What Is Twisted Cannot Be Straightened (1/4)
What Is Twisted Cannot Be Straightened
Author: enigmaticblue
Rating: NC-17
Disclaimer: I don’t own these characters; too bad, so sad.
Pairings/Characters: Dean/Jimmy Novak, Sam, Bobby
Spoilers: Through mid-S6; follows By These Wounds, We All Are Healed, If Two Lie Down Together, and What Is Lacking Cannot Be Counted
Word Count: ~14,000
Summary: The last thing Dean wants to do is choose between his duty to Sam and his loyalty to Jimmy.
A/N: Dr. Robert’s location isn’t revealed on the show, so I’ve chosen Omaha since I’m assuming he’s within striking distance of Sioux Falls. And the title is from Ecclesiastes 1:15 as well. Some of the dialog is taken straight from the show. Split into parts because of LJ's stupid word limit.
The autumn sun beats down on the back of Dean’s neck as he watches the brightly clad figures race up and down the soccer field. Next to him, Jimmy calls encouragement as Claire intercepts the ball, her blonde braid bouncing against her blue jersey, her mouth set in concentration.
Claire reminds him of Jimmy in that moment. She wears the same expression Jimmy does when he’s trying to shoot cans off a fence as she dodges defenders and kicks the ball in a high arc halfway down the field.
Dean glances at Jimmy, who’s grinning with pride, and looking pretty good for someone who’d been so close to death a few days ago. Jimmy still has dark circles under his eyes, but he’s not as pale, and he seems to be enjoying the game.
Although Dean has never pictured himself here, in this place, watching a soccer game from the sidelines of a sunny field, he’s content-as long as he doesn’t think about Sam.
The reminder causes a chill that has nothing to do with the weather, and Jimmy looks over at Dean, as though he senses Dean’s uneasiness.
“You okay?” Jimmy asks in an undertone.
“Just thinking,” Dean replies, side-stepping the question.
Jimmy grips Dean’s wrist. “About Sam?”
“It’s not important,” Dean insists, and changes the subject. “Claire is awesome.”
Jimmy’s eyes narrow, but he allows the change of subject; Jimmy has a hard time not talking about his kid. “She is, isn’t she?”
“Hey, look!” Dean says, pointing, and they both focus on the field just in time to see Claire accept a pass and score a goal.
Jimmy whistles loudly, surprising Dean, and he murmurs, “You’ve been holding out on me.”
Jimmy grins at him. “I have hidden talents.”
Dean tries not to let his mind go to the gutter, but it’s difficult. Jimmy always gets his engine revving.
He looks past Jimmy to Amelia, standing a few feet away. She seems to have relaxed some since their arrival, but Brad looks out of place standing next to her in starched khakis, with sharp creases in the sleeves of his polo.
Seriously, Dean wonders. Who irons a polo shirt?
Brad has been shooting them disapproving looks during the entire game, and Dean knows he wants them gone. Dean has no idea if it’s because Brad is just suspicious of his girlfriend’s ex-husband, or if it’s because Dean and Jimmy are together, or maybe Amelia has told Brad something else that has made him unhappy with their presence.
Dean doesn’t care, as long as Brad doesn’t make things difficult for Jimmy.
Claire’s team wins the game two to one, and Dean watches as Claire disappears into a mass of girls. The knot breaks up, and they form a more or less orderly line to slap hands with the other team.
Claire runs over to them after she’s done being a good sportsman, throwing herself at Jimmy. “You came!”
“You couldn’t keep us away,” Jimmy replies, holding her tightly. “You did great.”
“Hey, Dean!” Claire says brightly.
To his surprise, Claire hugs him, too, before she goes over to Amelia. Dean tries not to smirk when she pointedly ignores Brad. Dean’s pretty sure he’d be irritated as hell if he were Amelia, but he doesn’t care at the moment.
