A/N: Hope everyone is enjoying the story so far! Your reviews have been wonderful and I've been having a great time writing it! Please consider leaving a review, and if you'd like to discuss anything further, feel free to PM me too! I'll also have a brief note at the bottom, so for now… Enjoy!
**DISCLAIMER** I do not have any ownership stake in Supernatural or the characters portrayed on the show, but have the utmost respect for those that do!
Sitting in the dump of a car he had stolen from across town, Dean hung up the phone. As much as he missed Baby, being able to just zap himself from town to town could be pretty damned convenient! But still clinging to the Blade Dean just sat there, trying to shake the memory of what just happened not even an hour before, out of his head. It had also been the real reason he had called Sam in the first place. It had been so close, he remembered. A man almost died as a result of the bloodlust that raged through every fiber of his being now.
The vamp nest itself was easy, they never stood a chance against the deadly combination of the Mark, the Blade, and his own demonic rage. But the human pet they kept for feeding "emergencies" had stupidly tried to get in the way. Dean assumed he was sympathetic in some twisted, sick kind of way. When he had jumped on Dean's back trying to prevent him from getting to the leader of the nest, Dean had flipped him over the top of his head and onto the ground. In an instant Dean had the Blade within half an inch of the man's beating heart. If another vamp hadn't hit Dean from the side when he did, knocking him over, he would have been dead. Of that, Dean was absolutely certain. It shook him that it had come so close. It wasn't until Dean had already killed four vamps (and severely injured two more that fled for their lives), that Dean even noticed the last one wasn't a vamp at all! With each kill Dean felt a mix of satisfaction that he had brought death to another monster, and excitement and anticipation for the next one in line. The man he'd almost killed had scampered into a corner whimpering. While he watched Dean pummel and decapitate almost every member of his "family," he also witnessed the exhilaration and wild enthusiasm in every one of Dean's movements and outbursts! But as was always the case, what had frightened everyone the most, human and monster alike, was seeing the eyes! The empty and hollow, blacker-than-midnight eyes! After finally realizing he had almost killed a human, Dean was grateful his murderous thirst was satisfied.
Dean walked over to the man squatting down to eye level. He had recoiled; trying to get away, but there was nowhere left to go. Dean looked at him and said "It's OK, I'm not going to hurt you."
"What!? You almost KILLED me!" He said. "You DID kill my family!"
Feeling the anger begin to swell again, Dean shook his head, "IDIOT! They were NOT your family! They were vampires, you're a human. They may have kept you alive, but they also fed off you, used you, and God only knows what else! They were NEVER your family! GOT IT?!"
"And what are YOU?' He asked.
Trying to calm down again, Dean said, "Good question, but all you need to know is that I'm not going to kill you. The reason I'm not going to kill you is because you're human, but, you see these eyes?" The man looked away but nodded, "They look like that because I'm NOT human, see?" More nodding. "Now, there are people out there looking for me that I'm not ready to see yet. So after you walk out of here, I really don't give a crap what you do, except you're not going to tell anyone anything about me. Capisce? No one! Not a doctor, not a shrink, no FBI agents or any other law-types, Got it?" Still nodding. "And if you do… well, then I guess you'll be seeing these eyes again." And with that Dean stood up, walked to the car and drove away… still holding the dripping, bloody Blade.
Not believing the guy could keep his mouth shut, Dean had thought about calling Sam while driving back to the motel – for about the hundredth time. It wasn't like he didn't miss his brother, and he knew Sammy would be worried about him. But Dean needed time to wrap his head around what had happened to him and what he had become. His mind kept flashing between the fear in that man's face earlier when he saw the eyes, and the horror on Sam's face the first time he had seen them. That's what really kept him away. He had to figure out how to live like this, and he couldn't do that with Sam constantly looking at him like that. Sure, Sam would be concerned and worried; Sam couldn't get through a day without being concerned or worrying about something! But what else would be there? Pity? Fear? Contempt? Hate? Probably all of the above and more he thought. But today brought to light the one thing that kept pushing him to return to his brother. He needed a rock! A moral center to grab onto. A light he'd always be able to see, even through the murderous fog his demon eyes painted over everything else. So he finally broke down and called.
After he hung up, Dean got out of the car, entered the motel room, and went to the sink to wash the blood off the Blade. Exhausted from the hunt and the rush that flooded his body as a result, all he wanted in that moment was to shower and crash! He didn't need to sleep anymore, but he did need to decompress and think through his next steps. He opened the safe in the motel room and locked the Blade inside. Turning the shower on, he waited for the water to begin steaming, then undressed and stepped inside, letting all the stress and emotion run down the drain, along with the blood and guts the vamps had left behind.
He was glad he had called Sam, really he was, but the result of that call was the exact opposite of what he had hoped. He wanted to reconnect with his humanity, but knowing that was impossible, he reached out for the next best thing, Sam's. However, after finding out about Metatron and learning he had a chance to end that S.O.B., instead of seeing humanity again; all he could see was every way he wanted to get the job done. He imagined every single possibility he could come up with, including many he could never have even conceived of before.
