Standing Outside the Fire

40

"You and me both. Frankie's relieved too.l

Dean and Francesca made their way to Rufus'.

The front door opened and Sam took a few steps inside and Dean pushed him to the ground and doused him with holy water.

Sam frowned. "What the-? I'm not a demon." Dean poured Borax over Sam. "Or a Leviathan. What-"

Dean grabbed Sam's arm and cut it with a knife. Sam gasped in pain. "Or a shifter. Good." Dean stood. "My turn. They're good. Come on. Let's go." He held out the bottles to Sam.

Sam shook his head. "I don't need to. I know it's you."

"Damnit, Sammy!" He splashed the holy water and Borax over himself and held out a knife to Sam, who had stood up. "Come on!"

"No! Dean, can I just say hello?"

Dean rolled up his sleeve and cut his own arm. "All right." He smiled and bound it up. "Well... let's do this."

"I don't know whether to hug you or take a shower."

Dean laughed and said, "Come here." He held out his arms and they hugged, Francesca joining in.

"Dude. You're... freakin' alive. Frankie's alive," Sam said. He walked a few steps away with his hands in his hair. "I mean, what the hell happened?"

"Well, I guess standing too close to exploding Dick sends your ass straight to Purgatory."

"You two were in Purgatory?" Sam asked. "For the whole year?"

"Yeah, time flies when you're running for your life."

"How'd you two get out?"

Francesca shrugged and met her eyes. "I guess whoever built that box didn't want me or Dean in there any more than we did."

"What does that mean?"

"We're here, okay?"

"What about Cas? Was he there?"

Dean walked a few steps away and spoke, his back to Sam. "Yeah, Cas didn't make it."

"What exactly does that mean? Frankie, if you don't mind me asking, are you..."

"Something happened to him down there. Things got pretty hairy towards the end, and he... just let go. Yeah, she is. Few months."

"Congrats. So Cas is dead? You saw him die?"

"Frankie and I saw enough."

"So, then what, you're not sure?"

Dean turned back to Sam. "I said we saw enough, Sam."

"Right. Dean, I'm sorry."

Dean said, "Me too. So you -- I can't believe you're actually here." He took two beers and a soda from the fridge. "You know that half your numbers are out of service? Felt like I was leaving messages in the wind." He sat and set a beer down for Sam, who remained standing. Francesca sat next to Dean who leaned closer to her.

Sam shook his head. "Yeah, I-I-I didn't get your messages."

"How come?"

"Probably because I ditched the phones."

"Because..."

"I guess, um... I guess something happened to me this year, too." He shrugged. "I don't hunt anymore." He smiled tentatively.

"Yeah. And Sasha Grey's gone legit. What?"

"Nothing. Um, she did a Soderbergh movie."

"What?"