Honey-Trapped 4/?
Chapter 4
It was a strange feeling, sleeping in the bed that used to be Dean's. Bobby lay there in the dark, tired to the bone, but he couldn't sleep. There were too many thoughts running through his head.
An almost full moon shone through the big window front and Bobby couldn't help but wonder why Dean hadn't just broken one of these windows and were gone.
That's what Bobby couldn't understand. Dean would have tried to escape, at least in the beginning.
The only reason Bobby could think of why Dean hadn't escaped was because he hadn't been able to. So if this had been Dean's room from the beginning and if he'd been free to move around the loft like he'd said, what had stopped him? Sam had been at work during the day, lots of time to come up with an escape plan.
Bobby shifted until he lay flat on his back, staring up at the ceiling. It was high above him but the moon was bright enough to see the steel beams holding this place together.
There were two possible explanations: One, this hadn't been Dean's room in the beginning, it had been some kind of upgrade for after Sam had broken him.
Some of the rooms in the basement had no window but they had a sturdy door. Bobby felt sick in the stomach at the thought of Dean frightened and alone in a dark room with Sam's visits his only glimpse of light.
The second explanation Bobby could think of wasn't better. This had been Dean's room from the beginning but Sam had kept him physically in place. Shackles or drugs came to mind.
This was an issue Bobby hadn't stopped thinking about since Dean had told him about what had happened to him. Bobby had hoped to solve it once he saw this place himself but he wasn't closer to an explanation now than he had been before.
Maybe I should just ask, Bobby mused.
But he didn't want to stress Dean more than he already did with his open contempt of Sam.
Dean loved Sam and was willing to forgive and forget but Bobby couldn't. People like that never changed.
It was way after midnight when Bobby drifted off to sleep.
When he woke up the next morning, the sun was high up the sky and Bobby needed a second to recall where he was.
It was almost ten by the time he came down the stairs and Bobby wasn't surprised to find Dean in the kitchen but no Sam. It was Friday, Sam had to work.
"Morning." Dean greeted him with a smile and a coffee. He had some paperwork spread out in front of him.
"Why didn't you wake me?" Bobby grumbled and took a sip. The expensive looking coffeemaker was worth every cent. Bobby closed his eyes for a second when the rich aroma of the coffee filled his mouth and nose. This was good.
"You looked like you needed some sleep." Dean shrugged. "No need to hurry anyway, we have time. Sam's the one who has to work by the clock."
"You get up with him every morning?" Bobby guessed, shamelessly fishing for information.
"Usually." He nodded, sharing easily. "We have breakfast together before he goes to his work and I go to mine." He gave Bobby a smirk over the rim of his cup. "Just because I don't work by the clock doesn't mean I don't have deadlines. People can get really pushy when something takes too long, especially people with money."
"Look at you, boy." Bobby raised his cup in a mock salute. "All Mister Business."
"Shut up." Dean shot back and hurried to gather his papers. "I kept some pancakes in the oven for you, if you like."
While Bobby ate his breakfast, Dean told him about his business. Bobby knew that Dean built toy cars, most of them custom-made, but he hadn't thought about all the work regarding to it. Dean showed him some sketches and then the notes of what the customer wanted to change or change back or what he'd forgotten to mention in the first place. Bobby had never thought that Dean could have such a patience with some stubborn idjit.
"I try to get as close to the customer's idea as possible." Dean pointed at the changes he had added to the sketch. "But in the end it's still my design."
"Are there any easy customers?" How somebody could get riled up over the curve of a fender was beyond him.
"There was this one woman." Dean's eyes became a bit dreamy. "Shortest and most awesome instruction ever: Your version of the Batmobile." He even made air-quotes for the last bit. "The pictures are in the next bunch that goes on the website, you should have a look at it."
"I will." Bobby promised.
After Bobby had finished his pancakes, they cleaned up the kitchen and then they left to visit the scrap yard guy Dean had mentioned.
Behind the wheel of his beloved Impala Dean looked like nothing bad had ever happened to him. He cranked up the radio when they played one of his favorite songs and he even sang along under his breath while he tapped the rhythm on his thigh.
Bobby sank deeper into his seat, relaxing for the first time since he had arrived. Or since Dean had told him. Or since he had his first suspicions about John. Bobby wasn't sure. He just knew that he'd never before seen Dean this carefree and happy.
Maybe he should grant Sam the benefit of a doubt.
"Don't let Barney scare you." Dean interrupted his thoughts when he pulled into the yard. "He looks like the lovechild of Frankenstein's Monster and Cousin Itt but he's a great guy."
