Title: Rain
Author: luvspnl
Characters/Pairings: Dean, Sam, John,
Bobby
Minx Prompt #40: Bobby’s,
disrespect, laundry
Implement: hand, wooden spoon
Summary: Spending some time
at Bobby’s after discovering John’s alive is great. Being crammed indoors
during a rainstorm isn’t.
Author's
Notes/Warnings:
Title by Breaking Benjamin. Pretty much a follow up to Desperado.
The timeline on this is weird, but it’s just how it came out from my muse. She seems to be having a wild day :)
Disclaimer:
Maybe, in an alternative realm, I can be the female (younger and unmarried)
version of Kripke? What, I can dream!
John had been “alive” for over a week now.
He won’t tell the boys a damn thing. Which is probably what first sets Sam off.
“You’re not going to tell us anything, are you?” Sam groaned as John headed back inside after helping Bobby dismount a new arrival.
John was startled. Sam was supposed to be sleeping.
“Sam! What are you doing up?” he asked his son, turning on the light in the kitchen and looking sternly down at his son sitting on the counter, sipping at something.
“I was watching you and Bobby. I thought maybe you’d tell him something,” Sam replied none too shyly.
“Sam,” John sighed. “I meant what I said earlier. I don’t want to risk you and your brother; or Bobby for that matter. It’s too dangerous.”
“Please, everything we do is dangerous! We risk our asses off out there every fucking day! But a little intel is dangerous? Go figure!”
“Hey! Watch it, mister. If I think you, any of you, need to know anything, believe me you will. Until then, drop the issue.”
Sam scoffed and sipped at his drink again.
“Right, the whole ‘needs to know’ crap.”
“Didn’t I just warn you about the attitude, son?” John replied sternly, crossing his arms and glaring towards his offspring.
Sam rolled his eyes.
“Threatening me. Great diversion, Dad.”
“Just, go to bed, Sam. The lack of sleep is getting to your head.”
“I’m not twelve. I can stay up if I want, and I just so happen to be fine right now. Thanks.”
John walked up to Sam and grabbed the mug from his hands. He wasn’t surprised to see the half cup of coffee still inside.
“Hey!”
“Fine, huh? You don’t even drink black coffee, Sam. Go to bed, before you say something that I’m not going to let slide.”
“Go to bed? Seriously? Are you having flashbacks or something? I’m twenty-four! You can’t boss me around. And I wanted to talk to Bobby, so you can keep doing what you were doing.”
John smirked and shook his head. Right, ‘doing what he was doing’, because that usually worked.
“Get your butt off the counter and go upstairs. Bobby will gladly wait ‘til morning.”
“No. I can’t wait until morning.”
John placed the mug of coffee down beside the sink. He turned towards his son, who was giving him a confused look. Well, it was simply enough to clear up that confusion. He reached over and grabbed at Sam’s arm, tugged him off the counter and caught him before he face planted straight into the table.
“Upstairs, and to bed. Now!” John said, maneuvering Sam to land a few swats on his bottom.
“Well, this is familiar,” Bobby said, stepping in and walking around the two to grab a beer from the fridge. “Didn’t even last a week, Sammy. Thought you was in bed?”
“He’s headed there now,” John replied, releasing Sam’s arm and using his other hand to push Sam towards the doorway that led to the stairs.
“Well, goodnight then. Try not to wake your brother,” Bobby continued, patting Sam on the back and opening his beer.
Sam frowned at the two men. He didn’t like being talked around and he certainly didn’t like feeling like he was just a little kid again.
“What is it with everyone sending me to bed? I can go to bed on my own!”
Bobby and John shared a look before setting stern looks towards Sam.
“The hell flew up your ass?”
“Sam, go to bed before I have to place you there.”
“Unbelievable!”
“I’d say! My, you’re mighty disrespectful lately. Quit whining before you wake the dogs.”
The dogs? Was Bobby serious?
A look at the gruff man told him that he was, and he clearly agreed with John in thinking that Sam was taking things too far.
Heading to bed wasn’t such a bad idea.
“Incredible,” he mumbled, turning away and heading towards the stairs.
Bobby watched Sam leave and then punched Winchester on the arm.
“Ow! What?”
“That kid of yours is driving me insane. If you ain’t up to whooping his ass, just tell me already.”
