Author's note:

Just a suggestion…

It might be a good idea to go back and familiarize yourself with chapter 2. Something is mentioned in that chapter that carries forward into this chapter and possibly some others. I'm just saying that it might make it a bit easier to follow.

And…thanks again for reading!

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"Assault?" asked Dean, in disbelief.

"That's what they told me."

"That's nuts," continued Dean. 'I never assaulted anybody.' He was trying to remember whom he might have had an altercation with that would have gone to the sheriff, but he was drawing a blank. "Who'd you say filed the complaint?" he asked as he approached his father.

John didn't budge from his position in the doorway and remained blocking Dean's way. "People named Leavey. Ring a bell?" His tone left absolutely no doubt how disturbed he was by this latest turn of events.

"Leavey?" reiterated Dean, looking questionably at his father. 'Robin?...But I didn't do anything to make him go to the sheriff.'

Sam had picked up his schoolbooks from the floor of the Impala and had followed Dean up to the motel. "Rick," he stated as he came up behind his brother, "His last name's Leavey."

Dean slowly turned to face his brother. "Rick….is Rick Leavey?"

"Yeah," nodded Sam matter-of-factly. He tried to go around his brother but Dean's hand on his chest stopped him.

"And let me guess," persisted Dean, "He has a brother named Robin."

Sam took a step backwards to separate himself from his brother's hand and proceeded to go around him but stopped just before he reached the doorway. "Somethin' like that. Quarterback on the high school football team."

"Aww, fuck," declared Dean, "I can't believe this."

"Can't believe what?" asked John, wondering what Dean was not telling him.

"Nothin'," grumbled Dean, obviously having no intention of sharing his thoughts at the moment. 'Of course Robin has a brother, who just HAPPENS to be the same kid who's givin' Sammy a hard time.'

John watched the expression on Dean's face and knew that something more than the possible assault charge was bothering him. "Anything I should know?"

"No," Dean shot back emphatically. None of this made sense. He hadn't touched Rick and the only time he and Robin had had physical contact had been in gym class. That had been completely legit and he couldn't see how that could result in an assault charge.

John moved away from the doorframe and motioned for Sam to proceed inside. He didn't think that Sam needed to be involved at this point, at least until they found out exactly what kind of trouble Dean was in.

John sighed, something he'd done a lot of in the past couple of days, but his tone had softened as he looked back at Dean and asked, "Do you know how the law defines assault, Sport?"

"What is this – twenty questions?" countered Dean, noticeably upset. "I dunno – hitting someone, I guess."

"No," answered his father calmly. "That's battery."

His frustration apparent, Dean snapped, "Well, what the fuck's the difference?"

John decided to pick his battles with his oldest son and ignored his choice of language. "Assault is when you threaten to hit someone. Battery is when you actually do it"

He stood quietly and waited for Dean to absorb what he had just told him. Dean's brow furrowed as he contemplated this new information.

"So it's Rick…I threatened him." He looked at his father, still a little puzzled as to what was happening. "And they're charging me with assault?"

"Looks like," answered John. "That's why we have to go talk to the sheriff."

"What about what he did to Sam?" challenged Dean.

"Not sure they know anything about that," replied John. "Anyway, we better get down there before they send someone to pick you up." Then he addressed Sam as he spoke, "I want you to stay in the room. Don't go anywhere and don't let anyone in. You got that?"

"Yes Sir," responded Sam recognizing his father's words were an order, not a request.

John moved away from the door and started toward the truck. As he opened the driver's door, he glanced back at Dean and said, "Come on. Let's go straighten this out."

Dean glanced in the motel room at Sam, who gave him a small half-smile and almost looked like he wanted to apologize. But neither brother said anything and Dean spun around and headed to the truck. After Dean had settled into his seat and shut the door, John reversed the truck out of the parking spot and drove toward the Sheriff's office.

During the ride to the sheriff's office, Dean leaned against the door of the truck, lost in his own thoughts. "This can't have anything to do with Robin. He wouldn't stoop low enough to get his brother to go after Sam just to get back at me for going out with Nancy. There's no way. It's just gotta be coincidence.'

But no matter how much he tried to rationalize it, Dean just couldn't shake the feeling that everything that had occurred in the last few days was somehow all tied together and all the responsibility for what had happened to Sam rested squarely on his shoulders.

Although John tried not to show it, he was worried too. He didn't know this Rick kid, but if Sammy was any indication, Dean had to be at least four inches taller and 25 pounds heavier – not to mention a good four years older. And regardless of what the kid had done to Sam, it still wouldn't justify Dean threatening him – not in the eyes of the law anyway. The best he could hope for was that the kid's parents were reasonable people and didn't know the whole story. Maybe once they all sat down together, things would work out. But he had his doubts; while demons and all the other inhuman things he had hunted for the past twelve years were predictable, people usually weren't.

When they arrived at their destination, John parked the truck and the two Winchester males vacated the truck. John started walking toward the station but Dean hung back near the truck.

John turned and looked at him. "Come on Sport," he called. And with a confidence he didn't quite feel, he added, "It won't be that bad."

Dean took a deep breath and headed toward his father. 'Not for you. And once they're done with me, I'm sure you'll have a few choice things to say to me yourself. Oh, this is just gonna be a piece a' cake.'

John held the door for his son and entered the sheriff's office behind Dean, who stopped just inside the door and waited for his father. John walked past him and headed for the counter. As he neared the deputy behind the front desk, he introduced himself. "I'm John Winchester and this is my son Dean. We're here to see Sheriff Durham."

