First Sam needed a new phone. Up to now it wasn't a problem that he didn't have one but he needed holy oil and he wanted to talk to his brother. Just in case his plan really succeeded. Which he counted on.

At first he contemplated calling only Cas. A cowardly move but hey, he was Sam Winchester after all.

Then it occurred him that Castiel had probably more important things to do than fetching him the oil, not to mention the fact that he probably wasn't too keen on seeing the abomination that had started the Apocalypse in the first place. Poor guy didn't like him from the start, must've seen his soul and known from the start what he really was.

That's why Sam bought himself a new phone, the cheapest piece of plastic available since he'd only need it for a short while. He still transferred all his voicemails.

He knew it by heart by now, between listening to it on the phone and having Lucifer play him with it, well. Besides it wasn't as if one could forget his big brother practically disowning him.

God but he was pathetic. Dean would call him a girl for having such thoughts. Nothing but angsty loathing and self-destructive tendencies, as of late.

Sam smirked bitterly and sighed deeply, fingering the device in his hands. He had to call Dean sooner or later. He wasn't looking forward to that conversation. At least he now had a way to stop this whole mess he'd created, just a few short days away, if he had any luck.

The young hunter rubbed his face with his hand. Man up you coward, enough is enough.

Sam's fingers quickly punched the familiar number in and he pressed the call button.

He waited for the call to connect taking a deep breath to calm his nerves.

"Hello?" Came his brother's gruff voice.

"Hi, Dean..."

/txtbreak/

Dean was missing Sam.

So maybe he was majorly pissed at the man and maybe he agreed really quickly to this all separation thing but he'd never thought it would go on for so long. He suspected Sam to stay away for two, maybe three weeks tops and now it was nearing six long weeks and as much as he had wanted a break from his brother this silence was beginning to worry him. He was trying to make himself believe that Sam was fine and could take care of himself, especially with his demon blood induced powers, but around the week four that uneasy feeling settled in his gut every time he thought about his brother.

There were no calls from Sam and he was tempted to just dial the familiar number and admit his mistake, that perhaps they should at least keep tabs on each other because at the bottom of it they really were brothers that cared about each other.

It was Sam, though, who had suggested the separation and if his brother wanted space then he would give his brother space. Especially since he'd needed some on his own as well.

Now it's been six weeks of space and as much as Cas was fun it just wasn't the same without Sam.

He was jerked out of his musings when suddenly his phone started blasting the ringtone and he jolted in his chair, making a carefully stacked pile of books fall to the floor. Another thing, Dean was never as enthusiastic about research as Sam was and it wasn't like Castiel stuck around to dig into lore and crap like that.

Dean's breath caught in his throat as he saw the number displayed on the flashing screen. He was torn between relief and dread and he stared at the device for a couple of rings before finally remembering how to move his fingers and accepting the call.

"Hello?" he said warily.

"Hi, Dean." Sam's voice filtered through the speaker. He sounded wrong. Dean couldn't really put his finger on the reason for that conclusion but somehow he didn't like how his brother sounded. There was something not right, he just felt it.

"So, um, I know I don't really have the right to ask this of you but I need to talk to you about a couple of things. It's really important, okay? And I promise it won't take long, a few hours top. Would you be willing to meet somewhere?"

Dean frowned in dismay. It might be his own fault but... Sam was sure he wouldn't even want to see him. Dammit, how did it come to this he thought to himself.

"Hey, man, it's okay. Where do we meet?"


For a second Sam was too stunned to answer. Dean sounded more than willing, he was downright eager. Why?

Then he exhaled loudly and finally made himself speak.

"I'm in Corinth, Mississipi."

"Well I'm in Topeka. St. Luis good for you?"

"Sure." He said barely believing how the conversation was going. Friendly.

"'Kay then, see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah, sure. Bye, Dean." Sam snapped his phone shut.

It was unbelievable. They came so close to each other, barely nine hours between where the other was staying. And yet Sam felt like there was an abyss between them and they couldn't cross it no matter how much he may want to. Because there in that chasm was everything, his addiction, his betrayal, his choices, his mistakes and his faults. He had created it. And it's just been getting bigger and vaster until it couldn't be ignored anymore. He was constantly aware of it, like a wounded limb, pulsing with his heartbeat, radiating poisonous pain into other parts of his body.

He pushed away the thoughts that came to his mind with the realization that after such a long time apart Dean suddenly sounded like he wanted to meet up. Because there was only one reason possible for that and as much as Sam wanted to die, it still hurt.

He should've grown used to the thought since the voicemail but he just couldn't. To have Dean, his hero and protector, hating him and wanting him dead was something he just couldn't bear.

He had brought it on himself though.

Sam took a deep breath and went to prepare for sleep. Tomorrow he wanted to be completely focused. This time he wanted it to go right and having Dean kill him beforehand would just slow him down.

He fell asleep torn between elation and dread brought by the prospect of seeing Dean, and fear and relief for tomorrow his plan would hopefully finally work and the Earth and it's population would be saved from a painful end.

Tomorrow morning found him already half way to St. Louis and the first motel on the list they had. Unsurprisingly he didn't get much sleep between his anxiety and Lucifer's nightly visit but he was bursting with nervous energy. He tried to calm himself but by the time he got to the place he felt like if the tremors wrecking his body got any more intense his body was going to explode.

It all disappeared as if by magic the second the door to the room swung open revealing Dean.

/txtbreak/

This took kind of long. I'm sorry? :) Hope you're enjoying anyway. Let me know what you think!