Take Two Seconds to Breathe for [livejournal.com profile] hunters_retreat

Jun. 3rd, 2011 10:14 am
[identity profile] springflingmod.livejournal.com posting in [community profile] spn_springfling
Title: Take Two Seconds to Breathe
Pairing: Sam/Dean
Rating: PG-13
Any warnings: spoilers through 6.22, otherwise none

Written by [livejournal.com profile] killabeez for [livejournal.com profile] hunters_retreat!



Bow down, orders Castiel. He says it to all of them, but it's Dean's fealty he wants. Everything in Dean cries denial—he'd as soon worship Crowley as whatever monster Cas has made himself into—but he's not above faking it, if it means they might walk out of here. He barely hesitates before he's on his knees.

It isn't enough. "You don't mean it," Cas tells him, regret heavy in his eyes. "But you will." He raises his hand, thumb pressed to middle finger.

It's the last thing Dean remembers.

* * *

Dean's heaven looks a lot like Jim Murphy's lakeside cabin in Minnesota. He and Sam stayed there for two months when they were teenagers, and it was the closest they ever came to a summer vacation.

The relief Dean feels when he pulls up and Sam steps out onto the porch is so intense, he comes close to embarrassing himself. The hug Sam gives him says he's not the only one.

"Think Bobby's still alive?" Sam asks, when Dean finally lets him go.

"Doubt it. Can you see him bowing down and professing his love?"

Sam shakes his head. He looks about like Dean feels, which is torn between murderous and gutshot, and not at all ready to talk about it.

"So, Cas," Sam says.

"Cas," Dean agrees.

* * *

Near as they can figure, Cas put them on ice because they might be the only ones with a chance of stopping him. But that was weeks ago, and they've seen no sign of him, or anyone. Every time they try to walk or drive away, they end up back at the lake.

Dean wishes Ash would turn up. They could use his help, not to mention his angel-finding police scanner. Dean's tried to dial up a signal on the car radio, but either Cas has them in some kind of bubble where nothing gets in or out, or none of the angels will talk to them because Cas has made it clear they're off limits.

The weather isn't always perfect. Sometimes a rainstorm comes through, because Sam's such a geek that even at fifteen, he loved nothing better than an excuse to curl up with a book. On those days, around dinner time, the clouds break and there are rainbows.

Today, though, Dean sits on the porch and watches the sunshine sparkle on the water. He remembers Sam jumping off the floating platform that summer, all legs and arms as he leapt into the air, then curled himself into a ball and plunged in. The image is still bright in Dean's memory.

Sam slips a cold beer into Dean's hand and takes the other chair. He's shirtless, soaking up the sun like a lizard. "Thinking about a swim?" he asks.

Dean shrugs. "Yeah, maybe."

He steals a look at Sam from under his shades. They're both turning brown, just like they did that summer. Dean's all freckles, too, of course, but he doesn't care; there's no one to see him but Sam.

Sam looks good, healthy, better than the quiet shadow he's been lately. He seems himself in ways Dean can't define, and considering how sure Dean had been that he'd never wake up from what Cas did to him, that's a miracle Dean'll take at almost any price. Right now, he sprawls in the sun, miles of golden skin and muscle that might give Dean ideas, if Sam weren't his brother.

"You know what sucks?" Dean says aloud.

"What?"

"If we don't get out of here, we are never gonna have sex again."

Sam thinks about that, then scrunches up his face. "Do people even have sex in Heaven?"

"Now, that's a depressing thought."

"I mean, we get hungry, we get thirsty, right? Gotta figure—"

"Talking about it won't help the situation," Dean warns.

"Yeah, good point."

"Figures I'd get you for a soulmate, instead of Scarlett Johansson," Dean jokes, but the word 'soulmate' makes his voice crack a little. Stupid as the word sounds, the thought of being stuck here forever without Sam makes him queasy. He doesn't know whether he has Cas to thank for that mercy, or whether it's something about the nature of Heaven itself, that he and Sam will always find each other. He hopes it's the latter.

He should hate this, is the thing. He wasn't kidding when he called it the Matrix, and there's no question that he's a red pill kind of guy. But they haven't had a break in years, not so much as a night off that Dean can remember. It's been nonstop Apocalypse for way too long, and if he wasn't so worried about what Cas is up to, he could think of worse ways to spend eternity. He hopes Bobby's somewhere up here, too, kicking back with his wife and enjoying a cold one. If anyone deserves it, it's him.

