Tag to 10.20, Angel Heart.

"I wish Cas had hung around for a while," said Sam.

The angel had left them after Claire's taxi finally disappeared, claiming he had some sort of business to attend to but Sam thought he just wanted to be alone.

"He'll be fine," replied Dean. "He's a tough little dude."

"Yeah, I know but this is different." Sam stared off into the distance. "Maybe he shouldn't be alone."

"Sometimes being alone is better than dragging down the people you care about." Dean's voice was gruff and Sam glanced at his brother, who was faking interest in something on the ground next to the Impala.

"Is that what you really think, Dean?"

"What?" Dean pretended not to hear the question and quickly changed the subject. "Hey, when was the last time you and I played mini golf?"

Sam gave a frustrated sigh. His brother was the master of deflection. "No idea."

"Exactly!" Dean pointed toward the "Mini Golf" sign hanging from the porch that stretched across the front of the motel. "Who says we can't have a little fun? Whaddya say?"

"Are you going to quote Caddyshack the entire time?"

"No….okay, maybe only once….or twice. Come on, Sammy. We need a break." Dean gave his best attempt at puppy dog eyes, which never failed to amuse Sam. "You always win anyway, so if nothing else, it will give you something to gloat about on the ride home."

Sam's face broke into a grin. He wasn't going to deny Dean anything that might make him happy, even if he had to listen to Dean quote Bill Murray all day long. "Alright, let's do it.

"Yessss!" Dean rubbed his hands together in glee and headed off to get their clubs.

"I think it's only fair to warn you that I have the advantage here." Dean smirked at his younger brother.

"Oh, really? How's that?"

"Claire and I already played this course."

"So, that's how you two bonded?"

"What?" Dean lined up his first shot. "We didn't bond. We just….played mini golf."

Sam watched as his brother's ball came dangerously close to the first hole. Dean sunk it with one more shot and grinned. No matter what the outcome of the game, Dean's grin was worth it all. He seemed relaxed….more than he had in a while and Sam wondered if Dean was finally gaining control of the Mark. Not that it mattered. Rowena was working to crack the spell that would remove it forever. In a few weeks or possibly even a few days, the Mark would no longer be an issue. It couldn't happen soon enough for Sam.

"Whatever, dude. You bonded. Must be the whole troubled teen thing."

"Yeah, Cas doesn't seem to understand that dealing with a teenage girl is nothing like dealing with either of us as a teen." Dean gave him a sideways glance. "Well, at least not me. You always were a little girly."

"Shut up." Sam placed his ball on the green, tapped it with his putter, and watched as it rolled straight into the first hole.

"Dammit," muttered Dean.

"You sure you want to do this?"

"Damn straight I want to do this! We're having fun if it kills us."

Sam laughed at his brother's attempt at a joke but in their line of work…..getting killed while having fun was a distinct possibility.

Halfway through the course, Sam was still winning but only by a couple of shots. Dean's next shot was a hole in one and he looked extremely pleased with himself.

"So, what did you mean by what you said earlier?" asked Sam.

"What?" Dean was carefully recording the score, trying to ignore Sam's question.

"You said sometimes being alone is better than dragging down the people you care about." Sam took his next shot and missed the hole, sinking the ball on his second try. "What did you mean by that?"

Dean wrote down his brother's score and shrugged. "I just think you have to know when to cut ties, count your losses and move on."

"Is that what you think I should do, Dean?" asked Sam softly. "Should I just move on?"

"Sammy….."

"It's never going to happen, Dean."

"I know that." Dean didn't look too happy at the thought.

"Do you?"

"Yes, I do." Dean sighed. "You're killing yourself over this, Sammy."

"No, I'm not."

"Have you even looked in the mirror lately? You look like death warmed over. I know you're not sleeping…"

"You really want to talk about who's not sleeping?" Sam raised a questioning eyebrow at his brother.

"Hey, I sleep…I just have these dreams sometimes."

"Yeah, I noticed."

"Sorry."

"Don't apologize, Dean. Just tell me what I can do to help."

Dean shook his head. "Get some sleep yourself. Quit chasing dead ends."

"I'm sorry if I can't just sit around with my thumbs up my ass, Dean!" Sam's voice was just short of yelling. "I can't lose you again! I can't! I won't!"