Dean likes Amelia, but Jimmy is his partner, and her chilly attitude hurts Jimmy, which means Dean isn’t inclined to cut her a break.
“We can go out to dinner, right?” Claire asks, looking at Jimmy and Dean. “To celebrate?”
Amelia frowns. “I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”
“Mom,” Claire protests. “I never get to see Dad.”
Amelia sighs, and her expression softens. “I know. Go, have fun.”
“Yes!” Claire says with a fist pump. “Awesome.”
They go to Olive Garden, because Claire insists that she hasn’t been back since the last time Dean and Cas came through town. “Brad doesn’t like it,” she says, her mouth twisting with disgust. “He says he’s had better Italian.”
Dean isn’t much of a connoisseur, but he likes Olive Garden, and he doesn’t mind taking Claire there. “Well, I think it’s good,” Dean says. “So, that’s where we’ll go.”
“See, that’s why you’re an awesome boyfriend,” Claire responds.
Claire’s definitely developing an attitude, and that she’s probably as hard to live with as Sam when he was a teenager. Lucky for Dean and Jimmy, she’s always perfectly pleasant around them.
And now that Dean thinks about it, that might be another reason why Amelia is pissed off, since Jimmy gets to play good parent when they come back through town. Not that there’s much Jimmy can do to change that, since neither of them are going to settle in Pontiac, and Dean suspects that Claire has always been a daddy’s girl.
Dean has a word with the host when they enter the restaurant, and he leads them to an out-of-the-way table. Maybe they’re not supposed to discuss hunting with Claire, but it comes up often enough that Dean doesn’t want to risk being overheard.
The padded chairs are comfortable, and the potted plants give some semblance of privacy as Claire fills the silence with her chatter, mostly about her soccer game and school, and the boy she likes, who might ask her to the winter formal.
Jimmy stiffens at the mention of the dance, and Dean wonders if there’s any way they can manage to scare the kid shitless. Jimmy must catch Dean’s murderous expression, because he relaxes back into his chair with a smile and an evil glint in his eyes.
“Can I spend Christmas with you guys?” Claire asks out of the blue. “I know Mom said you get to have me for some holidays.”
Jimmy throws an anxious look at Dean, his wide blue eyes hopeful, and Dean doesn’t know how to refuse him. “We could have Christmas at Bobby’s,” Dean suggests.
Honestly, Dean doesn’t know how he feels about the idea of celebrating Christmas-much less having a kid for the holiday-but he wants Jimmy to be happy, and Dean likes Claire.
Claire beams at them both. “Great! I’ll work on Mom. She’s been talking about visiting Brad’s family.”
“You’ll have to meet them sometime,” Jimmy points out, although his protest is lukewarm at best.
“I already met them,” Claire replies. “They’re just as starched as he is. I had to dress up for dinner.”
Dean grimaces, having no idea how to respond, but not wanting to encourage Claire’s dislike of Brad, since that will just make things more difficult for Jimmy. “Maybe things will get better,” he offers weakly.
Claire sniffs. “I’d rather go on a hunt with you guys than go visit Brad’s family again.”
“Over my dead body,” Jimmy mutters.
Dean covers his mouth to hide a smile, and he isn’t surprised when Claire ignores Jimmy’s words. He has a feeling that Claire is fully capable of ignoring anything that doesn’t fit into her plans.
On the other hand, it’s a good idea for Claire to learn some basics of self-defense and handling firearms. Dean suspects Claire will eat it up, but he doesn’t know how to approach Jimmy, since he won’t want to risk losing Claire, and he’s tentative around Amelia these days.
Then again, Dean knows Claire can keep a secret, considering he’d been communicating with her for the last few months without Amelia being the wiser.
“We’ll check with Bobby, and we’ll talk to your mom,” Dean says. “Maybe we can work something out for Christmas.”
That’s as much as they can promise, and dinner winds down. They drive Claire home, and Dean stays behind the wheel as Jimmy walks Claire up to the front door.
