Previously on Chapter 3: Break (Part II)…

… They look up, only to see the last person (angel) that they thought they would see.

Last chapter and my 4th spn few-shot fic is officially completed~! ^^

Writer's Random Rant: There was a meme that I came across, something along the line of - "Group Projects make me understand why Batman works alone". And I'm feeling particularly strongly about this line recently, after the past 2 online project meetings that I had this week…

Chapter 4
Bind (Part II)

"Cas...?!" Dean blurted in surprise.

"You guys need to be more careful..." Castiel said while stepping forward to press his palms on both their chests.

"Urg.. What the hell was that?" Dean asked as both humans felt the uncomfortable carving squeeze in their ribs.

"An Enochian Sigil. It'll hide you from every angel in creation. Lucifer is circling his vessel and once he takes it, those hex bags won't be enough to protect you," he informed them.

"Wait... Cas, we thought.. we thought you were dead," Sam said in awe.

"I was," Cas confirmed while landing two fingers on his forehead, instantly healing his face.

"Thanks..." Sam said in surprise, feeling his healed face with his left hand.

"Then how are you back?" Dean continued to ask as he watches him fixed Sam up.

Castiel gazes at them for a silent moment and then his eyes move down to the tangled vine around their wrists.

"That is a cursed plant," he noted, ignoring Dean's question. "Where did you get that?"

"At Bobby's storehouse. That's right, Cas, can you get this off us?" Sam asked hopefully, lifting their bounded hands to let him have a better look.

"It must have fallen out of its box when I fought the other angels..." Cas said to himself while feeling the vine with his fingers.

"Wait. You were at Bobby's...?" Dean trailed off.

"Yes. Zachariah, he tried to lure you there but I fought them off." Sam and Dean exchanged a look, realising only now, how close they were to being confronted by the bad angels.

"What else do they want with us?" Dean demanded angrily.

"The Michael Sword," Cas told them gravely, "Michael's ultimate weapon to defeat Lucifer."

"What does that have to do with us? We don't have any Michael Sword..." Sam said.

"It's Dean. Dean is the Michael Sword," Cas looks towards the older of the two.

"... What?" Dean gasped in perplexity, "What do you mean I'm a sword?"

"He's Michael's vessel..." Sam realised.

"His true vessel," Cas supplemented.

"... A custom-made arch angel's hand puppet! Great. Just.. perfect," Dean muttered sarcastically, his hands coming up to grab at the roots of his hair – just one hand. The other one didn't get far before feeling the resistance of Sam's immobile hand on the bed. Castiel returns his attention to the vine.

"There is a common weakness with the plant species," Cas said knowledgeably and he looks up to meet two awaiting eyes, "Fire," he told them.

"We tried that. Didn't work," Dean sighed dismissively at his solution.

"Not mortal fire, it wouldn't. But I can try to burn it with my grace," Cas said as he places his palm over the vine.

A piercing white light emits from underneath his hand and several seconds later, he removes it to reveal a blackened, ashing vine, burned to a crisp. With a light tug in the opposite direction, The Unbreakable Vine breaks apart with ease.

"Thanks," the both of them said gratefully as they lightly massage their freed wrists.

"You're welcome," Cas said graciously. He takes a step back and was just about to vanish on the spot when Dean called out to him.

"Cas, wait! I want to ask you something," he exclaimed while rising from the bed. "The voicemail that I left Sam when I was in that.. room. You guys changed it, didn't you?" Dean asked with controlled irritation.

Cas bowed his head in acknowledgement and apology.

"Yes. Zachariah felt that the original message might steer Sam "off course", so he altered it to give him a.. "prod in the right direction"," Cas quoted his ex-boss, confirming what they already knew. "Here," Cas picked up Sam's phone on the bed and fixes his eyes at it for 2 seconds, "I've returned the actual voicemail."

He returns the phone to Sam and then vanishes into thin air without a word of goodbye.

"... Where's the fire?" Dean grumbled, taken aback by his sudden, unannounced exit.

Sam looks down broodingly at his phone, his thumb brushing over the keypad, just one button away from the truth. But, does he want to know the truth? Well.. it can't be any worse than the original… He told himself to overcome the apprehension in his heart.

‹Hey, it's me. Uh...› Dean spun around to see that Sam had begun playing the actual voicemail.

‹… Look, I'll just get right to it. I'm still pissed... and I owe you a serious beatdown...›

Sam gives a quick lift of a corner of his lips at this line while Dean thought, "Not anymore~"

‹… But... I shouldn't have said what I said. You know, I'm not Dad. We're brothers. You know, we're family. And, uh... no matter how bad it gets, that doesn't change. Sammy, I'm sorry.› And the message ended with a beep.

Although Dean was the one who left the message, with Sam being the intended recipient, it somehow felt really strange for them to listen to it together.

"... Yea, that's the right one," Dean commented to break the awkward silence.

Sam had sat there silently as the voicemail played, staring at his phone with a blank, dazed look for the most part. And now he sits there still, even after it had ended, staring. The 180° difference between the two messages is so glaring, especially when played back-to-back like that.

"I'm gonna shower," Dean continued saying when Sam still didn't speak. "Finally..." he sighed in relief. They haven't been able to shower or change since they got tangled by the curse. It is such a joy to finally be able to wash off all the sweat and dirt and have some private "me" time, like showering.

He goes to grab a fresh set of clothes from his bag, noting from the corner of his eyes that Sam is still just sitting there unmovingly. He deliberated over Sam's reaction, or non-reaction, to his actual voicemail. What is going through that overthinking mind of his when he hears the message? Did he not believe him? Or, given what had happened after...

"By the way, it still stands," Dean said just before entering the shower room. At last, Sam looks up from his phone as though he has been awakened. "Whatever was said. Still stands," Dean threw it out there.

A surge of warmth, and relief, and gratitude quickly filled up inside Sam. Dean does know him the best.

Sam had felt these emotions rising up within him as he hears the belated message, but he pushed it down. ‹… we're family… no matter how bad it gets, that doesn't change…› No matter how bad…

But that was before he killed Lilith; before he opened the devil's gate; and before he set Lucifer free... All those kind words are for that Sam who had not yet destroyed the world, so he didn't dare to hope. Hence, what Dean just said, it lifted those doubts and he felt hopeful once more.

"Thanks Dean…" Sam breathed, just before he shuts the door. Did he hear him? Sam couldn't be sure, but he felt that he did.

Sam lies back onto the bed, gripping his phone in his now-freed hand. Would he have stopped if it was this message that he received instead of the other? Would the apocalypse never have happened? Would Dean not become heaven's most wanted man? So many "ifs", so many contingencies...

They are all moot points now. Lucifer is still out there, the angels are still hunting them, and the world is still ending. Yet despite all that, in this instance, Sam feels much lighter than he had felt for a long time. Nothing's changed. Yet everything's changed.

Something was broken, undeniably. But that true, unbreakable bind between them has always, and will always, be there.

~ The End ~

Thanks to all who have read &/or reviewed! Hope you've enjoyed the story~ :)