Reunited

"Dean?" You asked breathlessly, looking into the face of a man you still considered a close friend. Even if he couldn't stand the sight of you, he would always have a special place in your heart. Currently sprawled in his lap, your energy completely zapped from transferring so many souls in such a short time. Truthfully, you weren't sure you could move from you spot, even if he tried to kill you.

"Hey Y/N, didn't expect to see you here. But then again, you are a Reaper, so..." He muttered, his hands on your waist, steadying you. Making no move to shove you off of his lap.

Trying to gather your strength to move of his lap, you sighed. Hating the fact you were so weak in front of Death, and Dean. "Why? Didn't Sam tell you? He knew I was with Death."

"Yeah, our relationship hasn't exactly been great since that night." Dean admitted, his green eyes red rimmed and guilty. It was easy to see that being at odds with his brother was eating him alive.

With his hands still on your waist, Dean gently lifted you to the wooden seat next to him. Lifting your gaze up to Death, you watched as he dished out a slice of pizza, setting it down in front of you. "Eat Y/N. There were too many souls for one Reaper, and you need to regain your strength."

Following orders, you took a bite of the pizza, moaning as the flavors floated over your tongue, spicy, yet somewhat sweet, with the sauce  and the toppings. It was your first time trying pizza, and it tasted amazing. Dean chuckled beside you, reminding you how much you had missed the hunter in the week you had been gone. Not as much as you missed Sam though. Missing Sam was like missing the sun, and all of it's glorious warmth. "Is that your first slice of pizza?" Dean asked, but now that you were feeling more normal, you could detect a hint of unease and nervousness in his voice, and in the way he was sitting in the chair, his slice hardly touched in front of him.

"Yeah, but I don't know why I waited so long." You answered, feeling a million times better. "I think I'm in love." 

"Hey, no cheating on Sammy!" Dean argued, before turning silent once again, and you looked his way, surprised at his teasing tone. Here it was, over a week after he had kicked you out, and he was acting as if nothing had happened.

"Excuse me, but you two will have plenty of time for catching up later. I think we have something more important to talk about. Like this." Death scolded, rubbing his ring.

Gulping, Dean glanced your way, his hand nervously clenched around his fork. It wasn't often you saw the tough hunter nervous over something, but Death had that affect on people.  You stayed  silent off to the side, knowing this wasn't your conversation. "First, can you please call off the storm? These people are all innocent, they don't deserve to die." Dean pleaded with Death, and you waited to see Death's reaction.

Death steepled his fingers together. "Fine. I do think it would be a pity to level a town that makes such amazing pizza." And with that the storm outside slowed down, sunshine filtering through the evaporating clouds, shining down on the cracked and littered sidewalk.

"No, about this ring, I think we need to have a talk before I let you have it." Death announced.

You finished off your slice of pizza, and one more, all the while listening to Death's one sided conversation. Dean sat there, quietly taking it all in, but when Death came to his final comment, his main rule, you watched as Dean's entire body tensed up, his face flushed.

"Dean, you need to promise that you won't stand in the way. That when the time comes, you will let Lucifer occupy Sam's body, trapping them both in the cage. That's the only way." Death ordered, and you gulped. You had known all along that Sam was Lucifer's true vessel, but hearing Death talk about it so easily made you realize that it was real, and it was happening.

Dean looked Death square in the eyes, and nodded, surprising you. It had never occurred to you that this would be Death's terms, or that Dean would ever accept these terms. Ever since you had started following the Winchesters around, Dean had done everything he could to make sure Sam was safe, sacrificing himself without a second thought if it meant his brother was safe.

"You better not be lying to me boy. Because nobody lies to Death and lives to tell about it." Death said, his dark and cold eyes searching Dean's for the truth. He must have seen something he liked, because before you knew it, he was slipping his finger off, sliding it across the table to Dean. 

Dean stared down at it, almost as if it was going to jump up and bite him. While he sat there staring down at it, Death explained in detail how it worked, how to lock all the keys together to create the key. You listened carefully, wanting to remember everything in case Dean forgot. 

Finally Dean reached down, grasping it in his hands, before standing up. "Thank you." He told Death.

"No, thank you. I truly believe you and your brother are our main shots at putting Lucifer back in the cage. He needs to be back in the cage." Death said, before waving his hand, dismissing Dean.

Dean looked at you, a look of indecision on his face, but before he could blurt out what was bugging him, Death looked up at him once again. "Oh, and Dean? I'm not very happy you threw out Y/N. Once I found out she had taken a liking to the two of you, I made her stay there to keep an eye on you. I'm sending her back with you. Do not do it again, understood?"

Dean nodded, his eyes round as he waited for you to pipe up. And you did. "Death, I thought you wanted me by your side? I..."

He waved his hand, cutting off your comments. "I want you by their side. This is important, and I need to make sure nothing happens to mess it up. You are my insurance."

Nodding, you stood up, moving to stand by Dean. Giving him a nod, the two of you left the parlor, heading back out into what was now a glorious day. The Impala was off to the side, and you slid into the passenger seat, feeling stupid about how much you had missed a simple car.

Dean started the car, driving down the street, heading back towards Bobby's. It was then you decided to approach Dean, to try and make him understand this wasn't your idea. "Dean, I'm sorry Death is forcing you to bring me along. I promise I won't get in the way. If you want, I could even go invisible again, so you don't have to see me. I..."

"Y/N, stop." Dean finally ground out. "It's not that big of a deal."

Staring at him, your jaw slack, you couldn't believe the words coming out of his mouth. Here you had been worried he was going to kill you, and yet here he was, telling you it wasn't a big deal.

He kept his gaze on the road, his jaw a little tense. "Am I still upset that you didn't tell me the truth from day one? Hell yeah. But after you left, Sam yelled at me, telling me I was being ridiculous. And he was right. I shouldn't have pushed you away, just because of what you are. So far you've done nothing to show that you have nothing but good intentions."

A smile slowly built on your face, joyous at Dean's words. "Truly? So this means you're not mad that you're stuck with me again?" You asked him.

"No, unless you are a really good actor and have some major ulterior motives. But you are pretty cool, and Sam's been pining for you ever since you left." He answered.

"Speaking of Sam, why wasn't he with you?" You asked, feeling lighter, and happier than you had for a while, a week to be exact.

"Sam, and Bobby are both trying to stop a plague from being spread. That Pestilence was a tricky fellow, and had cases upon cases of a sickness ready to be shipped out as a vaccination."

"Wow." You muttered. "I hope they were able to stop them in time."

"Yeah, me too." Dean agreed, before the two of you turned silent, each one lost in their own thoughts.

It was hours later, with the sun slowly setting, that Dean finally pulled up into Bobby's old, cluttered junk yard. You kept an eye out, looking for the old battered van that Dean said Sam, Bobby and Cas had driven to the warehouse. Sighing in relief as you spotted it near the house, you jumped out of the Impala before Dean had even come to a complete stop. Rushing up the stairs, you threw open the door, rushing into the study, looking for Sam. When it came up empty, you turned to search the kitchen, stopping when you found the man in question leaning against the door frame, a huge smile on his face.

"Sam!" You exclaimed, running across the room, jumping into his arms, your legs wrapped around his waist as you dug your head into the crook of his neck. "I've missed you so much!"

"I've missed you too." He replied before pulling your head over until he could roughly press his lips to yours.

"Get a room." You heard Dean's tease from behind you, but you were too happy, plastered in Sam's arms to care about Dean's words.