Dean watches as Amelia greets them, and from this vantage point, Dean thinks she seems marginally friendlier. At least, she smiles tentatively at Jimmy and puts an arm around Claire’s shoulders as they chat briefly. When Jimmy slides into the passenger seat, Dean looks over at him. “That looked like it went okay.”
“It did,” Jimmy agrees, sounding surprised. “But then, Amelia trusts me with Claire when you’re around.”
“She’ll realize Cas found another meat suit eventually,” Dean assures him. “It’s just going to take time.”
Jimmy shrugs. “Why should she trust me when my body isn’t my own? You know as well as I do that if Cas decides I suit him better, he can change his mind.”
Dean doesn’t reply, because he has no idea whether Cas will keep his promise. He hopes so; their friendship feels fragile right now, and Dean doesn’t think it will survive if Cas goes back on his word.
“We don’t have to do anything for Christmas,” Jimmy says suddenly, breaking the silence that has fallen. “I know you don’t like to celebrate it.”
Dean shakes his head. “It’s different this year.”
Granted, he and Jimmy had been hunting together last Christmas, but they hadn’t been together at the time. If Dean remembers correctly, he’d dropped Jimmy off to spend the day with Amelia and Claire and had drunk himself into a stupor.
This year is different because Dean has Jimmy and Claire, and Sam might be dangerous, but at least he’s not dead.
Jimmy hitches a shoulder. “Okay. I guess we’ll see.”
~~~~~
There’s a rash of suicides in Calumet City, Illinois, which is only a couple of hours away from Pontiac, so they make that their first stop after a night spent at the Pontiac Motor Lodge. They leave early and eat a late breakfast in Calumet City as they discuss their plan of attack.
Jimmy seems more animated after a visit with Claire, but he still has dark circles under his eyes, and Dean watches closely as Jimmy lifts a cup of coffee to his lips, catching a slight tremor in Jimmy’s hand. Dean refrains from commenting, however, knowing how much Jimmy hates it when he hovers.
Jimmy suddenly freezes, his mug midway between his mouth and the mustard-yellow Formica of the booth. “Dean,” he says in a low voice, eyes wide with alarm. “Behind you.”
Dean turns to see Sam entering the diner, dressed in a suit and tie, and he sighs. He’d been hoping they wouldn’t run into Sam again so soon, and he’s tempted to ignore Sam’s presence, but that carries its own problems.
So, Dean raises a hand and waves Sam over.
Jimmy makes a small sound of protest, and then subsides, staring down into his coffee cup. Dean wants to reassure him, but he’s not sure how.
Sam approaches them confidently, as though they hadn’t fought bitterly the last time he’d seen Dean. “Hey, guys. I hadn’t expected to see you here,” Sam says cheerfully.
“There’s a hunt, and we were in the area,” Dean replies. “So, yeah, we’re here.”
“Maybe we can work together,” Sam suggests.
Jimmy frowns at his coffee, but stays quiet.
Dean clears his throat. “Sit down, Sam,” he invites. “We can talk about how we’re going to handle this.”
Sam sits next to Dean, and Dean catches him looking at Jimmy with some distrust. That’s probably not unexpected, given that Jimmy had threatened Sam with a gun not that long ago.
“When did you get into town? Sam asks, directing his question at Dean.
“Just this morning,” Dean replies. “You know, we’ve got this, Sam. You don’t have to stay.”
“I’m just here to work the case,” Sam says, holding his hands up in supplication.
Dean glances at Jimmy, who rises from the table abruptly. “I’ll be back,” he mutters.
When he’s gone, Dean rounds on Sam. “Do you think I would trust you with Jimmy again?” he demands.
Sam frowns. “I told you I was sorry.”
Dean wishes an apology were enough under the circumstances. Maybe, maybe, if it had just been his life on the line, Dean might have let it go, but Jimmy is his partner. Dean can’t let that slide.