Sam stretches, his bare toes curling. The condensation from his beer drips onto his bare stomach, rolls down his side in a lazy trickle that catches the sun. "Maybe I will take that swim," Dean says, to take his mind off it.

He feels Sam watching him as he strips off his shirt and runs down the bank to cannonball into the water. It's cold enough to make goosebumps break out on his skin, and he's grateful. These thoughts he's having, they're nothing new, but this might be the first time in years he's had room to breathe, to let himself look at Sam without a metric ton of baggage getting in the way. To think that maybe he's allowed to have this, despite all his sins, and that whatever's between them is as strong as he always wanted to believe. It's doing dangerous things to his self-defense mechanisms.

Dean swims downshore for a while, then comes back. When he's close, Sam strides down from the porch and launches himself in a long, arching dive that cleaves the surface nearby.

They paddle around, wasting the afternoon away. The longer they stay, the harder it gets to remember why they have to leave.

"We should try and wish ourselves a dog," Dean says. He's thinking of the mutt that showed up in Sam's memories last time. It still hurts, knowing that Sam has good memories of getting away from him, from Dad. Doesn't seem fair, that Sam's always gotten along fine without him, when Dean's so damn needy and insecure that he can't relax unless Sam's within shouting distance.

It's not the greatest thought, considering Sam might be stuck with him for a few eons, at least.

"Hey." Sam splashes him in the face. Dean thinks he's been waiting to do that for days. His expression is exactly the same as it was at fifteen.

"Don't start what you can't finish, Sammy." It's the same thing Dean said back then. Of course, Sam hadn't had four inches and twenty pounds on him.

Sam splashes him again, and it's on.

They're both laughing and breathless by the time they collapse on the bank. They lie there and let the sun dry them off. Finally, Sam gets to his feet and offers Dean a hand up. Dean takes it, and feels a tiny ache of disappointment when he lets go.

"What do you want for dinner?" Sam asks, as they head back to the house.

Sam always asks Dean what he wants, so they've been eating steaks and burgers for days. "Surprise me," Dean says.

Sam ends up making stir fry. It's one of the two things he knows how to cook, thanks to Jess, and it's good—broccoli and soy sauce, cashews and hot peppers mixed in with the chicken. There's Oreo ice cream for dessert, and they take their dishes outside and eat on the front steps, watching the fireflies as the sun goes down.

"I love that there's fireflies, but no mosquitoes," Sam says.

"Mosquitoes in heaven'd be some kind of a cruel joke," Dean says, his mouth full of ice cream.

"True." Sam gestures at Dean's face. "Got some on your chin, there." Dean wipes at it with the back of his hand. "Nope, missed," Sam says, and then reaches out. "Here."

He wipes it off with his fingers, the tips of them brushing Dean's bottom lip. It makes Dean's stomach feel weird for a second, a hot, unsteady flip that he tries not to notice—but he kind of wants to suck Sam's fingers into his mouth, and that thought makes him blush.

Sam's voice is too soft when he says, "Dean, can I ask you something?"

"What?" Dean hopes he isn't as transparent as he feels.

"That summer, when we stayed here. Did you ever—?"

"Did I ever what, Sammy?" He's holding his breath. But something lets go inside of him, and he thinks, yes.

"Did you ever wish something had happened?"

Without thinking, Dean says aloud what he's told himself for years. "You were fifteen, man. We were stuck up here alone for two whole months. Didn't mean anything. When I was fifteen? I used to have sex dreams about my science teacher. She was like forty-five. Man's not responsible for what happens to him when the hormones kick in."

"Yeah," Sam says. "But you kissed me, not the other way around."

Dean's chest knots up, because that is true. Sam was the one waking up with sticky sheets that summer. Sam was the one struggling with zits and growing pains and the worst throes of puberty, sneaking away to jerk off two or three times a day. Crushing on your own brother at fifteen, under those circumstances? Weird, yeah, but still in the realm of forgivable sins.

Less forgivable to be nineteen and a half, responsible for your kid brother and aware of all that, and to let yourself forget everything your dad taught you because you liked being the center of your little brother's world. Liked that he was growing up, turning into a real hunter, learning fast and getting better every day. Liked the way he looked, all sleek, brown limbs and sun-bleached hair, the way he smelled, the idea that he was old enough to learn about sex, ready for someone to teach him how good his body could feel.

