Summery:"Because Jo." He looked her straight in the eye. He wanted to make sure she understood how serious he was. "If it came to a choice between a woman that I loved and my brother. Between you and him?" Dean huffed a small sigh. "Then darlin, I'm sorry. You would be as good as dead." /em
Chapter Four
Dean met Ellen's glare straight on when he walked into the road house. He wasn't sure if she was pissed off because he had just dumped her daughter, or if she was still thinking about John being her husbands partner on his final hunt.
Whatever it was, Dean didn't care. There were too many things going on inside him right now and she wasn't even in the top ten. "Can I get a beer," he asked abruptly as he sat on the bar stool.
"Sure," Ellen said, grabbing a clean glass and placing it under the beer tap.
Dean had forgotten that he had been soaked in the shower with Sam, so when Ellen said something about his damp clothes he flinched. "Didn't know it had been raining," she added innocently.
Dean just looked at her and took swig of his beer. "I need to speak to Ash," he said. "Is he in his room?"
"No. He's running an errand for me," Ellen replied. Her eyes softening a little when she realized how upset Dean really was. "Jo told me what happened to Sam. Is he alright?"
"No," Dean said quietly without looking up from his beer, swishing it around in the glass; needing to do something with his hands.
"No? What do you mean no?" Ellen asked, a tinge of fear in her voice.
Dean didn't understand it completely. He really didn't know why he wanted to tell the whole ugly story to Ellen. She was a mother figure, he knew that, but his need to spill his guts to her was unexpected. "They tortured him, burnt him with cigarettes," Dean let out.
"Oh Dean…" Ellen's sincerity was obvious. "Who, I mean why?" She asked.
Because he was trying to pick up some random stranger in a gay bar while I was too busy fucking your daughter. "Mistaken identity," Dean answered.
Ellen didn't push, she could see that Dean would close off if given the wrong prompt about what happened to Sam. "Is that why you're here?" Ellen asked knowingly. "To find the assholes that did this?"
Again Dean said nothing, but he didn't need to. The coldness in his eyes spoke volumes.
Ellen nodded her head. "What are you going to do Dean?" Ellen wanted to know. "We're talking people here, not ghosts or demons."
And fuck. Didn't he just have this conversation with Sam, a few days back? "So?" Dean snapped. "They're fucking evil sons of bitches. They deserve whatever they get."
"And what exactly are they going to get?" Ellen asked defiantly. "You? You're going to make 'em pay for what they did to Sam?"
Dean's eyes were wide and blown. "Damn straight," he answered venomously.
Just then Ash walked through the door, his hands full of assorted groceries and shopping bags. "Hey dude," he acknowledged Dean, then smiled at Ellen, sensing the tension immediately. "What's up man?"
Dean glanced quickly at Ellen and moved to help Ash put all the bags and boxes down. "I need your help," he said. "Can we talk in private?"
Ash's gorky smile widened. "Well sure dude," he said as he motioned to Dean, leading him out the back.
Ellen watched them both leave. Shit she thought as she walked to the phone and looked through the index of phone numbers.
Dean had been out with Ash for over an hour, searching and breaking into police files. Ash hadn't said anything when he came across the police photo's of Sam's burns, just meeting Dean's eyes with a small nod.
"So…" Ash said as he returned to look at the screen and click his mouse on another option. "These are the other two," he said as he swung the lap top around for Dean to see. "The brothers are already in custody, but these two are still out there."
"Not for long," Dean muttered and walked away, pacing. "Can you get an address?"
"Well I dare say the police have already looked at last knowns, but here's a list of hang outs they frequent." Ash hit print and a few seconds later handed Dean the list.
"Thanks," Dean said as he grabbed his coat ready to start looking for these animals.
"You know that's pretty heavy shit ya thinking about doing right?" Ash called after him, causing Dean to stop and look up.
"If that was Jo or Ellen?" Dean didn't need to finish the question. Ash just tilted his head in acknowledgement, his face clearly showing that Dean was right.
"Yeah," was all he could say. I mean really, what did you say to someone who you knew was about to go out, hunt down and kill someone in cold blood?
Sam slowed his pace a little. Having no transport available, he had taken off running after Ellen had called him. He almost didn't notice his injuries in his hurry to get to Dean, just that they slowed him down.
He could see the road house now and he panicked a little when he didn't see the impala anywhere in sight. Fuck, was he too late?
All eyes turned towards Sam when he opened the door; Ellen, Jo and Ash had been expecting him. Ellen and Ash had filled Jo in and they were all now sitting at the bar waiting for Sam.
"Sammy," Jo said as she rose from the stool and met him half way cross the room. Sam flinched at hearing em her /em call him that. "It's Sam," he corrected and met Jo's gaze. Dean's the only one that gets to call me that.
