Together Or Not At All

by jennytork

After the battle at SucraCorp, Dean and Cas were blown away, leaving Sam alone. What if he was able to figure out where they went? What if he was able to join them there?

TOGETHER... OR NOT AT ALL

It had been three weeks since Dean and Cas had vanished in the successful attempt to defeat Dick Roman, and Sam just kept hearing Crowley's taunts that he was truly alone.

It had taken Sam this long to snap out of his grief-induced shock enough to realise something he honestly should have figured out from the start. Dick Roman had been a creature. A monster.

And Sam knew of the one place monsters went to when they were destroyed.

He knew of a spell to get into that place.

Now, he was going to find a way to get his brother back – and he needed to start with gathering some ingredients.

The ritual was still in the Impala's trunk, amid the "important papers". It crossed Sam's mind that they really did need to find someplace to hold this stuff they were accumulating. A home base of some kind. He tucked that away to think about later.

Much later.

Once he had his brother back.

A tiny bit of research revealed that the next lunar eclipse was going to be visible in four weeks. That gave him plenty of time to gather the remaining two ingredients he needed to open the door.

That would also give him time to research and see if he could find a back door out of Purgatory.

Sam figured the blood of a virgin would be a little tricky to obtain. After disregarding three or four options, he decided to go with the truth. He drove to the closest big city and put a personal ad in several papers.

Seeking scientific subjects. Need male and female virgins to donate blood for study. Compensation will be given. Must be honest about status or experiment will be skewed. Polygraph will be administered.

Well...partially the truth.

By the end of two weeks, he had a half a quart of blood – drawn four vials at a time and handsomely compensating the volunteers for their time.

Then he turned his attention to the blood of a Purgatory native. He saw no need to go searching far and wide for something that had come out of Purgatory, something unknown and exotic.

No, Sam knew exactly where to find Purgatory natives. And he knew exactly how to get their blood.

SucroCorp, like all the other branches of Richard Roman Enterprises, was now in deep financial chaos. The company was in such disarray that it was a small matter for Sam to sneak into corporate and demand to speak to the person in charge, under the guise of a bank examiner.

The tall Asian woman didn't even look up from her phone call when Sam entered the office. She slammed the phone down after a few moments and sighed, then looked up. Her eyes widened and she shot to her feet, staggering back against the wall. "Winchester!"

"You remember me – Susan, is it?" At her shaky nod, he smiled. "That is going to make things a lot simpler."

"Remember you? Between you and that bastard demon king, my boss is dead and my kind are all – I'm the only one left here!"

"And 'here' is rapidly falling apart," Sam observed. "I'm not going to kill you – you'll be gone soon enough. I need one thing from you, and I will leave you be."

She snorted. "What's that? Blood?"

He held up a handful of phials "Exactly."

She looked at the phials and then at him. "And what's to stop me from just eating you?"

"I'm armed – and I have Borax with me. Give me what I need, and I will leave you alone. Win-win."

Susan moved to sit back at her desk. "You only need enough to fill those phials?" At his nod, she held out her hand. He handed a phial to her and she cut her own arm and allowed her black goo of blood to ooze into the phial. She repeated the process until the phials were all filled.

Sam capped the final phial and nodded at her. "We're done." He turned to leave.

"Winchester." When he stopped, she said, "You may be able to get into Purgatory with my blood – but there's no guarantee you'll get out."

Sam didn't reply as he left the building, never to return.

Sam gathered everything he needed, and waited. While he waited, he practiced drawing the sigils again and again. He practiced the incantation until he could say it flawlessly without stopping and without looking at the paper.

He ate well and slept well. He trained, working hard on becoming stronger and faster.

And he crossed the days off on a calendar, until the day there was no longer any more days to cross off.

It was time.

Sam drove to a deserted warehouse and parked the Impala well out of sight, where it was less likely to get damaged, as well as somewhat shielded from the elements. Then he lay out the ingredients he would need and made sure he was well armed. He took a deep breath and whispered, "I'm coming, Dean."

