The Hunt
Chapter 5
Disclaimer: See chapter 1
A/N: I hope you like the way this has all turned out. Either way, I'd love to know your thoughts. Thanks to everyone who has read up to now; I appreciate it!
oooOOOooo
Sam and Dean sat quietly in Kristine's hospital room, waiting for her to be brought back from the MRI. There wasn't a whole lot to say; nothing that Dean wanted to talk about anyway. He knew, if given the chance, Sam would want to talk about his feelings for Kristine, but that was one of the last things Dean wanted to think about. Sam would also want him to talk about Patrick, but no amount of talking would bring him back.
The exorcism had to be performed; they couldn't let a demon run rampant in the world. And Patrick was aware of at least some of what his body was being made to do and allowing him to continue to suffer was unacceptable. Hurting anyone would have been like torture to Patrick, but what his body was made to do to Kristine – he loved her like a sister and would have killed himself before hurting her if he could.
Dean would eventually talk about his feelings. He would go through it all in his head and endure all sorts of pain until he felt comfortable enough with it to talk to Sam. The younger brother knew he could push, and sometimes that worked, but most of the time it was best to let Dean come to him on his own. In the meantime, he would stay close and take care of as many of the details as he could.
Just over an hour after the brothers arrived, Kristine was brought back to her room. She saw the look on Dean's face and knew what had happened. The orderly got her settled in bed and was quickly followed by a nurse who reattached the IV and made a few notes in her chart while making small talk. Once they were alone, Sam hesitated, waiting for Dean to make a move. When he didn't, Sam sat on the edge of the bed and laid a hand on hers.
"It's over." Kristine said; it wasn't a question.
Sam nodded.
"He didn't suffer?"
"No." Sam whispered.
"Any problems?"
"Joe took care of everything."
Kristine glanced at Dean. He was leaning against the wall, looking at her sadly.
"I'm sorry. The demon – this was my fault." Sam said.
"No, it wasn't." Kristine said quickly. "I don't blame you and neither would Patrick. You – and Dean - are as much victims as any of us."
"How do you feel?" Sam asked, wanting to change the subject. "The antibiotics kicking in?"
"Yeah, I'm already feeling better. If the MRI is clear, I'll be able to leave this afternoon."
"Good." Sam looked at his brother, then back to Kristine. "I need to get in touch with Bobby and Ellen. I'll be back later, okay?"
She nodded. Sam squeezed her hand, gave Dean a pointed look and walked out of the room. Kristine laid her head back on the pillow and closed her eyes. Dean pushed himself off the wall and sat in the spot Sam vacated as a tear rolled down Kristine's cheek. He didn't feel remotely capable of handling this situation, but like most things in his life, he had no choice.
"Tell me what happened." Kristine said after a moment.
"The details aren't important."
She looked at him. "They are to me."
Dean spent the next few minutes telling her about the previous night, though he did gloss over some of it. "He wanted me to tell you that he – he loved you."
She smiled sadly as new tears welled in her eyes.
"I'm sorry, Kristine. There wasn't any way to save him –"
"I know that. You – you saved him from any more pain, though. Thank you for that."
Dean only nodded. He didn't feel like there was anything to thank him for; someone was dead.
"You know I don't normally go in for the weak girly thing, but I could really use a hug." she said quietly.
Dean moved to sit next to her and pulled her gently into his arms. She cried quietly, resting her head against him, until she'd fallen asleep.
oooOOOooo
After making the phone calls, Sam went back to Kristine's room and found her asleep in Dean's arms. He left them alone to start the cleanup on the cottage. News of Patrick's death spread through town quickly and friends came by looking for Kristine. Most stayed to help with the cottage and everyone seemed to believe the story that Patrick had come in and surprised burglars who ended up killing him.
The MRI showed no serious damage to Kristine's back and with the infection clearing up well, she was released from the hospital late that afternoon with medication and strict instructions from the doctor.
"The cottage isn't ready for you to stay in." Sam said as he drove them out of Asheville.
"You didn't have to spend your day working in the cottage." Kristine said. "But thank you."
