A/N: Well we're in the home stretch guys, six more chapters to go...Thank you so much for all the support and reviews you have given this story. It ended up being much more than I thought it would be and I an glad that it has been entertaining and you gave it a chance. To all the wonderful guests who left reviews thank you so much. So, we're going to get a little more insight into Dean and Sam in this and the next chapter. I hope you enjoy and as always reviews are welcome. NC


Chapter 56

Storm opened the door when Dean knocked and allowed them to enter, giving a silent nod.

"Good timing, we just got back with the beer." he said waving to the others who were sitting at the table.

"C'mon join us Gunny. Is the kid old enough to drink?" Shadow asked trying not to smirk with the stab at Sam.

"So are ya Sammy? Old enough to have a cold one?" Dean asked going alone with the joke.

"Yes, I am." Sam huffed at them as he accepted a beer from a grinning Storm. He wasn't much of a drinker but would have an occasional beer now and then. He took a seat and took a sip to prove his point.

"Okay guys, Christmas came early." Dean said pulling out envelopes and handing one to each of them. "Ni can you see Maverick gets this and send this to your friend Trey for his next mission trip. Maybe it'll help out."

"Damn!" Shadow exclaimed when he peeked inside to see all the money neatly stacked in there.

"Payment for services rendered." Dean said. "It's the least I can do and thank Ni for this. She's the one with sticky fingers."

"You're the best Ni."

"Hats off Ni, smart move."

"Hey, they weren't going to use it anymore after we got through with them, so why not help myself." she shrugged looking at the three envelopes she was holding. "I know they'll both appreciate this. Especially Maverick with a little one on the way."

"That's what family does, looks after each other."

"Wait!" Storm suddenly said as he got up and headed outside. Five minutes later, he came back in carry a small black bag. "We got this off the Cartel guys that came to get Sam at the house. I haven't even looked in it, kind of forgot I had picked it up." he said sitting the bag down in front of Dean.

Dean looked at the bag for a moment before opening it and dumping the contents onto the table. Rubber banded together were small bundles of hundred dollar bills.

"This must be the payoff for those douche bags who kidnapped Sam." Storm said eyeing the money. "I'd say this is probably around forty g's or close." he said fingering the money for a moment and looking over at Sam and then Shadow who gave him a brief nod to do it. "Give it to the kid."

"I agree, he deserves it for what he went through." Shadow agreed empathically.

Nitro looked from one to the other knowing she was missing something, but didn't question it, thinking there was a good reason for them to do it. She'd get one of them to tell her on the ride back, but she had a feeling it wasn't good.

"No, no..." Sam said shaking his head back and forth. "I couldn't do that. I mean Dean already gave me..."

"Yeah you can kid. We got our payout right here. This is all yours. It'll give you a little nest egg so you can decide what you want to do now that this nightmare is over." Shadow said helping Storm pick the money back up and put it in the bag.

"I don't know what to say. Thanks." Sam mumbled as he got emotional and blinked back the tears that filled his eyes. It seemed he was having a roller coaster ride with his emotions today and he tried to rein them in so the others wouldn't see.

"Like Gunny said, you're family now and we take care of our own." Storm stated giving Sam a little slap on the back.

"To family." Shadow toasted, holding up his beer to the others. They clinked their bottles together and all mumbled 'family' before sipping on their beers.

Sam moved to sit the bag on the dresser and to hide the fact he was crying. He wiped his eyes and tried to gather his emotions before turning back around and joining them again. He never dreamed that he would find a family like this when all this started, but he was glad of it. They risked their lives for him and took him under their wings to make him feel wanted. This was a big turning point for him. He could maybe step back and take a breath and decide what he wanted to do.

"How 'bout a few hands of poker?" Shadow suggested looking around the table.

"We still have pretzels." Storm added pointing to a bag on the counter.

"Bring it on suckers." Nitro smirked.

"Sammy, wanna play a few hands before turning in?" Dean asked him when he saw the far away look in his eyes.

"Sure." he said shaking his head storing his thoughts away for later, before helping move the things off the table and wiping it with a towel.

"You gotta watch him, he's learned a few tricks." Storm said.

"We've been playing a lot since we got here." Sam shrugged. "I'm a fast learner."

"Hear that Ni, kid's got your number."

"Not cutting anyone any slack, so prepare to go down." she stated boldly picking up the deck of cards and shuffling them several times before dealing them out. The others settled around the table and picked up their cards getting ready to play.

spn

The noise was soft at first and became louder quickly waking Dean from his sleep. He got up and quickly went to the other bed, sitting at Sam's hip. He could see he was having a nightmare as Sam jerked and threw his body side to side fighting the covers as he cried out softly in a muffled voice like he couldn't speak.

