Brother Kings
Fic Title: Brother Kings
Author: hunters_retreat
Fandom/Genre: SPN
Pairing(s): Sam/Dean
Rating: NC-17
Summary: Dean was four the first time he saw her.
Art Master Post
Author's Note: written for the spn_reversebang. For the amazing art by liliaeth. Hope you enjoy. Please check out her mast art post and tell her how awesome she is!
Dean was four the first time he saw her. She was beautiful with long brown curls and hazel eyes. She was tall with cat-like eyes and a smile that was sad but warm. His father was busy talking with the police and she stood in front of the impala, offering a comforting smile and a blanket that he quickly wrapped around his brother’s tiny body.
“Dean, isn’t it?” she asked softly.
“Yeah.” He wasn’t supposed to talk to strangers but Dad was with the police and mom was … mom was …
“Hey, it’s okay. Don’t you worry Dean. Your dad is going to take really great care of you. You’ll see. I know it’s hard now, but he gave you a job right, to take care of your brother? You do that and everything will be all good.”
“He’s so small. I don’t know how to help him.”
“You’re already doing it. You love him and he knows it. No matter what else, no matter how he cries or fusses, just know that your love makes all the difference to him Dean.”
“How do you know that?”
She smiled. “Call my psychic. I can tell things about people and I’m telling you, Dean, that Sam just needs you. Nothing else in the world will ever matter to him as much as you do.”
Sam shifted in Dean’s arms and his brother let out a small contented sigh before he settled again.
“See, you’re all he needs Dean. Take care of yourself and him. I’ll be seeing you around.”
She walked away before Dean could say anything. His father was back a moment later with a water bottle and as he settled a blanket around Dean’s shoulders, Dean forgot about the woman.
**
The next time her saw her, he was thirteen. He would recognize her anywhere even if he’d forgotten her until that moment. She wore a pair of tight jeans and a black Sabbath tee-shirt. Dean sat outside of his motel room, Dad and Sam sleeping inside.
Dean couldn’t sleep. He wasn’t sure he’d ever sleep again. Nightmares threatened every time he closed his eyes, memories of a dark cloak and the heavy weight of guilt around his neck when his father looked at him like he was one of the monsters.
She sat beside Dean on the hood of the impala and didn’t say anything for a while. Dean took a sip of his coke and tipped it towards her when he was done. She took it and drank a little before handing it back.
“Rough night?” she asked.
“Aren’t they all?” he countered.
She gave him a small smile, the sad one that seemed to understand before she bumped him with her shoulder. “Not all of them. My dad, he was a hunter, and he told me about a lot of terrible things that happened to him growing up like this, but he said there were a lot of really good things too. Family, for one. He had a big brother, kinda like you, and he said his big brother made everything okay.”
“Wish I had one.”
Silence fell between them for a few minutes before she spoke. “What happened?”
“Remember how you told me to look out for my brother?” She nodded and Dean continued though he kept his eyes on the mostly empty parking lot. “I screwed up. He was sleeping and I went out and … he could have died.”
“Did he?”
“No, course not. Dad got there in time. If it’d been up to me though, my brother would have been dead.”
He hated how weak his voice sounded but it was true and nothing he did could make that better.
“Here’s what my dad taught me, Dean. You can let all the wrong things twist you around inside until they make you completely crazy, or you can let them make you stronger. Learn from them. You screwed up by letting your guard down. Well, you won’t do that again, will you?”
“No.”
“Then you’ve learned and you’ll be better.”
“Dean?”
He looked over his shoulder to see his little brother standing just outside the room in his pajamas.
“Sam, what are you doing? Go back inside.”
“Can’t sleep,” Sam said as he came closer to them. He stopped when he was between Dean’s knees and rested his head against his brother’s thigh. He looked up at the woman and gave a sleepy smile. “Hi.”
“Hi, Sam,” she said with a grin. “Nice to meet you. Dean’s been telling me good things about you.”
“Yeah?”
“Yep. I think he’s got the best little brother in the world.”
Sam sighed sleepily as he looked up at Dean. “I like her, Dean.”
Dean let out a small laugh at his brother’s words. Trust Sam to show up at just the time Dean needed him. “Knew you would.”
“Can I have a drink?”
Dean handed the bottle to Sam who took a sip and handed it back. “Come back to bed, Dean,” Sam said softly. “You promised to keep the nightmares away.”
Dean’s eyes closed as he ran his fingers through his brother’s hair. Sam was having the same nightmares as Dean was. “Go on in Sammy, I’ll be right in.”
“Promise?”
“Yeah Kiddo, I promise.”
Sam went back inside and Dean looked over at the woman beside him. “I gotta go. If he comes out again he’ll wake up Dad.”
“No, I understand. Like I said, take care of your little brother, Dean. Everything will work itself out if you just take care of him.”
**
He didn’t see her for another four years. They were running laps around an empty field when Sam came to a halt before Dean. At first Dean thought Sam was going to complain about leg cramps or some other crap to explain why Dean was almost a lap ahead of him but when he got to Sam’s side he followed his line of sight and saw her.
“Dean, who is that?”
“I don’t know.”
“No, you were talking to her that night. I remember.”
“Yeah, she’s shown up a few times. Hunting family. Must have been in town for the same hunt Dad was.”
“Dad’s three hours away on a hunt. What’s she doing here now?”
“No idea. Maybe we should go ask.”
The jogged over together but Dean had no sense of danger. He didn’t know the woman no matter what Sam thought but if she’d wanted to harm them she could have. He began to doubt as he got closer to her though. Four years and she hadn’t changed a bit. She wore a different tee shirt but the same style jeans and she didn’t look a day older. She didn’t look a day older in his four year old memory either.
“Don’t stop on my account,” she called across the field as they got closer.
“And miss the chance to admire the view?” Dean teased.
She threw her head back and laughed as her brown curls danced in the wind. “Try that charm elsewhere, Dean Winchester. It won’t work on me.”
“Gotta try,” Dean said with his best smile.
“I’m Sam. We met before but I don’t think I caught your name then.”
Dean was surprised that he’d never asked before. Twelve years since their first meeting and he still didn’t know her name. Something about her made him want to trust her. He should be suspicious but he could see Sam’s reaction as well. He wasn’t hiding behind Dean the way he did when he was worried or insecure. He wasn’t even jealous of Dean’s attention on her which was generally Sam’s first reaction to strangers that showed an interest in Dean.
“Definitely the smart Winchester brother,” she said with a wink. “I don’t think you remember the first time we met. You were only six months old. It was the night of the fire.”
“What?”
Sam looked to Dean and Dean nodded. “You didn’t answer my brother’s question though.”
She smiled again. “I told him to take care of you, Sam. Has he been doing it? Has he taken care of you?”
“Of course.”
“How about you? Are you taking care of your brother?”
Sam looked at Dean and Dean scowled. “What the hell?”
“Fair question, don’t you think Sam? You’re training to be a hunter, to work with your brother in the field. You train hard, body and mind. You keep your brother safe, alright?”
“Of course.”
“Good, because I’d hate to see a pair of good looking guys like yourselves get into trouble. Well, any more than you can flirt your way out of. Bet you’re training him with that too, right Dean? Teaching your little brother the way to a lady’s heart?”
“Don’t think Sam will need my help any,” Dean said but he was growing uncomfortable with her questions.
“No, I don’t suppose he will, not with those looks.”
She turned to walk away and Dean and Sam both took a step forward before she looked back at them. “My name is Dawn and I’ll see you boys again sometime.”
They watched her walk down the lane and once she was out of sight they heard a car rumble to life. They couldn’t see what she was driving but the sound hadn’t died away before Sam looked at him.
“Dean, we need to tell Dad about her.”
“Why? She hasn’t tried to hurt us.”
“Do you trust her?”
“Yeah, I do.”
“So do I.”
“And that makes you think we need to tell Dad?”
“When have you ever trusted someone like that Dean?”
Dean didn’t like the way Sam’s thoughts made him feel. “What are you saying Sam? She wasn’t kidding. We met her when you were just six months old. She could have done anything she wanted then.”
“She isn’t human, she can’t be. She hasn’t aged Dean. I might have only been nine but I remember her clearly.”
“I don’t know what to say, Sam. I know all that but I trust her. She’s never asked me to stay quiet, never done anything but tell me to look out for you.”
