing in a place like this on your own anyway? " Was she here looking for a guy like that? Some upwardly mobile pretty boy with no weirdness in his life?

"Shelly picked it out." She said with a shrug. Sniffing around her? Okay, that one pissed her off. So much so, she didn't even bother to tell him she'd bought her own drinks, and danced with just the girls. This was a 'whatever' moment. "And I'm not on my own, I've got five girls around me. Well, four, Nancy is getting the drinks this time, and you've just completely freaked them out. What is with you?" Freaked her out too.

"I'm trying to protect you." He said. "And apparently our relationship too. I go for a walk and all the sudden you just up and take off to a bar. And your friends can deal with being freaked out. It's not like I hurt the son of a bitch."

She stared at him shock. Confusion, followed by hurt, followed by anger flashed across her face. "What did you say?" She asked in a low voice, eyes narrowing. "Protect our relationship? So, you can go to a strip club with your brother, but I can't go to a dance club with my friends? It's bad that I don't have sisters to do girl stuff with? That's being held against me? And the minute I'm out of your sight, I'm apparently whoring around for some other guy? And here I thought relationships were built on trust." She said, as her girlfriends just stared at the scene. "I'm not doing this." She said as she grabbed her purse. "I'll call you girls tomorrow. I'm getting a cab home."

"I'll drive you, we're not done." Jack said. "And for the record, I was there at that strip club long enough to get Dean a table and talk to you, so don't even throw that in my face. Especially since it's a family business."

"No, I said we're done talking." Kaylie said as she stormed out of the main club to the foyer to call a cab. "I'm taking a cab and that's the end of it. I don't know, go watch your brother or something." She said as she fished for quarters in her purse and dropped them in the slot.

Jack pressed the latch down, effectively hanging up the phone. "Kaylie, go get in the damned car." Jack said in a tone that she had never heard him use before.

She stared up at him wide eyed at that tone. Green eyes completely unlike his brother's. Dean's were green, or green gold, or sometimes down right hazel depending on his mood or what he was wearing. Kaylie's were a clear green, and they were clearly disturbed by the tone. But, she was a Texas girl. Spent summers on her granddaddy's ranch, and even knew how to rope a steer. So she stood her ground. "No." She said firmly. "Back off Jack, or I'm walking." She'd admit it privately to herself, maybe later, but she had a shiver of fear traveling down her spine from the look in his own dark, dark eyes.

Jack gave a frustrated, angry, growling sigh, then grabbed her arm. "The hell you are." He said as he started to walk toward the front door pulling her after him. He had about all he was going to take of this bull shit. What the hell did she think she was doing?

"Jack!" Kaylie said, trying to twist her arm out of his grasp, but the more she tried to twist, the tighter he held on. "Ow! Jack! Stop! You're hurting me!" She said as she felt his fingers bite into the tender flesh of her upper arm as she was dragged forward, as much as she tried to backpedal. "Jack! Stop!"

"Hey, let the lady go." One of the bouncers had caught wind of the situation and figured Kaylie could use a little help.

"Stay out of it. Believe me, you don't want to make this your problem. Not today." Jack told him in a dangerous tone, dark eyes locking on the other man's, sizing up the prey, the competition.

"It's not a problem I can't handle, let the lady go."

"Kaylie... get in the damned car. I'll be there in a minute." He said letting her go, only to take a swing at the bouncer.

Kaylie absolutely did not go to the car. Once Jack released her, she ran into the ladies' room and shoved everyone else out, locking the door behind her. She slid down to the floor, back against the door, and dumped the contents of her purse out and grabbed her cell phone. She called the one person that could help. Something was wrong with Jack, she didn't know what. Maybe he was possessed or something, she'd heard that word bandied about enough. At the very least, he might need someone to restrain him. Ben wouldn't do it. So she called the one person that would. "Dean?" She said into the phone and started crying.

"Kaylie, I'm kinda in the middle of..." Dean started saying, then heard his brother's girlfriend start to sob and moved away from Amber. "Kaylie, what's wrong? Is it Jack?"

"Yeah.." She said between sobs. "Dean, I'm scared, I don't know what to do. I can't go back out there. There's something...I don't know...it's not Jack."

Kaylie was making no sense as Dean ran a hand through his hair. "Is it or is it not Jack?" He asked impatiently.

"It's Jack. I think. He's...there's something wrong with him." She said as the short story poured out in between terrified tears quickly.

