The sound of Dean's cell phone, once again, ringing throughout the small apartment, pulled Sam from his light sleep. He reluctantly cracked open his eyes through the bright sunlight shining through his bedroom window and pushed himself from his bed to drag his feet out to the next room. Dean was sitting at the kitchen table, his phone laying in front of him, untouched. That could only mean that it was one person calling him. There was a look in Dean's green eyes as he stared at the phone, he appeared vacant, the anger of the past few days seemed to have temporarily subsided to pure exhaustion. He had a pretty good idea that his brother hadn't been sleeping properly, as though he was constantly waiting on Jamie to wake up and need something. But she never had. She was even more closed up than Dean was.
"You know," Sam began lightly, pulling Dean from his deep thoughts as he spoke. "Ignoring him isn't going to make him go away." he said as he poured himself a mug of black coffee. He turned to lean against the counter and looked down at his brother, whose eyes were still focused nowhere but on his phone. "You can't avoid talking to him forever."
Dean gave a short sigh, turning in his chair to face him. "I can try." he countered simply. Sam just looked at him, saying nothing, because they both knew that couldn't work. "I just -" he stopped and pulled a hand down his face, shaking his head slowly. "I don't get it, Sam. How could do that to her? She was just a kid, I mean -"
"I don't know, Dean." Sam said before he could continue. He honestly didn't want to think about it.
There was nothing that could make Sam understand what their Dad had done, honestly, he didn't want to understand what he had done. It hurt enough, tormented him enough, to know that it had even happened in the first place, but to think into it, to try to comprehend every detail of it, to try and get into his head and work out why he could have done what he did, Sam couldn't do it.
"What do I say to him? Hm?" Dean pushed himself up, his face hard. He had barely spoken about their Dad since they had arrived there, he hadn't seemed to want to talk about any of it, but suddenly he seemed so driven, but Sam wasn't sure to what. "He calls me and what? I pretend that I don't know? I tell him that he's a monster? What? There is nothing I can say to that man. There aren't words for what I feel to him right now." he pushed his words out through gritted teeth, his anger on full show to his younger brother. "And I know I said that I wanted to find him, but what are we supposed to do?"
Sam shook his head, as a complete loss. "I know what you'd do." he replied flatly, remaining completely calm despite Dean's tone. "Dean, you've really gotta think about this. If you get a hold of him anytime soon, you're not gonna be able to stop yourself. I know you."
Dean didn't look at him, he couldn't, because he knew that he was right. When someone hurt Jamie, Dean got mad. And there was no stopping the eldest Winchester when he got mad, there was no slowing him down and no making him think, he made those people suffer. And this time it was more than just a guy at school or some punk in a bar, this was their own Dad, and he had done things to her that were just unforgivable. He was beyond redemption.
"Then what?" Dean asked. "What, I just let him go? He gets away with it? What he did to her, Sam -"
"I know." he cut him off, before he could get angry again. "I'm not saying for a second that we let him get away with this, he deserves everything that we'd do to him, all I'm asking is that you think about it first. I mean, we've gotta think about Jamie. For all we know, that might be the last thing she needs right now. We can't do anything that's gonna screw her up."
"Do what you want," A new voice came from the doorway. Sam and Dean both turned in time to see Jamie heading briskly into the kitchen. She casually poured herself a coffee, saying nothing. "Kill him, don't kill him, as long as I don't have to see him I couldn't care less what happens to him." she informed them simply, turning to look between them and raising her eyebrows.
Jamie didn't look at all affected. She seemed fine, no emotion at all in her face, but there was something in her eyes. He could see the fear, however hard she tried to cover it up, it was always there. It had been there since the day Dean had found her. He didn't know what to do about it, he wasn't leaving her anywhere, but he didn't want to take her even within the same state as their Dad. He didn't want him anywhere near her.
"Jay -" Dean began, but she simply shook her head to stop him.
"I don't care, Dean." she muttered. "Do whatever you want, just don't involve me."
He and Sam looked between each other, giving a small shrug to the other. There was no way around it, they were going to have to deal with him eventually, even if they were going to have to take her with them. They might as well get on with it, no point prolonging the inevitable.
"Alright then," Dean said lightly, breaking the tense silence that had fallen over the room. "How fast can you find him, geek boy?" he said to Sam, who simply threw him a smirk, as if to say that it was a stupid question, and headed out of the room, never saying a word.
