Supernatural fic - "Walk With You In Dreams" (Part Nine)
See the masterpost for summary, disclaimer, and previous parts.
Three blow-out fights and four days later, the black Impala pulled into Bobby Singer's Salvage Yard. Bobby was greeted by two very surly, unpleasant Winchesters. Dean slammed the driver's door shut and stormed past Bobby without so much as a hello.
Bobby turned to Sam for explanation, and Sam was all bitchface and fuming annoyance.
Not one for family drama, especially with the chalk-full of drama Winchesters, Bobby laid into Sam. "I thought I told you the longer this goes, the harder it's going to be to flush out," Bobby snarled. "What the hell took you so long?"
Sam, usually possessing of a much longer fuse, snapped, "He's what took so long! He doesn't want to do it, Bobby! I practically had to tie him up and throw in him the back seat to get him to come here. Dean wants to keep seeing that invisible woman!"
Bobby gaped, wondered briefly where the afflicted Winchester in question had stomped off to, then decided he better start at the beginning. "All right, well, tell me who exactly Dean's seeing." Naturally, Bobby assumed it was Mary. He could understand why Dean wouldn't want his mother to disappear, even a hallucination of her. But he had decided to let Sam tell it; with that kid, the telling was cathartic in its own right.
"Her name's Carmen," Sam answered.
"Carmen?"
Sam nodded. "Apparently, she's his girlfriend."
Bobby's eyebrows shot up. "A girlfriend?" Bobby tried to wrap his head around that… and failed. "Dean's going all Sixth Sense over a girlfriend? Doesn't that sound a little out of character for your brother?" That older Winchester boy could - and did - walk into a bar and come out with just about any woman he set his eyes on. Why bother daydreaming about something he could have any day of the week?
"You have no idea," Sam responded. "When I finally confronted him about still seeing things from the djinn hallucination, he starts talking to her, like she's right there in the room with us. It was creepy."
Bobby frowned. "But he knows she's not really there, right?"
Sam looked up at Bobby, eyes forlorn. "Honestly, Bobby, I don't know if he does or not."
Bobby sighed. "Let me talk to your brother."
****************************
Dean was sitting on the hood of the hollowed-out body of a 1968 Shelby Mustang, Carmen sitting quietly beside him, when Bobby found him.
"Hey, Dean," Bobby said as he walked around to stand in front of Dean, purposefully making it hard for Dean not to look at him.
Dean scowled and did not answer.
Bobby, obviously content to wait it out, backed up to the twisted shape of a totaled Chevelle and sat down on the warped metal, hands in his pockets.
A show-down to see who cracked first began.
It was Carmen. She leaned toward Dean and asked softly, "Aren't you going to introduce me?"
Dean looked sharply at her.
Bobby caught the movement. "Hear something?"
Dean turned a fiery glare on Bobby. "Why don't you just come out and say it? You think I'm crazy, too."
"No, I don't. You're just impaired."
Dean barked out a humorless laugh.
Carmen lightly touched Dean's arm. "I think you two need to be alone."
"No," Dean automatically replied, but he bit his tongue before he said anything more to her in front of Bobby.
Carmen smiled reassuringly. "I'm coming back." Then she got off the Shelby and left. Dean didn't actually see where she went, but he didn't question it.
"It's not your fault, kid," Bobby continued. Dean wanted to laugh. Bobby thought Dean had been talking to him. "It's that damn djinn that got to you."
Dean crossed his arms petulantly. "Sam told me about the cleansing process you want to do."
Bobby nodded. "It's for the best."
Dean narrowed a disbelieving look at the older man.
Bobby, surprisingly, looked apologetic. "I don't want to have to do it, Dean." At Dean's sarcastic snort, Bobby continued, "Trust me, there are people I've lost… if I got them back, for any reason, I wouldn't question it. Wouldn't want to change it." Bobby shrugged. "So I get it. But that's not reality, and people like us… we have little enough to hang on to without dealing with imaginary people." Bobby scuffed one tattered shoe in the dirt. "What happens when you let someone like Carmen become real to you? How's that going to interfere with the way you see spirits? Ghosts? You gotta keep that line between flesh and blood and not razor sharp, Dean."
Dean scowled… he didn't like the fact that Bobby made sense.
"Hunters can't start making exceptions for the inhuman. Our lives depend on honed instincts that know the difference between real and supernatural in a heartbeat. You can't have to think about it." Bobby frowned and readjusted his trucker's cap. "I know you probably love her, kid… but we gotta stop what's going on with you. It's not fair, but it has to be done."
Dean slumped against the faded car hood, sick with all the logic in Bobby's words.
Bobby knew when to retreat and when to push his point. He stood up and came close enough to put a hand on Dean's shoulder. The squeeze he gave Dean's shoulder was not unsympathetic. "We'll be inside when you're ready." With that, Bobby trudged back toward the house.
Dean buried his face in his hands, head bowed under the afternoon sun, very much aware of the Shelby under him and Carmen in front of him.