“And me, you.”
“Yeah. I think, whoever she is, whatever she is, she wants to help us.”
“Alright. But next time, Dean, we get more than a name.”
**
The water in the creek was cool against his body as Dean floated on the surface. He could hear Sam swimming close by, doing laps as he enjoyed one of their few free days. Dad was on a hunt and the summer was coming to a close. All too soon, they’d be moving onto a new city and school would start again.
Dean had dropped out of school the year before. He told Sam it was because he hated school and he wanted out but in reality he couldn’t do the research for his dad, take care of Sam, and go to school. Let alone the fact that he needed some time to find a way to earn a little money and maybe get some time to himself.
He felt an arm around his waist and was pulled under the water without warning. He sputtered as he tried to break the surface but he didn’t fight the arm around him. He knew who it belonged to and he could feel laughter against his back as Sam began to guide them to the surface.
Dean came up, choking on water as he laughed. “What the hell, Sammy?”
Sam laughed against his neck as he kept an arm over his brother’s shoulder. “Gotcha.”
“Well look at you too, all cozy in the water out there.”
Dean looked up and smiled even as he felt Sam’s arm tighten around him minutely. “You could join us,” Dean offered. “Instead of a quick visit before you run off.”
“I’m not exactly dressed for swimming.”
“We don’t mind.”
“No,” Dawn said with a smile. “You don’t seem to mind at all.”
He didn’t like the implication, nor the way her eyes seemed to focus on Sam behind him. Sam who was stripped down to his boxers the same as Dean was. It was the sort of thing Dean was careful about in front of people, even their dad. People didn’t like how close he and his brother were. No one understood the life they’d led though so Dean was content to tell them all to fuck off really. Sam was his little brother, his to protect and care for. If anyone had any ideas that he should do it differently they should have been there when he had a six month old in his lap, screaming for his mother while his father was passed out drunk in the front room.
“I wouldn’t mind hanging out though,” Dawn admitted. “Just came through town and saw that beautiful black beauty in the driveway. Couldn’t help but stop to see how my two favorite brothers were.”
“Hungry,” Sam said as he let go of Dean’s shoulder. He pushed away from Dean and he tried not to notice how cold the water felt against his back now that his brother was gone.
“Food?” Dawn asked.
“In the bag by the rocks,” Dean pointed her towards it. He’d planned on spending most of the day there with Sam so he’d come prepared.
“You pack an awesome lunch, Dean,” Dawn said with a smile.
“We’re both growing boys. Got to keep our strength while we’re training and all that.”
Dawn laughed. “I could see some serious training going on here.”
“All work and no play makes Sammy a dull boy.”
“And Dean a cranky bastard,” Sam added as he climbed onto the rocks to dry off. He grabbed a bag of chips and ripped them open as he began to eat. He leaned back against the rock and let his eyes close, the sun glinting off the water dripping down his tanned skin. Dean felt his mouth go dry and he looked up to see Dawn’s knowing smirk.
“Come on Dean, you look hungry too.”
He made his way slowly out of the water and they ate together, the three of them passing tales of hunts gone hysterically wrong. Like the time Sam and Dean got doused by a mud monster. They had only been standing by the car, keeping a lookout when it happened. Their dad had been pissed about the mud in the car and that was when they started keeping a tarp in the back.
When they were done, Dean packed the food back up and walked it back to the house. He wasn’t sure why, but he felt like Dawn wanted to be alone with Sam and Dean had taken Sam’s cue on that one. A subtle shift of his eyes and Dean knew Sam wanted the same.
When he got back, Dawn was a little too close to Sam. They were lying side by side on the grass, her hand trailing up and down Sam’s arm. Dean didn’t feel overprotective when Dawn was around but there was a certain … jealousy when Sam paid her attention.
“It’s hard not to notice, that’s all I’m saying Sam,” Dawn said softly.
“All cleaned up then?” Dean asked loudly. “Whose up for another swim?”
Dawn smiled. “Maybe not a swim but I wouldn’t mind splashing my feet a bit.”
“Nap time,” Sam said without looking up at Dean. Dean couldn’t help but notice that Sam wasn’t looking at him. He ignored it though and dropped his shirt to the ground and jumped in the water in his boxers.
He swam off the afternoon heat and finally stopped swimming when Dawn beckoned him over from a rock close to the shore. She’d jumped out once Sam had gone to sleep. His brother was still sleeping soundly, Dean could tell from the way he twitched slightly. Sam only went still when he was about to wake, when dreams took him.
“The two of you look good,” Dawn said quietly as she lifted her feet from the water. She let them back down and kicked lightly. “I haven’t been able to check up on you in a while. Sam is growing up nicely. He’s gonna be tall, maybe taller than you someday.”
“He wishes,” Dean answered. “I could still kick his ass even if he was though.”
“You two seem close,” she said as she looked back over towards Sam. “I like it. Nothing wrong with appreciating the young man Sam’s turning into.”
“I don’t think I like what you’re insinuating.”
She laughed and while it normally set Dean at ease, this whole conversation felt off. The whole afternoon had. “You two, no one can understand what you’ve been through together. Not even your father really gets it. There is nothing wrong with holding on to the one person who understands you Dean. It’s a lonely life. I wish I’d had a brother or sister growing up, someone to look out for me the way the two of you look out for one another.”
She turned her words away from the topic then but it stuck with Dean for the rest of the day. When night came, he and Sam sat on the couch together to watch a movie. When his brother’s head fell into his lap and Dean began running his fingers through his brother’s curls he pushed aside other thoughts and forced his attention back on the television show.
**
Dean grew used to her random appearances over the years. Dawn became more steady after that, showing every year at some point to check on them. Some days there were more innuendos than Dean could stomach but he never sent her away. He and Sam tried to learn more about her, but Dawn parceled out information as she saw fit. Neither of them pushed and Dawn never stayed for long. She showed up, asked about them, then left without looking back.
This time, Dean pulled the impala into the driveway to find her sitting on the front porch with Sam. He grabbed the grocery bags from the back and struggled inside with the load before Sam came in. He grabbed some of the bags to put away but Sam didn’t look Dean in the face. Dean tried to catch his eye but Dawn came in and jumped up onto the kitchen counter and smiled at Dean.
“Hey brother Winchester, long time.”
“Hey Dawn, how’s the hunting?”
She smiled. “Good going. Thought it was time to catch up,” she stuck her foot out and kicked lightly at Sam’s hand. He looked up at her and she winked. “Just check in to see how all your training is going.”
Sam’s face flushed and he knocked her foot away. “She was annoying me when I was trying to read.”
Dean smiled because there was nothing new about the way he blushed around Dawn, but he didn’t like the way Sam wouldn’t look at him.
“It’s summer vacation, Sammy. You ever thought of letting that freaky brain of yours rest?” Dean asked, trying to get Sam to look at him.
His brother did look up then, a small smile on his face but then Dawn jumped down and wrapped an arm over his shoulder.
“I don’t know, I think smart is sexy, don’t you Dean?”
Sam’s body tensed as he dropped down to grab another bag, purposely letting her arm fall away as he turned to the fridge.
“Dean’s more interested in a pretty face than a studious mind.”
“I don’t know if I’d say that, Sammy,” Dean said as he winked at Dawn. He wasn’t sure what was going on with Sam and the woman so he decided to get her attention. “An educated woman can teach you a thing or two.”
“That’s exactly what I was telling Sam,” Dawn said as she crossed over to Dean and wrapped an arm over his shoulder instead. She focused back on Sam though as she spoke. “It’s always those quiet, bookish types that know a lot more than they say. They’re always the kinky ones too.”
Sam shook his head and he had a small smile on his face. Whatever she was teasing him about, he’d come to terms with it. “That is what they say.”
**
Dean didn’t know why it bothered him as much as it did, but when she sat down it was like it finally hit. There was nothing else that had felt as real as this moment.
She looked at the bottle in his hand and motioned to the bartender. Dean didn’t see what she was telling the other woman, but he didn’t particularly care. Sam was …. Sam was gone and it was all Dean’s fault.
Three shots were placed in front of him along with a new beer and Dean took a long pull to finish off his current bottle. When he set it on the table the bartender took it before she walked on to take care of someone else.
