brothers

He found Bobby stretched out across his musty sofa, knife clenched in one hand and a bottle of bourbon in the other. Ever since Dean's Games, he had moved from white liquor to the even better stuff. He said once that it kept him drunker longer.

"Mr. Singer?" He gently prodded Bobby's boot clad foot. "Bobby?

Bobby gave a grunt and rolled over onto his side, never loosing his grip on the knife and the bottle. Sam gave it a few more tries before giving up on being gentle.

He walked over to the sink and filled up a glass full of icy water. Remaining a safe distance away, he tossed the water right into Bobby's face.

Like a lion being awakened from his slumber, Bobby came up swinging and roaring. It took him nearly five minutes to settle down before he focused on who had accosted him out of his drunken sleep.

"Sam, what the hell are you doing here?" he grumbled, grabbing a dirty hand towel and wiping his face with it.

"Bobby, I got a phone call from someone named Angus Crowley-"

"Angus Crowley?" Bobby turned, staring at him. "What did he say?"

"He, uh, he said that Dean had been released from his deal and that we needed to come to the Capitol and pick him up. They were sending a car for me and you and then we would be taken to the Capitol."

Bobby continued to stare at the younger Winchester, the water still dripping from his scraggly beard and long hair, trickling down his face and onto his filthy shirt. He took a deep breath, slowly shaking his head.

"Why that little..."

"Bobby, what does this mean?!" Sam nearly shouted. "What was this Crowley guy talking about?"

"It means your brother sold himself into slavery. And I think I know why."

The young man sat on the bench, staring straight ahead. The elder man lowered himself down beside him, planting a hand on his shoulder for a second before pulling it away.

"Do you really believe that, Bobby?" Sam whispered, his chin resting on his folded hands.

Bobby gave him a soft look before turning his gaze away. "I really do, Sam."

"I hardly dared to hope," he murmured. "I never, ever believed that Dean could actually do that to us on his own accord."

"I think that that was Azazel's plan. To 'silence the tiger'," muttered Bobby as he took a long swig from his bottle. "And it succeeded."

"Why didn't Azazel just-(Sam swallowed thickly)-why didn't he just kill him?"

"Because he would create a martyr," answered Bobby. "If he touched Dean or Jo, he would have created a martyr and the rebellion would have had a kickstart."

"But why?" Sam asked again. "Why did he do it? I would have thought that Dean would have just spit in his face."

"To protect you, of course," Bobby said, looking back over his shoulder at the younger man. "I can only imagine what Azazel threatened to do to you and your dad if Dean didn't abide to his will."

Sam took a deep breath, running a tired hand through his unruly locks. "I miss him so much, Bobby."

"I know you do, kid."

"And I can't wait to get him back home. He's missed a lot in these six years."

The ride to the Capitol took nearly a day. The car had showed up early, near seven that following morning. Sam had stepped out of the house, leaving behind a note for John explaining that he would be back in a couple of days but not mentioning Dean. He couldn't dare to get his father's hopes up.

It was startling, how big it was. Every single building splintered the sky, blistering in the sunlight.

When the train finally pulled to a stop at the station, there was another guard waiting with a balding man that looked around his mid forties.

"Crowley," Bobby hissed under his breath to Sam as they stepped off onto the platform.

"Hello again, Bobby," Crowley nodded before approaching Sam. "Mr. Winchester?"

"Yes."

"Both of you, come with me. We'll take you to your brother."

Sam looked over his shoulder at Bobby. Bobby gave a small nod, reassuring him slightly. No harm could come to them. Not here, not now. Sam was sure though that Azazel had entertained the notion of having them kidnapped.

The next ride took an hour. The car ride was eerily silent, neither man saying a word all the way there. Sam couldn't help the unease though as they got closer and closer to where Dean was.

"Does Dean know that we're coming?" he finally asked once they pulled up to a building that he recognized as the Training Center. He had seen several shots of it during promos for the Hunger Games on the television. The penthouse... where Dean had stayed.

"No, he does not. He does not know that he is being released today as a matter of fact," answered Crowley, not looking up from the book he was holding.

"Why not?" Bobby's voice was a low snarl.

"That is none of your concern, Bobby," Crowley shot back, his voice laced with as much malice as Bobby's.

"Just take us to my brother," Sam intercut, stepping between the two men. Crowley's beady eyes went up to Sam, realizing that the kid towered at least a foot over him.

"Follow me."

But it wasn't the penthouse that they were brought too.

It was the basement.

There were a few windows down there but of course, they were covered in bars. The set up looked pretty decent but...

Crowley led the two to the door and hit a few buttons on the control keyboard. With that, the door released and opened a few inches. He turned slightly, looking back at Bobby and Sam.