“So you say,” Dean says. “Jimmy and I-we’re together, and I need to know that you’re not going to get him killed.”
Sam frowns. “Dean-”
“I mean it, Sam. If anything happens to Jimmy, I’m going to take it out of your hide.”
“I’ll watch out for him like I would for you,” Sam promises.
Dean shakes his head; that’s not good enough. “No, protect him like you would yourself.” He doesn’t add, “Because that seems to be all you care about.”
“Okay,” Sam agrees easily. “No problem.”
Dean still doesn’t believe him, but it seems he’s stuck with Sam for this hunt, and that means that he not only has the case to deal with, but he’s also going to have to watch Sam, to make sure Sam doesn’t get him or Jimmy killed.
Jimmy slides into the booth across from them again, his face a little damp. Dean has no idea how he’s going to explain that they’ll be working with Sam on this hunt, but Jimmy seems to already understand. “What do you want me to do?” he asks.
“You and I are going to question Jane Peterson’s sister,” Dean says. “And Sam is going to start researching the rest of the victims.”
Jimmy raises his eyebrows, but he doesn’t argue. “Okay. I guess that means we suit up.”
Olivia Peterson is distraught over her sister’s death, and it comes out that Olivia had told Jane to kill herself, although she insists she hadn’t intended to, and hadn’t meant it.
Her distress and confusion are obvious, and while Dean suspects that she might have thought Jane would be better off killing herself, she’s probably telling the truth about not intending to say as much.
By the time they finish talking to Olivia, there’s another victim: a dentist who killed a patient after he confessed to molesting the dentist’s daughter. They head to the jail, but the dentist has already hung himself.
“What do you want to do now?” Sam asks when he meets up with them outside the jail.
The only thing Dean knows for sure is that he needs to keep Sam and Jimmy apart, and that they have no idea what’s triggering the curse or whatever it is.
“Maybe you can review the autopsies,” Dean suggests. “We’ll keep interviewing witnesses.”
Since Jimmy still gets a little green around the gills during autopsies, it’s a smart division of labor, and maybe Sam knows that, because he smirks at Jimmy. “You have a problem with autopsies, Jimmy?”
Sam’s tone is mild enough, but Jimmy flushes, and Dean instinctively steps between them. “Jimmy does fine,” Dean insists. “He just prefers healing people to seeing them cut open. Do you have a problem dealing with the autopsies?”
Sam shakes his head. “No, not at all.”
“Good,” Dean says. “Call me if you find anything.”
After a couple of hours interviewing various witnesses, and running down leads, they find themselves at a local bar that a couple of the victims had patronized.
Dean wants answers, sure, but more than that, he wants a drink. Between the dead end they’ve hit on the case and Sam acting like a dick, Dean’s sick with worry.
All he can think about his father’s whispered words, warning Dean that he’ll have to kill Sam if he turns out to be a monster. Dean had thought they were past that, but now he’s not so sure.
The bartender pours them each a drink, and Jimmy says, “We should question the dentist’s family.”
“I think we know what happened,” Dean objects. “Why bother?”
“Because we’re here to work the case?” Jimmy asks.
Dean fiddles with the shot glass, dragging it through a ring of condensation on the bar. “Work the case, make sure Sam doesn’t stab me or you in the back for the sake of the case, and make sure you don’t kill yourself saving someone else.”
Jimmy leans against the bar, and his sleeve rides up to show the white gauze. Dean can already see the pink shadow that tells him Jimmy is still seeping blood a little faster than usual.
Great, Dean thinks. One more thing to worry about.
Jimmy puts a hand on Dean’s forearm. “We’ll keep digging, Dean. Don’t worry about Sam.”
Dean shakes his head. “Sorry. Occupational hazard. Look, maybe you should talk to the dentist’s family, figure out what happened. He doesn’t live far from here. I don’t think I’m going to be much use. I’m just-not in the right frame of mind.”
