Chapter 15
A/N: Once again a quick thank you to my beta reader Soar. You rock. Any left over mistakes are completely my own.
Disclaimer: Still don't own them
The tension in Bobby's kitchen was thick, so thick it was almost as if it was a separate entity. It wasn't as if the men seated at the table were really mad at each other. John knew that Frank was sincere in his regret over everything, Frank and Sam had reached a truce during their time on the porch, and there was nothing left for Frank to say, there would be no point in apologizing again. So all three men sat in silence. Father and son hoping that Bobby could work his magic once again and Frank, determined to come up with something that he could do to patch his relationship with his grandson. He didn't want to go home without knowing that Dean was still in his life.
"John," Frank said breaking the stillness. "Can you show me where the washroom is?"
"Go out the door and turn right. It's the second door on the left," John said as he pointed it out.
Frank left and Sam looked at his father.
"Dad, you know he has to pass by the living room," Sam stated. "What are you going to say when he sees it?"
John sighed heavily before answering. "I don't know," John started then he paused. "Actually, no, that's not true. Believe it or not, I'm thinking of just telling him the truth."
"You can't be serious," Sam gasped, looking at his father like he had finally lost it.
"I'm tired, Sam, tired of all the secrets and the lies. We might have avoided this whole situation if we had just told Dean the truth from the start."
"Yeah, that would have worked out real well," Sam said sarcastically. "Dean, that man standing by your mother's grave, he's your grandfather and guess what, when you were born, he didn't want you named after him because he was scared you were gonna die and his name would have died with you. Great idea, Dad, that would have gone over with Dean real well."
"Don't take that tone with me, Samuel Francis. That's not what I would have said and you know it," John snapped.
"Then enlighten me. What would you have done?"
"I don't know," John admitted honestly. "You have to admit though, the fact that Dean formed a bond with Frank and then found out, it made the situation worse..."
"No way, Dad!! What about that night Dean came home from having dinner with Frank? He didn't know Margaret, he had never met her and you saw how upset Dean was when she ignored him. It would have killed Dean no matter how well he knew Frank, he's family. The only way we could have avoided this situation was if you told Frank to get lost that day at the cemetery, like you should have done. Dean wouldn't have ever found out if it wasn't for you," Sam blurted out before he could stop himself.
"So you're saying this is my fault?" John asked.
"If the shoe fits," Sam said.
"HOW DARE YOU!!" John thundered. "Are you..."
"Crazy?" A voice piped up from behind them.
Sam and John turned and they saw Frank coming back in the kitchen. He had just found the washroom when he heard the escalating voices and he returned to the kitchen.
"STAY OUT OF THIS, FRANK!!" both Sam and John yelled in unison.
"NO, I WILL NOT," he yelled back. "What would happen if Dean had walked in during the middle of that? Do you really think you screaming at each other is going to help the situation?"
That sobered John and Sam instantly. They knew Frank was right.
"Not to mention what Bobby would have done. I just met him, but even I get that it's not a good idea to piss him off. I don't know about you, but I would like to sleep inside tonight," Frank said trying to be the voice of reason.
Both John and Sam went quiet. They knew that Frank was right. If Bobby had made any progress with Dean, it would have all been destroyed if he had walked into the middle of a fight between Sam and John and they both knew that Bobby would destroy them too.
"Can you two remain civil?' Frank chastised.
"Yes," John said meekly.
Frank left and returned on his mission to freshen up. He was really curious about Bobby and his house. Bobby didn't give the impression that he was the scholarly type, yet there were books stacked everywhere, shelves were stuffed to the point of over flowing and what couldn't fit on the shelves, was resting on the floor. Curiousity got the better of Frank and he went over and looked at some of the titles. They all seemed to be about demons and some of the books didn't even seem to be in English. They did not look like fictional books that one would read to give themselves a good fright either. Frank didn't miss the strange design on the ceiling of the living room as he passed by, not to mention the white substance that seemed to line every window.
Frank also wondered how his son-in-law had come to meet this man. John had said that he had worked for him at one point, but Frank knew without a doubt that there was so much more to the story. How and why did he become so protective of Dean and more to the point, why did he have to? Wasn't that John's job? What was with all the demon stuff? He decided that he was going to get to the bottom of everything.
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Bobby led Dean back to the house. He was pleased when the young man didn't resist Bobby's arm over his shoulder.
"Dean, are you okay with Sam, John and Frank being in the kitchen while we eat? I'll put them outside if you want," Bobby offered.
Dean couldn't stop himself from grinning. He always got a kick out of Bobby making his father sleep outside, not to mention the fact that his father actually listened to Bobby.
