A/N: Still with me? Awesome! Okay, prepare for a somewhat different Dean. Reviews earn you my love.
"Dean? Dean!" Sam's voice was shrill and panicked. Dean smiled internally at the sound of it. He loved it when Sammy got all concerned about him. "Can you hear me? Dean?"
Dean blinked slowly, feeling consciousness trickle over him once more. He was greeted with the sight of Sam's looming face above his own, crinkled with concern, his mouth set in a grim line. Dean's own lips stretched into a wide smile at the sight. Sam looked momentarily relieved, then unnerved at the unusually happy expression on his brother's face.
"Heeeyyy! Sammy!" Dean drawled, not bothering to move from where he was spread out on his back on the floor. "Aw, Sammy look at your little princess locks." Dean smiled, reaching up and flicking the curled ends of Sam's hair. If Sam was unnerved before, now he was thoroughly creeped out.
"Um… Dean?" Sam ventured.
"You'd make a beautiful princess, Sammy." Dean choked after a moment, still playing with a tendril of hair. Sam realised with mild horror that there were tears in his eyes.
"Okay… We're getting you to Bobby's. Now." Sam started to grab Dean's upper arm and pull him upwards, but the moment his brother was in a sitting position, Sam felt strong arms enveloping him tightly in his second bear hug in the last ten minutes.
"I love you Sammy. You always take care of me." Dean announced into his shoulder. Sam patted him awkwardly.
"Um, okay. No worries. C'mon, let's get you home."
Dean reluctantly allowed himself to be pried off of Sam's shoulders and pulled into a standing position. "Home!" Dean agreed, hand on his heart.
They made it out of the building without any major problems, save for the one near disaster wherein Dean found a Valentine's Card stuck to his shoe with a teddy on the front that read 'You're Beary Special To Me', and spent a good two minutes crying over its poetic beauty. Sam just thanked God – wherever that idgit might be hiding himself – that Dean had chosen to ignore the enormous room full of equally vomit-inducing cards they had just come from.
However, the moment Dean strolled out of the factory - linked arms with Sam upon his very childlike and very worrying insistence - and caught sight of his Impala… well. He ran towards it for a few paces, but as soon as he got near enough, he sank down on his knees, tears streaming down his face, whispering sweet nothings to the into the bonnet as he lay his head against the hood.
"Oh, sweetheart. My baby. I love you so much, girl." Dean stroked the warm silver metal of the car lovingly, his eyes tightly closed. Sam stood awkwardly behind, watching the whole debacle.
"Um, Dean?"
"Shhh, Sammy." Dean interrupted, before Sam could continue, though he had no idea what he would have said. "My baby's sleepin'. She's such a good girl. Such a pretty girl." Sam ran his hand through his shaggy hair and turned around on the spot, cursing himself for never thinking to make a back-up plan for this kind of situation. There was only one thing for it, Sam thought as he glanced back over at Dean, who was now sprawled chest-down across the hood of the Impala, arms flung wide, as though embracing the car. Cupid's only complied when you played ball. He was going to have to humour his brother.
"She has, Dean. She's been a little angel." Sam ventured, hating himself for being able to slide into a sickly sweet, condescending voice with so little effort. Being the negotiator of the two has its advantages it would seem. Dean's eyes opened and flickered towards him, but he didn't move from his position on the front of the car. "She's so good to us isn't she?"
Dean's lower lip wobbled slightly and Sam thought he saw him nod. He risked taking a few steps towards his brother, wary of being scrutinised, and placed a tentative hand upon the driver's side door frame.
"She just loves to do things for us; that's what she was built for. She loves you soooo much Dean." Sam put on his most convincing, sugar coated smile. It made him want to vomit slightly. "Let her show you how much, Dean. Let her take us on a little trip!" Sam held his breath, punchline delivered. Dean's outstretched arms withdrew a bit until he was resting on his elbows, leaned over against the hood of the car.
"She… she wants to?" Dean asked, unsure, his voice cracking a bit on the last word. Sam nodded vigorously, his face filled with faux concern. Dean still looked unconvinced, gazing down at his baby, and giving it gentle strokes with an absent minded hand. For emphasis, Sam rested his head against the car frame, smiling a little with what he hoped was tenderness. Dean took a deep breath in. "Alright."
Sam had to physically restrain himself from whooping with delight when Dean voluntarily walked round to carefully slide into the passenger side door. He remembered to keep his movements slow and gentle, so Dean wouldn't freak out and think he was disrespecting his one true love – which was apparently his car. Sam had to laugh at that. Was that seriously what that damn Cupid had 'sensed' when he thought Dean was in love? Sam was a liberal guy, but Sam seriously doubted that the Impala could get a Cupid's arrow fired into its trunk and fall head over heels with his older brother… then again, maybe Dean was actually in love with someone else. A real person. Sam wasn't an expert, but he doubted Cupid's were often wrong about this kind of thing. He glanced over at his brother as he pulled away from the derelict building. Had he been too wrapped up in himself lately? Had Dean been in pain, hurting over his unrequited love of some random stranger Sam had passed off as another one of his brother's endless one-time conquests? Dean looked over at him worriedly.
"This… this isn't gonna hurt her is it?" Dean asked, glancing nervously around at the dashboard and foot well. Sam gritted his teeth and turned on the radio.
"AAAAND THEY CALL IT PUPPY LOOOOOOOOOVEEE!"
Sam felt sorry for Bobby. He truly did, but unfortunately his sympathy had a limit, considering he was the one crammed into the car with the wailing, out of his mind moron who had apparently discovered his new love of feel-good love songs. Sam was sure Bobby had heard them coming a mile down the road, considering all of the Impala's windows were down and the radio was turned up to its fullest volume, much to the amusement, or in some cases annoyance of other drivers, who made several interesting comments as they drove by.
"What in the HELL?!" Bobby cried out after he'd wheeled himself out to where the boys had pulled up and Sam had finally switched off the engine.
Sam opened his mouth to apologise from inside the car, but found himself interrupted by his lunatic brother leaping out of the passenger side door and straight into Bobby's lap.