"Get him out of here by six tonight, all right? Even though I am sure you aren't sticking around too long."

With that, the man headed back up the stairs and disappeared through another set of doors.

Sam watched him go for a second, surprised that Dean wasn't very heavily guarded. Azazel must have had something big over him to get him to fully cooperate.

"Go on, you idjit," muttered Bobby, giving him a gentle shove through the door. Sam nearly tripped over the threshold and looked around the room.

"Dean?"

His brother was curled up on the bed, fast asleep. He had a thin blanket covering him, a threadbare pillow underneath his head. Sam could tell that his brother was in the midst of a dream by the way his face twitched as he slept. And it wasn't a good dream.

Sam slipped across the carpet, lowering himself down onto his knees beside the bed. He gently touched Dean's shoulder, murmuring his name and trying to ease him out of the nightmare.

"Dean?" he murmured again. "Dean, wake up."

That did it.

Dean woke with a start, almost shooting right off of the bed. He started violently, scooting back on the bed and staring with wide eyes at his brother.

"No, no! No, you're not real."

Sam let out a gust of breath before taking a cautious step towards his brother. "Dean, I am very real," he whispered. "Look at me."

Dean finally did look at him, calming breaths starting to overtake him.

"Sammy?"

A smile like the rising sun light up Sam's face. "Yeah, Dean. It's me."

Dean rose slowly, his eyes darting over his brother. The last time he had seen him, Sam had barely come up to his shoulder. Now he towered a good six inches over him.

"You're all grown up," he whispered. "Oh, my God..." Dean had seen Sam on the television several times at the Reapings for the past six years and had seen him getting taller and growing older. But now, at this exact moment, standing a mere three feet away from him...

It was Sam who made the first move. He took Dean into his arms, holding him in a tight embrace. Dean returned it with as much valor, gripping the back of his brother's jacket.

"Damn it, I have missed you," Sam sighed once they finally released each other.

"You have no idea, kid," Dean replied. He finally noticed Bobby in the room. "Hey, Bobby," he said, eyeing his former mentor warily.

"Tiger," Bobby nodded. "You look a little thin."

Sam started to laugh. Even Dean relaxed a little. "Wasn't I always?"

Bobby allowed a small smile to crack his lips. He held out an arm and gestured to the boys. "Let's put an intermission on this chick flick and get the hell out of here."

"Are you all right? Really?"

Sam chuckled. "Yeah, I'm fine. We are still living in the Victor's Village. We have all the benefits of a victor. Except, no victor living with us. That's all going to change now, of course."

Dean chuckled dryly, running a tired hand through his hair. He leaned his head back against the comfortable headrest of his chair and closed his eyes.

"Are you tired?"

"Yeah. I didn't sleep much in there."

"Dean?"

"Yeah, Sammy?"

"Why?"

Dean shook his head, finally opening his eyes. "Not now, Sammy. Not here."

Sam nodded, understanding.

"How is everyone at home? How's Dad?"

"He's good. He misses you so much. He never really bought that you would run off like that."

"That's Dad for you," said Dean, unable to hide the small smile on his lips.

"He doesn't know I'm here, actually."

"What?! Sam, are you out of your mind?! He's probably thinking that you disappeared too!"

"Dean, calm down. I left him a note telling him that I would be back in a day or so. I've left before but that was to stay with-" Sam then clammed up, feelng a red tinge starting to spread across his face. Dean jumped on that.

"Wait a minute, wait a minute. To stay with who?" Dean sat up, staring avidly at his brother.

Sam started to chuckle quietly before continuing on. "Do you remember Sarah Blake?"

"Sure, Lisa's little cousin-wait a sec-no!"

"Yes. And she's not so little anymore. We've been seeing quite a bit of each other for the last two years," Sam smiled, looking quite like the cat that swallowed the canary. Or actually, the canary that got lucky.

"What are you saying?" asked Dean.

"We're getting married next month."

That struck his brother mute. Dean stared for almost a full minute before saying "Do you have to get married?"

"What? No! We want to get married. Get your mind out of the gutter."

Dean still couldn't believe his ears. "Wow...Little Sammy getting married. Wow..."

"Dean!"

"Sorry."

"Say something else besides that."

"Sorry, it's just that I'm having a hard time wrapping my mind around it. Do you-(he swallowed)-do you love her?"

A sweet smile crossed Sam's lips. "Very much so."

"Does she love you?"

That was when Dean saw Sam's eyes sparkle. In truth, he had never seen his baby brother look so happy before in his whole entire life.

"Yes, I believe she does."

