The Price Part 4/?
Dean was sure he’d never fall asleep, but he found himself startled into wakefulness with the light of dawn seeping through the window shades. He blinked the sleep out of his eyes and reached for the phone ringing on the bedside table.
“ ‘lo?”
“Sorry to wake you boy, but it looks like shift change out here. Last night’s pair just headed out and there’s a new car a little further up the block. Had themselves a little conversation, but so far they seem like they’re not going beyond watching.”
Sam was awake now, gaze tight on Dean and Dean suppressed the shudder that wanted to run through him. “That’s all they did all night? Just watched?”
“If they’d made a move I would have called ya.”
“Yeah. Yeah, I know. Thank you.”
“Any time, kid. Listen, I’ve got to take off now and start getting things set for tomorrow. You still don’t sound too good, Dean. You gonna be okay if I leave?”
No. Please don’t go. “We’ll be fine. I’m up. Sam’s up. We both got some sleep last night thanks to you, so please go get some rest yourself. Call me to let me know what’s up with your end of the plan.”
“Will do. And Dean? You call me at the first sign of trouble, you hear? Don’t try to handle this yourself. You call me, boy.” Bobby’s tone was no-nonsense and Dean responded automatically.
“Yes sir.”
“All right then.” Bobby hung up and Dean stared at the phone for a moment, willing it to ring and for it to be his father on the other end of the line. Had Dad gotten Sam’s message? If so, why hadn’t he called back? If not, why not? The answers to both these questions were sending Dean’s mind to places it just couldn’t handle right now so he took a deep breath, pushed them aside and braced himself for the coming fight with Sam.
“Dean? What did he say?” Sam’s voice shook a little and Dean looked sharply at his brother.
“You okay, Sammy?”
“Am I okay? Are you fucking kidding me Dean? No, I’m not okay and neither are you! We’ve got to get out of here! What plan were you talking about with Bobby? Did he come up with a way to get us out?”
I came up with the damned plan, Dean wanted to snap, but Sam had given him the opening he was looking for. Maybe his brother would react better to the plan if he thought it came from Bobby.
“Bobby thinks we should act normal, not give them any reason to think we’ll run. We’ve got the element of surprise, because these assholes don’t really know what they’re dealing with here. They got the drop on us last night,” Sam started to speak here, more words that Dean didn’t want to hear, so he talked right over him, “but they have no idea what we can do when we’re ready for them.”
“There’s only two of us, Dean. And who knows how many of them.”
“Yeah, but it’s the two of us.” Dean tried to sound confident, sure of himself. He really needed Sam on board. “And we’ve got moves they’ve never even heard of.”
Sam shook his head doubtfully. “Okay Dean, but I’m going to need a little more to go on than act normal.”
Dean took a deep breath. This was going to be the hard part. “We’re going to act like it’s any other day. You’re going to school-“
“No. No way. I’m not leaving you alone, Dean! What if they come here and try to hurt you again? Just…no.”
“What are you going to do if you’re here, Sam? You said yourself we don’t know how many there are! What if they come back and we’re both here and we can’t stop them. What do you think they’d do? To both of us?”
“Oh, so it’s better if they just do it to you? Again? Jesus Dean, how much do you think you can take?”
Yes. I can take anything as long as you’re safe. “No Sam. That’s not what I mean. You think I’m going to drop you at school and just come back here like a sitting duck? I’m going someplace public. Maybe I’ll spend the day at the library.”
“Yeah, ‘cause that’s totally normal.”
“Maybe not, but there’ll be other people around. Just like you’ll have in school. They won’t come at us with other people around, right?” Dean didn’t believe this for a second and he didn’t think he convinced Sam either.
“I think they’ll do whatever they damned well please. They run this town, Dean. There’s nowhere we’ll really be safe.”
