Part 6

Sam jerked back visibly upset by his brother's question. "Dad? Dad's dead, Dean. Remember the accident. . ." He didn't want to say more. He hoped he didn't have to say more.

Dean tried to sit up, but then noticed his hand was in a splint and throbbing. "And he came back," the injured man explained. He opened his eyes wide. "Mom made a deal. Sammy, I saw him. You did too." He lifted his hands and waved it at the other hunters. They had been witness to John's resurrection. "Mac? Caleb?"

Caleb's mouth dropped open. Dean was coherent but speaking nonsense, painful nonsense about his father. And Caleb knew Dean wasn't a cruel person so that only meant one thing.

It was Mackland who intervened for all of them. "Son, John isn’t here."

Reaves recovered and gave the injured hunter a quirky grin. "Hell, Deuce, if he was back he'd be here telling you to suck it up."

Dean licked his lips. He was thirsty and confused. They were wrong, so wrong. They were either lying to him or telling the truth. Worse- the demon could be involved and this was a part of his scheme.

Ames had left the room and returned with a glass of water. He handed it to Dean, who looked at it suspiciously.

"We're going to have to prove this." Sam knew his brother. His distrust was warranted after what they had suffered. "Dean, what's the last thing you remember?" Sam asked with a gentle tone.

Dean took a sip of water. "Rich blowing himself up."

"Before that?" Sam continued his prompting. He couldn’t allow his brother to believe their father was alive. That belief was dangerous.

"We brought Dad here after he came back." Dean rolled his eyes. He was losing patience. He wanted to see John. He shifted himself, readying to get out of bed.

"In Ohio?" Sam placed a hand on his brother's shoulder, forcing him to stay put. "Caleb called us, told us to meet him here to join up with him on a case." Seeing the different emotions on Dean's face, he continued. "Mac and Bobby were here. They had something important to look into, so we went to Knoxville. . ."

Dean rested his head back. This was sounding all too familiar. But still his father had been so real. He had one last hope. "Cristo." Nothing happened. For Dean it would have been better to believe that everyone around him, his friends and his brother were possessed, rather than face the knowledge his father was gone again.

Sam shook his head. "We're not possessed and neither are you. It never happened."

Caleb had not intruded on the brother dynamic; Sam would bring his brother to the truth. "You believe us, Deuce? This all making sense? 'cause you have us kinda worried." Reaves lifted his hand. "We're wearing our rings, and Sam still has his magical charm. The body snatchers haven’t been here."

Dean knew the rings offered protection against possession as did Bobby's charm, but he was still tempted to get some holy water and check for a reaction. Mackland brought him to his senses.

"I'm sorry, Dean. It must be like losing your father all over again." The doctor said sincerely.

Dean still had the glass of water in his hand. He took another sip. Dean was unable to answer. He could recall everything about his father so clearly - the scent of cheap detergent that never fully washed out of their clothes, part gun oil, and salt. It was a unique combination of the tools of the trade. John's conspicuous whiskers on his face and his throaty, twangy voice. Dean ached for the opportunity he had with John.

But, at least his mother wasn’t as condemned as their father. That had been the hardest to bear. "It's sort of a relief."

"Pff, I'm relieved too. I can imagine the choice words Johnny would have for us." Caleb said, thinking John Winchester would be none to happy with the Knight to be. "Must have been some dream."

Dean pinched the bridge of his nose. He wished the well meaning hunters would leave him in peace for awhile. He was feeling every conceivable emotion. "Yeah, I guess." He noticed his silver ring was missing.

Caleb saw the concern. "It's on the nightstand." It was rare that Dean was ever without the ring. The band represented how important The Brotherhood was to him, the protection he believed it offered. The faith he had in his fellow brothers, and in his blood brother. "Your hand was swelling, and I thought you might want to keep the circulation."

Dean fumbled for the ring. The tips of his fingers brushed the inside of the band and detected a change in the metal. He gave it a quick glance. "While I was out you had it engraved?"

"What?" Sam was moving off the bed, and the mattress springs squeaked.

Somehow Dean knew he needed to keep the evolution of the ring quiet. He would read the inscription in private. "Nothing," he mumbled. "That guy exploded - didn’t he?" He was sure that was a true memory, but wanted confirmation.

"Yeah," Caleb replied. With his hands he reenacted the event.

Dean shook his head at Reaves's perverted attempted at humor. "I couldn’t have just imagined that part."

"No, unfortunately, and you have some injuries too." Mackland held out two Extra Strength Tylenol. "Here, just normal pain relievers."

Dean swallowed them, then emptied the remaining water from the glass.

Caleb waited for Dean's usual sarcastic remarks, and wanted to hear more about John Winchester. However, Dean only stared at the hunters with a poor attempt at being patient for them to leave.

"We should let you get some rest." Mackland placed a hand on his son's shoulder and gave it a squeeze to prompt him to move.

They went towards the door with Sam lagging behind. He hesitated at the door and closed it. He needed to speak to his brother. "I know you want some space. . ."

