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Chapter 4 – Enlightened
"Sam?"
Bobby took in the tall frame still sitting in the Impala, slightly leaning into the opened door. God my eyes must be worse than I thought…No way that is Sam…Sam's been dead four months…
Bobby's eyes scanned the figure once again and found that whoever or whatever was sitting in the Impala definitely looked like Sam Winchester. Which was just not possible. Bobby's mind flashed back to that day in Stull Cemetery. He may not have actually seen Sam take the plunge, but he definitely saw the look of pure devastation that plagued Dean. A look Bobby had only seen back at Cold Oaks, when he came to a halt in front of Dean cradling a very pale and bloody baby brother. So, Bobby still couldn't fathom what Dean was doing with this thing in the back of the Impala.
Bobby's hand fluttered over the silver knife at his waist. Although logic was telling him that the figure could not possible be the Sam he had watched grow up, he still couldn't bring himself to grab the knife and attack. Dean's hand on his shoulder finally ended the raging war inside the older hunter's mind.
"Leave it. Kid's got enough cuts and bruises on him to last a lifetime." Bobby could only stare at Dean, his mind not quite able to completely comprehend what was happening.
Before Bobby could say anything, a slightly oblivious Sam attempted to crawl out from the Impala. About half way out, a loud groan of pain escaped his lips and he flopped back down cradling his damaged ribs and abdomen.
"Son of bitch," Dean muttered under his breath. Dean hurried over to the back door of the car to his hurting brother. "I told you to stay put and let me help you when you tried to get out! I really don't want to stitch you back up all because you're too stubborn and have to bust open my handiwork." Dean tried to cover up his worry with jokes and teases, but both Sam and Bobby didn't buy it. And that's what finally had Bobby walking to the Impala.
"I'm fine, Dean. I think I can manage. Just takes me a little longer." The words were barely above a whisper, and Bobby knew Sam must still be worried about Bobby's reaction to everything.
Despite Sam's protests and arguments, it was painfully obvious that he needed help out from the car. Before Sam could continue to say otherwise, Dean reached in and gently pulled on Sam until his brother was leaning into his chest. Then Dean guided him to a standing position between the car and his own body. Expecting some form of objection, Dean couldn't hide the shock when Sam continued leaning against his brother once he was standing outside of the Impala. In his surprise, Dean's grip on Sam slipped. The pain and exhaustion from the long car trip left Sam weaker than he had hoped. Therefore, without Dean's strong grip, Sam found his knees buckling and himself stumbling back towards the Impala.
Instincts kicked in and Bobby was at Sam's side before his battered body collided with the metal of Dean's baby. "I've gotcha." Sam leaned into Bobby's firm but gentle hold, but his eyes stayed glued to the dirt around his boots. Bobby carefully pushed Sam away from him a bit and easily saw the shame and guilt that marred the young hunter's features.
Sam opened his mouth as if to finally say something to Bobby, but he closed it before any words made their way out from between his lips. This carried on for a few seconds before Bobby put a stop to the gulping dying fish act Sam was performing. With Sam's mouth half open, Bobby carefully drew Sam into a tight but careful embrace. Sam stiffened at first, either from pain or shock, but soon brought his arms up around Bobby's broad back and crumbled into the man's embrace. Dean could only manage to smile at the scene; tears shined in his eyes but never fell.
After a few moments, Bobby patted Sam's shoulder and pulled apart just far enough to see Sam's face. A few tears had escaped and snaked down his face. Bobby didn't fail to notice his own set of tears flowing down into his beard. "Damn…I can't believe it's really you, boy." A small smile flickered across Sam's tear stained face. "It's really good to have you back, son."
Bobby had Sam pulled into another embrace as Sam managed to choke out a quick thanks to the man he loved like a father.
Dean ripped his gaze away from the reunion and noticed Ben still standing off to the side, silently taking in everything around him. The boy swayed on his feet with pure fatigue and grief. Dean walked over and wrapped an arm around Ben's trembling, drooping shoulders. Ben instantly leaned into the support and blinked his eyes against the exhaustion that was quickly pulling him under. Dean took note of all of this before finally turning back to the rest of his little family.
