Sam would like to claim he didn't tackle his brother in a hug. But that was a lie. He literally knocked Dean on his ass, and Loki laughed for a few moments.

"Have fun in hell?"

"Aside from pissing on Dumbledore, Voldemort, Snape and even John...oh, and having a nice long chat with Lucifer...it was okay."

Loki, who had been drinking his chocolate started choking on it.

"You had a chat with Lucifer?!" said Loki, once he cleared his throat.

"I had to spend two months in hell, and that lot were pretty far down. Aside from being a bit of a jerk he wasn't that bad," said Dean shrugging. Then he started looking around. "I need pie. And actual food."

"What, didn't you eat or drink anything for the past three months?" said Loki sarcastically.

"Dude, I remember what happened to Persephone when she ate that pomegranate. Do I look stupid to you? Besides, there wasn't a thing to eat in hell," said Dean flatly.

Bear woofed tiredly.

"Right, one buffet line and doggy-style buffet coming up!" said Loki.

Dean looked between Sam and Loki.

"You two dating or something?"

Sam choked.

"How..."

"Wasn't hard to guess. I was gone for over two months I'm guessing, and we've always been a bit codependent. Frankly I would rather you date him than some demon. So who tops?"

Loki laughed openly at the look on Sam's face. It wasn't often he got to see him gobsmacked and horrified.

"I am not discussing my sex life with you!"

"Why not?" grinned Dean like the Cheshire cat.

Sam glared at him. It was like he had never left.

The second Dean saw the food and beverages, he dove in like a piranha. There was no escape. Bear was in a similar state...he devoured the meat and food Loki set out for him like he hadn't seen a good meal in a while. Which he hadn't.

By the time both man and dog were done, they were splayed out on the couch in a similar position. Loki snorted in amusement and took a picture.

A few days later they went back to see Bobby, who was just glad Sam wasn't out getting his head bashed in because he was missing Dean.

And the first thing Bobby did upon seeing Dean was slap him on the head for worrying them so much.

"Look on the bright side. You made it home in time for Christmas!" said Sam a little too evilly.

"Great," said Dean. Which meant he had little time to get a present for Sam and the others.

"Relax Dean-o. I'm pretty sure Sammy will be happy to just have his brother back," said Loki behind him.

"Back and without having to worry about you being in hell in another couple of months," said Sam.

"Yeah...about that..." said Dean nervously. Sam stopped cold and gave Dean a Look. It wasn't his standard bitch face, so Dean knew he would have to talk fast before Sam started hexing him.

"Dean."

"Mort said that since the higher demons aren't aware I slipped out of that part of the contract on a technicality, that it would be a better idea to go into hiding. I won't have to die again, but I won't be able to use the name Dean once the contract's original date is up," said Dean embarrassed.

It was a major prank on Lilith and Alistair. Crowley was all for it, since they would basically be wasting months of time trying to find Dean's soul in hell for nothing.

Sam relaxed.

"Is that all? Why not go back to the name you were before you asked Mort to give you a second chance?"

"Because that would open up an entirely new can of worms that I want nothing to do with, no matter how much gold was in those vaults."

"By the way... I had a run-in with the woman who stole that cursed rabbit's foot last week. She seemed pissed when she found out it wasn't cursed anymore."

Dean snorted.

"Too damn bad. I'm not losing you just to keep some rather finicky luck," said Dean flatly. "So did this chick have a name?"

"Herm something."

Dean froze.

"She didn't happen to have bushy hair, a bossy disposition and a self-righteous attitude with an unhealthy addiction to books..."

"You know her?"

"Hermione. Has to be. She mention why she needed that rabbit's foot?"

"Something about locating a missing friend of hers."

"Shit. How did she track me all the way here?"

Loki snorted.

"You're kidding right? Even I could sense when you left hell. Anything with the ability to sense real power and what it is was when you got out."

"What," was Dean's only reply.

"Kid, you took on Death's mantle. You really thought no one would notice? Hell, we all noticed when Harry Potter took up the Hallows six years ago!"

Dean winced.

"They noticed when Death's Master takes on the power?" said Dean.

"It's a lot of power we're talking about. So yes, almost everyone noticed it," deadpanned Loki.

"Great. What are the odds she noticed it too?"

"Good, but the odds of her finding Harry Potter are next to nill."

Dean let a sigh of relief out.

"However she might find out Dean Harvelle is the new Master and put two and two together."

"Dammit, couldn't you have left it at her not finding Harry?"

"How about a hunt? There's a couple of pagans I know who target families. Real big on the Christmas thing," offered Loki grinning.

It was how he kept Sam from being depressed...he aimed his hunter at other targets he didn't mind killing. He was particularly irritated with monsters that harmed children.

"Done. But first we do presents!" said Dean.

Sam's present to Dean, bought when he was in a used bookstore, was a complete collection of Shakespeare's work. Dean's present?

Sam got to pick where their vacation would be. No hunting, no demons, just regular tourist crap and being normal for a week. Needless to say his brother really appreciated the thought behind that, because they never got to take a break from hunting. Ever.

