Ficlet: New Identity, Gen, Episode tag for 5x04, [PG]
Ficlet: New Identity
Author: sandymg
Beta: borgmama1of5
Summary: Sam needs a new identity. Episode tag for S05x04 The End
Spoilers: Through S05x04 The End
Wordcount: 870 - one-shot
Genre: Gen, episode tag
Characters: Dean, Sam
Disclaimer: I don't own Supernatural or any of its characters.
A/N: From a prompt from my beta who wanted to know how Dean reacted upon learning that Sam had torn up all his IDs when they'd split up at the start of Season 5.
New Identity
“You have got to be kidding me!”
Sam turned his head, face puzzled. “Why?”
“What do you mean, they are all gone? You can’t mean gone gone.”
Dean wasn’t making much sense. Sam tried to hide his annoyance. “Dean. I have no IDs. I got rid of them. We’ll have to make new ones.”
The glare Sam got would have made a lesser man whimper. Really, he didn’t get Dean’s problem. Sam tried explaining again. “It’s not like I needed to pretend to be FBI to bus tables. I thought I was done. Through. So I got rid of all of it.”
Dean’s eyes still were locked on Sam but the glare held something else. “First chance you got.” The words were mumbled.
“What?” Sam asked automatically.
Dean finally broke his gaze and looked down. “Nothin’. Well, guess I gotta start all over again.” He pulled out his cell phone. “Go stand by the door and I’ll get some head shots and see what I can do.”
Sam let Dean take his photo. Didn’t even want to know what the camera captured. Dean’s smirky smile as he looked at his small screen said enough.
Sam had said that ‘we’ll’ have to make new IDs but that wasn’t strictly true and he knew it. Sam sucked at that. Always had. Dean was good. Second only to their father. Or Bobby. Bobby was the master who taught them all.
“Maybe we can swing by Bobby’s,” Sam offered.
“No.” Dean’s voice was oddly emphatic. He must have realized he’d sounded off, because he added, “I mean … no time now.”
Dean’s answer was clipped and quick and Sam’s radar went off. Dean’s explanation for changing his mind about getting back together had been vague at best. Sam hadn’t asked Dean for specifics about the future he’d visited. Sam couldn’t even pretend to be brave enough to want to know. Just knew that whatever Dean had seen made him decide they should hunt together again. We keep each other human. Damn, Dean used to think Sam was a monster. Now he barely thought he was human. As far as progress went, it felt like they were moving backward.
“I’ll need a few more.”
“What, photos?”
“Yeah. Different requirements for some. Gotta get closer in.”
Sam stood again against the dirty white motel door. Could have been worse. Could have been one of the motel’s with the bright orange doors.
“Where do you plan to go, Dean? Does this town have a Quik Print?”
Dean smiled crookedly at the display on his phone. He looked up as Sam twisted his lips, annoyed at his brother’s obvious enjoyment of yet another horrible photo. “Yep. Gonna work my magic.” His voice sank a bit. “Been a while.”
Sam walked closer, remembering. “Woulda been when you … Back when you first came to get me at Stanford.” The name felt odd coming out of his mouth. He didn’t remember when he’d last said it aloud.
Dean nodded. He remembered as well. “You needed a whole new set then. Turned into freakin’ gigantor.” His warm look wrapped around Sam. Sam wished he could hold it a moment, but the feeling of affection disappeared quickly, replaced by a wary blink as Dean ducked his head.
Sam took a deep breath and shoved the memories away.
Dean asked, “You hungry?”
Sam wasn’t. He rarely was. He tried to remember when it hadn’t been like that. When food had been fun and not just something he had to ingest to survive. Dean still enjoyed food. At least it looked that way.
Sam must have taken too long to answer because he got an annoyed huff from across the room.
“I’m starving. I’m gonna go grab a burger and then take care of the IDs.”
Sam looked over surprised. “No. I mean. I’ll go with you to the Quik Print. If you want.” Dean shifted from foot to foot but didn’t say anything and Sam continued quickly before he could be shot down. “It’ll go faster with the two of us. I mean, we could go talk to the Webber woman without ‘em but if the Sherriff is around it could prove tricky.”
Dean considered. “Yeah.”
Sam nodded.
“So, who do you wanna be, Sammy?”
“What?” The sheer bluntness of the question made Sam shudder.
Dean looked at him, eyes wide and indescribably foreign. “On your new ID,” Dean explained.
Sam sat on the bed and slipped into his boots to give him something to do. He needed to look away from Dean. Who did he want to be? Not Lucifer, he wanted to shout at his brother. Not the fucking devil and stop fucking thinking that.
We keep each other human.
“You decide.” He stood and met those now perpetually guarded eyes. “Please.”
Dean’s face softened into a grin and the knot that had coiled in Sam’s belly for months started to slowly unravel. “Okay, Sammy, I’ll pick something good. You wanna be a bikini inspector again?”
Sam‘s lips rose in a small smile. His stomach let out a little grumble tossing the long-suffering don’t-you-dare response out of his head. “Maybe we could stop for food first? I am kinda hungry after all.”
fin