Chapter 15

They drive back to the motel in silence, which is the first clue for Sam that something in wrong. Dean not playing metallica in the car is never a good sign. By the time they get to the motel Sam is certain that something is up, but unfortunately not even he is good enough at reading Dean to tell what. So Sam asks.

"It's nothing... it's just... was a bit sudden, that's all."

"It really wasn't. I've been waiting for the right time for a while now."

An incredulous look crosses Dean's face and Sam can just hear the unspoken "And you thought that was the right time?" that Dean is expressing. So Sam continues.

"I waited till you were the most... you."

Dean still doesn't look like he understands.

"When you hunt, when you save people, that's when you seem the most alive... the most Dean."

Dean's expression softens, and Sam can see the hint of a smile. When he speaks his voice has taken on a teasing tone.

"Dunno dude... I was kind of expecting flowers... and a bed."

"Bed next time."

"So the car thing was... what?"

"The car is home, not the latest in a long string of temporary rooms."

That earns Sam a genuine smile.

"True. But next time I expect wining, dining, and a very nice hotel room."

"Deal."

Dean smiles at Sam again and feels his tension melting away as Sam smiles back. Dean's made some peace with his omega side; it wants his alpha to take care of him and – while Dean is adamant that he doesn't need Sam to do so – Dean could certainly appreciate being pampered some. Sam treats Dean as a capable hunter – strong and smart – and while Dean likes that, it seems he'll need to steer Sam towards the kinds of shows of affection that he craves but is unwilling to admit to wanting.

They're looking for their next hunt when they get a call from Bobby. It's not about a hunt. In fact Bobby refuses to tell them what it is about, just tells them to come by as soon as they can. It'll take them a couple days to get there driving – and Dean refuses to fly – which is the only reason he even considers asking Sam if he can transport the impala. Sam's reply that he doesn't actually know if he can, is not comforting. They end up having Sam try with another car first, which is a success, but Sam has to pull Dean away to stop him from going over it with a fine tooth comb to see if anything will happen to the impala when Sam transports it.

They show up on the road to Bobby's, just out of sight of the house. Bobby greets them when they knock, shotgun in hand, and only lets them in once he's had them drink holy water.

"What's this about?"

"Your Dad."

Dean can feel himself tense.

"He came needing help finding whatever pulled him out of hell, he thought you might've made a deal."

It takes Dean a while to parse that one. Key pieces: 1) Dad had been in hell, 2) he was now out, 3) something had gotten him out, 4) it certainly hadn't been Dean, therefore 5) it was something else.

"No. This is actually the first I've heard of my Dad even being in hell."

Bobby's expression changes, like a weird mix of happy and resigned.

"What's with the face?"

"While I'm happy you didn't do something idiotic, this also means we've got to keep looking, and that's not looking hopeful."

"Doesn't Dad have any idea what it was?"

"No, I don't."

Dean spins around, he's not sure what his own face is showing, but his dad is standing in the doorway looking the most unsure Dean's ever seen him. He can feel Sam shift slightly, putting himself as a barrier between the two of them, and while Dean appreciates that, he can also see the way his father reacts to it: the way his face falls, how he looks angry but also resigned and sad. So Dean puts a hand on Sam's arm and gives him a silent look, telling him that he doesn't need to worry, that Dean can handle this, and then Dean steps past him, to face his father.

"Are you sorry for what you said?"

"Yes. God, Dean I'm so sorry, I've never meant any of that, I just... I felt like such an idiot, and like I'd failed... I shouldn't have directed that at you."

"Alright."

"Alright?"

"Things aren't fine between us, but I don't want to lose my dad."

"Ok."

Bobby was right, the odds of the three hunter's figuring out what raised John are not good. Sam on the other hand has known from the moment he heard, and the details only confirm his guess. A gravesite that looks like a bomb exploded, a horrible sound that hurt John's ears, something that blew out the windows of the building he was in, a handprint shaped scar on his shoulder... John had been raised by an angel. There were only two questions: which angel, and why. Sam couldn't answer the first, but he had a sinking suspicion about the answer to that second question, and that answer would contain the words: righteous man.

They end up going to Pamela again. And this time Sam would really like her to keep her eyes, so once she's given them a name – and it's Castiel! – Sam advises her not to try looking at it. This of course gets him strange looks from all involved, to which he replies:

"There are things out there it's not healthy to try and see, and from the name, I think this is one of them."

Now the looks are suspicious, except for Dean's who seems to have realized that Sam actually knows what Castiel is but doesn't want to come out and say it.

"You can try to look. I'm just saying it might be in your best interests not to."

"I'm with Sam on this one, the least we can do is try researching the name before we try anything."

The glare Sam's getting from John has just reached epic proportions. It's pretty clear the only reason he's not up in Sam's face is that he's trying to stay on Dean's good side, but the effort is obviously costing him.

"We need to know what this thing is, and given our luck so far in researching it, we need all the information we can get right now."

"I'm with Bobby on this one, I want to know what the hell it is."

Their gazes slowly drift toward Pamela, with the even split she'll be the dividing vote, not to mention it's her health on the line.

"I want to try it."

Sam and Dean sit out of the circle.

Dean has a horrible feeling about this, Sam's a whatever he is and probably has a lot more experience with the supernatural than him, Dad, and Bobby combined, ignoring a warning from him is such a foolish thing to do. But the two of them have somehow managed not to share with his dad or Bobby that Sam's a creature, and Dean's pretty sure the two of them would like to keep it that way as long as possible. Dean had actually been expecting that cat to come out of the bag a long time ago, but so far no test has managed to distinguish Sam from a normal human. Now that Dean is considering that, that's actually kind of worrying, Sam's not the only one of his kind, and apparently they can hide perfectly from hunters. Still that's not the worry of the moment, what's going to happen to the poor psychic is.

The first time Pamela orders it to show itself it gets obvious that the thing is going to fight her. It also tells her to stop trying to see it, and the tone sounds sincere to Dean. He's got a very bad feeling about where this is going, but he can see from the way that Pamela reacts that the refusal just makes her more determined. Dean spends a moment to decry the general stubbornness of alphas. He's pretty sure this is going nowhere good for the psychic, but nothing he says is going to sway her now that she's met resistance.

Her eyes get burnt out. They get no more information, and her eyes get burnt out. Dean is so taking all of Sam's warnings seriously from now on.

Bobby and Dean's dad want to summon the thing, Dean personally feels that's a horrible idea considering what just happened to the psychic, but Sam seems to have no misgivings, so Dean has to conclude that nothing so horrible is going to happen to them.

They've covered the walls and the floor with every useful symbol they can think of, nothing supernatural should be able to walk in and out of here... which doesn't seem to be stopping Sam from doing so. Dean is forced to consider that no hunter has ever managed to identify whatever Sam's species is, and he adds immunity to all these symbols on his mental list of Sam's species characteristics. That list now manages to include: teleportation, not needing to sleep, conjuring things from thin air, immunity to every hunter's test, and immunity to every hunter's symbol. Still, Sam isn't the enigma they're currently working on so Dean draws his mind back to the task at hand as they begin to summon Castiel.

Published November 5, 2014