“Maybe not, but I still think they won’t move on us as long as they think we’re not going anywhere. I mean….they said Friday, right?” Dean’s voice shook a little and he stopped and cleared his throat to cover before going on. “That gives us time, Sammy. Now come on, Bobby’s gone and we’ve got to be the lookout now.” Dean rolled over slowly and levered himself off the bed. He was still sore and walking hurt like hell, but he limped his way out the door and down the hallway, trusting that Sam would be following him. No weakness, Sam won’t leave if he thinks you’re not okay. “You want first shower, Sam?”
“You going to use all the hot water?”
Dean sent Sam a smile that really wasn’t. “Just enough to get clean.” It really didn’t matter if he used one gallon of hot water or the whole tank. There wasn’t enough hot water in the world to scald away what those cops had done to him. To do anything about how filthy he felt whenever Sam looked at him.
Sam just gave him a steady look. “Use enough to get as clean as you need to and soak those muscles. You won’t be showing the cops those moves that they’ve never even heard of if you can barely stand up.”
I’m fine. Dean didn’t even bother saying it as he made his way to the shower.
An hour later they were both showered and picking at their bowls of cereal. The clock ticked down to the time Dean usually took Sam to school, but if Dean didn’t notice, Sam sure as hell wasn’t going to remind him. Them separating was about the worst idea Sam had ever heard and if he could do something to prevent it he would. He sighed as Dean pushed back his chair and got up.
“Time to go Sam.”
“Dean, please..,” Sam looked Dean square in the face and could see right through his brother’s mask. “Please let me stay with you.”
“You got a better idea, Sam?”
Sam thought of the pipe bomb in the school, the blasting caps at the bank, blowing up the fucking police station. “No,” he had to admit.
“Okay, grab your backpack and let’s go.” Sam didn’t move and Dean looked back at him. Sam didn’t wear masks, everything he thought showed on his face and what was showing now made Dean’s heart clench. Anxious, scared, angry. That was so fucking wrong. Sam should never have that look on his face because of him. Dean laid a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “It’s okay, Sammy. Really, it’s going to be fine.” I’m going to get you out of here if it’s the last thing I do.
Sam’s mouth grimaced like he could hear his brother’s thoughts and he twisted abruptly away from Dean’s hand. “It’s not okay,” he said, grabbing his pack and heading for the door. “What happened is never going to be okay.”
They weren’t the words that Sam used, but Dean knew what he was really saying- what you did is never going to be okay. It took him a moment to be able to breathe after that but eventually he managed “wait for me Sam,” and Sam stopped at the door so he could catch up. They paused at the door for a moment, neither wanting to walk through it: one sure they shouldn’t, the other sure they had to. Finally Dean took a deep breath, pulled himself together, and opened the door. Sam tried to push past him but Dean grabbed his shoulder and shoved him back with a glare. Sam glared back but let Dean go out the door first. Dean stopped on the porch and looked around, hand automatically going to his back where the comfort of his gun would normally be. He didn’t dare pack today and he wasn’t sure if he was glad he wasn’t packing that night . If he had been there might be two less cops in the world. Two cops that had last been seen with Sam. Nope, good thing he hadn’t been packing. At Dean’s gesture, Sam joined him on the porch. The two cops had gotten out of their car when they saw them come out of the house and by the time they reached the Impala, their watchers were coming up the driveway.
“Get in the car, Sam.”
“Dean…” The cops were moving up to the driver’s side and Sam moved to stand beside his brother. That lasted all of two seconds before Dean stepped in front of him, placing himself between Sam and the approaching men.
“You boys going somewhere?” Sam didn’t recognize either of the men as the ones who had attacked Dean, but tension was coming off his brother in waves.
“Just taking my brother to school, officers.” Sam couldn’t see Dean’s face, but his voice was controlled, not giving anything away.
“Mmm. Mmm. Mmm. Would you look at this. Josh and Tim weren’t lying, Brett. He’s going to be the prettiest whore on the strip.” The bigger of the two men stepped forward and raised a hand to Dean’s face. Dean didn’t move but Sam pushed past his brother and knocked the man’s hand away.
