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The Supernatural characters belong to Kripke Enterprises and the CW, not me. No money is being made from this story. It is for entertainment only.

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A Wandering Boy

Chapter 8

A Day in the Life

After dropping Dean at school Sam drove over to Dr. Addison's office. He had not wanted Dean to worry so he didn't mention that he was going in for the MRI that Dr. Chang had recommended. X-Rays had come back with pictures of old healed fractures but there was nothing that could be blamed for his headaches. Bobby's insurance was taking care of all but a small percentage of the test so Singer Salvage's employee and Bobby Singer's nephew, Sam Winchester, was traveling first class.

Dr. Chang entered the examination room and greeted his patient. "Hello, Sam. How have you been doing since I saw you last week? Any more headaches?"

"Unfortunately, yes," Sam responded. "I got one last night just as I was getting ready for bed. If I hadn't been talking to Bobby at the time I would have most likely spent the night on his kitchen floor. It hit hard; one of the kind with flashing lights and moving pictures. Bobby said I folded like an accordion and he was just able to break my fall. I was out for maybe fifteen minutes."

Dr. Chang had a habit of tapping his chin with a pen when he was thinking. "Sam, I have to ask. Did you drive over here?"

Sam jerked his head up. "Yes, I dropped Dean at school and came straight over. Why?"

"Do you really think it's a good idea for you to be driving?" Dr. Chang said. "What if you get one of these headaches when you're on the open road? So far you've indicated that there is enough warning for you to perhaps pull to the side of the rod but I have to say I don't think it's a good idea. Is there someone else that can take over the driving for you?"

Sam was surprised. He thought of his possible new partner, Castiel. "Maybe; do you really think that's necessary?"

"Well," Dr. Chang replied. "I feel that it's somewhat dangerous for you to be on the road. I don't want to file a formal notice with the Department of Motor Vehicles but I will unless you tell me you're going to deal with the possibility. I don't want you to die in a crash, or anyone else either, before we figure out what's wrong with your head."

Sam mulled the question. He wondered if the Angel might know how to drive. He had to admit that the doctor had a point. He didn't want to end up in the car on the side of the road with only Dean to help. The kid might try to drive them home while Sam was watching the pictures on the back of his eyelids.

Dr. Chang put his hand on the door knob. "I'm going to leave you here to get ready for the test. MRI stands for Magnetic Resonance Imaging. Have you got metal in your body that I don't know about? Metal plates or screws from prior surgeries, perhaps? I haven't had reason to give you a physical but I have noticed that you seem to have a lot of scars; any possibility that you have old bullets or any other metal fragments buried somewhere? You might be surprised to know that even extensive tattooing can be a problem as a lot of inks have metal components. You'd be stunned at what can happen."

"No, nothing like that," Sam answered.

"A nurse will be in shortly with scrubs for you to wear. Please disrobe completely. The scrubs are for your own protection. No one wants small metal items flying around the lab. A technician will be in shortly to take you down stairs. I'll see you there."

After the doctor left Sam whipped out his phone and called Bobby. "Bobby," Sam said when his mentor answered. "Ask Cas if he knows how to drive. If he does can you ask him to get over to Dr. Chang's office as soon as he can? Thanks."

A few minutes later the nurse who had brought him the scrubs to wear reappeared. "Mr. Winchester, your partner is in the waiting room. Would you like him to come in?" The woman smiled at Sam. "We completely understand if you would be more comfortable with him here. By the way, do you want Mr. Novak to be authorized to be your medical proxy? We have forms here in the office if you want to sign an authorization now."

It suddenly occurred to Sam what this woman and most likely the rest of the office was thinking. Sam closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Thank God he didn't ask who "Mr. Novak" was. Let them all think what they wanted. He was in no mood to explain himself or his partner to them. "That would be fine. Could you bring him in?" Sam replied. "Thanks."

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"Hey, Bible Thumper!" Dean was putting his back pack away in his locker and for a minute didn't understand that the catcall was directed at him. He turned around to see Larry Ross, with a couple of scared looking minions on either side standing in the middle of the hall with his fists on his hips.

"Are you talking to me, Larry?" Dean responded quietly. "My name is Dean, if you don't know."

The red faced bully sneered. "I don't need to know your name. Bible Thumper is good enough. I saw your boyfriend give you a Bible yesterday at the Security Desk. I know what you are."

Dean, still speaking quietly, said "That was my Dad. Why would you call him my boyfriend? Did you lose yours?"