Sam's demure softened slightly when he saw the genuine concern in Jo's eyes. He realized that Jo would have hung around Dean so much and have heard Dean call him that so often, it really was just a slip of the tongue. "Is he still here?" Sam asked softly.
"No," Ash piped up from behind Jo. "Left twenty two minutes and…" He glanced at his watch. "forty seven seconds ago."
Sam walked to the bar and stood intimidatingly close to Ash. "Where's he headed Ash?"
Sam knew that where ever Dean was going, it would be Ash's lead that would have given him direction. "What did you tell him?"
"Chill dude," Ash threw his arms up in defense. "He came here looking for info on a hunt. Took a minute to realize it was a people hunt."
Sam froze. Had Dean been that open about his intentions?
"He's after the two that aren't in custody." Ash continued. "I gave him a list of their hang outs."
Sam breathed out heavily. "I need that…"
Before Sam could finish the sentence, Ash handed him a copy of what he had given Dean. "Dude," there was an apology in his voice. "There's no saying no to your brother, you know?"
Sam smiled a little. Yeah, he knew.
Glancing at the paper in his hand, Sam muttered his thanks and his need to hurry.
Sam was barely two steps out from the door when he heard Jo call out after him. "I'm coming with you!"
Sam turned on his heals to see Jo walking hurriedly towards him, struggling to put on her coat. "No way!"
"Yes way!" This time it was Jo who met his gaze. "We don't know what Dean's going to get himself into, and you may need back up." Jo's eyes unconsciously flickered to Sam's groin.
It was clear she knew about Sam's less obvious injuries.
I don't need you to back me up
"I don't need back up." Sam managed to say.
Jo was standing her ground fiercely and Sam thought briefly of her as a hunter and not as Dean's ex. "I don't think…"
"This isn't about you or what you think Sam! This is about Dean! It's about finding him before he does something so stupid he…" Jo took a calming breath before continuing. "He winds up dead or in jail."
Jo looked defiantly into Sam's eyes and Sam knew he'd lost. She was driven by the same thing he was. Something so powerful that there was no way either of them could fight it.
There was an unspoken bond between them. They both loved Dean Winchester.
Without saying another word, they got into Jo's pick up and headed towards town.
Dean walked down Stone Drive towards the first hang out on the list. He had the mental picture of these guys from a photo Ash managed to pull up from the police files.
Dean's stomach clenched as he approached the door to the small coffee shop. He took calming breaths. em Stick with the plan/em he told himself. It was going to take all of his self control not to dispose of this fungus the moment he laid eyes on them.
"Yeah hi," Dean gave the forty something waitress the brightest of smiles. "Could I just get a coffee please." He glanced at the waitresses name tag and added, "Celia."
She smiled back briefly and scurried off to get the coffee. Dean started to take in his surroundings and the people in the café.
Celia returned a moment later with the coffee. "I'm just looking for a couple of friends of mine." Dean gave her his best seductive grin. "Was wondering if you'd know them? George Hummer and Mark Steen?" he continued.
Recognition immediately crossed Celia's face. "Oh yeah, I know George and Mark. But I haven't seen em around here for a few days," she commented and frowned.
Dean's face tightened a little. Did he really think he would find them first try? "Oh really," Dean's disappointment was not an act. "Well any idea where I could find them?"
"Well…" Celia bought the pen she used to take orders with up to her lips. "They use to hang out a lot with Ian and Paul. But…" She lent in closer to Dean, like it was a secret. "There in Jail. Word is they beat some shmuck up."
"Ian and Paul?" Dean felt his blood running cold. "Their brother's right?"
"Yeah." Celia seemed embarrassed that maybe Dean had been friends with them too. "Ah sorry, it's just…"
"Their no friends of mine, never met them actually," Dean got out quickly when he thought that Celia was about to shut down.
Cilia's face lit up a little. "They're bad news," she admitted.
"How so?" Dean asked.
"Well I think they belong to some cult or something," she said.
Deans' eyes widened. "Cult?" He was suddenly a lot more intense.
"Oh, not cult," she corrected. "More like a group or something. Like skinheads or the K.K.K. Preaching hatred and always talking about how it's us and them."
Dean's heart settled back in his chest. For a moment he thought that maybe this was going to be a lot easier than he planned.
Cult meant worshipers or something close. It meant the possibility of the supernatural being involved. It meant that Dean could kill them and not have to worry about it.
Not that he intended to worry. Christ no. After what they put his brother through? No, he wasn't going to give killing these sons of bitches another thought. Really he wasn't.
"So this…group," Dean began. "Do they have like a meeting place or something?"
"Well yes… I think it's the club house on fifth street," Celia responded. "But I thought you were looking for George and Mark?"