Dean did all three shots before he took the beer and headed away from the bar to a booth in the back. He didn’t care if she followed or not but he knew she would. No matter what else Dawn did when she showed up in their lives, she always stayed around long enough to check on them.
“So. Hunting solo,” Dawn said as she took a seat across from him. “Sucks, doesn’t it?” She had one shot in hand so she must have downed the other two. Her beer was between her hands and she shuffled it back and forth.
“How’d you know about Sam?”
“Stanford? I keep an ear out for Winchesters. I have a soft spot for them. Everyone is walking on egg shells around your Dad these days. Heard you weren’t with him and I figured there was something that must have caught your interest. Not easy to track down, but I’d like to think I know you pretty well.”
“Right. You know me so well.”
“I found you tonight, didn’t I?”
Dean snorted. “Yeah, well, I’m a hard nut to crack.”
“Are you okay?”
He just shook his head. “I’m fine. Dandy. Situational normal.”
“Dean, its just college.”
“No, it’s really not.”
“Sam didn’t leave you. I know things didn’t go down well with your dad but, Dean you know Sam will come back to you.”
“He won’t. He’s gone and he isn’t coming back.”
“He’ll come back to you.”
“He ran from me,” Dean slammed his bottle onto the table top and Dawn startled back from it.
“Dean-”
“No, I screwed up and he ran.”
“Tell me what happened.”
She put a hand on his and he let out a shaky breath. He didn’t know why. Maybe because she was looking at him the way she was. Maybe because she had been there his whole life. Maybe because he just needed someone to understand and tonight he needed to trust her.
“I kissed him.”
“What?”
“I just … it was a bad hunt. He got hurt and I overreacted. I kissed him.”
“What did Sam do?”
“He just stared at me. He tried to play it off, but the next day he told dad about Stanford. He already had his bags packed. When Dad said go and don’t come back, Sammy was already out the door.”
Dawn took his hand in both of hers then and he was forced to look at her. “Dean, he went to college. You have to believe he’ll be back.”
Dean let out a dark huff of a laugh. “Why would he? To the brother that has not so brotherly feelings for him? He’s got no reason to come home. Hell, there isn’t even a home to return to.”
“He will return Dean. You might not think he has a home, but he’s always had you.”
“Right,” Dean pulled away from her and took a deep breath. “I’m a great consolation prize.”
**
It was the last thing Dean expected. Sam had gone out after their last phenomenally fucked up hunt. Dean didn’t blame him. After they ditched the town, Dean had taken the road as far as he could before sleep started to pull at him. As soon as they got to the motel though, Sam ditched him and Dean was left with the never quite healed ache from the memories the hunt had drug up.
When the soft knock came at the door, Dean stared a minute before he stood up and answered. He stared another minute because he really couldn’t believe she was there.
“How do you always know when to show up?” he asked as he stepped into the room and dropped onto the bed.
“Good timing, I guess,” Dawn said as she threw herself down beside Dean. “I saw Sam out tonight. He looks like shit.”
“Yeah, well, s’what happens when you lose your illusions.”
“Yeah? What illusions did Sam have?”
“About me. I mean, I’ve screwed up plenty of times but I guess he forgot the worst of it.”
“What are you talking about, Dean?”
“A bad hunt when Sam was a kid. Dad left us alone and when Sam went to sleep I snuck out to play some video games. I came home just in time to watch Sammy getting eaten by a shtriga.”
“Dean-”
“Dad saved Sammy from it, but I’ve never forgotten. I don’t know how Sam did.”
“I didn’t know,” Dawn said softly and Dean snorted.
“Yeah, not like I put up a billboard. Anyway, we went back and got the son of a bitch. But now Sam knows the worst of it.”
“What is the worst of it, Dean?” Dawn asked.
“My biggest mistake. My greatest sin. Whatever you want to call it. The worst thing I’ve ever done in a long life of doing bad things.”
“He doesn’t hate you, Dean,” Dawn said as she sat up in the bed and propped herself up on her elbows.
“Right. He loves me so much he’s at the bar by himself, drinking away the hunt.”
“I saw him tonight, Dean. He’s just tired of hiding everything from you.”
“Yeah? I’m pretty sure Sam doesn’t have any secrets.”
“Right,” Dawn let out a deep sigh. “Look Dean, I know you’re pretty good at burying your head in your ass when you don’t want to look at what is right in front of you, but Sam isn’t doing so hot right now. He needs you.”
“I’m right here. If he needed me, he’d be here too.”
“Dean, you need to listen. Sam needs you. The same way you need him.”
Dean sat up because there was no way she meant what he thought she did. He’d never talked to anyone about his fucked up feelings for Sam and just because he’d admitted one stupid kiss to her didn’t mean anything. There was no way Sam felt the same way.
“That’s enough Dawn,” Sam’s voice made it to the room before the door had time to swing fully open. Dean sat up on bed and Dawn scrambled up to her feet.
“Sam, I was just-”
“I said that’s enough. I don’t know why you show up when you do, or how you manage to find us. I don’t know how we trust you the way we do, but right now you need to walk right out the door.”
Dean didn’t know what the hell Sam was doing but he stood up as Dawn walked to the door. She paused as she grabbed the door knob and looked back at Dean. Her eyes were pleading for something that Dean didn’t understand but when she turned her gaze to Sam, there was a sadness to her.
The door closed softly behind her and Dean was forced to look at his brother. “Sammy?”
His brother’s shoulders were tense and his hands formed into tight fists before he opened them again. His jaw clenched as he stared at Dean. “You left the window open. I heard everything.”
“Nothing you didn’t already know, Sammy,” Dean said, confused about the combative stance Sam had taken.
“You think I went out because you failed me, Dean? Because I was what? Disgusted by what you told me?”
“I left you and you almost died. Everything you thought about me was a lie. I betrayed Dad’s trust and nothing was ever the same. I let him down. More importantly, I put you in danger.”
Sam shook his head. “You were too young, Dean. No one should have that sort of pressure put on them. I don’t think less of you for what happened. Jesus, Dean, you were a kid.”
“Then what’s it all about Sam, huh? Why did you leave if it wasn’t that? Why are you so pissed?”
“What she said? Was it true?”
“Sam, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I just, she said, tonight, when I was sitting in the car,” Sam closed his eyes and Dean took a step forward before he realized he was moving towards his brother.
“I can’t, Dean. If she’s right, I can’t risk not knowing. I’ve waited for years with her telling me to take the first step. You’ve never shown the slightest… but you wouldn’t, would you? You would never risk it.”
Dean didn’t know what he was talking about but then Sam closed the distance between them. Sam wrapped one hand around Dean’s hip while the other grabbed the back of his neck and pulled their lips together.
Dean gasped at the unexpected feel of Sam pressed against his body and Sam took advantage as he deepened the kiss. Dean tried to step back but Sam held him close. There were ways he could break free, but he could remember all the times Dawn had made Sam blush, whispering in his ear as she winked over at Dean. He could remember the moments when he thought Sam was too embarrassed or confused to tell him about something. He took the chance then, because it was too easy to remember his own confused feelings about Sam over the years and he’d never wanted anything more than he wanted to feel Sam writhing underneath him as he claimed every inch of Sam’s body.
He wrapped his arms around Sam and let his hands slide up under his brother’s shirt. Sam moaned as he stepped them closer to the bed. When Dean’s knees hit the back, he fell onto the bed and Sam followed him down.
“Dean,” Sam breathed against his lips and Dean swallowed the need before Sam could voice it. He rolled them over until he had Sam right where he wanted him. He’d had years to imagine what he would do if he ever had Sam in this position and he wanted to bury himself so far deep in Sam his brother never forgot what he felt like.
Sam stripped Dean of his shirt and Dean did the same, finally able to trace Sam’s skin, scars and bruises, the way he’d always wanted. Sam did the same and when Dean looked into Sam’s eyes and knew they were together in this.
“Gotta make up for lost time, Sammy.”
Sam laughed into his mouth and they were the lost words said between them the rest of the night.
**
Dean had never been good at being separated from Sam and it didn’t get better after they became lovers. It was harder to let Sam out of his sight and Sam didn’t mind the attention. So when Sam went missing, Dean was out of his damn mind. Bobby was helping him hold it together but when Dawn showed up Dean pulled her close. He hadn’t seen her since that night at the motel but he had no doubt she’d waited outside the window to make sure Dean and Sam were okay. He had no doubt she knew the road they’d taken that night.
