His Name Was Death And Hell Followed With Him Chapter 6 Rose Above The Noise And Confusion
His Name Was Death And Hell Followed With Him
Chapter Six
Rose Above The Noise And Confusion
July 1 2008
Cas paces back and forth, every so often he mutters something under his breath that Dean doesn’t quite catch.
It’s starting to piss him off because he’s no better off now than he was two months ago.
“Cas!”
Cas stops and turns to look at him. “Yes Dean?”
Dean crosses his arms over his chest and glares back at him. “What the hell are you doing? Can you explain that to me?”
Cas steps right up to him and Dean scrunches up his nose and how weird Cas is being, and that was saying something.
“Do you understand what this means?”
Dean cocks an eyebrow at him. “Uh no. Hence the need for a damn explanation.”
“Crowley is…”
Dean stares back at him, waiting for him to continue but he just stands there.
“Fuck sake Cas, what are you doing?”
“Crowley is the King of Hell.” Cas says.
Dean just stands there, staring at him so Cas waves his hand in front of his face.
“Dean, can you hear me?”
Dean swallows hard and takes a step back. “What did you just say?”
Cas mimics Dean’s body language and folds his arms over his chest. “I am not sure what you are referring to.”
Dean squeezes his eyes shut and sucks in a deep breath.
“Crowley is an awful…”
“Awful?” Dean cries out. “Are you damn well serious, that’s the word that you use to describe the ma… demon that you just called the King of Hell.”
“He is unrelenting,” Cas continues. “I have encountered demons that are the very definition of nightmares Dean but by far the worst of them, is Crowley.”
“Great,” Dean mutters. “And you think that he had something to do with Sam?”
Cas hesitates for a moment but then nods back at him. “Yes, I believe so.”
“I need to go and have another conversation with John,” Dean says. “He’s got a lot of explaining to do.”
Dean storms into the living room and lets the front door slam behind him, he cringes the moment it happens when he remembers that Cas was following him up the front
walk.
A minute later he hears the door open and close the door again and when he knows that Cas is inside, he storms through to the kitchen to find John and Mary sitting at the
table.
“Dean, what’s going on?” Mary asks him.
Dean stands in front of his father and crosses his arms over his chest. “A hunter?”
John places his coffee cup down and looks up at his son. “What are you talking about?”
Dean shakes his head, his blood boiling. “Don’t give me that bullshit Dad, for once in your fucking life, give me the damn truth.”
John exhales sharply and pushes his chair back and then motions for Dean to follow him to the living room.
A few minutes later, Cas and Mary follow them.
“Can someone please tell me what on earth is going on?” Mary demands.
Dean angrily paces back and forth. “I can’t believe you Dad, how the hell could you keep this from me, from us? Do you know what this means?”
“I know what it means,” John replies. “And you’re right. I should have told you the truth.”
“So he was right?” Dean says, pointing at Cas. “When he told you that he was a fucking Angel, you weren’t fazed. I didn’t see it then because of everything else that was
going on but you damn well knew.”
John shakes his head. “To be fair, I’ve seen a lot of things over the years but I’d never encountered an Angel.”
“It doesn’t matter if you had or not, you knew that there was a chance that they actually existed, you knew that there was a chance that Sam could still be alive and out there
somewhere.”
“Dean, I exhausted every single lead that I ever got. I tracked down and tortured demons for information but I never got anywhere, no one ever knew anything.”
“Until now that is,” Dean retorts. “You wanna know what we found out?”
John waves a hand at him to continue.
“Did you know that this is all your fault?” Dean says.
John stares back at him. “Excuse me?”
“The Winchesters,” Dean replies. “Do you know the name Thomas Bradley Winchester?”
John narrows his eyes. “What are you talking about? Where did you get that name from?”
Dean exhales sharply. “Does that really matter?”
John doesn’t answer for what feels like the longest time.
“Well?”
“From the little that I know, Thomas was my grandfather’s brother. He died when he was a teenager.”
Dean stares back at him. “Do you know how he died?”
John sighs heavily. “I’m sure that you’re about to tell me.”
Dean finally takes a seat and sits next to Cas who has remained silent this whole time.