"No, I'm good. They can stay," Dean answered, his voice steady.
They entered the house and Bobby went into the kitchen to make breakfast. No one missed the fact that Dean avoided his grandfather, father and brother, going directly to the room he considered his. Bobby figured he needed a chance to digest everything they had talked about.
"Frank, John," Bobby said. "Breakfast will be in about half an hour. Go find something to do."
"Bobby," said John. "Dean..."
"Is fine for now, just leave him be for a bit," Bobby said firmly.
Frank wanted to get John alone for a chat, so he asked Bobby for permission to see his salvage yard and then asked John to show it to him.
"Just be back in half an hour because I'm not coming looking for you," Bobby replied.
"Don't worry, we will, I'm starving," said John, hoping that Bobby was making pancakes, his were the best.
They turned to leave and Sam got up to join them. Both father and son knew that Frank was interested in a lot more than the salvage yard.
"Sam," Bobby called. "Stay."
Sam instantly obeyed Bobby and instead watched as his father and grandfather walked out of the room.
"I think I should go with them Bobby. Dad wants to tell Frank the truth," Sam explained to the older man.
"Let him," Bobby stated firmly.
"Do you think that's wise?" Sam asked disbelievingly.
"It doesn't matter what I think. Sam, let me ask you a question, and answer honestly, okay? Do you think that Dean still wants a relationship with his grandfather?"
Sam thought for a minute before answering. "Yes," he said simply.
"Well then, I think Frank has to know the truth. We've seen where secrets lead. What if Dean forgives Frank and then Frank finds out some other way, decides he can't handle it then and walks away?" Bobby asked.
"Then we're right back where we started," Sam conceded. "But what if that happens now, how does that help Dean?"
"As much as it hurts me to say this, if it is gonna happen, it's better that it happens now, before Dean has a chance to heal," Bobby said softly.
"I don't see how," Sam said stubbornly. "Either way, Dean gets hurt."
"Think about it, if Frank walks away now, then Dean can deal with it here and now. What if Dean puts all this behind him and patches things up with Frank and returns to his old self, then Frank finds out and leaves?"
"Then Dean falls apart all over again," Sam finished.
"Yup, and contrary to what you might think, Dean's not invincible," Bobby said softly.
"I know that," Sam said defensively.
"Do you? Dean's your older brother, he's your superman," Bobby said not unkindly. "He's just as human as you and me, and Sam, how many more times do you think he can fall apart before no one, not even me, can put him back together again?"
Sam could see what Bobby was saying and he could understand what his father had been trying to tell him earlier.
"Dean could so kick superman's ass," Sam said affectionately.
"Yeah, I agree. Now, get out of here so I can make breakfast before that brother of yours eats the sheets off the bed, and speaking of Dean, go talk to him," Bobby instructed the younger man.
"I thought you said to leave him alone," Sam said, his confusion evident.
"I meant that more for the other two. Dean's got a lot to work out with your daddy and your mama's daddy, and he's going to need you to get through it. I don't think Dean's really all that mad at you, it's more guilt by association. Oh and Sam, make sure he talks. Push if you have to, it's the only way he's going to get past this."
"Thanks, Bobby," Sam said as he made his way out the kitchen and headed towards the room he and Dean shared when they were at Bobby's. This was one conversation that he was not looking forward to
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Frank and John headed towards Bobby's salvage yard. Frank was trying to come up with a way to bring up what he wanted to really talk about. Finally, he just decided to come out with it, he was never one to mince words.
"John, what's the whole story? I know there's more than you're telling me and please don't insult me by pretending you don't know what I'm talking about."
"Sit down, Frank," John said. He had made up his mind to tell Frank everything.
"So, who exactly is this Bobby? What's all that satanic stuff in his living room?" Frank asked
"I met Bobby about 20 years ago. I was referred to him by a friend, a man named Jim Murphy."
"You mentioned he gave you a job," Frank prompted.
"That's not the whole truth. He did give me a job, but there was a lot more to it. Look, there is no easy way to say this, but Jim put me in touch with Bobby because I needed to learn about demons and Bobby's an expert," John explained.
That was the last thing that Frank had expected to hear and it showed plainly on his face. "What the hell are you talking about? What possible reason could you have where you would need to learn about demons? They don't exist," Frank said with conviction.
"You're wrong," John said softly. "They do. It wasn't just demons that I was learning about. It was all sort of supernatural stuff, I needed to learn how to kill it."
"You're crazy," Frank said, he was really starting to get freaked out.
"I know it sound crazy, Frank, but I swear it's true."
