Disclaimer: Again, I don't own them (except Andie) Kripke does.

Far From Home

Chapter Sixteen

The room was silent as Dean sat in the chair staring at the figure sleeping in the bed. The only sound was her breathing. Occasionally she would flinch and whimper softly in her sleep. But then her face would soften and she would be okay again. He still couldn't believe what he was seeing. Andie was alive. He knew that he should be screaming for joy, but he just couldn't bring himself to feel happy. When she had died, something in him died as well. He watched as a slight smile would play across her lips. He would have given anything to just lean over and kiss them. To take her into his arms and just hold her until time stood still. But he just sat there.

Dean and Sam had followed Cas back into the house. As they came through the door, Bobby was just walking back downstairs after having put Andie to bed. Bobby didn't say a word, he just walked up to the boys and threw his arms around their necks, pulling them both into a tight embrace. That was when he had started laughing uncontrollably. Dean looked over at Sam with confusion on both their faces. Thinking that the old man had cracked from the shock of everything, Dean asked Castiel to zap Bobby unconscious to keep the man from doing something stupid. Bobby just laughed harder.

"Now why would I do that?" he looked at Dean with an actual twinkle in his eyes.

"Umm…Bobby?" "I really think that maybe you should lie down. Dean and I can handle the…uh…body." Sam said as gently as possible.

Bobby held his stomach. His ribs hurt from laughing so hard. After finally catching his breath, he looked at the boys and said, "No, you won't. No body to take care of." He started laughing again at the look on the other men's faces. Sam had his forehead scrunched up, looking like he smelled something bad. Dean's eyes were wide, his mouth hanging open like a fish out of water.

"What the hell are you talking about Bobby?" Sam asked finally.

"He's talking about me."

Dean and Sam looked over Bobby's shoulders toward the voice coming from the stairs. Andie was standing there. She looked the worse for wear, to say the very least. Bruises covered a good portion of her face now. Her lip was split and her hair was still disheveled. Her wrists were bruised and rubbed raw from having been tied to the chair. She was wincing slightly with each step she took. She walked slowly down the rest of the stairs and came to a stop beside her dad. She smiled up at Dean. Reaching up to touch his cheek, she was stunned when he pulled away.

"What the fu.." he gasped.

"Dean…it's me. Just me in here." Andie interrupted. Dean looked like a deer caught in the headlights of a Mac truck. She reached up again, finally making the connection. Dean closed his eyes at the contact of her hand on his skin. His hand reached up and covered hers. Finally, he pulled her into his arms. They just stood there, holding tightly while the rest of the world disappeared. Sam looked at Bobby and nodded his head toward the other room. He wanted to give them some time alone. The two men left the room and walked into the kitchen.

Andie finally pulled away a little and looked up into Dean's beautiful hazel eyes. He leaned down as if to kiss her and pulled back at the last second. Warring with himself, he released her from his arms and walked over to the couch and sat down. He placed his head in his hands. Andie walked over and sat beside him. She started stroking his back trying to comfort him. He was trembling ever so slightly beneath her fingers. She wanted so much to be back in his arms. She felt cold at the loss of his body heat. The whole time she had been trapped inside her head, she held tight to the memory of how safe she always felt being in his arms. Like he was a fortress she would always be protected in it. Andie leaned over and placed a tender kiss to his left temple.

"Dean. Look at me please." She said quietly.

Dean looked up at her. He knew that he should say something, he just couldn't find the words. He looked into her eyes, seeing the tiny green and gold flecks, it was then he knew for sure that it was her. That she wasn't possessed anymore. She was Andie, through and through. Heart and soul. Finally, he spoke the only word that came to his mind.

"How?"

Andie took a deep breath. Her sides were sore from the beating she had endured while trapped in the chair. She had seen through the demon's eyes that it had been Dean that had done it. She would carry that to her next grave. She knew she could never tell him that she remembered the pain she felt as he beat her body over and over again. "I'm not sure really. The strange guy in the trenchcoat said he would give me some answers later. He's kind of weird." She chuckled.