"I'd like ten feet to myself, but since that restraining order isn’t likely to come through any time soon, you might as well take a seat and tell me what's on your mind." Dean would be unable to have his inner dialogue with Sam's hovering, unasked questions. He would probably have to have a conversation later with Caleb too.

Sam took the seat vacated by Reaves. "So in your dream with Dad. . .what happened?"

Dean owed it to his brother to be honest and share their father. It didn't matter that everything occurred in a dream state. "He was trying to fix things." Dean had been looking at Sam, but saw the burden of guilt suddenly crash on his brother's shoulders, weighing his head forward. Dean focused on the white ceiling, and retreated to humor. "Real upset about Anna Nicole Smith though."

One side of Sam's mouth tried to attempt a grin, but failed. "What was he trying to fix?"

Dean decided to summarize. The details of the Winchester brothers’ wrongdoings -physical and emotional - would only cause the fresh scabs to bleed. "Pissed off that we seem to attract trouble - like the apple doesn’t fall that far from the tree." Dean snorted.

Sam was not rebuffed by the amusing observations. He had willfully chosen the hunter's life to make up for the previous pains he had caused his father, then became driven when he learned about his demon destiny. Sam hoped it had been the right commitment - the one to lead him to salvation. "Any solutions?"

Dean wished their father had told him of another weapon, but the dream had been solely for ulterior reasons. There was still a stalemate between the demon and the Winchesters. "Not really, just that we were going to tackle it together as a family." Dean moved his hand across the sheet, closer to his brother, but not enough to span the distance. "He knew I could save you."

Sam didn't notice his brother's hand, seeing only the battered and bruised soul before him. "Not tonight though."

Dean winced. Tomorrows were made for deliverance. He could feel Sam still staring at him. "What?"

"When you were lying here . . . It just reminded me. . ."

"Get some rest." Dean gave a cue for his brother to leave. They were not going to return to the beginning of Dean waking up in a hospital room back from the brink of death. They had come too far to dwell in the past.

Sam was satisfied. He didn't want to go back to the events of several months ago either. "You too." The youngest Winchester left the room, closing the door behind him.

He went down the stairs, looked in the kitchen for a moment for Caleb, and then found him outside on the porch. The older hunter was staring out into the distance. He acknowledged Sam's presence with a question.

"Kinda strange - Deuce convinced that your dad was alive." Reaves turned around and studied the younger hunter. "You want to talk about it?"

Sam stepped up next to the other man, enjoying the warm rays of sun dappling his skin. "What if he could come back?"

Caleb had the same thought. He already had formulated a conclusion. "He'd come back if he could."

"Yeah, Dean would like that," Sam commented. Dean's reaction had spoken his desires.

One of Reaves's eyebrows rose up. "And you?"

The younger hunter glanced down. Sam and his father seemed to have reached a détente at the end. He would have liked to have seen what would have happened next if his father hadn’t sacrificed himself. "Me too. I think about him and if the demon. . ."

"It's the great John Winchester." Caleb grinned, and placed a hand on the younger man's shoulder. "He'll fight Sam. Johnny always knew how to fight."

"You think just maybe. . ." Sam cocked his head, surprised Caleb had some hope.

"Stranger things have happened. You know that, Runt." Caleb patted Sam's shoulder one more time. "Go take a nap. I'm going to talk to Mac."

Sam pursed his lips, pensive for a moment. A niggling thought forced its way forward and prompted him to speak. "What are you and Mac going to talk about?"

"Dean, probably." Caleb strived to tell the truth whenever possible. It was difficult to keep track of lies. But, Reaves sensed there was more the youngest Winchester was trying to ask. "Where are you going with this?"

Sam's eyebrows rose, his eyes widened, trying to will the older man to confirm Sam's belief. "Nothing you want to tell me?" Silence followed, so the young hunter became more direct. "Are you going to talk about The Triad to be?"

Caleb was startled. He should have expected Sam to put everything together. Dean knew his brother was going to be the next Scholar. It was not surprising Sam had figured it out for himself. At least this secret didn't have an evil destiny attached to it. "If I could tell you then I would."

Sam rubbed at his nose. "So you're saying you are bound by your position as the Knight?"

Caleb grinned. It sounded like he was being deposed for a trial. "Do I need a lawyer?"

"I don’t think so." Sam shrugged his shoulders.

They were at an impasse, and Caleb could not go against his father's wishes on this matter. But, he could be clever. "Lawyers use hypotheticals –right?"

"Yes." Sam nodded, and pushed his hair off his face as it fell forward.

Caleb bit his lip, searching for the wording. "So hypothetically let's say there is this guy, and he figures out that he is supposed to be one of the leaders of a secret organization. . ."

"And his brother too," Sam interrupted. He gestured with his hand that Caleb should continue.

The older hunter was amused. He was being treated like a witness, he played along. "But this other guy really can't talk about it because of his boss."

Sam sighed. "Mackland's right." Sam glanced at the screen door. "I've known for awhile. All those old hunters' journals in Jim's library. . ." Sam gave Caleb a crooked grin. He had tried to ignore the conclusions he had formed, and did successfully for years as he followed his dream of normality. However, it was now like an anvil dropped in his path - noticeable and unavoidable. He was glad Mac had left them in the dark. "I can't handle this right now and neither can Dean."