“We’ll get him back, Dean,” Dawn said in his ear.
Dean didn’t bother to answer but when Bobby looked at Dean he let her go and pulled back. “Bobby Singer, this is Dawn. Dawn is an old friend. A hunter.”
“Yeah, okay. Nice to meet you.”
“You too. I’ve heard good things about you.”
“Nice to know they been spreading lies.”
Dawn smiled before she looked back at Dean. “So what now?”
“I don’t know,” Dean said with a sigh. “We came here when a friend of ours told us he had some news on how to track the demon.”
Dawn sighed. “I’m gonna guess that was our only lead.”
“How’d you figure?” Bobby asked
“Because I know the Winchesters. There ain’t much luck they get except the Devil’s own.”
Bobby let out a small snort at that and Dean could tell Dawn’s sense of humor was winning him over already. He was about to ask how she’d found him but a sharp pain drove through his head and Dean’s knees nearly buckled.
“Dean!” he heard the shout from both Dawn and Bobby and if it wasn’t for both of them scrambling he’d have fallen to the ground.
“Sammy,” he ground out as an image came to his mind. He couldn’t tell why but it felt like Sam. The image hurt like hell but Dean chased it anyway. As something tried to pull away he grabbed for it, chased it back and felt his mind spill open. Sam touched on the edges of his consciousness and Dean held on until the pain blacked him out.
**
Dean arrived at Cold Oaks in time to watch the end of Sam’s fight. He screamed Sam’s name and his brother turned to look at him. Sam’s smile was brilliant as he started to walk towards Dean. Dean saw what was happening behind him though and he shouted. Even as he did though, Sam turned to block the knife attack that would have ended his life. Dean didn’t know how he saw it, but he ran towards Sam. His brother had the fight under control though and he knocked the knife out of the other man’s hand. He dove to the side to grab it and as Sam rolled he drove the knife into the attacker as he launched himself.
Dean dropped to his knees and pulled the man off Sam but he already knew the guy was gone. Sam’s blade had struck true. Dean grabbed his brother and pulled him to his feet, pulled him into his arms and held him close while he made sure that Sam hadn’t been hurt.
He knew he hadn’t though. As he pulled back to look Sam in the eye, both their eyes widened as Dean realized what he’d done.
“Dean?”
“Do you feel that Sammy?” Sam nodded and Dean nodded back. “You’re alright.”
“You are too. I can, Dean, I can feel you.”
“I could feel you out there after you sent that message in my head.”
“I could feel you when I turned and looked at you. I could see what you saw.”
“What did you do to us, Sammy?” Dean asked.
“Andy, he used his powers to connect us so that you’d see the bell. So that you’d know it was coming from me. He said, when he tried to disconnect that something went weird.”
“I held on,” Dean interrupted him.
“What?”
“It felt like you Sam so I tried to hold on to whatever was happening. I’ve been feeling you since.”
“Dean, I don’t even know what this is.”
“Sam,” Dawn broke into the conversation as she threw herself at Sam.
He wrapped her up in his arms and Dawn held him close. “Hey Dawn, when did you get here?”
“Found Dean after you went missing. We were worried sick.” He words were muffled since she still had her head buried in his neck but Sam just held her tighter.
“No reason to worry anymore, Dawn,” Sam said. “I’m alright.”
“I hate when you two are separated.”
Sam looked up at Dean and pulled her a little closer. “Don’t worry Dawn. It won’t happen again. I don’t think it can happen again.”
Dean knew he should be appalled at the sudden lack of privacy in his own head but then he could feel the acceptance from Sam. He could feel the love from his brother and he accepted the bond without concern or fear.
He could feel the rest too though, the call of the demon in Sam’s head and the fear that rooted him to the spot. He saw Sam’s eyes widen as he Dean rooted through the pull of the demon’s blood and Dean just smiled at him.
“Don’t know what he has planned Sammy, but I doubt he planned to take the both of us on together.”
“Dean, you know what he wants.”
Dean could see it all then, see Sam’s memories of Azazel. He wanted Sam to rule hell for him and Dean smiled at Sam anyway. He wasn’t going to leave his brother’s side. He thought about his father’s last request, thought about all that they’d given up in this life and he refused to let his brother become part of that too. He would not lose Sam. No matter what he had to do.
**
At the end of days, Dean stood by his brother’s side. They were never separated anymore. Dean and Sam were too connected to part ways and they were both fine with that. As Sam stepped over the body of the last demon that opposed their rule, he took his seat on the throne Azazel had crafted for him. Dean sat on a matching throne to the right.
Azazel came forward and Dawn followed close behind, blood in her hair and on her hands and hunger danced in her eyes.
“Dean, Sam, I am so proud of you,” Azazel said. “I knew all those years ago that I was betting on the right horse. When I met your mother I knew you’d have that same fire. And your dad? That burning need to avenge, the sheer determination. I knew it would be you.”
“And you foresaw the need for two thrones?” Sam asked as he smiled at Dean.
Azazel laughed softly. “It became obvious that whatever I had intended had taken a life of its own. You became something I could never have foreseen. Dawn, ever the faithful servant, let me know that you would have need of a second throne. Not one of lesser stature, but that there would be no Boy King, but the Brother Kings.”
“Did she? And who are you faithful to Dawn?” Sam asked.
Dean could see the way her eyes darted between them. After all the blood and death they’d seen together she wasn’t sure of Sam’s intentions. Dean wasn’t either but Dean understood now, in ways he’d never been able to before. Why Dawn calmed him, why he had always trusted her. It was the color of her hair and the curl of it. The dimples she flashed when she smiled. Her eyes, so like her father’s.
“She is faithful to her father, Sam.”
“Her father?”
Dawn stepped closer then and smiled at Dean before she turned to answer Sam’s question. “In the battle against the angels, my father captured one. She gave him a child. When I was old enough he sent me back in time. He had only one request for me; to guide Sam and Dean Winchester to their ultimate place in this battle. I have done as I was asked and though I will not be born for some years to come, I have come to the Brother Kings to ask if I have discharged my duties well. Father, have I?”
Sam looked at Dean with furrowed brow and Dean couldn’t help but laugh. “Don’t look at me, Sam. She’s yours.”
“What?”
Dawn nodded. “My father, Samuel the Brother King and High Lord, sent me to ensure he and my Uncle, the Lord Protector, found their seats today. Have I done you proud, Father?”
Sam held a hand out to her and Dean did the same as he felt his brother’s mind meld into his again to help him put the pieces together. When her fingers touched theirs, they pushed into her mind and read her history there. She was indeed the Battle Bride, sworn to war and bloodshed over her crib with her mother’s last breath. She was their daughter and she had finally come home to them after her long and lonely journey.
“Yes, my sweet child, you have done me proud,” Sam answered.
“My uncle asked me for only one thing. He raised me as his daughter and he asked for a single gift when it was time to sit at his side once more.”
“And what was that?” Sam asked as he looked from Dean back to Dawn.
She pulled a wicked knife from a holster at her thigh and before any of them could move, she’d swung it with the full might of the nephilim. Blue light spread out along the wound as Azazel’s head fell from his shoulders. Of all the betrayals he had come to expect over the years, Dawn Winchester was the only person he thought would see him to the end of days. She smiled as she kicked the head to the throne at Dean’s feet.
“As you requested, the head of the demon who killed your mother and father, and who tried to separate you from my father.” She wiped her blade on the dead man’s clothes and settled it in the sheath. She dropped to one knee then. “I have done as I was asked and I have tried to guide your hearts and your lives as best I could. Have I done well, Father? Uncle?”
They stood in unison Dawn stood at their smiled. She stepped into their embrace as she had a hundred times before, but for the first time, and Dean whispered into her hair, “Thank you for all you’ve done for us. Welcome home, daughter.”
Azazel still had a plan and there were other players in motion. They wanted the apocalypse to begin and Azazel had wanted Sam to face off against Lucifer. Azazel hadn’t know the Winchesters as well as he thought though. Lucifer might be able to take on one Winchester but Sam and Dean were never separate now. Lucifer would have the fight for his life because while Sam would say yes to the Morningstar’s presence, the Brother Kings had no intention of giving up control of the ride.
The might go down with the world, but they were going to run the apocalypse or they would go down fighting.