"Where are you?" Dean asked calmly and Kaylie told him. "I'll be right there."

Jack had left the bouncer (gasping for breath on the floor) and hurried after his girlfriend. "Kaylie." He yelled. "Open this goddamned door, right now. I'm not playing this fucking game with you tonight."

"No! Go away!" She screamed through the door. "Leave me alone, Jack!" She screamed as she rubbed her upper arm, where angry red welts the shape of his fingers were beginning to form. She should get up and at least put a cold towel on them, she knew that. But she had the irrational fear that if she moved from the door, he could get in. As if her meager weight was all that was stopping him.

"Kaylie... come on... don't do this. Damn it, why are you making me so angry. I just wanted to talk this out in the fucking car but no, you had to be stubborn about it." He said slamming into the door, jarring it. It wouldn't take much more for him to get through. A hand came out of nowhere and shoved Jack away from the door.

"Dude, really. Breaking into a woman's bathroom?" Dean said. He'd never expected this. He'd stepped right over the bouncer who was still gasping for air, and the normally noisy club scene had quieted. Quieted so much that he could hear Kaylie's stifled sob on the other side of the door, relief at hearing Dean's voice interrupting Jack's attempts (nearly successful) to break the door down. "Have a little dignity there, baby brother."

Jack pushed Dean away. "Stay out of this, man. Go back to the club, get laid, what ever it is you wanna do but stay the fuck out of this." He wasn't going to put up with this from Dean. This had nothing to do with his brother. This was between him and Kaylie.

"Well, the whole me getting laid thing, it's on hold." Dean said. "Come on, let's take a walk." He said. "Really. Now. Before the police roll up, because that bouncer you laid out flat, well, he got up. Let's go."

"I am not leaving without Kaylie." Jack said firmly and started to move toward the door again only to be stopped by Dean. "Back off, man, I mean it."

"Can't do that." Dean said. "Seriously, let's go. We'll calm you down, and maybe Kaylie will talk to you later. That's up to her." Because Kaylie certainly sounded too petrified to talk to him. "If you think you're going to break down this door, you'll have to go through me. And I gotta tell ya, if you go through me, then both me AND the door land on Kaylie because I guarantee you she is right on the other side of it."

Even in his current mental state, he wouldn't overtly harm the woman. He still loved her, in fact he would be pissed to know that he had actually brought bruises on her arm. But in that moment there wasn't a lot of self control. " Fine." He growled, his anger shifting to Dean for interfering. "Lead the way."

"You first." Dean said, wanting to be sure that his brother didn't turn around behind his back and go right after the bathroom door. But Jack did walk out and Dean followed, grabbing his arm and turning the younger man around once they were out. "What the hell are you doing? What are you thinking? Going after Kaylie like that and scaring the living shit out of her?!"

"We were fine until that fucking bouncer started messing in things. It's just a spat. She'll get over it. So back the fuck off." There was an aggression to Jack, as if he were waiting to pounce, waiting for the next excuse to lunge, to fight.

Dean could clearly see what Kaylie was talking about. This was Jack, and yet it wasn't Jack. "Fine, you want to beat me into the ground?" He said as he casually took off his jacket and threw it on a shrub outside some business. "Give it your best shot." He said, relaxing into a far too casual posture. One that screamed 'take your best shot.'

Jack didn't need to be told twice, and moved quickly and gracefully into position. Jack fought up close, years of Kung fu training that he had never used anywhere but the dojo or tournament floor, years of sparring in tiger form required up close and personal. He eased into the form so much easier now than before. His body actually moving more like a big cat and struck the first blow.

That was all the excuse Dean needed as he righted himself and wiped the blood from his face. Compared to Sam, he was a brawler of the old school kind. But even he needed provocation. Especially to lash out at Jack. He didn't have a style, he didn't have a form. It was dirty, expansive, inclusive and rough. Legs, arms, fists, feet, he used them all. He knew how to use holds against someone. He knew how to block, and he knew how to duck (even if Sam would disagree with that assessment, the ducking part.) But he didn't really expect Jack to attack him. So the first blow came as a surprise.

Jack moved like a jungle cat, fluid and graceful. And many people mistook Dean for a clumsy, careless person. He wasn't. He just chose to not dissuade them of that notion as he returned the blow. Jack might be a tiger in a man's clothing, but Dean? Dean was a bear. A very angry bear up on his hind legs.

