The Winchester trail part 4
It's not long after they're presentable again that Mr. Novak knocks on their door. Sam finds the perfect timing to be surprising, and the man's adverted eyes as well as his constant blush lead him to think this is not the first time he came to meet them back at the suite. Sam's blushes just as hard as him when he remembers the very telling noises Dean and he made while they were making love. It's also very possible that the room reeks of sex.
It's obvious Dean came to the same conclusion but his reaction looks more like pride and possessiveness. Both sentiments Sam can get behind when applied to him.
Eyes still on the carpet, Mr. Novak tells them how he occupied the time, waiting for the train and looking for help, as he lets in a man who introduces himself as Marshal Freely and his two deputies as Walt Garrison and Roy Bigelow.
"I explained to the Marshal the situation we're facing here," Mr. Novak says, "and the high risk Mr. Milligan and the rest of Mr. Winchester's gang might represent for us in case we weren't successful in misleading them far from Contention. He graciously agreed to assist us."
Sam can't help but wondering if maybe Mr. Novak doesn't entirely trust Sam's going to get Dean on that train, especially if he heard them and knows they are now lovers. How could he ? Sam doesn't even trust himself.
"Marshal Freely, thanks for your support," Sam offers, along with his hand to shake.
The marshal looks at it as if checking for signs of dirt or illness, arrogance radiating from his whole demeanor. His body seems loose and at peace but it only highlights the implied social distance between them. Sam is used to that kind of attitude. He has to, being poor and a nobody. But he waits patiently until the man relents and thrusts his arm far and stiff to shake his hand, thinking inwardly that the marshal would go berserk if he knew Sam is Dean Winchester's brother. He would also be a crying mess if he had to face the kind of monsters they've fought these past days.
"I don't foresee any particular trouble," the marshal finally answers Mr. Novak's fear about Dean's gang. "Winchester here will be in the train to Yuma in less than a half-hour, long before his men might show up, which means that even if they do they'll follow him to Yuma and leave Contention alone."
Sam briefly closes his eyes upon hearing Dean snorting behind him. If he had known Mr. Novak was going to get the local marshal, he would have let Dean run away, and probably followed him.
"Something you wanted to share with us, Winchester ?" Marshal Freely addresses Dean for the first time.
"Don't worry about me, Marshal," Dean answers in a tone that is all but friendly. "I see you got us all pegged, I can't possibly disagree with such a knowledgeable and respectable man of the law."
The marshal's mouth tightens, a clear indication of his internal fight for measure as he understands Dean thinks him a fool. Sam wonders what his brother has seen about the man that raised his hackles. This attitude is such a stark contrast to the jovial and helpful Dean who saved as many lives as he could during this trip to Hell, Arizona. The absolute opposite to the passionate, considerate lover Sam has just discovered. It feels like the past three days have been erased and the infamous outlaw Dean Winchester is back to use and abuse snarky-ness and possibly unleash the violence he's never been afraid to harness.
He can see Mr. Novak is just as worried when he catches him checking Dean's manacles. The deputies raise the shotguns they've had in hand since they came at the door, showing they will do whatever's needed to maintain law and order.
"Roy, Walt, come on," Dean placates them with a cold smile. "You boys got to keep cool, lest you might hurt yourself with those big toys of yours."
Walt is unamused. He takes a step towards Dean, and Sam puts himself between them, but a mess of raised voices and horses neighing make them all turn their head towards the open window.
"Listen to me !" a voice claims everyone's attention down in the street, high and eager.
"Adam ?" Dean recognizes.
"Listen to me ! Come here, all of you, and listen !"
Adam has his horse making a complete turn on himself to look at everyone in the street, then waits for the people to surround him before he makes his offer.
"I'm Adam Milligan," he says, proud and angry, "Dean Winchester's half-brother and right hand man. Dean has been abducted and he's now under some people's bad spell. We have to get him free, and that's where you're gonna help me. There's a reward !"
He takes a wad of banknotes out of his jacket and lifts his hand high above his head to show it around.
