【Ａｓｈｅｓ Ｔｏ Ａｓｈｅｓ】

-𝔹𝕒𝕓𝕪𝕤𝕚𝕥𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘-

"How long has he been out now?" Dean's gruff voice rumbles deep inside of his chest, leather boots like thunder against the concrete as he makes his way into the panic room. (y/n), sitting in the wooden chair she pulled up next to Sam's bed, turns to face the man. She meets his darkened gaze, heart tightening at the helplessness she finds there.

"Dean, you left for 5 minutes, nothing has changed." She begins gently, knowing she needs to be sensitive during this time for him, "You should get some rest while you can. If you'd like, I can watch over him-"

"I'm not just gonna leave my brother with some monster, alright?" It takes him a minute to process what he had just said, eyes glancing over to her and seeing the hurt expression she tries to hide. He sighs lightly, running a hand through his dirty blonde locks.

"I'm sorry" He apologizes sincerely, the bitterness all but faded once he's calmed himself down again. "I meant to say 'stranger'."

"I get it, Dean." (y/n) avoids his gaze, arms crossing themselves protectively over her chest, "You don't like me. If you want me to leave, then I can go."

"I already told you that I was fine with you hanging around-"

"Well, it's obvious you've changed your mind," she argues, standing up from her chair to prepare herself to leave, "Can't say that I blame you."

"(y/n)-" he lets out a frustrated sigh, hesitant to continue as he stares down at his brother, "This is just the worst time for you to be here, okay? I don't know how to feel about you yet and I haven't gotten enough time to figure it out. All I know is that Sam trusted you and he needs help. Please, just stay and help us."

There's a moment of silence between the pair, each of them taking turns to sweep their gazes across Sam, his body like a lifeless statue carved from frigid stone. Dean was desperate to get his brother back, helpless in the situation, and needed to let out some of his frustration. (y/n) needed to remind herself that he wasn't angry with her, he was just angry in general. She couldn't take it personally. Once she too had calmed herself down and rid the hurt from her heart over his comment, the phoenix nodded slowly in understanding. "Okay, I'll stay."

"Anything new?" Bobby's deep voice interrupts their almost tender moment, the pair awkwardly clearing their throats as they watch the older man walk into the room. (y/n) shakes her head, the soft pads of her fingers running themselves through her tangled (h/c) locks.

"Nothing" She replies solemnly.

"I can't just sit here, Bobby-" Dean begins, his voice growing in volume as he turns to speak to the man

"Dean-?"

"I've got to help him!"

"Dean-"

"You know, 'Dreamscape' his noggin, something!"

"Dean!" Bobby finally interrupts him, dark eyes watching the hunter carefully as if half expecting him to combust right then and there, "You know what Cas did. The dam inside your brother's head is gone and all hell's spillin' loose. We don't know what's going on inside."

"I don't care!" Dean spits, words coated in frustration, "We have got to do something!"

"And we will." Bobby responds calmly, the way a father would to a child throwing a tantrum, "But, right now, we got 16 hours till they pop purgatory. I'm down one man, Dean. I can't afford to be down two,"

"Yeah?" Dean challenges, a bitter smile pulling at his lips, "And how's that going, huh? We've got no line on Crowley, we've got no line on Cas, and Balthazar's M.I.A! I mean all we've got is a phoenix we just met and Sam, who's going through whatever the hell this is!"