Less forgivable that on the afternoon in question, it was, in fact, you who stopped your little brother with a hand on his wrist, and when he turned, you who brushed his hair out of his eyes and had to let yourself see, just once, what it was like to feel his mouth against yours.

"Nothing happened," Dean insists. "Nothing happened, and nothing was going to happen. You're crazy if you think I ever woulda let it."

"I know that. But haven't you ever thought about it? I mean, what if?"

Dean gives it one last-ditch effort because if he doesn't, nobody will. "Hell of a thing to ask, man. After all this time? Everything we've been through?"

But Sam's gaze remains steady, seeing right into him. "Soulmates, Dean. Pretty sure that doesn't happen for no reason."

Dean's face heats. "Yes, okay? I've thought about it. Usually, I'm thinkin' how much more fucked up we'd be if we'd gone down that road."

"Really? I'm not so sure." Sam lets out a breath. "I think about it, too. Probably way more than you would ever guess. And I think maybe that's why."

"Why what?"

"Why we tear each other up so much. Why everything we do when it comes to each other is so over the top. You know? All the stupid self-sacrificing and screwed up relationships and codependent tendencies."

Dean's heart is going like gangbusters, a soaring, weightless sensation in his stomach. Sam putting it into words feels like absolution.

"So what are we supposed to do about it?" he asks.

Sam takes it as the invitation it is. He shifts closer, slowly leans in. The tip of his tongue flicks out and licks the sticky sugar that's still on Dean's lips. Dean opens his mouth, closes his eyes.

It's as good, as breath-stealingly right as he remembered. It's still, undeniably, kissing his brother.

These two things should not coexist, and yet somehow, they do, and Dean finds himself putting a hand on Sam's shoulder, leaning in so he can experience it fully. He thinks, any second now, it's gonna be weird. Any second, it's going to hit him that this is Sam, that the whole thing is ridiculous, and fifteen years of buried, unresolved questions will finally be put to rest with a resounding, yeah, no.

Then Sam's tongue touches his. Dean catches his breath, and for a second he hesitates. Then he lets his tongue seek Sam's again and it is so fucking good a shiver runs through his whole body, waking up nerves in a rush that makes his head spin. Before he can stop himself, he's on his feet and pressed against Sam full length, and all it takes is Sam's fingers in his hair, the gentle push of Sam's erection against his for Dean to go fully hard, aching in his shorts.

"Jesus," he says when he breaks away, wide-eyed and reeling.

"Guess that was a long time coming." Sam sounds shaken, too.

"You think?"

Sam reaches out, lays a hand against Dean's neck. "Hey. Don't freak out."

And Dean is, in fact, freaking out, but he doesn't want to stop. He doesn't ever want to stop.

"Sammy," he says. It's all he has to say.

* * *

He should have known. That whole year Sam was gone—in Hell, his soul was in Hell even if his body wasn't—that whole awful year, Dean thought about offing himself more times than he could count. It was always there, a constant voice in the back of his head. He told himself he'd promised Sam, but what stopped him more often than not was the thought that if he went through with it, his soul and Sam's would be separated forever. As long as Dean lived, there was a chance.

It's not the kind of thing most people think about their brothers.

They lie in the dark, sweaty and wrecked and tangled up with each other, and it isn't any less scary. Sam's body feels so good against Dean's, it's hard to think.

"Maybe this is our chance," Sam says, his face tucked into Dean's neck. Dean has his hand buried in Sam's hair. "Maybe we came back here for a reason."

Dean can't help feeling it, too. But he's still Dean Winchester, so what he says is, "And maybe Cas put us here so we'd eat the poppies and not try too hard to leave."

"Mm. Want to know the good news?" Sam slips an arm around his waist, nuzzles at his throat.

"What's that?"

He can feel Sam's smile, the brush of his lashes when he says, "Either way, you're stuck with me."

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Date: 2011-06-03 02:30 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] zubeneschamali.livejournal.com
"If we don't get out of here, we are never gonna have sex again."

Sam thinks about that, then scrunches up his face. "Do people even have sex in Heaven?"


So in character for both of them, and these lines made me crack up. I love Sam's "good news" at the end, along with Dean keeping himself alive all that year because otherwise they'd be separated forever. Oh, boys.