"Hate to break things up, but I think we should maybe head in for the night." The hunter's embrace ended, but Bobby kept Sam tucked close to his side while walking towards the house. "I think the munchkin here is about to drop."
"Am not," came the indignant, yet sleepy, reply that only a child can truly manage.
"Really?"
" 'm fine…" Ben's muffled reply sounded even thicker with exhaustion than it did before.
Dean shook his head, but pulled the boy up off the ground and into his arms. Ben squawked in surprise, but did not complain as Dean had imagined he would. Instead, he burrowed his aching head into Dean's shoulder and relaxed for the first time since his mom's kidnapping.
Once inside, the familiarity of the house sent a sense of security and peace through Sam and Dean. Old volumes of books stacked high on top of the desktops and papers laid strewn out in the organized mess that was Bobby's house. It never really changed.
Bobby deposited Sam onto the old couch so that he could stretch out. Dean set Ben down at Sam's feet before helping his brother take off his boots.
"So, you mind filling me in on what's goin' on round here?" Bobby asked.
"Yeah, just let me get the kid settled in our old room upstairs," Dean replied.
The idea of Ben being away from Sam and Dean instantly had him completely awake. "NO! I want to stay with you!" Ben looked nearly in tears and clung to Dean's shirt like a lifeline.
"You'll be fine buddy. Don't worry," Dean tried to sooth.
"But what if he comes back? He could get me. Or he could get you, just like he did with mom." The last part came out more as a whisper, conveying all the fears building up inside of Ben.
"Ben," Sam interjected, "this is the safest place you could be kiddo. Bobby has every imaginable protective symbol and sigil around this house. And if any of those fail, you've got some of the best hunters right here."
Ben calmed minutely, but still did not look completely convinced. "Tell you what bud," Dean continued, "you can sleep with this." Dean pulled a gun from his waist and handed it to the boy. "You remember what I taught you that day at the range?" The boy's head bobbed up and down in response. Dean smiled. "Good. Now this," Dean waved the gun, "has rock salt shells loaded in it. It'll hurt pretty much anything, supernatural or human. Got it?" Ben eagerly nodded his head and took the gun from Dean's hand. "That's my boy." With that Dean headed upstairs to show Ben where he would be sleeping.
As soon as Ben was safely sleeping in the old bed, Dean headed back down to the other hunters. "Alright, let's get to it."
Bobby nodded. But Sam spoke. "I think, um, maybe I should start…" Sam ran his hand nervously through his long locks.
"I think that's a good idea, because I'd sure as hell love to know what you've been doing the last four months. I'd say Bobby does too." Dean's reply lacked any true venom, but the hurt remained embedded into the words.
"I know…" Sam whispered. He quickly cleared his throat and continued. "I guess you want from the beginning, huh?" Dean and Bobby simultaneously nodded. "Well, I'm not too sure how it happened, but one minute I was in the cage with Lucifer and Michael. They uh, they no longer needed Adam and me once they were in hell. They could be there true forms. I don't remember much. Just a lot of bright light, loud noises, and…..well…pain…a lot of pain."
The sting of the memories flashed across Sam's face and that hurt Dean more than the fact that Sam had avoided him for four months. He was across the room and at the couch in seconds. His hand on Sam's shoulder a comforting weight anchoring Sam back to the present.
"The lights got brighter. And I felt like this weird sensation that I can't really explain. Next thing I knew…I was outside Lisa's."
"You ever see Adam?" Bobby questioned.
Sam looked down at the ground. "No. It was too bright in the cage. And he wasn't with me when I got out."
Bobby and Dean couldn't bring themselves to say anything and could only hope Adam was somewhere safe.
"I, uh, stood there and watched you guys through the window for a while. You seemed…I don't know….like you were going to be ok. I figured I'd pissed off a lot of things and I'd probably have a ton of hits out on me. So I broke into the Impala for Ruby's knife and I left. I didn't want to get you involved."