"Well yes, but you said they hung out with Ian and Paul, so I was just thinking that maybe…"
"Oh no," Celia interrupted. "Not George and Mark. There good Christian folk, they wouldn't be involved with that type of thing. I mean, yeah they do seem to be friends with Ian and Paul, but I think that's because their families know each other."
Good Christian folk? Dean wanted to laugh almost as much as he wanted to vomit at the thought of his brothers suffering being conducted all in the name of Christianity.
"Fifth street?" Dean asked and Celia went on to give him directions.
Sitting across from each other in the semi-circle booth, Sam and Jo had arrived at the café about an hour after Dean had left. It was getting on to dinner time and the place was full, with not a waitress in sight.
For a long moment there was an awkward silence. It wasn't as if they had said anything to each other on the way there, but now they were face to face and Sam couldn't help but feel a little vulnerable.
"Do you really think," Jo was the first to speak. "Do you really think Dean could…?"
"Kill a human?" Sam finished the question for her.
Jo nodded. "I mean…beat the shit out of them maybe, but murder?"
Sam swallowed hard and couldn't meet Jo's eyes. Murder echoed in his mind. He had been avoiding putting a word to what Dean was out there trying to do.
He shocked even himself when he answered, "Yeah…yeah I do."
Jo sighed, a look of frustration crossing her face. "Why?" She asked. "They burnt you…right? Ash said they…"
"I don't really want to discuss it!" Sam snapped. It's none of you goddamned business why it happened.
"Sorry," Jo muttered, a little shocked by the severity of Sam's reaction. "I just thought if I could understand, then…"
Sam closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened them again he looked at Jo and realized she was right. "Look, it's just Dean okay. He's got this thing in his head about protecting me and he's just…" Sam shrugged. "I dunno, he's just taken it a bit too far this time."
It wasn't what she had asked. He didn't explain the reason why those thugs attacked him, but he figured it may be enough to placate her.
It wasn't.
"So you went to a bar and got into a fight. But, why did they," she hesitated, "you know, torture you like that?"
Jo's eyes were soft, and Sam couldn't find it in him to brush her off sarcastically. That was Dean's gig.
Obviously, because it was a gay bar and they were gay bashers wasn't going to go down well. "There are some sick people out there Jo," Sam didn't need to sound convincing on that count. "I guess not all evil has to be supernatural."
Jo seemed to accept that and nodded slowly. "Well I just hope Dean calms down enough to think clearly before he finds them."
em Don't bet on it. /em "Me too," Sam agreed, his face sullen.
Jo looked up when the waitress finally came over to take their orders. "What'll be?"
Sam looked down at the menu and ordered coffee and a sandwich, Jo did the same.
"Ah, I was just wondering if you could help us with something," Sam piped up before she left the table. "We're looking for some friends of ours. George Hummer and Mark Steen?"
The waitress smiled. "Well aren't they the popular ones today. Just had another guy in here looking for them, not more than an hour ago."
It didn't take Sam long to gain the same information from Celia that Dean had, and even less time to be back in the truck and on their was to Fifth Street.
"Klu Klux Klan?" Jo mused out loud as she drove. "This is not making any sense. I get that these guys are part of a gang, but they usually only go after blacks, Jews or…"
Jo glanced quickly at Sam and saw Sam shift position. He wouldn't look at her and Jo felt totally overwhelmed. "You're Gay?"
Again Sam wouldn't look at her, but his cheeks turned bright red and he squirmed, giving her the answer. em Jesus, he is. /em
There was a long few minutes of silence before Jo spoke again. "Does Dean know?" She asked tentatively.
He didn't want to discuss this with her. Hell, he didn't want to discuss this with anyone, but he was worried that she may take the next tangible step and figure out his and Dean's relationship. "Yeah, he knows," Sam said softly.
Jo turned the truck into Fifth Street and started to look for a parking space. Her mind was reeling with this new information. It wasn't like she had anything against gays, but Sam? She wondered why Dean hadn't told her, hadn't even alluded to it. It didn't need to be such a huge secret, not these days anyhow.
It didn't take long for Jo to start replaying little things in her mind. Maybes that he had in fact had let her know. Because Jo. If it came to a choice between you and my brother… One thought led to another and it wasn't long before Jo realized that Dean's reaction to all of this was way more intense that it should have been.
Pulling the truck into the only available parking space, a block and a half away from where they needed to go, Jo turned off the engine and took the keys from the ignition. She turned in her seat and looked directly at Sam. Dean's acting more like a jealous boyfriend than… "No fucking way!"
Sam didn't need to see the bitter look in her eyes to know. She had figured it out. She knew that he and Dean were lovers.
TBC
A/N: I'm not saying sorry again because my muses wont let me finish this damn thing. I do hope your all still liking it though. The reviews have gone down, so I guess it is time to tell my muse to "shut up." LOL
Next chapter should be the last. Thanks heaps guys