Whether it was the same awkward tensions as led to the Winchester Family Split, or whether it was just his nerves, Dean couldn't guess. He just knew that the whole drive to the scene of the Yellow-Eyed demon's torture chamber, Sam wouldn't look him in the eye. Bobby sat in the back of the Impala, and Dean saw from the look on his face in the rearview mirror that he could likewise sense Sam's intense nerves.
"Pull over..."Sam's voice was a whip crack in the cab's tension. Dean rushed to do as he said from surprise alone, but then he saw his own eyes crackle with confusion in the mirrors.
"What for?"
"Because where he took me you can't reach from a car. It's uh, it's gonna be pretty damn hard to reach it on foot, you guys," Sam frowned, loading a sawed-off shotgun with rocksalt, moving as if he was doing this in his sleep, even though he'd not been hunting-they thought-in two years.
As soon as Dean pulled over, Sam leaped out. He had a look on his face like a child that saw their favorite pet killed by a car. He didn't want to be here. They could feel it screaming from all his body language. He was making himself go as much as he was leading them out there.
"Okay, the path is really confusing. We didn't touch the ground so much as we just kinda passed through everything. There's like hundreds of razor-sharp thorn bushes out there..." Sam nodded to the machete Dean had belted to his waist like a pirate's rapier.
"Keep that handy, it's a prickly path that leads to my Perdition." Sam smiled at his attempt to be funny, but Dean was suddenly fearful for his little brother in a way he'd never been. It was unsettling how he could not look him in the eyes for even more than a second's fraction. Sam turned on his heel hard enough to leave a trench in the mud.
"Well, there's still no word from John, and the search for him turned up bust." Bobby sighed heavily, bringing Dean's attention back to him.
"Oh, God, you think he's missing?" Dean felt fear grip him.
"Well, one of my guys, Felix? He thinks your Dad might be down in New Orleans fighting a revenant from the old leper colonies. So, no, I wouldn't say he's missing yet." Bobby smiled. Then he looked Sam's way. Sam had already walked mostly into the woods.
"How's the kid?" Bobby frowned.
"Have you noticed how weird he's acting? Bobby, I know we all fell out hard, but that was a long time ago now. It's not like I'm gonna take a swipe at him..."Dean was surprised by how hurt his own voice sounded.
Bobby nodded.
"Well, I have a feeling his shifty behavior is just as much about what happened to him recently as it could be about the lingering drama between you guys. Don't worry, Dean. He'll come around."
Dean nodded and followed Sam into the woods, as Bobby gathered a bit more gear.
"Sam?" Dean crept up behind Sam in the path. The boy put his hand up.
"Don't move..."
Dean felt Sam's instincts tap into his own. His eyes opened wide. Someone else was out here with them. A flash of white fabric, the sound of water.
Dean looked at Sam. Sam looked down immediately.
"She was here the last time..." He whispered.
"She?" Dean felt his stomach twist.
"Yeah, I don't know...She was just here...There's...there's something haunted with the church he took me to, Dean...Watch your step. She was too scared to get close to the Yellow-Eyed thing, so I don't know what she actually is..."
Dean grabbed Sam's arm then and hauled him around to look at him. Sam's eyes went wide as if a bolt of lightning had struck him dead center of his brain.
"Dude, you know you can look me in the eyes. Okay? Look, man...I'm not gonna bite you!"Dean teased. Sam frowned. In his eyes, Dean could see, that Sam did not think of them as brothers anymore. That he was just as hurt by what had happened two years ago as Dean had been. The rift between them wasn't their fault, but their father's, who told Sam he was dead to them and that he should not ever come back. Dean realized, with a sinking feeling, that Sam hadn't ever come back. That even now it was more that they had collided in that lonely highway and less that he had returned.
"Which way?" Bobby asked, drawing Sam out of the dark thoughts that were flashing across his face, preventing him from speaking to Dean.
"This path is like a serpent. It zigs and zags. It's not easy to say this, but the spirits out here will eventually lead us where we're going. It's like a big pen for them. They use it as a trap for unsuspecting campers. Keep your eyes wide open." Sam nodded, cleared his throat, and produced his machete, slinging the gun over his shoulder, as he picked a path for them.
Dean followed behind him, swearing on all that was good in this forsaken universe, that he would find a way to fix his relationship with Sam. To him, that was freaking him out more than the road they were taking that might finally lead to knowing what had happened to their Mom and why.