The warehouse window enabled him to watch the eclipse begin. When it was at its zenith, he mixed the two types of blood and drew the sigil. He stood in front of it and recited the spell confidently, just as he'd practiced.

The sigil made a whooshing sound as it glowed and opened. Like a great whirlwind, Sam felt himself being lifted and pulled. He made his body limp and allowed it.

The whooshing grew louder as Sam's tall form was sucked through the sigil,which promptly closed and vanished, leaving the warehouse once more silent, dark and deserted.

SPN SPN SPN SPN SPN

Sam had feared Purgatory would be a place of fire and bone and agony as Hell had been. He was pleasantly surprised to find himself on the shore of a lake in a dimly lit, mostly colourless world. It smelled vaguely like blood and sulfur, and Sam had to fight the urge to gag.

As it was, he coughed and a form rose from the other side of the lake, the movement causing Sam to have a split-second illusion of dust rising into a human shape, before he realised it was indeed a person in dust-coloured clothing standing. It turned toward him, and Sam was startled by the sight of light blue glowing slightly from where the man's eyes should have been. "...what the..."

"Mercy..." a shockingly familiar voice rumbled from the man. "...this should not be. You should not be here, Sam."

Sam shook his head in shock. "...Cas?"

"You don't recognise me," the angel groaned. "Whatever deviltry brought you here addled you once more?"

"Your eyes are glowin', Cas. I can't make out the rest of you very well."

A double blink, and the glow vanished, allowing Sam to see Cas's familiar features. They were streaked with grime and he sported a thick stubble that was well on its way to being a full-fledged beard. His eyes, startlingly, were very bright blue against the colourlessness. "You should not be here," he repeated. "How are you here?"

"Same spell you used a year or so ago to open Purgatory," Sam informed him. "Where's Dean?"

"I separated myself from him," Cas said, his eyes tortured. "It was not safe for us to remain together. The creatures here can sense my grace and I am being hunted." He blinked as Sam's hands suddenly shoved at his shoulders, nearly knocking him down. "...what..."

"Cas," Sam groaned. "You're family, and that means everything. But sometimes, you can be five kinds of fool!"

Cas blinked, staggering back. Sam couldn't physically move him, but it was the fact of the action itself that rocked him. "Sam..."

"You heard me. So noble, aren't you? Sacrificing yourself for the good of everyone?"

"Sam, you don't understand!"

"Help me!" Sam yelled, spreading his hands. "Make me understand! Why are you here instead of with Dean?"

"This is my penance!" Cas roared back. "My chance to iatone/i for what I've done!"

Sam lowered his hands, shaking his head. "Your penance." When Cas nodded, he chuckled darkly. "Your chance to atone. Your penance. Fine. Stay here and serve your penance," he spat the word. "I'm going to go find Dean."

He took two steps before he turned back, hazel eyes boring into wide blue ones "But you know what, Cas? You just proved that you're like every other angel we have ever met. You are one selfish, self-righteous son of a bitch!"

With that, Sam spun on his heel and stalked away, pointedly ignoring the angel beside the river.

There was no real night time in Purgatory, so Sam didn't know how long he'd walked. He only knew he was starting to tire when the sounds of battle reached his ears. He topped a ridge and saw Dean – dirty and battered and wielding a homemade weapon of bone and wood – fighting back to back with a fanged man in a cap who hissed at the creatures that were charging them and fighting them with a wooden staff and vampiric strength and speed.

Sam was startled at the lack of jealousy and the strength of the fondness he felt. Dean could find a friend anywhere he went, apparently. He took a moment to evaluate the kind of creature they were fighting.

Then he drew two knives and launched himself into the fray.

When the creatures were dispatched, Dean turned to him, eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Okay, and what the hell are you? Shifter? Leviathan?"

The vampyre circled him, leaning in to take a deep breath near his cheek, which had been nicked in the scuffle. "Neither."

