Together Is Better.
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"Sammy! God it's good to see you," Dean breathed as he pulled his brother close, his arms tightening around him.
"Dean," Sam grinned, his own arms coming up and falling automatically into place around his brother as he threw himself into the hug.
"What happened to all the chick-flick warnings you used to throw at me whenever you thought I was gonna go sentimental?" he said, his voice breaking with emotion at finding Dean alive.
"That rule is still in order bro, but what good's a rule if you don't get to break it now and then?" Dean answered smirking, his teeth gleaming white in his dirt-covered face, as he held on to the flannel clothed bulk that was his younger sibling.
"Yeah, well. I think we should discuss the finer points of rule-bending later and get the hell outta here ASAP," Sam said pushing back weakly from his newly found brother, and beginning to recite the spell he had used to enter Purgatory to retrieve him.
"You betcha Sammy," Dean agreed wholeheartedly. "I don't like to hurry you, man but there's a band of fuglies coming at us right now from that clump of bushes over there, so… whenever you're good to go, little brother!" Dean warned as he stepped around Sam to stand between him and the oncoming enemies.
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He no sooner finished the sentence than the portal whooshed open and they both jumped through, their hands fisted in each other's shirts; turning just in time to see it close immediately behind them..
"Thanks for coming to get me, Sammy," Dean said as the brothers began to untangle themselves from the pile of arms and legs that had formed as they landed "Ganking monster souls in Purgatory is great fun but I wouldn't want to make it a career choice."
"Dude," Sam huffed shaking his head, as they pulled each other up "You didn't think I'd leave you down there to rot, did you? I gotta say though your little stay in Purgatory hasn't improved your snark any."
"Well, you don't really have much time to work on anything except keeping your ass alive down there, Sasquatch. So be thankful I'm still around to give you the full benefit of my witty repartee," his brother retorted.
"'Witty repartee!' Wow, I'm impressed Dean. Maybe you should have stayed down there a bit longer; came back out with a degree from Purg-Uni!" Sam grinned, his heart full of relief and happiness at having his brother back, as he led the way to where he had parked the Impala.
"Huh, "Dean snorted. " It's a good job I'm back to keep you in line, bro. You get a little too antsy when I'm not around to rein you in."
Sam rolled his eyes as he went to the passenger door.
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Dean hadn't seen his baby for the three long weeks it had taken Sam to wait for the full moon in order to open the portal with the same spell Castiel had used to let the Leviathans out, and he smiled as he saw Dean's eyes light up at the sight.
"Oh, Baby. Did you miss me," Dean crooned in the voice he used only for her.
"You waxed her up," he said, glancing up at Sam as he passed a hand over her gleaming body-work. "Did a good job too, I must admit, Sasquatch. Not like your usual blotchy efforts."
"I had to find some way of passing the time until the full moon," Sam shrugged nonchalant. Truth was the Impala had been the closest thing left of Dean and he had felt comforted when he was around her, for never had three weeks felt so long!
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Dean swung himself into the seat as Sam folded his long legs into the tight space afforded him, and never had the rumble of her engine sounded so sweet to him as he turned the key.
"Dean," Sam sniffed scrunching up his nose. "Is it you that's giving off that terrible stench?"
Dean turned unbelieving eyes on him. "I was in Purgatory, Man. No crappers, no showers, no nothing and even if there were, you couldn't stop long enough to take one; that is if you didn't want to be ganked in your birthday suit! "
"How come your beard hasn't grown in then? " Sam asked curious, contemplating Dean's perfectly smooth skin.
"Don't know. Neither my hair or nails grew; and more importantly, I haven't eaten anything for three friggin' weeks, Sammy, so I'm gonna devour burgers piranha style, as soon as we hit a diner."
Sam stared at him. "No way; not until you get rid of that smell. I'm not gonna walk around with a clone of the Swamp Monster!"
"Well, okay," Dean sighed, giving in to the logic of cleaning up first. "By the way, how did you know the spell would bring you right to me in Purgatory?"
"I combined the original spell with a scrying spell hoping it would work, and luckily it did, " Sam answered.
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"Sam."
"Yeah?"
"I... uh... wasn't sure I'd ever see you again, Sammy; it was me against a friggin world of monsters, all out for my human ass…"
"Dean. I never had any doubts that you'd be able to look out for yourself, whatever Purgatory was like. I had to believe that, " Sam said earnestly, his eyes glazing over. " I wouldn't have been able to go on if I let myself doubt that you'd still be alive when I came for you."
"But what if….." Dean murmured.
"If you were…. dead, then Purgatory is as good a place as any to kick the bucket. So... there would have been no problems, " Sam said softly.
"I would just have followed you," he added, averting his eyes.
"Oh, man are we are really screwed up," Dean sighed. " All we can think of when one of us dies is that the other wants to follow!"
"Yeah," Sam agreed. "Royally screwed, but it's too late now to change what we are Dean," Sam remarked. "You wanna try? I suppose we could both go off in different directions and hunt alone, or go get regular jobs, Stay away from each other..."
Dean snorted. "There's no way, Sam. When you're not right here beside me in the Impala, I feel as if I'm.. ..incomplete. You remember I said that rules were made to be broken 'on occasion'; well now I've done all the chick-flicking I'm gonna do for the next century, so I'm only gonna say this once. If you want to go off and live a geeky suburban life, I'll back you up, otherwise you're going to have me as your Siamese twin until we're old and grey, Sammy."
Sam turned the sweetest of smiles on him as he corrected. "That's conjoined twins, Dean, and I'm going nowhere, Doofus, not now, not ever!"
Even the Impala seemed to purr more contentedly as she delivered her charges to the nearest motel.
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