It wasn't Sam's fault. He had no way of knowing why Dean had called, what had happened, or what he needed. On the one hand, he relished and savored the idea of killing Metatron! On the other hand, he feared it. What would the NEXT big thing be? Would anyone dare to get in the way? Would Cas? Or Sam? Would he hurt them if they did? He couldn't help but wonder if anyone could stop him? Would they try? Even if it meant killing him? Well, someone had tried that already.
He stepped out of the shower towards the mirror and wiped the steam off with his hand and saw his own green eyes staring back at him. "Yeah, let's try to keep them that way for a while this time." He said to the mirror. It was late, too late to travel tonight, so he got dressed and headed out for a drink… or 10.
After making a run to a local spice shop for the ingredients Cas and Gabriel would need for the spell, it had gotten late and Sam was tired. The angels made their way back to the portal, telling Sam if all went well, they would be back with Metatron the next night. So Sam fixed something for dinner and sat down in front of his laptop to see if he could find Dean by using the number he had called from earlier. The number was traced to a company that manufactured many of the "burner" phones that could be bought at any convenience store. He called the company to see if could get the GPS turned on, but they told him the phone couldn't be located, which probably meant it had been destroyed. The last reported coordinates put it in New York City two days ago, where the phone was purchased and turned on. Knowing Dean, he turned the GPS off immediately and could be anywhere by now, again!
With that realization, Sam closed the computer and headed to the shower before bed. While waiting for the water to warm, Sam did a quick 20 pull-ups on the bar he had installed in the doorway. Rinsing the day's stress away, he reminded himself that he really needed to get inked with an anti-possession tattoo again soon! That led his thoughts back to Dean. Could his brother possess him now? Would he? What other powers does he have? He remembered Ruby saying that she could still remember being human, but that most demons couldn't. He didn't know if Ruby was lying to him about that or not, but if she wasn't, it was comforting to think maybe Dean remembered too. Sam had to believe there was still hope for his brother! They had been through too much together to have it all end now, not like this!
As he stepped out of the shower and dried off he realized he still had so many questions! He wanted to help his brother deal with this and to make plans together to beat this thing! And just like he had done every night since the day his brother died, he vowed that even if it was the last thing he ever did, he was going to save his brother!
Cas and Gabriel snuck back into Cas' heavenly hiding place with no one the wiser and began planning their mission.
"How are you feeling Castiel?" Gabriel asked, "We don't know what kind of resistance we may run into tomorrow so you need to be sharp!"
"I haven't done anything that I know of to deplete my grace, I've been very careful!" Cas proudly replied, "But come to think of it, I do feel a little tired."
"You've been using it up by just existing on borrowed time brainiac! I better check and if it's as low as I suspect, I'm gonna have to re-charge you. You're conscious this time so you might as well know, this is going to hurt a LOT, which means you're going to need time to recover so I'd better do it now."
With that Gabriel broke off a branch from a nearby tree and gave it to Cas saying, "Here, bite down on this and try not to squirm… or scream… or pass out!"
Cas braced himself against the tree and Gabriel grabbed Cas' shoulder with one hand and reached inside, just below his sternum with the other. Cas' grace began to shine through and then started fading quickly. As Cas' knees began to buckle Gabriel had to work fast. He shoved Cas against the tree knowing he didn't have a second to lose and hoping it would help prop him up. Gabriel's eyes began to glow a bright blue as he worked and shortly thereafter he helped his little brother to the hammock to rest.
Sam woke at the crack of dawn as usual and changed into his running shorts, sneakers, and a t-shirt. He began warming up by jogging up the stairs and heading outside.
"Ha! You're so damned predictable!"
Sam whipped his head around to see his brother standing there next to the stairs leading up from the bunker's door.
"DEAN!" Sam wanted to embrace his brother, but had no idea if that would be welcomed or not, so he simply said, "I thought you were going to call!"
Without hesitation he replied, "What? Got a hot chick down there you don't want me to see?"
"No! Of course not! When did you get here? And why didn't you come in?" Sam asked.
Dean slapped the wall and said "Warded against all kinds of evil, remember? Guess that includes me now."
Sam just shook his head, "This just isn't right man. This just shouldn't have ever happened."
They both stood facing each other with tears welling in their eyes, letting that statement just hang there in the truth of it. Then they both moved towards each other in the same instant, arms stretched wide. Relieved that neither brother had to act tough, trusting each other enough with their own vulnerabilities, and reassured that the bond they shared would always get them through, the time finally came for these two brothers to embrace each other again!
A/N: Ahhh! So nice to get the boys back together again! After reading this chapter you may have thought that I went to the other extreme with the exposition, but the story just lent itself to needing to explain a little bit of what Dean had been up to and where the boys' heads were at. I'm probably going to have to take a break tomorrow, but should hopefully publish again on Sunday.