"Here's an advance. But there's five times this amount for the one of you who will kill his abductors and free Dean. So, who will be courageous enough to win that money ? Is there any real man in this fucking city ?!"
Dozens of hands are raised, trying to get the banknotes from Adam who smiles wolfishly.
Then he sees the barman inside the hotel in front of which they stopped signaling to him towards the upstairs bedrooms. His smile gets even bigger.
Wesson is nothing more than a dead man walking.
"Fuck !" Sam exclaims as he hears his own half-brother, who he only ever exchanged a few words with, plotting his demise.
Adam wasn't around when Sam was cast aside, only Dean, and their father. So it makes sense that he's never considered Adam like that before, like a member of his close family, and it's kind of surreal, more difficult to believe in a way than all the monsters he's discovered on the route to Contention.
Now, is Adam that different from those monsters ? Sam remembers the fear he felt when he found himself in front of him for the first time, the harsh demand for respect on Dean's behalf, and all the stories he's ever heard about the Winchester gang, especially the rumors whispered from town to town about the crazy little bro who was seen laughing while he cut heads. Even if Sam now realizes there's a good chance these heads belonged to vampires, the laughing part still gives him a chill.
The Winchester trail, they call it, paved with the bones of their enemies.
And yet he knows from experience that Dean is not the dangerous and insensitive killer everyone describes. Dean protects his own, and his actions have probably saved more men than he was forced to kill in his entire lawless career.
Adam is doing the same, protecting Dean with all his might and his fire power. Doesn't mean Sam wants to get killed in the process.
"I'm gonna go and talk to him," Dean reassures him, "he will obey me. Just take the cuffs off so that he can see I'm not here against my will."
"I'm afraid that's not possible," the marshal intervenes. "Whatever you might think, you're under arrest, Mr. Winchester, and if you're not willing to recognize Mr. Wesson or Mr. Novak's authority, you have to at least recognize mine. And I'm not letting you go out unsupervised."
"And I'm not letting you get the civilians killed because of your overinflated ego, Marshal," Dean spits with so much venom they all feel the insult it's meant to be.
But then Dean looks at Sam and seems to read something on his face that allows him to keep calm instead of killing the marshal on the spot.
"Alright, in this case," he tries again in a sigh, "let me talk to Adam from the window. For God's sake, you heard what he said ! I have to make him see he's wrong before he comes in gun blazing, because if he does, believe me, none of you here stands even the smallest chance to survive."
The marshal scoffs.
"You seem to be underestimating us a lot. We're not toddlers wielding spoons. We have guns, and we're not afraid to use them."
Before Dean can respond and make the marshal dislike him even more, Mr. Novak cuts in.
"I'm sure you aren't, Marshal, but the fact is, we're outnumbered. It seems to me that letting Mr. Winchester talk with his brother can't do us any harm. I'm pretty sure Mr. Sinclair would appreciate your help on the matter. Sending Mr. Winchester to prison is our only leverage to get his artifacts back before they're disposed of by his gang."
Marshal Freely levels Mr. Novak with a calculating stare.
"What kind of artifacts are these, that would be important enough to give one of the cruelest killers a free pass out of jail if you negotiate with him ?!"
"Yes, Jimmy," Dean seconds the marshal's question, "what are they exactly ? Please, do tell us."
After a scathing look at Dean's address, Mr. Novak turns back to the law officer.
"Sorry, Marshal, I'm not at liberty to say. I'll be happy, though, to relay any question or consideration to Mr. Sinclair."
"That's alright," Marshal Freely gives in, obviously annoyed but aware that such a powerful and rich man as Mr. Sinclair, who has friends everywhere it matters, is far above his reach and it means he has to back off and be gracious about it. "Very well. Winchester, get over to that window and calm down your rabid dog."
"Thank you, Marshal. That's very considerate of you."
Sam wishes Dean would stop angering the guy but diplomacy is clearly not one of his brother's strongest suit. Instead, Dean offers him his wrist and Sam takes the cuffs off.
With a last squeeze on Sam's arm, Dean saunters to the windowsill, aggravating the marshal that little bit more, and sits on it as if to admire the view.
