A Hard Road Ch. 23
Disclaimer: I don't own anything recognizable in this story. Nor am I making a profit from it.
Author's Note: Dean is 8 and Sammy is 4 in this chapter.
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Previously: "Sweet Dreams Sammy" Dean said as he turned off the light and left the room. He made sure to leave the door open so he could hear if Sammy had a nightmare. He sat down on the couch and turned the television on low as he waited for his dad to call.
Dean was suddenly awoken from his sleep as he heard the terrified sound of Sammy crying out in panic. In his haste to get to his baby brother, he fell off the sofa before pushing himself up to his feet and running down the hallway, skinned knee and all. He didn't bother turning on the light as he ran into the room and over to his baby brother. He could see Sammy sitting up in the bed and shaking like a leaf by the light of the full moon shining through the window. He quickly pulled Sammy into his arms and started rocking him back and forth as he caressed his back in comfort. "Shh, it's alright, I've got you. Everything's okay Sammy, I'm here now, please don't cry."
Sammy wrapped his small arms around Dean's neck and buried his face into Dean's shoulder as he continued to sob. He pulled his legs and arms in trying to curl himself up into a small ball within his big brother's arms as he took hitching breaths while Dean tried to soothe him. "I's scared Deanie" he mumbled into his brother's chest.
"Why are you scared Sammy, did you have a bad dream?" Dean asked trying to figure out what was wrong so he could make it better.
"N-No, Dere's a m-monster out-outside m-my window-ow and it's trying to-to g-get in" Sammy stuttered out between sobs.
"Dean immediately began to worry wondering if it was some ghost or angry spirit trying to get into the house. He had his dad's .45 and knew how to use it from the target practice he had been doing for the past few months, but he had left it out in the living room. He picked Sammy up to go and get it when he heard Sammy suddenly scream out in terror once again.
"D-Dere it is a-again" Sammy wailed as his trembling increased tenfold when he heard the scratching sounds outside his bedroom window once more.
"Where Sammy, where is the monster?" Dean questioned as he frantically looked around trying to see what Sammy saw.
"Out-outside the w-window" Sammy said as he buried his head into the crook of Dean's neck.
Dean glanced towards the window to see a weird looking tree branch scraping across the window in the breeze. He had to admit in the dark that it did look like a giant grotesque hand with it's claws screeching against the glass. No wonder it had scared Sammy so bad.
"Aw Sammy, it's okay, there isn't a monster by the window. That's a tree branch blowing in the wind" Dean informed his little brother as he cradled him in his arms.
"You, you pwomise?" Sammy asked as he looked up at Dean with soulful eyes glistening with tears.
"I promise dude, I'll even pinkie swear with ya" Dean said as he raised his right hand with the pinkie extended to lock fingers with Sammy. "Okay, now that we know there isn't any monster, let's get you back to bed little dude" Dean said as he walked Sammy over and placed him on his bed.
"Will you stay wif me Deanie?" Sammy asked as he sucked on his fingers frightened of the possibility of having to stay in their room alone.
"Sure I will, scoot over and give me some room" Dean said as he climbed into his baby brother's bed. He knew Sammy would never be able to fall asleep without having the comfort of his big brother beside him. As he felt Sammy curl into his side, he remembered that his dad had not yet called. He wondered if something had gone wrong since his dad had promised to call by ten o'clock. He was scared that something might have happened but he couldn't let Sammy know that, so he pulled Sammy in close and listened to the sounds of his breathing evening out into sleep. It wasn't long before he himself was lulled into sleep by the sounds of the night once again.
