Based after SPN 4X21.

The last thing Sam Winchester heard from his brother face-to-face was two weeks ago. "You walk out that door, don't you ever come back." Sam couldn't blame him if he was being honest with himself. Then came the voicemail.

Now that was the straw that broke the camel's back.

Sam didn't know where he was nor did he care in the slightest. His main priority was simply doing what Dean told him to and that was to never come back. He left Ruby soon after he left the motel. Killing Lilith didn't seem to help with revenge anymore. The only thing he knew about where he stopped across the country was how it was no longer running from his problems, but he felt like he was actually fixing them as if each step farther away from Dean was a piece of glass glued together.

Alabama. It seemed like the least suspecting place for him to hide out. Not only from being seen by his brother or even Bobby, but from any other hunter.

He knew that he had to stay clear from it all, but he didn't want to leave his family behind.

A town motel seemed to be keeping him from being found. It was small yet he could make it work. But even that didn't stop him from the consistent messages and missed calls from his brother.

[Dean]

Sammy, call me back. Please.

Please, I'm sorry. Come back home.

Please.

12 Missed calls from Dean.

He knew he couldn't give in, not after nearly killing his brother.
_

"Son, there's a chance that he may have taken what you said to heart." Bobby admitted while handing Dean a beer from the mini cooler.

"You know I didn't mean it, Bobby," Dean said. "Why doesn't Sam know?"

"Because you told him the exact same thing as your dad did."

Dean buried his head into his hands before taking a deep yet shuddering breath, "I'm going to find that demon bitch, and I'm going to kill her."

The older man nodded to himself. "That's smart. Strike first and ask questions, never?"

"What the hell am I supposed to do then?" Dean asked with irritation in his voice.

"Don't take that tone with me, boy. Now if we're going to find him, we're going to have some sort of a game plan."

The younger man stared at the wooden table for what felt forever. "If we find him dead somewhere, I swear to God, Bobby, I won't…"

"If Sam's dead then we need to let him stay dead."

Dean shot up and kicked the chair below him. "No, no way. I'll send my ass back to Hell, I don't care. I can't lose him again, Bobby. I can't."

Beats of silence echoed in around them for what felt like hours. Neither of them knew how long the silence lasted.

"You already did."