"It wasn't just me. You have a lot of friends in town."
"I guess I do." she said quietly. "I can stay at the estate, but I'd like to see the cottage."
"How about tomorrow?" Dean suggested.
"I need to get some stuff –"
"Alicia packed all the clothes she could find." Sam said.
"Okay, then. Tomorrow."
Truth be told, Kristine was exhausted physically and emotionally and didn't really want to see the cottage right now anyway. What she wanted to do was lie in bed and go to sleep for a very long time, but what she would do was entirely different. Like Dean, she buried her feelings deep inside. As a therapist, she knew that wasn't the best way to deal with emotional turmoil, but she was a much better counselor than she was a patient.
"Are you guys sticking around until tomorrow?" Kristine asked as they walked into the estate house later.
The brothers exchanged a look.
"We're only welcome until tomorrow?" Dean smiled.
"You're always welcome here." Kristine looked into his eyes. "But you don't normally stick around too long once a job is done –"
"This wasn't just a job." Dean said as they walked into the den. Sam veered off toward the kitchen to give them time to talk.
Kristine slowly sat down on the couch. "I'm glad to hear that."
Dean sat next to her. "You feeling okay?"
"I'm getting there."
"You should have told me how bad it was."
Kristine said nothing and Dean didn't press the issue.
"So is it okay if we stick around for a while?"
"Of course it is." Kristine said. "I'd like it if you would."
oooOOOooo
A couple of days later, Sam and Dean posed as employees of a funeral home to get Patrick's body. The sheriff arranged for the proper paperwork and Kristine dealt with the owner of the real funeral home. Despite the do-it-yourself cremation, Kristine wanted a service for Patrick. She ended paying a lot more than the standard fee to guarantee the owner's silence.
She stood between the brothers late the night after they secured the body. Her back still hurt more than she'd like, but she was faithfully following the doctor's instructions, despite having spent a good part of the day going through things in Patrick's house after taking a tour of her own. Dean was slowly becoming more comfortable giving her the support she needed, though it still required a little prompting from Sam.
With Kristine's permission, Dean lit the fire that would consume Patrick's body. He backed up to stand next to her, putting an arm around her shoulders. She leaned against him and reached for Sam's hand. She knew this was coming very soon after their father's death and she suspected that's where their thoughts would go.
They stood in the dark, in a remote spot on the estate, watching Patrick's body burn. Once it was done, they finished the ritual and went back to the house in silence. As if by some unspoken agreement, they ended up in the kitchen and before sitting with the brothers at the table, Kristine got three bottles of beer from the refrigerator. She and Sam talked about nothing in particular for a while as Dean just stared at the table. He could shut down faster than anyone Kristine had ever encountered; and that included patients at the clinic in Asheville where she worked as well as the hunters at the safe house.
It was almost one in the morning before they made their way upstairs to bed. Dean's things were still in the room he and Sam had shared their first night at the estate, but he was sleeping with Kristine. Sam wouldn't even let himself admit that he was a little jealous and missed waking up to find his brother in the next bed. He knew it was ridiculous, and he honestly wanted Dean to be happy, but he couldn't shake the feeling.
Most of his dreams were premonitions, but now and then he had a simple nightmare. Waking up after dreaming of John's death and the night he and Dean burned the body, Sam felt very alone in the empty room. It was just after 5:00 so he went to the kitchen and started the coffee. He was surprised when Kristine joined him a few minutes later.
"You okay?" she asked, pouring coffee and sitting across from him at the table.
"I had a dream about my dad." he saw the look of alarm on her face. "Just a regular dream."
"Do you want to talk about it?"
Sam shook his head.
"I know I've said this over the phone, but, well, I'm sorry about your father. He was really good to me."
"He liked you." Sam smiled. "He liked the way you didn't take crap from Dean."
Kristine laughed lightly.
"It's been hard on Dean. He misses Dad, but before he died, Dad told him something about me. He lived with that for months –" Sam looked at her. "He told you, didn't he?"
"Sam –"
"Of course he did." Sam laughed to himself. "That figures."
