Picking up the Pieces (SPN, Dean)

[MissBayliss]

Chapter Thirty One

 

Bobby stayed at the house 2 more days, the boys 1 week. Sam was surprised it had taken Dean that long to finally pull the plug but he’d still had some healing to do, in a different sense of the word. Mainly he’d just needed some sleep. Sam wasn’t keeping too close an eye on the situation but he knew Dean still kept the valium next to his bed, and he was pretty sure he was popping them every night. But, hey, if it meant he got some rest, Sam wasn’t complaining.

Bobby had loaded his car up with all the stuff the boys wouldn’t need on the road and took it to his house in South Dakota. Sam had managed to get the red paint off the floor but it meant the hard woods needed re-staining, and that took time. Aside from that there were still carvings in the walls behind the pictures, that Dean had drawn to keep the angels out, and that Sam and Bobby had altered to let them in. Without plastering the whole place Sam couldn’t see an easy fix, so he’d told Karen, their landlord. Turns out Bobby must have spoken to her first, because she didn’t react, just told them the house would be empty for any time they needed it.

Dean mostly worked out, trying to get some of his muscle back, besides that he slept… and drank. And didn’t do much else.

How Dean took to a new body wasn’t good. Because Castiel had healed his liver better than it ever was, and Dean took that to mean he could drink even more.

“So, Cas gives you a new body and your first instinct is to run it into the ground,” Sam frowned, as Dean popped the top on a beer, sitting on the couch, wearing a grey hoodie. He’d just been working out in his room, so he was a little sweaty.

Dean grimaced, “It’s one drink,” he shrugged.

“When is it ever just one drink?”

Dean looked affronted. Naked, raw, vulnerable. And Sam wished he hadn’t said anything. Dean was fragile. Maybe he never used to be. Or maybe he always was.

“Screw you,” Dean moaned, taking a swig.

Sam sighed.

If you can’t beat ‘em.

He grabbed a beer from the fridge and plonked down on the couch next to his brother.

“Hey,” Sam muttered, tilting his bottle towards Dean.

Dean narrowed his eyes for a moment, assessing, before he angled his bottle the same way and clinked the necks together.

Sam was the first to speak.

“How long do you think… before the angels show up again?”

Dean chewed his lip, “Dunno, Sammy. Who knows what the hell their plan is.”

Sam mulled that over for a moment.

“… So, what’s our plan then?”

Dean took another swig, “First… I’m gonna finish this beer. Then I’m gonna take a shower. Then I’m gonna run into town, few loose ends I wanna tie up… and then… we drive.”

Sam looked at Dean, “You wanna split today?”

Dean looked at his bottle, “It’s time, I think.”

Sam blew out a breath, “Yeah, you’re probably right.”

Dean nodded.

“Got a direction you wanna go in?” Sam asked.

“To be honest, Sammy, I hadn’t thought much about it.”

Sam watched Dean take a long pull on his beer. He cleared his throat, “I guess we should look into demonic signs and omens, try and rustle up anything on Lilith or the seals?”

Dean smiled, “Yeah,” he muttered, putting his beer to his lips.

“What’s so funny?” Sam asked, smiling himself.

“Nothing,” Dean shrugged, “I just, uh… I guess I missed this. Drinking a beer with you and talking about… demonic omens,” he laughed.

Sam let out a laugh. Soon they were both in hysterics.

Dean had to put his beer down on the coffee table so he didn’t spill it everywhere.

“Oh, Sam… I can’t remember the last time I laughed that hard,” Dean said, wiping tears from his eyes.

Sam held his stomach, “Me neither.”

Dean leaned back in his seat, still smiling.

“We should do it more often,” Sam added.

His brother nodded, and slapped Sam’s leg before he pushed himself off the couch.

“So, uh, demonic omens?”

Sam gave a curt nod, “I’m on it.”

“That’s my boy,” Dean muttered before heading down to take a shower.

And that was the first time in months Sam felt like he truly breathed.

 

…

 

Dean took a shower and drove over to Riley’s. There was really only one loose end he had to tie up.

“You want a cup of coffee?”

Dean stood on her front porch, watching her expression, and reading something there he hadn’t seen before.

“No, I probably shouldn’t stay.”

“You and Sam taking off today?” she leaned her hip on the doorframe.

“Yeah… we’ve just been cleanin’ up the place the last couple of days. Time to head out,” he had no idea what he wanted to say. He hadn’t thought this through.

“Where you going?”

Dean rubbed the back of his head, “We, uh, don’t actually know yet.”

She smiled at that.

“We’ve just been on the road our entire lives… Sam and me… we get itchy if we stay in the same place too long,” he laughed.

“Right,” she said.

“I know it’s hard to understand.”

“Dean, I run a bar. I’ve met my fair share of drifters. You don’t have try and explain.”

Dean felt a flush creep up his neck. He didn’t usually get embarrassed in front of women, but this situation wasn’t entirely familiar.