"Alright, let's pretend for a moment I believe you, and I don't, why the hell would you want to know how to kill, what did you call it, supernatural stuff?" Frank queried.
"For Mary," John said softly.
Frank stiffened. "What does she have to do with this?"
"She was murdered," John said as he started to explain.
"John, it was a fire, an accident, faulty wiring," Frank said.
"No, she was killed, Frank. I fell asleep that night, in front of the TV. I awoke when I heard Mary scream," John paused and forced his emotions down before continuing. Even after all this time, it was still hard to talk about that night. "I ran up to Sam's nursery and Sam seemed to be alone. That's when I saw what looked to be blood dripping into Sam's crib. I looked up and Mary was on the ceiling. The next thing I knew, she burst into flames. I grabbed Sam, put him into Dean's arms and told them to get out. I went back, but I couldn't save Mary," John looked up and if looks could have killed he knew the boys would be orphans.
"DON'T YOU DARE, JOHN WINCHESTER. DON'T YOU INSULT MY DAUGHTER'S MEMORY LIKE THAT!!!!!" Frank shouted. This was more than he could bear. He got up. He was getting out of here.
"Frank, please," John said in a tone much like the one Frank had used when John was going to walk away at the cemetary. Frank stopped.
"You know I loved Mary, with all my heart and soul. It almost killed me when she died and if it wasn't for the boys, Dean especially, it would have. Please, Frank, trust your instincts. I'm not lying. Mary was killed by something, something not human. I vowed to get the thing that took her from me. I didn't find out until last year that it was a demon, a real nasty son of a bitch. I won't rest until I can figure out a way to kill it."
Frank was torn. There was no way that what John was saying could be true. Yet John seemed so sincere that Frank was actually tempted to believe him.
"So you're saying... no, there's no such thing," Frank said. He sounded less sure of himself though. "Please, tell me you didn't fill the boy's heads with such nonsense."
"Dean and I aren't mechanics, Frank, we're hunters. We hunt down these creatures. Sam left to go to school and he joined us again after his girlfriend was killed the same way Mary was," John continued his explanation.
Frank couldn't believe his beloved grandson was in on this. What had John done to the boy?
"No wonder Dean's so screwed up, with you filling his head with this trash," Frank murmured to himself.
"Don't, Frank. I admit I made a lot of mistakes with Dean, but he's not screwed up. He's the sanest one of us all. He wants to avenge his mother's death, but he's in this more to help other people. He wants to stop other families from being torn apart like ours was. There's more, Frank and you need to hear it all," John stated.
John launched into his explanation. He held nothing back. He started with what had happened immediately following the fire, how he met Missouri, who then put him in touch with others. He told him all about Jim, Caleb and Bobby, and Jim and Caleb's deaths. He launched into an explanation of how he'd trained the boys. He even told him about his and Sam's fight about his decision to leave for school. He told him about how he had found out that the demon had targeted Sam for, as yet, unknown reasons, and about Sam's visions. He talked about the events that led up the accident, getting possessed by the demon, exactly what the Demon had said to Dean while wearing his face, and about the demon almost killing Dean while he was still in John's body. When he was done, he was exhausted.
Frank wasn't sure what to say. John couldn't be making all that up, could he, and more importantly why would he? It was still hard for Frank to give up his belief that these things didn't exist.
"Frank, I don't expect you to believe me, but all I'm asking is that you think about what I said. I almost lost my boys and it really made me take a hard look at what I was doing, so I am going to ask you one thing," John said.
"What's that?" asked Frank.
"Don't walk away from Dean. Whether you believe me or not, I don't care. You never want to see me or Sam again, I can live with that, but please, Frank, don't leave Dean. He doesn't deserve it," John pleaded.
"I need time to process this, John, but I promise, I won't dismiss anything, even though part of me wants to call the men in white coats. I'm not walking away from Dean though, he's become too important to me."
"I can give you some proof, sort of," John offered
"How?" Frank asked.
"That house that gave your company so much trouble? It's taken care of," John explained.
"You're saying that that local legend was true?" Frank asked.
"Yes. It was haunted by the spirit of Simon Fitzgerald. That's how Dean got hurt that night, he wasn't mugged, he got knocked into a tombstone."
"Does he get hurt often?" asked Frank with concern.
"No, not really, Dean's the best. Come on, we better get back to the house. Bobby won't hold breakfast," John said.
"Next, you'll be telling me that the hook man exists," Frank said as he stood and prepared to make his way back to the house.
John grinned. "Well, he did, but not anymore."
Frank followed John back to the house and he listened to John tell the story
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Dean lay on his bed, he was thinking about everything Bobby had said to him. He heard a light tapping on the door.
