Present 4
Part of Sam had hoped that when he told Dean that he wanted to die it would shock his brother into some kind of emotional display. Maybe he'd hug him, or call him Sammy, or even punch him in the face. Anything would have been better than the completely neutral look of contemplation currently aimed in his direction.
"And why" asks Dean "would you want that?"
Sam launches immediately into his pre-prepared impassioned argument. "Because I've lived the life you wanted for me. More than one of them. I've been a hunter, a lawyer, a husband, a father, a grandfather. I've done it Dean and it was good. Thank you for giving me the time to do that. But I'm done now. Hell, the world doesn't even really need hunters anymore. Eileen died a long time ago. My family is so many generations removed from me that I've lost track of most of them completely. I'm done."
"What makes you think that you get to be done?" Dean asks.
"Because" Sam answers, mildly confused by the question, "everyone is done eventually."
"Not me" says Dean matter of factly. "I won't get to be done until the stars burn out and the universe collapses back in on itself." Sam tries to interrupt but Dean keeps going. "You say you've lost track of your family, but I haven't. I know exactly where each of your descendants are at all times and the ones who've passed on, I escorted personally to heaven."
"You did?"
"It was nice to be able to meet them."
Sam closes his eyes wearily, wishing he could have been there for some of those meetings. His oldest son, Rob, had reminded him so much of Dean that it had been painful. He used to daydream about how well the two of them would have gotten along, bonding over their mutual love of classic rock and fast food. Dean would have loved being an uncle, he used to say to himself.
Sam pulls himself out of his reminiscing. The older he gets, the more easily he gets caught in the past, his accumulated years each a stone pulling him further underwater and away from the present.
"Thank you for that" he says sincerely, "but if you did that for them, then why won't you give me the same gift?"
Dean appears to be considering for a moment, but to Sam's disappointment, he dodges the question. "I'll make you a deal" he says instead. "I'll give you what you want but you have to do something for me first."
"I don't have to do anything" Sam argues, "I have you bound."
"True" concedes Dean, "but after you die, your little spell will be broken. Then you'll be in my power and I could do anything I wanted with you. Resurrect you, keep you as a ghost, I could even throw you back in the cage."
"You wouldn't" says Sam, not wanting to believe that it's really Dean saying these things to him.
"Are you sure about that?" Dean asks.
Sam isn't. "Fine then, what do you want?"
"I want you to come with me for the day."
"What?" Sam asks, confused. "You mean like that time you had to play death for a day?"
"No, Sam. I don't want you to be me, I just want you to come with me. Think of it like a take your little brother to work day."
"Why?" Sam asks suspiciously.
"Because that's what it's going to take for you to get what you want."
"Just one day?"
"Twenty-four hours starting now."
"Deal" says Sam.
