I am very very tired so while I love you all I'm just going to let you read the fic without much preamble.
~TH~
The sound of retching woke him with a start. Caleb jerked up, hand going for his knife before he even realized what was happening. He looked over, seeing that Dean was now on his side, puking into a trashcan his father must have found just in time.
Caleb quickly sat up, coming over to the other bed.
The retching stopped and Caleb ran a hand over the sweaty, now clearly fevered, brow of his best friend. "Hey Deuce, you with me?"
Dean groaned, shoving his head into his pillow. Caleb lowered his voice. "Hey, man, is that really you in there?" He said lightly, but a look from his father let him know that it was a genuine and well founded concern. The doctor, keeping his promise, knocked lightly on the wall leading to the room where the other two-thirds of the Triad was sleeping.
"Damien?" Dean mumbled, blinking bleary eyes towards him. "You're here? For real?"
"Yeah man, it's really me. The real question is it you and just you in there?"
"Me? I-"
The door opened with a bang and if a gun had been in reach, the almighty Knight of the Brotherhood may have been dead. Dean whimpered, covering his ears and pressing himself into the bed.
"John!" Mackland exclaimed in a whisper. "Quiet down or I'll send you right back out that door!"
"Dad?" Dean blinked. "Now I know I'm hallucinating."
Caleb chuckled, "Sorry, kiddo. That's the real deal."
"Oh. I don't know if that's better or worse."
The older hunter nearly choked on laughter, "You're telling me."
"How is he?" Jim said, passing John to come to the bed.
"I see Merlin left his castle." Dean muttered, eyes slipping closed.
Jim patted his face lightly, "And I didn't come all this way for you to sleep the entire time."
"Mmm, sorry." His eyes opened, but they were fever bright and unfocused.
"Dad's here too." Caleb offered. The Knight and Scholar were having a quiet but harsh sounding conversation over by the door.
"The full Triad? What have I done to deserve such an honor."
Jim's lips turned up slightly. "Where else would we be?"
"Dealing with bigger problems. Somethin' more important."
The smile remained but became more strained. "I can think of nothing that would fit that criteria."
Dean hummed softly.
Caleb knew that the Triad cared for Dean. John may be a pigheaded jerk but he did care for his son. And Jim and Mac had always been loving uncles to the boys. But even aside from that, anything that so heavily dealt with the future Guardian was important. Dean might not have known how important he was to the future of the Brotherhood, but the current Triad did. And the future Guardian joining a pagan, human sacrificing cult would definitely draw even Merlin from his castle.
"How are you feeling, my boy?"
"Like someone rammed a full heavy metal band in my skull then lit it on fire."
"Sounds enjoyable." The pastor smiled softly.
"Dean," Mac joined the trio. "Can you tell us what happened?"
"What do you mean?"
"We mean why you were found half dead in a phone booth." As soon as John made an appearance, Dean tensed. It wouldn't have been noticeable if Caleb hadn't been watching. Dean's fists gripped the sheet beneath him and he offered a quick glance to his father before his eyes returned to Caleb's. He seemed to shrink into himself.
"I don't know." He whispered. "I just remember-"
Dean cried out, gripping his head. Mac pushed his son aside, going to his patient.
"His fever is spiking again." He muttered to no one. "Caleb get me a shot of Acetaminophen."
"But he just woke up!" John shouted as Caleb rushed for his father's medical bag.
"He's not going to be of any use to us if he's in this much pain, John."
"No, no I-I'm fine." Dean panted. "It's just- I can't. Something- something happened but if I think about it I can't-'' He gasped covering his eyes with his hands.
"Hey, take it easy, Deuce. Just forget about it, okay? We'll figure it out without you frying your brain." He shot a look to his dad and the concerned look on Ames face didn't offer any hope to figuring this out.
"No, I think- wait- no!" Dean called out, sitting straight up. The look of panic on his friends face mixed with the fear rolling off him, caused Caleb's heart rate to quicken. "Caleb," Dean panted grabbing at his friend.
Caleb grabbed his hands. "Hey, hey, I'm right here. I'm okay."
"You were right! You were-"
Caleb realized what was happening, but couldn't do anything about it. If not for his father's quick movements he would have been covered in vomit. Not that there was much left for Dean to cough up.
"Hey, hey, you're okay." Caleb soothed. He tried a smile, "I don't know what's got you so keyed up, I'm always right."
Dean didn't seem to be hearing him. "There- there was a room and it was full of- of bodies! I think- I think I knew some of them. They were there when I first came to him. The bodies were- were mutilated… Drained dry and-" He began gagging again but this time nothing came up.
Caleb remembered telling Dean about the research he'd done. About how that was likely the case. But he hadn't expected Dean to go looking for the monster's stash. Or to have such a reaction to it.