"Hello, boys," he finally greets his men down the streets.
Sam gets closer, hidden behind the heavy curtains able to conceal the new lovers' hanky panky party in the secret of this bridal suite, to watch the gang's rapt attention and relief upon seeing Dean alive and well.
"Dean !"
Sam sees Adam almost jumping off his horse, body straining to reach his brother until he realizes he can't just yet.
"I'm alright, Adam. Just taking a trip with my new friends. Sightseeing. Taking some me-time for a little while. How about you ?"
"We're ready to get you out, don't worry !"
"Who said I was worried ? Adam, I'm telling you, nothing is amiss and you can go back home. I'll join you there soon enough."
"We can't let you get on that train, boss !" another guy denies him.
"Yes, you can, Benny, because I tell you to. I want no bloodshed. My friends here are to be safe or you will respond to me."
There's some kind of message passing between the two men and Sam feels himself fretting. This is so not the time and place for jealousy, and yet here he is, wishing he had a good reason to get rid of that man.
"Alright," the guy accepts. "We'll do as ordered. Right, Adam ?"
Adam is far from willing to submit, but he finally nods. Reluctantly, but Dean seems satisfied as he turns to another one of his men.
"Creedy," he begins with fake joy in his tone, "we just met your old pal Kubrick and his new squeeze Gordon Walker. Had a great time together. Too bad we had to cut it short !"
The guy pales as he understands the real meaning of Dean's words. It makes Sam wonders about the time Kubrick and Walker were not monsters, but maybe friends and lovers to people who had to choose between letting them go or killing them off. People who still remembered them as good men and couldn't help being saddened by the news of their finale deaths. He prays that he will never have to make that kind of decision or cry another death in his life.
"That's enough, Winchester," Marshal Freely says, "you'll have time for idle chit-chat in prison."
"Right," Dean acknowledges without turning his eyes from his friends below. "Well, guys, my train will show up soon, so time for all of us to be on our merry ways. Adam, you make sure to get them all safe back home, I'm counting on you."
"Dean, I really don't think…"
"Benny can be my second in command if you don't feel up to it. He knows how to obey an order."
"I've proved myself more than once, and you know it !"
"So stop thinking and do your job."
Dean ignores Adam's angry retort and gets back inside. The marshal is at his side in the next moment to put short manacles back on him.
"Why are you doing this ?" Sam asks, pissed off. "He's here of his own volition. He's not going to run away now."
"I'm not taking any chances. We'll be famous for being the ones who brought Dean Winchester to prison."
Sam is reminded of Edgar and his untimely death.
"You're vain, Marshal," Dean tells him. "It will be your undoing. Make sure when it happens to stay away from Sam and Jimmy."
"Sam and Jimmy ?" the marshal mocks him. "You think they are your friends and that they will thank you for your attitude ? One is your accuser and the other is getting paid to guard you. The only thing they want from you is to get their money and see you dead."
Sam manages to refrain from shouting the truth but only so that he's not waylaid by the marshal right before the end if the guy thinks he might side with Dean.
"I take it back," Dean jokes. "You're not only vain, you're utterly stupid."
"Well, I'm not the one with the handcuffs going to prison, am I ?"
The marshal takes Dean's arm in hand and forces him to move. They get back down so quickly that Sam feels he didn't have time to adapt to the new situation.
"Something's wrong," Dean stops them at the bottom of the stairs as they can see that Milligan and part of the gang still out there. "Let's use the back door."
"My God, Winchester !" Marshal Freely gets impatient. "No one ever told me you were such a sissy ! Makes me wonder what all those tales about the brave and dare-devil Dean Winchester really have to do with reality…"
"They were invented by fools like you who forgot to mention that Dean Winchester is smart and knows to pick his battles."
Dean shows the way to the marshal and lets him take the lead. Immediately, the man and his deputies pass them, scorn on their face. Deputy Garrison pushes Sam out of his way to get first to the door and open it.
Sam lets Dean pull him and Mr. Novak farther back into the room as the three other men step outside.
"Milligan !" the marshal hollers, "you heard Winchester. Now you let us go through and we won't go after you this time."
