"Dean! I don't know what the hell…" began his father.
"Fuck! I'm tired of the little shit! I can't deal with him any more!" complained Dean as he paced around the room.
"Dean! Sit down! And watch your language!" John's voice rose considerably with each syllable he uttered. This day was just not getting any better and he had other business to which he had to attend but first he had to settle this.
Dean stopped pacing and stood looking at his father. It was obvious that he was extremely upset; his chest was heaving with every breath he took and, if looks could kill, John was sure he'd be dead by now. But Dean had been overstepping his bounds all evening and John was going to put a stop to that.
John tried to control his own anger in order to deal with his son, but his patience was wearing thin. "Dean. I. Said. Sit. Down." He pulled out a chair and motioned for Dean to sit. "I've had just about enough of your behavior. You're going to sit here and calm down. Do you understand me?"
"That little bastard…" commenced Dean as he stood in front of his father.
"Dean. DID YOU HEAR ME?" commanded his father in a tone that left absolutely no room for discussion. "Sit down NOW."
There was a brief pause as Dean stared at his father and the reality of the situation filtered slowly into his brain. Outrightly defying his father was never a good idea.
"Yes Sir." Dean sat in the proffered chair but his heart was still pounding rapidly and it was more than evident that his anger had yet to subside. He leaned back in the chair, stretched his legs out in front of him, crossed his ankles and folded his arms across his torso. Even though he had obeyed his father's command to take a seat, he remained a complete picture of defiance.
"I'm not sure where you get off coming in here and speaking to me like that," started John, but he was cut off when the door to the motel room slowly opened and Sam walked in.
Sam looked at the scene he had walked into and immediately recognized the stand-off that was occurring between his father and brother. He gave a little smirk to himself, positive that Dean was in trouble for making him walk home.
But his bliss was short-lived as his father turned to him, "You. Sit right there," and he gestured to a chair opposite Dean.
His father's words took Sam by surprise as he hadn't expected that he might be in trouble too. He sat carefully in the chair and gave a fleeting look at both Dean and his father.
"Now, I don't know what's happened between you two, but something's going on and I want to know what it is. Do you both understand me?"
"Yessir," squeaked Sam in a small voice while Dean only nodded his head slightly.
John ran his fingers through his hair and let out a slight sigh. Then he looked at his youngest son. "Do you want to start by telling me what happened at your school today?"
"Dean happened," began Sam with an elevated level of irritation in his voice. "He thinks he can just jump into everything." He glowered at Dean who, in turn, was throwing daggers with his own eyes at his brother.
"Okay. I already got that from Dean. I want to know what was going on between you and the other kid," stated John, making it known that he was aware of the incident between Sam and the boy who had been bullying him.
"Nothing I couldn't handle. Rick's full of hot air. He wasn't a threat and he certainly wasn't going to hit me," continued Sam.
"Oh no? That's not what it looked like from where I was standing," interrupted Dean.
"Dean, stay out of this right now. I want to hear what Sam has to say."
"Of course you do," mumbled Dean, more to himself than anyone.
"Pardon me?" asked John, feeling his anger rising once again. This was going to be a long night.
"Nothin'. Sorry"
John glared at his eldest son and then turned back to Sam and arched his eyebrows to motion him to continue.
Sam rubbed his forehead with his fingers and then looked at his father. "Dad, he's been giving me a hard time since we moved here. He's never done anything. He just shoots his mouth off."
"Then why did Dean feel like he was about to hit you when he intervened?"
"I dunno…Dad, he was just giving me a hard time. Apparently he does that to all the new kids. I guess it's just my turn. He's a bully, but as long as he thinks you're scared of him, he doesn't really do anything." Then Sam looked directly at Dean and accused "But now that Hero-boy here had to get involved, Rick thinks I'm a wimp and he's just going to get worse."
"Your brother told me that he was pretty sure this boy was going to hit you. What do you think happened to make him think that?"
"Probably just that he had pushed me a few times. But he's done that before and that's all that ever happens," shrugged Sam.
"So the fist at the end of his hand really wasn't a threat?" snapped Dean.
"No Dean, it wasn't," Sam responded.
"It wasn't? Okay…Sorry I got involved," quipped Dean sarcastically as he got up from his seat. "Next time I hope he beats you to a pulp." He had had enough of this conversation and was intent on leaving the small room.
John took a step towards Dean. "We're not through. Sit down." He let out a breath that he hadn't even known he was holding. Once he was sure that Dean was going to retake his seat, he turned back to Sam. "What if Dean had been right and he had hit you?"
Sam sounded very exasperated when he responded "He wasn't going to. But if he had, I would have defended myself. I'm not useless, you know. You – and Dean – have both seen to that. So let me fight my own battles, okay?"
John sighed and rubbed his hand across his eyes. Then he looked up at his sons and shook his head slowly before he spoke. "Sam, Dean has been looking out for ever since your mother died. I'm sure he doesn't mean to upset you when he gets involved, but he's just very protective of you."
"Yeah? Well someone should tell him I'm thirteen – not three!" countered Sam.
"Wow! Thirteen!" remarked Dean making sure he put the right amount of artificial amazement into his voice.
"Dean," warned his father, the frustration evident in his reply. He really didn't know how to resolve this situation and, not for the first time in the last twelve and a half years, really wished that Mary was here. "Someone want to tell me what happened just now? Why you both came home separately?"
Dean sat forward in his chair. "Sam called me to pick him up at Jake's. He told me he'd wait outside but when I got there he was gone. I had to go looking for him." Dean stared at Sam defying him to dispute what he had just said.
John looked over at Sam. "Is that right Sam?"
"Yeah, I left. I didn't feel like waiting for him." Sam knew that his actions were probably going to get him into trouble but he felt like both his father and brother were treating him like a child. He was old enough to walk home by himself. "Everyone else I know walks home alone. Why can't I?"
His exasperation showing, John replied, "Because Sam, we know about things that other people don't even believe in. And you should know by now that these 'things' often find their way to us. That's why I don't want you heading off alone."
"But it's still daylight. Things don't happen in the daylight."
"You sure about that?" murmured Dean.
"Well…they usually don't," responded Sam trying to maintain an air of confidence.
"Sam. Things can happen at any time," answered John. "And I don't care what all your friends do or don't do, my rule is that you don't walk home alone and you will obey that rule. Is that understood?" Now he felt as though he was back on stable ground. There was nothing to argue about on this one.
"Yessir," came the weakened response.
"Good. Now tell me why you got out of the car before you got back here."
Once again the irritation was back when Sam answered, "Dean was on my case again about Rick being at the park. I didn't want to hear it any more so I got out and walked the rest of the way."
John shot Dean an incredulous look. "And that's why you stormed in here ready to kill anything in your path? Mind telling me how old you are?"
John's change in attitude caught Dean by surprise. 'Why does he do this to me?' Dean bolted from his chair and said "Old enough not to put up with this shit!" and as he marched over to Sam, he took a swing at him.