Chapter 4

Dean finished the book and looked down at his sleeping daughter curled in his lap. She looked so much like her mother when she slept. He kissed her head and rubbed her back as he sat there enjoying the moment. Sam opened the front door and headed in from taking the boys to school.

"Sh-sh she's asleep." Dean whispered.

"If you're ok, I think I will lay down for a bit, could use a little rest. She's not the easiest to sleep with." Sam sighed. "I called Bobby, told him you were back."

"Ok, yeah, go on, I'm going to check on Esmee." he whispered, shifting Mary to his shoulder and getting up.

Dean walked to their bedroom and slipped back into bed, putting Mary between them. Esmee stirred from her sleep and looked up at Dean, smiling happily to see she had not been dreaming and he was back. She cuddled Mary and reached for Dean, pulling him close.

"Hey." she whispered.

"Hey yourself, Sleeping Beauty."

"Did you sleep any?"

"A little, can't believe how she's grown."

"I know, why don't you try to get some more sleep while she's out?"

"I just might do that." he sighed tucking his girls to him and closing his eyes. This was the way it was supposed to be, he sighed feeling the two warm bodies snuggled close to him.

SPNSPNSPNSPNSPN

The chains dug roughly into his wrists and ankles as he tried to move his body into a more comfortable position. He didn't think there was a spot on his body that didn't hurt from the torture. He tensed when the door opened and another no name demon strolled in, glancing his way for a moment, before going to the table and looking at the instruments of torture, trying to decide which one he wanted. The demon picked up one weapon and laid it back down to pick up another.

Dean moaned in his sleep and jerked, as he relived the torture he had endured in hell. He cried out in his sleep, bringing a concerned little brother down the hall and into the bedroom.

"Dean, hey man, wake up!" Sam called to him, shaking his leg hard.

"No! No please!" Dean begged before pulling himself out of the nightmare to see Sam looking down on him, a look of concern on his face. "Wh..wha..yeah?"

"You were crying out, are you ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." he muttered wiping his sweaty face with a hand.

Sam stood there giving him the yeah right look, crossing his arms over his chest. "Say it louder, even you might believe it." he said sarcastically. "Remember who you're talking to."

"I'm alright."

"You know you can talk to me about anything, right?"

"Nothin' to talk about."

"You were remembering weren't you? Look man, I can't even image what you went through these past five months, but bro, you need to talk to someone. If not me, then someone. This will eat you alive if you let it."

"Drop it Sammy!" he commanded, not willing to talk about what he was reliving in his dreams. The memories were too fresh, the torment to real, the suffering and torture something he couldn't share with anyone at the moment. "Where's Esmee?" he asked, trying to change the subject.

"She and Mary went to the store. She wanted to make your favorite meal for dinner tonight and a pie, so she needed some things." Sam said knowing that look and tone of voice from his brother. There was no use pushing him, when Dean got this way he wasn't going to back down. He would just have to make sure he was there for him when he was ready to talk. "She's going to pick Ty up from pre-school while she's out."

"Pie." Dean said dreamily laying back on the pillow. His mouth watered just thinking about a fresh homemade pie.

"Have you thought anymore about who or what got you out of hell?"

"No, but guess we need to try and figure it out. I sure don't want some dirt bag comin' here and Esmee and the kids be in danger." he sighed, sobering at the thought.

"Want to take a ride to Bobby's and grab some books? Your Baby has missed you." Sam said holding up the keys to the Impala.

"My Baby! Give me five minutes." he said, jumping up and heading for the bathroom.

Sam strolled back to the living room to wait on his brother, contemplating what books he wanted to borrow from Bobby. He hoped the elder hunter had found something with what little information he had given him. Maybe he at least had a place for them to start. Dean was practically running when he came down the hall, anxious to drive his Baby again.

"You know if you want some alone time, I can leave." Sam laughed, giving him an eye roll as he loved on his Baby.

"You're just jealous." Dean replied, running his hand around the steering wheel before cranking her up. He leaned back and listened to the purr of the engine for a moment, before pulling out and heading for Bobby's.

SPNSPNSPNSPNSPN

"It's good to see ya son." Bobby gruffed, as the brothers made their way into the house.

"Hey Bobby, good to see you again too." Dean half smiled, giving the older hunter a quick hug.

"You find anything on what I gave you?" Sam questioned, setting some beer in the fridge along with sandwiches for lunch.

"Well, I gotta say there's not much out there that fits the bill."

"Show him." Sam nodded to Dean.

Dean grunted, hating to be the center of attention, as he slipped his outer shirt off his shoulder and pulled the tee shirt sleeve up to reveal the imprint of the hand. Bobby's eyes widened when he saw the raised red welt hand print.

"You weren't joking, I'd say that definitely is a hand print." he commented inspecting it a little closer before Dean adjusted his tee shirt and slipped his shirt back in place.

"Options?"

"Well, I'd say a demon, but who would go against the ones that took you? And what would be the reason to jerk you out? I've never heard of a demon able to restore a body either."

"What else?"

"Well, I did run across a footnote that lead me to something else." he started, hesitating with finishing.

"Yeah, what?"

"An angel."

Dean and Sam both looked at him with disbelief written on their faces. Dean was the first one to speak.

"You're kidding right, they're not real, how could it be that?"

"Why wouldn't they be real? Look at all the other things we thought weren't real and they are. Just because we haven't heard of one, doesn't mean they're not real."

"Have you ever heard of anyone coming across one in all this time? If they were real, you would think someone would of mentioned it."

"That still doesn't mean they aren't real." Sam argued.

"Well I believe what I've seen. You act like you believe, so do you pray to them too?"

"Actually I do."

"If you two are through, I'll show you what I found." Bobby butted in.

"Sure." Sam said following Bobby into his study. Dean was still grumbling under his breath, but he followed them wanting to see what he found.

Bobby opened up one of the books stacked on his desk and turned it for Sam to read. Sam quickly scanned the material as he leaned against the wall.

Dean eyed all the books stacked to one side of the desk. They all seemed to be about angels. "That's a lot of books."

"I kind of agree with Sam here, there's been too much written about them for there not to be some truth behind them."

"It says that an angel can pull a soul out of hell and return it to their body. This sounds like what happened to you."

"Really, an angel, but what do we know about them?"

"Here." Bobby said, shoving a stack of books into Dean's arms. "Start reading."

"Really?" Dean whined looking at the books in his hands. "I need a beer."

SPNSPNSPNSPNSPNSPN

Three hours later, Dean slammed the book he was looking at shut and stood up.

"I'm taking a walk, need some air."

Sam and Bobby glanced up from their books and watched him stomp out of the room and out the back door. Sam started to get up and follow, but Bobby stopped him.

"Let him go son, give him some space."

"Yeah, you're right." he replied sitting back down.

Dean headed into the junk yard, wanting to feel the wide open space and smell the fresh air. Research was not his favorite thing to do and sitting still that long was too much for him. His mind was in turmoil, as he walked with no particular destination in mind. He was almost to the back of the yard, when a whining began around him causing him to cry out, as he covered his ears. Car windows began to break around him before the sound stopped and he could breathe again. He looked around trying to focus, as his vision blurred and he fell to his knees and hands.

"Dean! Dean!" Sam yelled from far away. Dean raised his head, but couldn't answer his brother as things began to go black and spin, before he collapsed.

A/N: Sorry for the delay, have been trying to decide where I'm going with this story. Hope you enjoy the read. Thanks to all who are hanging in there with me and for all those following, favored and have left me reviews. They mean a lot to me, I value your opinions and thoughts. Please review.

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