Date: 2011-06-14 04:35 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] killabeez.livejournal.com
Thank you so much for this comment! I'm so rarely even mildly amusing, it's always awesome to hear something I wrote made someone laugh. :D

Date: 2011-06-03 02:34 pm (UTC)
ext_120093: (SPN Sam and Dean you and me by iwantpie)
From: [identity profile] morganoconner.livejournal.com
Excuse me... I must go flail and make dolphin noises away from where people will be woken up.

Date: 2011-06-14 04:36 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] killabeez.livejournal.com
I can't tell whether your comment or your icon is cuter. :D Thank you!

Date: 2011-06-03 02:36 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] emmram.livejournal.com
Awwwww. This is brilliant. Flows so well, and they're so in-character.

Wonderful, wonderful job!

Date: 2011-06-14 04:36 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] killabeez.livejournal.com
Thank you so much! I really appreciate it. :)

Date: 2011-06-03 02:59 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] audreytiphaine.livejournal.com
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHH SHIT. THIS WAS SO FANTASTIC. so lovely. sigh!

Date: 2011-06-14 04:36 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] killabeez.livejournal.com
Your comment made me grin from ear to ear! Thank you. ♥

Date: 2011-06-03 03:00 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] obstinatrix.livejournal.com
*FLAIL*

This is 500% made of love. I want this to be the ending.

Date: 2011-06-14 04:37 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] killabeez.livejournal.com
I want this to be the ending.

OKAY. *supports you* :D

Thank you so much.

Date: 2011-06-03 03:25 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] tebtosca.livejournal.com
This is so fucking perfect.

Date: 2011-06-14 04:38 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] killabeez.livejournal.com
It's wonderful to know you thought so - thank you!

Date: 2011-06-03 03:44 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] fiercelynormal.livejournal.com
Amazing. I love the atmosphere and the emotions and just...everything!

Date: 2011-06-14 04:38 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] killabeez.livejournal.com
I'm mesmerized by your icon...

Thank you so much for this comment! ♥

Date: 2011-06-03 06:37 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] equally-dour.livejournal.com
Oh, that was perfect, I loved it so much!

Date: 2011-06-14 04:39 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] killabeez.livejournal.com


Okay, I'm dead of the cute, now. Thank you on all counts!

Date: 2011-06-03 07:46 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] locknkey.livejournal.com
*happy place*

*draws hearts*

Yes! So beautifully illustrates how they are soulmates!

Date: 2011-06-14 04:40 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] killabeez.livejournal.com
Thank you so much! I might be a little obsessed with that particular bit of canon...

Date: 2011-06-03 08:59 pm (UTC)
ext_8730: (spn | sam/dean » pass²)
From: [identity profile] maerhys.livejournal.com
This absolutely perfect. ♥! GUH. I love that canon gives us SOULMATES and thus fic like this. Really beautiful imagery and spot-on dialogue too.

Date: 2011-06-14 04:42 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] killabeez.livejournal.com
I love that canon gives us SOULMATES

Amen x a million. :D I might forgive them everything else for that alone.

Thanks so much for your kind comment!

Date: 2011-06-03 09:03 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] hunters-retreat.livejournal.com
Wow... just... amazing! Thank you so much! I love the idea of Castiel setting them up someplace to wait things out but putting them someplace that could help them resolve some of their issues.

Love that Sam is asking the questions now. Love that Dean was the one that crossed that line. Love that Sam is the one pressing now! This was just such a beautiful story and the best part was that amazing ending!

Thank you so much for this!

Date: 2011-06-14 04:43 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] killabeez.livejournal.com
I'm so very pleased that you enjoyed this! :D And I completely support your reading that Castiel knew what he was doing. Thanks for the lovely prompt—it suited my super-schmoopy mood to a T!

Date: 2011-06-03 09:07 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] orbiting-saturn.livejournal.com
Oh, wow! Oh, man! Geez! OMG! and Hell yeah! A number of other exclamations too, because that was just awesome in every way. I just loved this. Especially that underlying hint that Cas put them there so they could have what they always wanted. That's how I'm choosing to interpret it anyway. Very, very nicely done! =D

Date: 2011-06-14 04:44 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] killabeez.livejournal.com
I absolutely validate your interpretation. :D

Thank you so much for this!

Date: 2011-06-04 02:08 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] sagetan.livejournal.com
I really loved the sweet, serene atmosphere of this story, the summery feel and the sparks of humour. This made me all happy and smiley, and it's all kinds of lovely <3

Date: 2011-06-14 04:47 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] killabeez.livejournal.com
Thank you for your wonderful comment! :) I adore your icon. What a gorgeous, atmospheric image.

