Until We Meet Again, My Angel

Chapter 17: Let the Lightning Crash

   Waking up, Sam thought about last night. Normally, painful and stressful memories came to people in a blur- angry words and shattered glass rushing by in a flash- but not this one. The fight was as clear as crystal and sharper than any blade the Winchesters had ever carried.
   Sam groaned, forcefully shutting his eyes as if he could will himself back to sleep. After Dean stormed out, Castiel had punched a hole in the wall. Cas told Sam it was the anger he'd felt against Dean, but he knew Cas was angry at himself. The Hunter had attempted to calm Cas, thinking perhaps the Angel might temper his rage if he would admit he was a victim of his own adrenaline. However, Sam had only succeeded in getting Castiel to, once again, slam his fist through the motel room's wall. Ugh, Sam thought, the wall. He'd have to pay for the damage. The Winchester frowned as he tried to estimate the cost- credit card fraud isn't easy, you know. Of course, that was the least of Sam's worries.
   After Cas had graced the room with a second cavity in the wall, he vanished and still hadn't returned. Dean, however, did. Unfortunately, when he'd come back, he was hammered. Dean gave a sing-song greeting of "Sammy! There you are, you lovable redwood!" Sam would've laughed, had it been any other night. Instead, he merely sighed and said, "Oh my God... you're wasted." Dean, stumbling, murmured, "Who you calling drunk, you're not drunk, I'm drunk!" Then Dean collapsed on the foot of his bed and fell asleep.
   Peering over at his brother, Sam shook his head, worried but amused. Grunting, he sat up and scanned the room- luckily, it was free of vomit, so Dean must have slept all night. With one final glance at his brother, Sam stood and walked into the bathroom for a quick shower.

   Sam, feeling clean and refreshed, emerged from the bathroom drying his hair with a towel. Noticing Dean was no longer in his bed, the giant panicked for a moment, then relaxed once he saw his brother huddled in the corber, puking into a trash can. Though he knew his brother had done this to himself, Sam still walked over to Dean and put a hand on his back supportively.
   Dean groaned miserably, hugging the waste bin, and whined, "I feel like someone dropped an A-bomb inside my skull." Sam chuckled and said, "Come on, don't be silly... Hiroshima wasn't nearly as drunk as you." Dean glared at his younger brother and growled, "Watch it, baby brother, before I drop an F-bomb."
"Easy, Nagasaki," Sam coaxed, "just worry about getting to the toilet before that bucket overflows." If Sam said anything else, Dean couldn't hear it over his own wretching.
   By noon, Dean had stopped vomiting; and by one P.M., he was drinking again. Sam watched him warily- sure, Dean drank a lot, but never before three P.M., and never within six hours of a hangover. Yet, by one-fifteen, Dean had chugged half of a six-pack.
"Hey, Dean?" Sam asked carefully.
"Yeah?" Dean replied autonomously.
"You alright?"
"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" Dean asked sarcastically. "I mean, hey, the love of my life told me he shoulda left me to rot in Hell, and I haven't seen him since. I'm doin' peachy." He cracked open another beer. Sam sighed, not willing to risk paying for another hole, and grabbed himself a drink.

   It was about nine when Sam returned to the motel. Dean had suggested getting some food, and Sam, eager for some alone time, had happily agreed. It was a nice night, so the younger Hunter walked to the nearest burger joint, leaving Baby at the motel. Opening the door, Sam was going through conversation topics that wouldn't remind Dean of his ex-boyfriend when he realized the room was empty. Dropping the food on the table, Sam rushed to check the bathroom, which was free of people, then looked under both beds with the same results. He ran to the window to check of the parking lot was- Damn it- deserted. The Impala was gone.
   Sam called Castiel as a last resort, but was sent to voicemail. The aggravated Hunter was in the middle of leaving a third (and particularly unfriendly) message, when the was a whoosh and suddenly Castiel was standing right in front of him. Sam wasted no time, grabbing the Angel by the collar and demanding, "Where is my brother?"
"You think I did this?" Cas flinched. "I would never do anything to harm Dean, I love him!"
"You weren't acting like you loved him very much last night!" Sam spat out.
"Don't you think I know that? I've been crying ever since I left the motel!" Cas confessed.
   In his anger, Sam hadn't realized how bad a state Cas was in. His eyes were bloodshot and puffy, his cheeks were red and sunken, and there were tear-tracks on his face. Sam let the Angel go and exhaled stiffly, apologizing. Cas put a hand of Sam's shoulder, sympathetic as he said, "It's alright, Sam. I'm scared, too." Out of the corner of his eye, Sam saw a paper (disturbed by Cas' arrival) floating to the ground. Catching it in mid-air, Sam recognized Dean's handwriting and immediately began reading it out loud:
"Sammy,
   I'm sorry I left without saying goodbye, but I know I'll never recover from this. I love you and Cas more than life. But just because you love someone, it doesn't mean you should stick around and screw up their lives. I hot-wired Baby and put her keys in your jacket. She's all yours, Sammy. You might have to fix her up a bit, though. You're my brother, Sam, and my best friend, and I can't weigh you down your whole life- be better than me Sammy. And don't try to come after me. This time, I'm going somewhere you can't follow.
Dean."