likely_evil | justprompts: Skulk

justprompts: Skulk

Always hunt in pairs. Or a group. Never on your own, because then your back will be open.

Those were the first words of advice Sam gave all the people who decided to join the cause and become hunters. Solitary was the fastest path to torture, possession or death in this business, and he felt that it was his responsibility to help prevent that at all costs.

They came to Sam because of his name. He turned around and gave them everything his centuries of wisdom had to offer.

Of course, Sam was also a Winchester. Which meant that they never listened to their own advice.

It also meant that he hid his pain, no matter what it was. The teams in med bay had given up on trying to treat Sam as a patient almost four decades now. They knew his unspoken hints as he skulked about, looking through their supplies. Somehow, the right painkillers or antibiotics made their way to his hands.

And of course, a quick phone call to Ruby for follow up observation.

This night wasn't any different. Sam had heard of a ghoul down in the cemetery that was attacking family members that came to visit graves. The Initiative had come to a truce with the ghouls over a century ago, dividing up cemetery boundaries and how long to wait before the souls were at rest before going to their graves, and the right ceremonies to perform before disrupting the grave. Every now and then, a lone ghoul would try to disrupt things, and Sam would make his way down to enforce the truce.

After the instance with Adam all those years ago, Sam refused to let people who were close to him near any cases involving ghouls. It was his personal business, and he handled it.

The ghoul in question was now dead. One of the other ghouls who Sam had worked with years ago on another case had stepped in and helped the Winchester. Of course, the rogue had a good chunk of Sam's shoulder in it's stomach when it was finally taken down.

And even though he was bleeding and his arm was hanging at his side useless, he walked through the complex like nothing was wrong, hiding any ounce of pain from his face as he went to the infirmary and rummages around, one handed, for cleaning materials. The anti-inflammatory and painkillers appeared on a shelf as a tech moved away from the other side quickly. He pocketed them, then with the rest of the supplies in his messanger bag, he started for home.

And hoped that he got to lock himself in the bathroom before the tech were able to get in touch with Ruby. Because he knew all along what they were doing, and he silently thanked them for preserving his pride that way.

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Ruby was not pleased.

Despite the techs acceptance of Sam's inability to let himself be treated, Ruby didn't like it. Not one bit. Immortal and wise Sam may be, but sometimes he had the ability to be a petulant three year-old. Once the call came in from the tech who had passed him the drugs, Ruby was making her way up from the library, the look on her face telling anyone who so much as attempted to stand in her way was going to be in a serious amount of pain.

She made her way into their home, following the trail of blood to the bathroom and knocking once before speaking, her voice having that dangerous tone that indicated that same went for him if he didn't listen.

"Sam, open the door."

Sam was shirtless, sitting on the edge of the sink with a sewing needle, a bottle of vodka, and clear silk thread as he worked to fix the wound. Hearing the knock made him jump, and thankfully he wasn't pulling or poking the needle at that moment.

Hearing her voice made him shut his eyes and sigh. When she was in that mood, the last thing he wanted to do was open the door. But he hadn't demon proofed it - and doing that would have made things worse anyway.

"Give me a minute," he stated, reaching for his shirt and robe with one hand.

Ruby waited as patiently as she could manage, crossing her arms in front of her chest as she did. She could tell from his voice that he knew what was coming, but that didn't mean she wanted him to think he was off the hook. He put himself in this mess, and she wasn't about to let him talk his way out of it.

Putting a layer of gauze between his wound and the shirt, he then put the shirt back on, then his robe to cover the bloody clothing. He then opened the door with his good hand, leaning into the door with his bad shoulder hidden behind it.

"Yes?" Because he was going to try and deny it. Even if he already knew she already knew.

"Ghouls, Sam?"

That was more of a scolding that a question, but not really the important thing for the time being. Instead she just pushed him back into the bathroom, closing the door behind her in case Michael came home, and giving him a look.

"Let me see."

"You know how I feel about ghouls," Sam stated, taking a step back to avoid the door slamming into the injury. "They only want to work with me anyway."

He sighed, then winced as he pulled the robe off. There was a large spot of red that was on his shoulder, going down his arm, chest and back. The shirt was shreaded in the injury spot, and she would see the gauze that was shoved there starting to turn red as well.

