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Chapter 14

When Sam got out of the shower later that day there was no one in sight. Then Dean stubbed his toe on something, or at least that was what Sam assumed his brother had done when he heard the howl and following shout across the house.

"Damnit, Bobby, when are you gonna de-clutter this place!"

"You practically live here, and you don't help!" Bobby called from somewhere upstairs.

Sam followed Dean's voice to the back of the ground floor, and found him in an unused bedroom full of...stuff—storage. He was behind a stack of boxes, and Sam could only see one foot and the back of his head as he apparently bent over to rummage through something.

"Dean, what are you doing?"

"You're gonna need more clothes, genius. All your stuff is back here somewhere."

His eyebrows went up. "You didn't get rid of it?"

There was silence for a moment, besides the shuffling and scraping from the other side of the boxes. "No, I didn't get rid of any of it. I didn't wanna see it, but I didn't get rid of any of it."

Sam didn't know how to respond to that. He stood where he was, listening to the rummaging sounds until they stopped.

"Yahtzee! Sam, you still there?"

"Yeah."

"Good." Dean's head suddenly appeared as he stood. "Incoming!" He tossed Sam's old duffel bag over the boxes to him, and he almost took it in the face before he caught it.

"Yah! Right, thanks."

Dean came out, brushing dust from his clothes. "Welcome. You'll probably wanna wash those before we head to Indiana, though."

"When would that be?"

"Day after tomorrow, probably."

"How do you plan to explain this to Lisa?" he asked.

Dean winced. "In a way that won't make her run the other way screaming?"

"When do you plan to explain this to Lisa?"

"I haven't figured that one out either..."

Dean didn't say anything at all to Lisa until he was on his way to Indiana two days later with Sam and Bobby. Bobby was following in his own car, so Sam was the only one staring at him—or trying not to—when he answered her call.

"Yeah, we're on our way. We'll be there tomorrow."

"You and this Uncle Bobby I've heard so much about?"

"Yeah, me and Bobby. I'm ah...I'm bringing someone else too, though."

"Like who?"

"That's kind of hard to explain."

"What the hell does that mean?"

Dean let out a breath as Sam gave him a what are you doing? look. "I'll explain when we get there. Just trust me; it's nothing you need to worry about."

There was a pause before she answered. "If you say so..."

He smiled to himself. "Thanks."

She sighed, something crossed between amusement and a touch of frustration. "You're welcome. Have a safe trip, then. I love you."

"Yeah...I love you, too." Dean had hesitated, but only because he was still getting used to saying it and realizing it was true. Having to overcome his default macho attitude didn't help, either.

Sam was smirking when he closed the phone and pushed it back into his pocket. "What?" he demanded.

"I just never thought I'd ever see you seriously tell a women that, that's all."

"If you make a big deal out of it, I swear I will send you right back to heaven," Dean shot back seriously.

Sam laughed, settling back into his side of the front bench seat of the Impala. It was crazy how much of a relief it was to have him there.

It was crazy, too, how it didn't really feel strange, even after leaving that seat deliberately empty for three years. It was just...right—like he'd never not been sitting right there, where he was supposed to be.

"Now you're the one staring, Dean."

He blinked and refocused on the road. "Sorry."

"So you've met her parents, right?"

"I thought you saw everything."

"I don't remember all the details of everything that happened down here..."

"Whatever you say," Dean smirked. "Anyway, yeah. I met them. They came down for a couple days over Christmas. They're nice people, but completely clueless. We plan to keep them that way if we can help it."

Sam smirked. "How is that going to work with me here?"

He shrugged. "They don't really know much about me. All I'll have to explain is why they didn't know I had a brother." Dean didn't think he meant to, but Sam grimaced a little at that. "Hey...don't take that the wrong way. There just, you know, wasn't any reason to tell them about my past, if we weren't going to tell them all of it. I didn't wanna have to make up lies about what happened to everybody, so...I just didn't mention it."

"It's okay. I understand."

And he seemed to, but that didn't keep the uncomfortable silence from falling.

Dean cleared his throat, but before he could say anything Sam jumped in volunteering information on his own.

"Hey, I met Dad's parents up there."

His eyebrows went up. "Seriously? Man, I know I saw them a few times when I was like three...you know, before the fire and all...I don't really remember much though."

Sam laughed. "Mom says when each of them got there they didn't know anything. She had to explain it all—show them what was really going on down here. Even though they were right there in heaven it apparently took them a while to get used to it all."

"I bet. What about Samuel and Deanna? Do they remember me? Not that those are really pleasant memories, but..."