The two brothers fought, and it wasn't the typical brawl you might expect to find out side a bar on a weekend. This was something different. This was something fight choreographers would love to recreate. It was emotion and power and grace, a strange dance twisted by the bruises that darkened on each man's skin, the blood that dripped down their faces.

In the end it was the bear that won. Jack was a tournament fighter in two styles, and he was good. But Dean was a seasoned warrior. Not some street tough, but a warrior who fought things to make Jack's tiger into a cub by comparison. It had cost him, but he had won, and Jack lay on the ground in the alley, unconscious. Dean slumped down and wiped the blood off his face as he called Ben. Gave the low down quick, along with the address. Ben came in short order and flared Jack back to the house. Not very happy with Dean, and truly, about to finish the fight for Jack.

But once Ben was there, Dean went back to the club and checked on Kaylie. Ben shook his head, but he restrained Jack to the bed. And sat, waiting for the young man he regarded as his son to wake up and explain this shit. Because he'd certainly never taught Jack to leave bruises on the arm of the woman he loved.

He'd calmed down from his stance on Dean once a terrified and weepy Kaylie came in with Dean, and he saw the bruises, becoming more livid and dark with each passing moment. But they were over at Dean's place. It was all about watching Kaylie after all. Besides, Ben knew Kaylie's mom didn't like Jack. This would be all the excuse the woman would need. And until Ben had a story that met his high standards of excuse, apology and promise to rectify, Kaylie's mom got squat.

Jack came around and tried to move. He turned his head toward the restraints at his hand "You have got to be fucking kidding me." Jack said and rolled his dark eyes "Let me up, Ben, this is ridiculous." He couldnt believe they had gotten Ben in on it too. Just figured didnt it. That they would all turn on him at once. A guy couldnt win for losing around here.

Ben reached over and untied the restraints. "I just didn't want you coming up swinging, thinking I was Dean or something." Ben said with a chuckle. "After seeing his face, and yours, didn't want a continuation of that. So want to tell me why I had to pick you up off the sidewalk unconscious?"

"Dean pissed me off and we had at it. It's nothing to worry about." Jack said, feeling a little guarded. "He's got more hands on experience than I do for now." He sat up and rubbed his face. "Where's Kaylie? Or did she take off?"

"Dean pisses most people off." Ben said with a laugh. "Yeah, uh, Kaylie. She's here. I slipped her a sedative, she was hysterical Jack. She's passed out on Dean's couch." He said as he went to the window. All the cars were there, while Jack was restrained and unconscious, Ben went and got Jack's car. And Amber's car was there. "So hopefully she's sleeping while Dean entertains himself. Sex addict." He said, shaking his head.

"She should have just come home and left it be. She gets fucking hysterical over nothing." Jack said as he got out of bed and went to get clean clothes out of his dresser. He was a mess from the fight and wanted to clean up before going and confronting his girlfriend over this bull shit. "Hell if she hadn't gotten hysterical I wouldn't have gotten in the damned fight with Dean in the first place." He said, not realizing how much he was swearing, or the tone he was using. To Jack this was normal. But it wasn't.

"Usually it's you who tries to lecture me on my grasp of swear words." Ben said neutrally, deciding not to point out that Kaylie didn't technically live here. Sure she was here more than she was at her parents' place, but she technically lived there. "What's going on in your head, Jack?"

Jack gave Ben a look. "I am fucking tired of picking up the pieces. Dean gets in trouble, I pick up the pieces or talk you into it. Kaylie gets kidnapped, Hsiao wants his ancestral fires lit... you know that's not the sort of fire that comes to mind when I think about that sorry ass son of a bitch. So then I go for a walk to clear my head and she is fucking out at a dance club with the girls. With Hendrickson still out there looking to make waves. And SHE gets hysterical cause I get pissed about it. You know I thought she had more common sense than that. " "Women get hysterical." Ben said with a careful shrug as he watched the young man he had raised. There was definitely something off about him. "Just warning you though, she might not want to talk to you. So if you're going to try, you're going to have to at least appear to have calmed down." He'd seen the bruises, and was holding on firmly to the idea that it was some sort of misunderstanding. He certainly didn't raise Jack to put his hands on a woman like that. "As for Dean...well, maybe you two needed to have a big blow out finally."

