chapter eleven

Okay, my bad. I'm so sorry. I had so much going on this last month it's actually insane. Anyway, thank you so much for sticking with me for the new reviews. I really appreciate everything and am excited for these next chapters:)

- auggie

John stumbled into the motel room, the smell of liquor practically acting as cologne. Dean's body stood fastly in front of his sister who was creeping glances from behind his torso.

"Dad," Dean tried again, hoping to snap his father from his drunken state.

"I said SHUT UP BOY!" He yelled, pointing a finger in Dean's direction as he stumbled to the side a little more, grabbing onto the counter for support. John's eyes were red as he tried to keep himself awake despite the alcohol running through his veins.

Dean saw Rosie try to peek around him and he pushed her farther back. He reached into his pocket to grab his keys, when he remembered Sam was out on an errand. Dean internally cursed himself for not having a better escape option — which was really the only logical thing to do in this situation.

John pointed a finger towards Dean. "Bring her here." He ordered, with his hand waving towards himself.

"No." Dean answered simply, his grip only tightening around her.

John froze, his stance stiffening, "What'd you just say to me, boy?" His voice was cold.

Dean, swallowed a lump in his throat at his own defiance, but nonetheless kept a calm outward composure.

"I said no. You're not okay right now dad. Get out and cool down. You're not touching her." His voice was final.

John scoffed and inched more towards them, his weight shifting from the support of the counter to the table as he stumbled a little more. Dean repositioned himself, moving backwards and more towards the door — just in case.

"You don't get to say no to me Dean. Bring her here now." He ordered once more.

Dean's jaw set at his tone. "I said no. Now either you leave or we do."

John took a large step, regaining some balance and reached his son in one quick movement, grabbing his shirt collar. "You?" He scoffed, "Leave? You're a soldier Dean, my soldier. You don't get to disobey a direct order," hiccup, "from me like that."

Dean's eyes narrowed as he balled his fists down by his sides. Rosie's eyes did the opposite and widened at their father's words.

"Dean," She tried as she saw his fists clench.

"No RoseMary," He said, not glancing down at her.

John continued to stare into his son's eyes, challenging him to make the next move. Dean's feet remained planted in front of his little sister, unmoving.

"Last chance, Dean," He hiccuped again, "Move or I'll make you."

"Make me then." Dean challenged immediately, his stance only straightening.

John's grip on his son's shirt collar strengthened, as he pulled him towards him slightly, the smell of whisky now absolutely oozing from his pores. This action was all it took for Dean to push him back and land a solid punch to his father's jaw as John stumbled backwards, hitting his hip against the table.

Rosie gasped, now almost full out from behind her brother. John growled, trying to recover from the punch as his hand went to his jaw.

"Rosie, grab the keys and get to the truck." Dean ordered, stalking towards his father and picking up the keys from the table and throwing them to his sister. He didn't want her to watch the inevitable fight that was about to take place inside the dingy motel room.

Rosie caught the keys and nodded quickly. She grabbed her jacket and practically sprinted out the door, shutting it behind her. With his little sister now safe, Dean's priority shifted now to his father.

"NO!" John yelled, "STOP! RoseMary Winchester!" He shouted as the door shut behind her. He growled once more at his son, shakily standing to his feet once more.

"Dad, come on," Dean practically begged, "I don't want to do this, but I will if you think you're gonna put a hand on her." He paused and took a step back as John tried to advance towards him. "Dad, please" Dean pleaded again, "You told me to protect Sam and Rosie and that's what I'll do — even if it means from you."

John stopped for a moment, before taking a big step towards Dean. "How dare you!" He yells as Dean swings his fist and hits John square in the nose, immediately knocking him back into the table; however, this time he wasn't able to recover so quickly.

"Dad," Dean pleaded, almost breaking down and helping him up, when John lunged forward at his son again. Dean grabbed him by the shoulders, circling him around and practically tossing him in his drunken state to the other side of the room. John hit the floor hard as his body lay there unmoving. Dean quickly ran over to him and made sure he had a pulse, still worried about killing his father. Upon inspection, his dad was just unconscious, and Dean released a breath he didn't know he was holding.

At that exact moment, Sam walked into the room with the tin of pie in his left hand and the impala keys in his right.

"What the hell?" Sam whispered, more to himself, seeing their dad unconscious on the motel floor.