“Bobby! He’s still trying to settle everything. You know how he gets when you don’t answer his questions.”
“Yeah; like you. And you only got you to blame for that. So I’m blaming ya, now fix it. And the hell you drinking coffee for, thought you were tired up?”
John shook his head and dumped Sam’s coffee in the sink.
“Sam’s.”
“Great. He ain’t up there sleeping, is he?”
“Doubt it,” John replied, rinsing off the mug and heading towards the cabinet in Bobby’s kitchen that held some basic medical supplies. Like some Tylenol.
“If Dean starts killing on him, I’m willing to just let them at it.”
John laughed then, nodded along to the consent. Dean had had a long day, trying his best to spend each breath of second near his dad and Sam too. He’d be furious if he was made tired and wouldn’t be able to wake up to go running with John.
**~~**~~**
“…As if I was a baby or something!”
“Yep.”
“Dean? You’re not even listening!”
“Mmmhmm. Sounds grrt, S’mmy.”
Sam sighed. Dean was too asleep to talk with. Which was probably a good thing, since he was technically just bitching about John, and a little towards Bobby now too. That’d probably get Dean mad.
“Fine. Just get some sleep. I’ll wait until they go to sleep or something.”
“Super duper.”
Sam smirked.
Settling back into his bed, Sam couldn’t help but think about what his father may have been through in the past months. He and Dean had had it pretty bad, but it was all emotional. And they had had each other, even if it was sometimes merely in presence.
Dad had had no one.
That was one of the greatest complaints Sam had at the moment. If their father had just been truthful to them, he wouldn’t have had to do anything alone. They would have fought tooth and nail together, as a family.
But no. John Winchester was too good for that!
“Seep S’mmy.”
“Huh?” Sam startled, looking over to see Dean peering over at him through a half-opened eye. Maybe he had been listening.
Sam smiled at Dean and settled further into the covers.
“Sorry. Goodnight Dean.”
“Hmmm.”
**~~**~~**
Dean awoke and was very pleased to see Sammy was still asleep. Or finally asleep as the case might be. The kid had been talking into the night.
Once he showered and dressed, Dean headed down in hopes of catching his dad before he left in what was always his morning jog (as long as he didn’t have a broken leg or rib or something).
John was sitting at in the living room, still dressed in his sleeping pants and a tee shirt.
“Hey Dad!”
John smiled up from the news.
“Morning, Ace. What you up so early for?”
Dean went over and flopped down besides John.
“Run with you! Why aren’t you ready?”
John smiled even wider then, reaching over to tussle Dean’s short hair. And damn, he’d forgotten about the gel. Cripes.
Well, at least Dean thought it was funny.
“Serves ya right!” his kid teased. “Messing with my hair!”
“Brat!”
“So, we running?”
“Nope! It’s raining.”
Dean turned around and leaning until he caught a glimpse outside through the thick curtains of Bobby’s living room. Sure enough, water was splashing against the glass.
“Oh bullshit!”
John smacked Dean on the thigh, but his attention was back on the news.
“Ow. Hey, what’s that like a storm or something? Aw man, that doesn’t look like it’s leaving anytime soon.”
John had to agree. The weather forecast was very depressing.
Winchesters were not made for days indoors.
“Looks like. Your brother still out? Good, you can start breakfast and I’ll go see if I can help old Bobby find whatever the hell the fool lost this time.”
Dean snickered as John stood up and grabbed his jacket. He had always been amused by how John and Bobby always traded off insults. Most of them behind the other’s back.
**~~**~~**
When Sam awoke, it was to the pleasant smell of pancakes. He smiled, knowing instantly that Dean had cooked.
Heading down, he found Dean setting the table for four and placing a batch of the flapjacks in the center.
“Nice!”
“Oh, hey. You’re up at the smell of food! You’re so one of us!”
Sam gave Dean’s grin a mock glare. He went ahead and started making a batch of coffee for everyone. It was simple enough for John and Bobby, there’s was pure black, and Dean’s was too usually; unless Dad made him lighten it up slightly if he felt Dean was hitting the caffeine too hard so to speak. Sam’s was usually sweetened and creamed with whatever he could find.
“You want scrambled eggs or that gooey kind?”
