Remember What You're Fighting For

by Visionairy

Coda to 6x08. S6 Spoilers. Crowley decides that Dean needs to be reminded of exactly what he's fighting for, and what he's risking by not following his rules. Follows directly after All Dogs Go to Heaven.

Dean watched as Sam got up from the picnic table and dumped their scraps in the trash. As miserable as it was to hear that Sam was really only slightly more attached to him than a soda, at least Sam had decided that he did want to be 'Sam' again. And, yeah, that was a start.

Playing ball with Crowley, however, was like a hot ember burning under his skin. He wanted to blame Sam for it, to fight Sam about it, but even if Sam had walked away from Crowley's offer, Dean was well aware that he couldn't do it. The fact that Sam might have allowed 150 innocents to die to regain his soul was still hard to swallow, but he had to remember that Sam hadn't chosen to ditch his soul. At least he didn't think so. If Sam had come back from hell without his legs, Dean wouldn't have blamed him, he would have done everything in his power to help him. It was just a whole hell of a lot harder this way. Because not only did Sam come out of hell without a soul, but the trust between them had also gone MIA. And that was proving to be a lot more difficult.

When Sam approached, his voice was all business. "Ready to hit the road?"

Squinting into the sun, Dean looked up at his brother, "And where exactly is it that you want to go?"

"I thought we'd go to …" He paused. Looking puzzled for a moment, Sam shifted his feet. "Where do you think we should go now, Dean?"

"Wow, Sam …" a smile broke out across Dean's face, "That actually hurt, didn't it."

Sam rolled his eyes. "Hilarious, Dean."

Dean stood up, "Come on soul-less guy. I think we should head over to Bobby's and see if he's been able to pull together anything for us."

Sam stood, but didn't immediately follow as Dean headed off toward the parking lot. Counting to three in his head, Dean was about to turn around to check on him, when he heard footsteps falling in behind him. Dean shouldn't have been surprised, or unusually grateful, but after the way Sam had been acting lately, the trust was still going to take a while to come back.

Rounding the front of the Impala, Dean pulled the door open only to find the driver's seat already occupied.

"You boys missing something?"

Before Crowley had uttered his second word, two guns were pointed directly at him.

"Get the hell out of my car, Crowley!"

"Dean, really? Put those little cap pistols away and tell me what I want to hear. Point me in the direction of my skinwalker Alpha, and I'll get out of this rust bucket of yours and be on my way."

The hunters stowed their guns, "Skinwalker? I thought we were after a werewolf. Didn't you think we were after a werewolf, Sam?"

"That's what we were told, Dean."

Crowley stepped out of the car. "Well boys, It appears to me that you have neither … though I do have it on good authority that you met up with him. " He leaned casually against the fender. "So, Dean … Sam … I ask you. Where .. is .. he?"

Dean gestured over to his brother. "We tried, Crowley. He was just too fast for us. "

"Really …" Crowley drew out, looking back and forth between the two Winchester, "Because I have on good authority that he was full of bullet holes. So not so fast after all, eh boys?"

Sam rolled his shoulders and took a step forward, and Dean put his hand up to stop him.

"Look, Crowley, we tried to capture him, but it didn't work out. We'll get the next one." He moved toward the driver's door. "What new pet do you have for us today?"

Something of a smile came across the demon's face. "Oh, I've got something for you now, alright."

Dean didn't like the tone of that.

"Dean, I just don't think my little demonstration at the pig shack the other day made enough of an impression on you."

Sam froze where he was, and Dean could see how rigid his muscles had become.

"But I understand that mistakes can be made. And I like to reward a good effort." Crowley started to move toward the passenger side of the car.

Dean quickly abandoned his position protecting the driver's seat of the Impala, and moved quickly between Crowley and his brother. "Keep your hands to yourself, big guy. Sam isn't interested."

"Oh you'd be surprised what he's interested in these days." Crowley stepped closer, "But I want to see what you're interested in, Dean."

"Sam, get in the car."

"Oh, yes, Sam, do get in the car," Crowley smiled, "You may want some privacy for this."

