Chapter Four

After Dean had gotten finished with a shower and dressed, he and Bobby had used the GPS on Sam's phone and discovered he was back in Pontiac. They had gotten in Bobby's car and headed back in that direction.

"Alright, hang a left up ahead," Dean told Bobby from the passenger seat with a laptop, monitoring Sam's location on the phone's GPS website. "Just about three or four buildings down: The Astoria."

Bobby turned left before coming to the hotel's parking lot, pulling in. Dean put the laptop away as Bobby parked, getting out. As Dean climbed out of the car, his eyes fell on his '67 Chevy Impala across the lot.

Dean's face broke into a smile. "Oh, baby, you survived. Thank God."

Bobby frowned at him. "Survived? Survived what?"

"Sam's reign of terror," said Dean as he headed up the steps towards the hotel with him.

Bobby chuckled as they opened the front door and headed towards the counter.

"Hey," Dean greeted the person standing there. "My brother called from here but forgot to give me a room number. He's about yay high—" he held his hand up just above his own head, "answers to the name of Sam."

The clerk frowned. "I got a lot of customers. Gonna have to be more specific."

Dean dug in his pocket and pulled out his wallet—which he'd found still in his jeans pocket, empty except a couple photos and his driver's license, fishing a photo of Sam out and showing it to him.

The clerk shrugged. "He looks familiar. Try Room 207."

"Thanks," said Dean, stowing the photo and wallet back in his pocket.

Dean and Bobby headed towards stairs and up to the second floor, approaching Room 207 at the end of the hall. Dean raised his hand and knocked on the door. They waited a moment before the door opened, revealing a brunette woman in a tank top and women's briefs. Dean frowned in confusion as he felt a twinge in the back of his mind. Something was off with her.

The woman looked from Dean to Bobby. "So, where is it?"

Dean frowned at Bobby before looking back at the woman. "Where's what?"

"The pizza that takes two guys to deliver," she said expectantly.

"I think we got the wrong room," said Dean.

"Hey, is it—" came a voice from the bathroom doorway as Sam walked into the room.

Sam froze in shock as he spotted Dean. He glanced at Bobby before looking back at Dean.

Dean stared at Sam, feeling a rush of comfort and relief at seeing his brother alive and well. Oh, I missed you, Sammy. It's felt like a lifetime.

Dean smiled at him. "Heya, Sammy." He stepped into the room as the woman moved out of the way. He should have seen it coming, but he was so happy to see Sam that he wasn't paying attention.

Sam pulled a knife out of his pocket and charged at Dean, glaring at him as the woman screamed. The second Dean saw Sam slipping that knife out, something in Dean flipped on and took over. As Sam raised the knife over his head, Dean instantly shot his left hand up, catching Sam's arm at the wrist. He then brought his right arm up, shoving his hand into the elbow of Sam's knife arm. He took his left hand—which still had a hold on Sam's wrist—and turned his arm a little, shoving it down and away from his torso. His right arm came up, fist clenched and aimed straight at Sam's face.

It had happened so fast; Dean's reflexes had kicked in instantly. It was almost as though he had defended himself before he even knew there was a threat. By the time his brain caught up to his muscles, his fist stopped not one inch from Sam's face as Dean froze in shock.

Dean's stunned pause allowed Sam to shove him up against the wall, knife to his throat. Bobby grabbed hold of Sam and dragged him away from Dean. Dean leaned against the wall in shock, staring at the floor.

How the hell did I just do that? Dean wondered.

"Who are you?" Sam yelled as he struggled against Bobby.

Dean looked up at him, frowning. "Like you didn't do this?"

"Do what?" Sam yelled.

"It's him!" Bobby told him. "It's him! I've been through this already! It's really him!"

Sam's struggles lessened as he stared at his brother. "What…"

Dean stepped forward a little. "I know." He smirked. "I look fantastic, huh?"