"That's Cas for ya." Dean smiled.

"Cas?" she asked. "Who is he exactly? I mean, I'm sure it was shock or something but I'm pretty sure I saw him pop out of thin air. Is he a magician or something?"

"He's something all right. His name is Castiel, he's an angel." Dean said flatly.

"An angel? Like a real, live, honest to God angel? Trippy." She replied. Now it made sense how he had put the whammy on her earlier. She was still a little foggy on most of the details. She remembered bits and pieces of everything that happened. Mostly just the painful parts. A tear streaked down her face. She moved to wipe it away, causing Dean to look back at her.

"Hey, listen, maybe you should go lie down or something." He stood and held out his hand. Andie took it and shivered slightly at his touch. She felt her stomach flip flop. Pulling her into his arms a final time, he kissed the top of her head. "Do you want me to help you back upstairs?"

Andie just rolled her eyes. "Nah…I just survived a demon possession, I'm pretty sure that I can handle a few stairs. Besides, I feel kind of gross. I think I'm gonna take a quick shower first." Andie looked up at Dean coyly and added, "Unless you want to help me that."

Dean looked away. "Umm…no. I mean, I have some stuff I need to talk to your Dad, Sam and Cas about. But I'll come check on you in a bit, okay?" he attempted a weak smile.

That was when Andie knew that something was off with Dean. The Dean she knew would have jumped at the chance to be with her. She wasn't going to push the issue though. Chalking it up to shock, she shrugged her shoulders. "K, well, I guess we can…umm…talk more later?" she asked. She leaned up, trying to capture his lips to hers but he just turned his head so she only made contact with his cheek. Feeling a little sting of hurt, she sighed. Releasing her from his arms, he watched her walk away. He stood there in the same spot until she was all the way upstairs and he heard the bathroom door shut. Then he turned and walked into the kitchen. "I need a beer." he thought.

Andie closed the bathroom door and leaned against. She thought that Dean would be happy to see her. Running her hands through her matted hair, she walked over to the shower and turned it on. She gingerly stripped off her blood soaked clothing. Her stomach rolled and she felt the room spin a little. Feeling the bile rise in the back of her throat, she fell to floor and promptly vomited up what little she had in there in the toilet. Gasping for breath, she finished and leaned her head against the cool porcelain of the tub. The steam built up in the small room. Standing up, she shakingly climbed into the shower. Feeling the hot water on her skin, she sighed. For the longest time, she just stood there letting the heat relax her muscles. She looked over her body. Her ribs were an angry purple. She knew that it was only going to get worse. Andie grabbed her shampoo and began lathering up her hair. The back of her head was tender from where Dean had roughly grabbed there. Her mind flashed to when he had the knife pressed to her neck and her hand involuntarily found it's way to the small cut that was there. That broke her. The thought of what Dean had almost been forced to do to her was too much. Andie slid down the wall, curled up and just cried.

Dean walked into the kitchen and headed for the fridge. The three other men just watched him intently, waiting for the inevitable explosion. Dean grabbed a beer, twisted off the top and flung the cap into the trash. He took a drink and wiped his lips. Finally noticing the others watching him, he raised his eyebrows. "What?" "What are you guys looking at?"

Bobby cleared his throat and spoke first. "Well, boy, frankly we are waiting to see if you are going to blow your top."

"Yeah, I mean, dude...she's alive. You don't think that's maybe...I don't know...something you might wanna talk about? Sam added.

Dean took another drink. "Yeah, Sammy, thanks for clearing that up for me." He rolled his eyes at his brother. "I don't think I could have figure that out without your help there college boy.

Sam stared at his brother for a moment. "Dean, listen, it's alot to take in, I know. But come on, you and I both know that..."