Author: hunters_retreat
Fandom/Genre: SPN
Pairing(s): Sam/Dean
Rating: NC-17
Summary: Dean was four the first time he saw her.
Art Master Post
Author's Note: written for the spn_reversebang. For the amazing art by liliaeth. Hope you enjoy. Please check out her mast art post and tell her how awesome she is!
Dean was four the first time he saw her. She was beautiful with long brown curls and hazel eyes. She was tall with cat-like eyes and a smile that was sad but warm. His father was busy talking with the police and she stood in front of the impala, offering a comforting smile and a blanket that he quickly wrapped around his brother’s tiny body.
“Dean, isn’t it?” she asked softly.
“Yeah.” He wasn’t supposed to talk to strangers but Dad was with the police and mom was … mom was …
“Hey, it’s okay. Don’t you worry Dean. Your dad is going to take really great care of you. You’ll see. I know it’s hard now, but he gave you a job right, to take care of your brother? You do that and everything will be all good.”
“He’s so small. I don’t know how to help him.”
“You’re already doing it. You love him and he knows it. No matter what else, no matter how he cries or fusses, just know that your love makes all the difference to him Dean.”
“How do you know that?”
She smiled. “Call my psychic. I can tell things about people and I’m telling you, Dean, that Sam just needs you. Nothing else in the world will ever matter to him as much as you do.”
Sam shifted in Dean’s arms and his brother let out a small contented sigh before he settled again.
“See, you’re all he needs Dean. Take care of yourself and him. I’ll be seeing you around.”
She walked away before Dean could say anything. His father was back a moment later with a water bottle and as he settled a blanket around Dean’s shoulders, Dean forgot about the woman.
**
The next time her saw her, he was thirteen. He would recognize her anywhere even if he’d forgotten her until that moment. She wore a pair of tight jeans and a black Sabbath tee-shirt. Dean sat outside of his motel room, Dad and Sam sleeping inside.
Dean couldn’t sleep. He wasn’t sure he’d ever sleep again. Nightmares threatened every time he closed his eyes, memories of a dark cloak and the heavy weight of guilt around his neck when his father looked at him like he was one of the monsters.
She sat beside Dean on the hood of the impala and didn’t say anything for a while. Dean took a sip of his coke and tipped it towards her when he was done. She took it and drank a little before handing it back.
“Rough night?” she asked.
“Aren’t they all?” he countered.
She gave him a small smile, the sad one that seemed to understand before she bumped him with her shoulder. “Not all of them. My dad, he was a hunter, and he told me about a lot of terrible things that happened to him growing up like this, but he said there were a lot of really good things too. Family, for one. He had a big brother, kinda like you, and he said his big brother made everything okay.”
“Wish I had one.”
Silence fell between them for a few minutes before she spoke. “What happened?”
“Remember how you told me to look out for my brother?” She nodded and Dean continued though he kept his eyes on the mostly empty parking lot. “I screwed up. He was sleeping and I went out and … he could have died.”
“Did he?”
“No, course not. Dad got there in time. If it’d been up to me though, my brother would have been dead.”
He hated how weak his voice sounded but it was true and nothing he did could make that better.
“Here’s what my dad taught me, Dean. You can let all the wrong things twist you around inside until they make you completely crazy, or you can let them make you stronger. Learn from them. You screwed up by letting your guard down. Well, you won’t do that again, will you?”
“No.”
“Then you’ve learned and you’ll be better.”
“Dean?”
He looked over his shoulder to see his little brother standing just outside the room in his pajamas.
“Sam, what are you doing? Go back inside.”
“Can’t sleep,” Sam said as he came closer to them. He stopped when he was between Dean’s knees and rested his head against his brother’s thigh. He looked up at the woman and gave a sleepy smile. “Hi.”
“Hi, Sam,” she said with a grin. “Nice to meet you. Dean’s been telling me good things about you.”
“Yeah?”
“Yep. I think he’s got the best little brother in the world.”
Sam sighed sleepily as he looked up at Dean. “I like her, Dean.”
Dean let out a small laugh at his brother’s words. Trust Sam to show up at just the time Dean needed him. “Knew you would.”
“Can I have a drink?”
Dean handed the bottle to Sam who took a sip and handed it back. “Come back to bed, Dean,” Sam said softly. “You promised to keep the nightmares away.”
Dean’s eyes closed as he ran his fingers through his brother’s hair. Sam was having the same nightmares as Dean was. “Go on in Sammy, I’ll be right in.”
“Promise?”
“Yeah Kiddo, I promise.”
Sam went back inside and Dean looked over at the woman beside him. “I gotta go. If he comes out again he’ll wake up Dad.”
“No, I understand. Like I said, take care of your little brother, Dean. Everything will work itself out if you just take care of him.”
**
He didn’t see her for another four years. They were running laps around an empty field when Sam came to a halt before Dean. At first Dean thought Sam was going to complain about leg cramps or some other crap to explain why Dean was almost a lap ahead of him but when he got to Sam’s side he followed his line of sight and saw her.
“Dean, who is that?”
“I don’t know.”
“No, you were talking to her that night. I remember.”
“Yeah, she’s shown up a few times. Hunting family. Must have been in town for the same hunt Dad was.”
“Dad’s three hours away on a hunt. What’s she doing here now?”
“No idea. Maybe we should go ask.”
The jogged over together but Dean had no sense of danger. He didn’t know the woman no matter what Sam thought but if she’d wanted to harm them she could have. He began to doubt as he got closer to her though. Four years and she hadn’t changed a bit. She wore a different tee shirt but the same style jeans and she didn’t look a day older. She didn’t look a day older in his four year old memory either.
“Don’t stop on my account,” she called across the field as they got closer.
“And miss the chance to admire the view?” Dean teased.
She threw her head back and laughed as her brown curls danced in the wind. “Try that charm elsewhere, Dean Winchester. It won’t work on me.”
“Gotta try,” Dean said with his best smile.
“I’m Sam. We met before but I don’t think I caught your name then.”
Dean was surprised that he’d never asked before. Twelve years since their first meeting and he still didn’t know her name. Something about her made him want to trust her. He should be suspicious but he could see Sam’s reaction as well. He wasn’t hiding behind Dean the way he did when he was worried or insecure. He wasn’t even jealous of Dean’s attention on her which was generally Sam’s first reaction to strangers that showed an interest in Dean.
“Definitely the smart Winchester brother,” she said with a wink. “I don’t think you remember the first time we met. You were only six months old. It was the night of the fire.”
“What?”
Sam looked to Dean and Dean nodded. “You didn’t answer my brother’s question though.”
She smiled again. “I told him to take care of you, Sam. Has he been doing it? Has he taken care of you?”
“Of course.”
“How about you? Are you taking care of your brother?”
Sam looked at Dean and Dean scowled. “What the hell?”
“Fair question, don’t you think Sam? You’re training to be a hunter, to work with your brother in the field. You train hard, body and mind. You keep your brother safe, alright?”
“Of course.”
“Good, because I’d hate to see a pair of good looking guys like yourselves get into trouble. Well, any more than you can flirt your way out of. Bet you’re training him with that too, right Dean? Teaching your little brother the way to a lady’s heart?”
“Don’t think Sam will need my help any,” Dean said but he was growing uncomfortable with her questions.
“No, I don’t suppose he will, not with those looks.”
She turned to walk away and Dean and Sam both took a step forward before she looked back at them. “My name is Dawn and I’ll see you boys again sometime.”
They watched her walk down the lane and once she was out of sight they heard a car rumble to life. They couldn’t see what she was driving but the sound hadn’t died away before Sam looked at him.
“Dean, we need to tell Dad about her.”
“Why? She hasn’t tried to hurt us.”
“Do you trust her?”
“Yeah, I do.”
“So do I.”
“And that makes you think we need to tell Dad?”
“When have you ever trusted someone like that Dean?”
Dean didn’t like the way Sam’s thoughts made him feel. “What are you saying Sam? She wasn’t kidding. We met her when you were just six months old. She could have done anything she wanted then.”
“She isn’t human, she can’t be. She hasn’t aged Dean. I might have only been nine but I remember her clearly.”
“I don’t know what to say, Sam. I know all that but I trust her. She’s never asked me to stay quiet, never done anything but tell me to look out for you.”