Dean was silent and Sam saw his own pain reflected in his brother's eyes. From behind them, someone cleared their throat. They turned to find an older man standing there, a young boy at his side. "Say fellas? You mind taking your domestic dispute somewhere else so my grandson and I can play through?"

"Yeah, sure. Sorry, sir." Sam moved off the green, away from the man and his grandson, with Dean following close behind.

"Sammy, I'm sorry. I never meant for any of this to happen."

"I know that, but it has, and if you think for one minute I'm just gonna sit around and let you go, that I'm somehow gonna move on without you…" Sam swallowed hard against the lump in his throat. "It means I haven't made up one damn thing to you this past year."

"What are you talking about?"

Sam shook his head but couldn't speak. Everything he'd said last year, every horrible thing he'd said to hurt Dean had been weighing on his conscience for too long. He'd tried to show Dean that he didn't mean it but he should have told him…he never meant any of it….never.

"Sammy?"

"I didn't mean it, Dean. When I said I wouldn't save you if you were dying? I didn't mean it." The words poured out of him in a rush, followed by tears…..tears of regret for hurting his brother. The look on Dean's face when Sam had said those spiteful words….it was something he'd never forget….it haunted him for weeks while searching for Dean. It haunted him still.

"Sam, if you'd meant those things, I'd still be a demon so quit beating yourself up over it, okay?" Dean gripped his arms. "I know you didn't mean it."

The sound of hurried footsteps came from the other side of the shrubs where they were standing. "Don't look at the strange men in the bushes, Billy."

"Why, Grandpa?"

"Because I don't want to explain it," the old man muttered under his breath as he ushered Billy quickly past them, the boy craning his neck to see.

Dean glanced at Sam and they both burst into laughter.

"Dude, it's because you're so girly," Dean said with a chuckle.

"Right. Because two men in the bushes would be normal any other time." Sam wiped the tears from his eyes, thankful that at least these tears were from laughing…..something he couldn't remember doing a lot of recently. He'd forgotten how good it felt to laugh. "Should we finish the game?"

"Oh, hell, yeah! I'm only one shot down, Sammy boy!" Dean held up the scorecard for Sam's inspection.

"Are you sure that's right?"

"Are you saying I cheated?"

"No, I'm just saying I'm better at math than you are." Sam grinned.

"Okay, Einstein, you add it up." Dean shoved the scorecard at Sam and propped up against a plaster rock to wait for him to tally the score.

Sam quickly ran through the numbers and found that Dean had made a mistake but it was in his favor. According to Sam's count, after that last hole, they were tied. He handed the scorecard back to Dean and waited for his reaction.

"We're tied? Oh, hell, yeah, we're finishing this game!" Dean pushed his way through the bushes. "Come on, Sammy."

As they headed toward the Impala, Dean waved the scorecard above his head. "Mark this day down in history." He held the scorecard closer to Sam's face. "I beat your ass, Sammy."

"Yeah, yeah. I heard you the first fifty times, Dean."

"And you're gonna hear it for the next five hours."

Sam smiled at his brother's celebration. It took so little to make Dean happy.

"I BEAT YOUR ASS, SAMMY BOY!"

They rounded the corner of the motel and almost ran into the old man and his grandson, Billy. The old man's eyes were wide and he had his hands over Billy's ears.

Dean grinned at the old man. "I won."

The man grabbed Billy's hand and headed inside the motel as quick as he could manage, as Dean doubled over laughing.

"That man is going to have nightmares about us," said Sam.

Dean shrugged. "I'm sure he won't be the first."

Sam grinned at his brother as they loaded into the Impala. Mini golf was the best idea Dean had come up with in a long time. They had needed a break and a laugh and more importantly, Sam had needed to get some things off his chest. Unfortunately it wasn't enough since he still was keeping secrets from his brother. But soon, those would no longer be necessary and Dean would be free of his burden. Things could go back to normal….or at least what passed as normal for them. He only hoped Dean would forgive him for the lies. He was only doing what was necessary to save his brother…..same as Dean would do. Dean would understand. He had to.

"Hey, Dean."

"Yeah, Sammy?"

"I'm not better off alone, Dean. Nobody is. You said it…..just last week….we're stronger together than we are apart."

"I know, Sammy."

"Just don't forget that."

He wasn't going to lose his brother, not to the Mark, not to lies, not to anything….not ever again.

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