"Come in, Sam," Dean said.
"How'd you know it was me?" asked Sam as he opened the door and entered the room.
"Lucky guess," Dean explained.
Sam wasn't sure where to start, but he knew that he had to. He knew Dean would never start a chick flick moment.
"Dean, I'm sorry," he offered.
"It's okay, Sam," Dean said.
"No, it's not, Dean. You're upset and I know that it includes me."
"I told you, Sam, it's fine. That's it, we're done, end of discussion," Dean said flatly. He really didn't want to get into this.
"We're not fine, Dean. I need to say something. Dad told me story the day he showed us the stuff he had in his memory box. I think they had taken you for tests or something, we were in the cafeteria and he told me everything. I'm sorry I didn't tell you the real reason I didn't want to meet our grandfather. I was upset at the way he'd treated you."
"That day in the library, Sam, you could have told me then," Dean accused.
"I wanted to, Dean. It's just that you seemed so eager to meet him and I know how you feel about family. Dad told me how about how the two of you connected instantly. You seemed so happy, Dean. I couldn't take that away from you," Sam said sincerely.
"You were trying to look out for me?" Dean said. "I appreciate that, Sam, I really do, but you and Dad have to remember that I am not made of glass."
"It's just everything that what with everything that happened after the accident, with what Dad said to you when he was possessed, you can deny it all you want, but I know that thing got to you. I was afraid of how this would affect you," Sam said trying to explain his reasons for not coming clean about Frank.
"Alright, Sam, I'm going to say this once and if you ever repeat it, I am going to deny it. It was rough after the accident, but I always feel safe when I'm here. I was managing to deal with everything that happened and yes, Sam, I mean I was really dealing with it, not burying it," Dean admitted.
Sam had to admit that what Dean said was true. He had made considerable emotional progress in the four months they'd stayed at Bobby's.
"That's kind of what me and Dad were worried about," Sam repeated. "That the stuff with Frank would set you back."
"I honestly don't know how I would have reacted, Sam. I wasn't given the chance," Dean pointed out.
"I'm sorry, but Dean, how do we go about telling you something like that?"
"I don't know, Sam, and yes, it would have hurt no matter who told me, but it wouldn't have stung quite so much if you and dad told me from the start instead of being blindsided," Dean explained.
"You're right. It wasn't fair of me or dad to keep it from you. I just hate to see you get hurt. I was trying to protect you. I even went to Frank when I was supposed to be getting breakfast and threatened him that he better not upset you, or he was gonna have to deal with me. I wanted to protect you for a change," Sam admitted.
"Hey, that's my job. I mean, who's the big brother here?" Dean said.
An evil grin spread across Sam's face. "Me."
Dean threw a pillow at his brother.
"Bitch," came Dean's expected reply.
"Jerk," Sam gave his expected line the exact same time as Dean. Sam grinned again. He knew that Dean had just forgiven him.
"Boys," they heard Bobby call from the kitchen. "Breakfast."
"Great, I'm starving," Sam remarked. He was really hoping Bobby had made pancakes. He made the best ones.
"Hey, Sam," Dean called. "Can I ask you something?"
"Sure."
"You said that Dad told you the whole story. What happened after you were born? Did Gra..., Frank want you to have his name?" Dean asked even though he already knew the answer.
Sam was tempted to lie and tell Dean that Frank had rejected him too, but he had a feeling that Dean knew and was testing him.
"Yes," Sam stated softly and he didn't miss Dean flinch, and his face formed into an expression that Sam had trouble reading. "Dad said it had nothing to do with me though."
"You were healthy when you were born," Dean reasoned.
"Don't read anything into it. If mom had the same complications, Frank would have had the same reaction." Sam pointed out.
"Why is your middle name Francis?" Dean asked suddenly.
"I asked Dad that exact same question. He said that mom always kept her promises and she promised to name her son after her dad. He said that Frank never liked his first name and she did it to piss him off."
"Thanks for telling me the truth," Dean said.
"I should have done it from the start. So come on, little brother, let's go get some breakfast," Sam teased.
"You really need to get some new material, Sam, that's one getting so old."
"The classic's never do, Dean. Come on I'm hungry."
The brother's left the room and went to the kitchen. Bobby heard them teasing each other and he knew that they had managed to work things out. Not that there was ever a doubt in Bobby's mind. Bobby didn't think Dean was capable of staying mad at Sam for any length of time. Now, if only he could work things out that easy with his father and grandfather. Somehow, Bobby didn't think that would go so smoothly.
A/N Please read and review and let me know what you think. Reviews feed my muse.