As tears began to fill his eyes, Sam lunged forward, grabbing Dean in a tight embrace. Dean hugged him back tightly. It was all over: the pain, the torture, the grief. The brothers were together again. In that moment, it was as though the last four months had never happened.

They broke apart, smiling at each other.

"So, are you two, like…together?" asked the woman at the doorway.

Dean glanced over at her, frowning. He'd completely forgotten she was there. Her words grated at him. What, two guys can't hug without being gay?

Sam frowned at her. "What? No! No. He's my brother."

"Uh…got it, I…I guess," she said. "Look, I should probably go."

"Yeah, yeah, that's probably a good idea," said Sam. "Sorry."

The woman headed to the bathroom to get dressed as Sam grabbed a shirt from his duffel, throwing it on and buttoning it up.

"So, what happened?" asked Sam. "How'd you get out?"

Dean narrowed his eyes at him. "No clue. Just woke up in my coffin."

"Anything…different?" asked Sam. "'Cause that was some…pretty quick reflexes."

Dean glanced at Bobby with a chuckle. "You haven't seen anything yet."

The bathroom door opened, and the woman walked out, fully dressed. She grabbed her bag and began heading for the door.

"Well, I better head out," she said.

As she passed Dean, something snapped in him, and he spun around, shoving an elbow in her face. She dropped her bag as Dean punched her again and again.

"Dean!" Sam yelled as he and Bobby charged forward and pulled Dean off of her. "What the hell?"

"Let go of me!" Dean told them as he struggled. "She's evil!"

The woman stared in horror at him, but Dean watched something inscrutable flit across her face.

"What?" said Sam, his grip on Dean's arm tightening suddenly.

"How do you know?" asked Bobby.

Dean glanced over at him, frowning a little. "I don't know…" He looked back over at the woman. "But she is!"

"Well, you think we should test her first before you pummel her to death?" said Bobby.

"No, I already tested her," said Sam quickly. "She's fine."

"What is wrong with you people?" the girl yelled, eyes wide in fear. "Freaks!"

Dean frowned at her. "Oh, yeah?" He used a little of his strength to throw Sam and Bobby off of him before grabbing a flask from the coffee table. "Then explain this!" He flung the flask towards the girl.

When the holy water hit her, she screamed as smoke curled off of her.

"See?" said Dean, looking at Sam and Bobby. "Demon!" He froze at the look on Sam's face.

Sam didn't seem the least bit surprised.

"Sam?" Dean asked, frowning.

Sam glanced up at him, and the look on his face said it all.

"Oh, you gotta be kidding me," Dean muttered. "Ruby?" He looked over at her. "Ruby?"

She smiled, wiping the last of the holy water from her face. "Good to see you again, Dean."

"How did you know?" asked Bobby.

Dean glanced over at him, shaking his head after a moment. "I don't know. Add it to the list."

"List?" said Sam with a frown. "What list?"

Dean glanced over at him, looking between him and Bobby. "Long story."

Sam looked over at Ruby. "Ruby, can you give us a minute?"

Ruby stared at Dean for a moment. "Sure." She glanced at Sam real quick before heading out of the room.

Dean turned to Sam suddenly. "You've been working with Ruby? What the hell, Sam?" He froze, coming to a possible conclusion. "Have you been using your psychic stuff?"

Sam sighed, looking Dean in the eye after a moment. "Yes."

Dean rolled his eyes. "Dammit, Sam…"

"Look, Dean, let me—" began Sam.

"No, Sam," said Dean, waving his hand. "One lie at a time here."

Sam frowned. "What do you mean?"

Dean looked over at him. "How much did it cost?"

Sam's frown only deepened. "What?"

"To bring me back," said Dean. "What'd it cost? Was it just your soul, or was it something worse?"

"You think I made a deal?" asked Sam.

"That's exactly what we think," said Bobby.

"Well, I didn't," said Sam.

Dean glared at him. "Don't lie to me."

"I'm not lying," Sam told him.