“Great, well Thomas was apparently a psychotic delusional murderer who used dark magic to kill demons. Some demon who goes by the name of the King of Hell convinced
Thomas to kill a bunch of people and then he killed himself.”
“I’m sorry but who told you this? And did you just say the King of Hell?” John asks. “You’ve uh… you’ve had an encounter with Crowley?”
Dean narrows his eyes, his blood boiling again. “Should I even be surprised?”
“Dean, I’ve tried your whole lives to keep you out of it, I never wanted any of this for you; it was supposed to end with me.”
“You did a fucking good job with that Dad, keeping us out of it, you did such a good job that you’ve kept Sam out of it for 10 years.”
“Can I make a suggestion?” Cas says after sitting there in silence the whole time.
They all turn to look at him.
“We have more information now and the possibility of finding Sam alive has grown exponentially. With that information I can retrieve a spell that will help lower the walls of
the plane that Sam is trapped within and we might be able to free him.”
They continue to stare at him with wide eyes.
“Perhaps I will need to explain in a little more detail.”
“Yeah, maybe you should.” Dean replies.
“What on earth do you mean that Sam could be on another plane?”
Dean closes his eyes and sucks in a deep breath. Cas had tried explaining it to him about the different planes of existence and it had just made his head hurt.
“Maybe what we should focus on is this spell that you’re talking about,” John says. “What sort of spell?”
“It is very complicated,” Cas tells them. “And there are numerous risks to performing it.”
“What sort of risks?”
“Dropping the wall between the two planes to free Sam will also allow others to potentially escape,” Cas explains. “Others that could pose an enormous threat to humanity.”
Dean sighs again, of course there would be a catch to this whole thing.
“What are you talking about?” John wants to know. “I thought that wherever Sam was, it was trapped spirits.”
“There are but after speaking to a source, it is also used as a holding place for demons,” Cas says. “The worst kind of demons.”
Dean glances over at his mother who looks even paler than before.
“My son is trapped in some kind of hell with the worst kind of demons?” Mary replies, her breath catching in her throat.
“I wish that I could give you an answer that would appease your fears but I am afraid that I cannot do that.” Cas tells her.
An awkward silence fills the room.
“What can you do?” she retorts. “What can you tell me?”
“I can tell you that I will do everything in my power to bring your son home,” Cas says. “That I will make sure that nothing ever happens to him again.”
“Cas,” Dean replies. “That’s a pretty big promise to make.”
Cas turns in the seat to face him. “I understand that but I will not give up until you have Sam returned to you, I will spend the rest of his life, making sure that he is safe.”
July 2 2008
“Are you really sure that this is a good idea?” Dean asks. “To bring all of them into this, aren’t you putting them at risk of whatever else manages to get out?”
Cas rests his hand on Dean’s shoulder. “There is always that risk but as I have already explained in order for this to work, we need as many people who know and love Sam
to be there. The stronger the energy, the easier it will be.”
“What if one or more of them don’t believe in what we’re doing?” Dean points out.
“There is always that risk too but from what I know of them, they are all just as eager to have Sam back as you are, when people are desperate they will believe.”
“Well fine,” Dean answers. “But good luck explaining this to them.”
Dean pushes open the door and steps into the living room.
Ash, Jo and Jess were sitting on the sofa, Bobby was in the armchair to the right and John was in the chair to the left.
Mary had refused to be here for any of this and Dean understood that perfectly, the whole idea of messing with spells, demons and other planes of existence, it terrified her.
“Okay, so you’re finally going to start explaining what’s going on?” Jess asks. “But if you give me anymore bullshit, I will leave and I might not talk to you again for a very long
time.”
“I second that,” Ash adds. “Also does this have to be done here? I mean after that day, this place gives me the damn creeps.”
Dean shakes his head but ignores Ash’s comments.
Dean and Cas then spend the next hour explaining everything, Dean had wanted to leave some of the details out but Cas had insisted that they all know the truth.
“Okay,” Jo says after a while. “That is pretty much the most insane thing that I have ever heard.” She glances over at Dean, a concerned look on her face. “Are you damn
well serious? He’s brainwashed you and you can’t even see it.”
Cas stands from the chair and moves towards the wall.