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As John lay on the ground shivering and looking up at the black sky overhead, he worried how his boys were doing at home. He should have called Dean over six hours ago, but here he was freezing his damn ass off with blood seeping down his injured and broken leg. He wondered how the hell could he have allowed himself to be jumped by the P-skig-demos demon. He thought he had been totally prepared for the hunt, but obviously he had been wrong. He had been lucky to get a shot off with the copper tipped bullets made out of consecrated iron--the only thing known to kill this particular kind of demon. He had watched the bitch limp off with her shattered hip but knew it could come back at any time. He had left an obvious trail as he made his way through the woods due to dragging himself along, his leg unable to support him. He was in so much freaking pain and seriously doubted that he would make it to the Impala before passing out. The only thing that kept him going was the thought of leaving his boy orphaned if he gave into the pain allowing the demon to find him unconscious and kill him.
He checked the cloth strip he had tied around his bleeding leg to see that it was turning a crimson red. Damn that bitch for clawing his leg up so badly before tossing him into the boulder that snapped the bone in his leg. He just prayed that the cloth binding would keep any dirt from getting into the wound and causing a serious infection. Hell things were already bad enough without that happening. Knowing that he had to continue on, he took a deep breath and gritted his teeth against the pain in his leg as he forced himself to move. "Damn it, where is the Darvocet when you need it?" he said wishing he had the pain killer available right now. He had moved a few feet when he thought he heard the sound of movement off to his right. It was just a fraction of a second where he could have sworn he heard a twig snapping in the distance. He quickly sat up and pulled his pistol from the back of his jeans. "Come on bitch, I'm ready for ya this time" he growled out as he steadied his hands. That frigging demon was going down.
As he waited for the creature to show itself, he could feel the sweat running into his eyes and used his arm to swipe it away, he couldn't afford to have the salty water blurring his vision. In the second it took to wipe his eyes, he suddenly realized that something was behind him. "Son of a bitch" he swore as he tried to turn himself around in time to keep from being attacked. But in doing so, he wrenched his broken leg and screamed out in pain as he dropped to the ground fighting to stay conscious. Just before blacking out, he saw a face as it swam in his fading vision. He heard a voice say "Take it easy, you're gonna be okay" before he gave into the blessed dark void of unconsciousness.
The next time John became aware of his surroundings, his nose was immediately assaulted by the smell of strong disinfectant. He opened his eyes to see the pristine white ceiling as he lay in a hospital bed. "How…?" he began to question with a croaky voice only to suffer a sudden bout of coughing from an extremely dry throat.
"I brought you in" he heard a man say with a deep baritone voice. He looked over to see a man a few years younger than himself with a muscular build and jet black hair reaching over to grab a cup of water from the stand. He placed the cup in front of John and instructed him to sip as he held the straw up to his mouth. John took a quick sip and then asked "Who are you?" as he tried assimilate the events of the past few hours and how he ended up in the hospital.
"The name's Caleb. I was out there in the woods hunting a dem--deer when I stumbled upon you. It's a damn good thing too since you had a broken leg which was bleeding pretty badly. So is there anybody I can call for you to let them know you're okay?"
"Shit. My boys, how long have I been out?" John asked as he tried to push himself up into a sitting position.
"The better part of five hours" Caleb replied as he helped the man before him to sit up. "By the way, you got a name?"
"Oh sorry, the name is John, John Winchester" John replied as he noticed a shocked look cross the other man's face.
"Wait a minute, Winchester? You wouldn't be the same Winchester that Bobby Singer and Jim Murphy was telling me about would you?" Caleb inquired.
"The one and the same" John replied knowing that the man before him must be a hunter. He had heard Joshua mention the name Caleb a few times when they had hunted together but he had never actually met the man face to face. "Listen, could you get me a phone. I need to make a few calls. I need to call my boys to let them know I'm alright and to let Bobby Singer know where they are so he can go pick them up."
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Bobby Singer was drinking his second cup of coffee and reading the morning paper when he heard his phone ringing. He stood up to go answer it and tripped over his dog Rumsfeld who had been laying by his feet. "Get out of my way you good for nothing guard dog" Bobby complained as he hobbled over towards the phone after painfully stubbing his toe.
"Singer here, what can I do for ya?" Bobby asked as he answered the phone.
"Hey Bobby, this is John. I need you to do me a favor."