He shrugged. "Dean will understand." He laughed a little. "He might have gotten in the final blow, but he doesn't look like he waltzed through the fight. Might curb that condescending attitude a bit where I'm concerned." He said as he changed. Then he sighed "Yeah I should go get some flowers or something to smooth things over. Seriously don't want to deal with round two of the hysterics. She just should have fucking listened to me." Ben sat back. "That how you feel? That this is all Kaylie's fault?" He said and shook his head. "Take it from someone who was married a very long time. Go in with that attitude, she'll see right through whatever smile you plaster on your face. But flowers are a good start."
Dean would be in the next room, Ben would be in screaming distance. And maybe a look at the bruises would snap Jack out of this.

"I didnt mean to hurt her." Jack said, with all the remorse one would expect of a Hsiao. "And no she didnt stand there and say 'come on and hurt me why dont you' but it wouldnt have happened if she had just done as I asked and got in the car. " He opened the bathroom door and went in to wash his face "Thats gonna be hell to explain in class tomorrow" he said with a chuckle looking at the bruises on his face.

"Tell them the truth. You got in a fight with your older brother who just got out of prison." Ben said with a chuckle. He was watching Jack, something was up. But he didn't confront until he had more information. That was his way. Dean might jump the gun, and enjoy it too, but Ben? He liked to know which foot he was standing on first. "If you're smart, you'll be quiet and won't disturb Dean and his friend. That boy, he needs a twelve step program I swear."

"He just had a near death experience. Give the guy a break. Besides, it's not like Amber isn't just as bad. With any luck, she will show him what handcuffs are really for and he won't be out of bed for a few days." He said.

"I think I am gonna go for a walk, maybe clear my head. Figure out how to spin this to Kaylie. "

"You do that." Ben said, thinking a walk would do Jack some good. Then he handed Jack money. "While you're out, be a humanitarian for your resident demon and pick me up a pack of smokes." He wanted to catch the ball game on TV.

"Sure, whatever." Jack said, not wanting to get into it with Ben. He grabbed his jacket and headed down the stairs, pausing at the entry way door to toss the money Ben had given him on the table and headed on out. Not going for a walk, but taking the car instead.

Jack had driven for about half an hour when his cell phone rang. It was Teneke. "I was listening to the police scanner. They're handy to have in America." He said in a smooth voice. "Are you all right? I heard something about a fight outside a club matching your description, and that of your brother's."

"Yeah, we're fine. Just had a brotherly brawl. Everyone is freaked out about it. Kaylie gets all hysterical cause I don't want her hanging out in a bar with your fucking pit bull still out there doing God knows what, and calls Dean who gets in my face. So we went about rearranging each other's features."

"He's not my pit bull. He's a mercenary." Teneke said. "But I am glad that you're all right. About your girlfriend, Mei has the tendency to not think ahead. Another reason why the line must be carried on by a man, I'm afraid. I sincerely apologize for her over zealousness and hope she'll be all right."

"Yeah, she will be fine. I'm just..." He pulled the car over to the side of the road and turned it off. "I'm angry... if that word would even begin to cover it. I don't think there is a word that begins to describe what I am feeling right now."

"It's the gifts you inherited from your mother." Teneke said. "They're trying to come out, and you're repressing them, shoving them down. They run on emotion, that's when they're the strongest. Do you want some help with them?" Teneke offered.

"How do I know I can trust you?" He asked not into pulling punches right then. But he had hurt Kaylie, whether he intended to or not, whether it could have been avoided by her not freaking out or not, he had hurt her. He never wanted to do that.

"Because you have to." Teneke said. "Unless you learn to control it, you will hurt someone you care deeply about. Your brother may hold his own in a fight with you, I have no doubt Ben could as well. But could your Kaylie?"

"No." He said softly, knowing Teneke was right. He had hurt her just walking her to the car. "I want to turn it off... I don't want these powers. I don't want any of it. "

"I can help you, Jack. If you will let me." Teneke said. "We are leaving for Hong Kong. The plane is being loaded. I can wait for you if you want. Let me help you."

"I gotta talk to Ben." He said. This was big. Even in his current state of mind this was big. Seriously big. He couldnt just up and leave. His life was here. His classes, his fiance, his family. How much was he expected to give up?

"You will do what you must." Teneke said. "I just hope your temper doesn't get the best of you in the meanwhile."

"Just... just give me a little time... I'll be there... just... give me time." He said, feeling very much torn in those moments. He wanted to stay, Corpus Christi was his home, his life was here... but he would destroy that. "Is ... is it going to get worse?"

