The Whispers of the Devil

Lazarus Rising [3]

Dean, Bobby, and Isabelle walked down a dingy hallway.

Isabelle stayed close behind Dean, as the voices were continuously whispering words of warning.

The trio knocked on a door with the number 297 inside a red heart.

The door was opened by a young woman with dark hair, wearing only a tank top and underwear.

The woman looked at the group expectantly, her eyes wondering on Isabelle "So where is it?"

Dean looked at Bobby and Isabelle with confusion "Where's what?"

"The pizza...that takes three people to deliver?"

"I think we got the wrong room," Dean claimed only to stop when Sam stepped into the light.

Sam was wearing a grey t-shirt and jeans "Hey, is..." he stopped dead when he saw Dean. Sam swallowed, shocked, his eyes flicking between Dean, Bobby, and Isabelle.

"Heya, Sammy," Dean greeted quietly.

Sam was silent as Dean stepped into the room, ignoring the young woman.

As Dean got close, Sam pulled a knife and lunged at Dean.

Dean blocked Sam's attack and Bobby pulled Sam off, gripping him around the shoulders.

Isabelle was quick to move to the protective presence of Dean as she felt wary around the young woman.

"Who are you?!" Sam exclaimed.

"Like you didn't do this?!" Dean shouted back

"Do what?!"

"It's him." Bobby assured "It's him. I've been through this already, it's really him,"

Sam stared at Dean as the struggle slowly went out of his body "What..."

"I know. I look fantastic, huh?" Dean teased.

Bobby let go of Sam, who looked on the verge of tears as he stepped forwards and pulled Dean into a desperate hug.

The brothers embraced for several seconds, heavy with emotion, as Bobby looked on with tears in his eyes.

Sam pushed Dean back to arm's length.

"So are you two like...together?" The young woman wondered, breaking the silence.

"What? No. No. He's my brother," Sam admitted.

"Uh...got it. I...I guess. Look, I should probably go,"

Sam nodded "Yeah. Yeah, that's probably a good idea. Sorry,"

***

Sam came back into the room after escorting the young woman out and sat down.

Dean was standing above him, arms crossed.

Dean and Bobby were both looking at Sam suspiciously, while Isabelle sat silently watching the trio, unsure of what the voices had gotten her into.

"So tell me," Dean said, breaking the silence "what'd it cost?"

"The girl?" Sam smiled teasingly "I don't pay, Dean,"

"That's funny, Sam." Dean said, unamused "To bring me back. What'd it cost? Was it just your soul, or was it something worse?"

"You think I made a deal?"

"That's exactly what we think," Bobby argued.

"Well, I didn't,"

"Don't lie to me," Dean said intensely.

"He's not lying," Isabelle admitted

"I tried everything." Sam admitted "I tried opening the Devil's Gate. Hell, I tried to bargain, Dean, but no demon would deal, all right? You were rotting in hell for months. For months, and I couldn't stop it. So I'm sorry it wasn't me, all right? Dean, I'm sorry,"

Dean sighed "it's okay, Sammy. You don't have to apologize, I believe you,"

"Don't get me wrong, I'm gladdened that Sam's soul remains intact, but it does raise a sticky question,"

"If he didn't pull me out, then what did?"

All the men turned towards Isabelle.

"What are you looking at me for?" Isabelle wondered.

***

Bobby lead the boys and Isabelle down a set of steps to the parking lot "I know a psychic. A few hours from here. Something this big, maybe she's heard the other side talking." he suggested. "Try to keep up," Bobby said as he got in his car.

"I assume you'll want to drive," Sam said as he pulled out a set of keys from his right pocket and tossed them at Dean, who caught them easily.

Dean chuckled "Oh, I almost forgot!" He approached the Impala and ran a hand along it lovingly. "Hey, sweetheart, did you miss me?" Dean got in the driver's side, settling in.

Sam opened the back door for Isabelle, who remained unmoving "You coming?"

"Do I have a choice?" Isabelle challenged.

"You helped me get my brother back. Safe to say we owe you by helping you with your problem,"

Isabelle bit her lip but nodded, getting in the back seat of the Impala.

"Sam," Dean said once his brother got in the seat next to him "what the hell is this?" He was looking at an iPod plugged into the stereo.

"That's an iPhone jack," Sam reasoned.

"You were supposed to take care of her, not douche her up," Dean argued.

"Dean, I thought it was my car," Sam challenged.

Dean sneered as he turned the key in the ignition.

Vision by Jason Manns began to play.

Dean rolled his eyes and glared at Sam again. "Really?"

Sam shrugged innocently.

Dean ripped the iPod out of the jack and tossed it out the window. He began following Bobby's car "There's still one thing that's bothering me,"

"Yeah?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, the night that I bit it. Or...got bit." Dean chuckled at his pun "How'd you make it out? I thought Lilith was going to kill you,"

"Well, she tried." Sam admitted "She couldn't,"

"What do you mean, she couldn't?"

Sam shrugged "She fired this, like, burning light at me, and...didn't leave a scratch. Like I was immune or something,"

"Immune?"

"Yeah. I don't know who was more surprised, her or me. She left pretty fast after that,"

"Huh. What about Ruby, where is she?"

"Dead. For now,"

Dean bit his lip, unsure of what to ask "So you've been using your, uh, freaky ESP stuff?"

"No,"

Isabelle tilted her head to the side "You sure about that?"

Sam sighed "Look, you didn't want me to go down that road, so I didn't go down that road. It was practically your dying wish,"

"Yeah," Dean said "well, let's keep it that way,"