“The goo always runs into the syrup.”
“Goo it is.”
“Where’s Dad and Bobby anyway?”
“Well, Bobby out there bitching at his shed, Dad’s trying to figure out what he’s bitching about.”
“What’d he lose?”
“Dunno, but I think one of them dogs ate it. They’ve been awfully cooperative lately.”
Sam snickered. Of course Dean would be one to think that when someone was cooperative it was because they were feeling guilty. Hell, Sam certainly did just that.
“He’s going to hate shifting through their shit!”
“I say we get the hell out of here before he decides to pin one of us to that task.”
Sam sighed. He didn’t know if he wanted to leave just yet. He was pretty damn certain that if they were ever going to hear something about what John had been up to for the past months that everyone had assumed him dead, it would have to be there at Bobby’s. While everything was still fresh and arguable.
But then again, they had just spent a few weeks there. And it wasn’t Winchester nature to actually overstay your welcome.
“We got a hunt lined up or something?”
“Huh? Not that I know of. Why, you hear Dad mention something while you were snooping?”
“I wasn’t snooping!”
“Right, right! Gathering intel! Love to hear you try and use that one on Dad.”
Sam poured the coffee into four separate mugs and placed three of them down at the table. He turned back to his, seeing what there was near for him to pour into the drink.
“I don’t have to explain myself, Dean.” Sam reminded him for the millionth time since they’d found their father. “He does!”
“Yeah, yeah, Sammy! I’ve heard this one. Save it for later, alright? Let’s just start this day without bitching out at everyone.”
“I do not!”
Dean gave him a look that Sam knew clearly meant that he wasn’t convinced.
“Well, I don’t.”
**~~**~~**
As the four sat down and started having the breakfast Dean had prepared, Sam finally caught his break.
John was openly talking to Bobby about one of the creatures he’d recently seen. Something that Sam might have heard a little about but he hadn’t yet seen. Which just made him a little angrier.
The story was fascinating to Dean. He loved hearing about his father’s hunts. Sometimes other hunters mentioned a time that they’d teamed up with the usually lone hunter, and those tidbits of information had always fascinated Dean. Hearing about how others viewed his hero.
But nothing compared to how John himself would tell the tales.
While Dean and yeah Bobby too, enjoyed most of what John was saying, Sam grumpily just stared at his runny eggs and jabbed some pancake pieces into his mouth.
**~~**~~**
“You know, you’re fucking unbelievable!”
“What’d I do?”
“Why can’t you just let crap go? Why do you have to be the biggest bitch in the South Dakota?”
“Why do you have to be such a pompous ass?”
“Why do you have to be such a girl?”
“Why do you have to be such a jerk?”
“Why do you have to be such a whiner?”
“Why do you have to be so ostentatious?”
“Why do you have to – wait what?”
**~~**~~**
After breakfast, Bobby was pretty determined to find some old charm of his, something that a hunter friend of his was going to came by soon for. It’d been a few years since he’d seen the thing, but he knew he still had it. It wasn’t particularly a strong charm, but it was the only one that worked against the certain creature that his friend was going after.
Dean and John sat around, looking over some maps and notes. Dean was more than happy to fill in what he and Sam had been doing since they’d last seen each other. And since there wasn’t any kind of training or exercising they could really do that day, they were getting a lot done.
Dean had tried to get Sam involved, but his brother was only grunting and mumbling answers so he decided to just ignore him.
Sam headed upstairs, deciding that he was going to get some use out of his laptop and maybe even get through some of his emails. But then he remembered how crappy his connection was when it rained. So, he just played solitaire, he even had a chess program on it so he could be there for a while.
**~~**~~**
“What’s with Sammy?”
“Who knows. You know how he gets when he doesn’t get what he wants.”
John scoffed. Boy did he!
“You mad at me too, still?”
Dean frowned and looked up from his notes.
“Why’d I be mad?”
“For not telling you what’s been going on.”
Dean shrugged.
“None of my business. Hell, I never thought you’d be back. So, whatever got you here, I’m grateful for. Besides, I don’t think I want to know.”
“How come?”
Dean stopped flipping through his notebook and stilled. John could almost see the thoughts passing through his mind.
