"I guess I felt guilty for wanting you so much. I guess I thought I deserved to be punished."
"Dean, no one deserved that. Every time you came in with a new bruise...I hated him for what he did to you. If I had known then what I know now, I would have killed him."
"Hey," Dean said, pulling Sam close to him, "that's all over now. It's you and me. Nothings going to change that."
"Dean," Sam began, resting his head against his brother's chest, "do you remember what you said to me after the thing with Max? That as long as you're around, I'd be alright."
"I remember," Dean said, stroking Sam's brunette locks, " no matter what happens tonight, promise me you'll never leave me."
"Sammy, nothing bad is going to happen. We'll get dad and figure out what those two are up to. I'm never letting you out of my sight. You got that?"
"Yeah," Sam half smiled, lifting his head to see Dean's eyes, "I got that."
The two lay together in silence waiting for the call. When Dean opened his eyes, Sam was kneeling over him on all fours, kissing him. The wings were back.
"Sam, what's going on? Did they call?"
"Kiss me," Sam demanded, not responding to Dean's question.
"What about dad?"
"Kiss me now," Sam growled.
"I'm scared Sam. What's going on?"
"We need to do this."
"Why?"
Sam shook his head. "Trust me."
That was the one thing Dean could do, always. He pulled Sam down into a ferocious kiss. Sam's hands were all over him, his fingernails were more like claws and he was tearing at Dean's clothing. Dean could feel the sharp claws digging into his flesh. His heart was racing but he vowed to trust Sam.
Sam was pushing deep inside him, biting his neck with sharp teeth. Dean could hear himself groaning. The pain of teeth and nails matched equally by the pleasure of Sam claiming him one more time.
Dean's eyes flew open. His cell was ringing.
"Megan?" He asked.
"No, it's me Dean. They let me go. Somethings wrong."
"They just let you walk out of there?" Dean was confused until he realized Sam wasn't with him.
Panic ensued. Dean told his father to meet him at the motel and clicked off. He ran to the bathroom and flung the door open. He dressed quickly and ran to the front door. His car was still there.
'Trust me.' That's what Sam had said. 'Promise you'll never leave me.'
"I've never left you Sammy. You're the one who keeps leaving me."
&&&&&&&&&
Dean had started with the obvious place, the cabin. It was empty. John thought it best to let his son take the lead and did what he could to assist. Dean had insisted that his dad file a missing person's report. They stayed in Harlan for over a month before John finally convinced Dean to return to Lawrence. During the first weeks of their return, Dean slept all day. John clued Missouri in on how Sam and Dean had communicated before. When sleep wouldn't come, Dean resorted to pills and liquor to help him sleep. John became concerned. It would be another month before he convinced Dean to resume hunting with him. The prospect of finding Sam being the only carrot he could dangle to entice him.
The thing John never mentioned was the possibility that when they found Sam, he might have to be destroyed. While Dean seemed oblivious to it, Missouri and John noted the rise of demonic activity since Sam's disappearance. Some activity had even reached mainstream media although it was reported and regarded with skepticism. More important was the continued string of disappearances nationwide. Missouri and John began to wonder just how many missing people were part of what they began to refer to as' the gathering'. Missouri spent her free time gathering information on missing people never found. It was becoming clear that some sort of army or force was being gathered that needed to be dealt with. The problem was if all Dean had told John was true, Sam was at the forefront of it all. John knew that convincing Dean that once found, Sam might have to be dealt with would be near impossible. In fact he feared he might end up losing both his sons in the process. Some days John was even angry at Mary. Her secret had cost him all he held dear, his family. At other times John was willing to sacrifice himself if Dean and Sam could be happy again. Up until now, the hunt had been about revenge and his loss. Now he stood to lose everything.
"You could just walk away," Missouri had said once. "Let it be someone else's problem."
John had considered it. He knew there were others like him. He'd met them. Formed an alliance with more than a few of them. But John was never a quitter. He wasn't sure he could just pretend none of this was his problem and leave it to everyone else; not even for the sake of his family. He knew he was in a no win situation. He'd lost Sam, Dean was all but lost to him now. If they found Sam, knowing what he was, knowing what his destiny was, could he stand by and watch it happen? And more importantly, would he lose Dean to Sam? Could he just walk away? He didn't think so.
&&&&&&&&&&
More and more Dean began to despise sleep. For him it served one purpose only, to be with Sam again. Sam had asked him to trust him the last time they'd made love. As the days, weeks and months went by, that was becoming harder and harder. His loneliness had turned to frustration and bordered on anger and hatred.
'Why did you do it Sammy? Why did you make me promise to stay with you and then leave.?' He wondered everyday since the day he knew Sam was gone.
John had wanted Dean to rejoin him hunting. He kept promising they might find Sam if he did. The hunt held no interest for Dean anymore and he was losing hope that he'd ever see Sam again. When sleep wouldn't come, Dean had started drinking heavily and taking sleeping pills. Nothing was working. It was like his body was immune to such things. He knew John and Missouri were worried about him. Missouri had even been nice to him and stopped fussing with him. Instead she fussed over him. Bringing soup to his room, feeling his head for a temperature, sitting in his room and watching him sleep on those rare instances when he could sleep. When he couldn't, he took to long runs and working out vigorously. He knew his dad thought he was preparing for his return to hunting. Dean wasn't sure what he was preparing for. He just seemed to have pent up energy that needed a release.
He had agreed to leave with his dad by the end of the week. He mentally ticked off another day with out Sam. After a particularly long run and longer workout, Dean returned home. Missouri and John were out. He jogged upstairs and stripped to take a shower. His shoulders were aching. He tried to work out the kinks as he walked across the hall to the bathroom and opted for a nice hot bath instead of a shower. He adjusted the water and waited for the tub to fill. His shoulder blades were itching like crazy. He bent his arm back to scratch when he felt a long scar running down the length of one. He reached over to scratch the other and found the same thing. Dean stood frozen for a moment. Memories flooded his mind. He ran to Missouri's room and grabbed her sterling silver mirror and headed back to the bathroom. He had to hold the thing at an awkward angle to see what he suspected he would. Even though he prepared himself for it, the shock of the familiar scars he'd seen on Sam's back startled him and Missouri's mirror went crashing to the ground.
"Fuck," he groaned.
He ran downstairs and grabbed a broom and dustpan and ran back up to the bathroom to clean up the mess. "Missouri is going to kill me," he grumbled. After cleaning up the mess, Dean sank into the water trying to figure out what his next move was. The water felt so good that he sank deeper into it, letting his eyes drift close.
"I told you you were a late bloomer."
Dean's eyes flew open. "Sammy?"
No one was there.