When it got dark Dean and Sam cleared everyone out. Three djinn had been spotted in the woods, just waiting, and they sure as hell weren't coming in with the whole cavalry hanging around. They had to do this the old fashioned way; irresponsible placing of bait without the proper back up handy. Samuel and his group said they wouldn't be far, but they had to get out of sight to draw them in.

Even with just him and Sam it was weird; he hadn't seen him in over a year and now here he was, literally standing in the middle of Dean's new life.

"Are you okay?" Sam watched him pace back and forth in the kitchen.

"Oh yeah," he shook his head. "This is crazy. I mean you, and grandpa, and whoever brought you back…"

"They don't want to be found." Sam didn't really care so much about that part. He was out of hell, that was what mattered.

Dean had more questions than that. He wanted some damn answers. "Yeah I get that, but who are they? What do they want? Why?"

"That's a good question."

No sense in dwelling on unsolvable problems at the present time. "Do you remember it?"

Sam gave him a look. Really it was one of Dean's look, something along the lines of, please don't turn this into a Kodak moment. "What?"

"The cage."

"Yeah."

That was it? "You wanna…"

"No." He answered quickly, laughing a little uncomfortably. "Dean I don't wanna talk about it. I'm back. I get to breathe fresh air, have a beer, see my family, see you again, so why exactly would I want to think about hell?"

Huh. Be happy you're a live instead of dwelling on the whole torture for eternity. Maybe he should have thought about that one. He turned, just absently looking out the window when he saw the neighbor's house next door. Sid and his stupid ideas of marriage…shit. One of the djinn was in his house and…his jaw tightened. The djinn were turning the game around. They were trying to draw them out. Dean grabbed two of the syringes out of Sam's bag and ran towards the door.

"Dean! They're dead already, you know that."

"This is happening because of me!" He ran out the door, he wasn't about to let the whole neighborhood get killed while those fuckers played with him. In seconds he was over the fence and in the house. He hit the ground and checked their pulses but they were long gone. "Damn it Sid."

Two djinn came into the room and caught him off guard, he'd though they'd moved on to the next house. The woman stepped on one of the syringes, breaking it and the contents seeped into the carpet.

"You survived that last dose…" The guy grabbed him from behind as she approached him, pressing her hand against his neck. "So how about a big fat double dose?" A tattoo started to appear on her, working its way up her arm into her hand and he felt the effects of the poison start to set in. "Bad news, it'll kill you. Good news, you'll go fast." His eyes rolled back in his head and he collapsed to the floor, they left him to die. Left him to get Sam.

When he heard the door shut he struggled to get to his feet and staggered towards the door. Out the window he saw Kayla, a bag over her shoulder and Alex on her other arm. He closed his eyes tightly and opened them again, still seeing them there. That had to be the trip, it couldn't be real. Kayla wouldn't come back so soon, not with Alex, not without him calling her.

"Don't worry about them Dean, worry about me." He looked to see Azazel standing beside him which actually made him more hopeful; he knew that was a hallucination. Suddenly he found himself in Alex's nursery, Azazel was standing by his crib. He cut his wrist, letting the blood drip into Alex's mouth. Just like Sammy, just like…oh God he didn't like this trip. He yelled at him despite himself, knowing there was nothing he could do either way.

"This, or something else." Azazel pointed out. "Something's coming for him, and you can't stop it."

He couldn't remember anything after that. The nightmare might have gone further, he didn't know. Before he knew it the sun was shining and he was awake again, Sam was kneeling beside him on the ground. "Dean, man, you okay?"

Okay was definitely not the word he would use. In fact, on an infinite list of words he could use to describe this situation, okay, nowhere near it. He sat up and rubbed his eyes, talk about the hangover from hell. "Did I win?"

Sam laughed quietly and helped him to his feet. "Yeah dude, took 'em all out." He put a hand on his shoulder to help steady him. "They're all dead, and just in time. I was afraid I wouldn't get over here quick enough."

"You almost didn't." He recalled. "Where's Samuel, and all our cousins?"

"They took off in a hurry, leave no trail you know? I'm supposed to meet them back at the motel before we take off, you coming with me?"

The thought had crossed his mind. "No. I gotta get back to Bobby's to pick them up."

"But I thought you said…"

"I did, I changed my mind." He answered quickly, trying not to leave room for argument. At this point he didn't think he could win one.

Sam sighed quietly. "Look, I practically shoved you in Kayla's direction, from the very beginning."

"That's a funny way to put it, but okay…"

"I'm just saying, I really wanted that for you. She's good for you Dean, and I thought you could have everything. You know? But now, I'm not so sure. I mean, you've gotta consider the fact that you'd be putting them in further danger by going back."

It was a little late to make that decision. "I've got a son, Sam. Things are different now, I get where you're coming from but really, am I just supposed to leave them alone, unprotected? That's out of danger?"

"You're the main target Dean. The big fish will come after you and yeah some littler ones may be dumb enough to go after the house but Kayla can take care of that. I mean she's got Cas on call still right?"

"It's not his responsibility to take care of my family, it's mine."

"We're you're family too."

Dean looked at him, a little shocked that he was trying to make him decide between them. "I just can't, Sam. You have to get that. I can't leave them."

He sighed a little and shrugged. "Yeah, I hear you. I just wish you were coming, things are better when you're around." He rubbed his neck and glanced for the door, now looking for a way out. "I should hit the road."

"Wait." He dug in his pockets and pulled out the keys to the Impala. "She should be hunting, take her."

His expression didn't change, it was uneventful even. "Thanks, really. But I got my car set up the way I like it."

That's right, he was driving the douche-mobile now. Some shiny new black sports car. Dean rolled his eyes and motioned for the door. "I'll walk you out." There was an awkward silence between them as they walked out to his car. "Take care of yourself and you know, visit every once in awhile. Kayla is gonna insist."

"Yeah, of course." He answered but didn't seem overly enthusiastic about it. It really wasn't the reunion he'd expected at all. Life wasn't a movie he supposed, well, a horror movie maybe, directed by Rob Zombie. He watched his brother drive away but still felt okay about it, at least he was alive.