"Sam, I had to," Dean tried to quickly defend as if Sam remotely cared. "He was gonna hurt Rose. It was the only option."

Sam raised a hand and set the pie down, "Dean, you don't have to defend it, let's just get the hell out of here." He replied simply, throwing the Impala keys to his brother.

The oldest Winchester sibling nodded somewhat disheveled, not believing he just knocked out his father. Catching the keys, he followed Sammy out to the car. Rosie watched from their father's truck seat as Dean came up to the window.

Her hands were shaking and she slowly opened the passenger side door. "Are you okay?" She asked immediately, looking at her brother for injuries but all she saw was a little bit of blood on his knuckles.

"I'm fine kiddo, come on," He said, helping her down not because she needed help, but because he wanted to be close to her, making sure she was okay.

"Is he dead?" Rosie asked quietly, as she walked glued to Dean's side to the Baby.

Dean shook his head and placed an arm around her shoulder. "No. He's okay, but he'll be out for a while."

Rose nodded, knowing that meant that he was most likely unconscious because of her brother and she couldn't help but feel relieved.

Before she got into the back seat, Dean cleared his throat, causing her to look over at him.

"Rose, I'm so sorry. I never should've let him put his hands on you. I just … I thought it was okay because he's our dad, but that was stupid."

Dean quickly pulled her against his chest, putting one hand on the back of her head and the other around her torso.

"You don't have to apologize bubba," She whispered into his flannel as he held her tightly in place. "It's not your fault."

Dean nodded, closing his eyes as he held her. After a moment, he released her and she opened the back door looking at him with a sad smile.

"Thanks for protecting me," She said softly, looking up at him.

"Always," His answer was immediate, sliding into the driver's seat. The wheels of the Impala practically squealed behind them as the Winchester siblings hightailed away from the motel and their unconscious father.

They drove in comfortable yet somehow tense silence at the events of the day. As the sun started to set, Sam finally spoke.

"Do you think we're far enough away? Or should we keep driving through the night?"

Dean considered it for a moment, before looking back at his already sleeping sister. Shrugging his shoulders, Dean sighed.

"Might as well keep driving. I'll pull off up here and we can switch for a while so I can get some shut eye. You good with that Sammy?"

Sam nodded and folded the map, putting it away in the glove compartment. "Where are we going Dean?"

"I was thinking about going to Bobby's. It's a little obvious, but we need somewhere to lay low for a bit. We can't just keep driving around the country avoiding him. And if he tries to come after us again, we'll have some extra manpower." Dean's logic was true and Sam exhaled deeply.

"Alright. But why do you think dad was after her? It doesn't make any sense to me Dean. I mean he already punished her but then to come back drunk and demand to hand her over to him? It doesn't make any sense. What did he have planned for her?"

Dean gripped the wheel tighter as the day's events replayed in his mind, wondering what would have happened if his sister was alone when he came back home.

"I don't know." His voice was quiet but intense. "I really don't. I've been racking my brain to think of something, but I'm coming up empty Sam."

Sam nodded and looked down at his hands. "Well, whatever it is, we gotta protect her Dean. This can't happen again. I can't believe I wasn't there."

"Hey," Dean corrected, "It's not your fault Sam. Don't even try to put this on you." His voice now turned very serious. "Were you the one who stumbled in drunk demanding to hand over RoseMary?"

"No," Sam's voice was silent as he replied.

"Then, that's that. No further explanation needed."

Sam sighed, running a hand through his hair. "You're right, but I won't not be there next time Dean."

"There's not gonna be a next time Sam." Dean's voice was dark. "He knows better, he should know better than to try to come after her again."

Sam looked over at him and how serious his tone had become. "We're gonna have to have her on lockdown for a while. No going out, no nothing."

Dean sighed, already dreading his sister's reaction to the news of being on restrictions, even though she didn't do anything wrong.

"She's not gonna go for that Sam." Dean said simply, sighing again.

"It's the only option Dean. I mean what else would we do?" Sam tried to reason.

Dean nodded. "I know, I know, you're right Sam, it's just … I just want her to be safe and if that means lockdown for a while, then that's what we'll do." He glanced back at Rosie from the rear view mirror again, looking at her sleeping state.

"I'm gonna protect her Sam. No matter what." Dean stated simply, protectively and three of the Winchester siblings rode in silence far into the night.