Chapter Ten

And you all thought I forgot about Jessica…Well, yeah, okay, I did, until about chapter seven or so. But it actually works out much better with the plot this way.

Priestly rubbed a hand over the gauze wrapped around his left thigh, wincing as the pressure pulled on the stitches. "Wow. This is just as good as the hospital did it."

"Told you I'm good," said John, putting the first aid kit back in his duffel on the bathroom floor.

"Well, thanks," Priestly told him gratefully as he rolled his baggy black pants back down over the patch job.

"No problem," John brushed off, throwing away the used thread and bloody toilet paper from the sink counter.

Priestly eased himself up from the edge of the tub, testing the weight of his body on his leg. Feeling a little twinge of the torn skin and stitches, he knew he would need to limp on that leg for the next few days to avoid ripping the stitches.

"So, Tish…" began John.

Priestly looked up at him.

"You're really serious about her?" asked John with a fond look on his face.

A smile found its way onto Priestly's face. "Yeah…I really am. I have never—" He paused and thought about it for a moment. "Well, it doesn't really mean much coming from me, but…I have never loved anyone more in my whole life."

John stared at him for a moment before smiling and chuckling.

"What?" asked Priestly with a chuckle.

"That's what I kept telling Mary's dad," said John.

Priestly smiled, feeling a slightly deeper connection to the father he couldn't remember.

"I hope she accepts your proposal when you give it," John told him.

"Thanks," said Priestly.

"I'll let you get changed," John told him, heading out into the motel room.

Priestly closed the bathroom door and changed into a more comfortable outfit for his injured leg. A few minutes later, he opened the door and limped into the motel room, listening to Sam speaking on the phone.

"—and we're doing okay," said Sam. He listened to the other line for a moment. "I'm not sure when I'll be able to visit next. I wanna stay with my brother while he's recovering from all this."

Priestly glanced over at him as he stuffed his old clothes into his bag.

"Yeah, I miss you, too," said Sam with a distant smile.

Priestly's brows rose in interest as he turned to face his brother.

"Alright, good luck on your finals," said Sam. "Love you, too, Jess." He hung up the phone.

"Who's Jess?" asked Priestly.

Sam turned to give him an answer and froze, staring with wide, confused eyes at him. "Is that a kilt?"

Priestly glanced down at his green, plaid kilt, looking back up at Sam. "Yeah, so? I've worn it before."

Sam stared disbelievingly at him.

"Let me guess: I wouldn't be caught dead in a skirt," smirked Priestly.

"Sounds about right," chuckled Sam.

"What can I say?" said Priestly. "The times, they are a-changing."

Sam smiled at his Bob Dylan reference, his gaze falling to the floor.

"So, who's Jess?" Priestly repeated.

Sam looked back up at him. "She's, uh…my girlfriend." He gave a smile that just didn't seem to be able to stay hidden. "Maybe even fiancé."

Priestly smiled. "Oh…Sammy-boy's getting hitched?"

"Well, no, I haven't asked her yet," Sam told him. "I wanna tell her about the family business before I do."

Priestly frowned. "She doesn't know yet?"

"Well, we can't all be as open-minded as Tish," Sam pointed out.

"Dude, she's not one of a kind," Priestly pointed back. He then smirked. "I mean, I like to think so." His face grew serious once more. "Just give her a chance. She might surprise you."

Sam nodded, still staring in uncertainty at his phone.

"How'd you two meet?" asked Priestly.

"Sophomore year," Sam answered. "She'd just finished her freshman year. My friend Brady took us to this party after finals. He introduced us."

"Match made in heaven?" asked Priestly.

Sam smiled. "Just about. We've been together four years now. She's just finishing her Bachelor's Degree of Arts."

"An artist?" asked Priestly.

Sam shook his head. "Psychologist."

Priestly winced. "Ooh. That just makes my head hurt thinking about it."

Sam chuckled. "Well, she has the brains for it. She's, like, scary smart."

"Sounds like your dream girl," said Priestly.

Sam smiled fondly. "Yeah, she does…"

"How you handling the separation?" asked Priestly.

"Not too bad," Sam replied. "It could have been worse if Dad hadn't dropped me off at Stanford to visit every once in a while."

"Well, that's nice of him," shrugged Priestly.

Sam shrugged. "Yeah, I know. Shocker, right?"

Priestly frowned, not getting where that comment had come from. "What?"

