Vrskaandrea: Thank you, after the last couple of chapters, I think fluffy was needed! And I did put a lot of thought into the perfect gifts for Sam, I'm really happy he liked them. ;)

Blondie 20000: Deans safely back with Sam and all that other stuff cools off for a while...well a chapter or two at least.

VegasGranny: Sam deserves to be spoilt occasionally!

Arsamandi1: Thanks for your reviews. The first one came through loud and clear. I think Dean would have always made an effort for Sams birthday. Tried to give him a little taste of normal. A few little slips occur where Dean is referred to in a feminine sense. Sometimes Dean reacts, sometimes not. I think because this was a semi teasing time he just let it go.

Blondie 20000: Dean is pretty amazing, especially when it comes to Sam.

Shazza19: Welcome back! I'm glad you're all caught up again and are enjoying the story. I will admit the Dana/Caleb pairing has been met with mixed reviews! :)

CHAPTER 26

The brothers spent another week on the road before Sam called it and they went back to Bobby's for some rest. After they had spent some time chatting to Bobby, catching him up on all their hunts, and Bobby had given Sam a belated, practical, birthday gift of a bronze dagger, a bottle of scotch and socks, the boys headed to their room and crashed out for 12 hours. They could hear Bobby on the phone as they came down the stairs and into the kitchen.

"Yeah okay...no, it's not your fault, you didn't know...I'm sure...yeah, I'll tell them...thanks for calling Hugo...'Kay, stay safe, see ya."

The boys entered just as Bobby was hanging up his phone.

"Who was that?" Sam asked.

"Um, a hunter I know called Hugo. He...ah...he found your witch." Bobby said looking at Dean.

"Really! Where is she? Wait until I get my hands on her!" Dean asked excited.

"Not going to be as easy as that. He's been hunting up in Alaska and didn't get the message that we were looking for her. I'm sorry Dean." Bobby sad, looking at Dean with pity.

"What? What are you talking about?" Dean asked, not really sure he wanted to hear the answer.

"She's dead." Bobby explained.

"Are you sure? It couldn't have been a different one?" Sam asked desperate.

"Hugo confirmed it right down to the scars and the tattoos. I'm sorry but she's nothing but ash now."

All the breath left Deans lungs. Suddenly the world seemed to close in and her legs began to buckle. She gripped the back of one of the chairs as the news began to sink in.

'Dead, she's dead. I'm gonna be stuck like this.'

"Dean? You okay?" Sam asked.

Dean fought the fear and sorrow and anger and tears that were trying to rise to the surface. She tightened her grip on the chair.

"Son of a bitch!" She cursed. She raised the chair, engaged her core and swung. "FUCK!"

The chair connected with the door frame and shattered into pieces.

"Dean!" Both Bobby and Sam called as they rushed to her side.

Dean stood, defeated, holding what remained of the broken chair in her hands, tears sliding silently down her face.

"Sorry Bobby." She said staring at the broken bits of timber on the floor.

"It's okay Dean."

"I can fix this." She said miserably as she lowered herself to her knees and began collecting the debris from the floor.

"Dean it's just a chair, don't worry about it." Bobby said.

"I can fix this. Please, let me fix it?" Dean said in a broken desolate voice.

Sam knelt beside his brother.

"Dean it's just an old chair.." Bobby placed a hand on Sams shoulder and shook his head when the younger hunter looked up at him. He then lowered himself down on Deans other side.

"Of course you can son. You go fix it." He said softly, helping Dean gather the pieces of chair.

Sam watched as a despondent Dean walked across the yard to the workshop before rounding on Bobby.

"What the hell Bobby! You know Deans never going to be able to fix that!"

"Jesus Sam! You are the dumbest smart guy I know!"

Sam looked back at Bobby insulted.

"This isn't about the chair! It's about having control over the situation! While Dean thought the witch was still out there he had hope that one day you'd find her and he could get the spell reversed. Now he knows she's dead, all he's got is us, and we've been looking for two months and we haven't found squat!"

"Then we look harder!" Sam shouted.

"I never said I was giving up." Bobby said low and even.

"And what about when Dean realises he can't fix the chair?"

"Then he'll adapt. That's what he does best. Look at how he fixed the Impala when your daddy died. I was willing to scrap it but he persisted and fixed her right back up. He will get through this, we just gotta give him space."

Sam nodded and turned back to the window.

