Chapter Text
The hunt was over.
Caleb stood just outside the motel room, watching the younger hunter check the salt line for the third time.
"You’re good," Caleb said.
The hunter glanced back.
"You sure?"
"Pretty sure."
"That's not exactly reassuring."
Caleb smiled.
"Just make sure that line is never broken and you'll be fine."
The hunter laughed and went back inside.
It had been a straightforward hunt. A restless spirit, an old house, a little too much noise in the walls. Nothing the Brotherhood hadn't dealt with a hundred times before.
Caleb packed the last of his gear into the his truck.
He had been doing this long enough to know that the easy hunts were the ones worth appreciating.
They didn't happen often.
One of the younger hunters came out carrying a duffel bag of weapons to the trunk of his own car.
"Caleb?"
"Yeah?"
The hunter hesitated.
"Can I ask you something?"
Caleb looked over.
"Sure."
"Sam's back, right?"
Caleb nodded.
"Yeah."
"For good?"
"As far as I know."
The hunter seemed relieved.
"Good."
Caleb closed the trunk.
"You've been worried about him?"
The hunter shrugged.
"Not exactly."
Caleb waited.
The hunter looked toward the other hunters, making sure they were out of earshot.
"I've just heard some things."
Caleb's expression changed slightly.
"What kind of things?"
The hunter shifted his weight.
"About Sam."
Caleb leaned against the Jeep.
"Go on."
"Some people aren't sure about him."
Caleb didn't react.
He had heard versions of that before.
Sam's history wasn't exactly a secret.
The demon blood.
The psychic abilities.
Everything that had happened before Lilith died.
The Brotherhood knew Sam had gotten clean. They knew Dean had helped him through it. They knew the three of them were still moving toward the roles that had been chosen for them.
But knowing something and trusting it weren't always the same thing.
"Why?" Caleb asked.
The hunter hesitated.
"There was an incident."
"What incident?"
"At a bar."
Caleb's attention sharpened.
"With Tim and Reggie."
He waited.
"They tried to give Sam demon blood."
Caleb went very still.
"Sam took it?"
"No."
The answer came quickly.
"Sam refused."
Caleb's jaw tightened.
"And they left it at that?"
The hunter shook his head.
"They pinned him down."
Caleb stared at him.
"They actually forced him?"
"Yeah."
"How?"
The hunter swallowed.
"Poured it into his mouth."
Caleb's expression hardened.
"And Sam?"
The hunter gave a small, almost amused smile.
"He spit it right back in their faces."
Despite himself, Caleb almost smiled.
Of course he had.
Then the anger settled back in.
Not at Sam.
At the two men who had decided that Sam's answer didn't matter.
"Who told you this?"
"I was in town."
Caleb looked at him.
"You saw it?"
"No. I ran into Tim and Reggie near the bar. They were pretty beat up."
"And Sam?"
"He had left town by the time I got there."
Caleb nodded slowly.
"Did you tell anyone about this?"
The hunter shook his head.
"No. I know when to keep my mouth shut."
"Good. Keep it that way."
Caleb looked toward the motel room.
Sam was back.
That much mattered.
The three of them were together again.
They weren't the Triad yet. The ceremony hadn't happened, and Mackland was still the Scholar and the head of the Brotherhood.
But the future was already taking shape.
The rings on their fingers weren't decoration.
Everyone knew what they meant.
Dean would become Guardian.
Sam would become Scholar.
Caleb would become Knight.
And not everyone was comfortable with that future.
Caleb understood that.
Trust wasn't something they could demand simply because Jim had chosen them.
They would have to earn it.
But this was different.
This wasn't someone questioning Sam's abilities.
This was someone putting their hands on him and deciding they knew what was best for him.
Why hadn't Sam told them?
That bothered him more than the incident itself.
Sam had been through enough.
He knew better than anyone that demon blood wasn't something to play with.
He knew what it had done to him.
He knew Dean had nearly torn himself apart trying to help him get clean.
So why had Sam kept this to himself?
Caleb pushed away from the Jeep.
"Thanks for telling me."
The hunter nodded.
Caleb started toward the motel.
"Caleb?"
He stopped.
"Are you going to tell Dean?"
Caleb looked back.
"I don't know yet."
"Why not?"
"Because I want to talk to Sam first."
The hunter nodded.
Caleb turned away again.
He wasn't angry.
Not at Sam.
Not yet.
He was worried.
And there was a difference.
Because something had happened to Sam.
Something he hadn't told his brother about.
Hadn't told Mackland about.
Hadn't told Caleb about.
And Caleb had a feeling the demon blood wasn't the part Sam was actually afraid of.
That was the part he needed to understand.