Chapter Three
Dean has no idea how he got himself into this.
He is now in Sam's basement, looking around at the shelves stacked high with books and tomes full of every myth, legend, and spell imaginable.
Then, there are the weapons.
Some are hanging on the walls like decorative art, like one would display a Picasso or Mome. Others are lying carefully, orderly, on the tables, all swords and stakes and knives and daggers, guns of every variety. There's an honest-to-God bullet molder, 'to make silver bullets,' Sam informs him, as casual as if he were mentioning what he bought at the local Wal-Mart or something.
There was a metal cabinet with glass sliding doors on the right wall that housed trinkets and charms and figurines and all other manner of things that Dean had no idea what could be. Dean couldn't have been more convinced of Sam's (previous, the brunette insisted) occupation if he had tried.
Needless to say, Dean's never felt more like he was walking in a dream since he stopped needing to sleep nearly a hundred and twenty years ago. The fact that he knows he's a vampire is the only reason he hasn't pinched himself, even discreetly.
He's never been so misled about a first impression before. Looking at Sam, even talking with him for over an hour, and Dean never would have guessed about skeletons he's been hiding in the closet… Err… basement.
"So, what? You just get a call and you're off in the Mystery Machine?" Dean joked, trying to make sense of it all.
Sam's eyebrow twitched. This was as closed to pissed off as Dean had seen Sam before. Obviously, Dean had said the wrong thing.
"Look, Dean, I know that I've freaked you out, but this is a big part of my life," Sam said slowly, "I'd appreciate if you wouldn't make fun of it,"
"Sorry," Dean mumbled. "But I just don't get it. Why would you tell me this? If I'm one of the monsters you hunt, why aren't you out to kill me and my family?" Dean was perplexed to say the least.
Sam sighed, sitting on the only available surface in the room: a couch off to the side behind a long legged coffee table. "Because, not all things are black and white. Just like not all humans are good, not all supernatural beings are dangerous or evil. I figured that out a long time ago, and the psychic intuition has only helped me see it more clearly. Don't get me wrong, not a lot of hunters feel the way I do, but I'm not exactly all perfectly normal myself," Sam smiled, only somewhat self-deprecatingly.
"Is that such a bad thing?" Dean asked. That got Sam to laugh lightly, and Dean just had to smile too.
"So…" Sam spoke after a moment of quiet, "Have any big bad monsters you need to be protected from?"
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Somehow, life was surprisingly uneventfully after that. It had taken Dean a while to accept that Sam really wasn't planning to trap and kill them all, and was just genuinely interested in the safety of the town. Sam had even offered to help whenever he was needed, and for some reason, Dean knew that Sam could be a valuable ally.
Sam continued to teach, but instead of the glaring suspicion from the Cullen kids he had before, it was almost like they shared a private joke. Emmet had taken to him especially, and even the ice-queen Rosalie offered him a smile. Alice would talk to him sometimes about his abilities, and he would offer her what he knew about them, said that there was a real possibility of them growing all the time.
When she asked about limits, he only could tell her it was a good idea not to push unless it was a life-threatening situation. Alice nodded, like it was the answer she had been expecting. In turn, he asked her what she could see of him in his future, because he knew that he was subconsciously blocking himself from Jasper and Edward, but he didn't know if it was even possible to keep himself out of her visions.
She said yes, but only some. Apparently, he had yet to make the decisions that would really influence what happened next. He figured, hoped, that no news at this point in his life was good news. Jasper, when he walked with them one day, asked about the 21st, and Sam had said that losing control like that had never really happened before and that he thought it had something to do with the town itself. After what they had heard from Dean, they really weren't too surprised to hear that.
Another addition into his daily routine were the kids that wanted to stay after class, or even after school, to chat with him. Sometimes it would be about something funny they heard about or thought about their homework or friends, others it would be about problems or concerns they had in life. He almost wanted to put together a sign-in book and hire an assistant that would say, "Doctor Winchester will see you know,"
Then again, he probably thought about it too much…
He was even interrupted one day after school when he was grading a book discussion by the principle. After a little joking conversation the man asked if he 'ever wanted to be the school counselor instead of English teacher,'
Sam had laughed and shook his head. He was barely able to handle being around so much emotion and teenage thought in the classroom, he probably would end up seizing if he made a career out of listening to others vent out their troubles. Sam didn't mind that the kids liked him enough to be honest with him, and encouraged to talk to him if there was something on their minds, but that was the extent of it. He always made sure that they would try to tell someone else about it as well.
But somehow, through all of this, he didn't expect who came to his door on a sunny Friday afternoon while he was watching an old Law and Order re-run.
"Bella?" He asked, and opened the door a little wider. "What's wrong?"
"You said if I needed to talk…?" Bella had her arms crossed, her shoulders slumped.
"Yes, of course, come in and sit," Sam gestured to the couch and turned off the TV before sitting across from her.
She sighed, "Where do I start…?"
"It probably has a lot to do with Edward, right?" Sam smiled softly, "Has something happened?"
"He…He asked me to marry him." Bella said, looking away.
"Hmm," Sam responded, seeing why this might rattle her. "And you said…?"
"That I needed time to think about it." Bella frowned, "Its not that I'm not happy with him, but it feels like I'm too young to get married right now."
