The only excuse I have for this taking so long is being tired and lazy. School is slowing down though thank goodness. So here's the next chapter. Sorry for the wait. And as always, thanks for the reviews. :)

Ch. 12

"Relax. I'm takin' it easy, Sammy."

Sam glares from where he sits on the back porch of their cabin.

"Shootin' isn't going to strain anything."

Sam glares.

"Your face is going to get stuck like that."

Sam sticks his tongue out at him.

Dean grins, chuckling as he turns to the cans he has lined up on a crumbled wall. He raises his gun, firing off six shots without pausing. Each can flies off the wall.

A low whistle sounds around the side of the cabin, a girl walking around the corner. "That was quite impressive."

Dean looks to Sam first to make sure his brother is comfortable before looking to the girl and smirking. "Well thank you. Sam and I are pretty good shots." He holds out his hand. "Dean." He waves over to Sam. "As I said, this is Sam."

"People call me Fox." The girl blinks as she shakes his hand. "Sam and Dean? Winchester?"

Dean chuckles. "Yeah."

"Huh. I've seen you guys around camp. Heard the stories about you guys after word spread around. Never put the two together."

Dean shrugs. "Understandable."

She suddenly frowns, looking to Sam. "You said he was a good shot?"

Sam makes himself look busy wiping his knife down, uncomfortable with the attention.

Dean smirks. "Best damn shot there is after me."

She looks back to him. "I've never even seen him use a gun."

Dean nods thoughtfully. Sam hasn't participated in the target runs they have every other day around camp. And even though Sam threatened Dick with the guns on the field that day, he never actually used them. "He's still one of the best. He just hasn't wanted to use one lately."

The girl nods, looking skeptical.

Dean grins. "How about we make a bet."

Sam's head jerks up.

Dean looks to him, seeing the movement from the corner of his eye. "Sorry, Sam. You okay with that? Just a few targets."

Sam tilts his head, thinking for a second. "Just a few."

Fox blinks, his tone washing over her to make her internally shiver with the combination of his eyes landing on her. No wonder he doesn't see the need to use guns.

Dean smiles. "Awesome." He looks to Fox. "In an hour. Have the target field set up. Ten targets. Five meter spread. Varying heights."

Fox nods, grin coming back after Sam releases her from the hold of his gaze. "You got it." She turns and heads around the side of the cabin.

Sam looks to Dean, an eyebrow raised.

Dean shrugs. "Any chance to brag on you and I'm in. Besides, I never turn down a good bet." He winks.

Sam rolls his eyes.

"C'mon, Sam."

Sam glares at him. "They're staring. And you can shoot just as good as me. Better."

"Fox went around camp telling people and I was bragging as I went to talk to Mark. They want to see if all of my bragging is true. They haven't even seen you pick up a gun besides the one you stash at your back and the two on the field you didn't even shoot. Now c'mon. I know this is a piece of cake for you. I have bets lined up with more than just Fox."

Sam raises his eyebrows.

Dean grins. "Pie. A rarity these days. I have a few guys betting their desert I've been exaggerating. Now let's go. Show these guys what a real sharp-shooter looks like."

Sam rolls his eyes, turning to the targets set up across the field. Ten of them. Different distances away though in the five meter spread Dean assigned. Different heights. His eyes move over them. "Using me to indulge in your pie addiction. You're a horrible brother."

"Yeah, yeah. It's a crime to say you're brother's awesome and bet on him when you know you'll win."

Sam grins.

The people behind them watch the two banter back and forth, voices too low for them to hear but they get the gist. They're a little shocked. It's the first time they've heard that playful tone in Sam's voice. They start to hold their breath when Sam raises his arm, anticipating the proof of Dean's claims about his brother.

It seems like it's over in a second, ten shots fired off without a single hitch in rhythm . Ten shots, equal intervals, not a single miss. And when walking up the field to look closer, right behind the two brothers, they all stare wide eyed at the targets. Every single one. Bullseye. Maybe off to the side, not exactly in the middle, but each bullet hole sits inside the black middle circle.