Dean took a deep breath. "Well, then I am happy for you." He then peered at him out of the corner of his eye. "Are you sure she's not after you for your body?" He poked him playfully in the side. Sam swatted his hand away, both of them laughing.

Damn, it felt weird to laugh.

There was a light knock on his compartment door. Dean slowly got up from his chair and opened it, finding Bobby's grizzly bear face looking back at him.

"Tiger, let's take a walk," he said, cocking his head to the side. The train had come to a stop on the tracks for a short break and the passengers were free to get off and walk around. Dean followed Bobby to the caboose of the train and they both hopped off the side rails, landing softly in the crunchy grass.

"What's going on, Bobby?" Dean asked quietly, already knowing what was coming.

"Tell me what happened," said the elder victor, his eyes blazing with fire. He wasn't about to take no for an answer. "Tell me why the hell you disappeared into the Capitol for six years."

"Bobby, I can't," Dean whispered, looking away.

The older man glared. "Don't lie to me, kid." He took in Dean's form. The last time he had seen the younger man was a two months before at the 80th Games. They had mentored a fourteen year old girl and a sixteen year old boy and had watched them both die at the Bloodbath. Even then, even before at the last six Games since his own, he had never seen Dean look so broken. Literally broken.

That was when the young man gave in.

"Bobby, he-"

"Who? Azazel?"

The boy nodded slightly. "Yes."

Bobby took a cautious step forward, his grey eyes boring into Dean's emeralds. "What did he do, Dean? What exactly did he threaten?"

Dean took another breath. "He threatened to fix the Reaping."

That was all that Bobby needed to hear.

"Oh, God..."

"He threatened to fix the Reaping and I would have had to mentor my own brother in the Third Quarter Quell. Bobby, I can't even imagine having to do that. Especially after what had happened that year."

The Third Quarter Quell had been especially bloody. The winner had come out as a District 5 girl who had been grievously injured and had died less than a week later after her win. They had had their winner, she just didn't live too long to enjoy it. The District 12 tributes had died twenty minutes in at the Bloodbath. No amount of mentorin from Bobby, Dean, or Jo had managed to make those Seam kids understand what really needed to be done.

The only one that come a great distance was during the 79th Games. It was a girl named Izabet Porter, sixteen years old. She had managed to make it to the final eight but a rainstorm filled with lightening bolts had struck and she had been killed. But she had had a chance. A real chance.

Bobby shook his head, both of them coming out of their thoughts. "I'm so sorry, tiger. I never even imagined-"

"It's okay."

"No, it's not," he interrupted. "It's not okay. You lost six years of your life because of that-that dick. You lost six years. You didn't get to see Sam grow up."

"No, I didn't. And I know I am viewed as a traitor by most of District 12."

"You'd be surprised," Bobby sighed. "Tiger, you need to tell Sam about what happened."

Dean shook his head. "No."

"What?"

"No, he can't know about this. He would only blame himself," Dean sighed. "Besides, it's over and done with. Sam's got so much to look forward too. He's getting married, which I still can't wrap my mind around, he's finally out of the Reapings. He doesn't need to know."

"Dean-"

"No, Bobby!"

"All right." Bobby sighed, rubbing his eyes with the palm of his hand. "But Sam's not a little kid anymore. He's an adult and he will find out about this, one way or another."

The rest of the ride back to District 12 passed by in a blur. Sam spent most of it in Dean's compartment, regaling him with details of the people back home. Dean didn't mind. He loved the sound of his brother's voice.

The train finally pulled into the station around eight o'clock that following morning. Dean awoke from a very restless sleep filled with images of starving children and burning homes to find Sam lightly tapping on his compartment door.

"Dean? Get up, time to go."

He dressed slowly. He could feel his heart thumping away much faster than normal.

He was downright terrified.

It had been six years since he had seen District 12, other than watching the Reapings on the monitors at the Capitol. It had been six years since his brother's name had come out of that giant glass ball and he had found himself violently volunteering to take his place. It had been six years.

Six years.

The train lurched viciously, coming to a quick standstill. He could hear the steam releasing from the back and knew that it was time.

"Dean?" There was a gentle knock at the door, followed by Sam slowly stepping through. "It's time."

Kind of a cliffhanger, I don't know.

I know this is marked as a Dean/Jo story but all we've seen is Dean and Sam so far. Lots of Dean and Jo is coming up, as well as a bit of Dean and Lisa. And of course, lots of Sam and Dean.

Sammy's getting married! Wedding bells are ringing! I assure you that the chapter where he and Sarah get married is going to be so filled with fluff you wonderful people are going to want to puke rainbows and sunshine.

Anyway, thanks so much for all the follows for this story. I love all of you!