"Don't be angry. You know how Dean followed John's orders; John didn't want you to know."
"Of course he didn't. But it was about me."
She didn't know what to say.
"It's okay." Sam said, even though he didn't think it really was. He was angry with Dean for telling Kristine about the secret, but part of him understood why he did it.
"There was a lot unsaid between you and your dad." she said after a few minutes of silence.
"He should have told me about this. I could have been fighting it longer –"
"Sam, you know how your dad was. He thought he could protect everyone. He didn't keep it from you to hurt you."
"I know." Sam said quietly. Then, after a moment, he added. "I don't want Dean to have to kill me. That would destroy him."
Kristine agreed, but said nothing.
Sam rubbed his face. "I don't want to talk about this. We've got a long day ahead of us with the service and – and I'm supposed to be helping you."
"You are." Kristine assured him.
"So, Dean's still sleeping?"
"No. He left a while ago; said he was going to take a drive."
He nodded, not entirely surprised.
"Hey, Sam?"
"Yeah?"
"Does it bother you? Dean and me?"
Sam wanted to lie and say he was happy, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. He didn't want to hurt Kristine, but if he could be honest with her when he was at rock bottom, he could be honest with her now.
"A little bit." he said quietly. "But the bottom line is if Dean's happy, then I'm happy."
"Is Dean happy?"
"He cares about you."
"I know he does. And I care about him. But – happy?" she shook her head. "You know I'd never do anything to come between you, right?"
Sam nodded. He did believe that. But he also knew that Dean would never allow it.
"Good." she said and they slipped into a comfortable silence.
oooOOOooo
Dean stayed gone longer than he meant to, but he felt in control behind the wheel of his car and he needed to feel in control. He knew Kristine didn't blame him for Patrick's death, but the demon went after him and Kristine to get to Dean and he knew that the same kind of thing would keep happening. The yellow-eyed demon wanted Sam and it had to go through Dean to get him.
All the time Dean was growing up and even when he started hunting with his father, he never felt like this. He never felt the kind of fear that was always with him now – he wasn't afraid of falling victim to the yellow-eyed demon, but of failing to protect Sam. If he messed up, Sam would be lost t him forever.
And he didn't understand what he felt for Kristine. When he was with her, even though he still felt out of control and like things were crashing down on him, there was an underlying calm. In between hunting gigs, when he stayed with her before, he worked as a bartender in the club her family owned. It was a country place with a lot of regulars, and he'd loved it. He remembered being happy there and he wondered if he could ever really have a life like the one he pretended was his for a while.
It couldn't happen now. Not with the yellow-eyed demon out there and not with the threat of Sam turning evil over their heads. They had to destroy the threat before he could even think about anything else.
Dean parked the car on at the end of a dirt road that had an incredible view of the mountains around them. Kristine had shown him this spot and no matter how many times he saw it, he was always mesmerized by it. He sat on the hood of the car, taking in everything he could and trying to memorize every detail. He had to protect Sam; he had to find a way for them both to be safe. If he did, maybe he could come back here for good. Until then, all he had was what he could remember.
He wasn't surprised when his cell phone rang a little later. He cleared his throat while reaching into his pocket. He knew it was Sam.
"You okay, man?" Sam asked when Dean answered.
"Yeah."
Sam didn't think he sounded okay. "Where are you? The service starts in a couple of hours."
"I'll be there. I'm not that far away."
"Dean –"
"I'm okay, Sam. I'll be there soon."
oooOOOooo
As he promised, Dean was back in plenty of time to get ready for the service. It was being held at the estate and Kristine spent the morning helping Alicia deal with the caterers and other staff they'd hired. Normally she shied away from what was expected of a person in her financial position; the kind of affair her mother always hosted. But she decided Patrick deserved the glitz and knew that he would have laughed at it if he'd been able to. He had been popular in the town and nearly everyone was there. He also had a lot of friends in Asheville, where he led a support group for the disabled, and many of them were at the service as well. It was a long, exhausting day.
For his part, although extremely uncomfortable, Dean was by Kristine's side almost the entire time. He knew many of the townspeople, but didn't like having to deal with the other society types that were there. Kristine was able to float seamlessly in both of the worlds, but that only came with years of practice.