Though not completely surprised, Sam is chilled to the bone when he hears the first shot and Marshal Freely crying, instantly followed by more shots and the answering cries of his deputies. From the wall behind which Dean pushed him as soon as the guns began talking, Sam can't see anything but two pairs of boot-clad feet and a blonde head laying on the wooden floor of the hotel entrance. All motionless, which probably means lifeless.
"That was Adam, Gunner and Creedy," Dean says.
"How do you know that ?" Mr. Novak wonders.
"Sound of their guns, cadence of shooting… I know those men and their habits like the back of my hand, I've served with them for years."
"And you knew they were waiting for us," Sam states, pretty sure of himself.
"I suspected. Adam can be a bit… opinionated at times. Nothing he hates more than a sheriff or a marshal giving him orders."
"Wonder where he learned that," Sam mutters under his breath. "So what do we do now ? Getting upstairs isn't an option anymore, they'll be in soon."
"Follow me."
They both stop when they realize Mr. Novak hasn't moved.
"I want to come with you," the man declares as he watches Sam, fear written all over his face, "I really do. I was raised as a Christian to help and sustain people, and I know what my duty to you should be. But I have a wife and a little girl, and they count on me to take care of them. I need to go where I'm the most useful, and the fact is, I'm not a fighter, Sam, not like you. I'm sorry."
Sam feels shame reddening his face. He gets what Mr. Novak's saying, and he probably should feel the same about his family, but the fact is that even if he had coerced Dean to get on that train, he would stay by his brother's side. For so many reasons, and his pride is only the least important of them now. He's ashamed to realize Madison is not on top of his list anymore either, and yet it brings him closure, now knowing what she understood a long time before him - because she met someone else long before he did. Their love was born from similar circumstances at the orphanage, the feeling that they were each other's recomposed family, but it wasn't one to stand the test of time, nor their growing older, and that bit wiser.
He's stuck to her all these years in the way someone who has already lost pretty much everything once clings to what he's got left. He couldn't see or admit his dependence while she was the center of his life. Dean's formidable (re)appearance has put everything back in context with the subtleness of a storm blowing away badly rooted trees and precarious constructions.
Dean's the only one left now. They will either live or die together. Junior is safe in the mountain, he will go back to his Mom and they'll have a great life with Don Flack. Mr. Novak can see to it that nothing happens to either of them.
"Just make sure my son gets home and to give my wife the money I earned, right ?"
Mr. Novak promises and then Sam turns back to Dean, indicating with a nod that he is ready to go.
They open the back door and Dean gets out first, protecting Sam with his own body when he steps out in his turn. Which is probably a good call as Sam is shot in the wood tip of his special boot the very second it gets out.
"Lucky you !" Dean rejoices as they both sigh in relief.
They don't have time for more congratulations. Bullets flying from every roof and alley push them always farther into the city, right to the train station, through finished buildings first, that they can climb to run on the roofs and escape the ambushed killers for a while. But then the older part of the city ends, giving way to more and more new buildings as they near the railways, most of which are only beams that don't offer much in terms of protection. Workers have fled at the first sound of a shooting coming by, and it's not a big assumption to think that some of them might even be part of the pack after them.
They shoot back again and again, trying to aim at the people out to kill them but more often ending with wild shoots.
They hear Adam yelling at his hired men that they're not to harm the guy in black and Sam sees him shooting one who didn't heed his warning, and then another before Dean grips Sam's hand and forces him to run again, faster than ever, as they go through an unprotected patch of land. They never stop, followed by bullets who magically all miss them, till they get to the station's office and dive in, half-laying on the floor to avoid being shot while they wait for the train.
That doesn't stop the shooters before a long while, windows smashed to pieces and glass raining over them. But eventually, calm settles back over the city and they're both able to hear their own breath slowing down.
"You have to get out and save your life," Sam offers. "It's a miracle they didn't get us already, so leave me here and maybe Adam will stop."
It's not an ideal situation, he knows, not with all the shooters outside who are ready to kill anyone to get the money, regardless of the victim. But it's one more chance for Dean to get out of this alive.
