Better to Bend - Part Two (2/2)
Title: Better to Bend
Author: luvspnl
Summary: Cicero is kind of a small town. Dean meets up with Sam, Jess, Nick and co., at a diner, picking up breakfast.
Disclaimer: Not mine.
Part One
“I’m leaving you and it next time,” Dean frowned at Adam as the teen dashed back from where he had abandoned his skateboard.
“Dad would have your ass,” Adam said, sure of himself as he came closer to his brother.
“You want to walk back, smartass?” Dean glared, reaching forward and taking the skateboard in hand when Adam flinched.
“Hey!” he groaned, seeing the skateboard disappear into the Impala’s trunk. “That’s not fair,” he pouted, even as he walked around to settle into the passenger’s seat. Dean was just plain mean sometimes, but he wasn’t about to rattle his brother, not out in public and not when they had just been ambushed by Nick Winchester and crew.
Speaking of the traitor- Adam’s eyes went wide as Nick exited the diner. Seeing his face, Dean turned around and spotted the eldest Winchester and sighed. Adam, looking out for his survival whenever possible, shut his mouth and dropped into the passenger’s seat closing the door firmly beside him. Maybe even locking it in too.
“You don’t like to take a hint, do you?” Dean said, leaning back against the Impala and glaring at his brother.
Nick stopped a few steps in front of Dean and smirked.
“Guess not,” he said, his arms coming to cross over his chest. “And you don’t take the hint that I’m not backing down. Guess we’re stubborn like that.”
Adam peeked around the chair, maneuvering to see his two oldest brothers interact. Funny, for two years now, he had been the second oldest Winchester around - not counting Dad because he’s Dad. Between him and Dean, Adam had been the one responsible for not just Matt, but Ben and Dylan too. And when the other Hunters took to bringing their kids around, it was usually Adam that had to babysit.
In fact, the only time that Adam wasn’t responsible for someone else, was when he was back ‘home’ with his mom in Nebraska. And after twelve years of being an only child, the time he spent alone in Nebraska was the absolute worst. Adam Winchester couldn’t imagine a life turning his back on his family. He loved his Dad, Dean and the little monsters. He loved all of the other Hunters and characters of their neck of the woods. He loved more than just being part of this great unknown society or whatever it was that fought the Supernatural.
Adam just couldn’t understand how Nick, and Sam too, had turned their backs on it all.
“Look,” Dean said, straightening up, his hands dropping to tight fists by his side. “This might be a game to you, but it’s not the slightest bit funny.”
“I don’t know what part of this you seem to think is a game,” Nick frowned back.
“Lisa had no right calling you here, and yeah - you’re right, me and Dad, we weren’t going to do it. Did you think, maybe, we don’t want to.”
“Dad seemed fine with it last night,” Nick countered. “You’re the one that’s
“I’m the one that’s seeing the bigger picture here!” Dean took a threatening step towards Nick, before stopping himself. He took a deep breath, and stepped back. “I don’t know what fantasy you and Sam there have in your heads, but it’s not going to happen. You’re Dad’s sons, and I guess if he wants to see you, if he doesn’t care, that’s on him. But me, I’ve got more than just myself to think about.”
“We’re not trying to do anything, Dean,” Nick frowned, talking quietly and moving slow, like that was supposed to help get his point across. “You’re my brother, and I love you. And, yeah, we didn’t know about your kid or the others, and that’s on us. We should have tried harder, sooner, but we’re here now.”
“Yippee for you,” scoffed Dean, shaking his head. “But let’s face it, eight years ago, you ran away from all of this. And, newsflash, things haven’t changed.”
“Yes they have.” Nick said, dropping his arms. “You’re going to stand there and tell me that we’re both exactly where we were eight years ago? That we’re all exactly the same people we were back then?”
“Don’t be stupid,” Dean spat back. “That’s not what I meant, and you know it. You and Sam left because you couldn’t take this life-
“That’s not why we left!”
“Well, that life is still our lives,” Dean continued, ignoring Nick’s abruption. “It’s our kids’ lives and our friends’ lives and quite honestly, you all don’t belong here. Go home, Wolton, at least you can say you tried. That’s what you wanted, right?”
Dean turned then and started walking from the trunk to the front seat. Adam, taking a hint when it was prudent, twisted around and buckled in, bracing himself against the side door and trying not to look like he had overheard everything though he obviously had.
Nick, on the other hand, reached out and stopped Dean’s progress with a tight grip on his arm.
“Let go,” Dean muttered, not bothering to turn around.
“Do you seriously want us to leave,” asked Nick, but before Dean could respond, he continued to talk. “Do you another handful of years to pass before we see you? Look, I don’t know how Lisa got our numbers, but you and Dad had to have found them first. And I for one like to think you didn’t go through all of that trouble to be able to inform us of your being dead.”
Nick dropped his hand then, and he was pleased that Dean didn’t instantly run off.
“I don’t expect everything to be great and happy and whatever, I know things can’t be how they were eight years ago. I’m married now, I’ve got kids and a job and a mortgage,” Nick said, the disbelief in his voice of all things that he would have thought gone up in smoke along with their mother. “I also have two little brothers I never stopped loving or caring about, and apparently two littler brothers I would really like to get to know. I’ve got two nephews that just from a few minutes around I can tell are every bit like their daddy and I’ve got two kids who would benefit from getting to know their cousins, and their uncle, uncles.
“I want to fix things, damnit,” Nick continued. “I’m not twenty-two anymore. I get that leaving was stupid and I shouldn’t have done everything behind Dad’s back, behind all of your backs. I didn’t think you all would get it, but I didn’t really give you guys a chance either, and I’m sorry for that. I’m really sorry, Dean, and even though it sounds like I’m trying to force you to accept my apology, I’m not. I’m just asking for you to give me, and Sam, a chance to get to apologize.”