Bobby raised an eyebrow at that description but when he saw the man stepping out of the office a second later he got what Dean meant. If he didn't know better he'd say that this man couldn't possibly be human.
"Barney, hey." Dean shook the man's hand and gave him a friendly clap on the shoulder. "This is a friend of mine, Bobby."
Barney's hand swallowed Bobby's as if it was a child's hand but he didn't crush it.
"Heard a few words about you." The man said and the corners of his mouth twitched as if there was a smile tucking on them.
"I don't talk about him that much." Dean muttered and ducked his head but Bobby noticed him blushing. "I only mentioned that you have a salvage yard and that I hung out there a lot as a kid." Dean hurried to explain but the way Barney shook his head, Bobby knew Dean had said a bit more than that. And he coulnd't deny the fuzzy feeling in his stomach at that thought.
"You want to have a look around first?" Barney asked. "I have a box of stuff you might be interested in over there." He nodded to the side of the building. "I'll be inside when you're ready."
He didn't even wait for Dean's "Thanks, man." and headed back inside.
"You come here often?" Bobby asked while he watched Barney turning a bit sideways to fit through the door.
"I get most of my stuff here." Dean started walking. "There are a few other places but I come here first. By now Barney knows what I'm looking for, I'm going to take whatever he's put in that box."
They made their way through the yard.
While Bobby only had old cars, Barney had everything from ovens over iron gates to broken door knobs. Most of it lay in piles, sorted by metal, just waiting to be sold by the ton.
Bobby half-expected Dean to climb the piles like he'd climbed stacks of dead cars back home when he'd been a teenager. It had given him heart-attacks and back then he'd at least known where the nearest hospital was.
But it looked like Dean had developed some sense of self preservation since then and didn't start to climb the piles of rusty metal with sharp edges.
When they finally came back to the office, Dean had his own little pile of scrap right next to the box Barney had prepared for him.
"About this other thing." Dean said when he'd paid for the scrap. "Do you have time sometime next week? I need to get the stuff out before this presentation thing." He made a face that told them clearly what he thought about that idea and Barney's mouth made that almost smile twitch again. Bobby kinda liked the guy.
They came up with a date and then Barney helped them putting all the stuff in the Impala.
He lifted the box as if it was nothing. His eyes fell on Bobby and he made a face as if he'd forgotten something important for a second but before Bobby could make sense out of it he'd walked off stiffly.
"He's a strong guy." Dean said and motioned for Bobby to help him with the rest. Bobby felt like he was missing something here but he couldn't put his finger on it.
Back at Sam's place, Bobby couldn't bring himself to think of it as Dean's home as well, he helped Dean unloading the car. Even together they struggled with the box Barney had carried alone but with a little effort they stored everything away.
After that they went back upstairs for a well-earned beer.
"This Barney is quite a character." Bobby observed.
"He is." Dean agreed with a smile half-hidden behind the neck of his beer.
"You know more strange people around here?"
"A few." Came Dean's cryptic answer with a smile as if Bobby was missing a joke again.
But it was good to know that Dean had other contacts than Sam.
Back in Sioux Falls Dean hadn't been the most social person. He had been quite familiar with the bars where he had found more beer and hard liquor than it was good for him and hook-ups for one night when he felt like it. And of course there was Sheriff Mills who had plucked him off the places he'd been too young to visit. Other than that Dean had kept to himself.
He had left at the age of eighteen and as far as Bobby knew Dean had never stayed in one place long enough for somebody to remember his name.
And here was Barney who didn't even know Dean's name but also knew him well enough to know what he was looking for and to have a box full of it ready for him.
Dean was putting down roots here.
For a late lunch they had some quick sandwiches and after that Dean almost hesitantly asked if it was okay to leave Bobby to himself for a bit. He wanted to get some work done before Sam came home.
"You don't have to babysit me." Bobby rolled his eyes at him. "Go to work, I'm going to read for a bit."
"Great. There is this bar and grill Sammy and I like to go to, how about dinner there. Some beers and a game of pool later?" He looked hopeful.
"Sure, why not?" Bobby agreed. An evening in public with Sam would probably turn out less homicidal than staying home.
Bobby waited until he was sure that Dean was working before he went upstairs. At the door of Sam and Dean's bedroom he hesitated for a second but then he opened it. He wasn't sure what he was hoping to find but he needed to take a look.
Dean's half of the closet was the more messy one while Sam sorted even his underwear by color. A pair of pink briefs was the most scandalous thing he found in the closet and the rest of the bedroom was pretty ordinary as well.
Except for the bed which was bigger than normal and the chest full of sex toys right at the end of it.
"That's what you get for snooping around, idjit." Bobby muttered and closed the chest.
Chapter 5
Masterpost