"You know why I don't mind the threat of being sent to the prison in Yuma ?" Dean asks, ignoring Sam's proposition.
"Because you're crazy ?"
"Good point," Dean laughs. "I've been there twice already. Also escaped twice."
Sam laughs too, absurdly happy that no prison could stop his brother.
"Bet it reminds you of the war," Dean muses. "At least getting shot a second time in that foot didn't hurt."
Sam snorts.
"Wanna know how it happened ?" he asks, because feeling so close to death makes him feel like he has nothing to hide from his brother.
"Sure."
"We were retreating, and the guys got confused. I wasn't shot by the enemy. One of our men did it before he got killed. I don't know why I tell you this. Nobody knows apart from me and the doctor who operated on my foot. I was too ashamed."
"And yet I see no shame there. Shame should stem from being a coward. Were you a coward ?"
"No, but…"
"There's no but, Sam. It was war. You did your job, just like you're doing it now."
Two hundred dollars. That's why he did this. The price of his land. The price he applied, however unknowingly, to his brother's life. And now it seems the price of his own, if he gets killed ; a price already paid by the army when they discharged him - discarded him - to make up for his mangled feet.
Maybe that's why John Winchester abandoned him, because he knew Sam would one day be Dean's downfall. That Sam isn't worth more than half a foot. If he has to die here, he needs to know why his own father rated him so low.
"Why…" Sam begins, and shit, he didn't know he was still so affected by it that tears form in the corners of his eyes, "why did Dad abandon me, only to take Adam along later on ?"
In other words, why did he prefer this crazy bastard to the son he already had, who loved and needed him ?
Dean looks stricken.
"Sam, I can't pretend to comprehend what was in the man's head. I can only speak for myself and I couldn't face abandoning another brother behind. I was too young to do anything about your disappearance, but when I discovered the truth about Adam's origins and the death of his mother, I remembered the loss I felt after he took you far from me and it forced me to fight to keep Adam. It wasn't him or you. It was him while I was waiting for you. He needed the love and help just as you did, and I had to be there for him at least."
Sam scrutinized him, searching for the truth, and suddenly it dawned on him.
"I'm the reason why you got yourself arrested. Is that why you came here, too ? To find me ?"
"My coming to Bisbee and meeting you was only poor dumb luck. But I suspected who you were pretty much as soon as we faced each other."
"How ?"
"Your moles. And then something… intangible. Something I hadn't felt for another human being ever since I had lost you. I thought it was sexual tension back then, but it was so much more than that."
Dean's hand comes up to stroke Sam's face, fingertips brushing the mole next to his nose, and then pushing his hair out of his eyes, and Sam feels himself going back in time, small child looking up to his big brother for everything, including the love and attention he couldn't get anywhere else.
They hear the train whistling as it gets into close proximity of the station. Sam grips Dean's hand, not ready to let go. Dean squeezes back, bringing their hands on his lap as his right one keeps a tight control on his gun, ready to shoot anyone coming for them. They can still hear a few bullets passing by and the sound of various objects being crushed by the impacts but most shooters are waiting for their next move, just making sure they know they're surrounded.
It takes long, interminable minutes to Sam's anxiety-ridden mind for the train to finally stop. Dean and he look at each other, aware it could be their last moment together, and then Dean turns Sam's universe again with his next words.
"Change of plan : you're the one getting on that train !"
"What ?"
"It makes sense. If Adam is here to chase you and he wants me back so badly, I'm staying with him and you leave with the train so that I'm sure you're safe, far from my gang."
"I don't want to leave you !"
"It's just temporary, Sam. You go back to your farm and I'll come for you. As soon as Adam sees reason, I'll be there and we'll decide what we want to do. Here, take this."
"I don't need your money," Sam tries to refuse when Dean hands him a few coins.
"You'll need it to get on the train back home. It's not my money, Sam, it's ours, just like everything I own. I'm not really rich, no hunter is, but I'm in a better place than you right now. Might be a day when I'll be happy to get your help."
"Okay," Sam finally accepts, somewhat entranced by Dean's gorgeous smile.
