A different path

I own nothing, all rights go to its proper owners.

Not betaed, so all the mistakes are my own.

What if, No rest for the wicked.

What if it had gone down differently? What if Sam had managed to make Lillith bring Dean back only a few moments after he was sent to hell?

Enjoy

Sam stared at Dean´s broken and bloodied body, torn up from the Hellhounds claws, eyes wide and unseeing and skin quickly turning a sickly white color.

This couldn´t be true, he couldn´t be dead. My big brother, the one constant in my life, the one person who had always been there by my side, through thick and thin, couldn´t be dead. No, it couldn´t be true. Lillith´s laugh brought Sam back to his senses like a slap to his face. She was laughing. HOW could she be laughing at something like this? Lillith looked at him, wild triumph in her eyes and a wicked, smug grin on her face. Her power was still holding Sam in place, while his blood boiled in his veins from the fury that was running through him. How dare this bitch take Dean from me? And then laugh in my face. She would pay for this, I will make her pay for what she has done.

Sam looked at his big brother again, feeling his heart breaking all over again, and with a roar filled with pain and anger, he summoned all of his power, focused on the bonds holding him in place and tore free with an almighty surge of power. White light exploded outward from his chest, and like a nuclear explosion it leveled everything in the room with the ground. Chairs flew through the air, the dining room table toppled over, the light bulbs shattered and Lillith slammed into the wall opposite of where she had, just a few moments before, held him captive. Everything in the room had been affected in some way, everything except Deans body, it still lay untouched on the floor, and for that Sam was thankful. Mystified, but very grateful. What exactly had happened was a problem for later, Sam decided as he slowly got up from the floor. Lillith was trying to get up on the other side of the room, shock and a slight fear painted on her face.

Sam wasted no time, filled with determination to get his brother back, he seized the demon killing knife that lay on the floor a bit away, and in a quick fluent movement he was across the room and had Lillith pinned up against the wall with the knife at her throat. Lillith just smirked at the threat of the knife and opened her mouth to escape, but Sam was having none of that. Slamming his free hand over her mouth and using the power currently running through him to stop her from using her powers, he effectively had her trapped. The widening of her eyes and the true fear that could be read in her eyes told Sam that she knew it too. "Listen up you bitch, here is what is going to happen" Sam growled, fury burning in his eyes, "You are going to bring by brother back to life, right now, and I won´t kill you today. You will heal his body completely, bring him back to life and you get to leave here alive. If not, I will kill you right here, right now. Your deal with by brother is over and completed so there won´t be any complications there, so now you will bring him back, no tricks and no hidden agendas. Understand?"

No, Lillith thought disbelievingly, this can´t be happening. This is not how it is supposed to go. I can´t die here, the Master will never be free if I do. But I also can´t bring Winchester back, we need him to break! The boy is not supposed to be this powerful, not yet!

I have to give him back, we will simply have to find another to break the first seal. Dammit, this will mess up everything. Centuries worth of planning and manipulating events, all for naught. And all because this boy loves his brother so much. It makes him unpredictable. Fine, I will do it. It will give me time to escape, regroup and make a new plan.

Sam stared at Lillith, impatiently waiting for an answer, desperately hoping against all odds that she would agree to his terms. When Lillith, after what felt like years but was only a few minutes, lifted her eyes to meet his, he knew that he had won. Sam could see the angrily resigned agreement in her eyes, and when she nodded her head in consent Sam nearly dropped to his knees in relief. Slowly Sam removed his hand from her mouth, silently letting her know that if she tried anything, he could still kill her faster than she could kill him. Lillith nodded again, letting him know that she understood and then, looking at Dean´s body, snapped her fingers. Sam watched in morbid fascination as his brothers body healed itself, the long gashes disappearing and color returning to his face. Then his eyes snapped open as he gasped for air, and then started coughing as his lounges remembered how to do their jobs. Sam thought his heart would burst with all the emotions he felt, and, not caring about the consequences, he rushed to his brothers side and simply held him, silently thanking every deity out there that Dean was back.

Dean stared at Sam, and in without hesitation he threw his arms around his little brother and just held on, chick-flick moments be dammed. Dean simply held on, and as he felt his brothers hot tears soak his shirt, he knew that they had a long road ahead of them in the recovery department. A loud shriek demanded their immediate attention as Lilltih took the opportunity to flee her host, and a smoky black cloud flew out the window.

Dean looked at Sam, and wondered what had gone down while he had been out. He remembered the Hellhounds tearing into him, Sam shouting and trying to help him, searing pain and the sincere regret that his brother had to witness his demise. Not only witness it, but also be left behind with an evil Hell bitch that wanted his head on a silver platter. Dean wanted nothing more than to protect his brother, but knew that his time was up. Dean was also distinctly aware that Sam was still holding on to him like he was afraid that if he let go, Dean would vanish in a puff of smoke.

Shaking his head, Dean turned Sam´s head towards him, and his heart nearly broke at the sight of those big tear-filled puppy dog eyes. "Come on Sam," Dean said trying to get up, "lets get outta here." Pulling Sam to his feet Dean started towards the door, only to come face to face with the business end of a shotgun. Holding the shotgun was no-one but their surrogate father, Bobby singer, who at that precise moment looked extremely suspicious. Dean briefly thought that he might die twice that day, if Sam had not stepped in, and convinced Bobby that Dean really was Dean, no tricks.

The shotgun was lowered and just as he was about to breathe a sigh of relief, Dean found himself engulfed in a bone crushing hug from the old grizzly bear, Bobby Singer. Dean could practically feel the love and affection emitting from the older hunter, and when the hug was over, Dean could see the tears in Bobby´s eyes. Then the older hunter turned to Sam, and gave him a hug just as fierce as the one he had given Dean, and the look of surprise on Sam´s face would, under any other circumstance, have been hilarious. When the chick-flick moment was over, the three of them hurried out of the house armed with a shotgun, a demon killing knife and three silver knives, each one of them always caring one with them. Just in case.

They speed out of the neighborhood in silence. Two cars, three people, no talking and no music to fill the silence. About an hour away from the city, and 3 hours away from Bobby´s home, they stopped and stepped out the car. Dean and Bobby were both eager to hear what had happened, and how Dean was still alive. Sam looked nervous, scared even to Bobby as the boy explained what had happened. Bobby was a bit shocked at the news that not only was Sam apparently very powerful, he had also gotten a super powerful demon to bring Dean back. Bobby was very happy that there was no new deal in place, that none of his boys would have to pay for Dean´s return to life. He knew that there was something going on with the demons, but he also knew that as long as his boys stuck together, they could get through anything. Even Sam´s new powers, because it was clear that Sam was scared how they would react to that, so while Dean was doing his best to comfort him, in true Winchester style, Bobby took a more direct and simple way to comfort Sam. "Sam, "Bobby said, giving both boys a hard look, "it doesn´t matter that you have powers, we´ll figure it out. Now get back in that car and get going, I would like to get some sleep in my own bed tonight. We´ll talk more about all of this tomorrow. Idgits." The smile Bobby sent him was enough to ease Sam´s fear, and combined with his brother´s presence next to him, Sam knew that it would be okay.

As they drove on, headed for South Dakota, the black Impala was filled with the sounds of a familiar rumbling engine, and music that blasted from the speakers, Sam smiled a relived smile as music blasted from the speakers "Carry on my wayward son…"

The end.