Sam looked up at him, seemingly coming to himself. "Oh, right, sorry. Of course, you wouldn't remember. I keep forgetting sometimes."

Priestly shrugged. "It's okay."

"Dad and I never really got along," Sam told him. "Like, at all."

Priestly thought back to the last couple of weeks, to Sam and John laughing as they told stories and hung out with Priestly and his friends. "You're kidding."

"I know," said Sam. "It doesn't track, right?" He sighed before continuing. "We used to fight all the time. He felt that we should be honoring Mom's memory by avenging her death and doing our job to save the people that we could. I felt that he was being unreasonable by forcing us into this depressing, isolating life. That's why I ran away to Stanford." He shrugged, shaking his head. "I was a kid, upset that my dad wanted me to learn bow-hunting instead of play soccer. I mean, I still sort of stand by what I felt then, but…I see now where he was coming from. It's our job; it's what we do. We help people." He fiddled with his cell phone. "I think the turning point was your…"

"Accident," Priestly supplied.

Sam nodded. "I backed off of him, quit arguing over every little thing with him. I could see now why he pushed us so hard growing up. He was just trying to make sure something wouldn't happen to us. Except now…it had. The surprising thing was, he backed off, too. I think it was shock at first. Then…it was almost as though he was trying to hang onto what he still had. He'd already lost one son and didn't want to lose another."

Priestly nodded, taking that in. He was just coming to realize the impact his disappearance had had on his family.

"After a while, the arguments became fewer and far between," Sam went on. He looked up at Priestly with a smile. "If anything good could come out of your accident…that was it."

Priestly nodded. "Glad I could help."

Sam stared soberly at him. "I mean it. What you mean to us helped push us past our stupid, petty personal issues. I always took this for granted, but you've always been the glue that holds this family together…even when you're not there to do it."

"Aw, shucks, Sam," Priestly smiled dopily, trying to brush off the chick flick moment, but truly touched deep down.

Sam chuckled.

"So, what was your reaction to Dad showing up on your doorstep at Stanford?" asked Priestly.

Sam laughed again. "Could've been worse. I thought he was there to drag me back to the hunt. If Jessica hadn't been there, I probably would've blown up at him. And it wasn't my doorstep he showed up on; it was my couch."

Priestly frowned.

"Jess and I had gone out for a Halloween party to celebrate my aced LSAT," Sam explained. "At the end of the night, we headed back to our apartment."

************************************************** ***SPN/TIH**************************************** *********************

Sam laughed with Jessica as he led her down the hallway to their apartment door. "You know it was more than five."

"And I'm telling you it was only four shots," Jessica laughed back.

"Well, how can you even remember how many you had?" said Sam, pulling his key out of his pocket. "Too much alcohol in your system."

"Says Mr. Can't Hold My Liquor," laughed Jessica.

"I am not drunk," Sam told her, putting his key in the lock.

"Of course not," Jessica said, tugging on his jean jacket. "Scrooge doesn't like to celebrate."

Sam looked back at her. "That's Christmas, Jess. You need something more along the lines of Marilyn Munster."

Jessica giggled. "How do you even have that reference on the tip of your tongue?"

Sam turned the key in the door. "You can thank my brother for that."

Jessica scooted closer to him, hands on his hips. "I don't think you'd appreciate the way I want to show my thanks."

Sam laughed as he opened the door, and they stumbled inside, Jessica flipping on the lights. Sam's laughter froze in his throat as he stared at his father sitting patiently on the couch.

"Dad…" breathed Sam, speechless.

"Hiya, Sammy," said John, not standing from his seat.

"What are you doing here?" Sam blurted, a little harsher than he intended.

John's face clouded for a moment before clearing as his eyes slid from his face.

Sam followed his gaze to Jessica. "Uh, sorry. Jess, this is my father John. Dad…this is my girlfriend Jessica."

Jessica stepped forward, holding her hand out. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you, sir. I've heard so much about you."

John stood, shaking her hand as he stared into Sam's eyes. "I bet you have."

"What are you doing here, Dad?" asked Sam, his arms crossed.

John released Jessica's hand and stepped back a little. "We need to talk." He tipped his head towards the door. "Privately."

Sam frowned his displeasure at him. "No." He stepped forward and wrapped an arm around Jessica. "No. Whatever you wanna say, you can say it in front of her."

John looked at Jessica and then back at Sam, and Sam braced himself for the fight.

"Okay," John relented.