After everyone was gone, the brothers changed out of their suits and found Kristine on the back deck wearing worn jeans and an oversized sweater. No one felt like talking and after Kristine finished the beer she was drinking, she excused herself and went to bed, leaving each one with a kiss on the cheek.
"You know I'm going to ask you where you went this morning." Sam said once they were alone.
"Yeah, I figured."
"So?"
"I just went for a drive. To think."
"And?"
"And what? I thought."
"What about?"
"A lot of things."
"You okay?"
Dean only nodded.
Sam waited a few moments. "Dean?"
"Yeah?"
"Do you want to stay?"
Dean looked at him. "What?"
"With Kristine? Do you want to stay here with her?"
"If things were different, then yeah, maybe. But things are what they are."
"Because of me."
"Sam –"
"You're giving her up because of the responsibility that Dad forced on you – to look out for me."
Dean looked at him. "Who said I'm giving anything up? Besides, I have a job to do. I've spent almost my entire life looking for that son of a bitch demon and I'm not going to give up until it's gone. So don't flatter yourself, Sammy."
Sam heard his words and knew Dean believed them, but he also knew his brother's main reason for not pursuing a relationship with Kristine was his duty to Sam. That made him both happy and sad.
"You know, if you want to stay, for a while, I'd be okay with that. Or if you want to come back more often –"
"Let it go, Sam."
"Dean –"
His brother looked at him with nothing but affection on his face. "Let it go."
oooOOOooo
Nearly a month later, the brothers were still in town, but when Ellen called them with some news related to the yellow-eyed demon, they were compelled to investigate it.
"I'd gotten used to you being here." Kristine said as she sat next to Dean on the hood of the Impala, overlooking his favorite view. He and Sam were leaving in a few hours.
"Come with us."
She looked at him. "What?"
"You heard me."
"It wouldn't work." she said gently. "And you know it."
"I talked to Sam about it–"
"And he agreed because he'd do anything for you."
Dean's expression darkened.
"This is a big car, Dean, but it isn't big enough for three."
"I can't not know that you're okay." Dean said sadly.
"Then we'll have to be better about staying in touch."
"You'll be careful?"
"Yeah. You?"
Dean smiled. "Always."
Kristine could help but laugh. "Right."
Dean pulled her closer.
oooOOOooo
"You're both welcome here any time." Kristine said as she walked to the car between the brothers. "And I expect to see you again soon."
"Thanks for everything." Sam said.
She looked at him. "I should be the one thanking you."
Sam kissed her cheek when they got to the car. "Take care of yourself."
"You too." she glanced at Dean. "And him."
"Don't worry about that."
She walked to the driver's side of the car.
"I'll call you tonight." Dean said.
She nodded and reached out to touch his cheek. "Be careful."
"I will. You won't change your mind?"
"I can't go any more than you can stay."
He knew she was right. He opened the car door and Kristine stepped aside.
"Dean?"
He looked at her.
"That second number on the cell phone I left for you – do you have it?"
"Yeah, I programmed it into my phone. Why?"
"Keep it with you; make sure Sam has it, too. It's my lawyer's number."
"Jeremy?"
"No. His name is Brian and he handles my – less than legitimate issues. He knows about the supernatural and helps hunters. If you ever need his services –"
Dean nodded. "Thanks."
She watched as he got into the car, then she leaned into the open window. Sam pretended not to be paying attention as they kissed gently.
"I adore you, Dean Winchester."
He grinned. "What's not to adore?"
Kristine stood up when he started the engine. "I love you, Kristine."
She looked at him, shocked. He smiled at her and slowly drove away.
"That was nice, man." Sam smiled after Dean pulled onto the road.
"Shut up."
"I knew you loved her."
"Drop it."
Sam grinned as Dean glanced at him.
"I mean it, Sam."
"Consider it dropped." he said, holding up his hands.
"You'd better be worth it." Dean grumbled, his tone light.
Sam shifted to get comfortable as Dean turned up the radio.
Fin