Dean looks up to Sam. "Perfect, little brother."

Fox watches from behind as Sam lets loose the sweetest smile she has ever seen grace Sam Winchester's face. And she's seen him with Dean around camp since they got here. Her breath catches, the beauty of it showing her who Sam used to be. It's a smile that could easily be called the most beautiful smile she has ever seen. Full of joy and pearly white teeth. She notices for the first time that he has dimples. She wonders why he isn't this way anymore.

Then she sees where the smile is aiming, and she comprehends. Sam still is that person. He probably still jokes. It's easy to see he can still smile. But only for Dean. She understands now why Dean never gave her the time of day earlier besides the bet. They live off each other. He only sees Sam. And Sam only sees Dean.

She shakes herself out of her awe before looking to Dean. "You jerk. I lost bets with five people because of you. You said he was one of the best, not perfect."

Dean looks to her, eyes flashing with something dangerous before she sees Sam's hand touch his arm. Then he just smirks. "You shouldn't ever bet against my brother," he warns.

Sam chuckles, making Fox shiver with the loss of his previous gentleness and the return of his more recognizable persona. She looks up to him to see his usual dark smirk in place.

He winks, the look both terrifying and almost sexy. Her body can't decide whether to shiver in fear or not.

Dean looks to Sam. "Alright, you're done. Sorry for making you do that." He holds out his hand for the gun.

Sam shrugs, looking down at the gun in his hand before handing it over. "Just been a while," he answers quietly.

"But you carry one on you all the time, don't you?" Drew asks.

Sam pulls out his knife, twirling it around and through his fingers with ease, no fear at all of cutting himself. It ends with the handle in the palm of his hand.

Dean chuckles. "Showoff." Then looks to Drew. "He likes having more control. A blade can give him that. An extension of himself."

Drew nods in understanding.

Dean looks to Sam. "Sam?"

Sam rolls his eyes, indulging Dean by turning and throwing the knife down the field to the first target he shot. It lands in the exact middle of the dark, middle circle.

Drew lets out a whistle.

Dean chuckles. "Alright. Now you can be done."

Sam grins, sauntering over to the target to get his knife. He's on his way back when he freezes, grin gone from his face so fast Dean isn't sure it was even there in the first place.

He instantly heads to Sam's side, eyes assessing his brother before scanning their entire surroundings. When his eyes follow Sam's gaze, his face darkens and he freezes at Sam's side. "Son of a- Hey! Hey, hey, hey! Easy, Sam!" Dean is suddenly struggling to hold his brother back as said brother attempts to claw his way around Dean to get to the two men now frozen at the front of the retreating crowd. It makes the cut on Dean's side burn, but he ignores it.

"They killed you! Me, I understand," he growls. "Starting the apocalypse and all. But they didn't need to shoot you." His fingers are digging into Dean's back, finally not trying to dislodge him but anchoring to him.

"Sam. Sammy. Hey, look at me." He reaches up, gripping Sam's chin to make his brother look to him instead of the two still watching them in part fear, part shock. "They had plenty reason to. They knew that after shooting you I wasn't going to stop until they were dead too. They knew killing me was smarter than letting me hunt them down. Besides, we're both back." He grins darkly. "Relax, Sammy," he almost croons, lowering his voice. "Don't kill them. We need as many men as we can get right now. But we can still shake them up a little." He winks darkly.

Sam lets loose a half grin before it disappears again and he looks over Dean's shoulder.

Dean untangles himself from his brother, turning to look at the two men he hasn't seen since that day in the motel room where they killed his baby brother before killing him too. After that trip to heaven, he was too concerned with other things to think about these two. But they were always there in the back of his mind on his to-do list if he ever met up with them again. Now, though, they need everyone they can get for this war. "Roy. Walt."

The crowd around the four figures has been forgotten. Most of them think they should probably leave, but this is something from the Winchester's past. Something no one knew about. They're curious. As well as entranced by the Winchesters.