Sam did a double take, starting to get on the defensive. Nothing rebellious Sam ever did just slipped past his father with nothing more than an "okay." It had to be a shapeshifter or a demon.

John took a deep breath and stared Sam in the eye. "Dean's on a hunting trip…and he hasn't been home in a few days."

Sam's heart dropped straight to the floor. The only reason John Winchester would abandon the hunt and not fight with his stubborn, rebellious son…was that his son was in trouble.

"Jess, excuse us," Sam told her. "We have to go outside."

********************************************SPN/TI H************************************************* **********************

"Dad told me you hadn't answered his calls or contacted him in three weeks," Sam concluded. "It wasn't like you to ignore Dad like that. You were his perfect soldier. You did everything he asked you to. You would never cease contact like that unless…" He sighed, looking back up at Priestly. "I gave Jessica a cover story about you—you know, you and Dad were in the FBI—and I hit the road."

"You left?" asked Priestly in surprise. "Just like that?"

Sam gave him a puzzled and affronted look. "Dean, there is nothing in this world I wouldn't drop to help you."

Even though Priestly enjoyed the sentiment, he waved that off. "No, I mean your full-ride. Do you plan on going back? Will they even let you?"

Sam nodded, understanding now what Priestly had meant. "I explained what I could about the family emergency, and they said they were so impressed by my LSAT score and my academic standing that if I ever chose to come back, they'd have a law school interview waiting for me."

Priestly smiled, nodding. "Good. You'll get into law school, get your degree, get married, have a bunch of kids."

Sam smiled. "I hope."

Priestly watched him for a moment. "You really like her, huh?"

Sam stared off into space, a wistful glaze to his eyes. "I've never loved anyone more in my whole life."

Priestly looked up at John, who had stepped into the room a few moments ago, and they shared a secret smile.

****************************SPN/TIH*************** ************************************************** ***********

"Never fear!" Priestly called as he flung the door to the Grill open. "Priestly is here!"

Priestly!" Tish exclaimed, rushing over to him and flinging herself into his arms.

Priestly braced his weight mostly on his good leg and lifted her from the floor. Tish giggled as Priestly hugged her close.

"I missed you so much," Priestly breathed into Tish's hair.

"Me, too," Tish told him, leaning her head back and planting several big kisses on his lips.

"Ah-hem," Sam coughed in the doorway behind them.

Priestly laughed as he stumbled out of the door and set Tish back on the floor. "Sorry, guys."

"You're fine," said John, following Sam into the sub shop. "Just make sure you're out of the road next time."

"Will do," said Priestly, going back to Tish's kisses.

"So, how was your, uh…" began Jen, glancing over at Noah and Julia in the back booth, "hunting trip."

"Great," said Sam. "Bagged us an eight-point buck."

Understanding their code for "ghost is dead," the grill gang looked relieved.

"Sounds awesome," said Trucker. "Glad you had fun."

"Some of us more than others," muttered Sam with a glance at Priestly.

"What's that mean?" asked Tish.

Priestly shook his head. "Nothing."

Tish gave him a hard look.

"Look, it's no big deal," Priestly caved. "It doesn't even hurt anymore…barely. It was dark, and I tripped and fell on a nail, which shoved itself into my leg."

Tish lowered her voice. "And the real story?"

"Ghost flung it at me," Priestly whispered.

Tish's face paled significantly.

"It's okay," Priestly reassured her. "They had my back the whole time."

"They better," said Tish, wrapping her arms around him and leaning her head on his chest. "I don't know if I could ever let you go."

Priestly put a hand on her head. "I'd never do that to you."

"Good," said Tish. "'Cause I'm coming on the next hunt."

Priestly's heart froze in his chest. "You're what?"

"I wanna be a hunter," Tish told him, looking up at him. "Or at least, trained like one. If these things are out there, I need to fight one off if it comes after me."

Priestly stared her, this innocent being in front of him. He didn't want hunting to take her life and ruin it. It was too late for him; he had been doing this for twenty years, and he was pretty good at it. He even enjoyed it. But Tish…Tish had her whole life ahead of her.

So did Mom… thought Priestly.

Mary had had her whole life in front of her, and it had been cut short because of a demon. If only she had known how to fight like a hunter…

Priestly nodded. "I'll teach you."

"You will?" asked Tish.

"You deserve to be able to defend yourself," said Priestly. "Then I'll have someone to watch my back."

Tish chuckled as Priestly hugged her close again.