"Yeah," Sam winced. He looked away for a moment "They remember. Even though he was possessed at the time, Samuel remembered you telling him who you were...so they both knew when they got there. They said they've been keeping an eye on us all from day one...and in heaven people still pray, too. They prayed for us."

Dean blinked a few times. "Huh..." he muttered in wonder.

"That was pretty much my reaction."

Dean hadn't realized part of him was still unsure about all of this until they pulled into the Braeden's driveway the next evening. He realized then that he had been uncertain because the uncertainty was abruptly gone.

It disappeared when seeing the house gave him a sudden feeling of home.

He hadn't had a home in a long time, besides Bobby's house, and before that really nothing since Lawrence. But he realized now that he really did feel at home here. He'd missed it. He'd been away less than a week and he'd missed it.

God, the feeling was so strange.

But not unwanted.

"Sit tight; I'll come get you when, you know..."

Sam got comfortable in his seat and nodded. "Yeah."

When Dean climbed out he realized Bobby had gotten out too, but he was hanging back by his own car and seemed content to stay there while Dean took care of what had to be done first.

He would have done it inside, too, but before he'd taken two steps the front door smacked open and Lisa flew into his arms.

"There you are! You're late," she complained good-naturedly.

Dean caught her, her feet coming off the ground when she all but jumped, and he spun halfway around before the energy she'd used in throwing herself at him was expelled and he could set her down again. He happily accepted the kiss she offered before he replied.

"Hey, I had Bobby following me and he insists on driving at safe speeds; I couldn't get here as fast as I usually do."

She glanced over his shoulder at the older man back by the other car. "So that's Bobby?"

Bobby nodded to her from where he stood, and she smiled back.

"Yes it is, and that..." He directed her attention momentarily to the Impala, were Sam waved tentatively from inside. "Is going to take a little explaining."

Lisa held up a hand in something of a wave, but quickly dropped it and turned back to Dean in confusion. "Who is that? Old friend? Long-lost cousin I didn't know about?"

Dean opened his mouth to jump right into the explanation he'd carefully planned, but something occurred to him and he detoured. "Where's Ben?"

"Ben?"

"Yeah, you know, that short male offspring of yours."

She couldn't help but smirk at that. "My parents took him out; besides Christmas he hasn't spent a lot of time with them in a while."

"So he's not here."

"No..."

"Oh." He let out a breath. "I guess I'll just have to go through this again later."

"Go through what again? What is it?"

"Okay, uh...you remember that whole big thing with Sam and that demon a few months ago? Saving the world and all that jazz?"

Lisa frowned. "Of course I remember it; that's what made you run off. Why?"

"Well, I didn't think anything was gonna come of that...besides having a somewhat safer world with Lilith gone and all, but...I was wrong."

"Wrong?" she echoed. "Wrong how?"

"Wrong as in something did come of it. Don't ask me to explain why it's now, and it didn't happen before, because I'm not quite sure I understand it myself, but something happened. Apparently uh...God, I guess, decided to give us something for, you know, saving the world..."

"You and...Sam?" she asked, glancing back to the Impala.

"Yeah," Dean smiled. "Me and Sam. He let Sam come back."

Lisa turned back to stare at him for a moment, wide-eyed, pulled away and turned again to stare through the Impala's windshield, crossing her arms tightly. "Wait, so that's...?"

"That's my brother," he nodded.

Her back still to him, she sucked in a sharp breath and still stared. "Oh..."

Dean winced. "Look, I'm sorry...I know I've put you through a lot, and you've been great with it all so far...but people coming back from the dead is kind of a big thing..."

"Oh yeah, it's big," she huffed, voice a little higher than usual. She was still staring at Sam, and poor Sam didn't seem to know whether to look back, look away, or hide. Bobby had that concerned look on his face that suited him so well.

Lisa abruptly focused her attention on the ground instead, and for a while she was silent. Finally she looked up again and the tension in her hunched shoulders eased as she uncrossed her arms.

"Lisa?"

"I'm waiting for him to get out of the car introduce himself," she said finally. It was her this is insane, but with you I'm used to insane and I'll be fine, I swear voice, and when she glanced back at him to give a reassuring smile, though the expression was still a little nervous, he knew she would be.

He had to stop underestimating her.

Dean saw Bobby grin, and he smirked to himself and waved to his brother in the Impala. "Sam, get your ass out here!" he chuckled.

Sam climbed out of the car slowly, looking almost sheepish as he came up to Lisa. "Hi..."

