HELL OR HIGH WATER

Sam goes to use the bathroom after breakfast leaving Dean and Mary alone, sitting across from each other. Dean sips on his coffee, his eyes scanning the beautiful day outside. Mary wraps her chilled fingers around her warm coffee mug and looks at him. Marveling at and a little intimidated by this man.

"So Billie is a reaper, like a death reaper? And she wants you dead?" She asks slowly.

He nods, "Yeah pretty much. After we offed the horseman Death, the reapers decided we'd cheated them one too many times. Billie is all too eager to reap our souls and ensure we never make it back again."

"Wasn't that kind of dangerous then, dealing with her like that?" She says, finger tips slipping slowly around the rim of her coffee mug.

Dean laughs in the back of his throat, averting his eyes back outside, and Mary realizes he's scoffing at her.

"This wasn't the first time was it?"

His eyes meet hers sharply for the first time since they reunited, he relaxes slowly as the tension that filled him in the last millisecond bleeds away.

"Yeah well," he shrugs and leans forward, wiping a hand over his mouth and dropping his voice. "Don't make a big deal out of it, Sammy doesn't know." Doesn't tell her that this time around was a walk in the park, last time he almost died...did die; he killed himself.

She looks troubled. "Why?" And he knows she's not asking why Sam doesn't know, but why he risked what he risked.

Dean shrugs and she sees deep disdain flash over his countenance, followed by the cold killer hunter glinting in his eyes. Then it's just Dean sitting there, his smile is warm and his eyes light up with something he sees across the room.

"Because it's Sammy." He answers with a smug grin and she turns around to find her youngest son moving towards them, a dimpled smile still on his lips where he'd been smiling at Dean a mere moment before. A brotherly moment she would have missed if she hadn't been watching Dean so closely.

She's seen them exchange those looks before, thousands of words passed between them with one look. They move as one, they think as one...and argue like an old married couple...she's never seen anything quite so extraordinary.

"Everything good?" Sam asks, as he slides into his seat beside her.

Mary would bet money Sam had seen the other, not so warm and cuddly sides of Dean flash over his face as he left the bathroom. She realizes that was probably why Dean had calmed so quickly too, he'd seen Sam coming before she even realized she'd provoked him by calling up dark memories...see? She had still missed a huge part of what had happened in that moment. She's doesn't know them at all.

"Yeah, we're great." Dean answers. "You almost done?" He asks, pointing to Sam's coffee, "Got a long drive back home."

"It's not that far." Sam says easily, tapping away on his iPad and sipping his hot coffee.

"We're in effing Canada, Sam." Dean replies flatly.

Sam doesn't blink an eye, sips from his cup again, "Don't rush me Dean."

Dean rolls his eyes and lets out a long suffering sigh and waves for the waitress to bring more coffee over. Mary's heart warms as she watches them and shakes her head, laughing at their antics. This is what she meant, one moment they're unexplainably in tune with each other and then the next they're bickering like children. She realizes that they're, never in fact, out of tune with each other. But that there's only a handful of times Mary can actually detect them. They're amazing.

...

The car is generally silent on the way home. It's a killer of a drive back to Kansas but Sam can already tell Dean is indisputably going to make it one go. In all fairness to him though, Sam must say he stops every time Sam asks him too. They get the giggles terribly when they get milkshakes at eleven p.m. and Dean is starting to rub at his eyes.

They're out of breath and still rolling with laughter at Mrs. Fox's glasses. Dean insists they looked like little mini windshields, but Sam is hysterical with his older brother's previous observation that the woman looked like a completely drunk beetle bug.

Dean scares the crap out of them both as he swerves into the opposite lane and gets about fifty cars beeping at him. He yelps in shock and quickly wipes the laughter tears from his eyes.

Usually Sam would be mad, but this only pushes him further. "Need some glasses Dean?" He teases, through giggles, "I know where I can get a nice pair."

"Oh shut up," Dean shoots back, hand shooting out over the seat between them and trying to find some part of Sam to pinch.

Sam just laughs and presses himself against the door and away from Dean. His big brother finally gives up and relaxes back into his seat and begins radio surfing. Sam sighs through his last few peals of laughter and relaxes too. A comfortable silence fills the car between them, and Sam's mind starts wandering to think back over the last few hours.

He's proud with the way Dean had behaved towards their mom. True, Dean didn't necessarily agree with their mother's actions but he hadn't been a jerk. It was a very difficult situation and Sam can't help but feel Dean is trying even harder than Mary.

He's surprised when Dean asks her to join them for breakfast but thinks he probably shouldn't be, after all Dean wouldn't stop at anything when it came to family. He had behaved admirably at breakfast even though Sam could feel his tension, a flavor of coldness.

