Smoke and Ash

16 | Human Relations

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I turned the corner of the kitchen and stopped when I saw Dean wake Sam up from sleeping on the couch; leaning back against the wall and crossing my arms loosely over my chest, a light smile forming as I continued to look.

    "Whoa. That's twelve hours straight, I'm calling that rested. Here." Dean held a bottle of water and a power bar out to Sam. "Hydrate, and uh, protein-ate."

    "Breakfast in bed." Sam said as he took the water and power bar from Dean, not noticing me.

    "Don't get used to it. Let me see that hand." Dean unwrapped Sam's bandage and inspects his stitches.

    "Eh, you'll live. Here." Dean takes a bottle of whisky from the table and poured it over Sam's wound.

    "Hey, kid," Bobby walked up beside me, making me look at him. "You and Dean still...you know, not a thing?"

    I nodded, looking back at the brothers as they talked. "Yup."

    "...but you still like him."

    "Yeah."

   "Okay. So, just tell him. That kid hasn't gotten a wink of sleep since that day." Bobby said, "for my sake, talk to him. Soon."

Sam finally cleared his throat once he noticed us. "So, ooze invasion. Any leads?"

Bobby shrugged. "I got all my feelers out. Whatever they're up to, it ain't–ain't about going Mothra down Main Street. They'll turn up. You seem pretty eager to stretch your legs, you know."

"Now onto our other big problem. How're you doin'?" Dean asked Sam once he put a new bandage on his brother's hand. "And do not say okay."

"I'm not okay." Sam answered.

"You think?" Dean said.

"Hey. Go a little easy." I said, finally speaking up for the first time since getting back.

Dean just looked at me silently before sighing. "There's nothing easy about it, okay? We acted like he had everything under control."

"I get it. I'm sorry. Look, I-I didn't exactly want to crack up, you know?" Sam said.

Dean looked back at his brother. "What the hell happened back there?"

"Well, it's not just flashbacks any more." Sam admitted.

"Well then what?"

"It's more like...I'm seeing through the cracks."

"What does that mean?" Dean asked.

"It means I'm having a difficult time figuring out what's real."

"Hallucinations." Dean muttered.

"For starters." Sam nodded.

"Well for starters, if you're tripping Hell's Bells, why would you hide that?" Dean asked.