“I think whatever it was, must have been pretty bad. Reckon I don’t want that on my mind. Think we get enough for nightmares from what we do so, I don’t need my imagination to take a spin.”
“Wish your brother would think the same. I’d rather not have to tell you boys if I can avoid it.”
“And he makes it so easy, huh?”
“You know it,” scoffed John. “So, what was this thing in Guthrie, Oklahoma about?”
**~~**~~**
Bobby found his little charm just minutes before his hunter friend arrived. He and John waited for the man, sharing stories or something, while Dean and Sam headed upstairs.
They didn’t really need to clean their weapons. They hadn’t used them lately.
But Dean noticed how uncomfortable John was looking towards them. And while they weren’t little kids anymore, Dean understood that he was still picky on who he let around his children.
Sam huffed and stomped the whole way up the stairs.
“We’re not babies. We can totally handle being around a hunter for a few minutes.”
Dean sighed, grabbing the knives and handing them over to Sam.
“Well, there’s also the little fact that after Andy and Webber, it’s just not a safe beat to place you around anyone we don’t trust.”
Sam sighed.
“You told him?”
“Of course. Why wouldn’t I? You know how he is when it’s about the demon that got Mom.”
“Yeah, he gets even more bossy and becomes a complete jerk.”
“Hey! Watch it!”
“Oh, I forgot,” Sam said rolling his eyes.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“What?!”
“Just, you always side with Dad. I shouldn’t be surprised. You didn’t even ask me, but whatever.”
“Ask you! Between your mumbling and whining, how the hell would you know if I asked you or not?”
“Because Dean! That was about me! Kids like me! Don’t you think I know about what hunters would do to someone like me? But you just go around telling people everything, why should I CARE!”
“What? Please, I don’t tell anyone anything! I didn’t even tell Bobby! I told DAD! Your father! Not some random bum in the streets. You know what, you’re fucking unbelievable!”
**~~**~~**
“So they finally met Ellen, huh?”
“Sounds like it.”
“Damn. I wonder who else saw them there.”
“Your boys are fine.”
“Yeah, but for how long?”
**~~**~~**
When the hunter arrived, Bobby and he traded off some information about some mutual friends.
The guy kept looking to where John was leaning around in the other side of the room, watching him, but he didn’t say anything.
John just looked him over, made sure everything was alright.
Above them, his sons could be heard, which hadn’t been the plan. But it wasn’t that big of a deal.
Sometimes, those two just got loud.
As Bobby started to explain the charm to the hunter, however, clear thuds were heard from above.
Bobby turned around to share a look with John.
“You got some of your dogs up there Singer?” the hunter asked.
“Close enough,” John growled, moving away from his corner and starting to head towards the stairs.
“Well, think you got this thing Sheppard? Mighty simple long as you don’t lose it.”
“Sure thing, thanks Bobby. I’ll try and get this right back to you.”
Bobby shrugged. There wasn’t a waiting list on that particular item.
As soon as the hunter started to pull away, Bobby headed up the stairs to see what the devil had gotten into those boys this time.
**~~**~~**
“Don’t push me!”
“Well, don’t get in my way.”
“Didn’t know you were such a wide load.”
Dean turned around and punched his brother in the arm really hard.
“OW!”
“See, that’s muscle. Don’t let it fool you, little brother.”
Sam used the rag that he had in his hand to swat towards Dean, landing a rather sharp hit right on Dean’s exposed bicep.
“SHIT! You little bastard.”
“Muscles, right?”
Dean glared at Sam, Sam glared at Dean.
Insults followed.
**~~**~~**
When John entered the room his sons shared he was shocked at what he saw.
It was certainly not the first time that he had seen the two fighting, and they weren’t going at it at their full potential either, which was good.
The thing that really got John’s blood boiling was that they were fighting with their weapons spread out in the beds besides them.
“HEY! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING?”
Sam was on top of Dean, but Dean had Sam’s arm twisted behind his back and pretty locked into place. Sam was biting Dean’s arm and jabbing at Dean’s ribs. During their throw down, they’d landed over their duffle bags, which John knew were filled with more than just their laundry.
The potential of their rolling around on top of further weapons got the man walking towards his idiot children and starting pulling them apart.
“Fighting! You two are fighting! Like freaking animals! Bobby’s mutts are better behaved than you two! What the hell are you doing, fighting like that!”
