The Family Business by angelofthemoor1 for <user site="livejour

[springflingmod.livejournal.com]

Title: The Family Business
Pairing: Sam, Claire, and Alex (gen)
Rating: General
Any warnings: None




Dean was waiting in the car, but Sam still had to say goodbye to the girls. He headed to Claire’s room first, but he paused at the sound of raised voices.

“I thought you hated me,” Claire argued. “Why didn’t you just let him kill me?”

“I’ve done so . . . much . . . I’ve got so much blood on my hands,” Alex hiccupped around sobs.

The door was cracked open a sliver, and Sam glanced through the narrow aperture. Claire crossed her arms over her chest, face inscrutable. “Oh,” she exhaled, the soft sound somehow sharp.

“God, I wish I could hate you,” Alex spat. “It would make things so much easier.” Claire raised an eyebrow. “Then maybe, I don’t know. I wouldn’t have been such a bitch to you.”

“Hating me would make you not be a bitch,” Claire repeated skeptically.

“Ugh, just forget it,” Alex threw out in frustration. She turned on her heel and pushed the door open to find Sam on the other side. His face heated up.

“Eavesdropping, were you?” Claire observed, smirking.

Alex wiped at her eyes with a fist and gaped at him. “I can’t believe you heard all that.”

“And I thought you were the mature brother,” Claire muttered.

“Never mind that,” Sam stated as he stepped past Alex into the room. “It sounds like you guys have some unfinished business to discuss.”

“What?” Alex asked.

Sam waved a hand in the girls’ direction as he perched on Claire’s bed. “Claire needs to know what you meant,” he told Alex.

“Yeah,” Claire chimed in.

“Seriously? You want me to talk about that with you in the room?” Alex sputtered at Sam.

Sam pasted on an encouraging smile. “I might understand more than you think.”

Alex glanced at Claire, who raised an eyebrow again. “Go on,” Claire urged.

“Ugh. Fine!” Alex shouted. “I just . . . Claire, you remind me of what I used to be. Bitter. Jumping at every shadow.—”

“I do not jump at every shadow!” Claire exclaimed.

“Yeah, you do. While swinging your sword.”

Claire shrugged. “Guess that’s true.” A glow of pride suffused her features.

“It’s everything I was trying to leave behind. And it was working! I was dating the most popular guy in school . . . ” She bit her lip and held back tears. “Guess it was just a lie.”

“No. That guy was a douchebag.”

“Maybe—”

“No ‘maybe.’ When you go back to school on Monday? Bet you’ll still be popular.”

“No way.” Alex dabbed at her eyes. “So. It’s everything I wanted to get away from.”

“You mean the supernatural life, right?” Sam cut in. “You don’t want anything to do with it.”

“No, I don’t. I just want a normal life. But I guess it’s just too much to ask.”

“No, it’s not,” Sam opined. “I used to want that. I got away. Even went to Stanford for a while. Coulda kept going, but I didn’t.”

“Why didn’t you?”

There was a time when Sam couldn’t talk about Stanford without regretting the future he’d missed out on, but these days, he could appreciate that he’d made the right choice when he’d left. “Dean needed me. I chose family.”

“And saving the world,” Claire put in. “I keep telling Jody college would be a waste. I mean, look at those years you spent there when you could’ve been helping people.”

“But without it, I would be a different person,” Sam pointed out.

“Who? Dean?” Claire quipped.

“Ha, ha. But no. I learned a lot. It’s always useful for when I’m out on a case or doing research. Which you do a lot of as a hunter. College is good practice for that.” Sam’s eyes darted between the two girls. “So that’s solved.”

“What?”

“How Alex really feels about you. She just wants to escape the monsters out there. I don’t blame her.”

Alex nodded. “Still. You and Jody are the closest thing to family I’ve got,” she explained to Claire. “If you really need me, I’ve got your back.”

Claire nodded. “I get that. And I’ll try to respect your right to a normal life. But . . . ”

Alex nodded eagerly. “If push comes to shove, I’ll be there.”

“Good talk,” Sam commented as he stood up.

“I guess,” Claire replied. “But next time you listen in on us, I’m kickin’ your ass.”

Sam grinned. “You can try.”

As Sam tendered his goodbyes, he noticed the sisterly regard that the girls’ eyes now held when they met.

Those girls would be fine, he reflected as he strolled outside.

“What took so long?” Dean asked as Sam settled on the bench seat beside him.

“The family business,” Sam answered while Dean backed out of the driveway.

“Huh?”

Sam smiled to himself. “Nothing for you to worry about.”