Motel room.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::

Dean was having none of Sam's objections.

Once his brother had showered and dressed in a set of the older man's spare clothing, Dean sat him down at the table and laid out enough food to feed an army.

'Eat up, Sammy. I know what it feels like when you get out of hell…Empty. An empty shell that needs filling. Maybe food isn't ever gonna fill that void but it takes away the sting a little.'

'I'm not hungry,' Sam protested, staring at the food as if it had morphed into Lucifer's hideous visage, his cheeks turning a deathly white.

'Doesn't matter, dude,' Dean replied. 'Look on this as medicinal. Something you gotta send down for your body's good. If you want I can tie you up and force-feed you! Airplane and all!'

Sam scrunched up his nose in disgust at the idea and Dean's heart leaped with joy.

How he'd missed his baby brother and that was only after three months. The thought of never seeing him again was something he couldn't even imagine.

However, the threat seemed to have worked as Sam slowly munched his way through a chicken salad, Dean's eyes never leaving him. The older man felt like a stalker but he couldn't physically look away. Now that Sam was back at his side he felt whole again after three months of despair.

With a sigh, Sam leaned back in his chair. 'I can't eat any more, Dean. I'm full.'

Dean nodded, satisfied for now with what his sibling had consumed. 'Fair enough. Now bed.'

Sam's eyes widened in alarm. 'I don't want to.'

'I get it,' Dean acknowledged. 'I had nightmares too after Hell but I promise I'm not going anywhere. If you want,' he added with a grin,' I'll hold your hand like I did when you were a kid. Don't worry, I'll wake you up if you get a bad one.'

Sam's eyes misted up. What had he ever done to deserve his big brother? Whatever it was, he thanked God for giving him Dean.'

'I'll give it a go,' he sighed eventually, more to please the hovering Dean than anything else. He stumbled over to the nearest bed and crashed down onto it.

'You got news of Bobby, Cass? What about Lisa?' The words were the only ones Sam managed to speak before his sleep-deprived body took over and switched itself off.

:

Dean drew up a chair and sat down at the side of the bed.

He'd promised Sam to watch over him while he slept and that's what he was going to do.

As for Sam's query, he'd answer all his sibling's questions when he woke up, though now that he had Sam back, any others faded into the background.

He tugged off his boots and yanked his feet up onto the bed, his toes grazing Sam's hip. He might as well make himself comfortable as he watched over his baby brother.

Dean counted himself lucky that he only had to shake Sam awake three times during the night, mumbling soothing, nonsense words of consolation until his little brother's eyelids fluttered closed again.

:

When Sam opened his eyes to the morning sun peeking through the curtains, he actually felt refreshed. He glanced to the side where Dean was grinning at him.

'Right on time,' he said, holding out a cup of freshly-made coffee. 'I was gonna drink it myself but I'm guessing you need it as much as me.'

'Thanks, Dean,' Sam replied, pushing up and accepting the coffee. 'You been sitting there all night?'

'I told you I would, dude.'

'Did…anything…? Did I…'

'Na! You woke up a couple of times; I dealt and you went back to sleep. I've been through worse when you were a kid.'

With a thoughtful nod, Sam sipped his coffee.

Dean was underscoring what had probably gone down but Sam wasn't going to argue. He'd take every night like last night and not complain.

Lifting his ass off the chair, the older sibling went to pour himself another cup of the black liquid.

:

'So, tell me, Dean. What happened with Lisa?'

'I should never have listened to you, Sam,' the older man sighed. 'It was never going to work. Not her fault. She did her best to keep me happy, encourage me but I couldn't let go, couldn't abandon you.'

'Dean…'

'I know you made me promise, but we've lied and blustered our way through life and breaking a promise is low on the list of atrocities we've dealt with. Anyway, There's no way I was gonna leave you in the Cage. The problem was, I couldn't find any way of getting you out.'

'So, Death, then? Why did he do it?'

'He said he felt there was some kind of glitch in the universe and that, I quote:- "I need you on your toes, Dean and not moping around trying to get Sam back." So he offered to get you out of the Cage.'

Sam's curiosity took hold. 'A glitch in the universe? In what way?'

Dean shrugged 'That's what he wants us to find out.'

'And just how are we going to do that?'

'Good question, little brother. Fuck if I know! Not that I care.' He smiled at his sibling. 'The universe seems pretty damn perfect to me.'

:

Sam ducked his head, his eyes moist. To be loved as he knew he was by Dean was a feeling too big, too overwhelming and Sam felt he didn't deserve it.

'Bobby, Cass?' he managed to whisper through his swirling emotions.

Dean's expression grew dark. 'Bobby advised me to go back to Lisa, live my life and let go of you. Said I had a chance for happiness and should take it.'

'He gave you good advice, ' Sam said. 'That's what I told you too.'

'Then why am I a million times happier now than before?' Dean declared, meeting Sam's eyes.

Sam flushed but he stumbled on. 'And Cass?'

'Never saw him again.'

'You didn't pray?'

'He knew where I was. If he was interested, he'd have turned up. Clearly, he wasn't. Not that I wanted to see him. I didn't want to see anyone.'

'Yeah, I know how that goes,' Sam nodded.

The months he'd spent on his own in Broward County looking for the Trickster, were still fresh in Sam's mind not to mention Dean's time in Hell.

He'd sunk into the depths of despair, so deep that it had been child's play for Ruby to get her claws into him.

:

'I'm gonna go take a shower,' Sam said, setting the empty cup on the side table, 'Try calling Cass. Maybe he can give us some ideas about Death's 'universe glitch'!

Dean hummed. He wasn't particularly stoked about seeing the angel again but whatever.

'You there Cass. It's Dean. Could you come?'

A whoosh of wings announced the arrival of the angel.

'Dean. I've been looking for you. Neither Lisa nor Bobby had any idea where you'd gone.'

The angel's attitude was one of contentment, though it was always difficult for Dean to understand exactly what the being was thinking.

'I was with Lisa for three months. If you were missing my company you could've shown up, dude.'

'You're right, Dean but I was having talks with Heaven. Now that we're together again, we can keep each other company. Maybe you could give me a hand in avoiding a second Apocalypse.'

'Raphael wants to try again, does he? Well, that's Heaven's problem. Sam and I have sacrificed enough.'

:

Cass schooled his expression into what he imagined an empathic expression might be. 'I'm sorry about Sam,' he lied. 'But perhaps if we throw ourselves into dealing with current problems, the loss of your brother might weigh less heavily on your shoulders.'

'Well, thanks for the offer,' Dean drawled, 'but you don't need to worry about me now that Sam's back.'

:

It took Castiel an incredulous moment to assimilate Dean's words. 'Sam's back, did you say?'

Dean's wide smile confirmed his words, even more so did the tall figure of the younger Winchester as he came through the bathroom door, a small towel wrapped tightly around his slim hips.