"Sure John, what do you need?" Bobby asked figuring the hunter needed him to research a hunt or watch the boys for a day or two. He hoped it was the latter because he really missed those boys. It had been over a year since he had seen them last.
"I need you to pick up the boys for me and take them to your house until I can get there."
"Where the hell are you and why ain't they with you?" Bobby inquired perplexed as to why the boys were separated from John.
"I'm in the hospital right now but they're discharging me in a few hours. I was on a hunt for a P-skig-demos demon and couldn't take the chance of taking the boys with me."
"I'll leave to get them right away. Just make sure you call whoever is watching them to let them know I am coming."
Uh about that Bobby. I kind of left Dean in charge while I went on this hunt. I figured…"
"You did what" Bobby exploded sure that he couldn't have heard the man right. There was no way he would be stupid enough to leave those two small boy on their own when Dean was only nine years old. "If you said what I think you just said I am going to fill your ass full of buckshot as soon as I see you. How could you be so damned irresponsible you freaking idgit?"
John cringed as he pulled the phone away from his ear while Bobby ranted. He knew the man was going to be upset with him about leaving the boys alone. He waited for Bobby to quit ranting before he said, "Damn it Bobby, there just wasn't anybody to watch them at the time and I just couldn't take the chance that they could be hurt on the hunt. You know as well as I do that the f*cking P-skig-demos demon is known for slaying children."
"Then you should have just skipped the hunt. Damn it John, don't you realize that anything could have happened to those boys while you were gone. Don't you know how many perverts are out there in the world waiting to get their hands on kids like Dean and Sammy?
"I know Bobby, but I gave Dean strict instructions not to go outside or open the door without our secret knock or the password. Listen, we can discuss this later. Can you please just go and get my boys?"
"I'll leave right now. Make sure you call Dean and tell him that I'm coming. Now I just need to know the password." Bobby listened to the password John had given him and committed it to memory. He was sure that the boys must have picked this one. As he threw on a jacket and walked out the door, he thought about the things he wanted to do to John Winchester for leaving those boys alone.
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Dean had woke up early as the sunlight streamed through the window and into his eyes. He quickly climbed out of the bed to fix him and Sammy a bowl of cereal and some toast before waking up his baby brother. He had to make things seem normal for Sammy so his baby brother wouldn't be upset that their father had not yet made it home. It scared the hell out of Dean wondering why his dad still hadn't called. If he didn't get a call by tonight, he would call Pastor Jim or Bobby Singer to come and get them. He had just poured him and Sammy a glass of orange juice when he heard the phone ringing. He heard it ring three times and then stop before it started ringing again. He breathed a sigh of relief knowing that it was his father.
"Hi Dad" Dean said, relief evident in his voice as he answered the phone. "Why didn't you call me last night when you were supposed to?"
"Sorry about that Ace, things didn't go as I expected on the hunt and I sort of got myself hurt. But don't worry, I'm at the hospital and they gave me a brand new cast for my broken leg. Listen son, I've called your Uncle Bobby and he is on his way to pick you boys up but it will be a few hours before he can get there. I want you to pack up some things for you and Sammy. We're going to stay at Bobby's for a few weeks while my leg heals up some." John said.
"Yay, I can't wait to see Uncle Bobby" Dean said with joy knowing how much fun he and Sammy would have over the next few weeks. Maybe Bobby would even let him help with fixing a car again. "I'll start packing mine and Sammy's things as soon as I get the little dude up and we eat breakfast."
"That's good Dean. Don't open the door unless Bobby uses the password Thunderbirds are go. I've told him that you will be expecting him in a few hours. I'll see ya soon kiddo. And Dean…"
"I know dad, make sure I watch out for Sammy."
"You got it Ace. I'll see ya soon. I love you boys."
"We love you too dad. See ya when we get to Bobby's" Dean replied before hanging up the phone. He had a lot of things to get done before Bobby arrived.
TBC