Her eyes closed when she saw the wound, and she took a deep breath try and keep her from yelling, because she also knew that that wasn't going to help matters. Instead she just moved behind him, closing the top lid on the toilet before pointing.

"Sit."

He did as ordered, reaching over for the vodka bottle and taking a sip.

"The needle is already in the gauze somewhere. You came home mid-stitch."

At least he remembered the clear stuff this time, and not the ugly black ones.

She tore at the hole in the shirt, opening it wider before removing the gauze and finding the needle. After that was done, she slowly went about stitching him up again, trying to be as gently as possible. Once she'd found a rhythm that worked, she started to talk again, trying to get the point across, again.

"Just because they'll only work with you doesn't mean you shouldn't bring someone to watch your back," she said slowly. "I know you've been doing this a long time, but that still doesn't mean you should be doing it alone."

"I don't want you or Michael around them," Sam stated firmly. "Almost all of them are on our side. They helped me find the rogue because it protected their side of the truce."

He didn't even wince at her stitches. Perhaps it was because she was being gentle. He would hate to think his body was numb to it by now.

"Then don't take me or Michael," she said giving the stitch she was working on a bit of a harder tug, before swallowing slightly. "Damnit, Sam. You tell them all the time to make sure they're not alone and to take a partner, but you can't even set a decent example? It's like you're trying to get yourself killed."

Ruby wasn't stupid. She knew that there was something more to this than just Sam thinking he could handle it himself. She'd seen this turn in him before, and she didn't like it. In fact, she wanted to do her best to try and cut it off at the pass, but she didn't know how.

"What would I have told him, Sam? What should I have told Michael if they figured out how to kill you and you didn't come back?"

Sam just continued to stare at the wall, his shoulder shifting with the tug but he didn't really react much more than an eye twitch.

"You would have told him that his father was an stupid idiot and should have known better, but never listened to you." He raised an eyebrow and turned to look at her. "Sound about right?"

Ruby got quiet again, her eyes dropping to his shoulder and not saying anything more until she was finished dressing the wound. Once the gauze was secure, she moved forward, sitting in his lap and turning his head so that he was looking at her.

"What am I gonna do with you? You can't keep scaring me like this."

"You know I'm not doing this to scare you. There are just certain things in this place that I have to do myself or risk things falling apart."

His good arm slipped around her waist, keeping her close. "I'm sorry."

Ruby leaned in to him, letting her forehead rest against his for a moment before speaking again.

"Maybe you need a break from all this for a while."

Sam's eyes got confused. "Ruby, this is my life. I can't take a break from it."

"You're allowed a vacation, Sam," she said gently. "In fact, I think you need a vacation. Just you and me -- none of this."

Sam shook his head. He would have gotten up but she had pinned him by sitting in his lap. "And who's going to run this place while we're off sunning on some beach?" he scoffed the idea, his yellowish eyes giving her a look. "This is not like some day job in an office that I get two weeks vacation a year..."

"Michael grew up doing this, Sam," she sighed. "I'm sure he could handle taking care of the Initiative while we just -- got away for a bit. You need to relax. You need to take care of yourself."

Sam thought for a moment. Michael would know what to do. Sam trusted his son. He just... didn't want to put this all on his shoulders.

"And what if an emergency happens and we're too far away? The Triad are always looking for excuses to attack when they think we're weak."

"Then we'll talk to the angels," Ruby sighed. "See if Castiel or someone can cover things. They do owe you, after all."

Sam sighed, slumping in defeat. "You're not going to let this go, are you?"

"No, I'm not," she said gently. "I'm worried about you. And I know the years take a toll on you after a while, and I don't want to lose you because you start getting apathetic on me."

She paused for a moment, before leaning in to kiss him gently. "I miss the Sam I fell for. I want him back, if only for a little while."

He closed his eyes at her kiss, the sighed softly. "I guess I'll go break the news to Michael while you plan us up some kind of vacation then." He leaned his head on her shoulder.

"I'll try to do better. Just sometimes I don't even remember what I used to be like."

"I think I can help you remember," she said softly, rubbing his shoulder. "You just need a little time to take the responsibility off your shoulders."

justprompts: Skulk

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