"Hey Sammy, c'mon wake up." Dean called gently to him dodging a flying arm and pressed his shoulders down to stop his fighting. "Wake up!" he said more forcibly giving his face several taps to wake him up.

The darkness that had claimed Sam suddenly vanished and he blinked rapidly up at Dean, who was leaning slightly over him. His eyes darted around to see where he was as the pounding of his heart was so hard he thought it would rip from his chest. He was panting hard and it hurt to pull in a breath as he struggled to sit up and managed it with Dean's help.

"It's okay Sammy...You were having a bad dream." Dean told him rubbing his back and massaging his neck to calm him.

"S'rry..." Sam whispered, wiping a trail of tears from his face. "Didn't...Mean...Wake ya." he wheezed out, coughing a couple of times to clear his throat before finally getting a decent breath.

"Nothing to be sorry 'bout kid. Anything you feel like talking about?" Dean asked giving him an opening if he wanted to talk about it

"I'm fine, I don't 'member much of it." Sam mumbled feeling embarrassed about waking him. His mind was racing and he couldn't seem to slow it down.

"No its not, you can tell me anything kid, I hope you know that. Don't keep it bottled up, you gotta let yourself feel the hurt, the pain, the fear and know you can overcome it and get past it. You're stronger than you think bro, just believe in yourself and draw that strength out from deep down inside of you. When you're ready..." Dean told him squeezing his neck gently and rubbing small circles across his shoulders.

"Thanks." Sam nodded gratefully glad he wasn't pressing him.

"Why don't you try and go back to sleep. I'll just sit here beside ya for a bit." he said brushing Sam's hair out of his face before laying his hand on his arm. "Take some slow deep breaths and try to relax. Cleanse your mind and it'll calm you."

Sam tried to give him a weak smile letting his eyes close and drew in a slow deep breath like Dean said. He willed his mind to calm so he could go back to sleep. Dean's hand continued to rub his arm and he started to hum some song to him. It wasn't long before Sam was snoring softly and had turned onto his side. Dean got up and pulled the blanket up over his body, tucking it in around him.

"No more bad dreams Sammy." he whispered before returning to his own bed. He lay there listening to Sam snore softly. Sleep wouldn't come easy for him, but he took his own advice and cleared his mind allowing himself to doze, but still be alert in case Sam needed him again.

spn

Morning came overcast and with hints of rain in the air. Sam began to move a little and suddenly sat upright in bed and stared to the other one to see the top of Dean's head sticking out from under the blanket. He let out the breath he was holding and sighed with relief that he hadn't dreamed it after all. Dean had come back and he didn't have to testify, he was free of all this now and with the money he now had he could take some time before deciding what to do next. Sam just stared at Dean as a sense of peace settled over him.

"I know you're watching me Sammy." Dean said slowly turning his head to look his way. "You know that's a bit creepy."

"But...How...I was...Crap..." Sam stuttered never understanding how he did that.

"It takes a lot of practice kid and ya gotta draw out that sixth sense you have." Dean shrugged getting up and stretching his arms over his head to get the kinks out of his body. "So you ready to head home?"

"Yes, I think I am." Sam said getting up too.

"Go ahead, you can have the bathroom first." Dean offered going to his pack to get out the last of his clean clothes.

"Thanks." Sam answered getting out the same clothes he had on yesterday since he didn't have any others. He was glad to be going home to at least get some clean clothes that were his. He stepped into the bathroom and quickly changed before finishing his bathroom routine. Sam stepped out carrying his sleep clothes and bathroom bag and stuffed them into his pack before looking around to see if he missed anything.

"I'll make it quick." Dean said taking Sam's place in the bathroom. It didn't take him long to change and take care of business before he was stepping back out and stowing his things in his duffel. "We'll go by your place first and then mine before heading for the Roadhouse. Sound good?"

"Yes, but I gotta say it's gonna feel funny going back there since it's been so long." Sam said.

"I understand the feeling." Dean agreed. "So you ready Sammy? We'll stop by the other room and tell everyone good-bye."

"Let's do this." Sam said gathering his pack and bag with his books, magazines and chess game ready to leave. "We need to run by the police station downtown so I can pick up my things and my car."

"Alright." Dean replied going out the door and down the walkway to the other room. He knocked and waited for an answer.

"Hey guys." Shadow greeted them opening the door wider so they could come in.

"We're getting ready to head out and wanted to stop by to say good-bye." Dean commented stepping into the room followed by Sam.

"Yeah so are we. Just waiting on Ni." Shadow said looking into the room to see her coming out of the bathroom.

Nitro looked up when she felt eyes on her, "What?" she asked giving them a dirty look as she used her crutches to make it to the bed to put on her boot.

"Nothing." Shadow smirked, doing his best not to laugh and make her ill. That wouldn't be advisable since she was going to be traveling with them for a while.

