A/N: Dean has come to steal Sam from his wedding and, finally, the contents of the box is revealed...
The Pompatus Box (Chapter 28: Up, Up and Away) by frostygossamer
Sam joins Dean in the sacristy, softly closing the door behind him. Dean grasps him by the shoulders and they grin at each other for a moment, awkward about whether or not to hug. Sam checks out the sacristy window but Dean indicates the access panel and they make their escape along the passageway and then up the ladder back to the roof.
Sam loses his headdress somewhere along the way. Underneath, his long hair is held back from his face with a tartan ribbon. As they climb the ladder his claymore gets caught on a rung and falls clattering to the ground below. He hesitates for a moment, looking down, but Dean encourages him upward with a sharp whistle.
When Sam sees the hovertank parked on the transept roof, he is amazed.
"The hell is this thing?"
"Dude, you don't remember Boris's floating ironclad?"
Sam draws a blank. "Boris? How would I know?"
Jeez, Sam was so out of it all back then he STILL doesn't remember his walk on the darkside. Dean decides against elaborating. Some traumas are better forgotten.
"Shut up and get in."
They climb in the tank and immediately lift off. The hovertank streaks away over the heads of the jubilant populus who have as yet no clue the event they came to see is about to be cancelled.
Sam has another question. "Man, what's with all the heart-shaped balloons?"
The tank is covered with them, big and shiny, six for a credit from one of the many wedding-themed merchandise stalls dotted all around. They worry Sam a little. Dean isn't normally a one for whimsicality or pink-hearted girly nonsense. Could be he's losing it? Dean snickers.
"Camouflage, dude."
=O=
By the time the Grand Duke has noticed Sam isn't coming back to the altar and mobilized his guard to search for his missing grandson, the hovertank is already in the air and racing toward the spot where Dean left his Baby. On the ground, troops manning anti-aircraft artillery wait for the order to force down the relatively slow ironclad.
After a hasty word with Lady Amelia, Samuel orders his men to stand down. The old man knows when he has been bested. He can't make his heir stay where he doesn't want to be. It was expecting a lot from him to go through the whole nuptial song and dance again.
Samuel suspects, though, that his grandson might not be simply running away this time. He came back from space different, all grown up. Perhaps he saw a glimpse of what he wanted from life out there. Perhaps he has gone to get it.
He's at least glad to know Sam has finally found ANY path that can make him happy. He only wishes he hadn't forked out for another royal wedding celebration before the boy made up his mind.
Heaving a sigh, he runs a hand over his characterful if bald head. Maybe he should just marry the jilted bride himself?
Yeah, sure.
=O=
Dean all but throws Sam into the ship and slams his hand down on the airlock lever. The ship shudders and rises up from the surface like a startled bird. Sam notes that Dean must have set the take-off function to cut-and-run before heading for the abbey. He wasn't expecting to fail in his mission to bring Sam back.
The escape has Sam feeling a little hysterical. He laughs himself silly, until he gets a stitch, then he stands there rubbing his side and panting.
"Dude, that has to be the wildest hostage retrieval ever."
Dean pauses from calibrating his pursuit evasion subroutines. Now that it's done he's beginning to feel a little less sure he did the right thing. Did he just ELOPE with this guy?
"You're cool with this, huh Sam?"
Maybe Sam WAS ready to move on. Maybe he's wrecked the guy's future. But Sam is all smiles.
"You're joking, right? I'm CRAZY about this."
He launches himself at his rescuer, trying to connect his lips with Dean's and steal a grateful kiss. Dean pushes him off, applying a sharp shove to the middle of his chest. It sends Sam reeling backward against the edge of an occasional table, almost knocking it over. He recovers his feet and stands there staring at Dean, rebuffed and confused.
Dean snorts. "Didn't get you back here to make like horny teenagers, Sam."
He folds his arms and manages to look genuinely annoyed. Sam is inclined to think it's an act. He brushes his long hair back off of his face with one hand, inhaling through his teeth. When is the guy going to come clean with himself? He recalls that he swore to punch this emotional coward right in the pretty face for ditching him.
Dean's quick reflexes block Sam's flying fist before it makes strike with his perfect nose.
"Hey! What the...?" he demands, perplexed.
"Dean, you dumped me and I NEVER expected to see you again. Tryna tell me you DIDN'T come get me today because you changed your mind about US? Yeah sure. And, in case you didn't notice, that was my freakin' WEDDING you snatched me from. Jealous much?"
"SAVED you from," Dean corrects him. "Stopped you making the biggest mistake of your life. You can be so much more than a freakin' media idol, Sam."
Sam seems to remember making that same point before Dean dumped him. He wanted to be all he could be, stretch himself, do something worthwhile with his life. The marriage was never his first choice. It was his grandfather's wish and it was the only option Dean had left him with, when he walked out of his life without even a goodbye.
