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….

Important Note: The site was giving me fits so I had to break this into two chapters….. See previous chapter.

ooooooo

Chapter 10: Being Tickled, Part II

Finishing his perimeter check, he went back in the house and straight back to his and Dean's room. He found Bobby quietly reading an article from muscle car magazine out loud to Dean.

"Any change?" he asked.

"None," he said getting up from the edge of Sam's bed and tucking the magazine under his left arm. "It's like I've said before – he'll wake when he's ready."

Bobby looked at his watch, stepped towards the doorway, and said, "It's almost lunch time. I'll bring you something to eat soon along with Dean's Goop."

Sam sat down beside Dean on his bed and replied, "Thanks."

ooooooo

After the morning break and perimeter check, Sam usually gave Dean's atrophied muscles in his arms and legs a massage. He had started the massages on the second day in order to stimulate blood flow to the muscles and get the ball rolling therapy-wise. Dean was so deeply asleep that he didn't feel the intrusion on his personal space. It made Sam feel guilty every time he saw just how thin and frail his brother's body was right now, but knew that with Dean's stubbornness it wouldn't take long for him to get back on his feet.

He always started with Dean's hands. He couldn't stand how they were curled up and claw-like because the tendons had shrunk due to lack of use. His brother's hands that could fix anything probably couldn't hold a wrench right now. I know you'll be back to full strength soon Bro.

He gently straightened Dean's fingers and massaged them trying to stretch the tendons and ligaments back out. He then moved onto the arms massaging the muscles and moving the joints around. And, last he did the legs and feet which seemed to be perpetually cold.

He hadn't yet, in the last almost three days, had a reaction from Dean and wasn't expecting one again today. But, when Sam had moved on to massaging Dean's right foot, it suddenly jerked. At first, Sam took it as reflex and kept working, but when he'd touched a certain spot, Dean's foot jerked again.

He looked over at Dean's face and realized that his brother looked annoyed.

"I don't remember you being ticklish on your right foot big brother."

Sam tries to find the spot again, this time not only did Dean's foot jerk, but he also heard him whisper, "S-s-stop," even though his eyes were closed.

"Dean? Wake up and I'll stop. Did you hear what I said?" He starts to grab Dean's foot again and Dean's eyes open to slits.

ooooooo

Dean is slowly floating to the surface of consciousness again when he feels familiar hands on his body. It takes his sluggish mind a while to comprehend what was going on but he surmises that it's some sort of weird massage. It feels good considering his sore body and is lulling him back down below the surface when suddenly The Spot is touched on his foot and he involuntarily moves it.

The touching of The Spot has forced him closer to the surface than he wanted to be and when The Spot is touched again; he can't help but be annoyed that his sleep is being disturbed by his even more annoying little brother.

He hears Sam comment about not remembering that his right foot is ticklish and thinks That's 'cause I don't like to be tickled there, you idiot!

Sam finds The Spot again and he surfaces even more to say, "S-s-stop," though he's not ready to open his eyes yet.

Sam offers to stop touching The Spot if he'll wake up. But, I'm already awake… He feels his foot being grabbed again, and opens his eyes a bit.

ooooooo

He hears Sam say, "Hey."

"He-Hey," he attempts to answer but it's a croak because his throat is extremely dry. He coughs a bit and wonders why it tastes like he's chewed and swallowed charcoal.

"Here," Sam says as a cup of water with a straw materializes in front of his face.

He lifts his head to drink and feels Sam's hand behind his neck. "Let me help. And drink only a few small sips. You haven't really had anything in awhile."

He does as he's told only because the first swallow feels weird like there is already something in his throat. When he's finished drinking, he starts to lift his hand to his face, but Sam stops him saying, "Let it alone. It's, it's uh – necessary."

Dean has a vague memory of discovering the feeding tube when he was in the hospital. He whispers since his voice still isn't cooperating, "I kn-know, Sam. I get it."

Guilt flashes across Sam's face as he asks, "How are you feeling?"

Lapsing into old habits, Dean replies with his standard, if currently nasally sounding, response, "I'm fine."

"Right. And I'm President of the United States."

"G-gone that long, huh," his voice still hitching from lack of use.

"So not funny."

"Oh c-come o-on. Little funny."

"Not really, but at least I know your sense of humor is still intact."

ooooooo

Note: This seemed like a good place to stop even though I wanted to go on, but I ran out of time. Forgiven?

BTW: The fingers curling up like I described really does happen. Someone very close to me was in a coma for a month and a half and I saw this happen. Every time I visited the person, I couldn't help but massage the hands and especially the fingers trying to get them to uncurl…

Comic-Con: I was also able to write up what my brother and I did on Friday of Comic-Con. Feel free to check out the description on my profile page. The other days will come when I can get around to it. The Supernatural panel on Sunday was awesome with the hilarious gag reel, the first 5 minutes of the season premiere (!!) and just seeing EK, JP, JA, SG and BE in person. It was a great way to end my first Comic-Con, though getting back home proved to be a real pain in more ways than one… More on that later if you're interested.

Thanks for reading!