"Hey, hey, it's okay." Caleb soothed again, "It's fine, you're out of there. Is that what's got you so sick? Seeing that?" The question was spoken to Dean, but Caleb looked up towards Mac when he asked.
"No- I- the place was-was warded. Some sort of-of psychic spell. He said that- that he couldn't protect me if I left. That I would get worse and the only way to get better would be to go back to him."
"No. You're not going back. We'll figure this out."
"It's okay." Dean said quietly. "I can go back- I-I shouldn't have left."
Caleb felt a thrill of anger pass through him, "Are you crazy?! He's the one who did this to you in the first place! How can you go back after what you saw!"
Dean flinched away from the harsh voice.
"Caleb." Mac said sharply before turning gently to Dean. "Dean, we can't let you go back, once you go in we have no guarantee he'll let you back out."
"He'll let me go. He-he'd never force anyone to stay there."
Caleb let out a snort.
"He's not- not bad. He just… he's doing what he has to to survive."
Jim layed a gentle hand on Dean's arm. "I suppose we all do that to some level, don't we? It often seems that to survive we must either hurt those around us or ourselves."
Dean looked away, not willing to make eye contact with the pastor.
"That doesn't make it right. Or him less of a monster." John added. "I don't want Dean going back there. Not until we figure out how to kill this thing."
"No you can't!" Dean tried to sit up, only making it about half way before falling back. "You can't kill him! He's not a monster. He cares for his children!"
"Deuce, you saw it, he's killing them."
For the first time since waking up, Dean made direct eye contact with him. And now Caleb could see it. He could see the hurt and pain that went deeper than whatever was physically wrong with him. "But at least they're happy."
Caleb couldn't seem to come up with an answer to that.
"I'm tired." Dean said suddenly, breaking eye contact. "I think I'm going to sleep now."
Like a lightswitch had been flipped, Dean fell back unconscious.
"Mac?" John asked frantically trying to move forward.
The doctor was already there, checking his vitals. "He's fine, just sleeping."
"That thing has his claws in deeper than we thought." John growled. "He wants to go back."
Jim was watching Dean slowly breathe before turning and looking at the doctor who had a troubled look on his face. "Mackland?"
"He may have to go back." the Scholar frowned.
"What! He can't! He's my son and I say-"
"What are we supposed to do then, Johnathan!" It wasn't often that Mac lost his temper, but this whole ordeal had ended his patience with the Knight. "I can't do anything with this! It's not a normal virus! This is all psychically manifested. It wasn't a lie. If Dean wants to survive this he has to go back and let Whiteman take care of him."
"Yeah, 'take care of him' but not in the healing kind!"
"But we can use this." Caleb said, surprising everyone. "What if we could convince Dean to kill him? That would take away the effects, right?"
"Son, I see where you're coming from but you heard him, he still feels indebted to him."
"I'll talk to him."
"That hasn't done much good yet." John scoffed.
"But this time he's away from the influence. He's sick and you heard what he said. He saw the bodies of people he knew. I can get to him. Find a way to kill this fuggly and I'll talk Deuce into doing it." He ran a gentle hand over the younger boy's hair. He looked even younger than Caleb remembered. Deuce had always put on an air to make him look older. But now, asleep with no defenses, he looked far younger than his twenty years.
"He's my son. I know what's best."
"No." It was Jim who rose, coming eye to eye with John. He spoke with an iciness that was uncharacteristic of the kind man. This was not a friend or a pastor. This was the Guardian of the Brotherhood. "He stopped being your son the moment that you exiled him from your home. From your family. He is not your son. He is a member of the Brotherhood and thus my responsibility above all else's. The final decision is mine. Until then we will continue to research a way to kill the Entetee while allowing the Scholar to deal with Dean's illness. You have no say in what transpires from here out. You are not his father. You are my Knight. And I am the Guardian."
No one spoke a word. Caleb felt the sudden urge to cheer but was caught so off guard by the speaker that he remained silent.
John glared at the pastor, and for a moment, Caleb feared he may actually strike at Jim. But instead, the man stormed out of the room. Everyone watched him go.
"He'll be back. At this point he has nowhere else to go." Jim spoke softly. He then returned to his place beside Dean's bed, laying a gentle hand on his forehead. "I'm so sorry, my boy. I should have intervened sooner."
The words were true not only of the Guardian, but of the Scholar and future Knight as well. They had all miserably failed Dean.
~TH~
I know I've given the Triad a lot of grief in this fic but they really are trying. Maybe not succeeding but trying.
Can't wait to hear your thoughts!
The next chapter is probably my favorite. It's so ridiculously sappy. I love it.
Just an fyi I am ridiculously busy rn so I apologize if I'm not super on top of it rn. I'm still good to post every Friday but answers to comments might be later than usual. Thanks for being understanding!
I can not wait to hear your thoughts!
Love you all!
God bless,
Jamie
