Chapter Text
Sam sees it.
Dean thinks he does a good job of hiding it, but Sam still sees it. He always does.
Meeting up with Bart the crossroads demon definitely wasn't high on their to-do list, but Sam and Dean had no choice. The only way they had to locate Jack was with Bart's spell.
When they were introduced to Smash and Grab, Sam realized what Bart wanted them to do right before Dean voiced it.
"Wait, this is a heist?"
The affirmative answer to that question just left them with more questions. Dean asked "What's in the safe?" right before Sam asked "Why don't you just rob it yourself?"
Bart, seemingly determined to avoid telling them about whatever it was they were stealing, answered Sam's question instead of Dean's.
"I would if I could. But while Grab can locate the vault room only the blood of a man who's been to Hell and back can open it. Tell me Dean, do you know any men like that?"
Sam risked a glance at Dean, then quickly looked away, regretting it. It was too late. He saw the haunted, torn expression on Dean's face, if only for a second. The one that never quite left, just sunk into the rest of the lines on his face.
"You remember Hell, don't you?"
Sam remembered that first year Dean had been back. How broken he had been.
Of course, Sam had been to Hell too now. But it was... different, somehow. No. Not somehow. It was different because Sam hadn't tortured souls. Hadn't broken. At least, not in the same way.
"But then I couldn't do it anymore, Sammy. I couldn't. So I got off that rack, God help me I got right off. And I started rippin' them apart."
Because Sam knew that when Dean thought about Hell, it wasn't his own pain he thought about. Not anymore. That kind of thing faded with time. No, when Dean thought about Hell, he thought about the thousands of souls that he broke.
Sam and Dean didn't talk about Hell. Not about their own experiences, not about each other's. Sam knew this job was going to take a toll on Dean.
But Sam also knew his brother, and he knew that Dean would shoulder any weight, responsibility, or pain for his family. And Jack was family, simple as that.