Dean knew instantly what he was going to do and despite being terrified the first time he saw it, he was getting used to it now, even kinda enjoyed it.
The light in the room shifts and Dean watches, along with the others as Cas reveals his wings.
The gasps from the others soon silenced their doubts though and Jess shifts in the seat.
“Is this actually happening?” She asks.
“I told you,” Ash cries out. “That day I came over and there was a damn ghost in the window, you didn’t believe me.”
Jess looks over at him and narrows her eyes. “Well you’ll have to forgive me for not believing that insanely long winded story about seeing Sam in the window.”
“That’s a good point,” Jo says. “How was that possible?”
“Sam appears to have attached himself to Dean which makes perfect sense.” Cas tells them.
“But how?”
“I am afraid that I cannot answer that specifically, perhaps Sam, without even realizing it has been able to reach out from wherever he is.”
Jo glances over at Jess and cocks an eyebrow.
“Gees Cas, you’re fantastic with this whole explaining thing.” Jo tells him.
“Perhaps we could move on,” John says. “You were talking about a spell to help Sam.”
Cas turns to face him. “Yes, the spell.”
“Any more detail than that.” Bobby asks.
“Of course,” Cas answers. “There are some very rare, hard to get ingredients but I have some colleagues of mine working getting those. There is also a certain time that this
spell can be performed but we will work out all of those details in due time.”
“How long until we can do this?” Dean wants to know.
“It could be a few weeks, I’m sorry but that is the best that I can do.”
Dean sucks in a deep breath and squeezes his eyes shut. A moment later, he can feel Cas take his hand and he’s grateful for the smallest moment of comfort in all the
craziness.
“Okay,” John says a moment later. “Tell us what we need to do.”
******
Time had lost all meaning to him, the first few months after being trapped in this place, he had managed fairly well to keep track of what day, what month it was but then it all
started to bleed together.
The first few weeks were like a nightmare, he had tried desperately to get out of the building, he had clawed at doors and smashed at windows until his fingers bled but when
it became obvious that he wasn’t getting out, that’s when another fear set in.
It was three weeks before he realized that he hadn’t eaten or had a single drink.
After the first six weeks, he knew that he wasn’t going to die of starvation.
Boredom was another matter altogether.
He had searched the entire place, every nook and cranny and he thought he knew it well but there was always a part of him that thought it would sometimes change, a
hallway wouldn’t be quite as long; the room behind a certain door would be slightly larger or smaller.
After a while he had set himself up in one of the patient rooms on the second floor, it had been one of the nicer ones, it still had a decent mattress so he slept in there
whenever he felt the urge.
Along with losing the feeling of hunger, he was never really that tired. He slept probably every other night, if that.
The first few months, he had also been alone.
He remembers the exact date that changed though, September 3rd, 1998.
After spending the better part of a day pacing back and forth down a hallway, something had caught his eye and he spun on his heel, a shadow played across the hall, it was
as if someone had rounded the corner.
Feeling a prickle of fear course down his spine, he hesitates before following the shadow.
When he reaches the end of the hall and glances both ways, he couldn’t see anything but he could hear the footsteps.
A chill runs down his spine and he takes a step back.
Making his way back to his room, he closes the door and pushes a chair under the door handle.
He sits down on the bed, pushing himself as far into the corner as he can and pulls his knees up to his chest.
Squeezing his eyes shut, he starts humming to himself. He knows that it’s pointless, if there was anyone or anything there, he had no way to defend himself.
When he opens his eyes again he literally shakes in fear when he sees someone standing in front of the door.
The door he locked and put a chair against.
He can’t take his eyes off of whoever it is, he’s assuming it’s a man but he has no face and even without a face, without a mouth, he screams.
An ear piercing scream and Sam has to cover his ears.
Even when the ‘thing’ has disappeared, the sound of the scream lingers with him for days afterward.
The first year he’s trapped in there, he spends most of his time huddled in the corner of his room, his hands over his ears to drown out the sounds of those ‘things’ talking to
him, of screaming or trying to lure him out of the room.
Time had all but vanished in the second year and that was when the visitors, as he had started to call them became more and more frequent and more real.
The ones who had no faces still terrified him but they weren’t able to physically touch him.