“You deserve a drink and a few hours off,” Jimmy says sympathetically, moving his hand to Dean’s shoulder. Dean can feel the heat of Jimmy’s hand, and the warm regard in Jimmy’s eyes lightens his burden a bit.
If Jimmy hadn’t been his partner, Dean doesn’t know how he would have handled Sam’s odd behavior.
Jimmy finishes the rest of his drink in one go and says, “I’ll meet you back at the motel later on. Call me if you need me.”
“Same here,” Dean replies.
The bartender sidles over to him after Jimmy leaves and holds up a bottle of Jack. “Can I get you anything?”
“I would take the truth,” Dean mutters, finishing his whiskey and nudging the glass towards her. “But since that’s not on the menu, I’ll have another one.”
Later, Dean will recognize that as the moment that things went pear-shaped, but at the time, he doesn’t know. He couldn’t have known.
But then, after the bartender tells Dean about her fertility and drug problems, he suspects that he’s put himself on the list of targets.
He barely acknowledges the woman who tells him she just bought her breasts; he’s too busy trying to figure out how to limit the fallout.
Dean wants the truth from Sam, no question, but he’s seen what happened to the other victims, who had all been blindsided by the truth from loved ones. Dean thinks he can handle whatever Sam might say; he’s not so sure about Jimmy, and he doesn’t want to risk it.
Just the thought of whatever truth Jimmy might deal out-probably something about how much he wishes he were back with Amelia and Claire, and how he regrets ever calling Dean-has Dean a little panicky.
The ringing of his phone short circuits Dean’s panicked thoughts, and because it’s Bobby’s name on the screen, Dean decides to risk it. “Before you say anything, I need you to look into what would make people tell you the truth,” he says.
“Why?” Bobby asks suspiciously. “Jimmy called and said you guys were working a case with Sam. What did you do?”
“Nothing,” Dean replies defensively. “A bunch of people are killing themselves, and it seems they’re are getting cursed with the truth. And, uh, maybe you can call Jimmy with whatever you find.”
“Dean,” Bobby growls. “Did you get yourself cursed?”
“Maybe,” Dean allows. “Is there anything you want to tell me?”
“Not really,” Bobby replies. “But I’m going to have to let you go. Tori and Dean is going to be on.”
Dean blinks. “Tori?”
“Yeah, Tori Spelling,” Bobby replies. “I’m a big fan.”
It all goes downhill from there, and Dean listens in horror as Bobby spills his guts about getting pedicures and the Vietnamese girl with the magic hands; listening to him is a bit like watching a train wreck. Dean regains his sense of self-preservation about the time Bobby mentions an old girlfriend and hangs up.
Dean has no desire to be scarred for life any more than he already is.
There’s a limited amount of information that can be sent via text message, though, so Dean decides to risk it. I talked to Bobby. He’s supposed to tell you anything he finds out, he texts to Jimmy.
What are you going to be doing? Jimmy responds.
I have to talk to Sam. Dean hesitates before adding, Text. Don’t call.
What did you do?
Dean winces. Nothing.
WHAT DID YOU DO?
Truth sucks. Don’t call me.
Shit.
Sorry. I’m going to talk to Sam.
There’s a long pause, and then Jimmy texts, Be careful. Call me before you do anything stupid.
Dean smiles, and texts back confirmation. Will do.
He calls Sam next, hoping to get some truth out of him. “Yeah, Dean, what’s up?” Sam asks.
“Got anything you want to tell me?” Dean asks hopefully.
“Not particularly,” Sam replies. “I’m still working on the background for the other victims, but I haven’t found much yet.”
Dean waits, hoping Sam will continue, but there’s nothing. “Is there something else?” Sam asks impatiently.
Dean sighs, wondering if maybe there’s some trick to this truth thing that he doesn’t know about. “Maybe we should meet to discuss things.”
