Chapter Ten: Broken
Dean startled awake at the sound of the motel room's door closing. He sat up and saw Bobby step inside with a brown paper bag and a drink tray.
"Hey," the gruff hunter whispered quietly and set his purchases down on the table.
Dean wiped a hand across his face and glanced at the bedside clock, seeing that it was nine-thirty in the morning.
He peered down at his brother. Sam was lying close to him, curled up, sleeping peacefully. Dean smiled and got out of bed as carefully as possible so he wouldn't wake his sibling. He paused to pull the blankets up to Sam's shoulders before walking over to the table to see what Bobby had bought.
He thanked the grizzled hunter when Bobby handed him a paper cup of coffee and dug around in the bag for a moment before pulling out a Styrofoam container.
Dean opened the container to find two fried eggs, a piece of toast and six pieces of bacon inside.
The younger man's stomach growled loudly and Dean remembered he had only eaten breakfast the day before, missing lunch because he was too busy drinking and completely forgetting about dinner while he looked after Sam.
Dean looked at Bobby when the older man handed him a Styrofoam bowl with a plastic lid.
"It's oatmeal," Bobby told him quietly, "I doubt Sam got three meals a day and I figured this would be the easiest on his stomach."
Ignoring his own food, Dean took the offered bowl and plastic spoon, "Thanks Bobby."
Although he would have liked to let his brother sleep some more, Dean wanted to get some food into Sam as soon as possible and then get out of town. Bobby needed to get back to South Dakota and Dean knew that he and Sam would be going with him.
Walking over to Sam's side of the bed, Dean crouched down and laid a hand on his brother's shoulder.
"Sammy?" His brother's eyes opened almost immediately and Sam cringed away from him fearfully.
"Hey, it's just me," Dean tried to calm his brother, "Bobby brought you breakfast."
Dean's eyebrows rose in confusion when Sam's face turned green.
"Sam? Sammy, look," Dean popped the lid off the Styrofoam container and lifted it so Sam could see what was in it, "Oatmeal."
"Oh," Sam whispered, his gaze dropping and embarrassment crossing his features, "S-s-sorry."
Dean squeezed his brother's shoulder comfortingly and held out the bowl and plastic spoon. Sam sat up, hunching over as he did so and took the Styrofoam container and spoon.
Dean watched as his brother tentatively scooped up some of the breakfast cereal and brought it to his mouth.
Sam took a small bite, chewing as though he was afraid Dean would give him something awful to eat. Dean couldn't help but smile when Sam dug the plastic spoon into the bowl of oatmeal and scooped up a generous portion, eating the cereal as though it wasn't just plain porridge but the most delicious food ever tasted.
"Whoa! Hold on Sammy!" Dean exclaimed when Sam began wolfing down the food, far too fast for his older brother's liking.
The younger Winchester stopped with the spoon halfway to his mouth, a look of fear crossing his features.
"You don't have to stop eating, Sammy," Dean said quickly, "Just eat slower. I don't want you to choke, okay?"
Sam lowered his gaze as if Dean had yelled at him and nodded, stirring the spoon around in the oatmeal before taking up a very small amount on the tip of the utensil.
Dean opened his mouth to tell Sam he didn't have to eat like that but then he closed it again. Peering over his shoulder at Bobby, Dean gave the grizzled hunter a 'what am I supposed to do?' look.
"Eat your breakfast before it gets cold," the older hunter said with a shrug.
Standing, Dean went to the table and grabbed the Styrofoam container with his own breakfast inside and began munching away. Dean though, hardly tasted what he ate.
He would feel better once they were at Bobby's. He hoped that the familiar salvage yard would help Sam relax.
At least he's safe, Dean thought, that's all that matters now.
W
Once Sam was finished eating, Dean checked the wounds he'd bandaged up the night before, cleaning them again and covering them with fresh gauze.
Sam sat rigid as Dean worked, trying to be as gentle as possible. He still wouldn't meet his older brother's eyes and that hurt. Dean had never known Sam to be so meek and skittish. He knew it was a result of whatever that bitch Lilith had put him through during the past year and hoped that Sam would soon be back to his pain-in-the-ass self.
Dean tried to talk to Sam, chattering on about nothing in particular, trying to be upbeat and positive.
Bobby packed the brothers' things into the trunk of the Impala as Dean tended to Sam, giving them some privacy.
