Title: Darkness Follows
Author: Clever Storyteller
Summary: After Quitting the Hunting Lifestyle Sam and Dean find themselves lead into the hunt to a town full of different monster after Bobby Mysteriously disappears leading them into a very different hunt fighting a combination of different monsters. Will the brothers find Bobby and be able to survive?
Season: This Story takes place in season six after Sam gets his soul returned, the wall is still in place. Castiel is still on Dean and Sam's side. Dean isn't with Lisa. At this point in the story, they haven't communicated and he hasn't returned to seeing her, knowing his place is where he wants to be, with his brother.
Chapter One
The weight of the world had been upon the Winchester Brother's shoulders for much longer than Dean cared to admit. Dean could remember a time when he had found love and desire for the hunt, being he had wanted to become the hunter that his father desired, the man his mother would have loved, proving himself capable of saving lives and making the sacrifices, he needed to. In realization that many lives would become lost, more than enough family members dead, friends and family gone, the hunt didn't seem to be meaningful. With the apocalyptic fight between Michael and Lucifer having ended, the eldest Winchester Brother was grateful to have his younger brother alive being that would mean they could be family again. Only things didn't go as Dean had dreamed, being his brother had been returned without his soul, in realization that Sam's soul was what gave his brother a conscious, Dean realized if he hadn't replaced his brother's soul, he would have to kill him. In desperation, Dean made an deal with death. Privately Dean knew, if he had to kill his brother, he would have followed him to death, if he couldn't find a way to save him, he found himself trusting Death more than the angels and demons combined.
Grateful that Death had agreed to put the soul into Sam, only afterwards realizing the wall would become the problem, being the Sam that Dean had come to know was the type of man who had grown to research everything. Sam got guilty enough for the small things, with the wall there, Dean had seen his brother wanted to figure out everything about everything therefore he could fix the things that he had done wrongly. Dean didn't know how he could help his brother out, being he knew that without his conscious, the man he had been fighting without a soul wasn't his brother. Without a soul Sam couldn't find himself there, his body may have existed, but the guy Dean had been traveling with didn't have the aspects Dean could count on when he had found his brother. Moving his hand against his beloved Impala's brakes, he was grateful to find that the vehicle was coming along nicely, placing his thoughts on his brother who was approaching, taking the cloth from Sam's hand, he paused, knowing the thoughts he had since Sam woke up weren't going to be easy to describe. "What do you think we should be doing about Eve now that we know the monsters and her are working together?" asked Sam, Dean could see the concern in his brother's eyes. Something he had missed, the desire to help.
"Truthfully, I don't think we should do a damn thing" Sam frowned as he watched Dean, Dean knew that Sam was watching him being this was going against their usual plan of saving as many people as they truly could. The responsibility shouldn't remain on their shoulders, when the only reason the two of them had been raised as hunters were due to the fact that their father was out for vengeance, that was if the idea that their mother's side of the family had always been hunters could remain forgotten.
"Dean…we can't just let these people die, think of the families we could save..."
"I am thinking of the families. Ours. How many times are we going to risk our lives? " asked Dean, glancing to look at his brother as he finished the last touches on the Impala, ready to find a way free. Sam clearly was listening to every word that Dean had to say, with his thoughts attached; Dean had missed his brother when they were apart from one another. Would that happen again? What would happen if Sam continued to scratch against the wall? Dean knew by getting involved with future hunts would give more reasons why his brother would scratch, perhaps there was a cure out there, but continuing to hunt would only endanger his brother. "If we continue one of us will die, maybe both of us."
"So you want to stop hunting? Just like that? What about everything dad and Bobby taught us?" asked Sam inquisitively, the stubbornness reaching his eyes, Dean knew he couldn't expect his brother to stop immediately. Hunting was everything that they had learned, he knew walking away from this life would go against much of what they had learned growing up, but he knew that Sam was risk this. He would do what he needed to in order to protect him from anything. Even Sam himself.
Dean sighed with frustration in his wide eyes. "I would give up this life despite how much it is a part of me, to know that this will stop us from being killed." Besides he thought to himself, 'its my job to look out for Sammy'. Dean promised his father and himself, he'd do what he could to keep Sam from harm, he was determined to keep his word, knowing walking away would be the best way to keep his word. To keep Sam from scratching his wall.
Sam frowned before nodding his head, clearly he wasn't going anywhere away from Dean, Dean could see that Sam agreed with Dean although he may not like giving up on what they seemed to know most of their lives. "That means saying goodbye to Cas, doesn't it? Being he won't need us if we aren't party of the fight with the angels and Demons anymore". Dean knew all too well that saying good bye to Castiel was part of the package. He enjoyed the angel's company and he had grown to appreciate him as a friend, the angel couldn't compare to Dean's need to protect his brother. Dean knew time had come to say goodbye to the nerd angel being him and Sam would survive as normal human beings did.
Several hours had passed before Dean moved outside while Bobby and Sam were eating dinner, discussing the fact that the brothers were going to be giving up the hunt, Bobby didn't seem to believe that the brothers could say goodbye to the hunting lifestyle as easily as Sam and Dean were willing. "Cas…." Dean called out knowing this good bye wasn't going to be easy, in fact he expected this to be damn hard due to all he and the angel had been through together. Cas and him had a different bond than he shared with Sam, while the bond may be deep, this bond didn't go deeper than what he had shared with his brother.