The next day, Michigan
It hadn't taken long for Sam to work out where their Dad was, a few phone calls and false names waved around and he had a state and town written down for them in less than an hour. Most of the drive there from California had been in silence, with nothing but the low sound of Dean's rock tapes surrounding the car. He and Sam had made the usual small talk between themselves, even if it was just in an attempt to ease the tension that was fast filling the car as they drove further towards their Dad, but it hadn't lasted long.
Dean pulled up outside of an old, run down motel in some nameless town, turning off his car with a deep sigh. This was it. He glanced back at Jamie, who seemed to be perfectly well put together. There was no sign of distress or fear or pain, nothing, but he had a feeling that wasn't actually the case. He looked to Sam, who also seemed to be doing okay, and nodded.
"Okay then," he said as he pulled his keys from the ignition and sat back a little. "Let's do this."
Sam nodded and climbed out of the car first, quickly followed by Dean. He stopped as he reached the other side of the car when he realised that their sister hadn't moved yet. He exchanged a concerned glance with Sam before he pulled open the back door to the Impala, crouching down enough that he was face to face with her. She looked at him like she couldn't understand what his problem was, like she didn't get why he had expected her to move at all.
"Dean, I told you," she began, her voice calm and steady but, at the same time, deadly serious. "I'm not going in there."
Sam took a step closer to them, having looked over the motel, and gave a sigh. "The lights are off, Jamie," he said quietly, his voice completely understanding with her. "There's no car outside, he's obviously not here. You don't have to stay in there. Just -" he stopped and gave her a look, she knew what he meant.
She had a feeling that they just didn't want to leave her outside alone, maybe incase he did show up. If he did, she would be the one out in the parking lot that he would see, and she couldn't take that, they were right. Reluctantly, she pushed herself out of the car and closed the door behind herself, shooting Dean one of her 'are you happy now' looks as she passed him. He followed her and Sam to the door, hanging outside for a moment as Sam picked the lock to let them inside, a skill he had apparently not forgotten at college.
They entered, glancing around the dim, empty room slowly, cautiously. There was nothing more than a couple of old-looking books on the small table and an open duffel bag of clothes on the floor beside the bed. Other than that there was nothing there to even indicate that someone owned the room. It didn't look as though he had been there for long, or if he had then he hadn't spent much time there.
"Where do you think he's gone?" Sam asked quietly, as though he didn't want to disturb the silence of the room.
"I don't know," Dean began quietly, his voice dangerously low. "But he's back."
Sam jumped, he wasn't sure why, but he all but ran to the window to stand beside his brother and see what he was looking at. There was a feeling of dread in the pit of his stomach at the sight of the old pickup truck in the parking lot. He moved back from the window and ran a hand through his hair. He didn't know how to react.
"Dean, are you completely sure about this?" he asked, obviously concerned.
Dean sighed, he knew what his younger brother was getting at. He wasn't concerned about their Dad, he was concerned about the effect of what he would undoubtedly do to their Dad would have on Dean. He was worried about Jamie, about what would happen when her and their Dad finally came face to face with each other after so many years.
He just nodded. "I'm sure, Sammy." he said simply.
Sam nodded and leaned against the edge of the table, folding his arms over his chest as he took a deep breath. He wasn't sure he was ready for this. Dean turned just in time to see Jamie backing away from them towards the bathroom. Her face was nothing but fear, there were tears shining in her eyes, her breathing heavy, hands shaking; he had never seen her look so terrified before.
"I can't do this." she whispered, shaking her head slowly.
Before either of them could get a word out she disappeared into the bathroom at the same time as the motel door swung open, shining some light through the darkened room. John stopped dead in his tracks at the, obviously unexpected, sight of Dean. He narrowed his eyes a little, as if he were silently demanding an answer.
"Hey, Dad." he greeted blankly, his tone completely void of emotion.
"Dean?" he questioned, clearly confused. He slowly closed the door behind himself and flipped on the light switch. "Something wrong with your phone? I expect you to answer me when I call you." Dean still said nothing, just stared at him. "Did you take a hunt like I told you to?"
Dean nodded. "I did." he replied. "Took a ghost thing up in Nebraska, in fact, I actually met a friend there, thought I'd bring her to see you."
John frowned, suspicious. Dean never brought people to meet him, especially girls. "Her?" he raised his eyebrows. "It's a girl?"
"Yeah," he answered casually. "I mean, I made a stop off first." he added, nodding in the direction behind him.