"You boys ready?" the grizzled hunter poked his head into the motel room just as Dean finished patching up the last of the wounds.
Dean nodded and Sam followed along behind him silently, dressed in a comfortable clothing- a pair dark blue sweat pants and a grey pullover sweater- staring at his feet instead of straight ahead.
Dean smiled when he saw that Bobby had taken the three 'emergency' blankets from the Impala's trunk and spread them out on the backseat, making a sort of nest.
Sam climbed into the backseat of the car and Dean closed the door. Sam took up one of the blankets- a red woolen one- and wrapped it around himself.
Bobby sat up front in shotgun while Dean took the driver's seat. After a quick stop at the motel office to check out, the three were on their way to Sioux Falls.
Dean had thought his brother would curl up in the back and sleep but Sam stared out the passenger window, raptly.
Bobby caught Dean watching Sam in the rearview mirror and gave a small smile through his ruddy beard.
SPN
"Lilith will never allow either of the Winchesters become the Righteous Man," Castiel told Uriel, "She will not take Dean's soul and if Sam dies he will be tortured for an eternity in the Pit."
The archangel passed the snow-topped mountain peak, his face dark with displeasure.
Castiel tilted his head, "Could not another human be used-"
"No!" Uriel snapped at the lesser angel, "It must be one of the Winchesters."
They were truly at a stalemate then. Lilith was doing everything in her power to prevent the Apocalypse (and her own demise).
The archangel suddenly paused, a look of cunning dawning on his dark features.
"Uriel? What is it?" Castiel asked.
"There is another Winchester," the archangel said, smiling widely.
Castiel's eyes widened. Surely that would not work. Dean and Sam were meant to start Armageddon and release Lucifer. Not the boy.
"Adam Milligan will be the Righteous Man," the archangel announced.
"You cannot-" Castiel began to argue but was interrupted by Uriel.
"Your task is complete, Castiel," the archangel said arrogantly, "Return to your post."
The lesser angel opened his mouth to speak again but thought better of it. This was not right. Adam Milligan was not meant to be a part of this.
SPN
Dean smiled in relief as he drove past the sign welcoming them to Sioux Falls. It had been a long day but they had finally arrived.
Bobby was snoozing in the passenger's seat, his baseball cap pulled down over his eyes as he snored quietly.
Sam was awake. He had fallen asleep two hours after they had started out, only to wake up again with a confused and startled expression on his face- most likely from a nightmare- before realizing that he was safe in the Impala and stared hungrily out the windows as trying to take in all the sights he had missed during the past year.
Classic rock and roll played from the speakers. Dean hadn't been able to ride for long without music and had finally given into temptation. He had been about to change the station to something more soothing- maybe Bach or Beethoven or Mozart- when Sam had shaken his head, letting Dean know he wanted it left on, Quiet Riot singing about metal health.
Sam's expression had turned nostalgic as he listened to the music and Dean had to swallow the lump in his throat.
They had eaten take-out lunches, Bobby suggesting that they eat as they drove. Dean knew it was more than a sense of urgency to get back to Sioux Falls but the uncertainty of brining Sam into a public place. The young man still wouldn't hold his brother (or Bobby's) gaze for any length of time and spoke in monosyllables when he did talk at all. Besides that, it was clear from Sam's physical appearance that something bad had happened to him. Although his face was mostly obscured by his shaggy bangs, his clothes were clearly too big for him and moved from periods of fidgeting to sitting as still as stone in the backseat.
No, it was best if they didn't eat in restaurants for a while.
As they entered the city limits, Dean reached across the seat and shook Bobby's shoulder.
"Hey old man," he said, "We're home."
Bobby grunted awake, looked around for a moment before pushing his baseball cap up and stretching in the confines of the front seat.
Peering around the back of the seat, Bobby glanced at Sam who was staring out the side window at the houses they were passing.
SPN
Castiel smiled at the newborn infants wrapped securely in their blue and pink blankets, their names displayed at the ends of their incubators. The tiny creatures looked so fragile and vulnerable.
The angel thought about the archangel's plan to have Adam Milligan- Sam and Dean's half-brother- become the Righteous Man destiny demanded.
The boy knew nothing of the supernatural, knew nothing of angels or demons and yet Uriel had no qualms about destroying the young man's life.
Castiel recalled Lilith's plan of preventing Sam from taking on the role of the Righteous Man- her promise that he would never shed blood in Hell- and knew that it would be the same for Adam. If Lilith found out what Uriel was planning, she would stop the young man from breaking the first Seal as well.