The newer ones, they were even scarier and it didn’t take long for Sam to understand that they were very different, they were able to touch him, to rake nails across his skin,
to draw blood.
They would taunt him, get into his head and make him doubt his sanity.
And sometimes he let them, sometimes it was easier to just let them have their fun and soon they would bore of him and leave him alone.
For a while at least.
Sam had almost gotten used to this strange nightmare of a life he had now, when he was almost at the point of accepting that this was his fate, things changed.
He had no idea how much time had passed, for all he knew it could have been 5 years or it could have been 20 there was just no way to know.
But one day he was huddled in that same damn corner of the room, his eyes squeezed shut, knees pulled up to his chest and when he opened his eyes, he was somewhere
else entirely.
He was standing in the living room of a house he didn’t recognize but there were items scattered around the room that drew some familiarity.
Walking across the room, he stops in front of the mantel and reaches out, his fingers just inches from a photo frame.
His eyes grow wide as a rush of memory floods his mind.
He assumed it had been so long that his previous life had just slipped away from him, the memory of his family came rushing back, and he had a Mom and a Dad and a
Brother.
“Dean.”
How could he have forgotten about them? Who forgets their entire family?
He reaches for the photo again and his fingers brush against it causing it to rock back and forth.
How long could it take for someone to forget that they had people who loved them, people out there who would have been looking for him?
Wondering if he was still alive, if he was okay.
Sam squeezes his eyes shut and sucks in a deep breath.
When he opens his eyes again, he feels a sense of heartbreak as he finds himself back in that nightmare of a place.
But it another feeling fills him, a sense of hope.
He doesn’t know why it happened, of what drew him to that house but he desperately wanted to go back there.
And so he did.
It happened randomly but every so often he would find himself in that house and there was even the occasional encounter with his brother.
Sam had tried to reach out and touch him but Dean never seemed to react quite the way he had wanted.
He had screamed until his throat ached and then he would be dragged back to the building.
And he would think about Dean, about how different he looked, he was much older now and he looked sad, at least when he was on his own but more and more frequently
there was another person there, someone who made Dean smile.
The first few times he had been drawn to what he assumed was Dean’s house but then that stopped and he was ‘taken’ somewhere else, someone else’s home.
It didn’t take long to figure out that this new person’s name was Cas and that he and Dean were involved.
When Dean started spending time at Cas’, Sam would appear there instead of at Dean’s place.
Whenever he was dragged back to the institution, he would hold onto the feeling he had whenever he was around Dean and Cas and he would pray that one day soon he
would be released from this place.
July 20 2008
“We don’t have much time to perform the spell,” Cas announces. “A few minutes before midnight I will start reading the incantation and at exactly midnight, you will each pour the powder into the fire.”
“What are the odds that we can get Sam out of there and not let any other… thing, escape?” Jo asks.
“The spell will last for 10 minutes, when those minutes are up, the veil will close. 10 minutes is more than enough time for many of them to cross over, we just have to hope
that they are easily dealt with later.”
If Sam had been standing at that point, he would have doubled over in pain. He couldn’t even begin to describe the feeling.
It was as if he were being pulled in two different directions and the nausea he felt caused goose bumps to form along his arms and beads of sweat rolled down his forehead.
One minute he was curled up on the bed in the darkened room and the next he was standing in the middle of the rec room, smoke from a fire curled towards the roof and he
could hear voices.
Not only that, he could see who the voices belonged to and his hopes soared to new heights.
He couldn’t describe what he felt when he saw them, his father, he hadn’t seen him in so long.
And just like Dean had looked so much older, John had changed a lot too, his hair was greying and he looked worn down.
Seeing his friends again, it was the most normal he had felt in a very long time.
He moves across the room and stands next to Jess, he smiles down at her and wishes that she could see him.
He figured that soon he would, at least he hoped so.
Dean glances down at his watch, it was a little after 11:20pm, and there was still almost half an hour before they could start.
He looks over at Cas who was busy preparing the last ingredients for the spell.
Dean had listened carefully when Cas had explained what went into the powder but it hadn’t really made any sense to him, all he understood was that some of the
ingredients were extremely rare and would be difficult to find again if this didn’t work out.