Caleb shook his head. All those years of leaving Sammy to do the research and none of them ever figured he would deduce the signs. Hell, both Josh and Bobby knew. "Who said anything about Mac?" Reaves continued to feign ignorance. "Get some sleep."

"Yep, worry free, not thinking about anything, sleep." Sam yawned.

Caleb leaned against the railing, watching as Sam went back inside and up the stairs to one of the bedrooms. Sam knew he was the next Scholar, and knew Dean was the Guardian. Caleb felt relief; sometimes not telling something was as bad as lying. Sam would have time to adjust to his position, and come to accept it. He didn't know about Dean, but something had changed. He pushed off from the wood railing and entered the house, going to the den where his father was making a list of items he would need at the medical supplies store. "Dad?" Caleb announced himself to his father and took a seat on the small sofa in the room.

Mackland continued writing. "Yes?"

"I didn’t want to say anything before. . ." Confessing a secret was never a good way to start a conversation, but it was an attention getter. Mac stopped writing, placing the pen on the desk and concentrating on his son. "When Dean was unconscious, I tried to reach him."

"Yes, I remember. You said you were unable to sense his presence, but you knew everything was fine."

Caleb found his experience difficult to explain. "I was able to sense something." The picture came to his mind. "An image of water."

"Water?" Mac was confused.

The conversation was about to become stranger. "Yeah." Reaves sighed. "It's the same image I would get when I would try to read Jim and he didn't want me to know something." Caleb bowed his head and rubbed the back of his neck. "Didn't happen often, but often enough that I noticed." He looked back at his father. "Is there a connection?"

Mackland shook his head. He had no idea. The Guardian was gone, and evidently there were many trade secrets- one of them being a connection between water and The Guardian. He had his own confession. "I have Jim's journals."

"How?"

"Remember when I asked you to bring that wood box to me after Jim was killed?" Ames recalled when Caleb had called him about the pastor's death. There had been a shockwave reaction. "His journals and important personal papers were in there."

Caleb vaguely remembered the box. At finding Jim dead, he had felt numb and was just looking for other people to make decisions. "Have you read them?" Reaves would have been tempted to read them, especially if the journals contained any information to help them.

"No, his wishes were that they be given to Dean." Mackland had been tempted to peek, but accepted there was a reason why he was not given permission to do so. He could divulge something of interest. "Dean also owns this house. Because he is a wanted felon I had to make some adjustments, but this is his."

"Damn." Caleb looked around the room. It was only fitting it all belonged to Dean, the one person who craved a home. "When are you going to tell him?"

"Soon, son, soon." Ames rubbed his face.

Reaves didn't want to tell his father that Sam already knew and more than likely Dean also knew his position too. This subterfuge was important to Mackland as the only way he could protect the Winchesters. Caleb as the next Knight, and The Scholar's son wanted to respect that decision and pretend Mac had some control. "And the image? What's the connection?" Caleb wanted to hear his father's hypotheses. It was Guardian related, but why water?

"It would just be conjecture. Evidently, the element connected to The Guardian is water. I don't know why." There was another puzzling problem, more pressing, which needed a solution only the Guardian knew. "There are quite a few things I wish Jim was here to answer. We don't even know where the silver for the rings comes from."

"So is Dean suddenly going to know about the silver?" Caleb rubbed his chin. "Spontaneous knowledge? That's not how it works for The Knight - or am I missing something?" He wondered if John was supposed to tell him something to make his job easier.

Mac recalled when the mantle had been passed down to him. Victor Stephens, the previous Scholar had just married a woman twenty years his junior and wanted to enjoy his retirement. There was a ceremony, some quick words and some reassurances that Victor would be available for a time before he moved to Hawaii, but not to call unless it was a dire emergency.

"No, as far as I know. And there is no special passing of knowledge for The Scholar, some keys and passwords but that's about it."

Caleb was in a little awe; and fear for Dean's future was intermingled too. "I always knew The Guardian was important, but I guess I didn’t realize till now how powerful Jim was, and how he kept it well hidden."

"I used to like mysteries." Mackland rubbed the back of his neck and returned his attention to his list. He knew the future was difficult to foresee, but he wished someone would have prepared him for his position now.

"Wish you could skip ahead and read the end of the book to find out it was Colonel Mustard in the study with a candlestick." Reaves had chronicled his father's life, and knew the man used to love the idea of espionage and its elements of mystery and adventure. That had all changed.

Ames frowned at his son's metaphor. "Isn't that a game?" It sounded distinctly like Clue.

"Like life." Caleb placed his hands on his knees and then stood up. "Just gotta know how to play it."

He agreed with Caleb. He was no longer reacting to the threats to The Brotherhood, but being proactive. "I do, Son. Chess is my forte."

Reaves smiled. "It's nice to know we control the board." He was The Knight and there still was The Scholar, the future Scholar and Guardian - there was power there.

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