Chapter Seven: Father and Son
"The only connection I found between the victims is that they are all members of the same country club," John told Sam after about a half hour had passed.
Sam had not spoken in the span of those thirty minutes; giving his father time to calm down.
The boy looked up from his sociology homework.
"I even drove over and spoke with some people there," John continued.
Sam's eyebrows rose, he was surprised that his father had even been allowed to set foot inside a place like that. Maybe he'd just claimed to be FBI; surely they wouldn't deny a federal agent entry.
John stood up and handed his son a piece of paper- on it was a list of names- and explained that they were all the people who went to the club and had children at Grant Junior High.
"There's more than a dozen names here! How do we know who's next?" Sam asked. His father had highlighted the surnames of the three families who'd already fallen victim to the shapeshifter but they appeared in no apparent order.
"That's where you come in, Sam," John pointedly stared at his son.
"You go to school with these kids… talk to them-" John began but Sam couldn't help the sarcastic laughter the bubbled up.
"Talk to them? Dad, to those kids I'm practically invisible!" Sam exclaimed and hoped that his father would not become angry with him again.
John scowled, "Sam, you need to find out who the next target is!"
"I understand that, Dad-" Sam tried but John interrupted.
"I don't want to hear excuses, Sam, just do your job," John snapped at his youngest son.
"Don't even know what my job is," Sam muttered rebelliously.
John grabbed Sam by the shoulders, "Do as I say, boy!"
Sam stared wide-eyed at his father. He was used to John yelling at him, berating him but his father hardly ever laid a hand on him, even in companionship… at least not since he had been very young.
John released his son, "Why can't you just listen to me?"
Sam didn't reply. He hunched his shoulders; his homework forgotten. Vaguely, he wondered if his father had been drinking before he'd come home from school.
Sam knew he was a disappointment to his father; John wasn't shy about letting Sam know it either but the boy tried to make him proud, damn it!
"Okay, Dad, I'll find the shifter's next victim," Sam said quietly.
John nodded as if he'd been waiting for his son to say that all along. Sam folded the list of names into a small square and put the paper in his pocket.
W
Sam knew that the case was hinging on what he found out. He knew that it was his sole responsibility to find the shapeshifter and perhaps even lead his father to it. Sam felt like his Dad was setting him up for failure though. Sam knew that if John had a choice, he would be the one up at Pastor Jim's and Dean would be helping him out with this hunt.
Maybe this is my second chance, Sam thought until it became a kind of mantra; this is my chance to make things up to Dad and Dean.
But in reality, Sam knew better. He could tell by the look on his father's face that as soon as Dean was well enough, Sam would be back to researching and spending hours alone while his brother and Dad went on hunts.
No! I can't think that way, Sam reasoned, I'll find the shifter and Dad will see I'm as good a hunter as Dean!
Sam peered over at his father, noting that he was still seated at the tiny table, papers still strewn out before him but now he had a bottle of beer in his hand.
It was growing late- the wall clock read a quarter to six- but Sam didn't say anything to John even though his stomach was rumbling hungrily.
Dad's probably forgotten about dinner; Sam thought, not surprised; Dean was usually the one to remind John that meals didn't come in a bottle.
W
Finally John heaved a frustrated, exhausted sigh and gathered all the papers into a pile; stacking them somewhat haphazardly and stood with a groan.
Sam looked up at his father to see John checking his watch and squint at the slightly parted curtains obscuring most of the view from the motel window.
"Let's go, Sam," John said and began pulling his boots on.
Sam scrambled up from his bed and eagerly slipped on his sneakers, pausing to do up the laces as quickly as possible- he knew that his Dad hated waiting around- and grabbed his coat on the way out.
The boy followed his father out of their room and walked behind him as the elder made his way across the street, dodging a taxi as he went past, eyes locked on the red-and-blue flashing OPEN sign in the window of the diner they'd eaten breakfast at.
The restaurant was virtually empty except for employees. There was one waitress mopping up in one corner of the dining area and a cook leaning against the counter, flipping through what looked like a Playboy magazine.
The waitress looked up, "I'm sorry, sir, but we're about to close up."
Sam turned to leave but his father just ignored the girl and sat down in a booth.
The waitress watched as the man's son slid into the seat across from him and gave her an apologetic look.
"Arnie, can you get the grill and fryers fired-up again?" the waitress asked and set the mop aside, moving to the counter as she spoke and grabbed a couple of menus.