Before they had even started, the supernatural activity in the room intensified. Dean could see the looks in their eyes, they were terrified and they had every right to be.
He still wasn’t really okay with this, most of it still didn’t seem real to him but he had to deal with it, if it meant getting Sam back, he would do almost anything.
Dean could feel movement behind but when he glances over his shoulder, there was of course no one there.
“Okay, this is starting to creep me the hell out,” Jess cries out. She turns so that Jo can see, there are two thin lines of blood trickling down her arm. “No one said anything
about this sort of stuff happening.”
John hands her a handkerchief and she wipes away the blood.
Ash had stayed silent for the most part but his eyes were darting back and forth and he kept spinning around, brushing away imaginary hands.
“Okay, how much longer is it going to be?” Jess wants to know. “I don’t know if I can handle this.”
“Just hold on a little longer.” Cas tells them.
Dean glances at his watch again, it was 11:49pm.
He draws in a deep breath and then makes his way over to his father and sits down on the old desk next to him.
“Do you think that we’re doing the right thing?” Dean asks him.
John glances up at him and crosses his arms over his chest. “If it can get Sam back I’m willing to try.”
“And you’re willing to let whatever else out as well?”
“I am.”
A few minutes later, Cas returns to the middle of the room, he’s holding an old looking book in one hand and the same powder as the others.
“It is almost time.”
They gather around again, forming the circle. Cas asks each one if they have their powder ready and after he receives a nod from each of them, he begins reading from the
book.
It happens almost instantly, the spirits in the room begin to materialize and Dean has to keep closing his eyes, whatever these people had died from, he could see their
wounds and they were not pretty.
One of them moved closer to him, a man who looked no older than Dean and half of his face was missing, when he turned around there was a huge hole in the back of his
head.
Dean glances away and forces himself to take slow deep breaths.
Cas keeps reading, the words meaning nothing to Dean and he looks around at the others.
He can see tears lining Jess’ cheeks, standing right next to her was a young woman, her face was frozen in a terrified scream, blood poured from her eyes and ears and
Dean had to look away.
When he looked back up, there was something else there. A man wearing dark jeans and a black jacket, his eyes kept flickering, going from normal to black and back again.
Dean remembered Cas telling him that a demon’s eyes were black. Whoever this guy was, he had been trapped there just like Sam had been, he was still very much alive
and judging by his angry expression and the way he started pacing back and forth, he was desperate to get out.
He sensed Bobby flinch beside him and Dean saw another young woman trying desperately to claw at his face.
Dean had to give him credit, Bobby was a tough old bastard and despite the terrified look in his eyes, he didn’t move, he didn’t bolt like Dean felt like doing.
“Pour the powder into the fire.” Cas tells them a moment later.
They all lean forward and pour the contents of their jars into the fire.
The fire spits and flickers, sending flames almost to the roof.
Dean closes his eyes for a split second, praying that this would work.
Sam watches from the corner of the room, he had no idea what was going to happen next, he didn’t know how they would get him out or if he would simply appear in front of
them.
There were so many spirits and demons waiting to cross back over, the room was almost packed and he flinched every time one of them moved closer to his family and
friends.
He was desperate for this to work, if something happened and he remained trapped, he had no idea how he would deal with that.
Dean steps back from the fire as the man with the missing face lurches toward him, the wound seemed fresher somehow, blood oozed down the side of his face and it Dean
gag.
“What’s happening?” Jo cries out. “Where is Sam?”
“Cas, you need to start talking, what’s going on?” Dean demands to know.
Cas holds his hand up. “Just give it time.”
They all turn towards the far right wall, the window smashes into a thousand pieces and they watch as three demons escape.
Bobby makes a move toward the window but Cas grabs his arm and stops him.
“We will worry about them later.”
Sam follows Dean across the room, he’s trying to talk to him but Dean still can’t see or hear him.
He tries reaching out to Dean but he’s always just an inch away.
He’s about to say something else when he suddenly doubles over and feels that pulling sensation again, the pain was almost too much to bear and he collapses to his knees.
The screaming starts a moment later and Sam knows that they can all hear it, the sound of god knows how many spirits crossing over.
He’s also fully aware that he doesn’t have much time, he needs to figure out how to get back and he needs to do it now.
