'An Aswang? What the fuck is that?'
Dean stared at his father in the passenger seat beside him. He didn't look very well; his skin was ashen and his breathing shallow. Dean resisted asking him any further questions, knowing that his father was in no shape to elaborate. Dean fought an increasing urge to drive his father to the hospital. Even though his father had ended up needing his assistance, he wasn't sure how his father would react to the fact that he had directly disobeyed him by leaving the motel. And he knew that his father would not want to go to the hospital. There was no sense in trying to incur his wrath twice in the same morning. Instead Dean drove straight to the motel. He would patch him up there and let him rest.
It was nearing daylight as Dean pulled into the parking lot. People would be getting up shortly to go about their day. He had to get his father into the motel room without anyone seeing him or it would arouse suspicion. Curiosity was the last thing they needed in their line of work, especially when one of them was hurt.
Dean pulled the car parallel to the motel so he could help his father inside as quickly and easily as possible. The man was barely conscious and it took all of Dean's strength to get him into the room.
"Sammy! Get up! I need your help!" yelled Dean as he dragged his father through the door and lay him on the bed. "Get the first aid kit!"
"What…?" croaked Sam groggily as he awoke.
He opened his eyes to see Dean helping their father onto the bed. "Omigod! What happened?" he asked.
Forced awake by the sight of his father, Sam bolted off the bed and ran for the first aid kit. Sam put the first aid kit on the bed beside his father and finished helping Dean settle him comfortably on the bed. Then he went to the bathroom and grabbed a facecloth and some clean towels. He wet the facecloth with warm water before returning to the other room.
Dean ripped his father's shirt to expose the wounds and then he seized the facecloth from his brother. He carefully dabbed it over the lacerations to remove the dried blood so he could make a better assessment of the injuries. There were two sets of claw marks on either side of his father's ribs. It looked as if the Aswang had tried to hold him down to extract the desired organs. Somehow his father had managed to fend it off, but it had administered some deep gashes on his body. Dean didn't think that it had punctured any internal organs as the flow of blood had slowed, but the wounds would require stitching.
'Shit! I hate stitching. What the hell were you thinking going by yourself? You knew you needed my help. Now I know where Sammy gets it from.'
Dean threaded the surgical needle they kept in the medical kit and looked at his brother. "Sammy, I need you to get behind Dad and hold him still. It's gonna hurt like a sonofabitch when I start stitching him up and he's not going to like it."
Wordlessly, Sam climbed behind his father and wrapped his legs around the big man's chest. He threaded his arms under his father's arms and then folded them back to his body effectively immobilizing his father – unless he really resisted or Dean wasn't careful enough. It was the best he could do for a thirteen year-old boy. Sam nodded to Dean to begin.
John must have been hurt more than Dean had originally thought as he remained semi-conscious throughout the ordeal. There had been a minimal amount of resistance on his part and Sam had managed to keep him as still as possible. After Dean had finished sewing up the wounds, he cleansed them with antiseptic and used gauze pads to cover them. Then Sam had released his father from his grip and the two boys had tried to settle him comfortably in bed.
Dean checked the time – 8:30 a.m. All he wanted to do was climb back into bed, but he knew that his father wouldn't take too kindly to him missing school considering that he had lost sleep because he had disobeyed him. Besides, he had to get Sam to school first.
"Sam, grab a Pop Tart and get your things. I'm havin' a fast shower and then I'll drive you to school."
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The events of the morning had done nothing to alleviate the tension between the two brothers and now they were sitting silently in the Impala while Dean drove Sam to school. Sam was annoyed that he wasn't being allowed to walk and had even tried to get Dean to drop him at Jake's to avoid being seen with his brother.
"Sorry, Dude. Takin' you right to school. Dad's orders."
"Aw, Come on, Dean. You've dropped me at Jake's before. It's only two blocks," pleaded Sam. "Please."
Dean glanced sideways at his brother, smirking at him, "No way Sammy."
"Jerk," mumbled Sam and he turned to look out the window. There was no use trying to reason with his brother; not after Dad had more or less ordered Dean to watch out for him. He had a feeling that this was not going to be one of his best days.
They had reached the school and Dean eased the car to the curb. He scanned the schoolyard and parking lot for any sign of Rick, not wanting to drop his brother and leave if he thought there might be trouble. But there was no sign of him anywhere.
Sam yanked the rear-view mirror to look at his reflection and lifted his chin to inspect the damage on his neck one more time; it was black and blue and, even though he had buttoned his shirt all the way to the top, the marks that Dean had made on his neck stuck out like a sore thumb. For the umpteenth time that morning he tried to adjust his shirt to cover the bruising as much as possible.
Dean watched him with a look of amusement on his face. "You're going about it all wrong, Sammy. Tell 'em you had a hot date last night. Ya never know – might be someone who'll believe a dufus like you could attract a hot chick."
"Fuck off," retorted Sam, opening the door and getting out. He slammed the door and added, "Asshole."
As Sam wandered into the schoolyard, Dean leaned across the seat and said, "Luv ya too, Sammy." He laughed when Sam responded with a one-fingered salute behind his back and then he pulled the car onto the road and headed across town to the high school.
Sam was glad to hear the school bell ring as he neared the school. After the events of the previous day, he was actually looking forward to the security that the school offered. He wasn't looking forward to running into Rick and he didn't relish the thought of seeing anyone who had witnessed what had transpired in the park either. At least he would be safe from the snide comments he knew were coming while he was in class. Lunchtime might be another story but Dean would be there to pick him upafter school so he wouldn't have to deal with the other kids.
Sam was rummaging through his locker collecting the books he needed when he was suddenly pushed from behind. He managed to put his hands out to stop himself from ending up head first in the locker. He twisted his body around to see Rick snickering at him.