(no subject)

From: [identity profile] sagetan.livejournal.com - Date: 2011-06-14 05:40 am (UTC) - Expand

Date: 2011-06-04 02:37 am (UTC)
ext_104199: (Poppy)
From: [identity profile] sangre-fria.livejournal.com
This was incredible. If this was how the show ended, I could die happy. ♥

Date: 2011-06-14 04:48 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] killabeez.livejournal.com
I will admit, me, too. :) Only the more-than-2500-words version.

Thank you so much! ♥

Date: 2011-06-04 03:12 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] atanih88.livejournal.com
Dean's heaven looks a lot like Jim Murphy's lakeside cabin in Minnesota. He and Sam stayed there for two months when they were teenagers, and it was the closest they ever came to a summer vacation.

The relief Dean feels when he pulls up and Sam steps out onto the porch is so intense, he comes close to embarrassing himself. The hug Sam gives him says he's not the only one.


Oh *_*, oh ♥

This was a lovely fic. Like everyone else commenting, really wouldn't mind if it ended this way *sigh*

Date: 2011-06-14 04:48 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] killabeez.livejournal.com
Maybe if we wish real hard...?

Thank you, I appreciate your comment more than I can say. :)
(deleted comment)

Date: 2011-06-14 04:49 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] killabeez.livejournal.com
Thank you! I'm so glad you liked it. :D

Date: 2011-06-04 10:56 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] expectative.livejournal.com
I freaking loved it, I really like how you depicted their relationship!

Date: 2011-06-14 04:49 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] killabeez.livejournal.com
Thank you, that's wonderful to hear. :)

Date: 2011-06-05 07:51 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] mistyzeo.livejournal.com
*hearts for eyes* Agh god, soulmates forever.

Date: 2011-06-14 04:50 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] killabeez.livejournal.com
eeee, yeah. I somehow can't quite seem to get over that one. ♥

Thank you so much for taking the time to comment!

Date: 2011-06-05 09:01 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] cordelia-gray.livejournal.com
This made me smile so much. The way they just fit together, now and forever. Lovely.

Date: 2011-06-14 04:51 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] killabeez.livejournal.com
What a beautiful comment! Thank you. I love the way you expressed that. :)
(deleted comment)

Date: 2011-06-14 04:51 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] killabeez.livejournal.com
Thank you, you are very kind!

Date: 2011-06-09 02:16 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] scintilla10.livejournal.com
oh this is wonderful. ♥

Date: 2011-06-14 04:52 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] killabeez.livejournal.com
Yay, I'm so glad you enjoyed it! Thank you.

Date: 2011-06-11 02:42 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] electricalgwen.livejournal.com
This makes me VERY VERY HAPPY. :D

Date: 2011-06-14 04:49 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] killabeez.livejournal.com
And that makes me very happy, too! Thank you. {{{{}}}}

Date: 2011-06-11 04:50 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] wednesday-d.livejournal.com
HOMG that- that...I don't know what to say. That was specacular. Seriously. So beautifully written, there was a calmness about it, a slow almost lazy pace, just perfect for the boys to find each other. So sweet and so deep and touching.

He told himself he'd promised Sam, but what stopped him more often than not was the thought that if he went through with it, his soul and Sam's would be separated forever.
This line kind of broke me...

The ending was so wonderful...I totally teared up with a silly smile on my face! Thank you for writing this!

Date: 2011-06-14 04:53 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] killabeez.livejournal.com
You are very, very kind! Thank you. Your comment made me blush and grin like you wouldn't believe. You have a gift for beautiful feedback!

(no subject)

From: [identity profile] wednesday-d.livejournal.com - Date: 2011-06-14 08:48 am (UTC) - Expand

Date: 2011-06-12 10:54 pm (UTC)
inalasahl: (jackles)
From: [personal profile] inalasahl
This was phenomenal. Just fantastic.

Date: 2011-06-14 04:53 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] killabeez.livejournal.com
Thank you! That is so kind - I really appreciate it!

Date: 2011-06-13 03:34 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] withdiamonds.livejournal.com
This is beautiful and just the way it should be.

Date: 2011-06-14 04:54 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] killabeez.livejournal.com
Ohh, your icon makes me sigh with happiness.

Thank you for this!
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