hasperkynipples | In Which Dean Blows his Cover

[Cowritten with

ilove_atallman. Set about six months after THIS.]

He was bleeding. Bleeding wasn't a good sign.

His weight slumped into Ruby as he let her haul him up the stairs to the front of Bobby's old house, glancing back over her shoulder. The demons were coming and they were coming fast. She knew that going to Bobby was the right choice, strategically speaking, and that it was safe, but she wasn't ignoring the fact that this was going to blow their cover in a big way. Dean wouldn't be able to guarantee that Bobby would keep his mouth shut to Sam, but he was right in saying that they didn't have any other choice. She hauled them up the stairs letting Dean still lean heavily on her as she knocked loudly on the door.

"C'mon, Bobby," he sighed. "Open up."

Bobby had been going through his books, looking for a certain one Sam wanted him to ship out for his and Beth's latest job. When he heard the knock, then the voice, his eyes narrowed. He grabbed his knife and went to the door, opening it just inches, and glaring out. "..What the fuck.."

"Look, Bobby," Dean winced slightly, as Ruby shifted against where he was injured to try and brace his weight better. "I know I have a lot of explaining to do, but I don't have anywhere else to go. I swear I'm not a demon or a shapeshifter, just please." Bobby could probably see the swatch of red where Dean was bleeding from, and as it spread onto Ruby, who was holding a hand to the wound as she tried to keep Dean on his feet.

He stared at them longer, more glares going Ruby's way. He gripped his knife tightly. "I'm supposed t'believe ya?"

Ruby sighed heavily, before shifting Dean so that he was standing up more. "Splash him with holy water if you don't think it's true, but it is, Bobby, and if you don't let him in now, he's going to bleed out all over your porch and you're going to have to bury him. Again."

"You're damn right you owe me an explanation," Bobby muttered. He stepped back, water at hand in his pocket just in case. "Put 'em on the couch."

Ruby nodded, before hauling Dean inside, and setting him down gently on the couch, starting to pull his shirt out of the way so that she could get a better look at the slice in his side. She couldn't look outside, but now that there was light, she could see better. "How bad?" Dean asked through gritted teeth, looking over at her.

"Bad enough," she replied, before helping him sit up and shed both the jacket and one of the shirts he was wearing, placing the shirt against the wound to try and stay the bleeding, while she went to windows. "We don't have a lot of time -- is there anywhere safer than this?" That question was directed at Bobby, because she was pretty sure that Dean had no idea.

"Sure," Bobby nodded. "But you ain't gettin' in." That's the thing about his demon-proof panic room. No demons allowed.

"I can live with that," Ruby said with a sigh. "Just so long as he's safe, we'll be good." She started to move back towards the Dean, and getting him back on his feet again. "Where?"

"I got 'em," Bobby nodded. He moved over to throw an arm under Dean's arms and pulled the boy's weight over. He glanced at Ruby. "You sit tight, case I wanna talk. And I mean it...you can't follow him unless you wanna be dead."

Dean leaned into Bobby's shoulder, and Ruby sighed slightly, before looking back at him. "If you're gonna patch him up while you're down there, I'm going to see if I can go head off any sentries. Keep us from being found for a little while longer."

Bobby nodded. "Sounds good." He turned and started pulling Dean towards the panic room. If he had a doubt before, he'd know in just a moment if Dean was a demon.

Dean followed Bobby's lead, leaning into his shoulder and letting him take him. He wanted to just melt into the older man's hold. He had missed Bobby so much, but he figured that hugs and catching up could wait till he wasn't bleeding to death. He moved along as best he could, his body starting to get lazy and lethargic from the loss of blood.

Bobby pulled Dean into the panic room and slammed the door shut, before leading Dean to a cot and laying him down. He left him there a moment and moved to gather things to start putting him back together. "Gonna pass out on me or start explainin'?"

Dean sighed slightly, before looking down at the wound before looking up at him. "About a year and a half ago, an angel pulled me out of Hell and put me back in my body."

"What the hell for?" Bobby sat beside Dean and started cleaning him up.

"I am just that pretty," he tried weakly with a smirk.

Bobby glared. "What took ya so long to come here? You seen Sam?"

Dean looked away from Bobby at this point. "Don't you think if Sam knew, you would have heard about it? And I wouldn't have shown up here with just Ruby?"

"What ya doin' with her, anyway? And what've you been doin' for over a year?" Bobby angrily through a bloodied towel across the room. "You damned idjit!"

Dean's eyes dropped to the ground. "The first year -- Ruby put me back together, Bobby. I know it's weird to say, but I could barely wipe my own ass, let alone handle myself against a team of demons. She protected me, she helped me -- I wouldn't be here without her."

"And what're your plans now? You've missed a lot."