The cook, Arnie, looked royally pissed and grumbled, straightened his white apron and moved into the kitchen.
The waitress turned on her 'there-are-customers-here-so-look-happy' smile and walked over to the Winchesters.
"Can I get you anything to drink?" The waitress asked, looking like she hoped they'd just order drinks and leave.
"Coffee," John practically demanded of the girl. Sam peered around her and saw that the three coffee makers and pots were all sparkling clean, ready for the breakfast rush in the morning.
"And for you?" the waitress, who's nametag read 'Polly', asked Sam.
"Milk, please," Sam asked and Polly smiled.
"I'll be right back," she said and headed off to the kitchen.
John flipped through his menu and Sam followed suit. His stomach grumbled hungrily and he peered down at the list of generic diner food he could choose from.
Sam smiled at the waitress when she returned with their drinks.
"Are you ready to order?" she asked and plastered a smile onto her face.
John set his menu aside, "Two orders of burgers and fries."
"Okay," the waitress wrote the order on her note-pad, "Anything else?"
Sam's father shook his head. The waitress practically ran across the dining area to the kitchen.
Sam stared out the window and took a gulp of his milk. His Dad hadn't ordered his food for him since he was really little; Dean sometimes did because he knew it annoyed Sam to have his older brother act like he was a baby but John pretty much left Sam to fend for himself.
Sam chewed his lip as the silence between him and his father grew. John normally had nothing to say to his youngest (or nothing good, at least) and it was often Dean who took up the role of chatter-box to fill the empty gaps in conversation.
"Can we go see Dean after this job?" Sam asked quietly, hoping to be reunited his older brother as soon as possible, almost literally the glue that held the little family together.
"It will depend on how long this case takes," John answered in a way that belied the actually message- 'it will depend on how long you take to find the monster, Sam'- and took a healthy draught of coffee.
"Yes sir," Sam muttered, lowering his head so he was staring at the tabletop.
W
Sam was surprised at how quickly their meals were served- he checked his watch and saw that only ten minutes had passed- but he guessed the speed was helped by the fact that he and his father were the only two customers in the diner and the waitress and cook probably wanted to get home.
As Sam ate his burger he noticed that the waitress was hovering over them. John didn't appear to realize or if he did, he just didn't care (Sam thought it was probably the latter) and ate slowly and methodically; not about to be rushed just because a couple of kids wanted to get close up shop.
Twenty more minutes had passed before John's plate was completely empty. He leaned back and sipped at his coffee- refilled by the waitress- and watched his youngest son mop up ketchup with his French fries.
Sam looked up and saw that by the expression on his father's face that he was ready to leave. He pushed his plate away- still half-full of fries- and John took that as his cue to pay.
John fished ten dollars from his wallet- with no accompanying tip- and set it on the table before standing.
"C'mon Sam," John sounded like he was annoyed and Sam immediately followed his father out of the diner.
Once back in their motel room, John ordered Sam to go to bed even though it was only a quarter after nine. Sam didn't argue, he just slipped his shoes off and climbed into bed without changing his clothes.
Sam didn't fall asleep right away; his father went back to his research, flipping through papers and sighing tiredly at intervals. Sam heard the door of the mini fridge open and the faint click and hiss of a bottle being uncapped.
Sam hoped that by the morning his father wouldn't be so cold, he hoped he could show his Dad that he could hunt, that he wasn't useless and nothing but a liability.
Sam wished his father would just listen to him for once, like he listened to Dean. Sam wanted to know what it was that made John like Dean better than him- it couldn't just be the hunting, it had to be something else- but Sam could never seem to figure it out.
Sam wanted to be able to talk to his father without seeing the disappointment in his eyes every time. Sam wanted to tell his father that all he wanted to do was hunt monsters and save people because he really did look up to John in that regard.
How can I try to explain? Sam thought morosely; when I do he turns away again.
Sam let out a long sigh; it's always been the same, same old story. And he was so damn tired of it.
From the moment I could talk I was ordered to listen; Dean and his brother had been raised like they were soldiers and that meant obeying John without question and Sam hated it.
Sam hated not being able to give his opinion in a case; that he was supposed to shut up and research.
Maybe tomorrow will be different, Sam thought, maybe tomorrow will be better.
1. Edited by BerserkerHellHound- Thanks sis!
2. Thanks to missingmikey, sammynanci, SPN Mum, LeighAnnWallace, Eris-R-Renee for reviewing.
3. Thanks for everyone who favourited or alerted.
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