Dean had restrained himself as long as he could, but the thought that this guy in front of him had possibly ripped his little brother's heart out was all it took to let whatever tether he had on his temper loose. By the time his dad had managed to pull him off Cade, the man looked more than a little worse for wear and Dean had felt a tiny bit better about the situation. That was until he saw his mother's face and heard her words, then he started to feel panic.
"What if Ellie had seen you Dean? Johnny's not around and you're out here beating on her father, how would you feel if you were her?" she asked in harsh whispers, attempting to make a point about how the little girl was still aware of the people around her.
Looking at Cade, Dean grudgingly offered his hand only because he knew that's what Johnny would want. Thinking about what he'd done he had to admit that he was putting a lot of faith into the theory that Johnny was Sammy. He had no idea what he would do if they found out that they had it all wrong to begin with. Sighing, he led the way into the house, hoping that he might be able to talk to some sense into the kid before he took off and did something stupid.
After everyone was back inside, Cade quickly made his way to Ellie's room and seeing she was still asleep, he rejoined the Winchester's. "She's sleeping soundly, Johnny must have tucked her back in." he said, feeling worse than ever.
"What did you mean that you wouldn't have her if it hadn't been for Johnny?" John asked, knowing that they hadn't even scratched the surface of this small family's life.
Cade looked at John and shrugged his shoulders, "Just what it sounds like. The hospital wasn't going to release her to me without the court's approval, even though I was on her birth certificate as father and I never signed my rights away. They had some lawyer come to talk to me about how the hospital could be held liable for allowing a minor to take custody of a baby. Basically, it was a bunch of crap to cover their own asses and while I was arguing the facts of how I was supporting myself because the system had more holes in it than swiss cheese, Johnny was walking out of the hospital with his 'school books' in his backpack. They couldn't say that I did it since I was in a meeting with their representative, and even when I took her to the doctor for her check ups they couldn't do anything about it, especially after I found someone willing to petition the court on my behalf. If it hadn't been for Johnny I wouldn't have got her out of there in the first place, and I wouldn't have been able to keep my job which would have proven them right about me being unfit."
Mary thought about what she heard, and she wasn't sure if she should be proud at such resourcefulness, or horrified at the situation. Taking a moment, she listened to see if she could hear any sign of Johnny, but the house seemed quiet.
"He's already gone Mrs. Winchester. More than likely he went towards Cameron, there's a couple of bars there that he goes to blow off some steam. Normally I wouldn't worry about it, but tonight…"
"How far?" Dean asked as he took his copy of the car keys from his pocket. When Cade just looked at him, he asked again, "How far!" leaving no doubt to where he was going and why.
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Johnny knew it was late when a black El Camino pulled up along side of him and the driver offered him a ride. He and Cade had known the area drunk for quite awhile, and it never ceased to amaze either one of them how the guy was able to stay on the road half the time. Not caring about much at this point he threw his bag in the back and settled in for the short drive not caring that the driver was paying more attention to the whiskey bottle than the road.
Sitting at the bar and kicking back shots wasn't that big of a deal, but Mac the bar owner knew that there were problems at the Hart place when Johnny had barely come up for air since he walked in the door and everyone knew to leave the kid alone. It had been a lesson learned early on and no one had forgotten it since. He wasn't an idiot, he knew that the kid was barely old enough to drive, much less drink legally, but when the Sheriff is right next to you tossing back as many, you have a tendency to remember that the rules are different out West. He knew that Johnny would have enough and when he was ready, would head back towards the house, or at least that's normally how it went; the bag by his feet said something different tonight, and everyone couldn't help but wonder what changed.
Dean didn't know whether he should feel lucky or not. After finally convincing his parents that he'd have better luck in dragging Johnny back by himself, he had followed Cades directions and found him at the first bar he walked into. Now though he had no idea what he was going to do, Cade's warning to 'give him plenty of room' was echoing in his head and he had no idea how to do that and still get the kid out of there. Walking up to the bar he ordered a beer and was surprised to hear the guy ask for ID. "You're joking right?" he asked, sure that someone was going start laughing at the joke. "You're serving him, what do you need to ID me for?" he asked, pointing next to him at Johnny.
"Good point," Mac said smugly before turning to the other young man, "Hey Johnny, got ID?" he heard the kid smirk as he pulled one out of his jacket pocket and toss it to him, as he looked at it he started to laugh. "Ok Johnny Cade, age twenty two, can I get you another round?"
Dean couldn't believe what he just saw, much less what he heard, "Johnny Cade? Dude, couldn't you come up with something better? Although now I see where he got his name." When Johnny barely looked at him he took it as a good sign, "You know, The Outsiders… it's the name of one of the characters and…" he paused when he saw Johnny shake his head.
"His mom wanted a girl, was going to name him Candie, with an 'ie', when he was born she just took off the 'n' and the 'i' and called it good."
It took Dean a few minutes to realize what had been said, and when he put it all together he couldn't believe it. "You're kidding right? That would have made him Candie Hart! Oh my God, that's too funny… remind me of that later. I'm going to give him such hell for that… candy heart!" When he was able to breathe again, he noticed his beer was in front of him and the bartender wasn't. Looking over next to him he couldn't help but ask, "So, how long you planning on staying here?" After a few moments of no answer, he continued. "You know, I get that you're upset. Hell he didn't say that to me, and I'm upset, but you need to let it go. He knows he was an ass, and he's kicking himself for it, so how about you and me go back to the house and we get this straightened out before a certain little princess wakes up."