The small crowd, attracted by Larry's loud voice, snickered at Dean's come back.

Larry bunched his fists. "I'm just telling you to watch your back. We don't need people like you in our school. You better be careful where you go by yourself."

The crowd's attention switched back to Dean. Just then Kerman showed up and pushed his way to Dean's side. Now the school bully was looking at two guys. Having delivered his warning he turned his back and left.

"Thanks, Kerman," Dean said. "What the hell is that guy's problem, anyway?"

Kerman laughed. "Until you showed up Larry was King of the Hill around here. He was the biggest kid in the school and all the little kids were afraid of him. You knocked him on his ass the first day you were here. He won't forget that."

Now it was Dean's turn to laugh. "King of the Hill, is that it? I know somebody who's going to be in for a shock when he gets to the sixth grade and ends up on the bottom of the pile in middle school. He's headed for a hard time, for sure."

"I don't know," Kerman replied. "His Dad is a cop. A lot of people don't want to cross a cop's kid."

Dean filed the information away to discuss with Sam and Bobby and gathered up his books for his next couple of classes. He and Kerman took off down the hall together.

English class opened with a bang for a lot of the students. Mr. Martinez established a pattern by asking for all of the previous night's homework to be signed and passed forward. He also asked that the pieces of literature that all students were supposed to bring with them today also be passed forward. There was a lot of moaning at that one and not a few raised hands with a variety of imaginative excuses. The best one was Gail in the front row. She said she had her piece memorized and could she write it out and hand it in after class?

Mr. Martinez exercised mercy and, since it was the first full day, he let them slip. Those who had forgotten or 'accidently' left the paper at home were given an extra day. He glanced through the papers he did receive and paused at one. Glancing up he looked directly at Dean "T.S. Eliot?"

Dean shrugged. "It's a kid's poem." He said.

"I think we both know that it's more than that, Dean." Mr. Martinez replied. "Did you pick this yourself?"

"Actually I was going for the Iliad but Dad said a whole book was too much to drag in and told me to pick something else." Dean shot Mr. Martinez a bright full smile. "What's the matter? Don't you like Mr. Mistoffelees?"

"I'm actual quite pleased with your choice and I'm also pleased to hear that your father takes an interest in your school work." Mr. Martinez then turned to the class at large and started on a discussion of punctuation and how to use it effectively in writing.

In the back of the room Dean distinctly heard two loud whispers. One was "suck-up" and the other was "teacher's pet". Dean strangled his laughter. No one had ever accused him of those things before, he didn't think; the accusations seemed odd and uncomfortable.

At the end of class Dean, as usual, waited for the room to clear. Mr. Martinez saw him waiting. "Dean," he called out. "I hope I didn't embarrass you about your choice of a poem for class."

"Oh, is that what you meant?" Dean answered. "I just thought you didn't like Eliot or maybe you didn't like cats."

Mr. Martinez smiled and waved goodbye to a student who was quickly becoming very interesting.

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Castiel was invited into Dr. Chang's office by a nurse sent to fetch him from reception. Dr. Change stood when Cas entered and shook the Angel's hand. Cas didn't have a clue what was going on but just followed the Doctor's lead.

"You are Mr. Winchester's partner, Mr. Novak?" Dr. Chang asked and Cas nodded shortly.

"Sam should be with us in a minute. He's just changing back into his clothes."

No sooner had the words left Dr. Chang's mouth than Sam came through the door. If Sam was surprised to see Cas in the office he gave no indication.

"I thought we would all discuss this together so that there are no misunderstandings." Dr. Chang began. "I attended Sam's MRI and nothing is apparent. Of course, we will analyze the scans in depth but we saw no unusual masses that would indicate any type of intracranial tumor or any apparent arteriovenous malformations. This is all good news."

"On the negative side we still have no idea why Sam is suffering from headaches that can actually knock him to the floor and render him unconscious. At this point the only diagnosis I can offer is severe migraines. We can recommend a migraine specialist for you to see, if you like." Dr. Chang looked like he didn't like to be defeated.

Sam and Cas rose and Sam extended his hand to the doctor. "Thanks, Dr. Chang. I do actually feel better since I don't seem to have a brain tumor." Sam smiled. "I think the MRI was worth it just for that. If anything else shows up after the analysis, please let me know by cell. Cas and I are scheduled for a short trip out of town for a couple of days but I'll consider the migraine specialist. Thank you for your help."