Once they were finally untangled, John grabbed Sam’s arm and pulled him to his feet. Then he turned the boy around and smacked at his jeans backend with a few furious swings.
“Dad! Jesus! Alright!”
After about ten smacks, John turned Sam around and looked him in the eye.
“Alright? You keep saying you’re not a child, Sam, but you behave like such a brat. You know better than to fight with your brother, around weapons no less!”
Sam looked back over to the beds and flinched. He’d forgotten about those.
**~~**~~**
As Bobby entered the room, he wasn’t surprised to see John laying into his youngest. Dean was still sitting on the floor, flinching as John landed swat after swat on Sam’s backside.
Looking around the room, it wasn’t hard to wager what had gone on.
John released Sam and then held his hand out to Dean. Bobby had to hand to Johnny’s eldest.
The kid knew what was coming to him, no way he wasn’t getting just what his brother had gotten if not more, but he only grimaced and took the offered hand.
Like Sam, Dean was turned around and received a pretty heavy dose of his father’s displeasure.
“Of all the fool things to do, you two always seem to find one that tops it! You’ve got knives and guns, loaded weapons Dean!, all around the room. But you two have to start smacking each other around! Have you lost. Your. Minds!”
Releasing Dean, John glanced over at Bobby quickly. Bobby could tell his old friend wasn’t calming down any and the boys were going to be a hell of a lot more sorry in the near future. And even though they weren’t really technically boys anymore, Bobby didn’t think it was safe to leave them at it with a raging John in the mix.
“You two igits clean this damn room up! You know better than to put yourselves in danger like that. Sammy, look at how those damn knives are positioned there. They could tip right off from nothing! And Dean, did you check those bags of yours for weapons before you decided to roll around on them like they were a freaking meadow!”
Dean looked back at the duffels as Sam looked guiltily down.
“Clean up, NOW!”
Both Winchesters jumped at John’s tone and went at it, walking warily by their father and to their respective beds and weapons.
John went to stand besides Bobby and they watched the two younger hunters for a second.
Bobby could hear John’s ragged breathing and could only imagine what was going through John’s mind. Especially after having heard from Dean everything they’d been getting into.
And those Winchesters sure did have a hell of an imagination.
“You two find me when you’re done,” John said and he turned around, leaving the boys to gaze worriedly towards the door.
“And you better hurry, if you know what’s good for you,” Bobby added, noticing Sam’s squirm and Dean’s slight slump.
**~~**~~**
“Seriously, Johnny? The spoon?”
“My belt’s upstairs. I figured it’d be redundant to send one of them up there for it, and if I go for it, I’ll probably just head back in there with them and start smacking at them before I’m calm enough.”
Bobby scoffed and that caused John to shrug. He was telling the truth, which was probably what made Bobby find the whole thing so damn funny.
“Well, can’t say I don’t blame you. ‘Cept I rather recall me saying something along the lines of you handling the Sammy problem before it escalated.”
“Save your ‘I told you sos’, Singer.”
“Coulda saved yourself all this trouble, that’s all.”
Bobby couldn’t care less that John glared at him then.
“Hell, doubt this is even Dean’s doing. Your baby can annoy the hell out of the best of them.”
“Thanks Singer.”
“Probably scared Sheppard off.”
“Bobby! Not helping!”
**~~**~~**
The whole time that John was lecturing them, Sam’s attention was on that damn wooden spoon of Bobby’s that had found its way to the table beside their dad.
Bobby had yelled at them first. Told them that if they couldn’t keep themselves in check, keep weapons save in his house and all, then they would be constantly watched- day and night- and their weapons would be confiscated at the door. ‘Damn fools!’ he’d said, shaking his head at them and heading over to the living room to go yell at the TV for a change, wishing he could go outside and work on that new arrival instead.
Dean was standing at attention, listening at his dad’s words and knowing that he had done wrong.
Granted, in his opinion, it had all been Sam’s fault. Normally, he would voice this, but the presence of that damn spoon told him that it wouldn’t help matters any.
“And if you ever fight like that again, I’m going to wear myself out on your respect asses for a week, one day for each of the rules you broke until you learn them!”