The damn things were becoming more corporeal and getting stronger by the minute.
Dean was now fighting off two spirits, the guns they had brought earlier were loaded with salt rounds and they seemed to be helping but they weren’t putting an end to the
problem.
There were just so many of them and there was still no sign of Sam, every minute that ticked by, he became more panicked, convinced that Sam hadn’t been here after all,
that they wouldn’t be able to save him.
“Cas, a little help here.” Dean calls out.
John fires a salt round at the spirit trying to strangle him, it dissolves into mist only to reform on the other side of the room.
Suddenly silence fills the room and a blinding white light engulfs them.
Dean knows that they’re running out of time and he tries to not let the panic overcome him.
He has to shield his eyes against the light and when he drops his hands, his eyes grow wide at what he sees.
Huddled on the floor, his hands covering his ears, was Sam.
Everything that followed was like it was happening in slow motion.
Dean pushes himself forward and grabbed Sam under the arms and dragged him towards the door.
“Dad, Cas,” Dean cries out. “I have him, I have Sam.”
Cas moves toward the door and pulls it open, together they drag Sam out into the hall and Cas leaves Dean with him while he goes back into the room to help the others.
“My god, Sammy,” Dean whispers to his brother. He pulls him into a hug and Sam collapses against him. “I can’t believe that this is happening.”
Sam glances up at him, tears burning his cheeks.
“Dean?”
Dean nods back at him. “Yeah Sammy, it’s me. You’re okay now, you’re gonna be okay.”
Dean hears a crash come from the room and glances up to see Jo being flung across the room. He wants to go in and help them but he also can’t bear to leave Sam’s side.
A moment later, he can see Cas dart across the room and then he hears more crashing noises and he has to squeeze his eyes shut.
“John, look out.”
Bobby picks up the gun that was knocked out of his hand and points it at the spirit who is trying to rip John’s arm from his body.
He dissolves into mist and they don’t bother to keep track of where it rematerializes because there were a dozen more to takes it place.
“Dean?” John calls out.
“He is outside with Sam,” Cas tells him. “We need to leave as well, now!”
Bobby helps Jess and Jo to the door while John helps Ash who is cradling his arm against his chest, John is fairly certain that it’s broken.
The fire was almost burnt out now and they all knew that the spell was almost done, it was just a matter of a minute or two.
They all manage to make it down the stairs and outside to the relative safety of the courtyard when part of the building explodes.
Dean is thrown backwards as shards of glass and burning pieces of wood scatter across the courtyard.
In the blast, he was forced to drop Sam who was lying on his stomach on the ground, Dean crawls over to him and flips him over, resting Sam’s head in his lap.
“Sammy, are you okay?”
A small groan escapes Sam’s lips and Dean lets out a sigh of relief.
Sirens from the used parts of the Institution start blaring out, Dean knows that the police won’t be too far away and he knows that they have to get out of there.
When they’ve recovered enough from the explosion, John makes his way over to his sons and pulls Sam into a hug.
“Dad, we need to get him to a hospital.”
John shakes his head. “We can’t do that son, how on earth would we ever explain this?”
Dean knows that he’s right, they couldn’t take that chance.
Dean hadn’t left Sam’s side. Now Sam was laid out on the table in the kitchen, his long legs hanging off the end.
He had passed out in the car and they had had to carry him inside.
Mary had given him a sedative when they had laid him out on the table, she had wanted him to be calm while they checked out his wounds.
When she pulled off his shirt, they were all horrified to see the scarring on his body.
Deep white scars ran the length of his back and arms.
What looked like claw marks, marked the skin on his chest and stomach and at the sight of it Mary breaks down in tears and John just manages to get a chair behind her
before she collapses.
Dean glances over at Cas. “You have to do something.”
“I can of course heal his scars,” Cas tells them. “But until he his awake and coherent, I cannot heal his mind.”
Dean nods back at him and then Cas steps up to the table and reaches out and places his index finger on Sam’s forehead.
A moment later he takes a step back and the others look on in amazement as the scars begin to fade from Sam’s skin.
July 21 2008
It was early morning before the others had finally left. Cas had healed their wounds and John and Bobby had taken Ash and the girl’s home.
