Sacrifice Goes Both Ways
-2-
"Dad's going to kill me." Sam mumbled still pretty drugged up from their visit to the emergency room.
"Don't worry Sammy." Dean told him, feeling bad he hadn't broken up the fight before that massive idiot broke his brother's arm. "I'll explain to dad, just try and relax."
Gracie had totally saved their lives, turned out her aunt was a doctor at the local emergency room.
Her aunt had patched him up quite well and Dean was surprised by how easily and believably Gracie had lied to her aunt. For being a doctor, she bought the excuse that they didn't have any insurance yet because their dad was in-between jobs and wrapped him up no questions asked pretty well. It was actually a little scary how good of a liar she was, Dean didn't think she'd be out of place in the Winchester family with how easily lying came to her.
"Thanks a lot." Dean told her once Sam was fairly unconscious once again, and he'd pulled up to her house.
"No problem." She said grabbing her bag and getting out of the impala. "Just...Dean think about what I said, please...don't let it be your family okay?"
Dean's hands tightened around the steering wheel, his knuckles turning white. He glanced down at Sam, slumped in the passenger's seat still asleep thankfully. The last thing he wanted was for his brother to know about this. He knew what Sam would tell him, but what Sam didn't know was that he'd be wrong. Dean wasn't going to run away and have his family fall apart.
"I should get Sam home." He said his voice tight.
Gracie sighed, "Fine. I'll see you tomorrow?"
"Sam and I won't be in school. He's going to need a couple days off..."
"Fine." She said, wondering why he had to make it so difficult. She really liked Dean but being with him...she had no idea what was going on in his head sometimes. "Call me if you're not too busy."
She was annoyed with him, Dean could tell that much but he just couldn't deal with it right now. He'd make it up to her later, he always did. Right now he had his family to deal with, and that was his priority.
When Dean heard the doorbell he rushed to answer the door figuring it was Gracie. A couple of days had passed and she had cooled off enough to agree to come over and so he was surprised when he opened the door and saw Taylor.
"Oh. It's you."
"Yeah. Hi to you too." Taylor said.
Dean grinned, "Sorry. Come on in."
"So, whats got you acting all charming?"
"Oh, but I'm always charming." Dean replied. "But why are you gracing us with your presence?"
"Sam asked me to pick up some school work since you're still detaining him here-his words, not mine." Taylor gestured to the bag of books.
"Wow, no breaks for honor students, huh?"
"What? No, that's all your work. Except for the calculus. Everyone except Thoms told him not to worry about it."
"My work?" Dean was stunned. "Why my work?"
"Sam told me to get your work too. By the way, its all due as soon as you come back."
"Sam!" Dean hollered. He was going to kill his brother.
Sam walked in stifling a laugh. He had a feeling that Taylor was here.
"Hey Dean, Taylor." He said innocently. "What's going on? Is that my work?"
"Just this." Taylor said handing him his calculus book.
"Sam, I'm going to kill you." Dean narrowed his eyes at his brother. "How am I supposed to have fun with all this work?"
"I don't know. But maybe now you wont be so bored that you won't have to put itching powder in my clothes."
"Like my underwear turned pink on their own." Dean shot back.
Taylor struggled not to laugh. She'd known something was up when Sam called and asked her to pick up both his and Deans homework.
"I didn't touch your underwear!" Sam replied, "Do you really think I'd want to endanger my health like that?"
Dean glared at his younger brother, and Sam returned the look. It was getting to be too much, and way too hilarious, for Taylor, and so she broke the silence. It was the perfect opportunity too as Gracie pulled her car into the driveway.
"By the way," Taylor said as she saw Gracie's car pull up through the front window. "Whatever you did, just apologize."
"Huh?" Dean looked at her in confusion. He thought she was talking to him...he was pretty sure she was talking to him...but what the hell could she be talking about?
Before Taylor could help him out the doorbell rang.
"Dean, really, whatever you did, suck up the pride and apologize, k-ay? It's for your own well being."
Sam looked like he was going to burst out in laughter. Taylor was scary good...if he didn't know better he'd think she was psychic or something. Somehow, the girl always seemed to know what was going on.
As Dean moved to open the door, the phone rang. Both brothers froze. A grand total of three people had the number to that phone—their dad, Caleb, and Pastor Jim.
"Sam, get the door." Dean ordered, their dad hadn't called in a couple of days but he didn't exactly call regularly, Dean figured he must be calling to check up on them.
Sam answered the door, flinching inwardly as he thought to what his dad's reaction was going to be when he found out about his arm...he was going to be grounded until, oh, the end of forever.
Dean picked up the phone on the second ring.
"Hello?"
"Dean." John's voice come in clear over the line, Dean guessed he wasn't out in the forests any longer.
"Dad, hey, how's the hunt?"
"Good. Good, are you and your brother doing well?"
"Yeah, but dad..." Dean's voice trailed off as he heard some noise in the background on his dad's side.
John swore quietly, but Dean didn't miss it.
"Listen Dean, this hunt's taking a bit longer than expected. I'm not gonna be home for another week at least."
"Okay." Dean said quickly, "But dad—"
Dean was cut off once more.
"Dean, I'll call you back as soon as possible. Caleb and I have to get going though, the police are sticking their noses in this one...I'll call soon, look out for your brother, okay?"
"Yeah but..." Dean groaned as his dad hung up the phone. Something was definitely going on with him. He just wished that his dad would have stayed on long enough for him to explain what had happened to Sam.
"Was that dad?" Sam asked, alternating between concern for the trouble he was going to be in and eagerness for his dad to return. He and Dean understood full well how dangerous hunting was, and they worried about him when he was gone.
"Yeah," Dean replied looking from Sam to Gracie. "Looks like he's not going to be home for a while longer."
"Oh." Sam said trying to mask his disappointment. "Right." He turned to Taylor, "C'mon we have studying to do."
Taylor followed and Dean was left alone with Gracie.
"So..." He said
"Yeah." She replied, "Dean..."
"I'm sorry, okay?" He said, "Gracie, I know you put up with a lot from me, its just...I thought you understood. Sam has to come first."
"Fine." Gracie said, "But you can't keep putting him before yourself. You keep doing that, and I can promise you Dean, whether you want to or not, you're going to start to resent him. Maybe even hate him."
"No." Dean said, "It not like that with us, and I know you take this as an insult but Sam and I, and our dad, we're all the family we've got left. We have to stick together."
"Maybe." She said, "But do you really want hunting to be for forever? To be your father?" Gracie could see his features tightening over his attractive face but, if she had to make him angry to see the truth, so be it. She loved him, and she was going to help him to see what was best for him even if he had to hate her for it. "Do you think this is what your mom wanted for you? Because from what you've told me...I don't think so."
"What are they talking about?" Sam asked, backtracking to get Taylor when he reached his room and realized she was still listening in on Dean and Gracie's—from what he gathered by the look on Gracie's face, Dean's back was to him—angry conversation.
"Dean's commitment issues." Taylor lied easily, lying was important sometimes. It was one of the biggest things she'd learned in her life. No one always wanted the truth, it was a funny thing but sometimes telling the truth was the easy part, the big sacrifice was, do you love someone enough to lie to them?
"Oh," Sam half-shrugged, the cast making it a bit difficult. "They'll get over it, it happens about once a week."
"Yeah," Taylor's voice was low, "I don't think this time is going to be like the other times."