Outside.
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Approximately a year had passed since the last time he had set foot in this place, a period of time in which he had been contemporaneously alive yet dead, but today, by some miracle that year had been consigned to history; today he had been regenerated, resurrected; today he had embraced his little brother and he had been healed.
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He stepped up to the door, its green paint ever more washed–out and chipped than ever, and he knocked.
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When Bobby opened the front door to find himself confronted by Dean Winchester, a young woman and a child, he immediately understood that this was no courtesy visit. Dean showing up here after a year of complete silence could only mean that trouble, in one form or another, had reared its ugly head and whatever it was had threatened his adopted family too.
His nimble mind was conjuring up various scenarios but any fantasising stopped abruptly when Sam's tall figure stepped up to the doorway, his bulk all but blocking out any light and Bobby's heart tumbled to his boots.
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Dean immediately noticed the look on Bobby's face as he saw Sam standing there, and correctly interpreted it.
"You knew," he said simply.
Bobby watched as a whole gamut of emotions was reflected in Dean's eyes, from incredulity to bewilderment to anger.
He read the accusation there, clear as if it had been written on a billboard in neon letters. "You knew and you never told me. You know what there is between me and Sam; you've seen us grow up; witnessed our bond, our brotherhood, our suffering, our pain and yet you kept this from me. How could you!"
The words, although not spoken aloud, hung in the air between them and Bobby who feared neither the natural nor the supernatural, felt himself go on the defensive, unsure now if his decision not to inform Dean that Sam had been in some way freed from the Cage, had been the right one.
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The elder Winchester had always been his favourite, perhaps because when John had first brought the two motherless boys to his yard, Dean had already been old enough for him to establish an on-going uncle-nephew relationship with the child. He had been an endearing lovable kid and the way he took care of little Sammy, his baby brother, would have brought tears to the stoniest heart.
Sam on the other hand, had grown from a cute kid to a moody, irritable, stubborn teen, rebelling against all and everything, especially John and the hunting life that he was forced to follow..
Dean had been Sam's only anchor then, the only one he had listened to, and they had developed a bond such as Bobby had never seen, defending each other against all and sundry.
So although Bobby loved Sam too, the younger Winchester was harder to understand, more difficult to reach out to and an enigma in many ways.
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He sighed as he felt Dean's accusing eyes still on him.
"Listen, Dean. You had gotten out of the hunting life, something that very few hunters manage to do, and you were as happy as a hunter could ever be. Sam himself told me not to tell you anything now that you had the kind of family life that you had always wanted."
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He saw the shift in Dean's expression as the younger man answered coldly. "I wanted my brother back, alive. I never stopped looking for a way to get Sam out of the Cage and although I couldn't find anything, I would have continued searching until I got him back. I never had any intention of leaving my little brother in Lucifer's hands, despite the promise that Sam wheedled out of me on the eve of Stull Cemetery.
Then how the Hell did you know whether I was happy or not. We haven't spoken to each other since Sam took the jump into the Cage?"
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"I got updates now and then from a reliable source," the older man replied evasively.
"Right, reliable source! Does this "source" have a name? Let me guess, Castiel! Cas told you I was happy and contented and you believed him; a being that wouldn't know what happiness was even if he fell over it.
If you had really wanted to know how I felt all you had to do was pick up the phone and ask me. Do you want to know when I was happy? It was when I opened my eyes today to find my brother sitting in front of me, whole and healthy, out of Lucifer's clutches and warm and alive in my arms. If you didn't know that then you've never known me at all!"
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Dean turned away, not trusting himself to say more.
He glanced at Sam, still standing immobile in the doorway. No-one could understand what he and Sam had, not even Bobby, and probably John himself had never really perceived the depth of their bond, but that was okay, for the only ones who needed to understand were he and Sammy. Their bond was theirs alone, a privilege reserved only for them, not to be understood by those who were forever on the outside.
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XXX The enD XXX