Adam Milligan will have died for nothing.
Castiel could not allow an innocent human to suffer for mistakes that were not his own.
But what could he do? He was forbidden from interfering with humans.
Perhaps Uriel would realize his plan was folly. Perhaps a different substitute would be found; good men and women sold their souls routinely for more than just wealth and fame. A certain few paid the ultimate price for the lives of loved ones. Maybe one of them could break the first Seal, despite what Uriel claimed.
SPN
Dean sat down on Bobby's old, brown couch with a sigh. It was good to be back at the salvage yard after avoiding it for so long. The young hunter felt guilty for not seeing Bobby enough during the year he'd thought Sam had been dead but he just hadn't been able to bring himself to visit the grizzled hunter.
Noticing that Sam was standing in the doorway, Dean sat up and beckoned him into the room.
"C'mon over Sam," he encouraged, "You don't have to stand there."
His brother shuffled slowly into the room, clearly nervous. Dean's heart went out to his brother and he wished there was a way for him to help Sam realize that he didn't have to be afraid anymore.
Sam sat down cautiously on the edge of the couch, as far away from Dean as possible, looking ready to scramble up at a moment's notice.
"You remember this place, yeah?" Dean asked and his brother nodded.
Bobby entered the room with some drinks and Sam shot up from the couch as though the cushion had been electrified, a look of panic on his drawn features.
Realizing what he'd done, Sam lowered his head, "S-sorry."
"Don't apologize, son," Bobby said gently, "It ain't yer fault."
Sam sat back down, still not looking at all comfortable.
"Are you okay? Are you hurting?" Dean asked, thinking that his brother might be in pain.
Sam shook his head a little too quickly but Dean didn't argue with him. He didn't want to scare his brother.
Bobby handed the eldest Winchester a can of beer and held out a glass of milk towards Sam.
The young man took the offered beverage but didn't drink it. Dean gulped down his beer faster than he normally would. The silence was killing him.
Setting the empty can of beer aside, Dean grabbed the television remote and hit the ON button. The blank TV screen suddenly showed a grim-faced news anchor reporting the usual doom and gloom of the day; Dean changed the channel.
Surfing around for a few minutes, Dean found something that his brother would enjoy- a documentary about tropic fish in the Great Barrier Reef- and sat back, glancing at Bobby from the corner of his eye.
Maybe Dean could start getting Sam to open up if he actually had something to talk about instead of coming right out and asking his brother what had happened to him the past year he'd been Lilith's slave. Sam, though usually more willing to share his feelings than Dean, was shy and after what he had endured, had withdrawn even more so. Dean thought that the best way of getting his brother to talk was to ease him into it. Although the last thing Dean wanted was to know everything his brother had suffered, he knew that talking would help his brother, as it usually had in the past if something was troubling Sam.
But this was completely different. When he had been younger Sam would confide in his brother his desire to go to the movies with friends after he'd been forbidden from doing so by his father or stress over a particularly difficult test or- much to Sam's chagrin- ask Dean for advice about girls. No, this wasn't going to be like any of those times before. Dean wished he didn't have to know but something told him it was the only way to help his brother get better.
Dean startled when Bobby nudged him, the older hunter standing beside the couch, and turned his gaze to where the grizzled man was looking.
Sam was leaning forward on the couch, clearly watching the television screen through his bangs, still not completely relaxed- he looked tensed to jump and cower at the slighted provocation- but was soaking in every sight and sound.
Dean smiled, feeling ridiculously happy despite everything that had happened in the past year.
"You want another beer?" Bobby whispered so as not to disturb Sam and Dean nodded.
He's going to be okay, Dean thought as he watched his brother; everything's going to be alright now.
Author's Note:
1. Chapter title comes from a Lifehouse song of the same name.
2. Thanks to anna3311234, avidreader33, nupinoop296, angeleyenc, What You See in the Shadows, Olive-Pizza, cold kagome, sarah, mandancie, BranchSuper, Elishab68, SamDeanLover28, babyreaper, AlxM, SPN Mum, BlueElly, MysteryMadchen, L.A.H.H and Guest for reviewing.
3. Thanks to everyone who alerted, favourited, followed this story.
4. Please review! So the Winchesters are safe at Bobby's but now Uriel has turned his sights on Adam. What is Cas going to do?