On the way out of the building Cas said "There were a number of interactions that just occurred that I did not understand."

Sam snorted. "There were a number of interactions that just happened that are going to take some explaining for you to understand, indeed. Cas, when you introduce yourself as my partner the people in that office took it to mean that we are a couple."

"We are a couple" the Angel said.

Sam snorted again. "Yes, we are a couple of Hunters, we are partners; all that is true. Look, when we get back to Bobby's I'll try to explain it to you more clearly."

"That would be good. One thing I did understand though." Cas said slowly. "You are being troubled by severe headaches that can't be explained. Correct?"

"Yes Cas," Sam responded as he unlocked the Impala. "Oh, I forgot. Can you drive a car?"

"Yes, I can. Why? Do you not always drive the car?" Cas responded.

"The doctor suggested that I shouldn't drive until the headaches are under control. He's worried that I might crash the car if I get a headache when I'm driving."

"I can solve that." Cas said. "Go on; get in the driver's seat."

Cas went around the car and sat down in shotgun. Sam entered the other side.

"I kind of agree with the doctor, Cas. I don't want to hurt anyone."

Cas reached over and touched Sam's forehead with two extended fingers. "That will prevent you from getting any more visions before we get to Bobby's house."

Sam turned to look Cas in the face. "Visions? The headaches are because of the visions? The visions are real?"

"Yes, Sam." Cas said calmly. "You are a psychic. You have visions of events at a distance; in both time and space. Unfortunately the pain is part of the evolving process. In the future you may start to receive visions without so much pain however they will always render you immobile as they are occurring. It is in the nature of such visions. I can stop them from occurring for a short period of time but they are a part of who you are. They will always come whether you welcome them or not."

Sam was silent as he pulled out of the building and onto the road. "Did the Sam in Dean's world also have visions?" he finally asked.

"Yes, he did" Cas answered. "His visions started earlier in his life. His abilities were manipulated by a demon into an early start. For many years he considered them a curse.

The two men were silent for most of the drive. As they approached Singer Salvage Sam spoke. "I still intend to go on this hunt that Bobby found. I would appreciate it if you would drive, just to make me feel more comfortable. I don't want to go anywhere alone now that I know about the visions. A hunt is a dangerous place to suddenly hit the floor."

"Don't worry, Sam." Cas responded. "I'll be with you. I'll see to it that you stay safe."

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It was in science class after lunch that Dean had spotted his potential second pack member, another tall skinny kid named Jerome Boswell. Dean had noticed Boswell the previous day as the quiet boy appeared to be another target for Larry Ross's pack. Jerry was quiet, smart and solitary. Ross had evidently decided that Jerry should do Larry's share of the lab work in class and homework out of class.

Dean got to class early this time as Kerman walked with him from lunch and Dean didn't wait for the halls to clear. Jerry was already in the room also and Dean made a point of putting his books down on the lab bench next to him.

"I don't suppose you really want to save this spot for Larry Ross, do you?" Dean asked

Boswell smiled. "I would very much appreciate it if you would stay right there and keep Ross away from me."

"Will do," Dean responded. "Do you want to sign up as permanent lab partners for the class?" Boswell's face cleared with relief. The two boys shook hands and a deal was made. When the rest of the class came in a person at a time Dean and Jerry were already deep into the day's assignment. Larry glared at the back of Dean's head but went off to the back of the room to blend in with his pack. Dean could feel Larry's eyes boring holes in the back of his head.

All three boys, Dean, Kerman and Jerry, had the last class of the day, Spanish, together and they walked out of school to the bus stop together. Dean knew that all of them were going to have a better time in school now that they were a recognized group instead of solitary individuals. Dean thought to himself that it just showed that the wolf packs had the right idea.

On the way to the bus they came across a common enough sight. A group of boys were tormenting a smaller child, who had been reduced to tears. Deans' group didn't even bother to break stride. They swept through the center of the knot of kids and swept up the smaller one with them. Just like that Dean had another friend, little Mike Thompson, a fourth grader. Mike looked at the group like they were his personal heroes and when Dean found out that the other kids had taken Mike's bus money he went back and collected it from the thief.

Mike was an unexpected bonus but Dean figured he could be their mascot. Dean not only got Mike's money back, he found the kid's glasses in the dirt and cleaned his face with his bandana. In its own way Dean regarded this action as an extension of his life's goal, "saving people, hunting things." Even if fourth graders weren't exactly monsters he figured they were close enough.