"We wanted to stop by before heading out and thank everyone again for all your help and to wish you safe travels."

"Same to you." Storm said sitting his pack down on the bed to say his good-byes.

"Guys, thanks for getting me through all this and getting me home safe." Sam said holding out his hand to shake theirs. Before he could react, Shadow grabbed him up in a bear hug and passed him to Storm who did the same. He wavered on his feet for a moment when he was set down from the barrage.

"Good getting to know kid. You're okay." Shadow beaming happily patting him hard on the back.

"You take care kid." Storm told him.

"I will. Thanks for having Dean's back Nitro and bringing him back in one piece." Sam continued to Nitro.

"Always Sam. I'd never let him break a promise." she said giving him a brief hug and whispering, "You take care of him for me."

"I will." he nodded to her giving her a warm smile.

"Ni, always a pleasure working with you." Dean said to her bumping fists and giving her a knowing look.

"Anytime Gunny. I'll keep in touch and we'll see you at the wedding or birth, whichever comes first."

"You can count on it."

"So you're a godfather too, right?" Shadow asked as they gathered their things to head out too.

"Yes, seems so. Take care and I'll be talking to you." Dean replied. "You ready Sammy?"

"Yep. Good-bye guys." Sam said giving a final wave. He followed Dean out of the room and to his car. He watched the others go to their vehicles and kept watching until they turned left where Dean turned right. He settled back into the seat and vaguely scanned the scenery going by as Dean headed to Austin.

spn

Dean pulled into an apartment complex and followed Sam's car into the parking lot and parked beside him. He wasn't impressed with it and thought it lacked warmth and a welcoming appeal but this might be all Sam could afford right now, he didn't know.

"I'm on the third floor, corner unit." Sam said getting out and looking at the place for a moment before leading Dean inside. He went to the elevator and punched the button watching as it descended to ground level. When the doors opened, they stepped inside and Sam punched floor three and they stood back waiting for the door to close and the elevator to rise. They stepped off on the third floor and Sam headed down the hall. He stopped in front of a door and got his keys out to unlock it.

Dean looked around the small apartment not seeing much of Sam there. It had all the basics for a single man's apartment; couch, small flat screen, cheap DVD player, end table, table with two chairs for a dining area and a couple of photos on a bookcase full of books, but not much else. The only things personal were the few photos and a few DVDs stacked by the flat screen. He guessed Sam didn't spend much time here and it almost seemed sad in a way to him.

"I'll go pack me a bag. You can check to see if there's anything to drink in the fridge. Not sure what was there before I got put in that safe house." Sam told him going through a door to the bedroom. He booted up his laptop so he could contact his Mom and let her know things had been taken care of and he was alright.

"Right. Go ahead and pack for say...a week or so. We can always hit a laundry mat if we need to." Dean said stepping into the small kitchen and opening the fridge to see it was pretty bare except for some milk that had expired, something growing green crap, mustard, ketchup, a few eggs and a few bottles of water. He grabbed a trash can from the corner and dumped everything but the waters into it thinking they'd throw the trash away on the way out. If things worked out as he hoped they would, they wouldn't be back here for awhile.

"Umm..Sure." Sam said not sure why but figuring he'd over pack to be on the safe side. He wasn't sure what Dean had in mind but he was game. He dumped his bag and dug in the closet for a bigger one before opening the drawers of his dresser to start pulling out clothes and packing them. He went to his closet and got jeans, shirts, a sweat shirt, and light jacket. He dug his running shoes from the pile of dirty clothes and added them to his bag. He stepped into the bathroom and grabbed up bathroom stuff to add to his bathroom bag and adding that last to his duffel. Sam looked at the envelope of money trying to decide what to do with it. Most of his bills were drafted from his checking account so he'd have Dean run by his bank to deposit some to be sure they were covered. The rest he would take with him for their trip. Sam figured if he needed anything else he would buy it.

He looked to his laptop when it chimed and dropped onto the bed to pull up his email account. With quick fingers, he sent a email to his Mom letting her know things were safe and he was safe and would be traveling with a friend for a while and not to worry he'd contact later. He then sent one to the head of the residency program at the hospital to let them know he was taking an extended leave of absence and would contact when he returned. With that taken care of, he shut the laptop down and slipped it into a case to take with him. With a final look around the small room, Sam zipped his bag and carried it back to the other room to see Dean leaning against the counter drinking a water with a bag of trash at his feet.

"Cleaned your fridge out for you." he commented with a shrug. "Wasn't much in there anyway and what was you didn't wanna see."

"Right, thanks I guess. So I'm ready to go. I need to go by the bank and the post office to pick up my mail they've been holding."

"No problem, just direct me." Dean said picking up the trash bag to take along to deposit in the dumpster outside. "Then we'll head for my place."