"So, what?" said Dean, stepping towards his brother. "Now, I'm off the hook, and you're on, is that it? You're some demon's bitch boy? I didn't want to be saved like this."

Sam turned fully towards him. "Look, Dean, I wish I had done it, alright?"

Dean grabbed Sam's shirt. "There's no other way that this could have gone down. Now, tell the truth!"

Sam shoved Dean's hands away. "I tried everything, that's the truth. I tried opening the devil's gate. Hell, I tried to bargain, Dean, but no demon would deal, alright? You were rotting in hell for months—for months—and I couldn't stop it. So, I'm sorry. It wasn't me, alright?" He took a deep, steadying breath. "Dean, I'm sorry."

Dean stared at him, calming down. "It's okay, Sammy. You don't have to apologize. I believe you."

"Don't get me wrong," said Bobby. "I'm gladdened that Sam's soul remains intact, but it does raise a sticky question."

"If he didn't pull me out, then what did?" said Dean.

"Good question," muttered Sam. "If it wasn't a demon deal, then what would have that kind of power?"

"Maybe an upper-level demon," suggested Bobby, sitting on the couch. "One as strong as Lillith."

"But why?" said Sam. "Why would a demon want to save Dean?"

The uncertainty and lack of knowledge was starting to really unnerve Dean. How many things out there could do this? Pull him from hell and then give him some kind of powers? Or maybe the powers had nothing to do with what pulled him out? There were too many questions with no answers, and Dean wanted answers now.

"It just doesn't make any sense," muttered Dean as he paced.

"Exactly," said Bobby.

"I mean, it's gotta be something uber-bad," Dean rambled on, off in his own world. "I've never seen anything like it. And I've never seen demons scared like that, especially when they're in their element."

"Their element?" said Bobby.

Dean closed his eyes in frustration as he stopped in his tracks, unable to believe he'd just let that slip.

"You mean hell?" said Bobby. "I thought you said you couldn't remember."

Dean opened his eyes and gave Bobby a look. "Of course I said I didn't remember. Can you blame me?"

"You remember hell?" said Sam in a quiet voice.

Dean looked over to see Sam staring at him with the worst guilt face he'd ever seen. He rolled his eyes. "You see, this is exactly why I lied to you, Bobby." He looked at Sam. "You don't need this kind of guilt."

"Well, tough, it's already there," said Sam.

"Hey, it's okay," Dean told him. "I'm not saying it was fun. I'm just saying…I'm out. It's all over. Okay?"

Sam nodded, but didn't look very relieved.

"Now…" began Bobby, "tell us everything you know."

Dean sighed. "Well…I broke into a gas station to get some money, water, try to find a phone that worked. I tried to break the window to get in, and the entire door flew off of its hinges! And when I woke up in that pine box, the way I got out…"

Bobby frowned. "What, crawling out? That's not so strange."

"Maybe if you were prying the boards apart instead of punching a hole straight through it," Dean told them.

Bobby and Sam's eyes widened at that.

"Well…" said Sam thoughtfully.

Dean looked at him. "What?"

"Well, you are the only person we know of to have been pulled outta hell without staying there for years," Sam suggested. "Maybe…"

"Maybe what?" asked Dean. "I came back a demon? I've been down that road, Sam. No black eyes, no salt or holy water reaction; I'm sure I've walked through one or two devil's traps at Bobby's—"

"No, no, it's—" began Sam. "Maybe while you were down there, you had started to change, but then you were pulled out before anything could really happen, so you came back…enhanced, or whatever."

Dean raised his eyebrows at Sam. "Enhanced? So, you're saying because I spent four months in hell, that I suddenly turned into Superman? Come on!"

Sam raised his hands in defense. "Hey, I'm just trying to find a theory here."

"Well, try one with a little less Comic-Con," Dean shot at him.

Sam sighed. "Well, what do you remember?"

Dean rubbed a hand across his forehead. "Not much…and what I do…I really don't wanna think about."