She was the first one to hold out a hand. "Hi."

He smiled and shook it. "I'm sorry about all of this too; it must be weird for you."

"Well, then it's a good thing I am now well-versed in weird."

"I guess you are." Sam grinned over her shoulder at his brother, and Dean could read the expression as easily as words.

She's a keeper, Dean.

With Lisa's parents staying in the guest room, all three men would be in a motel until the wedding, and Sam and Bobby soon left in Bobby's car to find a couple of rooms somewhere and give Dean some time alone with Lisa before Ben and the grandparents returned.

"I met Lisa the first time around," Sam commented on the way back. "I liked her then, and I like her now."

Bobby nodded as he drove. "I'm glad something's working out for that boy."

"I'm just glad to see him happy. I know I had to do it, but even in heaven it was hell watching him go through what he did after I died..."

"I was there," he grimaced.

"I know...thanks for being there for him," Sam said quietly.

"As if I had a choice? You boys are family to me."

Both of them lapsed into silence for a while, until Bobby cleared his throat.

"Dean really loves those two—Lisa and that kid. He was happy before...I know he would have been fine, but no matter what those angels or God or whoever says, I still think there was something missing without you—something he's got back now." He hesitated. "For me, too."

Sam's mouth opened a little, but he didn't know what to say.

"I'm glad you're back, son," Bobby said finally, eyes focused firmly on the road.

His eyes felt damp again, but he smiled a little. "Thanks, Bobby."

Dean and Lisa had been content on the couch for long enough that he didn't notice her staring up at him at first.

"What?"

She gladly settled closer into his shoulder. "You're happier."

"Happier than what?"

"Than when you left. I mean, it's obvious why...you have your brother back."

"Yeah," he smiled. "I'm pretty happy about that myself." He kissed her forehead. "But I don't want you to think I wasn't happy before."

Lisa grinned as she twisted to face him a bit more. "Oh, I know you were." She gave him a real kiss. "But you're even happier now, and I'm glad for it."

"I've been here all of two hours and you can already tell a difference?"

She shrugged. "It's just...something about you."

"I'm not even gonna try to figure that one out."

"Don't worry about it; it's a good thing. It makes you more attractive," she told him micheviously.

"And here I thought that wasn't possible."

That was when the front door opened again. "Come on, hurry up! Dean's back!" Ben's voice echoed from the foyer. Dean and Lisa disentangled themselves and stood by the time he came around the corner into the living room, Tom and Sherry Braeden not far behind.

Ben ran to Dean and hugged him. "All right! Let's get this party started," the kid grinned.

Dean laughed. "That's the spirit."

"It's good to see you again, Dean," Tom nodded.

He nodded back. "Sir, ma'am."

"Dean," Sherry smiled. She looked around. "Weren't you bringing that older friend of yours from South Dakota?"

"Ah, yes ma'am. He and my brother are on their way back from getting us a couple of motel rooms. They'll be here soon." Ben looked up at him quickly, and Dean shot him a clear I'll explain later look.

"Oh, you have a brother? I don't think you mentioned that before," Sherry commented.

Dean shrugged. "He's kind of been away for a while..."

"Oh, well, I'm glad he could make it then."

Ben grabbed Dean's arm. "Yeah yeah, that's great. Come on, Dean; I want to show you something in my room." Without waiting for a response he pulled a willing Dean into the hallway and to his room.

"Nice acting..." he muttered.

"What's going on?" Ben asked. "You said something about a brother once, but I thought you said he was kind of...dead."

Dean nodded and lowered himself into the desk chair. "Well...he was." How the hell was he supposed to explain this without mention of the whole save-the-world thing?" Ben didn't know about that, and Dean didn't really want him to.

"Okay, now you lost me."

"It's hard to explain, but...somebody decided to let him come back."

"Somebody like God?"

He shrugged. "Maybe. That's what a friend of mine said, but I've never seen him."

"Dude, of course you haven't seen him. He's God."

Dean's eyebrows went up. "You believe in God? Not that it's a bad thing; I'm just curious."

Ben sat down on the edge of the bed. "I don't know. I mean...someone had to have brought you to us."

He'd never thought of it like that.

"So this means I get a dad and an uncle out of this deal?" the kid grinned.

"Two uncles, if you count Bobby. I think you'll like them both, too. Sam is all kinds of cool, and maybe Bobby can be an old coot sometimes, but he's pretty awesome himself."

Ben was still smiling. "Sweet. Man, I think I'm gonna like our family."

"Yeah," Dean agreed. "Me too."