Chapter 2
Sam had not heard from Dean in almost 24 hours. His brother didn't stay out of contact like that. Not when they were on good terms. And they were getting along great for the past 6 months. He tried Dean's phone again before he threw his own cell across the room in frustration. It shattered the screen on impact, But, the phone itself was largely intact. He picked it up and tried to dial Dean's number again. Surprisingly, it worked.
Sam shook his head as he paced the floor. Glaring at his phone, demanding Dean to call him.
Dean suddenly knew where he was. He had no idea how long he had been walking. Time seemed elastic, flexible, on this side of reality. He could have been walking minutes, hours, day, or weeks. All he knew was that he was finally somewhere he recognized. He reached for the door. Then, he remembered his keys. He searched his pockets. Then he remembered his house keys were on the same ring as the keys to the Impala. And those keys were still inside Baby, in her ignition.
Sam heard the door open and close. But it had to have been an auditory illusion because the door to the bunker had not moved. He was looking. The door was locked, and he had not heard the key turn in the lock. It was a loud, distinctive sound. Sam was puzzled. He hurried up the stairs and looked outside. There was nothing there, no people, no cars. He shook his head as he closed the door and hurried back downstairs again. He shivered as he walked through a mass of cold air going back down the stairs. It had not been there when he had gone up the stairs, of that he was sure. He stood for a moment in the stop. But it seemed to dissipate quickly, so Sam shrugged it off and came the rest of the way down the stairs and headed for the kitchen.
Dean was frustrated. He had managed to get inside the bunker. Though he was not sure how that had happened. One minute he was standing outside searching for his keys. The next he was inside with Sam rushing past him to get to the door. Dean yelled at Sam as his brother ran past, well actually, through him on his way up the stairs. Sam had felt him, Dean thought. He had paused on the stairs right where Dean was standing. But then, Sam had just hurried back down the stairs.
Dean followed Sam down the stairs. Dean realized that Sam could not seen him. But, the younger Winchester had felt him. He had hope. Dean had to find a way to communicate with his brother.
Dean couldn't just move things like people do, usually. Unless he concentrated, then he could cause things to move. Just a little. But he needed something more than that. There could be and probably were, many unfortunate souls haunting the bunker. Dean needed Sam to know, without a doubt, that he was there.
"I understand that there was a change in your…umm, corporal status." Cas said.
"Danmnet, Cas! Stop doing that!" Dean replied, jumping at the angel's sudden appearance.
Dean recovered quickly. "Yeah, I guess I'm sorta...kinda…."
"Dead."
Dean nodded. "Sam needs to…."
"I'll tell him." Cas replied. "He's going to dream about you. He'll see…."
Dean shook his head. "You're not going to let him see the accident?"
"He deserves to know what happened to you."
Dean nodded. "Yes, he does. But not like that. I don't want that to be the last image he sees of me." He paused. "Can't you just tell him?"
"You know Sam. He'll continue to search for you. He'll need to see…." Castiel reasoned.
Dean shook his head. "I'm…I'm not coming back from this one, Castiel. Sam needs you to reassure him that I'm okay. I need you to make him understand that I'm okay. Him seeing how I died is not going to do that." He paused. "I don't' want Sammy living with that image in his head."
Castiel shook his head. "Sam is going to try to bargain to get you back. You two, just…."
"I know." Dean stated. "But, I can…I can stay here."
Castiel shook his head again. "That's not…that's not how we do things. That is not how heaven works."
"It'll be okay. Sam can feel me. I could tell earlier. When I first came in, he walked through me on the stairs. I felt cold to him. He knows it's me."
Cas sighed. "Sam knows it's something. He doesn't know it's you." He paused. "What if he tries to exorcise you? We both know where you would end up."
Dean shuttered at the thought. "That won't happen, Cas. I will make sure Sam knows It's me. Absolutely sure!"
"How are you going to do that?"
Dean looked doubtful. "I don't know yet."
TBC