Dean looked at his brother. He knew that Sam meant well, but he didn't need this right now. He had to deal with it his own way. "Sammy, I'm fine. Okay? I promise. She's upstairs taking a shower. I think I should talk to her first. Don't you?"

Sam thought about what Dean was saying. He supposed he was right, but there was something just under the surface that he couldn't put his finger on. He knew that his brother wasn't one to easily show his emotions. But this was different. It was in his eyes. They seemed cold and distant. Not what you would expect from someone who had just found out that the love of his life was still alive. That he was being given a second chance with her. He would have given anything to have a second chance with Jess. But that was impossible and he knew it. She was in hell now. Sam stopped his train of thought. The memory was still too horrible for him. No, he had seen this look before. He had seen it in his father's eyes his whole life. Frankly, it scared the crap out of him. This was exactly what he had been trying to avoid.

"Dean…" Sam started.

Interrupting him again, Dean just sat his beer on the counter and stepped toward the back door. "I told you I'm fine, now just drop it Sam." He headed to the back porch, trying to get some fresh air. Sam followed him out, not willing to let the subject go. He knew what Dean was going to do and he had to stop him.

Dean heard Sam approaching from behind. He had taken a seat on the top step of the porch. Sam sat down next to him and just stared out over the backyard. They were silent for a moment. Each of them lost in their own thoughts.

"Do you remember that hunt in Mayesville, Ohio? I was…I don't know…eight or nine and you were almost twelve." Sam started.

Dean chuckled. Dad had been working on a job involving a haunted orphanage. As usual, the boys stayed at a no-tell motel waiting for him to come home. Dean had convinced Sam that dad was really a superspy and that was why he acted the way he did. Why their lives were shrouded in secrecy. Sam had asked his older brother why his dad never smiled or laughed anymore. Dean told him because the job was so deep undercover, that he had to stay in character the whole time. The kid had bought it hook, line, and sinker. How was he supposed to tell a little kid that his Dad's soul had died the night that their mom had been murdered in Sammy's nursery? So, he had improvised. He always did his best to protect his pain in the ass little brother.

"Yeah, what about it?"

Sam furrowed his brow. He knew that he was going to probably regret saying this but he had no choice. "That was the first time I realized that Dad's was dead inside. You fed me that stupid spy story." Sam shook his head and laughed. "I knew you were lying…"

"No you didn't." Dean teased.

"Yeah, I did. But I knew that you were trying to protect me from something so I let you believe that I bought it." Sam finished.

"What's your point Sammy?

"You have the same look in your eyes as Dad did." Sam replied. "I just get the feeling that you are about to do something completely…for lack of a better word…Dad-like. And I don't wanna see that happen man."

"Sam…don't." Dean warned.

"Dean, Dad let this life consume him. He pushed everyone away because he was so hell bent on revenge. He pushed us away. Sure, he loved us but he kept us at an arm's length. Everything was based on catching Azazel. Everyone else be damned. Including us." Sam shook his head.

"Dammit Sam! Just drop it!"

"I can't Dean. You know why. I can't just sit back and watch you walk away from this girl. I can't watch you turn out like Dad." Sam pushed.

"Who says that's gonna happen, huh?" Dean stood up and started pacing the porch. "I mean, were do you think you get off trying to tell me how I feel? Jesus Christ Sam! You haven't even been around for the last year practically. You've been off gallivanting around…"

"Gallivanting around?" Sam jumped up. Getting in Dean's face he spat out, "You have no clue what has been going on with me Dean. So don't you sit there and pass judgment on me, okay?"

"Oh, you mean like your were just doing to me Sam?" Dean stepped back, patted his brother on the shoulder. "You know what? This conversation is over." He flung open the back door, stopping to grab the rest of his beer and stomped up the stairs. As he came to Andie's door, he knew that Sam was right. He was about to do the stupidest thing he'd ever done. But he knew he was doing it for her own good.