****************************
Part Ten
Three blow-out fights and four days later, the black Impala pulled into Bobby Singer's Salvage Yard. Bobby was greeted by two very surly, unpleasant Winchesters. Dean slammed the driver's door shut and stormed past Bobby without so much as a hello.
Bobby turned to Sam for explanation, and Sam was all bitchface and fuming annoyance.
Not one for family drama, especially with the chalk-full of drama Winchesters, Bobby laid into Sam. "I thought I told you the longer this goes, the harder it's going to be to flush out," Bobby snarled. "What the hell took you so long?"
Sam, usually possessing of a much longer fuse, snapped, "He's what took so long! He doesn't want to do it, Bobby! I practically had to tie him up and throw in him the back seat to get him to come here. Dean wants to keep seeing that invisible woman!"
Bobby gaped, wondered briefly where the afflicted Winchester in question had stomped off to, then decided he better start at the beginning. "All right, well, tell me who exactly Dean's seeing." Naturally, Bobby assumed it was Mary. He could understand why Dean wouldn't want his mother to disappear, even a hallucination of her. But he had decided to let Sam tell it; with that kid, the telling was cathartic in its own right.
"Her name's Carmen," Sam answered.
"Carmen?"
Sam nodded. "Apparently, she's his girlfriend."
Bobby's eyebrows shot up. "A girlfriend?" Bobby tried to wrap his head around that… and failed. "Dean's going all Sixth Sense over a girlfriend? Doesn't that sound a little out of character for your brother?" That older Winchester boy could - and did - walk into a bar and come out with just about any woman he set his eyes on. Why bother daydreaming about something he could have any day of the week?
"You have no idea," Sam responded. "When I finally confronted him about still seeing things from the djinn hallucination, he starts talking to her, like she's right there in the room with us. It was creepy."
Bobby frowned. "But he knows she's not really there, right?"
Sam looked up at Bobby, eyes forlorn. "Honestly, Bobby, I don't know if he does or not."
Bobby sighed. "Let me talk to your brother."
****************************
Dean was sitting on the hood of the hollowed-out body of a 1968 Shelby Mustang, Carmen sitting quietly beside him, when Bobby found him.
"Hey, Dean," Bobby said as he walked around to stand in front of Dean, purposefully making it hard for Dean not to look at him.
Dean scowled and did not answer.
Bobby, obviously content to wait it out, backed up to the twisted shape of a totaled Chevelle and sat down on the warped metal, hands in his pockets.
A show-down to see who cracked first began.
It was Carmen. She leaned toward Dean and asked softly, "Aren't you going to introduce me?"
Dean looked sharply at her.
Bobby caught the movement. "Hear something?"
Dean turned a fiery glare on Bobby. "Why don't you just come out and say it? You think I'm crazy, too."
"No, I don't. You're just impaired."
Dean barked out a humorless laugh.
Carmen lightly touched Dean's arm. "I think you two need to be alone."
"No," Dean automatically replied, but he bit his tongue before he said anything more to her in front of Bobby.
Carmen smiled reassuringly. "I'm coming back." Then she got off the Shelby and left. Dean didn't actually see where she went, but he didn't question it.
"It's not your fault, kid," Bobby continued. Dean wanted to laugh. Bobby thought Dean had been talking to him. "It's that damn djinn that got to you."
Dean crossed his arms petulantly. "Sam told me about the cleansing process you want to do."
Bobby nodded. "It's for the best."
Dean narrowed a disbelieving look at the older man.
Bobby, surprisingly, looked apologetic. "I don't want to have to do it, Dean." At Dean's sarcastic snort, Bobby continued, "Trust me, there are people I've lost… if I got them back, for any reason, I wouldn't question it. Wouldn't want to change it." Bobby shrugged. "So I get it. But that's not reality, and people like us… we have little enough to hang on to without dealing with imaginary people." Bobby scuffed one tattered shoe in the dirt. "What happens when you let someone like Carmen become real to you? How's that going to interfere with the way you see spirits? Ghosts? You gotta keep that line between flesh and blood and not razor sharp, Dean."
Dean scowled… he didn't like the fact that Bobby made sense.
"Hunters can't start making exceptions for the inhuman. Our lives depend on honed instincts that know the difference between real and supernatural in a heartbeat. You can't have to think about it." Bobby frowned and readjusted his trucker's cap. "I know you probably love her, kid… but we gotta stop what's going on with you. It's not fair, but it has to be done."
Dean slumped against the faded car hood, sick with all the logic in Bobby's words.
Bobby knew when to retreat and when to push his point. He stood up and came close enough to put a hand on Dean's shoulder. The squeeze he gave Dean's shoulder was not unsympathetic. "We'll be inside when you're ready." With that, Bobby trudged back toward the house.
Dean buried his face in his hands, head bowed under the afternoon sun, very much aware of the Shelby under him and Carmen in front of him.
****************************
Part Ten