He realizes they're pushing their luck when he comes out of the bathroom to find his brother's eyes already on him. Cold, predatory and dangerous all flashing across his brother's countenance in a mere millisecond. The next he's a clear smile, wrinkles by his eyes showing with the sincerity of it.

And Sam knows the stress is telling on him, knows there had been a few minutes of near paralyzing panic when he realized Sam was stuck inside...and he was stuck outside. Can only imagine the way Billie showing up had scared him...was she here to reap Sam or not? So what had Dean done? What kind of stupid deal had he struck up with her?

Knows the strain of their mom being there was telling on his nerves and Dean was about done putting up face. Dean was incredibly good at pretending, but deep down his brother was the sincerest of people, he couldn't hold back his frustrations for long. So Sam joins them quickly taking Mary's attention off of him and soothing over some sort of irritation between them that Mary didn't comprehend.

And that he totally understood. While Mary might be trying to catch up on the world and things that had happened since she died, she wasn't getting to know them any better. There were about a million completely innocent things she could say to his brother to trigger him. Sam had years and years of practice reading his ticks and learning how to calm him and avoid complete crash and burn...famous last words.

"So what was with Billie last night?" He asks innocently, as he thinks back to her words. 'You owe me one.' What had Dean done?

Dean shrugs.

"Sounded an awful lot like a deal to me." Sam says, not looking at him, eyes out the window.

He can feel Dean's eyes fall sharply on him across the seat. "Yeah well, I had to get in."

"So it was a deal?" Sam asks, voice strained, his head snapping around to look at Dean.

His brother swallows. "Not in so many words, but well, I owe her one I guess."

"You guess?" Sam snaps rather sharply, feels the familiar ball of fear and nausea in his stomach at the thought of loosing Dean.

"Sam." His brother's voice is taunt and holds that authoritative note in it. "It had to be done. What did you want me to do, just leave you in there to die? Newsflash, that's not really my MO. I will always, no matter the cost, come for you."

"Great." Sam throws his hands up in defeat. "We'll just put that one down in the Dean Winchester Book Of Stupid Ideas right by 'sell your soul to a crossroads demon' and 'ask Cain to give you his freaking mark'."

A cold, bitter smile slides over Dean's face, "No arguments here on that."

"Damnit, Dean!" Sam spits out, "This isn't funny."

He gets no response and the last hour passes in sullen silences by both the boys. Dean pulls the impala into the bunker's garage and uncranks her. Sam just wrenches the door open and reaches into the back seat for his bag.

"Look Sammy," Dean says slowly, "I don't wanna fight with you. But if what you're looking for is an apology you're not getting it. I'd do it the same all over again."

Sam looks at him for a moment, attempting to be distant, but mostly just hurt and fear reflects in his ever expressive eyes. He takes a deep breath. "Entirely ignoring the risk it was to you, Dean..." he says, obviously angry with the lack of concern Dean shows towards himself.

"...it still almost cost us mom."

Then he's gone, Impala door slamming shut behind him and he disappears up the stairs.

"Shit." Dean curses.

...

Three hours later Sam jerks awake remembering a hunt from a few years back where a standard exorcism hadn't done the trick, the too powerful demon had feigned the exorcism and ambushed them later on, their mistake had almost cost them their lives.

He also realizes he never heard Dean come in. Jael's words are echoing in his mind as he hurries down the halls with his angel blade and into the garage.

"The idea that he left a meat suit alive is just so deliciously weak. As for the rest of you..."

Jael had meant to kill everyone else, including Dean, and keep Sam alive and seemed pretty thrilled with his discovery of Sam's survival. Which meant if their exorcism had been only temporary, if Jael had been too powerful he'd be looking for Sam. And that meant he'd be looking for Dean too.

Sam tells himself it's the stupidest crazy-dream induced theory ever but the empty garage and Baby's driver door left open says otherwise. He feels like such a hypocrite, but doesn't care as he thinks feverishly, I'm coming for you Dean.

Hell of high water the Winchesters will always look after their own.

...

Sam is taking advantage of the last few bars of wifi as they leave the restaurant and Dean and Mary walk ahead of him towards their cars. He's in a quiet, steadfast mood. She likes the way his lips shut, but turn up just a touch. As if awarding the world with a teasing hint at the true glories of his full fledged smile.

"This morning at Asa's..." she starts.

He raises his eyebrows and looks down at her, "Yeah? What about it?"

She bites the side of her mouth and then looks him straight in the eye. "I saw the look on your face. You wouldn't have stopped me, would you've?"

He looks at her steadily, green eyes sparkling in the sunlight, she's overwhelmed by the love there but is impressed with the strength and conviction there too.

"No. No I wouldn't've."

tbc...

Can't wait to have some fun on this short hiatus!

Review if you like this!