The front door creaked opened, Bobby's familiar face and body framed in the aperture.

For a moment silence ensued, a whirlwind of thoughts and memories churning in each man's mind.

Dean found himself torn between pleasure at seeing the one who to all intents and purposes had been like a surrogate father to him and his brother, yet mixed in with the pleasure was a sense of …resentment.

:

Bobby had scolded him when Dean hadn't wanted Sam to go through with his crazy idea of throwing himself into the Cage, accusing Dean of being more worried about his brother than of saving the world.

Maybe Dean was annoyed because of the truth of those words. He'd only agree to the plan because Sam had asked him to. The younger Winchester had felt the need to compensate for drinking demon blood, having listened to Ruby and letting the Devil loose.

In Sam's own mind, he deserved to be punished.

:

'Didn't think to see you again, Dean, at least not for a good long time,' Bobby said. There was a trace of disappointment in the old hunter's voice. 'Thought you'd be getting all caught up in suburbia, keeping Lisa and Ben happy.'

Somehow those words fuelled Dean's anger.

Did Bobby really think he'd forget about Sam, about what he was going through. By the look of dissatisfaction on Singer's face, he clearly did.

'You gonna invite me in, Bobby or are we gonna spend the rest of the day standing here.'

'Come on through,' Bobby sighed. 'I'm guessing this calls for a drink.'

:

Dean followed Bobby down the corridor to the kitchen, memories of all that had happened inside these four walls filling his mind- the good and the bad.

'So what brings you to this neck of the woods?'

Dean twirled the whisky glass in his hand, hypnotized by the amber liquid. 'If I said I felt nostalgia for your pretty face, would you believe me?'

Bobby huffed. 'Once I might have, but not this time.'

'Well, much as it's good to set eyes on you again, you'd be right, dude. I came because I need your help to get Sammy out of the Cage.'

:

'Boy!' Bobby exclaimed snappily. 'What the hell are you thinkin'? Sam sacrificed his life to save the world, though he was probably thinking more about saving YOUR ass, Dean. He wanted to give you a chance at normal, so why are you here instead of honouring Sam's last wishes and living that apple-pie life.'

'It's funny, Bobby. Other than Dad, you've been the one Sam and I have spent most time with but it seems you still haven't grasped just what my brother means to me. Lisa and Ben are great but they're not Sam. And they'll never be able to take his place.'

He lifted his head to meet Bobby's eyes. 'I can't keep on living with the thought of what he's going through in that Cage. What do you think Lucifer and Michael are doing to him, huh? Feeding him titbits and telling him what a good boy he is, or torturing my baby brother in the most painful ways possible?'

'Dean…'

'No, Bobby. I broke the first seal because I couldn't take any more of Alastair's torture. I began putting souls on the rack just to make the pain stop, but Sam doesn't even have that option. Lucifer will keep torturing him for all eternity. I'm not gonna let that happen.'

Bobby felt tears coming to his eyes at what these two boys had, and were, suffering.

Dean was right, he concluded. It was unfair for Sam to suffer all the consequences when not just Dean, but others, including a parade of angels and demons, had contributed to pushing for the Apocalypse.

:

'Okay, Dean,' Bobby sighed. ' If that's what you wanna do, I'll help if I can, but we already tried everything before. I dunno what's left to do.'

Now that Bobby had assured him his help, Dean felt more optimistic. 'We're just gonna have to go through it all again, books, lore, internet, spells, summonings; see if there's something, anything, we might have missed.'

'I'm sure there's nothing in my books,' Bobby declared. 'We need more information on the Cage, if there's any other way to open it and get Sam out. What about the angel? You been in touch with Castiel?'

'No, seems old friends disappear when things cool down. No Apocalypse- no friends coming around to see how you're making out.' Dean's voice was heavy with sarcasm.

'I already said I was sorry, Dean, though I'm not gonna apologize for being happy that you had a chance at a normal life.'

:

Dean shrugged. It hadn't been easy to say good-bye to Lisa and especially to Ben but Dean knew it had been the right thing to do. Bad luck followed Winchesters and it'd only be a question of time before it came knocking on Lisa's door.

No, he'd done the right thing for himself and for them too.

'Fair enough,' Bobby declared, breaking Dean's momentary silence, 'but as I say, we're gonna have to find another font of information. I'll give a call out to all the hunters I know. See if they have any lore on the Cage.'

:

Dean nodded, he was bone-tired and not just from the drive over to Sioux Falls.. It seemed everything that had happened since Sam jumped into the Cage was only now pressing down on him like a ton of cement.

He needed to sleep, give his brain time to reboot itself, be fresh and on top form to concentrate on his mission to save his baby brother.

'I'm gonna need a few hours rest,' Dean said. He passed a hand over his brow. 'My brain feels fried.'

'Well, you know where the guest room is.'

:

Pulling himself up from the chair, Dean made his way upstairs. An image of Lucifer flaying Sam's body filled his mind. He shivered. 'Hang in there Sammy. Big brother's coming.'

The bed was stripped to the mattress but Dean didn't even notice. He threw himself down and within a few moments sleep overtook him.

tbc