Dean stands in front of Sam, shoulder blade touching Sam's chest much like they always stand. But there's an energy about them right now. This isn't the casual stance others have seen. And this isn't the Dean Winchester they've come to know. This Dean is as dark as Sam. Maybe even more dangerous with the cool anger he is able to contain. His voice when he said the two names was cold. Flat. Taking a page from Sam's book. This is the Winchester's on the same page. It's thrilling as well as terrifying.

One of the men clears his throat. "Dean."

"I'm surprised you even came to watch," Dean says lowly.

The other one speaks. "You two have been said to die and come back to life so many times, we wanted to see if it was really you."

Sam practically growls from behind Dean.

Dean reaches back to touch his arm. "I told you when I came back, I was gonna be pissed," he sneers. "That should have been enough warning to keep you from even being curious." He looks to one. "Especially you, Walt. Seeing as you're on the top of my list for being the one to shoot us both."

"You," Sam spits before he's trying to get at him again.

Both men take a quick step back in fear as Dean tries to get control of his brother again.

Mark comes up to help Dean, grunting as he gets an elbow in his ribs for his effort.

Dean looks to him, shaking his head.

There's a look of fear for Mark's safety intense enough to make him instantly let go, stepping back to watch as Dean eventually starts getting Sam's attention again.

"Sam. Stop it. Listen to me. Now isn't the time. Sammy, I need you to calm down." He winces when he feels a stitch pop. His side is healing, but it was deep enough that it could easily get ripped open again if Sam doesn't stop.

Sam does suddenly stop though, eyes locking onto Dean's when he sees the wince. He steps back, anger turning to panic as he lays a hand on Dean's side. "Sorry. I'm sorry."

Dean lets out a breathless chuckle, hand resting on Sam's chest over his heart as he shakes his head. "It's fine. Just relax okay. They won't hurt us anymore. And they've been off the hook this long. Just wait until this war is over."

"Then I can kill him?"

Dean blinks at the question, surprised at the eagerness and pleading in his voice. He shrugs it off though. Sam has a right. That man shot him. And Dean. This is revenge that is justified and the safest he's ever wanted. Besides, he'd want to kill the man himself if Sam didn't. He nods. "Then you can kill him."

Sam grins, eyes going back over to Walt.

The man shivers under his gaze.

Dean turns to them over his shoulder. "You guys better keep your distance. You show any signs of trouble and I won't hesitate to let Sam at you. It's been a long time since I've seen him like this. You best watch yourself."

Both men nod in understanding.

Dean turns to lead Sam away by his sleeve before he stops and turns around again. His eyes narrow as he looks to the men. "And by the way, since you didn't let him explain before, it was an accident. He didn't know it would start the apocalypse. And in case you didn't know, he gave his life to end it. If he had stayed dead after you shot him, we would have been doomed. Think about that one for a while." He turns around and walks away, Sam right behind him.

They ignore everyone else around them. Except one.

Drew keeps looking at Walt and Roy. Sam notices, seeing that Drew looks like he wants to kill them himself. It makes him smile a little. They've made a new friend. He separates himself from Dean, chuckling almost silently when Dean stops. He knows he's probably shocking his brother.

Drew looks to Sam in surprise when he sees him coming up to him.

Sam lays a hand on Drew's shoulder, almost encompassing it in his huge grip. "It's good to have a friend," he murmurs, voice softer than Drew has ever heard it. "But don't trouble yourself with anything from our lives."

Drew shrugs, a little sheepish. "It just made me mad."

Sam pats him on the shoulder before turning and walking back to Dean. Dean gives him an approving look before they start off again.

Is anyone else upset that we didn't get to see Sam and Dean hunting down Walt and Roy? I would have loved to see that after they killed the boys. I know that at the end of 'Dark Side of the Moon' they were a little preoccupied, but that's still one little part of the plot they need to fix. Even if it is a couple seasons late. They should run into them again or something.