“And me, you.”
“Yeah. I think, whoever she is, whatever she is, she wants to help us.”
“Alright. But next time, Dean, we get more than a name.”
**
The water in the creek was cool against his body as Dean floated on the surface. He could hear Sam swimming close by, doing laps as he enjoyed one of their few free days. Dad was on a hunt and the summer was coming to a close. All too soon, they’d be moving onto a new city and school would start again.
Dean had dropped out of school the year before. He told Sam it was because he hated school and he wanted out but in reality he couldn’t do the research for his dad, take care of Sam, and go to school. Let alone the fact that he needed some time to find a way to earn a little money and maybe get some time to himself.
He felt an arm around his waist and was pulled under the water without warning. He sputtered as he tried to break the surface but he didn’t fight the arm around him. He knew who it belonged to and he could feel laughter against his back as Sam began to guide them to the surface.
Dean came up, choking on water as he laughed. “What the hell, Sammy?”
Sam laughed against his neck as he kept an arm over his brother’s shoulder. “Gotcha.”
“Well look at you too, all cozy in the water out there.”
Dean looked up and smiled even as he felt Sam’s arm tighten around him minutely. “You could join us,” Dean offered. “Instead of a quick visit before you run off.”
“I’m not exactly dressed for swimming.”
“We don’t mind.”
“No,” Dawn said with a smile. “You don’t seem to mind at all.”
He didn’t like the implication, nor the way her eyes seemed to focus on Sam behind him. Sam who was stripped down to his boxers the same as Dean was. It was the sort of thing Dean was careful about in front of people, even their dad. People didn’t like how close he and his brother were. No one understood the life they’d led though so Dean was content to tell them all to fuck off really. Sam was his little brother, his to protect and care for. If anyone had any ideas that he should do it differently they should have been there when he had a six month old in his lap, screaming for his mother while his father was passed out drunk in the front room.
“I wouldn’t mind hanging out though,” Dawn admitted. “Just came through town and saw that beautiful black beauty in the driveway. Couldn’t help but stop to see how my two favorite brothers were.”
“Hungry,” Sam said as he let go of Dean’s shoulder. He pushed away from Dean and he tried not to notice how cold the water felt against his back now that his brother was gone.
“Food?” Dawn asked.
“In the bag by the rocks,” Dean pointed her towards it. He’d planned on spending most of the day there with Sam so he’d come prepared.
“You pack an awesome lunch, Dean,” Dawn said with a smile.
“We’re both growing boys. Got to keep our strength while we’re training and all that.”
Dawn laughed. “I could see some serious training going on here.”
“All work and no play makes Sammy a dull boy.”
“And Dean a cranky bastard,” Sam added as he climbed onto the rocks to dry off. He grabbed a bag of chips and ripped them open as he began to eat. He leaned back against the rock and let his eyes close, the sun glinting off the water dripping down his tanned skin. Dean felt his mouth go dry and he looked up to see Dawn’s knowing smirk.
“Come on Dean, you look hungry too.”
He made his way slowly out of the water and they ate together, the three of them passing tales of hunts gone hysterically wrong. Like the time Sam and Dean got doused by a mud monster. They had only been standing by the car, keeping a lookout when it happened. Their dad had been pissed about the mud in the car and that was when they started keeping a tarp in the back.
When they were done, Dean packed the food back up and walked it back to the house. He wasn’t sure why, but he felt like Dawn wanted to be alone with Sam and Dean had taken Sam’s cue on that one. A subtle shift of his eyes and Dean knew Sam wanted the same.
When he got back, Dawn was a little too close to Sam. They were lying side by side on the grass, her hand trailing up and down Sam’s arm. Dean didn’t feel overprotective when Dawn was around but there was a certain … jealousy when Sam paid her attention.
“It’s hard not to notice, that’s all I’m saying Sam,” Dawn said softly.
“All cleaned up then?” Dean asked loudly. “Whose up for another swim?”
Dawn smiled. “Maybe not a swim but I wouldn’t mind splashing my feet a bit.”
“Nap time,” Sam said without looking up at Dean. Dean couldn’t help but notice that Sam wasn’t looking at him. He ignored it though and dropped his shirt to the ground and jumped in the water in his boxers.
He swam off the afternoon heat and finally stopped swimming when Dawn beckoned him over from a rock close to the shore. She’d jumped out once Sam had gone to sleep. His brother was still sleeping soundly, Dean could tell from the way he twitched slightly. Sam only went still when he was about to wake, when dreams took him.
“The two of you look good,” Dawn said quietly as she lifted her feet from the water. She let them back down and kicked lightly. “I haven’t been able to check up on you in a while. Sam is growing up nicely. He’s gonna be tall, maybe taller than you someday.”
“He wishes,” Dean answered. “I could still kick his ass even if he was though.”
“You two seem close,” she said as she looked back over towards Sam. “I like it. Nothing wrong with appreciating the young man Sam’s turning into.”
“I don’t think I like what you’re insinuating.”
She laughed and while it normally set Dean at ease, this whole conversation felt off. The whole afternoon had. “You two, no one can understand what you’ve been through together. Not even your father really gets it. There is nothing wrong with holding on to the one person who understands you Dean. It’s a lonely life. I wish I’d had a brother or sister growing up, someone to look out for me the way the two of you look out for one another.”
She turned her words away from the topic then but it stuck with Dean for the rest of the day. When night came, he and Sam sat on the couch together to watch a movie. When his brother’s head fell into his lap and Dean began running his fingers through his brother’s curls he pushed aside other thoughts and forced his attention back on the television show.
**
Dean grew used to her random appearances over the years. Dawn became more steady after that, showing every year at some point to check on them. Some days there were more innuendos than Dean could stomach but he never sent her away. He and Sam tried to learn more about her, but Dawn parceled out information as she saw fit. Neither of them pushed and Dawn never stayed for long. She showed up, asked about them, then left without looking back.
This time, Dean pulled the impala into the driveway to find her sitting on the front porch with Sam. He grabbed the grocery bags from the back and struggled inside with the load before Sam came in. He grabbed some of the bags to put away but Sam didn’t look Dean in the face. Dean tried to catch his eye but Dawn came in and jumped up onto the kitchen counter and smiled at Dean.
“Hey brother Winchester, long time.”
“Hey Dawn, how’s the hunting?”
She smiled. “Good going. Thought it was time to catch up,” she stuck her foot out and kicked lightly at Sam’s hand. He looked up at her and she winked. “Just check in to see how all your training is going.”
Sam’s face flushed and he knocked her foot away. “She was annoying me when I was trying to read.”
Dean smiled because there was nothing new about the way he blushed around Dawn, but he didn’t like the way Sam wouldn’t look at him.
“It’s summer vacation, Sammy. You ever thought of letting that freaky brain of yours rest?” Dean asked, trying to get Sam to look at him.
His brother did look up then, a small smile on his face but then Dawn jumped down and wrapped an arm over his shoulder.
“I don’t know, I think smart is sexy, don’t you Dean?”
Sam’s body tensed as he dropped down to grab another bag, purposely letting her arm fall away as he turned to the fridge.
“Dean’s more interested in a pretty face than a studious mind.”
“I don’t know if I’d say that, Sammy,” Dean said as he winked at Dawn. He wasn’t sure what was going on with Sam and the woman so he decided to get her attention. “An educated woman can teach you a thing or two.”
“That’s exactly what I was telling Sam,” Dawn said as she crossed over to Dean and wrapped an arm over his shoulder instead. She focused back on Sam though as she spoke. “It’s always those quiet, bookish types that know a lot more than they say. They’re always the kinky ones too.”
Sam shook his head and he had a small smile on his face. Whatever she was teasing him about, he’d come to terms with it. “That is what they say.”
**
Dean didn’t know why it bothered him as much as it did, but when she sat down it was like it finally hit. There was nothing else that had felt as real as this moment.
She looked at the bottle in his hand and motioned to the bartender. Dean didn’t see what she was telling the other woman, but he didn’t particularly care. Sam was …. Sam was gone and it was all Dean’s fault.
Three shots were placed in front of him along with a new beer and Dean took a long pull to finish off his current bottle. When he set it on the table the bartender took it before she walked on to take care of someone else.