"And you wanted to be changed first?" Sam guessed.
"Yes, and he said he would be the one to do it if I married him," Bella twisted her hands in front of her, "And then there's Jacob. He hates everything to do with the Cullens, but he's my best friend and it would break him to hear that I was marrying Edward because he's convinced he loves me," Bella spilled, the words tumbling fast out of her mouth.
"Jacob? He's a werewolf, right?" Bella nodded. "Well, if you don't feel the same about Jake, then you should say yes to Edward and tell Jake first hand, tell him that if he really is your friend then he will just have to accept your choice," Sam said softly. "Some people are only your friends through the easy decisions, but your real friends are there for you no matter what,"
"I guess you're right," Bella sighed, "But… how can you be okay with this?"
Sam grinned, "You mean because I'm a mean ole hunter?" Sam laughed, "The Cullens are good people, no matter what they are physically. If you want to be apart of their family permanently, if that would make you happy, who is anyone to tell you not to?"
That got a smile out of her. "And, Bella, if you truly love Edward, you should know that getting married really isn't that big of a step. It's more to reassure him that you won't be running off when things get scary,"
Bella sniffed indignantly, "There's not much that can scare me anymore. I've already met the Volturi and I know what will happen when I turn. He knows I love him, why can't that be enough?"
"It is. Sometimes, they can be more humanly imperfect in the face of emotions then we are," Sam smiled softly. Bella nodded, knowing exactly what he meant.
They talked a while longer, about lighter subjects, before Sam noticed that the twilight was upon them. Bella said that it was time for her to eat dinner with Charlie at the local diner, and Sam bid her good night and said to come back if she needed to.
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Alice, Edward, and Jasper weren't the only vampires Sam talked to either, or even most of the time. After he and Dean had passed the whole awkward phase of discovery, Dean was curious about all the books that Sam had horded in his basement. He would come over every few days and read through them at a rate that made Sam's head spin, and Sam told him it was alright if Dean wanted to come over at night when he was asleep, just to warn him when he would.
And then Dean would appear randomly and asked Sam questions. Had he ever seen a Siren before? What did a Kelpie look like? How were Women in White usually made?
And Sam would answer him, along with maybe a story or two of when he had faced one. They were fun conversations, laughing about mistakes made and awesome instincts and ideas that worked out. Sam, in turn, would ask about Dean's life, something that he usually wasn't comfortable with, but would talk about when he was in the mood.
It was one of those times when Sam was sitting on the couch, grading tests, and Dean was sitting at the dining table looking over another ancient book when Sam's cell rang a tune from Kansas that had always reminded him of South Dakota in the summer.
He didn't even look at the caller I.D. when he flipped his phone open and said, "Hey Bobby, what's up?"
"Hi Sam. Just callin' to see what you're up to." Bobby greeted, and then paused. "And, uh…"
"I'm not really thinking this is a social call, Bobby," Sam frowned.
"I'm sorry Sam." Bobby sighed, "You're the closest one in that area. It's in Washington."
Sam bit his lip. He knew from the moment he told Bobby where he really was, he was going to regret it. But he wanted someone he trusted to know where he was in case of emergency, and the only one viable person after his father was Bobby, and Bobby was ten times more sensible and connected than anyone else he knew. Most times, the connected aspect helped out, but now it just meant that Bobby could convince him to go on another hunt.
"You know what I said, Bobby…" Sam started.
"Son, its close enough that I would worry about sending another hunter out there to you. Do you really want that?" Bobby pressed.
Sam's jaw tightened impossibly. "That's a low blow, Bobby."
"Really, Sam, if I could think of any other way, I would, but I'm too swamped here to come and you don't want John to know you're there. You're the one who's backed himself into the corner, here," Bobby pointed out, regretfully. It wasn't like he blackmailed Sam often, or had ever done so before. Sam knew that he was speaking the truth when he said he was only thinking of what was best for Sam.
"Alright, were and what?" Sam agreed bluntly, not addressing anything else that Bobby had said.
Bobby told him and he wrote out the location, and what to study up on before leaving. He said goodbye and closed the phone, barely resisting the urge to throw it at the wall. He looked over to his guest and forced himself to calm down, wondering at the strange expression that he had never seen on Dean's face before.
"Everything alright?" Dean asked in a rough voice.
"Sure, just got a hunt to deal with. Lucky it's the weekend, don't wanna miss class," Sam tried to be jovial about it, but Dean had heard both sides of the conversation so it was sort of a moot point.
"Hmm," Dean nodded; closing the book he had been studying and turning fully to Sam. "Mind if I tag along?"
"You want to hunt? With me?" Sam forced his teeth together before his jaw could drop. He had known that Dean liked reading his books, but to have another person that was not his father helping him out on a hunt? It was a very foreign concept, even without the whole vampiric aspect.
"Yeah, never seen or even heard of half the stuff I've read about, and I want to see how you handle it," Dean said lightly, voice soft when he added, "Plus, I don't want you gettin' hurt with no one there to help you…"
Sam felt himself smile at the last part, and found himself saying, "Why not? Just make sure not to get in the way," Sam schooled his expression into a serious façade.
Dean raised an eyebrow and jibed, "Shouldn't I be saying that to you?"
And they laughed together as Sam gathered what he would need into a saddle bag.