We're not calling it Babe 22/?
Chapter 22
They had promised to check in with Brian after they had dealt with the pagan gods but with all the almost dying Dean had forgotten about the boy.
Plus, they had promised to set him up with people who could help him with his prophetic dreams.
"Shit." Dean repeated. One hand fisting his hair he paced up and down the room, thinking about a solution. By now the murders in the trailer had most likely hit the papers and for sure Brian had kept an eye out for that. So he knew that his vision had come true.
And the people he'd trusted with to prevent it from happening had obviously failed and had run rather than to face him afterwards.
"This doesn't look good." Dean muttered while Sam reached for his shoes. "And what the hell do you think you're doing?"
Dean stopped his pacing in front of Sam who tried to figure out how to tie his shoe without bending down and agitating his head. The long seconds it took him to come up with the idea to just put his ankle on his other knee told Dean how out of it he still was.
"We need to go back." Sam said, fighting with the shoelaces. The laces were clearly winning. No way was Dean putting him in a rumbling car. They weren't that far out, only a few hours, but Sam needed to rest in a bed for at least another day or two.
Mac still sat on Sam's bed where he'd almost drifted off to sleep after he'd finished his burger but now he too looked ready to go. He sat on his haunches, a little tilted to the side to not strain his injured side too much, but his gaze was fixed on Dean, waiting for his decision.
"You are not going anywhere." He pried the shoe out of Sam's hand which was way too easy. He'd seen babies holding on to toys with more force.
"But we have to …" Sam started but Dean cut him off by pushing him back into a lying position next to Mac. The pig watched with interest but as soon as Sam was settled his eyes were on Dean again as if he wanted to say: "Okay, he's taken care of, let's go."
"Oh, no. You're staying here, too." Dean reached over to his bed and grabbed the shirts to form a nest right next to Sam. Mac made an annoyed noise but dropped in the nest and cuddled up to Sam who draped his arm protectively around him.
"Are you sure you want to do this alone?" Sam asked but Dean could tell how exhausted he was, he wasn't even putting up a fight.
"You always say I'm better with kids." Dean shifted uncomfortably.
"You are. Kids love you."
"If you say so." Instead of getting ready to hit the road, Dean sat down on his bed and took off his boots.
"Aren't you leaving?" Sam had propped himself up on one elbow and eyed him now with a frown.
"You just had your dinner." Dean pointed out patiently and stretched out on his bed. He instantly missed Mac by his side but he didn't want to disturb him later so he'd have to do without the pig for a few hours. "If I leave now I'll arrive there around midnight. What do you expect me to do? Creep through the window into his bedroom?"
"Oh. Right." Sam dropped back and curled around Mac who seemed content with Sam snuggling with him for a change. Dean tried to didn't feel jealous.
"Just go to sleep. I'll leave early in the morning and I should be back in the evening." Dean made himself more comfortable. He should catch some hours of sleep before he left. "You two are going to be fine for a while?"
"Don't worry about us." Sam answered but he sounded half asleep by now. Concussions always did this to him. For a few days Sam just needed to sleep.
Dean actually slept without interruptions from his patients until the alarm of his phone went off way too early in the morning. He hurried to shut it down and then glanced over to Sam to make sure that his brother was still sleeping. Like expected Sam had slept right through the noise but from his side two shiny spots blinked over to him. It was too dark to make out more than a general shape but Mac was obviously awake.
"Hey." Dean said in a hushed voice and let Mac snuggle his head into his palm. "Can't sleep anymore?"
By now Mac moved around more easily and was steady on his feet. Not enough that Dean had to worry he would give Sam a run for the money while he was gone, not that the thought of the two invalids chasing each other wasn't entertaining, but enough that Dean decided to take him outside for a moment.
"This is better than the bathtub, isn't it?" Dean asked when Mac happily disappeared under a bush to take care of his business. He walked stiffly and way slower than usual but he was getting there.
At four in the morning the parking lot was empty and there was no light behind the windows of the rooms. Dean inhaled the fresh night air and just enjoyed the moment while he waited for Mac to come back to him.
Mac used the chance to stretch his legs and walk around the lot for a bit but he never wandered off far.
Suddenly there was an angry hissing and a surprised squeal and then a trembling Mac stood pressed to Dean's leg.
Dean almost doubled over laughing.
"You faced down pagan gods." He stifled his laughs with his fist. "But a little kitty scares you?"