"Okay," Dean repeats just before he leans in and kisses Sam, so very gently. "Let's go."
They get on their feet but stay bent in half as they reopen the door, which miraculously can still show a few of her window panes. Dean stays at Sam's right while they run along the train, to protect him with his own body until they reach the door to the first compartment.
Sam knocks and almost instantly the door slides open. A man offers his hand for Sam to help him up inside and, for a minute, he's sure they're gonna make it.
"Wesson !" a chilling shriek booms out behind them, making Sam stop and turn.
He freezes as Adam, his own half-brother, aims at him and watches him with a hatred he's never felt before directed at him.
He's more annoyed than afraid. After grappling with life with all his might these past days and finding a new reason to live, he just can't die now.
He wants to stay with Dean and re-learn to know his brother, making love with him at night and sharing his adventures all day. He wants to watch Junior grow up and become a far better rancher than his old man, get married with a wife he sincerely loves and have children of his own.
"Adam !" he hears Dean order, "you put that gun down right now and stop with the nonsense."
"I always obey your orders, Dean, but this time I won't. Don't you see it ?! He's got you under his spell, and now you think he's our brother. But it can't be. Dad always said Sam was dead. This guy's a sorcerer, or maybe a shapeshifter, but he's not our brother."
"Dad never said that, Adam."
"He did !" Adam screeches, losing it. "He said it to me every time you brought up the subject. He knew he couldn't tell you or you would have left. The real Sam has been dead for so many years, Dean, you have to accept it and get rid of the liar who tried to fool you."
"He never tried to fool me, I was the one bringing it up. I don't know what Dad told you and why, but this is Sam, and I won't let you harm him."
Dean's gun is in his hand, aiming back at Adam, before Sam can see it coming up.
"Stop it, both of you !" he tries for peaceful mediation but Adam's eyes only get that bit colder.
When the shot is heard, Dean has already placed himself in front of Sam and pushed him out of the way. This is why the bullet enters Sam's arm instead of his ribcage, but still the pain feels excruciating - great, he's gonna lose his arm now, just like he lost his foot - and he hardly hears the two other gunshots that have Adam falling to the ground, dead before impact.
Dean turns around to aim at somebody else to their right, ready to shoot again, and Sam's eyes reopen to find Junior, gun still raised in the direction Adam was occupying a few seconds before.
"Dean, no !" he shouts as Dean realizes at the same time who the second shooter was and lowers his arm.
"Get down ! Both of you !" Dean yells to Sam and Junior while he turns and look for the other traitors in his gang.
"Get down too !" Sam orders because Dean is now as much a target to his own men who know it's either kill or being killed after what they did.
Dean kind of obeys, crouching down in front of Sam to protect him, but he's still too easy to spot and Sam tries to take his own gun to help, impaired by his wound. Junior has managed to crawl behind a crate waiting to be loaded in the train and he's shooting back every time a bullet gets too close.
"Come forward, you traitors !" Dean yells again. "Show me you are still men instead of cowards hiding behind Adam's corpse."
There's a long silence meeting his demand and Sam is worried sick, enough that he hardly feels the pain for a moment.
"I'm coming up, boss," a voice says before a huge man looking more like a wrestler than a gunman gets out of his hiding place, hands high above his head and holster clearly empty.
"Turn around," Dean orders, probably to see if the man hasn't hidden his gun inside the waistband of his trousers.
He hasn't, and Dean has him coming closer.
"Good, Gunner, you might not be dead yet. Where's Creedy ?"
"I'm not sure, boss. He was hiding to my right, but I kinda lost him in the shooting."
"What about the other men ?"
"They left when you…"
"We're here, Dean," another voice, heavily accented, cuts him off and Sam remembers this is the guy Dean called Benny, who feels a bit like the cavalry right now, making him feel safe and sighing in relief. "Sorry we didn't go home as you asked, but I found it hard to explain why Adam would want to stay behind. Especially in the state of mind he was recently. So we came back, and we cleaned the town out, you don't need to fear more shooters coming out of the woodwork."