“Riley, I…” he clenched his jaw and looked down.

He felt her hand on his cheek. He looked up at her.

“These last few months haven’t been easy for me. At all. I just wanted to say thanks. For helping Sam… for helping me. We couldn’t have done it without you.”

“Yes, you could,” she smiled.

“Well, I’m glad I didn’t have to,” Dean replied, “I haven’t had a lot of good fortune in my life. You… you are a good thing.”

Riley still smiled, so sure of herself, which is what Dean always liked about her, “Well, Dean… if you ever decide to come back, your house will be here, Sam’s job will be here… I will be here.”

Dean shook his head minutely, “What if you meet someone else?”

Riley smiled, “There’ll never be anyone else.”

“Riley…”

“The door is always open, okay?”

Dean smiled even though it broke his heart a little bit, “Okay.”

Riley put a hand on the back of his neck and pulled herself in to give him a brief kiss.

“Look after yourself, Dean.”

Dean looked her in the eye, and answered her sincerely, “I’ll try.”

 

…

 

Dean was waiting by the driver’s side door of the car, staring across the roof at the house as Sam came out carrying the last duffle bag. Sam turned and locked the door behind him, looking at the key briefly, he stuffed it in his back pocket and looked up at the house. Dean smiled and looked down at his feet. When he looked back up, Sam was coming down the porch steps, adjusting the bag over his shoulder.

“That’s it,” he said, stuffing the bag through the open back window.

Dean tapped on the roof of the impala, thinking.

“It’s kinda sad, isn’t it? After all the crap that’s happened here… I didn’t think I’d be sad to go.”

Sam smiled at Dean’s admission, “It hasn’t exactly been easy… but it was a good a place as any to crash.”

Dean nodded.

“Dean, I… I know this has been hard on you. All of it. I just want you to know I’m always gonna be here. If we are gonna get back on the road, back to fighting the fight, this has to work. I need you to talk to me.”

“Goes both ways, Sammy,” Dean quirked an eyebrow.

Sam sighed, “Y-you’re right. No more secrets… No more going through things alone, okay?”

Dean pushed his lips out, nodding as he mulled it over, “Deal.”

“Deal?”

Dean grinned, “Yeah, Sammy, deal. If I, uh… if I’m struggling I’ll let you know.”

Sam seemed to relax a little with relief.

“Where’d you get to with the omens?” Dean asked, happily changing the subject.

Sam pulled a crumpled up piece of paper out of his pocket, “Billings, Montana.”

Dean clicked his tongue, “That’s a good two day drive.” 

“Yeah,” Sam said, knowingly.

Dean grinned in satisfaction. He was way past due to just drive.

Still smiling at each other the boys opened their doors with synchronized squeaks, dropping into their seats.

Dean started the car and felt her rumble, “You hungry?”

“Starving,” Sam replied.

“Can you wait a half hour? I wanna lay down some rubber first,” Dean smirked.

Sam huffed a laugh, “Sure, man. Do what you gotta do.”

Dean sniffed, nodding again to himself, “And, Sam… Thanks… for –“

Sam held up a hand, “Dean, you’d do the same for me.”

“Damn right I would.”

Sam smiled, gazing out the window at the house.

Dean put her in drive and pulled away. Away from the house where everything had fallen apart. Away from the street where all the neighbours new his name and the sounds of his screams. Away from the bar where Sam had worked many days and many nights to be able to make rent. Away from the hospitals, and the clinics, and the doctors who he had spent so much time with. Away from the girl who’d started out as just a bit of fun and had turned into so much more. Away from the world where monsters were only in books and the Winchester boys weren’t the ones that dealt with it.

And as Dean hit the highway and sped down the street away from that life, Sammy riding shotgun, he didn’t look in the rear view. He didn’t look back, not once.

 

End. 

 

Thanks for joining me on this journey, lovely people. It's been a hell of a ride. 

 

[telltale]

I already commented elsewhere, so I'll just add that you are my hero for this. 

[Shamaël]

Oh, I had not seen that you had finished this story! I'm sorry if I didn't comment it earlier... I've been busy lately and not much on the forum...

Anyway, this story was amazing from the beginning to the end. You did a wonderful job analysing the brothers' interaction and love for secrets to protect one another... and of course Dean's illness was just... just... I'm speechless.

On 25/09/2017 at 5:29 AM, MissBayliss said:

“So, uh, demonic omens?”

Sam gave a curt nod, “I’m on it.”

“That’s my boy,” Dean muttered before heading down to take a shower.

And that was the first time in months Sam felt like he truly breathed.

That was perfect. I love the two of them so much... Thank you for this story, it was really great!

(By chance, don't you want to write anything with Castiel, who is definitely my favorite?!? )

Bravo et merci !

[Leafeon78]

This was very nice to read thanks for writing  .

Edited October 5, 2017 by Gengar
Smiley