"First of all, dude, never break into my baby ever again…" Sam couldn't stifle the huff of laughter. "But more importantly, whenever you feel like you're in trouble, you come and get me. Screw this whole going it on your own bullshit. I think we've proven that it fails every time."
"Yeah, I know. Anyway," Sam sighed heavily, "after I left I holed up a few town over from Cicero. Did some work at a bar. Was fine, for all of about 3 weeks. Then, we must have just shut down for the night I came back from the freezer and found a demon pinning one of the waitresses down onto the bar. I went to help her, and got jumped by another one from behind. They let the girl go then tried to tie me down. Guess they wanted information from me."
"Information?" Anger slithered through Dean. "Like what?"
"They wanted to know who sprung me from hell and why. That's about all I figured out from the two of them. That and they apparently were Meg's cronies. Anyway, they were too stupid to remember to pat me down for weapons. I managed to pull the knife and finish both of them off pretty easily. After that I figured Meg was gunning for me. So I went back to hunting, mainly demons, figuring that she'd eventually slip up. That's how I learned about Eric."
"And that's the son of a bitch that took Dean's girl?" Bobby asked from across the room.
"Yeah. He's, let's just say he's one of Meg's smarter lackeys. He doesn't slip up as much as the others. Blindly followed Meg around, don't get me wrong there. But he knows how to handle himself. The others, well, they always seemed eager to please Meg, but didn't pay much attention to anything else going on around them. Made them easier to get information from, and to kill."
"What info you'd get from them anyway?" Dean questioned. He was very eager to get learn anything and everything about the bastard who took Lisa away from him and Ben.
"Basically what I already suspected. Meg was seriously pissed off that I ruined the major plan and got Lucifer locked back up. She felt like she needed to do something to avenge her father. So she wanted to drag me back down to hell. Bring me to Lucifer like some sort of gift or offering."
Dean jumped off the couch and started pacing. "Damn I'm glad that bitch is dead."
"Same here," Sam continued. "I had heard from a few lower level demons that she was going to bust into your place, torture you into giving away my location. She assumed you'd be rusty and out of practice. That's why I showed up when I did."
"Are you saying you thought I was going to be rusty?"
"No Dean," Sam huffed. "I thought you wouldn't exactly be expecting Meg to show up in your living room."
"Ok, Sam," Bobby interrupted, "do you know where this bastard would take Lisa?"
"I heard a few rumors about where his hideouts supposedly were, but I never got a clear answer. I don't think even Meg knew where Eric liked to hideout."
"Well I guess we'll just have to check all of these…"
A loud bang from a gun echoed down from the upstairs and interrupted Dean. All three hunters made a dash for the stairs. Dean was in the front, frantically making his way to Ben with his gun drawn. Sam was right behind, albeit a little slower thanks to his injuries, with his knife in hand.
The three hunters burst into the spare bedroom. Ben sat with his knees drawn up to his chest on the bed. The gun slightly wavered in his trembling hands but still pointed at whatever had intruded.
The room laid in darkness with a slight hint of moonlight illuminating the scene in front of them. The intruder stepped into the light slowly. Ben's hand tightened around the gun and shook with fear. Dean didn't take his eyes off the darkened figure as he made his way into the light. Dean first noticed a fluttering of tan fabric against dark pants.
"Son of a bitch." Dean relaxed slightly at the familiar figure walking towards him. "You scared the hell out of us Cas!"
Bobby clicked on the desktop lamp near the doorframe. The room lit up to reveal the angel to the rest of the room's occupants.
Castiel still looked as he always did, trench coat and all. Well, except for the small bullet hole that was already healing in his shoulder. Castiel looked down at the torn lapel of his coat and the small wound. He brushed at it before looking back at Ben and then Dean. "I see your son shares the same enthusiasm as you showed during our first meeting."
"What do you mean my son?"
