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For the first time in a long time, Sam found himself considering not completing one of his school assignments. Jess didn’t understand. “It’s just a silly Halloween story, what’s the big deal? I know you watch horror movies, so it can’t be that.”
It wasn’t that. Sam could easily write a million stories on this topic that would make his professor and classmates scream. Coming up with ideas wasn’t the hard part – all he had to do was write something autobiographical.
The assignment was to write a story for Halloween. The prompt he’d been given was a title – “Lost Souls of Broken Graveyards”. Take any one of the hundreds of salt and burns he’d gone on and change the names, and he was done. The problem was that he didn’t like thinking about his past, he didn’t like writing about his past, and after last spring’s blowout fight, he really didn’t like his past coming and mixing itself up with his present. It hurt too much.
Jess cut into his thoughts. “Okay, I know what you need, Sam. You need inspiration. Come on. Get your coat.”
“Jess…”
She took his hands and smiled at him. “It’ll be fun! Just come on, please?”
It took a few rounds of wheedling, but finally, Sam gave in. He let Jess take him out to a nearby graveyard after dark, where he would sit and freeze his ass off while trying to find a way to write a story about ghosts that didn’t dredge up memories. He was still too much the hunter to write one with inaccurate lore.
He was also still too much the hunter to ignore the sound of footsteps and what sounded like the clank of a shovel. He closed his laptop, reached for the gun that he wasn’t carrying, hoped that Jess’s run for a bathroom would last long enough for him to sort this out, and got to his feet.
“Sammy?!” Shit. Of all the hunters, of course it would have to be his brother. His brother who could see that he was unarmed. “What the fuck are you doing?” Dean handed him his gun and pulled out a spare. “Seriously? You’re hunting without us? All that talk of you weren’t leaving me, you were leaving the life, and here you are not only hunting, but hunting stupid?”
Sam took the gun and checked it. Iron bullets. Ghost, then. “I’m not… this isn’t what you think it is, Dean. I don’t even know why you’re here. I’m here doing research for a class. I’m not hunting at all, I didn’t come out here on a hunt.”
“You still came to a graveyard after dark without any kind of protection! What kind of idiot does that, Sammy? You know what’s out there! What could be here after you!”
Sam sighed. He really couldn't argue with Dean. He knew all too well what could be out here. “You know who you’re after?”
“Yeah. Emeline Morgan.”
Sam looked around. Emeline’s grave was right behind him. Because of course it was. What a perfect night.
It only got better when he heard Jess’s voice. “What… Sam, why do you have a gun?!”
Dean turned around, bringing the gun up instinctively, but a glance at Sam had him lowering it right away. “You brought a civilian?”
“Technically, she brought me. This was her idea and she was not letting me say no.” Sam walked over to stand beside Jess.
“Sam, who is this guy?” Jess took a step away from Sam, looking distrustfully at the gun in his hand.
Sam took a second to compose himself. “Dean, this is my girlfriend, Jess. Jess, this is my brother Dean. Dean, how long do we have before Dad gets here and Jess gets to see me throwing punches?”
“Dad’s not coming. He’s in Nebraska.”
It should have been good news, but it pissed Sam off. “What, coming to Palo Alto was just too much for him, he sent you to do this on your own?”
“Putting up with me got to be too much last spring. He bought himself a truck, left me a note and the keys to the Impala and said we could do more good if we hunted on our own. Save more people. We talk to each other at least once a week, usually more. It’s supposed to be every day, but you know how Dad is.”
That shocked Sam into silence. He’d never imagined that John would ditch Dean like that. He couldn't find anything to say until Jess prodded him. “Sam, what is going on? What’s this hunting, because it doesn't sound like you're after deer, and why’s he calling me a civilian, and why on earth are you throwing punches at your father?”
He started with the easy question. “I told you when I left for college my dad told me that if I walked out I could never come back. He knows I’m here. If I see him, I’m going to punch him, because if he wanted me out of his life then I am gonna stay out of his life. There are people he could have sent to handle this one. Like Dean.”
“Okay, but what are they handling?”
“There’s a ghost here,” Dean said when Sam couldn’t find a way to explain. “Me and Dad, this is what we do, we go around hunting and ending ghosts. Save a lot of people doing it, too. You could’ve got yourself killed, coming here tonight.”