The rules were pretty simple. Don’t fight your brother was a big one, don’t leave weapons unattended was a clincher, know where your weapons are at all times, be aware of your surroundings, take measures to secure your surroundings, be cautious of others around you while handling weapons, and finally if you start fighting, it better be for a hell of a good reason.
Which of course, all combined, the brothers were sunk.
“You got anything to say for yourselves?”
Sam sure wished he could think of something to say. He was pretty good with words, and he’d been told that he argued like a pro, but nothing came.
“No sir,” Dean replied and Sam couldn’t agree more.
If only they could agree with each other before things went all bad.
“Samuel, you’ve been sporting hell of an attitude lately. You’ve been disrespectful to me, Bobby, and your brother since I got here. You know better than to pester on about something. If I tell you no on something, then it’s final. Understood?”
Sam cringed, knowing that his own little personal lecture meant that he was going to be the first to meet with the damn spoon.
“Yes sir.”
Sam couldn’t decide what the worst part about the whole getting his ass beat session was. He had quite a few to choose from: having to drop his pants was certainly up there, having Dean present always sucked, the damn wooden spoon hurt like a bitch as always, and then receiving the last set on the bare, that was quite a doozie.
The spoon probably won out. Having it on the bare just made it so much worse.
“You have to start using that head of yours, Sammy,” John said as he hugged him once he’d finally calmed down enough that he wasn’t blubbering like an idiot.
“Yes sir.”
“I refuse to lose you to your own foolishness. Either of you.”
“I know, Dad. I’m sorry.”
“Alright. Might as well head on to bed then.”
Sam nodded, enjoying holding onto his dad for a moment. Even having him that close to him felt like a dream sometimes. After months without him, a week still felt like a fantasy.
One that could so easily shatter.
“Okay. Goodnight then.”
**~~**~~**
“Dean, son, I know your brother can get to you like no one else. But you’re older and you should know better than to let him carry on messing with your mind.”
“Yes sir.”
“What upsets me about this, is the fact that you decided to fight him with the weapons all around you like that. You understand how dangerous that can be; I know you know enough about weapons, son. I don’t want to have to discuss that with you again.”
“I know, sir. I’m sorry.”
“So this is more about the circumstances then the actual act of you two fighting, though I’m not too pleased about that either.”
Dean nodded, glancing between John standing in front of him and the wooden spoon that was left on the couch after it’d done its job on Sam’s butt.
“Alright then, drop them and let’s get this done.”
**~~**~~**
That night, Sammy didn’t stay up talking. Instead he was barely awake as Dean slipped in the room and started to change.
“He’s not a jerk.”
“I know that,” Dean replied, slipping his shirt off and tossing it onto the pill of clothing by the duffle bags that he’d made of their laundry. He’d have to wash them down in Bobby’s basement in the morning. It was supposed to be raining more the next day, so at least this would keep him out of trouble.
Or maybe, Sam could do the laundry and he could finish with the weapons. He’d ask his brother in the morning.
“I just. I hate it when he won’t tell us things.”
“I do too, Sammy. I hate thinking that maybe he’s just buying his time with us.”
“And he’ll slip away again at any moment.”
Dean sighed, easing his pants down and using the bedposts to balance himself instead of having to sit down.
“Yeah.”
Sam yawned, shifting onto his side as he watched Dean slip carefully into his bed.
“What if something’s still after him? And he’s not letting us help him?”
“Shhh, Sammy. Go to sleep.”
“I’m scared, Dean. I can’t lose him again.”
The rain fell heavily against the two windows in the room. The moon’s light created odd shapes against their bedspreads and walls. There had been a time when those shapes had been the things that freaked Dean out the most. The noises he couldn’t understand and the shapes that he believed created them.
Mary had always held him a little closer on those days. Talked a little softer, a little sweeter.
As Sammy grew, before he knew what there was to know but believed he knew everything anyway. Back when Sammy was nine and still just a little kid, those shapes had had him crawling into bed with Dean. And he’d tried his best to comfort his brother.
But the lighting always had them running to John’s bed. Because he was the only one that could ever keep the bad things away. Real and make believe.
As the room erupted in blue, Sam shifted slightly and Dean tensed up.
He wished they could do that now, just hop in with their father and believe everything would be alright.
That nothing could get them.
“I know, Sammy. Me too.”
The End.