Sam winced in guilt once again.

Dean rolled his eyes a little. Dammit, he's gonna blame himself every time hell's brought up, isn't he?

"Well, did anything happen down there that could explain why you're…" said Bobby.

Dean frowned in thought. "There was this thing."

"What thing?" asked Bobby.

"No, a thing, like a creature," Dean clarified. "It started…All the demons, they just started…reacting. I mean, it was almost as though…" He paused as he thought about it.

"What?" Sam prompted.

"Scared…" Dean muttered. "They were scared. This thing—they could feel this thing coming, and…whatever it was, they sure didn't wanna be there when it got there. I saw this…thing coming at me. I mean, I couldn't really make out much. It was just this…giant, bright white figure. I mean, it was…blinding, almost. Next thing I know, it grabbed hold of me—" he absently brought his hand across his chest and up to the shoulder where the handprint was burned into his skin, "and started pulling me somewhere. I'm guessing that's whatever badass thing pulled me out, but when I…" he shrugged, not able to think of a better word for it, "surfaced, I felt this…this presence. I mean, not like a something-was-there presence, but like something was inside of me, like something was changing."

Sam and Bobby exchanged looks at that.

"It didn't feel like I was becoming a demon," Dean quickly clarified. "Not that I would really know what that feels like, but…it was like something was making itself home or something, I don't know." He caught their skeptical looks and rolled his eyes. "I know how that sounds. When I crawled out of my grave, there was just this strength inside of me, like I was more than what I used to be. But not like I had turned into anything. I mean, I still feel human, but…" he shrugged as he shook his head. "I can't explain it."

"Guess that's number one on our research to-do list," shrugged Bobby.

"Well, number two," said Dean. He looked at Sam. "What were you doing around here if you weren't digging me out of my grave?"

"Well, once I figured out I couldn't save you, I started hunting down Lillith, trying to get some payback," said Sam.

"With Ruby?" asked Dean.

Sam shrugged. "Eventually."

Dean rolled his eyes.

"Look, Dean, say whatever you want about her, but she saved me," Sam told him. "I was in a pretty bad place there for a while. If it wasn't for her…I'd be dead right now."

Dean stared at him for a moment until he looked away uncomfortably. So, Sammy trusts her now. That's just great.

"Anyways, uh, we were checking these demons out of Tennessee, and out of nowhere, they took a hard left, booked up here," said Sam.

"When?" asked Dean.

"Yesterday morning," Sam told him.

"When I busted out," frowned Dean.

"You think these demons are here 'cause of you?" asked Bobby.

"But why?" asked Sam.

"Well, I don't know—some badass demon drags me out and now this?" said Dean. "It's gotta be connected somehow."

"How you feeling, anyway?" asked Bobby.

Dean shrugged. "I'm a little hungry."

"No, I mean, do you feel like yourself?" said Bobby. "Anything strange or different?"

"Or demonic?" said Dean in annoyance. "Bobby, how many times do I have to prove I'm me?"

"Yeah, well, listen," said Bobby. "No demon's letting you loose out of the goodness of their hearts. They've gotta have something nasty planned."

"Well, I feel fine," Dean told him. "Apart from the super strength and Spiderman reflexes, that is."

"Okay, look, we don't know what they're planning, or what's going on with you," said Sam. "We got a pile of questions and no shovel. We need help."

"I know a psychic," said Bobby. "A few hours from here. Something this big, maybe she's heard the other side talking."

"Hell, yeah, it's worth a shot," said Dean.

Bobby headed towards the door. "I'll be right back." He left the room.

"Hey, uh…you probably want this back," said Sam, pulling Dean's amulet out from under his shirt and taking it off. He held it out as Dean took it.

Dean held the amulet in his hand fondly. "Thanks."

"Yeah, don't mention it," said Sam.

Dean lifted the necklace and pulled it on over his head, smiling a little as it settled familiarly against his chest.