Sam hardly hears his last words, eyes on the cadaver one of Dean's men has thrown between them. Creedy is dead, bullet opening a new hole right in the middle of his forehead.
"Who got him ?" Dean asked.
"None of us," Benny replies. "This fellow here did it, and he claims he's with you."
Sam and Dean turn at once towards the guy Benny is indicating, and they both grin.
Mr. Novak waves at them, half-smiling, half-embarrassed.
Dean takes it upon himself to clean and stitch Sam's wound - the bullet went through and apparently didn't nick any artery so he should keep his arm right where it is supposed to be - and bandage it.
While he works, Junior tells them what happened, and how the doc took three shooters out, clearly trying to make Dean sympathetic to his plight and reconsidering the need to kill him. Sam agrees that, as monsters go, this one might be very helpful.
Of course, against the two of them, Dean stands no chance to disagree. He's too damn happy everything turned out right in the end and that they're all alive. He even accepted a hug from his nephew, once Sam had let go of his son himself. He's still retrospectively scared stiff of what could have happened to him, had Garth Fitzgerald turned out to be a werewolf of the nasty kind they first encountered.
They spend the night back at the hotel. They use the bridal suite again, although they could choose another room since the place has been deserted by many guests after the afternoon ruckus, which allows for the whole gang as well as Mr. Novak and Doc Garth to settle in. Scared about potential retribution after his barman ratted Dean out, the owner lets them have the bedrooms for free. Junior is offered to stay with his dad but he prefers to have his own room, so it's once again Dean and Sam sharing this bed. Sam feels he could easily get used to it. Even if they don't get to do anything remotely sexy because they're too damn tired and Dean far too protective of his wounded brother.
In the morning, Dean announces he and his gang are going to escort the other ones back to Bisbee. The trip back home takes a few more days than it did the other way. There's nothing rushing them, really, and most of Dean's men are good company, rough guys with lots of stories to tell. They try to scare Junior more than once but the kid holds his own and Sam has never been so proud than when Benny declares him a Winchester through and through.
Their return to Bisbee is met with silence and they have to explain to the deputy who took the marshal's place in his absence why they're back with their prisoner. Mr. Novak - who gave Sam his money anyway, and paid Junior as well - tells him the charges have been dropped because of new evidence pointing to Dean Winchester's innocence in this matter. Dean looks furious when he learns that both Marshal and Deputy Cuevas were badly wounded by an unknown party and that they're recovering. Both in bad shape, but still there's hope they'll make it. The doc excuses himself to go see to them right away.
Then it's Mr. Novak's turn to announce he needs to get going, his employer waiting for news. Dean takes him aside and Sam simply follows them.
"I wanted to thank you for your help, man," Dean begins, offering his hand.
Mr. Novak shakes it.
"This was all very mutual, Mr. Winchester. I did nothing but give back the help you extended to us when we were under the werewolves' attack and could have let us all die to escape. And when you protected us from the demon with your sigil."
"Still, you could have gone through with the charges. You know I did rob those boxes, regardless of the fact that you're aware or not of what's in them."
"Mr. Sinclair didn't find it crucial to my mission that I know the content of the coach's cargo. I am merely here to make sure everything go as planned. And failing, obviously."
Dean comes closer and puts his hands on Mr. Novak's shoulders.
"Jimmy, this job's not you. If you ever need a change of horizon and something more satisfying to do, look for me. I can hook you up with better people than Cuthbert Sinclair."
"I know both of you are sworn enemies. Mr. Sinclair is a good employer to me."
"Then let's hope it will stay that way. Still, remember you have somewhere to go if you ever need a backup plan. And stop calling me Mr. Winchester, that was my old man. I'm Dean."
"Very well, Dean, and I shall remember your offer."
They shake hands once again, and then Mr. Novak turns to Sam to exchange a few parting words before he takes his leave.
Alone at last, Sam watches his brother.
"What about us ?" he asks. "Is this where we say goodbye too ? You go back to your life and come say hi once in a while ?"
"What about your family ?" Dean asks back. "Your ranch ?"
Sam looks down before he answers.