Dean grit his teeth slightly, before looking over at him. "You can't tell Sam."

"What do ya mean I can't tell Sam?! He's your brother!"

"It's only going to get him killed, Bobby. I can't let that happen."

Bobby shook his head. "Ya don't know that...and ya don't know how hard it's been...on all of us, with you gone."

Dean closed his eyes for a moment. "The last time I dragged Sam back into this life, his girlfriend died and then later he died -- actually died. I can't go through that again, Bobby. I can't do that to him again -- and things are twice as bad as they were before."

"You think you're doin' some kinda favor for him...ya ain't." Bobby got up, done with what he could for Dean and went to grab some food from the mini fridge. "And you know that girl won't even step foot in my house?"

"Girl?" Dean frowned, not sure what he meant by that. He tried to think back, sifting through the memories in his head to try and find the girl that Bobby was referring to. Sam didn't have a girlfriend when he died -- not that Dean could remember. "What girl?"

Bobby froze a bit and looked over, then sighed and shook his head. "Nothin'. Forget I said anything."

Dean watched him for a minute, before shaking his head and letting it go. It wasn't important now. "Look, it may not be helping Sam, but it's not hurting him either. And I can't do the same thing I did to him before. He never wanted this life, Bobby. I'm not going to force him back into it again." He looked up at him, pleading as he slid his legs over the side of the cot and got into a sitting position. "Please. You can't tell him."

The man sighed. He didn't know that anything he said would change Dean's mind and that hurt him. He knew how much Sam and Beth missed Dean. Sure, they had moved on, but they had to. They all still had a huge hole in their lives, though. Then again, he wasn't so sure how Dean would take the news of Sam and Beth. A part of him wanted to explain it, before Dean found out another way. He just sighed again and shook his head. "Yea, won't say anything. Yet." He scratched his beard and handed Dean a plate of crackers with cheese and salami. "Planin' on....lookin' for anyone else?"

Dean paused for a moment, before starting to pick at the food. "Like who?"

Bobby kept quiet for a minute, before grabbing two beers and passing one over. "Weren't you seein' a pretty, young girl...before..?"

Dean took the beer, wincing slightly at the motion as he sorted through the memories again, trying to find the person Bobby was talking about. "You're gonna have to help me out a bit, Bobby -- stuff from right before is a little hazy."

He watched Dean for awhile, unsure if he wanted it to click. Then he looked to the floor. "Beth."

It hit after a minute, all the memories coming rushing back to him, and he swallowed slightly. And then, once he had the face to place with the name, he realized the girl Bobby was talking about. He looked down again, his eyes falling to the plate in front of him. "She's better off with him."

"Is she?" Bobby's arms crossed.

"Yeah," Dean stated firmly. "She is. No more people are dying because of me."

"Save yer self-pity for them, if that's how yer gonna be, but don't fuckin' tell me you don't want them both back - just like it was. I ain't stupid and I don't appreciate bein' spoken to like one."

"I miss 'em like hell," Dean said with a sigh, looking up at Bobby with pleading eyes. "But -- I don't fit there anymore. I'm not the same and neither are they. They should just -- be happy."

"Or you should let them make that decision. What would make 'em happy. I'd've been happier you comin' to me sooner. No matter what shit you brought along."

"I was in Hell for two years, Bobby. But time wasn't the same there. Each month, was bascially ten years. So I was in Hell for two hundred forty years. I've got a lot of things I need to make right." He closed his eyes for a moment, before leaning back against the cot. "I don't want to go back to Sam until I've done what I can to try. He deserves better than that."

Bobby just shook his head. He didn't want to argue anymore, even though he still thought Dean was being a complete idiot.

Dean closed his eyes after a moment, a hand coming up to rub his forehead lightly. He was tired, and his whole body hurt, but he didn't want to fall asleep on Bobby quite next. He missed him too much. He needed him more than he cared to admit. But there wasn't much he could do about it. He wasn't going to put Sam in danger, he certainly wasn't going to get Bobby hurt. But he was safe here -- this was home for him, and it didn't take long for his breathing to start to even out and he drifted into an exhausted sleep.

Bobby leaned back in the chair he sat in and watched over Dean, sipping his beer. And he planned on staying in that position until the boy woke up again.

Dean was only out for a few hours before he started to twitch as the memories started to creep into his mind again. He shifted slightly on the cot, moaning slightly in his sleep as a look of fear crossed his face, unable to quite wake himself up, but not able to suppress the images either.

Bobby jumped slightly at that and watched. When he realized Dean wasn't waking, he moved over and sat beside him, taking his hand tightly. "It's alright, boy. I'm here."