Dean stood quiet for a moment. He eyed the car like salvation, but unable to take it. Adam, the poor kid, was sitting in the car - that probably smelled up the place like eggs and bacon and breakfast - heard everything that Nick, the idiot he was, hadn’t thought to talk about things in private. Not that Dean would have been so willing to give him the opportunity, but that was a whole different matter altogether.
“Dean?”
“Wait, damnit,” Dean spat over his shoulder. He didn’t like to have his thoughts rushed. This wasn’t life or death and he, like he had just finished telling his stupid older brother, he had more than just himself to think about.
But, grudgingly enough, Dean could admit that Nick was right. He didn’t want to have to contact his long lost siblings to tell them that Dad or anyone else was dead. Or have someone call to tell them that he was. What would be the point be if they would come upon the family and be tossed back on their asses? Dean knew that Adam and Mattie despised Nick and Sam, and he hadn’t exactly been discouraging the sentiment either. Benny and Dax would likely follow the older boys’ example and they would all likely follow whatever Dean decided at this very minute.
And while, heck yeah, Dean was pissed. Beyond pissed, if he wanted to be literal and all. He could still feel the betrayal he felt at almost seventeen and seeing his big brother leave them all for some girl. Feel the hurt of Sammy saying that he had to take control of his own life, and how school and normal were more important than being there for each other and watching out for one another. Things could never be the same for any of them, but there could be something there.
Even more spitefully, Dean could admit that Lisa was right too. Not that what she and Kate had done wasn’t completely uncalled for and a great form of betrayal, but he kind of got where the women were coming from. No one knew more than Dean how important family was. It wasn’t like he was trying to keep his son and the rest of the boys away from Sam and Nick and all of their drama of normal and whatnot. In fact, Dean and John had gone through a lot of trouble making sure that the younger boys had some semblance of normal in their lives.
Did that mean that the boys weren’t shipped from Ben’s to Adam’s to Pastor Jim’s to the Ranch to Bobby’s to some run of the mill motel and back again? The kids had more frequent travel miles than people twice or three times their ages. Dylan knew the names of most of the lower forty-eight from personal experience, even if he probably couldn’t name their Capital or spell the States. His kids could say that not only had they swam in two oceans, they’d hiked the Rockies and camped in the Grand Canyon.
But would it be so bad to add California and Nick and Sam to that rather long repertoire of sitters and sleepovers?
Making up his mind, Dean continued his walk forward towards the drivers’ seat.
“Dean,” Nick sighed behind him. “Kiddo, you sure as hell make this shit hard you know that?”
Dean could hear Nick moving towards him again, but he opened the car door anyway. He met Adam’s puzzled face with a wink and grabbed an old receipt from the floor, just as Nick reached over to yank at his sleeve.
“Stop that already!” snapped Dean, twisting his arm and clothing out of his brother’s grip. Eight years and the guy was just as annoying as he had ever been.
Maybe he should turn his page on Nick and let the man go with his annoying self all the way back to California.
“Are we talking?” Nick said, dropping his hand slightly back.
Dean sighed and rolled his eyes. Man, now he felt about Adam’s age. And wasn’t he always telling his little brother to not do what he’d just did? Dad hated eye rolls and shrugged shoulders more than anyone, but Dean was really starting to turn into the old man in some ways.
“Well?”
“You leaving soon?”
Nick looked a bit startled by the question. “Actually, we planned staying the weekend. Anna thinks there’s enough things around here to entertain the kids. Museums and stuff like that.”
Dean was grateful that the guy was smart enough not to think that as an invitation that Dean wanted to do something with them, because he didn’t. He would have liked crushing that thought, but he was going to go about this maturely, and think about the kids involved. Especially the one right behind him in the car, listening in at that moment.
“Well, we’re heading out tonight. We can’t take more than a night off, even for Benny,” Dean shrugged. “And I’d appreciate you keeping as far away from my family as wherever you’re planning to go.”
Nick frowned, looking slightly more startled then as Dean reached down and jotted something on the back receipt he’d picked up.
“I’m not promising anything, but I will warn you - if I find out you had any more contact with the kids, you’re going to regret coming out here.”
Dean glared up at Nick, the guy was exactly Dad’s height, and wasn’t that a bitch. Dean turned out to the shortest of the brothers, and he wasn’t short damnit. He was tall compared to a lot of people, thankyouverymuch.
Nick nodded his consent. He was glancing at the paper in Dean’s hand, and he could almost feel a step towards victory.
Well, Dean was going to let him have his little victory or whatever he thought he was getting out of this. He knew enough of the stubbornness that John had given to all of his kids, that if he didn’t give Nick something, well he wanted to get back before the breakfast food got cold.
Nick took the offered paper, and as he glanced down at the tidy row of numbers Dean stepped into the Impala and was on his way so fast, he barely stepped back to not be caught underneath.
Nick stood there for a second and watched him leave.
Dean watched from the rearview mirror a moment too, spotting the giant of the family approach the elder man.
“What’d you give him?” Adam said, talking mostly to his knees in case Dean didn’t feel like replying or was too mad to talk at all.
“My cell’s numbers,” Dean replied in a smirk.
“What?” Adam said, glancing up with a frown at the odd comment. “Your cell’s phone number?”
“Not exactly,” Dean turned and smiled at him. Yeah, he had been a bit of a brat in him at that moment - and if his little brothers ever pulled what he’d just done to Nick, he’d kick their asses for a month - and he had given Nick his phone number. But it was up to Nick to figure out which number went were.
“Dude,” Adam laughed, reaching over to shove at Dean’s arm. In return, Dean reached over and swatted in the general placement of his head, catching him below his eye. “Hey! Okay, okay! I give, geesh.”
END.