Dean did all three shots before he took the beer and headed away from the bar to a booth in the back. He didn’t care if she followed or not but he knew she would. No matter what else Dawn did when she showed up in their lives, she always stayed around long enough to check on them.
“So. Hunting solo,” Dawn said as she took a seat across from him. “Sucks, doesn’t it?” She had one shot in hand so she must have downed the other two. Her beer was between her hands and she shuffled it back and forth.
“How’d you know about Sam?”
“Stanford? I keep an ear out for Winchesters. I have a soft spot for them. Everyone is walking on egg shells around your Dad these days. Heard you weren’t with him and I figured there was something that must have caught your interest. Not easy to track down, but I’d like to think I know you pretty well.”
“Right. You know me so well.”
“I found you tonight, didn’t I?”
Dean snorted. “Yeah, well, I’m a hard nut to crack.”
“Are you okay?”
He just shook his head. “I’m fine. Dandy. Situational normal.”
“Dean, its just college.”
“No, it’s really not.”
“Sam didn’t leave you. I know things didn’t go down well with your dad but, Dean you know Sam will come back to you.”
“He won’t. He’s gone and he isn’t coming back.”
“He’ll come back to you.”
“He ran from me,” Dean slammed his bottle onto the table top and Dawn startled back from it.
“Dean-”
“No, I screwed up and he ran.”
“Tell me what happened.”
She put a hand on his and he let out a shaky breath. He didn’t know why. Maybe because she was looking at him the way she was. Maybe because she had been there his whole life. Maybe because he just needed someone to understand and tonight he needed to trust her.
“I kissed him.”
“What?”
“I just … it was a bad hunt. He got hurt and I overreacted. I kissed him.”
“What did Sam do?”
“He just stared at me. He tried to play it off, but the next day he told dad about Stanford. He already had his bags packed. When Dad said go and don’t come back, Sammy was already out the door.”
Dawn took his hand in both of hers then and he was forced to look at her. “Dean, he went to college. You have to believe he’ll be back.”
Dean let out a dark huff of a laugh. “Why would he? To the brother that has not so brotherly feelings for him? He’s got no reason to come home. Hell, there isn’t even a home to return to.”
“He will return Dean. You might not think he has a home, but he’s always had you.”
“Right,” Dean pulled away from her and took a deep breath. “I’m a great consolation prize.”
**
It was the last thing Dean expected. Sam had gone out after their last phenomenally fucked up hunt. Dean didn’t blame him. After they ditched the town, Dean had taken the road as far as he could before sleep started to pull at him. As soon as they got to the motel though, Sam ditched him and Dean was left with the never quite healed ache from the memories the hunt had drug up.
When the soft knock came at the door, Dean stared a minute before he stood up and answered. He stared another minute because he really couldn’t believe she was there.
“How do you always know when to show up?” he asked as he stepped into the room and dropped onto the bed.
“Good timing, I guess,” Dawn said as she threw herself down beside Dean. “I saw Sam out tonight. He looks like shit.”
“Yeah, well, s’what happens when you lose your illusions.”
“Yeah? What illusions did Sam have?”
“About me. I mean, I’ve screwed up plenty of times but I guess he forgot the worst of it.”
“What are you talking about, Dean?”
“A bad hunt when Sam was a kid. Dad left us alone and when Sam went to sleep I snuck out to play some video games. I came home just in time to watch Sammy getting eaten by a shtriga.”
“Dean-”
“Dad saved Sammy from it, but I’ve never forgotten. I don’t know how Sam did.”
“I didn’t know,” Dawn said softly and Dean snorted.
“Yeah, not like I put up a billboard. Anyway, we went back and got the son of a bitch. But now Sam knows the worst of it.”
“What is the worst of it, Dean?” Dawn asked.
“My biggest mistake. My greatest sin. Whatever you want to call it. The worst thing I’ve ever done in a long life of doing bad things.”
“He doesn’t hate you, Dean,” Dawn said as she sat up in the bed and propped herself up on her elbows.
“Right. He loves me so much he’s at the bar by himself, drinking away the hunt.”
“I saw him tonight, Dean. He’s just tired of hiding everything from you.”
“Yeah? I’m pretty sure Sam doesn’t have any secrets.”
“Right,” Dawn let out a deep sigh. “Look Dean, I know you’re pretty good at burying your head in your ass when you don’t want to look at what is right in front of you, but Sam isn’t doing so hot right now. He needs you.”
“I’m right here. If he needed me, he’d be here too.”
“Dean, you need to listen. Sam needs you. The same way you need him.”
Dean sat up because there was no way she meant what he thought she did. He’d never talked to anyone about his fucked up feelings for Sam and just because he’d admitted one stupid kiss to her didn’t mean anything. There was no way Sam felt the same way.
“That’s enough Dawn,” Sam’s voice made it to the room before the door had time to swing fully open. Dean sat up on bed and Dawn scrambled up to her feet.
“Sam, I was just-”
“I said that’s enough. I don’t know why you show up when you do, or how you manage to find us. I don’t know how we trust you the way we do, but right now you need to walk right out the door.”
Dean didn’t know what the hell Sam was doing but he stood up as Dawn walked to the door. She paused as she grabbed the door knob and looked back at Dean. Her eyes were pleading for something that Dean didn’t understand but when she turned her gaze to Sam, there was a sadness to her.
The door closed softly behind her and Dean was forced to look at his brother. “Sammy?”
His brother’s shoulders were tense and his hands formed into tight fists before he opened them again. His jaw clenched as he stared at Dean. “You left the window open. I heard everything.”
“Nothing you didn’t already know, Sammy,” Dean said, confused about the combative stance Sam had taken.
“You think I went out because you failed me, Dean? Because I was what? Disgusted by what you told me?”
“I left you and you almost died. Everything you thought about me was a lie. I betrayed Dad’s trust and nothing was ever the same. I let him down. More importantly, I put you in danger.”
Sam shook his head. “You were too young, Dean. No one should have that sort of pressure put on them. I don’t think less of you for what happened. Jesus, Dean, you were a kid.”
“Then what’s it all about Sam, huh? Why did you leave if it wasn’t that? Why are you so pissed?”
“What she said? Was it true?”
“Sam, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I just, she said, tonight, when I was sitting in the car,” Sam closed his eyes and Dean took a step forward before he realized he was moving towards his brother.
“I can’t, Dean. If she’s right, I can’t risk not knowing. I’ve waited for years with her telling me to take the first step. You’ve never shown the slightest… but you wouldn’t, would you? You would never risk it.”
Dean didn’t know what he was talking about but then Sam closed the distance between them. Sam wrapped one hand around Dean’s hip while the other grabbed the back of his neck and pulled their lips together.
Dean gasped at the unexpected feel of Sam pressed against his body and Sam took advantage as he deepened the kiss. Dean tried to step back but Sam held him close. There were ways he could break free, but he could remember all the times Dawn had made Sam blush, whispering in his ear as she winked over at Dean. He could remember the moments when he thought Sam was too embarrassed or confused to tell him about something. He took the chance then, because it was too easy to remember his own confused feelings about Sam over the years and he’d never wanted anything more than he wanted to feel Sam writhing underneath him as he claimed every inch of Sam’s body.
He wrapped his arms around Sam and let his hands slide up under his brother’s shirt. Sam moaned as he stepped them closer to the bed. When Dean’s knees hit the back, he fell onto the bed and Sam followed him down.
“Dean,” Sam breathed against his lips and Dean swallowed the need before Sam could voice it. He rolled them over until he had Sam right where he wanted him. He’d had years to imagine what he would do if he ever had Sam in this position and he wanted to bury himself so far deep in Sam his brother never forgot what he felt like.
Sam stripped Dean of his shirt and Dean did the same, finally able to trace Sam’s skin, scars and bruises, the way he’d always wanted. Sam did the same and when Dean looked into Sam’s eyes and knew they were together in this.
“Gotta make up for lost time, Sammy.”
Sam laughed into his mouth and they were the lost words said between them the rest of the night.
**
Dean had never been good at being separated from Sam and it didn’t get better after they became lovers. It was harder to let Sam out of his sight and Sam didn’t mind the attention. So when Sam went missing, Dean was out of his damn mind. Bobby was helping him hold it together but when Dawn showed up Dean pulled her close. He hadn’t seen her since that night at the motel but he had no doubt she’d waited outside the window to make sure Dean and Sam were okay. He had no doubt she knew the road they’d taken that night.