“So, you’re actually going to trust me in the same vicinity as Jimmy?” Sam asks snidely.
“Jimmy is working another angle right now,” Dean replies. “We’re at the Calumet City Inn, room 11.”
Dean hopes that Jimmy stays away long enough for him to get the truth out of Sam, and maybe end this curse.
He rubs his eyes. There’s no way he can avoid Jimmy that long.
Sam is waiting for him by the time Dean pulls up in front of the two-story motel, leaning against the hood of his Charger, still in a suit and tie, and wearing a bored expression. “Hey,” Sam says, as Dean climbs out of the Impala. “Where’s Jimmy?”
“Interviewing witnesses,” Dean replies shortly.
Sam smirks. “I didn’t know you let him out of your sight.”
Dean scowls. “Jimmy can handle himself. Bobby’s doing some research, too.”
“Good,” Sam says easily. “The sooner we solve this, the sooner you can ditch me.”
“I don’t want to ditch you,” Dean responds hotly. “I just want to know I can trust you. So, tell me again, what the hell happened out there?”
“I told you,” Sam replies. “I froze. I’m sorry. I wish I had a better answer, but I thought you were handling it, and then you weren’t, and-I’m sorry. I froze.”
Dean searches for any sign of deception. In spite of knowing that he’d somehow been affected by the curse, Dean still suspects that Sam is lying, but he doesn’t know how.
“Okay,” Dean finally says. “I just had to ask.”
Sam shrugs. “Sure. I did a little searching myself. It turns out that all the victims’ bodies are missing from the morgue, other than the latest one.”
“Who took them?”
“No idea,” Sam replies easily. “But I was on my way to check out the first victim. If you don’t have anything else-”
“Uh, no,” Dean replies, unable to think of a reason to continue questioning his brother. “No, I should check in with Jimmy, and see how he’s getting along.”
Sam raises his eyebrows. “I never thought I’d see the day you’d be whipped.”
“I told you, Jimmy’s my partner,” Dean replies, wondering if Sam’s comment is a part of the truth spell, or if he’s just being malicious.
“I didn’t think you batted for the other team,” Sam replies with a smile that has an edge of cruelty.
Dean shrugs. “Why put a label on it?”
“I just thought you were straight.”
Dean frowns, wondering why it matters so much. “I’m with Jimmy,” he says slowly, as though talking to someone who is very dense. “You were back for a year before you contacted me, Sam. I don’t think you get to make judgments about how I live my life.”
“And what about Cas?” Sam counters.
“What about him?” Dean demands. “He found a new meat suit.”
Sam shrugs. “Nothing. I just thought you’d be glad to have him back.”
Dean narrows his eyes. “I would have been if it hadn’t meant losing Jimmy. What’s your fucking point?”
Sam smiles. “Never mind. I can see you’re upset.” His tone suggests that he doesn’t think Dean’s reaction is justified.
Dean wants to argue; he wants to drive home exactly why Jimmy is so important to him, but he doesn’t think Sam will understand.
Sam seems disconnected from everything these days-from him, from the victims, from the job. Maybe that makes Sam a better hunter, but Dean isn’t sure about the long-term value.
“Forget it,” Dean says. “Just let me know what you find.”
“Sure thing.” Sam smiles and adds, “I’m not your enemy, Dean.”
That might be true, but Dean isn’t so sure that Sam is on his side either, and there seems to be a lot of room between those two ends of the continuum. “Yeah, I know. Call me.”
“Will do.”
And then Sam is gone without a backwards look, and Dean wonders what the hell just happened. He scrubs his hands over his face and considers his next move.
If Sam won’t tell him what’s going on, and if he can’t talk to Jimmy for fear of getting truths he’s not prepared to hear, that doesn’t leave Dean a lot of options.
Hell, Dean doesn’t even want to talk to a stranger, which means he’s stuck in their motel room, researching. That’s not his usual thing, but it’s better than any of the alternatives.
Part 2