"Dean…" spoke a voice from behind him, Dean turned around noticing the angel in surprise. Dean knew that Castiel was expecting something from the brothers, being often they only spoke about trouble finding them. "You have been calling for me while my brothers continue to fight in the heavens, as I try to make an attempt for peace." Dean frowned, but he definitely was realizing that with the apocalypse stopped, there was no reason for Sam and himself to be needed in this fight, being he and Sam had already done their share against those who would harm humanity. It was always Sam and Dean against the world, against what they were facing.
"Cas…Sam and I want out" Dean knew the words were simple but he believed in them knowing they told what he felt inside, knowing he wanted to stop fighting, the fight he began fighting as a child. It was the best option for Sam, he told himself.
"Out?" asked the Angel bewildered, Dean could see the childlike wonder in Castiel's eyes, Dean felt the burn forming within himself, but he knew what he was prepared to do would be right.
"We are quitting the hunting lifestyle, the apocalypse is over therefore you don't need Sam and me to fight any longer against the angels." Dean knew that there would always be a reasons that Cas could give him to continue fighting but he was realizing those reasons would come with a price attached to them.
Castiel frowned, comprehending what Dean was saying. "There will still be fights out there, Dean. Walking away won't make the fights stop just by doing so." The words made sense to Dean, but he also knew that if Sam's wall broke, he didn't know how he would handle losing his brother again especially in the knowledge he'd let his brother down without a fight.
Fierce Determination continued to grow throughout Dean. "This isn't our war, Cas. This concerns you, not us. You will be okay, I am your friend but I need to take care of my family." Family always seemed to come first with Dean, being they were what mattered to him, Dean knew that was the reason he would continue fighting.
"You said I was family…" spoke Castiel, testing the words that Dean had mentioned within his mouth, hearing the words made Dean frowned knowing he had meant them at the time. Cas was family, he'd always be that but he wouldn't fight for Castiel the same way he would for Sam.
"You are but the angels are your family also and I know no matter what you won't walk away, I understand that." Dean stated becoming aware for the first time what Castiel had really walked away from when he had chosen the human's side rather than the angels when choosing to be on Dean's side. "I can't risk my brother's life any longer especially with the wall remaining there, he and I have had too much weight on our shoulders, we need to have those lives we fought there. " Dean spoke out knowing that this would possibly be the last time he'd ever see the angel, he knew the sacrifices he was making for Sam.
Castiel spoke softly, watching Dean sadly. "You think you and Sam can walk away from the war with so many monsters knowing you, they can see you as you can see into them" he mentioned, trying to give a reason for Dean to continue fighting for him, being Dean knew the angel found purpose something none of the angels could possibly give himself. The brothers had changed how the world should be, Dean knew that the angels had expected the battlefield to destroy everything, but Sam and Dean made things turn out differently than the expectations that arrived. "My friend, I wish you well, but I don't believe this is the end" he spoke the words simply as he disappeared. Dean couldn't agree with the angel.
Several Months had passed since Sam and Dean quit hunting, they only remained in touch with Bobby being he had more than a hunter to them, he had been someone who was another father in their life, Dean supposed that is why Sam had started calling him 'Uncle Bobby' at a young age. Within those months, the brothers stopped in Lawrence at their mother's grave, stopped at Stanford so Sam could speak to Jessica also, and the brothers chose not to reunite with the females from their pasts in case the monsters were still after them. Dean had moved on from Lisa and Ben, while a part of him wanted to have the family they had when together, he realized that he had remained more so out of obligation than desire or love for Lisa. Sam had been considering visiting Sarah as he and the female had emailed back and forth since they had seen one another all the years back, he was hesitant though, being the last thing either brother needed was another person they cared for due to their actions. The Winchester brothers were happy though, they continued traveling to see the Grand Canyon as well as different sites that they hadn't seen before when traveling.
Now they chose to head back to Bobby, being the brothers wanted to make sure the older man was holding up well, due to the fact they still cared for him, Dean parked quickly. Seeing the lights on Sam smiled, glancing over at Dean. "He must be home, all the lights are on. Why isn't the dog barking?" he asked curiously, Dean figured the dog must be inside, half the time Dean forgot about the dog which was Bobby's only company at times when the Winchesters were gone.
Opening the door he quickly walked inside hearing the quiet, feeling Sam behind him. "Bobby? You here?" he asked allowing his voice to echo, the Goosebumps began to grow against his skin. Dean began to quicken his pace, he didn't want to think for the worse but that was the only thing available as he made his way inside, hearing the fire from the fireplace, he turned to see the light still lit which meant that Bobby should be around. Maps were all over the table, the phone was hanging in the air. Sam lifted the phone to his ear, hearing the ringing.
"No answer. My guess Bobby is in some type of trouble."
Dean quickly heard rumpling coming from the nearby pantry, realizing he didn't carry his gun inside with him as he left that in the impala. Glancing at Sam, he immediately took from a cabinet where Bobby kept his emergency supplies, grabbing a gun which he handed to Sam, before taking his own and grabbing a bottle of holy water before flinging the door open to prepare himself for whatever may have taken Bobby. What was he and Sam getting themselves into?