“We’ll get him back, Dean,” Dawn said in his ear.
Dean didn’t bother to answer but when Bobby looked at Dean he let her go and pulled back. “Bobby Singer, this is Dawn. Dawn is an old friend. A hunter.”
“Yeah, okay. Nice to meet you.”
“You too. I’ve heard good things about you.”
“Nice to know they been spreading lies.”
Dawn smiled before she looked back at Dean. “So what now?”
“I don’t know,” Dean said with a sigh. “We came here when a friend of ours told us he had some news on how to track the demon.”
Dawn sighed. “I’m gonna guess that was our only lead.”
“How’d you figure?” Bobby asked
“Because I know the Winchesters. There ain’t much luck they get except the Devil’s own.”
Bobby let out a small snort at that and Dean could tell Dawn’s sense of humor was winning him over already. He was about to ask how she’d found him but a sharp pain drove through his head and Dean’s knees nearly buckled.
“Dean!” he heard the shout from both Dawn and Bobby and if it wasn’t for both of them scrambling he’d have fallen to the ground.
“Sammy,” he ground out as an image came to his mind. He couldn’t tell why but it felt like Sam. The image hurt like hell but Dean chased it anyway. As something tried to pull away he grabbed for it, chased it back and felt his mind spill open. Sam touched on the edges of his consciousness and Dean held on until the pain blacked him out.
**
Dean arrived at Cold Oaks in time to watch the end of Sam’s fight. He screamed Sam’s name and his brother turned to look at him. Sam’s smile was brilliant as he started to walk towards Dean. Dean saw what was happening behind him though and he shouted. Even as he did though, Sam turned to block the knife attack that would have ended his life. Dean didn’t know how he saw it, but he ran towards Sam. His brother had the fight under control though and he knocked the knife out of the other man’s hand. He dove to the side to grab it and as Sam rolled he drove the knife into the attacker as he launched himself.
Dean dropped to his knees and pulled the man off Sam but he already knew the guy was gone. Sam’s blade had struck true. Dean grabbed his brother and pulled him to his feet, pulled him into his arms and held him close while he made sure that Sam hadn’t been hurt.
He knew he hadn’t though. As he pulled back to look Sam in the eye, both their eyes widened as Dean realized what he’d done.
“Dean?”
“Do you feel that Sammy?” Sam nodded and Dean nodded back. “You’re alright.”
“You are too. I can, Dean, I can feel you.”
“I could feel you out there after you sent that message in my head.”
“I could feel you when I turned and looked at you. I could see what you saw.”
“What did you do to us, Sammy?” Dean asked.
“Andy, he used his powers to connect us so that you’d see the bell. So that you’d know it was coming from me. He said, when he tried to disconnect that something went weird.”
“I held on,” Dean interrupted him.
“What?”
“It felt like you Sam so I tried to hold on to whatever was happening. I’ve been feeling you since.”
“Dean, I don’t even know what this is.”
“Sam,” Dawn broke into the conversation as she threw herself at Sam.
He wrapped her up in his arms and Dawn held him close. “Hey Dawn, when did you get here?”
“Found Dean after you went missing. We were worried sick.” He words were muffled since she still had her head buried in his neck but Sam just held her tighter.
“No reason to worry anymore, Dawn,” Sam said. “I’m alright.”
“I hate when you two are separated.”
Sam looked up at Dean and pulled her a little closer. “Don’t worry Dawn. It won’t happen again. I don’t think it can happen again.”
Dean knew he should be appalled at the sudden lack of privacy in his own head but then he could feel the acceptance from Sam. He could feel the love from his brother and he accepted the bond without concern or fear.
He could feel the rest too though, the call of the demon in Sam’s head and the fear that rooted him to the spot. He saw Sam’s eyes widen as he Dean rooted through the pull of the demon’s blood and Dean just smiled at him.
“Don’t know what he has planned Sammy, but I doubt he planned to take the both of us on together.”
“Dean, you know what he wants.”
Dean could see it all then, see Sam’s memories of Azazel. He wanted Sam to rule hell for him and Dean smiled at Sam anyway. He wasn’t going to leave his brother’s side. He thought about his father’s last request, thought about all that they’d given up in this life and he refused to let his brother become part of that too. He would not lose Sam. No matter what he had to do.
**
At the end of days, Dean stood by his brother’s side. They were never separated anymore. Dean and Sam were too connected to part ways and they were both fine with that. As Sam stepped over the body of the last demon that opposed their rule, he took his seat on the throne Azazel had crafted for him. Dean sat on a matching throne to the right.
Azazel came forward and Dawn followed close behind, blood in her hair and on her hands and hunger danced in her eyes.
“Dean, Sam, I am so proud of you,” Azazel said. “I knew all those years ago that I was betting on the right horse. When I met your mother I knew you’d have that same fire. And your dad? That burning need to avenge, the sheer determination. I knew it would be you.”
“And you foresaw the need for two thrones?” Sam asked as he smiled at Dean.
Azazel laughed softly. “It became obvious that whatever I had intended had taken a life of its own. You became something I could never have foreseen. Dawn, ever the faithful servant, let me know that you would have need of a second throne. Not one of lesser stature, but that there would be no Boy King, but the Brother Kings.”
“Did she? And who are you faithful to Dawn?” Sam asked.
Dean could see the way her eyes darted between them. After all the blood and death they’d seen together she wasn’t sure of Sam’s intentions. Dean wasn’t either but Dean understood now, in ways he’d never been able to before. Why Dawn calmed him, why he had always trusted her. It was the color of her hair and the curl of it. The dimples she flashed when she smiled. Her eyes, so like her father’s.
“She is faithful to her father, Sam.”
“Her father?”
Dawn stepped closer then and smiled at Dean before she turned to answer Sam’s question. “In the battle against the angels, my father captured one. She gave him a child. When I was old enough he sent me back in time. He had only one request for me; to guide Sam and Dean Winchester to their ultimate place in this battle. I have done as I was asked and though I will not be born for some years to come, I have come to the Brother Kings to ask if I have discharged my duties well. Father, have I?”
Sam looked at Dean with furrowed brow and Dean couldn’t help but laugh. “Don’t look at me, Sam. She’s yours.”
“What?”
Dawn nodded. “My father, Samuel the Brother King and High Lord, sent me to ensure he and my Uncle, the Lord Protector, found their seats today. Have I done you proud, Father?”
Sam held a hand out to her and Dean did the same as he felt his brother’s mind meld into his again to help him put the pieces together. When her fingers touched theirs, they pushed into her mind and read her history there. She was indeed the Battle Bride, sworn to war and bloodshed over her crib with her mother’s last breath. She was their daughter and she had finally come home to them after her long and lonely journey.
“Yes, my sweet child, you have done me proud,” Sam answered.
“My uncle asked me for only one thing. He raised me as his daughter and he asked for a single gift when it was time to sit at his side once more.”
“And what was that?” Sam asked as he looked from Dean back to Dawn.
She pulled a wicked knife from a holster at her thigh and before any of them could move, she’d swung it with the full might of the nephilim. Blue light spread out along the wound as Azazel’s head fell from his shoulders. Of all the betrayals he had come to expect over the years, Dawn Winchester was the only person he thought would see him to the end of days. She smiled as she kicked the head to the throne at Dean’s feet.
“As you requested, the head of the demon who killed your mother and father, and who tried to separate you from my father.” She wiped her blade on the dead man’s clothes and settled it in the sheath. She dropped to one knee then. “I have done as I was asked and I have tried to guide your hearts and your lives as best I could. Have I done well, Father? Uncle?”
They stood in unison Dawn stood at their smiled. She stepped into their embrace as she had a hundred times before, but for the first time, and Dean whispered into her hair, “Thank you for all you’ve done for us. Welcome home, daughter.”
Azazel still had a plan and there were other players in motion. They wanted the apocalypse to begin and Azazel had wanted Sam to face off against Lucifer. Azazel hadn’t know the Winchesters as well as he thought though. Lucifer might be able to take on one Winchester but Sam and Dean were never separate now. Lucifer would have the fight for his life because while Sam would say yes to the Morningstar’s presence, the Brother Kings had no intention of giving up control of the ride.
The might go down with the world, but they were going to run the apocalypse or they would go down fighting.