Song Remains the Same

Chapter 147: Wayward Son

Song Remains the Same

147 / Wayward Son

"Where am I to go, now that I've gone too far?"
— Golden Earring

Dean  did not go peacefully into the bunker. He thrashed and flailed and  carried on the entire way as John and Sam dragged him to the basement.  Dad shouted over Dean's roars and bellows that the cure would start in a  day or so when an old hunting buddy of his delivered the last of the  necessary spell ingredients. Trailing at a waddling trot, a bewildered  Alex asked how he even knew about the cure to begin with. John shot a  sharp look at her over his shoulder and barked that he 'had his ways.'  Something about his tone made Alex halt in her steps briefly, stung,  before she resumed her follow.

Once they had Dean in the dungeon  room, John and Sam bound the writhing demon to a chair in the middle of a  devil's trap as he raged at top volume. Stupefied and ill to see her  brother like this, Alex just watched while unconsciously holding two  protective hands to her stomach. Cas was momentarily absent, having  taken it upon himself to let the puzzled and concerned bunker residents  know what was going on—because all the ruckus had woken up everyone.

Dazed,  Alex watched her father and brother work in a familiar, old  synchronicity—but she wasn't overjoyed. Instead, she felt dread  building. In Hell Dad had been beaten and broken, stripped of his outer  emotional armor—he'd been accessible and softer. Now to see him upright  and in go-mode, it was almost like the Hell version of him was something  she'd dreamed up. He seemed exactly like he had before: a wizened,  impenetrable soldier.

Once Dean was secured, John callously  slapped a piece of duct tape across his son's loud mouth, mercifully  putting an end to the calamitous bellowing. Even while silently seething  as he fought his rope restraints, Dean was a terrifying sight to  behold. Father and son stood back breathing heavily, assessing the job  they'd just done.

"...How'd you even capture him, Dad?" Sam asked, still vastly astonished at what was happening—and the fact that his dad was standing next to him again.

John was hard to read, his eyes on his oldest son. "Well I guess your old man still has some tricks up his sleeve, Sam."

The  tone in his voice caught both twins immediate attention. He didn't  sound happy. John crossed his arms and turned his attention from Dean to  the twins, and it became clear from the look on his face and the tone  of his voice that he disapproved—and even felt angry. "I've got some  questions too. Like how exactly you let your brother get turned into a  damn demon." Sam's face fell in surprise and John's gaze met  Alex's, dropped to her pregnant belly, then came back to look into her  eyes almost contentiously. "And just what the hell is going on with you?"

Alex  was immediately hurt at the caustic question and the look on his face.  She was too stung to say a thing. Sam however got over his brief shock  the second John spoke to his sister that way. With nostrils flaring  defensively and his protective hackles raising, Sam moved forward to put  himself between his sister and dad. "Don't talk to her like that," he  warned in snap. He didn't bother hiding how offended and upset he was.  He'd always been the first one to stand up to their father, and wasn't  about to stop now. "The hell is your problem?" he asked, disgusted.  "You've been dead eight years—and you just wanna use your second lease on life to keep being the same old dick?!"

Suddenly  avoidant, John's jaw tightened. He remained outwardly brusque, not  showing any real emotion besides distaste—if he felt anything past that  at all. A tense second passed before he made it clear where he stood.  "We got a job to do, so let's leave our issues at the door and get it  done."