He had sat there and listened to Dean ramble on about how that everything would be ok now, and how they should just go back to the house and make nice as if everything would be rosy now that the great and almighty Dean had said so. Glaring at the man next to him, Johnny wanted to hit him, to make him see that he wanted to be left alone. He had been perfectly content to sit there quietly and drink until he had his fill then move on down the road to… well, he hadn't gotten that far yet, but he'd get there anyway. Now though, he found himself listening to someone who was more stalker than anything else, and he couldn't help but wonder, really, what it would take for him and his screwed in the head parents to leave him alone. Sighing, he threw some bills on the bar, grabbed his bag and walked out of the bar with a very excited Dean on his trail.
"Great! Get in the car and…"
Dean hadn't expected that, in fact he realized later that he should have expected it; after all if someone annoyed the hell out of him and wouldn't leave him alone, then he would have done the exact same thing. Now though, all he could think was 'What the…' followed by 'Oh, Hell no!', before he sent an answering response of his fist towards Johnny's face. He quickly understood that the kid may have been drinking, but that didn't mean he was drunk, but he had the horrified thought that it was probably a good thing he wasn't; Dean had no idea if Johnny was a mean drunk or not, and this was not the way to find out.
With Johnny determined to kick the crap out of Dean, and Dean just as equally determined to knock some sense into Johnny, it didn't take a genius to see that this had the makings of a very long night in the parking lot with bloodied knuckles and bruised faces being the sport of the evening. Both men had been giving it their best shot to get the upper hand, but neither had been able to pull it off. As they had started another round, a small car stopped suddenly next to them and frantic voices got louder as the occupants got closer.
John couldn't believe what he was seeing, both boys were having it out in the parking lot of some no named bar in the middle of nowhere and neither one had the sense to make sure that no one was sneaking up behind them. It was obvious that whatever had started it off, had taken place awhile ago, and that both of them needed a chance to cool off. Unfortunately, he'd had experiences with fights, and the number one rule: Don't ever get in between two brother's fighting. It was something that he had learned the hard way, but something that he had never forgotten, and still lived by. Now though he was watching two young men who, as far as he was concerned were his boys, fighting as if they wanted to kill each other, and he had no idea how to stop it.
Seeing what was going on, Mary couldn't believe that either of her boys could be so thick headed, then she caught herself. 'Like father like sons.' She thought almost amused, if it hadn't been so serious. Looking over at John she could tell the conflict going on within him, she knew the old saying about brothers, but these were her boys and damn it… they were going to listen! Walking over the both just as Johnny had started to bring his arm around for another go at Dean but brought it up short when he saw not Dean, but Mary!
Shocked, Johnny could only stare at the woman in front of him with his fist so close to her face, and he felt like someone had hit him in the gut with a sledgehammer. Looking at her then at Dean, he put his arm down and silently walked over to grab his bag.
"Johnny, stop! C'mon man, you can't just walk away… not like this." Dean said, watching as the kid continued with what he was doing. He looked at his dad hoping that he had something hidden up his sleeve, but what came out of the man's mouth made even his jaw drop.
"A DNA test!" John blurted out to Johnny's back. When Johnny stopped and looked back as if he had lost his mind, he continued. "You asked me what it would take for us to leave you alone. I said one night to plead our case. I'm asking right now for something that we were hoping you'd volunteer. Come back to Lawrence with us, we have the test done, you can work at the garage for however long it takes the results to come back, and then if you're not Sammy, you can walk away and we'll chalk this up to a bad experience and move on."
Johnny looked at the older man in front of him and had to wonder what was really going on in the man's head. "What's the catch?"
John shook his head, ignoring both Mary and Dean's protests. "No catch, if you're not Sammy, we'll let you go on your way if that's what you want. We won't follow or have you tracked down. If you're not Sammy, you're totally free."
Thinking a moment, Johnny looked back at him, "When were you going back to work?" he asked, not fully trusting what was being said, but kind of curious to see it play out.
Confused, John looked at Dean before answering, "Monday. Our plans sort of changed at the last minute, so we'll be heading back soon." Hating uncomfortable silences he asked, "So, should I pop open the trunk of the Impala so we can get going? I know I'm not getting any sleep tonight."
Shaking his head Johnny could see the protests mounting, "I'll meet you there. I'll be there at eight o'clock Monday morning, you can make the arrangements for the test for whenever you want that day, I make my own living arrangements, and you don't bring up anything that happened here. After you finally figure out that I'm not your son, I'll leave and let you get back to your searching. Deal?"
Dean wanted to say something… anything, but all that came out was a silent nod of agreement. He knew that his mom was wanting to cry, and he understood how she felt. They were leaving the closest person they had to Sammy, and trusting that he would fulfill his promise, that he wouldn't take off and not be seen again. He heard his dad call out to him to get the stuff out of the Mazda and put it in the car, and when he turned back around Johnny was gone.
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Mike had been his partner since before Dean was born, and they had shared a lot of good and bad times together. Today however he really wished his friend would shut up before he was forced to make him.
"Look John, I'm sure you had your reasons, but hanging not only your hopes, but Mary's too that this kid is going to show is just nuts." Mike said as he got things ready to open the garage doors. "I mean really, what are you going to tell her when she calls at five after and he's not here?"
"He'll be here." John said, knowing that he was actually putting faith in something that was said by someone he didn't really know. 'If he says he's going to do something, he'll do it.'
Not even caring about the time anymore, John pushed the buttons to open the overhead doors, anything to get the suffocating feeling out of the building. He was about to turn back to the first job of the day when something caught his eye. Johnny was standing their in front of the middle bay door with his bag still slung over his shoulder and a pair of dark sunglasses on his face.
"Am I early?" he asked with a grin, watching John smile, and Mike stare in shock.