"Madison and I have been over for a long while, I was just too stubborn to admit it. She's got someone else, and now I have you. As for the ranch, it's never going to be the garden of Eden, but I was thinking that maybe, in a few years, Junior would like to settle here with his own family and make it his home."
He dares a look back up to see Dean grinning wide.
"You could come with me to the lair," he answers. "I want you to. Either you stay out there, we have a huge ranch around the house that we created to be self-sufficient and it needs dedicated men to make it thrive, men who know the job and are good at it. Or you can ride with me, be a hunter like me, help saving people and hunting monsters, the family business. I've seen you fight, you're not afraid, and you get the job done. I'd love to have you with me, riding through the plains and fighting the good fight."
"You're looking for another Adam to replace the dead one ?"
Dean looks affronted and he takes a step back.
"I'm looking to reconnect with my long lost brother whom I've searched for all my life since he disappeared. But he might be dead to me, just like the one I'm already mourning."
Sam feels bad for being so crass about Adam's death. But it hurts, this feeling that he might have finally found what he's missed for so long, this feeling of belonging, because he could lose it again just as fast as it happened the first time, and with no more understanding of the reason why, if Dean is not serious about them.
Sam grips Dean's hand before he can walk away.
"How do you want me ?" he asks and then clarifies when he sees the question in Dean's eyes. "Just as your brother, or will I be your lover too ?"
A smile lights Dean's face again.
"I don't think I can separate the two positions. You're mine, period."
"Are you mine too ?"
"Always been. It will never change."
Epilogue
Sam's fingers keep reaching for Dean's skin. They love its texture, its softness as well as the uncompromising force of the muscles right below the surface, and the way it contracts or expands with touch and pleasure. They enjoy taking Dean's shaft in hand and caress it, loving it, even while his mouth is busy tasting, awakening such arousal he'd never thought he was capable of. But he is ! Dear God, he so is.
He recalls the last time Dean slid inside him, when his brother deemed him sufficiently healed to make slow and tender love. He had just shown him the court ruling declaring his marriage over - there's definitely some nifty advantages to having a brother who is not afraid of influencing a judge with money or threats - and stated that he was now Dean's, and only Dean's. The slow and tender part had flown out the windowless lair in all of three minutes to morph into sensual, frenetic, almost scary sex, unfathomable need driving them both.
The need is still there. Sam doesn't know how long it will last, when they'll be able to be close without being in each other's space and reaching for the other. He doesn't care. In the meanwhile, he takes great pleasure in touching, mapping the scars all over Dean's body, inventing stories about them while Dean, temporarily forgetting about Adam's death and reassured that Sam is going to be well, is dozing at last.
This one under his chin is the result of a fight in Topeka, back during the war, with a Southern spy disguised as a nun whose plans were foiled by Dean, modern times privateer for the Union. The one nearly bisecting his left calf was inflicted by a scimitar that caused Dean to almost lose his leg - maybe even his life - during an eventful expedition in Egypt, because of a hungry, possessed crocodile whose head had been cut off by a courageous if a bit clumsy local guy. The red raised scar on the inside of his right forearm is clearly recent and its intriguing, reversed F shape will have Sam searching for a valid explanation if he wants his fantasy to be mildly believable. Some cooking implement perhaps, which will of course involve a jealous woman named Fiona marking Dean with a branding iron of her initial and realizing too late that she had it reversed.
Sam snorts and chuckles, amused by his own imagination. He settles his head on Dean's chest and his brother's arm immediately comes around his shoulders, his other hand in his hair. He makes Sam feel content for the first time in his life.
He's got no idea what the future holds for them, but they will be together, he can tell as he feels the still angry scar sliding over the skin of his own shoulder blade and making him shiver. He can't wait to see what life and Dean have in store for him.
End notes : If you feel this leaves you with more questions and worries than some 35,000 words earlier, that's normal. This is the way I wanted the story to go down, because when have the Winchester brothers ever catch a break ? That said, I might once again have a sequel in mind because I can't stop thinking about the universes I create (or borrow). As usual, no promises as to if and when it will happen, since I have a lot on my plate already and many other stories that want to be told.
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