When Dean finally did fight his way out of it, he was shaking. His eyes darted around for a moment, trying to focus and figure out where he was, when his eyes landed on Bobby, he relaxed a little, but still not completely as he squeezed Bobby's hand slightly.

Bobby just squeezed his hand back, keeping quiet, and waiting on Dean.

"Ruby -- " he paused for a minute as he sat up again. "She usually gives me somethin' to help me sleep. But, uh -- she can't get in here."

"I'll get it," he nodded. "You gonna be okay here?"

"Yeah," Dean said with a small smile. "You said demon-proof, right?"

"Yea, well...ain't seen ya in a couple years. Scuse me for bein' overprotective," he grumbled, making his way for the door to go and fine Ruby.

Ruby wasn't far. She was sitting on the basement stairs actually, looking a little bloodier than Bobby probably would have liked, but most of it wasn't hers. "How's he doing?"

"He'll make it," Bobby grumbled. "He needs t'sleep. Ya got somethin'?"

"Yeah," she sighed, before unzipping her jacket and reaching into the inside pocket. She handed over a small a small pill container. "One knocks him out for about eight hours -- no nightmares."

He took it and glanced at her with a raised brow. "And what the hell you givin' him?"

"Rohypnol," she sighed. "I tried doing it with witchcraft, which is a helluva lot safer then chemicals, but he's more comfortable this way. Witchcraft isn't so harmless if the person doesn't want it.

Bobby took the pills from her, possibly with a bit of a snatch, and nodded his head once. "Right. Thanks." Then he turned to head back to Dean.

Ruby just rolled her eyes as she leaned back on the stairs, resting her elbows on the stair above her. "Tell Dean that we should be clear till morning, but we should head out as soon as we can. I doubt he wants to draw any more attention to you than he already has."

"And just where you takin' him?" He spun around to face her.

Ruby shrugged. "Don't know yet. I'm not the one who calls the shots. I just know that if we stand still for too long, we wind up getting killed. So I keep him moving as best I can."

"He's safe where he's at."

"For now," Ruby said with a pointed look in Bobby's direction. "As much as you want to, you can't keep him, Bobby. He can't stay. Eventually, the wrong kind of demon's going to find their way around that room, and Dean'll be a sitting duck. I want to keep that from happening, and in order to do that, we need to keep moving."

Bobby glared. "You ain't his family. Safety on an open road ain't nothin'. He's better off here, where I can watch out for him."

"Look. He can't just stay here for the rest of his life. He's got work he needs to do, and he can't do it here. Castiel -- the angel, by the way, in case Dean forgot to mention that -- has orders for us, and if Dean wants any kind of shot at peace after this life, he needs to get them done." Ruby crossed her arms in front of her chest, meeting Bobby's glare with one of her own. "You want to keep him here, with the nightmares and make him live with the things he did, fine -- but if he goes back out there, he has a chance to make things right, to fix things, and be able to live with himself at the end of the day. So I'm sorry if it's not the ideal situation for you? But it's something he has to do."

She paused for a moment, moving closer to him and dropping her voice. "You weren't there when he first came back, alright? And I know that's no fault of yours, but the kid was damn near suicidal because he couldn't live with the guilt of what he did in Hell, and while it may not seem like it, going out there, fighting this fight? It helps him. He feels like he's fixing something. You want to deal with the whole weight of what Dean went through down there, fine, keep him in your racist little tube, but if you'd rather not know? Let me do my fucking job."

He glared down at her as she spoke, his arms crossed tightly. "You turn on my kid and I'll slice you down m'self," he said in a quiet whisper. Then he turned again to go back to Dean. "Give him a night's sleep."

Ruby nodded slowly, before heading up the stairs again. "I've got some bodies to salt and burn. I'll be back in the morning."

Bobby gave her no reply, just went back into the room with Dean. "Here," he tossed the bottle to Dean.

Dean caught the pill bottle with the arm on his good side, before working to get it open. He'd heard most of the conversation, because Ruby learned a long time ago that keeping things from Dean was pointless, so most of it was loud enough for him to hear. "She's just doing her job, Bobby."

"And I'm doin' mine," he said, sitting back down with his beer.

Dean sighed slightly, before sliding one of the pills out into his hand and studying it for a moment. The temptation was still there, in the back of his mind, to just take the pills and end it all, but he pushed it back -- he wasn't going to do that here, to Bobby. He closed the bottle and placed it down on one of the tables, before popping the pill and washing it down with a swig of beer. "I'll see you in the morning," he murmured, curling up on his side slowly as he did, already starting to feel the drug's effect on his system.

Bobby nodded and sighed, dropping his chin into his hand and shaking his head slowly. "This ain't gonna be easy," he muttered to himself.

"Never is," Dean murmured, before his eyes finally fell closed and he drifted off to sleep.