An Altered Melody

Rated: T to be safe

Summary: Dean didn't go to Lisa and Ben, to live the apple-pie life Sam made him promise to. LONG-AWAITED SEQUEL to Hel On Earth. This is how I pictured life after the events in Supernatural's Swan Song, had the events in my crossover series actually taken place in the show. So, I suppose in a way, this is a bit of an AU...but the stories remain on-track with the shows, themselves, so I didn't want to label it as such. If you can't tell, I was never a big fan of the Lisa/Ben storyline (outside of the initial meeting of them). I just don't feel like it fit well with Dean's personality, to disrupt a family household like that, with his past; he would've foreseen the monsters following him, and using them against him.

Anyway, without further ado...

*~.~* *~.~*

Dean would keep his promise to Sam. Even though all he wanted to do was to die or find a way to get his brother back, he would do what he'd been asked; quit hunting, live the apple-pie life. Stay alive and don't look for deals to get Sam out of Hell. Well, he'd do most of that. He'd stay alive and quit hunting...

As far as living the apple-pie life? Well, there was just too much at stake for Lisa and Ben for him to even consider going to them. They didn't ask for this...this life. Lisa had a son to worry about. She didn't need to be keeping sharp objects out of Dean's reach, after all.

So, he did the only other thing he could think of. He drove. Specifically, he drove east. Dean wasn't even aware how long he'd been driving. His thoughts were too busy trying to hang on to the reason why he couldn't just drive a little faster and jerk the wheel a bit to the right, sending the car over the gated edge of the mountain-cliff.

It was only when he spotted the highway sign for Morgantown that he recalled where he'd been headed. That's when he decided that he should probably call before just showing up on the doorstep like a lost puppy.

He popped open the glove compartment to fish out his cell phone. He'd put it there before pulling into the cemetery, so he wouldn't be interrupted when he tried to... Well, that wasn't important anymore. But he'd forgotten that Sam's phone was in there too. Before they'd headed into that apartment in Jersey, Sam had put it there for safe keeping. Now Dean held it in his hand, staring at it like it was a piece of his brother...

A horn honked somewhere ahead of him, making him look up and jolt the car back into the right lane. "Damnit," he cursed, stuffing the phone in his jacket pocket before reaching in and getting his own, and slamming the compartment closed again. Scanning the road ahead of him and making sure there was nothing but straight road and no cars, he glanced down at the screen on his phone. Opening the contact list, he scrolled down until he reached his code name for Gibbs: Challenger71.

Dean hit the dial button and held the phone to his ear, thinking of what the hell he could possibly say when the man answered. But much to his dismay, the line went straight to voice mail. He panicked and ended the call. Never be unreachable. That was one of Gibbs' rules. What had he said that last day? Anniversaries. Christ. What a fucking coincidence.

He looked through his contacts again. Mustang66. Tony. Dean waited a moment before hitting the call button this time. But once he dialed and put the phone to his ear and that ringing started, his mind drew a complete blank.

"Dean-freaking-Winchester, is that you, man?" Tony sounded happy on the other line. It was pretty instantaneous that the memories of being around the guy flashed before Dean's eyes. "Hey, are you there?"

Oh yeah...talking, Dean thought. "Hey," his voice cracked, and he stopped to clear his throat. "Hey, Tony. How are ya?"

"I...hell, man...it's been what? Three years?"

"Yeah... Geez yeah, I guess it has." Dean suddenly felt horrible about not having kept in touch with them.

"Are you okay, man?" Tony must have sensed something in Dean's uncharacteristic silence.

"Actually...no," Dean sounded suddenly very small. "I uh... Would you...would you and Gibbs mind if I uh..."

"Dean, what's going on? Are you in trouble?" Tony sounded worried.

"Not really, no. It's just...I made this promise to Sammy," his voice cracked again, and he cleared his throat accordingly. "Tony, Sam's gone... Sam's...Sammy's dead," he couldn't stop the shakiness in his voice, from holding back tears he shouldn't even physically be able to shed any more of.

Tony was silent on the other line for a moment. "Where's Cas?" the raspy sound of his voice pulled at Dean's heart.

"Off fighting a war in Heaven," he replied. "Anyway, he couldn't help him. It's...kind of a long story."

"Where are you, Dean?"

"Couple...maybe three hours out."

"Come over. Go to Gibbs' house. You remember where?"

"Yeah," came out almost as a whisper.

"I'll meet you over there. Just...God, Dean, just be careful, alright? Get here in one piece?"

"Yeah," he said again. "Thanks, man." He ended the call before the lump in his throat gave away how hard this all was for him...

*~.~*

"What are you doin' here so late, DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked as Tony came down the basement steps.

"Got a phone call a couple of hours ago, boss," he replied, sinking down to sit on the bottom step. "Guessing he tried to call you first."

"Yeah well," Gibbs went back to carving the wooden leg of his most recent project, "Anyone knows me, knows today my phone is off after work. Except my damned ex."

"It was Dean Winchester," Tony told him, and Gibbs looked over at his senior field agent in question. "Sam's dead."

It was like a punch in the gut, hearing those words and seeing the sadness in Tony's eyes. "Castiel?"

"Couldn't help him," Tony replied. "Guess he'll explain that better once he gets here."

"He's comin' here?"

"I told him to. Hope that's okay, boss. I know it's been three years-"

"'Course it's okay," Gibbs put the chisel down and swiped a hand down his face. "Kid must be a wreck. When did this happen?"

"He didn't say. But I'm guessing it wasn't long ago. He should be here any time."

Like clockwork, there was a knock at the door upstairs. Gibbs and Tony shared a quick glance before heading up. Tony hung back a bit as Gibbs went to open the door. And there stood Dean, looking ten kinds of awful. Gibbs wasn't sure what to say as the younger man met his eyes.

"That offer...being welcome here anytime...still open?" Dean asked in as strong a voice as he could manage.

"Always has been," Gibbs told him softly, then pulled him in for a hug. Dean accepted it, continuing to try and keep himself together. Over Gibbs' shoulder, Dean spotted Tony a few feet away. Gibbs pulled away. "I'll get you some coffee," he told Dean, shutting the door before heading toward the kitchen.

Dean gave a short nod before looking to Tony again. The younger man seemed stuck where he stood, and was a bit grateful when Tony started toward him. Wordlessly, he was drawn into another embrace and he remembered the talk they'd had out on the porch years before. Tony understood. Maybe more than any of them. And just like that, Dean couldn't hold it in anymore.

Tony felt Dean's arms tighten around him, followed by the unmistakeable shaking sobs that wracked the man's body. It broke his heart, and he wished more than anything that he could fix all of this; bring Sam back. But if Dean couldn't...if Cas couldn't, then how could he?

"I'm sorry," Tony nearly whispered as he held onto him. "God I'm so sorry, Dean...I'm so sorry..." and he couldn't hold back his own tears...

TBC...