These Broken Roads

Sending Out Flares

It was an effort for Dean not to put a comforting hand on Sammy's arm or wrap him in a hug. It had always been instinct for Dean and Sam to lean on each other in the hard times. Unfortunately, touching Sam now, might do more harm than good.

Dean studied Sam's sweat soaked and pain twisted face, looking for some semblance of the innocent boy he had once been. Of course, there was nothing of that child in Sam's face.

Dean was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't hear Amara talking.

"-are so adamant that Sam get back to the bunker, I will take him first and come back for you two." Just as he had been slow to listen to Amara, he was slow to process what her words meant. Dean rose to his feet as soon as he did though. Sometimes he forgot that not everyone knew the rule.

"If Sam's not safe, then it ain't happening."

"There is no way I'm letting Sam out of my sight. Doing that is exactly what got us into this mess in the first place!" Amara sighed and looked like she was about to roll her eyes. She addressed him directly then.

"You will have to let me take him now unless you want to give her a little more time to wake up and complicate things all around."

"Fine," Dean growled after a pause, "but don't take your time getting back here." Amara nodded curtly and placed a hand on Sam's shoulder less than gently.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sam shivered hard next to Lucifer. Everyone knows that satan burns cold but they would never know the half of it. Everything except the torture had faded into the background. Even the differences in types and amounts of pain had blurred together.

But there was something else there besides everyone's favorite fallen angel. Something oddly warm and vaguely comforting loomed over Sam. It was nothing like the cruel presence of Lucifer. Not to mention the smell of gun powder and old leather that permeated his nose.

...Dean...

There nothing but The Cage in Sam's mind so why did the name Dean keep popping up every time Lucifer gave him a respite from the torture? Sam strained his mind to focus, to just think!

Dean!

Dean was his brother and he was coming to get Sam out. The relief was short lived as a burst of pain banished those thoughts to the wind faster than they had appeared.

"No, no, no, Sammy," the devil chided, "remembering just won't do. You. Are. Mine.

"Forever."

Mine.

Just like that, the torture began again, and Dean was gone. Lost in Sam's seemingly never ending screams.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dean paced the floor of the grungy basement anxiously. What had only been a few moments had felt like an eternity. Besides, it only took a second for Sam to get in trouble these days, he was like a magnetic for pain. Dean grimaced at the metaphor but he couldn't deny the truth in it.

"Dean, you're going to wear a hole through the floor," Castiel sighed, "can you please stand still?"

Whatever Dean would have snapped back at the angel was cut off by Amara's abrupt arrival.

"We should go," was all she said before placing a hand on each of them. Soon after, the basement disappeared and they were standing in the map room of the bunker.

"I put Sam in his bedroom."

Dean made his way to his brother's room in record time, opening the door slowly, he led the way in followed by Cas. Amara had opted to stay in the map room because "despite the dramatic story" she "needed a break from mortals." Dean shook his head at that but couldn't quite muster a smile when his brother was suffering only feet away.

"Can you heal him Cas?" Dean looked to his friend hopefully. Castiel hadn't been the most powerful angel lately and Dean would have employed Amara's help but he didn't want to push his luck. Especially given her recent mood. Cas looked down at Sam's shaking form solemnly.

"I will heal him to the best of my ability." Castiel hadn't quite answered the question but Dean shrugged it off. The angel was about to lay his hands on Sam when Amara walked briskly through the open doorway, an annoyed yet determined expression on her face. Dean and Cas looked up in surprise.

"You can barely heal a scratch with such little grace, Castiel. Let me take over." Cas looked a little offended but he stepped away, leaving Amara a clear path to Sam. Despite Dean's newfound trust for the powerful entity, he shuffled a bit closer to Sam and put a tentative hand on the hunter's shoulder. This time, Dean adamantly ignored the obvious flinch.

Amara's hand glowed so bright that the glare encompassed Sam's body in a bright white light. Dean covered his eyes with his free arm so he wouldn't go blind from the show of power. When the glow faded, Sam was revealed as good as new.

Well, that was a bit of a stretch because as soon as the Amara's power had receded completely, Sam shot up, arms swinging and breaths coming too fast and shallow.

Dean immediately dived in to stop the flailing limbs. Cas did the same after Dean got nailed in the eye by one.

"Woah! Sammy!" It only took seconds for the two stronger hunters to pin the weaker man to the bed. Sam struggled hard and somehow his breath got impossibly faster. Dean was afraid he was going to pass out.

"You got to calm down man, you're safe. I promise." Finally, Sam's wild eyes locked on Dean's and his struggles weakened.

"There you go, Sammy. Focus on me, you're out, you're not in there anymore. I promise he can't get you." Dean explicitly avoided specifics. He had learned the hard way last time around. Sam eventually stopped trying to escape but he was still in danger of hyperventilating. Even though Sam's eyes were still locked on Dean, he could clearly see the raw panic in them. One wrong move would set him off again if Dean couldn't get him to calm down.

Dean decided then that the heavenly beings wouldn't exactly be a comforting presence. Especially considering who had likely been torturing Sam in his head lately.

"Can you give us the room?" he asked the present company, looking from Cas to Amara and back again. Cas nodded sagely and got up from Sam's bed side to leave while Amara simply vanished on the spot. Dean was gonna have to get used to that again.

Once the door was shut, Dean relaxed inwardly. This was the way it was supposed to be. "Just you and me now Sammy. Just like the old days." Dean reached out and gently laid a hand on his brother's newly pieced together chest, right above his heart. With his other hand he picked up Sammy's and placed it on his own beating heart.

"You feel that, Sam. Focus on it. Try to breath." Dean could feel Sam's chest stutter under his palm as his baby brother tried to match Dean's heartbeat. "You got this, brother. Just breath. In and out." Dean pulled in an exaggerated gulp of air and let it out slowly. He kept that up until Sam's breathing finally evened out.