family line, supernatural [ 1 ]

056. opening gates of hell

"I'll be back in a bit." Dean tells her. "Gonna go fulfill Bobby's wishes for a bit." He lies. Dean presses a lingering kiss to her head. "I'll fix this. I promise." He whispers.

Dean walks to the door, glancing back at Natalie. He knows she can live without him. She can't live without Sam.

~ ~ ~

Natalie hears a deep breath and watches Sam slowly sit up. Her eyes widen as he looks around.

"Natty?" Sam asks, breathing heavily.

"S-Sammy?" She asks, looking at him in utter confusion on how he's alive. She knows he's dead. She didn't feel his pulse. She felt his cold skin. She saw the wound.

"H-Hey." Sam mumbles, looking almost as confused as her. He gets off the bed, walking closer to her. He winces at the pain in his back. "Um... how long have I been out?"

"Out? Uh... um... I don't know." Natalie says, realizing she hasn't been paying attention to the sun and moon switching positions in the sky. "But you-- you're-- he--"

"I got stabbed in the back... literally." Sam says.

"Yes." Natalie nods. "You were-- you shouldn't-- I--" She gets up, beelining to him, and she tightly hugs him. Sam's chin rests on her head as he wraps his arms around her.

Natalie feels his back, not feeling the injury, only the dried blood. Her grip tightens, needing to make sure he's actually real.

"Natty, a little too tight." Sam grimaces, gently pushing her away.

"Sorry." She sniffles, wiping her nose. "I'm sorry." She starts crying again.

"Hey, hey, wh-why are you crying?" Sam asks.

"Cause you're... you're here. In front of me. Alive." Natalie says.

"Yeah. Yeah, alive." Sam chuckles. "I... yeah." He winces as she continues to wipe her tears away. "C'mere." He pulls her back into a hug, smoothing her hair down. "I'm right here." He reassures.

Natalie stops crying after a bit, Sam letting her break away from the hug first. He goes over to the mirror.

"Can you help me see this, though?" Sam asks.

"Yeah." Natalie sniffles. "Yeah." She walks over and lifts his shirt and jacket up to reveal the scar from Jake stabbing him. Natalie's eyes instantly water at the sight, her mind flashing back to that night.

Sam winces as he sees the scar. He flinches a little when cold fingers touch it, but looks back at Natalie seeing her almost cry again.

"Shit. Sorry." Sam turns to her. "I didn't know it would make you cry again."

"It's fine." She whispers, waving him off.

They hear the door open and Dean turns around the corner.

"Sammy? Thank God." Dean sighs in relief.

"Hey." Sam greets. Dean pulls him into a tight hug. "Owww. Uh, Dean--"

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry, man." Dean pulls away. "I'm just... I'm just happy to see you up and around, that's all. Come on, sit down." The two sit at the table, Natalie standing nearby, looking between them, completely lost.

"Okay. Dean... what happened to me?" Sam asks.

"Well, what do you remember?" Dean asks.

"I-I saw you and Bobby and... I felt this pain. This sharp pain, like... white hot, you know, and then you guys started running at me, and... that's about it." Sam recalls.