Sam sat in the library of the bunker twiddling his thumbs.

Cas and Crowley had figured out a way to fix Dean temporarily. A spell or something. Sam didn't necessarily trust Crowley (actually, he didn't trust him at all), but he also knew that Dean had become a problem for the self-proclaimed King of Hell, so whatever Crowley had in mind couldn't be all that bad.

And if Castiel thought it was a decent idea, Sam couldn't complain too much.

Still, Sam felt nervous. What if it didn't work, or just made things worse? What if-

"Sammy?"

Sam stood instantly, turning to where his big brother stood with Crowley and Castiel right behind him. Before Sam could say anything, Cas suddenly flung a little bit of water onto a disdained-looking HUMAN Dean's face. Then Cas turned back to Sam, nodding once. "He's clean."

Crowley raised a brow. "Yes, well, I did most of the work, so you're welcome, Moose. Good as new."

"Actually, I had to use my grace for the spell, so-"

"Yes, but who provided spell? Hm? That would be me."

The bickering continued in the background, but the Winchesters barely noticed. They instead locked eyes on each other and slowly stepped closer together. Sam watched his brother carefully, making sure he was actually good before moving too close. Where Dean's eyes had been empty before, they now held a sort of uncertainty and sadness to them. Sam swallowed down the emotion.

Yep. That was his brother.

There was a moment of silent awkwardness before Dean said, "Hey."

"Hey," Sam squinted, continuing his observation. "How're you feeling?"

Dean shrugged. "I dunno. Pretty crappy, to be honest. And hungry."

Sam grinned. "Yeah, I figured."

Dean smiled back and then hesitated. "Sam, I'm-"

Sam shook his head. "Don't. You weren't you, Dean, and even if you were, I don't care. I'm just glad you're here now. We can deal with the rest later."

Dean swallowed and blinked, eyes misting. He then nodded and cleared his throat. "Yeah, okay."

They stood there for another moment, the emotions inside each of them threatening to bubble over, when instantaneously they each took a step forward and grabbed each other, pulling one another into a hug that was necessary every time one of them came back from a seemingly irreversible evil. They held on tight, squeezing the life out of each other, each brother inwardly screaming things that they couldn't say out loud.

I'm sorry I abandoned you.

I'm sorry I wasn't there.

I'm so happy you're back.

Thank you for saving me.

I love you.