John frowned, seeming more confused than ever, and turned around. Sam was still leaning against the table behind them, arms tightly folded over his middle, a deep frown set into his features. "Sam?"
"Hey, Dad." Sam said bluntly, his tone just as blank as Dean's. "Long time." he commented.
John shook his head slowly. "Sammy, what the hell are you doing here?" He turned back to look at Dean, searching both of them for some kind of an explanation.
Dean smirked, anything but amused. "Why don't you hold that thought?" he muttered. "Sam, watch him."
For a moment, John expected Sam to argue, or for one of them to explain what was happening. Dean never behaved like this, and to have Sam with him just made it even stranger, he couldn't work out what was going on between them, but he knew it was something. But instead of answering him, Sam just nodded, saying nothing as Dean turned towards the bathroom and pushed open the door.
He headed inside to find his sister leaning against the sink, her hands gripped to either side of it, tight enough that her knuckles were white. Through the reflection in the mirror, he could see how hard she was working to keep it all together, as if she was trying to hold back the unseen terror from spilling out. He closed the door behind himself softly and stepped further into the bathroom.
"Jay?" he pressed tentatively, moving closer to her and resting a hand to the back of her shoulder. "You coming out?"
Jamie shook her head, bringing herself around to face him. "I can't see him, Dean." she whispered, her voice cracked. He could hear the true amount of fear, and that only made him madder.
"You can." he answered, his voice steady. "You faced him every single day for all of those years, Jamie. You can show him you're not afraid anymore."
"But I am." she cut in. "I am afraid of him, that's the point."
Dean shook his head. "You're not, you're so much stronger than you think, sis. I know it." His hands rested on either of her shoulders as he bent down a little to face her straight on. "It's your last chance, and if you don't wanna do this, then I understand. But he isn't walking out of this room again. I can promise you that."
She regarded him for a moment, her eyes scanning his face. There was something there, something that took away the fear in her chest, something that made her feel okay, that made everything better. And she realised, she wasn't afraid with him, because no one, nothing, could hurt her anymore, not when Sam and Dean were there with her. She trusted them.
"Okay." she whispered, nodding her head. Dean forced a smile, giving her shoulders a small, reassuring squeeze. He led the way out of the bathroom slowly, Jamie right behind him.
John narrowed his eyes at his son as he walked back into the room. He could see that there was someone behind him, someone with black hair and their head down enough that he couldn't see their face past Dean's shoulder. It was only when Dean stepped aside that he realised who she was. He had to look twice to make sure that it was her, but there wasn't any doubt in his mind. The colour drained completely from his face, his eyes wide in shock.
"Jamie." he whispered, opening and closing his mouth like he didn't know what to say.
"We know, Dad." Sam said simply, stepping forwards from where he had been silently leaning against the table behind him. "We know everything."
John turned around, frowning at him. "I don't know what you're talking about."
Dean scoffed. "Don't try playing stupid," he snapped, taking a step forwards, making sure that she was behind him and out of reach of their Dad. "We know what you did to her. We know all of it, Dad." His voice was dangerously low, murderous, in a way that he had never spoken to his father before. "Now, are you honestly telling me that you can stand there and lie, pretend like you didn't destroy your own daughter's life? Are you honestly that low?"
His face fell, his eyes moved towards her. "Jamie," he breathed out, the shock clearly still effecting him. "I -"
"Don't." Dean cut him off harshly, speaking through gritted teeth. "Don't you dare talk to her. You don't deserve to speak to her."
He stared at him. He had never felt the pure amount of unadulterated hatred towards anyone in the way that he felt it towards his Dad. No demon, no monster, nothing, had made him feel so capable of tearing limbs from limbs before, nothing in the way that their Dad did. He just wanted revenge. He had thought maybe telling him how much of a repulsive monster he found him to be could suffice. But he was wrong. Now that they were standing there, face to face, Dean could almost feel his blood boiling in his veins. There was only one thing that was going to silence the shouting in his head.
"Sammy," he said simply, never breaking eye contact with his Dad. "Get her out of here."
Sam frowned, looking from Dean to Jamie. "What?" he pressed, he had a bad feeling about the look on his brother's face.
"Sam." he pushed out through gritted teeth, as though he was trying to bite back his anger long enough that they wouldn't have to witness it.
Before anyone had a chance to answer him, John spoke. "What are you gonna do, Dean? Hm?" he stepped closer to him, perfectly calm. "You gonna kill me?"
