Chapter 5 Adjusting to just git by

When Everyone was settled into chairs with drinks, Bobby cleared his throat and started.

"What do ya know about Mer and their ways?" he asked the other two.

Caleb looked questioning, responding with "Not a lot, never ran into one."

Jim considered for a moment. "I have heard a few things. They normally don't care much about normal humans and leave us alone. Only if they find someone that is absolutely miserable do they interfere."

Bobby nodded. "That's the basics. This group also seemed to decide without actually talkin' to whoever they pick about what they're gonna do. They turned the poor guy and then make sure they don't remember enough to be pissed off about it." He paused to take a sip of his beer. "Granted it may be outta the goodness of their supernatural heart, but it still don't sit right with me. Especially now."

Jim pondered for a moment. "Is Dean's memory problems related to the mer? Did they curse him or something along those lines?" He asked.

Dean flinched and cleared his throat, drawing the attention to him, where he still sat almost on top of Benny on the couch.

" I may have gotten caught by a pack of em in New Orleans. I was letting off steam and was drinking. The next thing I know, there's four guys standing over me. I took off running. Knew something wasn't right, ran smack dab inta this guy over here." He said, jerking a thumb at Benny beside him.

"Benny helped me out, and we found out what had happened." Dean looked up at Bobby before looking over at Caleb and Jim.

"It's alright son, ya jist tell em and if they have a problem with it they can take it up with my shotgun." Bobby gruffly stated.

Dean nodded again. "I'm not human anymore. When I blacked out they turned me into mer. So my memory's kinda crap." Dean winced as Caleb spit out the mouthful of beer he had just drank.

"Ya got turned!" He yelled. "Does John know about it?" He asked.

Dean tilted his head to the side. "Who's John?" He asked.

Dead silence greeted Dean's question. That wasn't quite what they were expecting, and they were hoping that Dean was going to pop a grin and tell them they were fools for falling for his tricks. But nothing. Dean sat there, his head tilted to the side and confusion showing in his eyes.

Benny took the plunge. "John's your daddy's name Darlin'. He hunted with you for a while before we got together."

Dean frowned. He knew that his dad wasn't someone he wanted to run into, but he was more of a shadowy figure that caused Dean dread than any concrete memories. He shrugged. "if he's not here anymore then I don't have to worry about it." He turned back to Caleb. "And as far as I know he doesn't know, or Benny would have told me." He said.

Caleb, Jim and Bobby all looked at each other. It wasn't going to be easy to take Dean out of the game silently. His Daddy was too well known for anyone to believe that Dean had just stopped hunting. Especially since he was the 'good son'. But with Dean not being human anymore and not knowing how much of his memory was missing, it was too dangerous for him to continue on. They'd figure it out somehow.

It turns out that all they really needed to do was have Bobby get in line some of his contacts, call the Roadhouse and tell people that Dean was injured and wasn't gonna be hunting for a bit. It solved their immediate problem and if John caught wind of it he couldn't say anything since Bobby had tried to call him earlier to help Dean. Wasn't his fault that the idjit didn't pick up the phone to find out what was going on.

Dean and Benny had decided to stay around Bobby, first in case something came up with the 'cure' for Dean and to make sure it actually stuck, then it was because Benny had gotten a job at a pub in town and worked nights while Dean hung out and helped around the shop at Bobby's.

Originally Dean was still going swimming in the pond on the edge of Bobby's property, however he realized how that wouldn't work in the long run. Bobby contacted a few people through the salvage yard and traded a few of his better condition classics for an older pool that had been pulled up from a rental property. They would haul it over to behind Bobby's shop and he would have the boys do the rest. Dean was bout ecstatic when he saw what was being pulled in. Bobby hadn't told them what he was getting, just it was gonna be a lot of work.

Caleb had stopped by again, both to check on Dean and to help out with the pool/ apartment above it that Bobby was putting in. After all, it wouldn't do for the damn thing to freeze come winter, and having it in what looked like a big barn would also help hide Dean from anyone that might see.

Dean had started helping Bobby with the research that he needed for cases, looking up books and helping man the phones. He wasn't going to go hunting, not in the near future anyway, he still had occasions where he would just forget things. Like his memory just ceased to exist.

He would just vaguely wander around until someone either directed him towards Bobby or Benny or his memory faded back in. It had gotten to the point, after he was found wandering around Sioux Falls when he had walked from the the pub Benny was working at, that Bobby and Benny had gotten him a medical alert bracelet. They claimed it was damage caused by a car accident that caused memory loss. Most people in town knew about Dean and were perfectly fine helping him out if needed. They had adopted them as a part of the community, and Bobby went from the surly alcoholic to the surly doting uncle who took care of his boys.

A couple people in town in particular took a shining to Dean, one was an older woman, the owner of the local diner that Dean enjoyed having pie at, she took no flack from anyone and doted on Dean as much as he would let her. The other, and it was a bit of a surprise, was the sheriff. Jody Mills. She would mother hen Dean like the best of them, and then turn around and bullshit until the boy blushed.

Things had settled into a routine, and as Dean turned 26, he thought things wouldn't change.

Spoiler/Epilogue

Sam stared at his phone. It was May, and he had just finished classes for the year. He'd started having nightmares though, Dean caught by something and dying. He couldn't enjoy the summer break while he worried about his brother. He hesitated to call though. What would he even say? He bucked up, after all it wasn't his fault that he didn't contact them. He dialed the number.

-The number you have dialed is out of service area or has been disconnected.-The number you have dialed is out of service area or has been disconnected-The number you have...

Sam stared at his phone. Dean never would have let a phone call roll over, or if he changed his number he would have called. Something. He wouldn't just not answer. His anxiety ratcheted up, he called the rest of Dean's numbers that he knew. Hoping that it was just a fluke.

Nothing.

Not a single one was in service. The only one that didn't immediately go to the same disconnected message didn't have any kind of voice service, so Sam wasn't sure it was even his brother's phone anymore. Enough was enough. He was calling Bobby.

Bobby wouldn't tell him. He knew something. The phone call proved that. Well, Sam would show him. He didn't have classes, so he was catching the first flight to Sioux Falls. He'd find out what was going on with Dean himself.

Notes: Welcome to the end of Memory Lane, It's been a bit. I am mainly posting on AO3 now and don't visit this site much anymore. I'm going to be continuing some one shots over on AO3 in this world that take place at the end before Sam comes. The next main fic I'll post here will be the final installment in this series and will be set Season 1 of Supernatural.

Thanks for hanging around (everyone except the few haters I got about slow updates-sorry that fanfic isn't my life, two jobs take up a lot of time)

Look me up on AO3 if you want, same handle as here. :D