The closest he got was when he went to college and even then it was stressful. So the idea of going on vacation and being normal for a week was just what he needed.

Dean even agreed to be Loki's way of scaring his fellow pagans. That really cheered Loki up, because the thought of Dean scaring the hell out of his ex, Kali, really amused Loki. The best part was that it was highly unlikely Kali would be able to kill him since he had tested his creature form in hell and survived!

Really, the only weakness Dean knew his creature form had was that it couldn't swim, it was simply too dense and would sink.

As Sam had put it, he was like Sonic the hedgehog. Able to do great things...but couldn't swim worth a damn. It was weird Stitch and Sonic had the same coloring and general appearance though.

And Bear? He got a massive dinosaur sized bone similar to the one Loki conjured up the first time he saw that dog.

The St. Bernard mix was happily chewing on that once he was inside the house. All while giving the two hell hounds Sam had adopted as familiars a look to keep the hell away from him until he was done.

Three months in hell was enough to make him really, really territorial around food for a while.

Dean was really pissed off right now. These pagans were killing people on Christmas of all days and generally ruining families at the worst possible time. Probably why Loki had sent them this way.

"Right, you two have gotten on my last nerve with this crap. Time to go postal," growled Dean. He drew the line when torture was involved.

Yes, he had learned to ignore the screaming of the countless damned in hell, but that did not mean he was going to ignore his brother being in pain!

The pagans didn't pay any mind to Dean...at least not until they felt the magic starting to pour off Dean.

"Dean, what are..."

The two looked at him with outright fear. What the hell was going on with Dean to cause that?

Sam heard the bindings break, and saw Dean stand up.

Mort appeared without warning, took one look at Dean and sighed.

He leaves hell and already he's causing trouble. Dean, calm down before you blow your cover early with the demons.

Mort, what is going on?

Dean is so worked up having recently left hell and regained his full power that he's drawing on his animagus form. The reason it was locked was because it would have killed him before he regained his full strength.

Short answer please?

Dean's scaring the pagans because they're starting to realize what he is. And the last thing we need right now is for the demons to become more interested in him than they are in gaining your trust. They just think he got off bed rest, remember?

"Dean, will you get me out so we can deal with this and go home? I would rather sleep in my own bed and not some crappy motel!" said Sam, distracting his brother enough to calm him down.

Dean only spared a glance and the bindings were cut. He was still pretty pissed, but Sam had gotten through.

It took them ten minutes to kill the pagans, and less than five to erase the evidence they had been in the house.

Mort however was not happy. Dean would need some time to calm down before he blew his cover. The last thing they needed was for demons like Lilith to try and kill Sam again just to insure Dean went to hell and broke the first seal.

So while Dean went on a pie run, Mort talked to Sam, alone.

Sam you need to keep an eye on Dean. Contrary to what you might think, he was affected by being in hell for three months. As Harry he became highly adept at hiding his pain and his true feelings... a skill he perfected when he became Dean. You need to help him stabilize before something goes wrong and he has to duck into hell to avoid being so hurt that there is no escape. I do not want to put him through a second reincarnation, said Mort gravely.

I know. How bad was it?

Not as bad as it could have been, had he gone once the contract was up. But getting some payback for what those people did to make his life worse both as Harry and Dean did help some. It's just that humans have a threshold for psychological trauma and Dean's at the limit. But there is some hope.

Sam was quiet.

As Harry, he had nothing to buffer the bad times, no one to share his pain with. However, now he has you and his family. He knows you actually give a damn when he's sad or angry. All you have to do is be there for your brother and he should be able to pull through soon. Dean Harvelle is very resilient, said Mort.

Don't forget you. I know he's leaned on you for support in the past, especially when he found out about Adam.

He uses me as a sounding board, nothing more.

Yes, but the mere fact he can talk to you without worrying about the other side being judgmental is something that is more precious to him than you realize. Having someone to vent to can be very therapeutic, said Sam.

Now there's an irony. Me healing.

Sam snorted in agreement. A reaper, healing someone? It smacked of irony.

She was tired. Four months ago she caught wind that Potter was not only alive, but in America of all places. It was the first real hint of where the Master of Death had vanished to.

She had been chosen because out of all of his former friends, she was the most likely to find him. If only because the rest had managed to leave before being forcibly drafted into this and could handle living in the muggle world for more than a few days.

She didn't need to be told why Harry had vanished. Anyone with half a brain and a pair of eyes could see why.

He had been tired long before he had been stuck in the unenviable position as the Ministry's poster boy and wetworks man. Even though he had a family, he had no love or real hope in his life.

The question the Ministry all but demanded to know was how he had escaped without a trace of where he went.

With how much Harry had left behind, the sheer power he had at his command (be it magical, political or bribing potential), the Ministry was naturally very nervous with him on the loose. They wanted him back, if only to insure he didn't turn on them.

The thing was...she didn't want to bring her friend back, even if they had broken off the friendship years ago. She knew Harry would fight tooth and nail to stay where he was. He wouldn't hesitate to kill her when she found him, if he even suspected for a second she would take him back.

He had nothing in England he wanted.