The deputy nodded and said, "He's in the back. Be out in a minute if you just want to take a seat."

John and Dean sat down to wait for the sheriff. A few minutes later the sheriff came and introduced himself; then he led them into an empty room in the back of the station and motioned for them to take a seat at the table that filled most of the small room.

When John and Dean had taken a seat, the sheriff opened the folder he had brought with him and addressed Dean directly, "Looks like you've got yourself in a little bit of trouble, Son."

Dean swallowed hard but didn't respond. One thing he had learned in his life was that it was always best to let the other side present their case before he tried to explain his side. Never knew when you might give away more than they knew or just make things worse.

Sheriff Durham continued, "Seems you've been intimidating a boy by the name of Rick Leavey." He looked up from the papers in front of him. "You know him?"

"Yes Sir." No point arguing that one.

"Any truth to these allegations?" questioned the sheriff.

Dean glanced at his father, who remained silent. "Yes Sir." He paused before he added, "But I can explain."

"Oh, please do, Son," said the sheriff as he took a seat across the table from the Winchesters.

'Condescending bastard.' "Well, Sir," Dean began, "This Rick Leavey kid has been harassing my brother. I'd been kinda keeping an eye on the two of them, just to watch what's been going on. But yesterday, when I arrived at the school to pick up my brother, the two of them were involved in a fight. "

The sheriff leaned back in his seat, but didn't interrupt. Dean looked at his father again but John was sitting patiently listening to what Dean had to say.

"When I went over to see what was going on, there were two other boys holding my brother and I told them to let him go."

"Yeah," injected the sheriff, "I heard about that too."

' What the hell did you hear?' "Anyway," continued Dean, "When they let go of Sam, I noticed that he was hurt pretty bad and that both he and Rick wanted to continue fighting."

"You notice a lot of things, don't you, Son?"

'What's that supposed to mean?' "Yes Sir. When it comes to my brother, I do." Out of the corner of his eye, Dean saw his father smirk just a little bit.

"Well, go on," encouraged Sheriff Durham.

"Well, I didn't want my brother to fight this kid, so I stepped in to stop them."

"And how exactly did you do that?"

"I walked up to Rick and told him that the fight was over."

"You realize that's where you made your first mistake, don't you, Son?" asked the sheriff.

I'm not your son, you bastard, so stop calling me that.' "No Sir," and he waited for the sheriff to elaborate.

"Well Son, you should have told your brother it was over. You never should have approached the other boy."

"But Sam was hurt. He wasn't even a threat to Rick. I was more worried about what Rick would do to Sam if I didn't stop him."

"But, by going over to him, you put yourself in the position of being charged with assault, which is exactly where you are right now," countered Sheriff Durham.

"Even though my brother was the one who was hurt?" snapped Dean.

John could see that Dean was getting frustrated so he decided it was time to intervene. "I think what my son is trying to say is that he really wasn't thinking about the consequences of his actions. He just wanted to break up the fight to stop his brother from getting hurt worse."

"I understand that," responded the sheriff, "But that didn't give him the right to go up to the other boy and threaten him."

"I only warned him to stay away from my brother," countered Dean.

"According to the complaint filed by the Leaveys," said the sheriff, flipping open the file and quoting, "You 'loomed menacingly over Rick Leavey and threatened him with physical harm should he attempt to approach a Samuel Winchester in the future.'" He looked at Dean and asked, "Is that correct?"

Dean didn't know what to say so he stared at the sheriff for a moment before he answered, "It wasn't quite like that." He swallowed and glanced at his father. 'A little help would be nice, Dad.'

John didn't feel that he should step in at the moment. He felt that until the sheriff actually got around to addressing the charges, he should stay out of it as much as possible. He hadn't been present for the altercation between his sons and this other boy and his knowledge of the facts were sketchy to say the least.

"Well Son, unless you're denying that you threatened the boy…." started the sheriff.

But Dean jumped in before he could finish, "So I guess it doesn't count that he had already broken Sam's wrist and dislocated his collarbone?"

"Not as far as you're concerned, it doesn't," responded Sheriff Durham. "I don't see any other option but to…"

This time it was John who interrupted. "Isn't there any way we could sit down with the Leaveys and discuss this?"

Sheriff Durham rose from his seat but didn't respond to John's question, so John continued, "I understand that what Dean did was wrong – and he understands that too – but I think that this matter goes a little bit deeper than just my son threatening this other boy." He paused to gauge the sheriff's reaction, which was virtually non-existent. "After all, there were three boys, including this Rick Leavey, ganging up on my other son when Dean arrived. And they had already severely injured Sam. I think that, however reckless, Dean was just concerned about this brother's welfare. I don't think he really intended to threaten to harm anyone."

'Oh yes I did, Dad!'

John continued, "All I'm asking is to have a chance to talk to these people to see if we can't come to some sort of agreement that won't end up in charges against my son."

"Well," replied the sheriff. "I suppose I could talk to them and see if they'd be willing to do that."

"Thank you, Sheriff Durham," answered John, sounding somewhat relieved, "That's all I'm asking. Just to have a chance to sit down and speak with them."

"I don't know how much good that will do," added the sheriff, "Mr. Leavey was pretty adamant that we charge your son. Town Council's been trying to crack down on teen violence lately – they don't want this town having all the problems that a big city has, you know. And Greg Leavey is Deputy Mayor. Not sure how he'll respond to a request to let a kid off who threatened his son."

'Deputy Mayor?' thought Dean. 'Why couldn't he just be a garbage man or something?'