"That IS kinda what I said," Sam mumbles, sulkily.
Dean is aware what he did to Sam was a little cruel, even though for the best reasons, so he doesn't push it. He waits quietly until Sam's eyes meet his again.
"So you're back now. Happy?"
Sam nods. "Sure."
Actually he totally is. It's a huge relief to be back aboard Baby after so long. Baby feels more like home than home. With that settled, Dean moves on to his other problem.
"OK, then first of all I wanna show you something. I need you to explain it to me."
=O=
Dean leads Sam through into the library. Sam pouts and follows him meekly.
There are things he wants to say to Dean, do to him, but they can wait. He's going to let Dean tell him whatever story he came up with to explain what he did today and so he doesn't have to admit he missed him. They will both know it's a lie, but Sam will pretend and Dean will get to keep his pride in one piece.
"Sure. Whatever you want. Ask away."
Dean indicates his pedestal table where he left the Pompatus Box.
"Got back the freakin' Pompatus. And, uh, opened it."
Sam's eyes widen. Two things he would have taken money on never happening.
"First of all, wow! Thought you'd NEVER get your hands on that freakin' box. And, second of all, wow! You OPENED it? You? Captain Never-interfere-with-a-package?"
Dean ignores his sarcastic tone and continues.
"Yeah, I opened it. And now I need you to explain it to me. I don't get it. What's inside it is... I don't get what the hell all the bullcrap was about."
Sam heads on over to the pedestal to take a look himself. He gingerly lifts the lid of the box and peers inside. Dean watches his expression as it changes from curiosity to wonder.
"Seriously?" It's not the reaction Dean thought.
The lovingly handcrafted wood case appears to contain only one thing, a fluffy toy. A little battered and the worse for overuse, the stuffed toy wears a retro-style space suit with the word - not the word, the NAME - Pompatus embroidered on it's chest in careful hand-stitches of gold thread.
Sam is certainly surprised, and he has to laugh. He's really not sure if this is the biggest letdown possible or the most marvellous discovery imaginable. He can't say what he expected the box to contain, a nuclear bomb, a miniature marble bust, an autographed biography, maybe a single pressed rose. Somehow this little gift occupies a point someplace between, delightful and yet terribly poignant.
"It's a teddy bear. Who'da guessed? A freakin' teddy bear!"
Dean stares at him expectantly. He had anticipated something a little less evident.
"It's a teddy bear. Duh. I get that. But what's the big freakin' deal, peace-wise?"
Sam barks out a laugh. "Dude, isn't it obvious?"
"If it was so goddamn obvious I wouldn't've had to pull off a freakin' commando raid to bring you here, now would I?"
Sam scoffs. "Course you would. You want me. The bear's got nothing to do with it."
Dean rolls his eyes skyward. The starry-eyed romantic is still mulish in his opinion of Dean's motives.
"Come on then, genius, explain it. In what way is this freakin' midget grizzly the magic charm that'll unite Terra and Eno in everlasting peace?"
Sam picks up the stuffed animal in both hands and checks it out minutely.
"Hmm... The suit is handmade and kinda cute. From the condition the bear's in, it's been loved a whole lot. This little guy's special."
He spots that a small note has been pinned to it's jacket. "Ah-ha, what's this?"
He unfolds the scrap of coloured paper and reads the message aloud.
"Dude, it says 'Please look after this bear. Thank you.' and it's signed John Q. Publik."
Dean grunts. "Sure, John Q. Publik is the President of Terra, but the guy's gotta be what 72, 73. And he's got no kids. Why'd he wanna send another grown man a freakin' comfort toy?"
"Hey, even Publik had to be a kid once. This has to be HIS actual stuffed bear. Guess he hung on to it. Sentimental value."
Dean is still mystified. "And he sent it to Eno why exactly?"
This sentimental crap goes way over Dean's head. He was brought up without sentiment. Sam has no trouble answering.
"Because, Dean, this fuzzy guy's gotta be the oldest and most precious thing he owns. You don't send something you cherish to someplace you're gonna make war on, ergo..."
Dean cocks an eyebrow. "It's a freakin' trust exercise? That simple?"
"Simple works best, I guess."
Sam hastily puts the teddy bear back in its case.
"John Publik's making this a personal thing between him and President Ono. A heart-to-heart deal, yeah? We gotta get this to Eno. Today. And when I say 'we' I mean NO way are you gonna leave me behind AGAIN."
Dean laughs because they're already en route. He wasn't going to give himself the chance to get cold feet this time.
"Nuh-uh. Consider yourself shanghaied, Sammy."
TBC
A/N: Now you know what the - or is it who? - Pompatus really is. The most precious thing in the system, that's all. And, now Dean and Sam back are together, they have bonding to do. More soon.