Surprising even Dean, they had all refused to have the memories of the night taken away from them, he wondered if they would change their minds eventually but he figured
that it was still to surreal for them.
Cas had also instructed John to paint the symbols on the walls of each of their houses to protect them until they could figure out something more permanent.
Dean hadn’t moved from the chair next to the table, he was still holding Sam’s hand but he’d fallen asleep an hour or so earlier.
He was woken up sometime around four am when his parents were talking in the living room, Dean sat up in the chair and craned his neck to see round the doorway.
“John, what are we going to do? What are we going to tell people?” Mary asks him.
“We don’t have to tell them anything,” John replies. “This is no one else’s business, we only just got our son back; we don’t need to worry about any of that.”
Mary sighs heavily. “John, look at him. He’s been gone for 10 years and we have no idea what he’s been through, how are we supposed to help him heal from that?”
“You don’t help him,” Dean says making his way into the room. It was the first time he had been away from Sam since they had gotten him back. “Cas is going to help him.
Cas is pretty much the only one who can help him.”
“Dean,” Mary says. “You don’t know what your brother has been through, Cas might not be as helpful as you think.”
Dean shakes his head. “No, you’re…”
He’s cut off midsentence when they all hear a noise behind them.
Sam was sitting up on the table examining his arms.
“What’s going on?” He asks as they make their way into the kitchen. “What happened to me?”
Dean sits back down in the chair. “What do you remember?”
“No, it’s not that,” Sam replies. “The scars, where are the scars?”
Dean narrows his eyes and leans forward. “What do you mean, you almost sound upset that they’re gone.”
Sam shakes his head. “No, not upset, just confused.”
“I removed them,” Cas says as he walks into the room. He rests his hand on Dean’s shoulder and then moves around the table. “Sam, would you like me to remove the
memories of your time there? Because if you do, then I can make it so that you do not remember any of it.”
“I uh…” Sam says. “I don’t know.”
“It has to be your decision though, I will not do this unless you agree 100%.” Cas replies.
“I don’t know what I want, this is a lot to take in.” Sam tells him.
“Perhaps we should give him a few days to adjust,” John cuts in. “We have plenty of time to deal with this.”
Sam swings his legs around and drops his feet to the floor, he wobbles slightly and Dean reaches out to grab his arm to steady him.
“Sam, you should lie back down, you need to rest.” Dean tells him.
Sam glances up at him and nods slightly. “Yeah, I guess so.”
Dean gets to sit in the peace and quiet at least until he hears the front door open. He doesn’t need to look to know that it’s Cas.
He takes a seat next to him and reaches over and takes the beer bottle from him.
Dean watches him as he takes a long pull and then makes a horrified face.
“You managed to swallow any of that yet?”
Cas slightly shakes his head and Dean can’t help but laugh.
Several minutes later after Cas has managed to swallow as much of the beer as he can, he leans over into the garden and spits the rest of it out.
“That’s disgusting.” Dean tells him.
“How on earth can you drink that? That is the vilest thing I have ever tasted.”
Dean laughs again. “So says you.”
“He will be alright.” Cas says after a while.
Dean inhales deeply and finishes off his beer, when he’s finished he places the bottle on the bottom step.
“Cas, can you really erase Sam’s memories of that place?”
Cas leans forward and takes Dean’s hand in his and looks him in the eye. “I promise you that I can but Dean I need you to understand that this will be Sam’s decision, I will
only do what Sam asks of me.”
Dean waits a moment and then nods back. “I understand, I know that it’s his choice Cas.”
They sit in silence for a moment and then Dean leans forward and grabs the collar of Cas’ coat and pulls him forward.
He presses his lips to Cas’ and then he can’t help himself, he laughs again at the memory of watching Cas drinking the beer.
“I did not realize that kissing me was so amusing.” Cas says a moment later.
Dean shrugs his shoulders. “What can I say, you amuse me, constantly.”
“I do?” Cas asks and Dean couldn’t tell if he was serious or not.
Dean shakes his head and then kisses him again.
“Oh I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt you.”
Dean and Cas break apart and turn to face the door. Sam was standing there and he looked like a deer caught in the headlights.