It was almost as though he was mocking him, but he was only making Dean angrier. "You ruined her whole life." he seethed. "That was your daughter, look at what you've done to her!" He was shouting in his face now, the anger coming out without remorse. "You're a fucking monster! And you deserve nothing but hell."
John didn't even have a chance to register what Dean had said before a fist came, seemingly out of nowhere, and collided with his face. It was an action that took everyone in the room by surprise, but Dean appeared to have forgotten that the two of them weren't alone, he didn't care. He punched him again, harder, and again. He moved faster than their Dad could comprehend, his anger too far gone to slow down. There was no calming him now.
He only pulled himself back once their Dad was down on his knees, trying to keep himself up straight. There was blood covering his face, staining Dean's knuckles. There was a darkness in his eyes that John had never seen before, something that he had never thought he would see in his son's eyes before. It was pure venom.
"Dean," he began, his voice strained with the pain in his chest from Dean's beating. "Son -"
But he stopped dead as Dean reached to the back of his jeans and pulled out a gun, aiming it towards his face. The anger in his face was enough to convince John that he wouldn't hesitate to fire it. "You're not my father," he spat out. He leaned down a little, leaving only inches between their faces. "You make me sick." he added in a low whisper.
He cocked the gun, ready to shoot, but he stopped. And for a moment, John thought that he had changed his mind. But the smallest of smirks spread over his face and it made him even more uneasy. Without a word, he held the gun out to his left towards Jamie. She looked up at him, their eyes meeting for a moment, before he nodded at her. It was what she deserved, what she needed, he had to give her the chance to do it herself. After a moment she took a step forwards and took the gun from her brother's hand.
"Jamie," Her eyes slowly moved up to meet her Dad's, tears shining in them that she refused to let fall in front of him. She wasn't about to show him weakness, not again. "I'm sorry." he whispered.
Jamie scoffed. "Now." she said through gritted teeth. John frowned. "You're sorry, now. But what about all those years?"
"Jamie -" he began, but she wasn't taking it, not anymore.
"I begged you to stop. Every single time." Tears built up in her eyes but she continued to push them back. "I pleaded with you to stop hurting me, and what did I get? Hm?" John looked down, saying nothing. "I got hit. And kicked. And raped. And cut. You never stopped."
He opened and closed his mouth again, as though he was searching for the right words but he couldn't find them. He seemed to finally realise that she wasn't about to step in and try to calm her brothers down, she wasn't going to cover up for him anymore, she wasn't taking it anymore. She had finally had enough.
"Look at me." she snapped. His eyes slowly moved up to her, but he couldn't hold it. He couldn't face her for more than a few seconds.
As if out of nowhere, Sam stepped forwards and grabbed a handful of his hair from the back, pulling his head back enough that he was forced to look up at her. "She said, look at her." he almost growled the words out. If the situation had been different, the unfamiliar tone in his voice might've scared her.
Their eyes met, but for the first time, Jamie's were stone cold. The way that she looked down at him was something he had never seen in her before. She looked blank, like she couldn't care less about what she was about to do. All the years he had forced her to push down and cover up her emotions, to detach herself from her feelings, it showed in her actions.
And then the sound of a gunshot rang throughout the room. It silenced all of them. Sam released the grip he held on him and stepped back as his body fell to the floor in front of them. Jamie's arm dropped loosely to her side, the gun held by just her fingertips as she stared down at him. Dean, still standing behind her, reached down and took the gun from her hand before he rested his other hand on her shoulder and pulled her around to face him. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her closer to him while she finally broke down and cried.
"It's over, Jay," he whispered, resting a hand to the back of her head, stroking her hair softly. "It's all over, you're okay now. I promise." Her hands gripped to the back of his jacket as she cried into his chest. "Sh." he soothed. "I got you, kid. We've got you, okay? It's all over."
Dean held onto her tighter, looking up to his brother. "Sammy," he said quietly. "Take her outside, alright?" His eyes fell to the body in front of them. "Get her out of here. I'll take care of this."
Sam opened his mouth, maybe to suggest that he would help him, but he knew that Dean wouldn't allow that. He wouldn't let his brother or sister deal with him anymore, he didn't want them to, he was done with him completely, he didn't care. He just wanted his family, the only family he had left, to be away from him. He wanted them out of the way, away from the bad memories and pain, he wanted them safe.
And now they were.