Being Back….
Summary: Dean's soul is reunited with his body. Will being back be just another kind of Hell? AU given the 1st 5 min of the season 4 premiere that I saw at S.D. Comic-Con.
Disclaimer: Not mine. Kripke et al. owns Supernatural.
A/N: Thank you to all the readers, reviewers and those who've alerted or favorited this story….
Request for help: 3SavageSkillets asked for the link to the first five minutes clip, but I can't find it anymore. Can anyone help her (us) out? Thanks.
Sorry about last week. Not only was I sick, but real life was overwhelming and I had no thoughts to spare towards this story. I hope I've made it up to you with this extra long (for me) chapter. Enjoy!
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Chapter 10: Being Tickled
He was aware of various sensations.
A comfortable bed. Warmth. The impression of light on his closed eyelids. A faint rustling sound every so often. A slight musty odor. The dreaded tubes were still there but there was no corresponding disinfectant smell of a hospital. An achy feeling all over his body accompanied by tiredness.
Most important though was the feeling that someone was there in the room with him, but he had absolutely no doubt that it was Sam. That sensation of comfort washed over him. As long as Sammy was with him, did he really need anything else?
Where he was and how long he'd been gone in multiple senses of the word was anyone's guess, and floating just beneath the surface like this, he didn't concern himself with that just yet.
His recent memories were jumbled. He remembers feeling an intense self-loathing. The feel of liquid fire flowing through his body. A plea from Sammy to breathe. Other words and images come to mind that make little sense.
His last clear memory is of…oh crap…freaking out over hearing that he'd been brain dead and Sam having to calm him down.
I wonder how many more chick-flick moments there will be before this is over?
Floating just beneath the surface has its advantages, and putting off the inevitable just a little while longer, he lets himself go under again.
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Sam had immediately noticed the change in Dean's breathing, but also recognized no purposeful waking. During his vigil the last few days, he had learned to tell the difference between attempts to shift positions in bed and attempts at waking. So far, this had been the closest his brother had come to waking and Sam hoped that next time Dean would be ready to rejoin the world.
He had barely left Dean's side in the almost four days since they basically tortured his brother with the sanctified IV solution. The only times he ever left Dean's side were when Bobby forced him to take breaks for the bathroom, food, and ten to fifteen minutes outside at least twice a day. Each time he leaves he makes Bobby promise to contact him if Dean showed any signs of waking. He had promised to himself that he would be there when Dean finally woke and was determined to keep that promise.
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They'd driven to the safe house that he and Bobby had set up not only as a base of operations but as a place for Dean to recuperate when they finally reunited Dean's soul with his body. They'd stocked the place with months worth of medical supplies and food and water not knowing exactly what condition Dean would be in at that point. And, so that they could be as self-sufficient as possible, Sam had trained with an ex-home health nurse turned hunter so that he would be capable of tending to all of Dean's physical needs during his recovery.
The house was actually Bobby's property. He'd told Sam that he'd seen the For Sale sign one day and jumped at the chance to have a place for hunters to stay if they needed it for a time. Bobby had researched the property's history and the history of the house with its detached multi-car garage to make sure there was nothing that could cause or attract any supernatural occurrences or beings other than their very presence. Even though Bobby's research said everything was clean, he'd performed several different cleansing rituals just in case. He'd also set up every type of protective ward he could think of and others that he'd found during his research – including Devil's Traps at every single possible opening to the house.
When Bobby had first shown him the place, Sam had felt at peace there despite the overwhelming, prevailing sadness over not being able to save his brother's soul. He was also suspicious of Bobby's purported purpose for the house when he'd found several things set up that would accommodate him and his brother. The largest bedroom had two beds, two bedside tables (each with a lamp), two dressers in the large walk-in closet, a bathroom with two sinks and a shower head that was high enough for Sam to fit under without hitting his head. Sam couldn't help but be moved by the gesture and pretended he didn't realize Bobby's true intentions. And, if Bobby knew that he knew, he pretended that he didn't and they'd left it at that.
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"Sam?"
Sam was startled out of his thoughts by Bobby entering the room and calling his name. He looked up, smiled, and gave Bobby the good news.
"He was so close this time, Bobby. I think next time he'll actually wake up."
"That's great, kid. Now I know what you're thinking and that's no excuse to not take a break."
"But –"
"No. Now git."
Sam got up out of the recliner that was by the window of their room and held his hands up in surrender. He'd never won this particular argument yet and decided it was in his best interest to give in yet again.
"OK. I'm going" He stops at the doorway and holds up his two-way radio. "You promise to—"
"Of course, Sam. I promise to call you at the slightest sign."
"Thanks." Sam says as leaves to go outside.
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Sam steps out onto the porch of the ranch-style house and takes a deep breath. As he exhales, he starts down the steps and makes a left turn at the bottom to go on one of his semi-regular routes around the property. Every day he checks the protection wards placed around the outside of the house and the few that could be placed around the property. Nothing had been disturbed – no footprints or sulfur traces or any other indications of anything supernatural – everything was in its proper place. He didn't think they'd been followed from the old farm house, but checked to make sure at least once a day anyway. And, he knew Bobby did the same thing at least once every night.
The ride to the house had been a little tense because they were worried about being followed, but otherwise the trip had been uneventful. Dean continued to sleep and eventually the constant movement of the transport lulled Sam to sleep for a few hours.
They'd arrived at the house around 8 AM, unloaded Dean from the back of the transport, and carried the gurney up the porch steps. They then wheeled him to the bedroom the brothers would be sharing. Once they'd transferred Dean into his bed, Bobby stripped the transport of everything that could possibly be of use and drove it back to his place in order to junk it.
In the meantime, Sam had stayed with Dean and got him settled in his new room. He didn't dare leave Dean's side those first hours and when Bobby had realized that Sam wasn't taking any breaks or time away, they had had an argument over it. Bobby had argued that Dean wouldn't want Sam to run himself into the ground because of him – that Dean would rather come back to a healthy Sam. They'd compromised on the breaks and it didn't take long for them to develop a sort of routine. Bobby would mostly stay out of Sam's hair unless he realized that Sam wasn't taking any breaks.
Sam was more than grateful to Bobby for taking on the domestic duties that allowed him to stay by his brother's side and take care of his needs. Dean had given up his childhood to take care of his little brother when Sam was just a baby and now Sam was taking care of Dean's basic needs. He made sure to feed his brother the nourishing flavorless goop that was supposed to be food several times a day through Dean's feeding tube and changed the foley catheter bag when necessary. He never thought he would ever have to take care of Dean like this, but considered it a privilege to finally be able to give something back to a brother who had given him so much over the years. He knew he would never be able to repay Dean for selling his soul to save his life, but he could at the very least make his brother as comfortable as possible during his recovery.
Several times there had been false alarms where Sam had thought Dean to be waking only to realize that his brother was simply trying to shift to a more comfortable position in his bed. Those times were interspersed with other times where Dean actually did show signs of waking only to fall back asleep before even opening his eyes. Sam spent much of his time reading when not watching over Dean. And, he also spent a lot of time thinking about everything that had happened to them and what the future could possibly hold. He knew one thing with absolute certainty though – he needed his brother by his side in order to make it through whatever was going to come next.
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Note: The site was giving me fits so I had to break this into two chapters….
Thanks for reading!