“Don’t you fucking touch him, you asshole!”
The man’s face darkened and he reached for Sam, but Dean beat him to it. He grabbed his brother and practically threw him around the front of the Impala.
“Please, Sam. Just get in the car.” Dean had his back to the enemy, and Sam could see on his brother’s face what that was costing him. Don’t push them Sammy. Please let’s just go.
Brett moved up behind Dean and placed a hand on his shoulder, pulling the younger man back against his body. “Yeah Sam, just get in the car. You wouldn’t want to be late for school.”
Sam’s body tensed and he was ready to jump to Dean’s defense again, but the look on his brother's face stopped him cold. The cops couldn’t see it. Hell, Dean probably thought Sam couldn’t see it, and most days he would have been right. Today though, either Dean was projecting more or Sam was just more perceptive, but he could see Dean was terrified and right on the edge. If Sam didn’t defuse the situation right now his brother was going to go off and any hope of his plan succeeding would go right out the window.
“Okay. Okay. I’m getting in the car.” Sam shouldered his backpack and slid into the Impala, his eyes never leaving his brother’s. His jaw clenched as the man wrapped an arm around Dean’s waist, then lowered it so his hand brushed the top of Dean’s thigh. Dean’s eyes dropped and he stared fixedly at the ground, not allowing Sam to see his face. The man’s lips moved but Sam couldn’t hear what he was saying, nor could he hear Dean’s replies.
“Just taking your brother to school, baby?”
“Yes.” The hand on Dean’s thigh moved slightly and then squeezed.
“Yes, what?”
“Yes, officer,” came out between gritted teeth.
“Mmm.” Dean struggled to remain still as hot breath panted against his neck. “I was going for yes sir, but officer will do for now. You just take your brother to school and don’t try anything stupid like leaving town. Your dance card has been filled out for the whole weekend and me and my partner are going to be at the head of the line. You try to run and we’re going to stop you and get ourselves a little sneak preview. Unless you want baby brother to get another show you head straight for his school, you understand me?” His last question was followed by his tongue licking a long, hot stripe up the side of Dean’s neck. He chuckled as Dean shuddered, unable to control his reaction. “Yeah. Not as cool as you pretend, are you sweetheart? Now answer my question.”
“Yes, sir,” Dean answered. “Just taking my brother straight to school.”
“Good boy.” The cop ran his hand over Dean’s crotch one more time, then released him and shoved him into the side of the Impala. Dean got into the car without looking at him again, started her up and headed silently down the driveway.
“What did he say? Dean? What did that bastard say to you?”
“Just told me to take you straight to school. Not to try anything.” Said they’re taking me for the whole weekend. There’s going to be guys lined up to…. The whole weekend. A line. God.
“What if we did try something?”
“They’d stop us.” Dean’s voice was flat, discouraging any more questions, and they rode the rest of the way to the school in silence, both of them glancing in the mirrors to keep track of the car following them. Dean pulled into a space in front of the school and turned to Sam when he showed no sign of getting out of the car. “Sam, you have to go. Stay in sight of people. If you can hang with teachers all day that would be perfect.” Dean managed a small grin. “Sound like just the sort of thing a geek like you would consider a perfect day.”
Sam didn’t smile back. “Nothing’s going to be perfect until we’re out of here.” He looked at the bruises still shadowing his brother’s jaw and the dark circles around his not quite blank enough eyes. “Okay, I’m going. But you promise me Dean. You promise you’ll go straight to the library and stay there until you come and get me.”
“I promise, Sammy. Gonna find me a pretty librarian to hang with. Maybe I’ll even read a book.”
Sam didn’t smile, but then Dean wasn’t smiling either and he watched his brother until he disappeared into the school. Dean wanted to let go then, put his head down on the wheel and shake, scream, something, but the cops had pulled in next to him and all he could do was drive away.
Part 5