“Okay, but ghosts aren’t real.” Oh, how Sam wished that were true.
“Tell that to Emeline. DROP!” Sam dropped. Jess didn’t. The iron bullet just missed her arm as Dean fired at the ghost. “Sammy, I don’t have time to coddle your girlfriend, so either get her out of here, cover me while I dig, or take the shovel.”
Sam grabbed the shovel and started digging. He couldn’t leave Dean here with a pissed-off ghost. Jess ran on her own, which Sam felt bad about, but with Dean pissing Emeline off more Jess was safer running.
Once the grave was dug up, Dean helped Sam out of the hole to pour the salt and gas. “Think your girl will be waiting for you when you get home?”
Sam shrugged. “Probably not. She’s probably going to run, and I can’t blame her. I’m glad you showed up.”
“So what were you doing here, really?”
“School assignment. Jess thought this would give me inspiration to write a spooky Halloween story.”
Dean scoffed. “Please. Like you need inspiration. How about that one in Magnolia Springs, the pirate shipwreck where we had to figure out how to torch bones on the ocean floor?”
Sam laughed. “You and Dad were so funny when Marvin showed up and schooled you both.”
“Yeah, well, Marvin knew how to dive and had gear. We didn’t.” But Dean laughed, too. “Sam. I’m sorry about the things I said back in May. Sorry for showing up here and ruining your peace, probably driving off your girl…”
“You’re actually sorry about that? You’re not jealous?” That should be a pleasant surprise, but it wasn't. Not at all.
“Jealous as hell, but unless you tell me you weren’t happy with her, that’s my problem, not yours. And if you were happy, then I’m sorry I messed up your happiness." Oh. That... that was much better. "I miss you, Sammy, but the thing that keeps me going out there is thinking you’re safe, and you’re happy, here.”
“Dad kicked you out? You’re on your own now?” Dean, he wanted back. Dad, not so much. If Dean was on his own...
“He didn’t kick me out. He just figured, I’m old enough to go out on my own now, we can save more people that way. It was time.”
Sam let it drop. Either way, it sounded like Dean was on his own, although it really didn't sound like Dad to not only let Dean go but send him off. “I’m sorry for the things I said in May, too. If you want to come around, do it. I miss you, too.”
“Are you gonna try to work things out with Jess?”
Sam had to think about that, and once he had, he realized it probably didn't matter what he wanted. “I’m gonna try, but I’ll be surprised if I can. You nearly shot her…”
“I told her to get down! Not my fault she didn’t listen!”
“I know, but I’m looking at her perspective." Dean relaxed, just a little. "You nearly shot her, and then I didn’t go with her when she ran for safety. I’m gonna make sure she got there, give her whatever explanations she’s willing to hear, and go from there.”
“Call me, let me know how it goes?”
“Yeah, sure.”
Sam called a couple hours later. Dean sounded like he’d been drinking, which made perfect sense, he probably was drinking. “Sammy! How’d things go?”
“About like I expected. She apologized for making me go out there, she’s not going to tell anyone what happened, but she doesn’t feel safe being involved with me. We can still be friends but nothing more.”
“Ouch. Sorry, bro.”
“It was probably gonna happen sooner or later. This was a good lesson for me, too. I’m never gonna be free. This was just a random ghost, but next time, it might be something looking to hurt me to get to you. Or Dad. I still want to get my degree so that I have something to fall back on, but breaks, summers, after graduation, I’m willing to go with you if Dad’s not there.”
“You come with me, you won’t be able to avoid Dad forever. He calls me for backup, I’m going.”
“I’ll… deal with that when it comes, I guess. Better than trying to go on my own, and you were never much good on your own either.”
“Hey!”
Sam flinched as he realized how that sounded. “No, that came out wrong, I just meant that you always preferred having me or Dad with you when you hunted. If you weren’t a good hunter on your own, you wouldn’t have been in that graveyard tonight, you’d have been salted and burned by now. Sorry.”
“Yeah. Okay. Much rather go with you than on my own. Look, this may be a little soon to ask, but…”
“If you didn’t, I was going to. I’ve missed you so much." Sam considered whether to invite Dean over. "How drunk are you?”
“Not that drunk. I can drive.”
Good enough. “Wanna come over?”
“Be there in ten minutes.”