He should rethink the idea of leaving Mac in Sam's care for any longer periods of time because for a pig Mac was giving him an impressive bitch face already.
"Come here, you wuss." Dean scooped him up and after a second of sulking Mac snuggled into his chest. Gaining new confidence from his advantage point he let out a challenging squeak in the general direction of the cat before he let Dean carry him back inside.
"Yeah, yeah. You're a terrifying supernatural monster." Dean petted his head and then put him back in his nest next to the still sleeping Sam.
Dean made sure that both his patients had everything they needed in easy reach and he wrote a detailed note, in big letters, on how to take care of Mac for Sam and for a second he was tempted to do the same with instructions for Mac on how to deal with Sam, just to see what would happen.
He didn't know what it would do to his sanity if he found out that Mac could read. He wasn't ready to find out so he didn't write him a note.
However, that was a thought to explore. If he could teach Mac to read simple things like the clock or signs …
Putting the idea to the back of his mind Dean had one last look around the room to make sure that he hadn't forgotten anything. Then he grabbed his jacket and stepped over to Mac one last time.
"I'll be back soon." He promised. "Watch out for Sammy for me, would you?"
Those words rang some bells he didn't want to think about too closely so he was grateful when Mac butted his head against his arm to get him going.
"I'm leaving." Dean said and with one last look at them he was out of the door. He knew that Sam was more than capable of looking out for himself even if he wasn't back to one-hundred percent just yet. And Mac was a force on his own. They would be fine for a few hours.
Dean's first stop was for a large coffee and then it was just him and the open road. It was too early for the rush hour so he had the road for himself. He cranked the volume up high and sang along to his favorite songs.
He hadn't really paid attention to the ride out of town the other day, too busy worrying about Sam and Mac, so he wasn't sure how long the ride would be but he wasn't in a hurry. He doubted he would get a chance to talk to Brian before the end of school and even then it wouldn't be easy.
He wasn't sure if he and Sam were suspects for the murders in the trailer and even if not, the mother wouldn't just let him talk to Brain without her present.
Lurking outside the school didn't seem like a good idea either.
Dean stopped just out of town at a diner. While he ate his meat lovers breakfast which he washed down with two more cups of coffee, he checked the news on his phone.
The trailer had been found and the police had made the connection between the body parts there and the missing corpses so they knew the dead guys were their killers. If they had any suspects for the murders in the trailer it didn't say but Dean intended to stay out of sight anyway. Just a quick talk with Brian and then he would be out of there.
When he stepped out of the diner, he still had no idea on how to approach the kid but that didn't really bother him. He would just wing it like always.
Before he reached the car, his phone rang.
"Morning, Sammy." He greeted his brother cheerfully. "Miss me already?"
"Dean." The urgency in his voice sobered him up instantly. "Mac's gone."
"Mac's what?" Dean stopped dead. An icy rock settled deep in his stomach but the Mark on his arm was burning up. If somebody had taken Mac …
"He isn't here." Sam said, edging on panicked.
"Calm down, he can't be far." Dean said more to himself than to Sam. "Maybe he's just playing with you."
"I looked everywhere, he's not here." Sam said.
"Okay, what exactly happened?" Dean tried to stay calm which he did. But it was the cold burning calmness he'd first embraced in Hell and which had never really left him. The Mark under the sleeve was burning red and his fingers were itching for the blade but he didn't need it. He would use his bare hands if he had to.
"I let him out of my sight for only a second." Sam apologized. "And he pulled a full on Cas on me. He's just gone."
That threw Dean off for a second. In his mind he was already planning the slow and painful death of whoever had taken Mac. But this sounded like Mac had taken off on his own? Or Cas had pignapped him.
"I'm on my way back." Dean ended the call and strode back to the car. He didn't know what was going on but one thing he knew for sure. Mac would never just leave. Never.
He closed the door with more force than necessary and rammed the key in the ignition. He would get his pig back.
A happy squeal startled him out of his cold determination.
"You have to be kidding me."
Mac sat in his usual spot in the foot room, looking very pleased with himself.
For a moment Dean just sat there, stunned by conflicting emotions. A second ago he'd been ready to kill somebody and now relief was washing over him.
Without taking his eyes off Mac, he reached for his phone. He snapped a quick picture of Mac, labeled it "found him" and sent it over to Sam.
Then he turned back to Mac, not sure if he should be angry or amused.
"Knew I would catch you teleporting one day."
Chapter 23
Masterpost