There Was A Time -DeanXCas

Chapter 3 - Exquisite Changes

It didn't really feel like Dean's brain came back online until they were sitting at the restaurant. Once they'd ordered - and he had no idea what he'd ordered, could only hope it was edible and not the girly crap Sam still seemed to be fond of - Sam got up to go use the bathroom. As soon as he was out of earshot, Jess immediately turned to look at him and said, "I'm sorry if I caught you off guard, Dean. I didn't mean to."

"It's fine," Dean croaked, relieved when the waitress came back and set his beer down in front of him. He picked it up and took a very long drink. The familiar taste helped to clear his head a bit. "I just - Sam said he was done with hunting. For good."

"I know. He told me," said Jess, sipping from her own bright blue drink.

"About... everything?"

She nodded. "He didn't want to. But there's only so many times that my boyfriend can wake up screaming from nightmares before a girl starts to wonder. Some of the things I heard him yelling about... Sam either had a very active imagination, or I was missing something. Turns out it's not that hard to find out information about the supernatural if you ask the right questions. I confronted Sam with what little I'd found out and..." She shrugged, took a cherry from the rim of her glass and popped it into her mouth.

"Sam must've loved that," Dean muttered, staring at her with new respect. Not many people responded well when they were first exposed to what really went bump in the night. He'd only tried it once with an old girlfriend, and she'd broken up with him that night. Apparently Sam had better taste in women than Dean did.

"He freaked out, actually. It wasn't a very good time for either one of us," Jess admitted. "We actually took a little break. But we worked it out and Sam ended up asking me to marry him." She cast a fond glance down at her ring. Dean followed her gaze, noticing the ring for the first time. It was silver - probably pure silver - with a tiny diamond. Beautiful, but simple. Exactly Sam's style.

"That's all great, and I'm happy for you. Even if I think you're way out of my brother's league. But I'm not sure where the idea of Sam hunting again comes from."

"He misses it, Dean. He still checks the newspapers compulsively for hunts, even though he never follows through on them. Sometimes when he talks about it, he gets this wistful look on his face. He has some weapons stored underneath our bed. Silver knives and stuff like that. And he's forever checking books out of the library on monsters. I can tell he misses you more than anything else, but hunting is definitely part of it."

"Me?" Dean echoed in shock. Of all the things Jess could've told him, this was the last thing he'd been expecting to hear. Sam was a good hunter, but, even when he was caught up in the thrill of it, he'd never really been happy. And Sam was the one who'd cut off all contact between them in the first place. Dean had just given up on trying because he couldn't keep reopening that wound. It stung too much. He frowned a little, wondering if Jess was simply mistaken.

Sam returned then, sliding into his seat and looking back and forth between them. Jess smiled at him. "I was just telling Dean that you want to keep hunting."

"Oh, yeah." Sam dropped his gaze, fiddling with his knife and fork. "I don't want to - I'm not interested in doing it full time or anything. I still have to go to school and keep up on my work. I'm not giving up my life here. But if there was the occasional hunt around here that you needed some help on..." He looked up hopefully.

Dean just gaped at him.

"Unless you've found another partner to hunt with," Sam added, and it was amazing how small he could still make himself look. "Or you don't want to. I get it."

"No!" Dean blurted out. "You just - Jesus, Sammy, I had to listen to you bitching about hunting for like ten years straight. I'm just surprised, that's all. I didn't think you would ever want to hunt again. Ever."