•

"It's been two hours Bobby, do ya think I should go out there?" Sam asked from where he stood staring out he window.

"Nope, you leave that boy be." Bobby said not looking up.

Sam squinted in the direction of the workshop, hidden from view by a fence and piles of wrecked cars.

"Is that smoke?" He asked.

Bobby stood beside him and looked.

"Think so." He confirmed.

Suddenly they saw Dean walk into view and get into the Impala. A minute later he sped away.

"Guess he's adapting." Bobby said turning away and going back to his research.

•

Try as she might, Dean could not fix the chair. After an hour of trying to piece it back together she swept the pieces from the workbench and collapsed to the ground. Kneeling with her chest against her thighs she began sobbing. Desperate and full of pain. When she had cried herself out she took a deep breath. Standing she decided she wasn't going to let this beat her. Once again she gathered the shattered timber from the ground and carried them outside and dumped them in a barrel. Dousing them with a small amount of gas she struck a match and dropped it in. She watched it burn then when she was certain it posed no danger Dean strode with purpose to her beloved car. After adjusting the seat she took off toward town. Time to adapt.

Dean was speeding down the road mentally making a list of what she wanted. Being 'Dean' was number one but she now knew that wasn't going to happen in a while, if ever. As she drove down one of the streets she saw something on the side of the road that made her slam on her brakes and reverse up. Getting out of the car she walked over to investigate.

"Can I help you?" A voice asked.

"Oh hi. Sorry. I'm De...Dana. I just saw these here. Are they yours?" She asked holding out her hand.

"Hi Dana, Sarah." The woman said shaking Deans hand. "Yeah they are but I'm getting rid of them. You interested?"

Dean looked at the four wooden chairs on the curb.

"Yeah, if you don't mind. I kinda need to replace a couple." She replied. "How much do you want for them?"

"Well they're just going to go to the dump so you're welcome to them." Sarah said.

"Really? That's awesome. Thanks."

Dean and Sarah loaded the chairs into the Impala and Dean continued into town with a renewed sense of purpose and a different list in mind.

After a quick visit to the hardware store and the liquor store Dean returned back to the salvage yard. Pulling everything from the Impala she began working on stripping the chairs down and refurbishing them. After removing the old paint she saw that they were actually made from a very nice timber, so after reinforcing and tightening all the joins she added her own touch and took them into the spray booth. After putting on some coveralls and mask she entered the booth and began spraying the chairs down with a heavy duty varnish. She was surprised when she realised she was whistling and felt somewhat at peace for the first time in a while.

•

"Sam." Bobby growled low and cautious as Sam reached for the door knob. "If you so much as touch that door I will be forced to hog tie you."

Sam drew his hand back.

"He's been out there for hours Bobby." Sam argued. "He hasn't even come in to eat. I getting worried!"

"Fine" bobby sighed. "Give it another hour and if he's not in by then you can go out there."

"But it's getting dark. What if something has happened to him? What if something has got him?" Sam pleaded.

"Nothing has got to him. After the almost apocalypse I warded this place so hard I'm surprised we can even enter the property. Now come here and help me."

Sam reluctantly walked over to the table where Bobby had half a dozen books laid out and began reading one. Five minutes later his head jerked up when he heard the familiar growl of the Impala. They heard the sound of Dean moving about on the front porch for a few minutes before she finally walked through the front door carrying a chair.

"Ta-dah!" She said placing it down in the middle of the kitchen.

"Wow! This looks amazing." Sam said.

Bobby got up and examined it also.

"That's a pretty good job you did there." He said looking at it closely, he could see something familiar amongst the scroll work carved into the back. "Wait, are those sigils?"

"Yeah, I carved them into the backs, and also look." She flipped the chair revealing a devils trap etched onto the underside of the seat. She turned the chair right side up.

"That's pretty cool." Sam said.

"But wait! There's more!" Dean called before suddenly leaving the room.

It took two trips but she finally had all four chairs around Bobby's table.

"They're not the original chair. I couldn't fix that." She admitted, hanging her head. "But I found these and fixed them up a bit for you."

"Well Dean. They look amazing. Thank you." Bobby said, placing a hand on Deans shoulder. "You did a great job."

Dean looked up at Bobby and smiled proudly.

'At least I could fix this' she thought to herself.

Bobby looked to Sam and raised an eyebrow that said 'see, he adapted.'

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