"Neither?" Dean nodded. "So what is he, Benny?"

The vampyre – Benny, it seemed – broke into a broad grin and retracted the second set of teeth. "A hundred percent Winchester, Dean. Seems baby brother found a way in."

Dean's eyes widened as the weapon clattered to the ground. "...Sammy? You're really..."

"Hey, Dean," was all the time Sam had before he suddenly had an armful of trembling older brother.

"What are you doing here?" Dean gasped, pushing him away. "After that blast, I thought-"

Suddenly a howl erupted from the trees, as did a pair of Ghouls who aimed right for the brothers.

Sam and Dean lunged for their weapons, but the movement was arrested by a bright flare of light that had them both shielding their eyes.

They looked up when it faded to see the ash that had been the Ghouls sifting to the ground through the fingers of an emotional Castiel, who looked directly at Sam. "You were correct in one aspect," he said, his voice a dangerous growl. "And I accept that. However, no matter if the term 'bitch' is a term of affection for you or not – kindly refrain from calling me a son of one, as that skirts too close to blasphemy for my taste."

Sam nodded. "Wasn't meant that way, but I'll keep that in mind."

Dean frowned. "Wait, what?"

"Ran into him by the river," Sam said.

Cas confirmed it with a nod. "He pointed out – correctly – that I was being a selfish fool. So... I am here now and I will not leave."

"Good," Dean said. "I told you before, we're in this together and we'll deal with it together."

While they talked, Sam touched the vampyre's arm. "Benny, is it?"

"Benny LaFitte, at your service," he drawled. "Heard a lot about you. Dean and me, we've been brothers in arms for awhile now. Boy's got stories, let me tell you."

"Yeah, well, don't believe them," Sam grinned. "I'm really a lot more dangerous than he lets on."

"Absolutely," Benny nodded. "There's a way for humans to get out. They weren't meant to be here. That's where we're headin'."

Sam nodded. "Okay. What about you?"

Benny drew in a deep breath. "There's a way to break me out, too. I'm gonna go vegetarian – so to speak."

"If anyone can, it's him," Dean said as they walked over. "I said I'd help any way I could."

"No, Dean," Sam said, turning and looking him in the eye. i"We/i will."

Dean grinned. "That's my Sammy. What do you say we get outta here, huh?"

"One condition." Sam walked to Cas. "You wanna atone? Keep with us, help us. You leave here with us. All of us have things to atone for – let's do it together. Deal?" He held out his hand.

Cas studied Dean's eyes, then Sam's. Then he reached out and took his hand, shaking it with his strong grip. "Deal."

"Handshake is your bond, brother," Benny drawled.

"I know," Cas said. "Let's go, before the creatures catch up to us again."

Three days of earth-flow time later, a portal opened in Maine and three tall men tumbled out before it closed. Cas stood, dusting off his knees. He helped Dean to his feet and ran a hand over Dean's left arm, which was glowing.

"He okay?" Sam asked.

"Benny is restless, but well. Dean is well, as well." Cas blinked. "...Well!"

And both Winchesters cracked up. Dean turned to Sam. "Where are we?"

"Not sure," Sam said. "The Impala is in Maryland."

"Then we find her and we head to Louisiana, take care of Benny and..." Dean frowned as his train of thought derailed from sensation as Benny's soul shifted under his skin.

"And find somewhere to rest and recover," Sam said.

Cas nodded. "And the rest we can figure out after that. Are we agreed?"

Twin nods – and twin yawns – was his answer, and he laughed softly. "First of all, let's find a place to rest."

Sam watched Cas and Dean form a lean-to from their three jackets and smiled as he felt sleep finally start creeping up on him.

They didn't know where they were.

They didn't know what the future held.

But they were together – with a bonus friend tucked into Dean's arm – and really, what else mattered?

"Winchesters against the world," Sam whispered as he felt something warm and feathery drape over his shoulders just before sleep claimed him. "...Long as we're together... We've won."

END