“You didn’t interrupt anything,” Dean tells him. “Are you okay, do you need something?”
Sam shakes his head. “No, I don’t need anything I just wanted to get some air. Mom’s been watching me like a hawk and I just wanted…”
Dean nods again. “Yeah, I get that but Sammy, you have to know that we’re all gonna be watching you like a hawk, not one of us is going to let you out of our sights.”
Sam draws in a deep breath and then takes a seat next to Dean.
“I know that, it’s just going to take some getting used to.” Sam replies.
Dean slings his arm across Sam’s shoulders and pulls him into half hug.
“Well, you’ll have to get used to it real quick.” Dean tells him.
Sam glances over at Cas. “There’s something else that I’ll have to get used to.”
Dean draws in a deep breath and quickly looks at Cas before back at Sam. “Yeah, I uh… I wanted to talk to you about that.”
Sam shakes his head. “No, Dean that wasn’t what I meant, I mean yeah it was a little weird seeing you make out with a guy just now but what I meant was that it will take
some getting used to seeing you with the same person.”
Dean narrows his eyes. “Oh great, you’re a funny guy now.”
Sam smiles back at him and then stands up and takes a step to the right so he’s standing in front of Cas.
Cas stands up and wonders what’s happening, he gets an answer when Sam pulls him into a hug.
“I wanted to thank you Cas, for everything.”
“I only did what any else would have done.”
Sam lightly shakes his head. “No, there aren’t many people who would have done that and I’m not just talking about bringing me back, I want to thank you for being there for
Dean.”
Cas smiles to himself and then takes a step back.
“I also want to talk to you about this whole memory erasing thing.”
“Of course,” Cas replies. “But there will be time for that, I think that you do need to take a few days to let yourself adjust to being back. I am not going anywhere Sam.”
Sam glances over at Dean and they share a smile before Sam heads back into the house.
“Wow, okay well that went better than I thought it would.” Dean says.
“I am not sure that I understand.”
Dean rolls his eyes. “Don’t worry about it at the moment, we should probably eat something and then you need sleep Sam."
The others had their fill of dinner rather quickly but even an hour later, Sam was still eating and John was glad that he had brought four large pizzas, Sam had also guzzled down two full bottles Coca Cola.
“Sammy, you should slow down with that you’re going to make yourself sick.” Dean tells him.
Sam shakes his head and reaches across the table and picks up another hunk of garlic bread.
“I haven’t eaten in 10 years Dean, so bite me.”
Dean smiles despite himself and catches Cas’ eye who smiles back at him.
A few hours later, they’re gathered in the living room, Dean and John are telling stories about the things that had happened to them over the past 10 years.
Sam sat there taking it all in, there was so much catching up that he had to do, not just with his family and friends but life in general.
When he had disappeared, he was barely 15 years old and a lot had changed in the last 10 years.
Sam had spent a good 30 minutes marvelling over Dean’s cell phone, it was unlike anything he had ever seen before and he was a little reluctant to give it back.
Dean found it strange that Sam had also made a point to mention the fact that he was 25 now and had missed his junior and senior years of high school as well as college.
He understood perfectly that there was a lot of change that Sam had to get used to and a lot of things that he would have to work out for himself.
A little after 4pm, Sam excused himself and went upstairs to his room.
Pushing open the door, he steps into the room and finds that everything is exactly the same.
It takes him a little by surprise, his old Gameboys and clothes that he actually remembered leaving on the back of his chair, they were still there.
He walks over to the bed and sits down, reaching out for his pillow he places it in his lap.
It was the most surreal feeling, being back in his own room.
He had longed for it, that was until he had forgotten about it, but those memories that he had at the start came flooding back, the desperation he had to get home, the longing
to be with his family and friends again.
Glancing around the room, he notices the photo frame and stands up, walking across the room he picks it up.
It was a family photo that Mary had insisted be taken, they had gone to Aspen, Colorado to go skiing, that part of the vacation never actually happened, but Sam
remembered having a lot of fun anyway.
For some reason, glancing at the picture, he recalled the previous night when they had released him from that hell hole. All he could see where the spirits and demons that
had also been released.
And he wanted badly to do something to help.
Chapter Seven