Sam continued to stand his ground and Dean didn't move an inch. "You stay away from him."

"Dean … I don't know what you're getting so upset about. I'm going to do you a favor. I'm going to forgive you boys for, " he shrugged, "… losing my skinwalker. And I'm even going to give you one more chance to go after an Alpha."

Dean wasn't buying it.

"It's your lucky day – see, I even left the file on your seat."

Sam looked over at the Impala's seat where a manila folder lay with a couple of newspaper clippings sticking out of it.

Dean shook his head, trying to figure out what Crowley's game was.

Crowley just smiled, "This one really is a werewolf - in northern Georgia. I'm sure you'll both enjoy the mountain air around this time of year."

Dean narrowed his eyes, "A werewolf?" This didn't sit right and Dean needed to figure out what was going on, and fast. "Right … well, we'll get right on that for you, Skippy. Don't call us, we'll call you."

At that, Crowley took another step forward, "But there's one more thing, Dean. "

Of course there was. Dean's hand drifted back towards the holy water flask in his back pocket.

"I think you need to know exactly what you're fighting for. That's what you want, right - you both want Sam's soul back?"

Dean looked between the demon and his brother.

"Well, for the next five minutes, you can have it."

Sam started to move forward, "Wha..?"

"You can thank me later."

And at the exact moment that Crowley disappeared, Sam dropped to his knees keening.

Dean whirled around and grabbed him by the shoulders. "Sam!"

Suddenly Sam was sobbing, great heaving sobs that came from deep within him. There was no effort to stifle them, and no sign that he was calming down. The effect was heart wrenching.

"Sam!" Dean dropped down to grab his brother's shoulders, "Sam – what's wrong? What's going on?"

Sam's eyes flew open at the touch. Utter despair transformed to joy, and in another split second to panic. "Dean! Oh my god, Dean!" Sam latched onto his brother's arms with incredible strength. His eyes locked on Dean, but then flew around to check his surroundings before focusing right back on his brother. "You found me!"

Dean flinched, "Sammy, … is that… Sammy, is that you?"

Sam responded by jumping to his feet and pulling Dean forcibly with him. He looked frantically around him, "We have to go now!" He pulled harder on his arm but didn't have a clear direction to go, "We've got to get out of here. He'll come back. We have to leave now or he'll hurt us!"

Sam's chest was heaving in and out, but Dean needed him to calm down and talk to him. He needed to know what was happening. "Sam… I got you. Crowley's gone. I'm here, talk to me."

"Dean!" Sam's voice went up two octaves, "I can't. .. he'll .." Spotting the Impala Sam pushed Dean towards the driver's door. "We have to go, Dean! Please! I promise I'll never run away again! Just get us out of here, Dean – go, now!"

Sam yanked the passenger door open and dropped into the seat, cowering as low as he could yet still able to scan the area, and gesturing emphatically at Dean to get a move on.

Dean quickly joined him and started up the engine. He was at a loss here, but he'd do whatever would help calm his brother down. "Okay, .. where to?"

"Dean," Sam looked at him as if he was the slowest person in the world, "Drive, go .. I don't care … just get moving … somewhere he can't find us. Take us to Dad. Now, Dean .. please!"

Dean gunned the engine and hit the road. 'Take us to Dad?' What was the kid thinking? He looked over at his brother, but Sam was still looking around frantically, and his breaths were still coming way too fast. His hand reached out and grabbed Dean's sleeve, tight, and then he actually slid across the seat so his side was lined up against his brother's. Dean glanced over to see big fat tears rolling freely down Sam's face.

"So, does this mean… is this …," Dean gestured at Sam, ".. is your soul back?"

Sam shuddered next to him, "Dean, I waited. I've been waiting and waiting for you and Dad to come get me, and all the time he .." Sam's head dropped to his hands and the sobbing took over again.

"Sammy," Dean gently urged. When he got no response, he started to pull over to the side of the road.

Sam's head flew up at the change. "Dean," he squealed. "No! Don't stop! Go .. keep going. You can't stop yet – you can't let him find us!"

tbc …

Comments are always sincerely appreciated!