"If you can't control it, it will." Teneke said sadly. "So please don't wait too long."

"Right... I won't be long. Just... wait." He said and hung up, calling home to speak to Ben. He couldn't pull a Sam. Then he would have to punch his own lights out and that wasn't even remotely cool.

Ben answered. "So I had to go get my own smokes, missed a big chunk of the game. It's all right, though. I taped it. Where are you?"

"On my way out of town... just for a few days. I'm going nuts. Guess everything just... got to me. I'll make it up to Kaylie when I get back but I can't even talk to her like this."

"Jack, where are you going?" Ben asked. Something wasn't ringing right in all this. "You got enough cash? Sure your car is going to make it?" A road trip was his brother's answer to everything. Not Jack's.

"Ben, don't worry, okay? I'll be fine. Just a few days. Won't even know I'm gone before I'll be back. I'll call if there's a problem. I promise." Hong Kong would seriously be out of the cell phone's service area. He didn't get that good of a roaming plan.

Warning bells were going off in Ben's head. He knew what kind of man he had raised. "Jack, maybe you should just come home and we'll deal with this here." He said carefully. Jack, avoiding a problem? Running off? Only if he had been possessed by Sam, and he'd heard that Sam was still corporeal.

"I'm dealing with it. I promise. Tell Kaylie I love her, and... let Dean know I'm not ditching him. Just.. .taking some time to ditch the attitude. Love you." He said and hung up. He started the car again and drove toward the airport. Something told him the answers were tied up with his grandfather. He just didn't know how yet.

Jack was recognized at the airport and ushered by a few bodyguards to the plane Teneke had chartered. "I'm glad you came." Teneke said as Jack boarded the plane. He had had some doubts, he wasn't sure that Jack would come. "Please, have a seat. It's a long flight."

He shouldn't be here. He knew that. It was disloyal to his mother to even breathe the same air as this bastard. Not the woman that Dean knew ... but the woman that had sacrificed everything for her son's life. But he had to sort out how to make it stop. "You can make this stop..." He said. "You can make the fucking magic and the anger go away? Cause if you are lying to me... well... there won't be any fires lit for anyone when you go... this is your only chance."

"I can teach you to control it. It's inside you, you can't get away from it. It was bound to come out at some point. Just now, you have family to help you understand it and harness it." Teneke saiid. "I can teach you center, I can teach you focus. The westerners cannot."

"You might be surprised what I can learn over here. How long is this gonna take anyway? I can't just abandon everything here. Sorry...don't intend to be a grocer and settle down in Hong Kong."

"There's nothing wrong with being a grocer." Teneke said with a quiet chuckle. "It takes as long as it takes, I can't give you a timetable on that, any more than anyone can predict how quickly another person would learn timetables. Just relax. We're taking off, and you certainly wouldn't want us to crash, would you?" He said and offered Jack some tea.

He took the tea. "I doubt my attitude is going to make us crash. So... do you have any of my mother.s things or did you burn them when you kicked her to the curb?"

"They're in storage." Teneke said evenly. Luckily the tea had a sedative in it, barely noticable, but it should help Jack relax. If not all out fall asleep. So he could plan, Teneke that is.

"I want them." He stated as he continued sipping the tea. It was helping take the edge off. "Thank you for hanging on to them for me." He wasn't going to take no for an answer where that was concerned. They didn't love her, he did.

"You're welcome." Teneke said, and filled the void with small talk until Jack fell asleep.

SNSNSN

Ben came into Dean's apartment. Not bothering to knock, if called on it, he'd say that since he technically owned it all, and Dean technically didn't pay rent, he could. Kaylie was sleeping on the couch and Ben winced. He must have slipped her a higher dose than he thought. Well, she was breathing and looked peaceful so he moved onto other matters and he went into Dean's room, an unsurprising sight greeting his eyes.

"Dude!" Dean said as he quickly yanked a blanket up over them. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Can it." Ben said. "Amber works for me, I own a strip club, you really think I've never seen her naked before?" Ben said impatiently. "Jack's gone."

"What do you mean gone? That's why I had you tie his ass down!"

"Fine, whatever." Ben said, moving on. "Look, his car is at the airport, and he's out of range on his cell phone. Given how far a range I pay for, he's definitely not in the US."

"Where do you think he went?" Dean said, reaching for his pants. "If I had to guess? Hong Kong." "Dude, I don't fly." Dean said.

"Don't worry about it. Amber, stay with Kaylie please."