"Did Big Brother go and leave you all alone today?" taunted Rick. "Who's gonna protect you now?"
"Just leave me alone Rick," replied Sam as he once again turned toward his locker.
He didn't want Rick to think he was afraid of him and figured the best way to do that was to continue gathering his things. Once he had all his books and supplies Sam turned to headfor his classroom. But Rick was still there and stood blocking his path. Rick stepped forward and bumped into Sam which caused him to fall against the lockers. Sam had expected an assault from his nemesis and hoped that by ignoring him, Rick would just get tired of tormenting him and go away. So Sam just looked down the hall and continued to lean against the lockers.
"But you and I could have so much fun together. Whaddaya say, Winchester? Just the two of us – you and me."
"I'd really rather you just left me alone."
"I'm sure you would," came the cocky reply. "But that's no fun."
"You know, Rick, I think you're an even bigger asshole than my brother," countered Sam as he hoisted himself away from the locker and faced the other boy. "And that's makes you the biggest ass I know."
Then Sam shoved Rick out of his way and headed to his classroom.
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Dean had driven as fast as he could across town but he had been unable to make it to school before the bell rang. He'd been a good ten minutes late and ended up in the office facing the possibility of a detention.
'Great. I really need this today.'
He had to try to talk his way out of this, or at least convince the principal that he had to serve the detention at lunch. Of course, never would be better, but that didn't seem likely.
So he figured the best thing to do was try to act contrite and respectful. Teachers always fell for that; maybe the principal would too. Too bad he didn't do remorseful very well. Sam was better at that. He could pull off respectful so that was at least one step in the right direction.
Sitting in the chair outside the principal's office, he could just barely hear the conversation between the principal and the student currently in the office. Things didn't sound like they were going too well for the girl and the principal sounded pretty much exasperated. It didn't seem like the principal was in a very forgiving mood which wasn't boding well for him.
Finally the door opened and the other student came out; she didn't look very happy. The secretary motioned for Dean to go in.
As he walked through the door, Dean tried to give his most sincere smile, nodded his head and said "Ma'am."
Mrs. Martin did not look amused.
'Not good.'
Dean decided to play it cool and take his cue from the principal.
"Mr. Winchester," she stated with an air of superiority.
'Ouch.'
"Yes, Ma'am."
"This appears to be the ninth time this year that you've been late. Do you realize that?"
"Nine? Hell, that's not so bad. Been worse.'
"No, Ma'am."
"Can you tell me why you seem to have a recurring problem getting to school on time?"
'Because demons like to play at night? And they don't seem to care when I tell them I have to be at school for 9:00 in the morning. Figure that one out.'
Trying to look as honest and polite as he possibly could, Dean responded, "I know it's not really an excuse, Ma'am, but I have to take my brother to school before I come and he always makes me late."
Unfortunately Dean was unable to gauge whether his story was having the desired effect on Mrs. Martin as she continued to sit stone-faced in front of him.
'Okaay…let's go for the sympathy vote.'
"As I'm sure you are aware, my mother died when I was extremely young and it's been my responsibility to look after my brother ever since. My Dad works long hours to support us and I try to help him as much as I can."
There was still no change in Mrs. Martin's expression, but she didn't try to stop him, so Dean continued, "You see Ma'am, because we're new to town, my father doesn't like my brother to walk to school. I try real hard to get him ready on time, but, Ma'am, he's 13 and I'm sure you know what 13 year-olds are like." Dean gave her a slight smile hoping maybe a little bit of charm would work too.
Mrs. Martin eyed him for a moment before she looked down at his academic record on her desk. She seemed to be scrutinizing it very carefully.
'Shit. I gotta get Dad to falsify my school records next time we move.'
"Well, Mr. Winchester, I understand that you have responsibilities, but school should be one of your priorities. You can't get anywhere in life without a decent education and it appears that you are being far too frivolous with yours. According to the note written by your guidance councilor you don't even have any idea what you plan to do with you life. Is that correct?"
'No it's not correct. But I doubt Demon Hunter would go over very well. And higher education ain't gonna help me there, Sunshine.'
"No, Ma'am, but I have been thinking about Interior Design."
'Interior Design? Where'd that come from?'
"And, if you are having such a hard time getting your brother to leave for school on time or otherwise pay attention to you, then I suggest you have your father speak to him."
'Lady, if you just knew the half of it!'
"Yes, Ma'am, I will."
"Now, unfortunately for you, I can't let this disregard for the rules go unpunished." She gave Dean a half-smile and folded her hands on top of her desk. "You have been late nine times this year and according to what I see in front of me, you have gotten away with each infraction. Regrettably, I can't let that continue." She paused and continued staring at the young man in front of her. "You will report to room 214 immediately after school to serve your detention." With that she scribbled a few lines on the memo pad she was holding, tore off the page and handed it to Dean. "It's time for you to start taking some responsibility for your actions. Don't be late."
'Can't be late if I'm not going.'
"No, Ma'am."
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Dean dashed out of the school the moment the bell rang. He didn't want to run into the principal or any other teacher who was aware of his detention. He had to get to Sammy's school before it let out for the day; he just didn't trust that Rick kid - or Sammy to defendhimself either.
Dean jumped into the Impala and tore out of the parking lot, tearing up the gravel in his attempt to get as far away from the school as fast as possible. As he rounded the corner, he glanced in the rear-view and saw the nose of a sheriff's car sticking out from behind the diner down the road. But just as Dean noticed the car, he saw it turn onto the road heading in his direction. As it got closer, the officer flipped on the flashing lights.
'Shit. What else is gonna go wrong today?'