Puppet Food Part 6
Title: Puppet Food (19 - 20)
Summary: Bruised, tired and mentally exhausted from their previous hunt, the boys decide to take a break before they look for the next one. Unfortunately for them, their next hunt finds them first. Contains mature material.
Characters/Pairings: Gen, Dean, Sam, Sam/OMC, OMCs
Author:
chocca2
Rating: NC-17
Disclaimer: *sigh* No, I Still don’t own them, I don’t own much, in fact there have been questions surrounding the ownership of my mind. However, saying that, any characters you don’t recognize have been derived from my head.
Warnings: Violence, graphic descriptions, Strong language, slight noncon (if you squint), Dark fic
Author’s Note: This is an old fic I wrote the beginning of this year, *face palm* its set around session 2ish. It was originally posted it on Fanfiction.net. Now, it was just one of the many ideas in this crazy head of mine, it’s a ‘Vamp fic’ with a twist. Without giving too much away, there will be Sam and Dean Angst, but mostly Sammy and more protective Dean. Basically Sam's on the menu. They like to play with their food first….
Big thanks to my wonderful beta mickchelle
It's complete and this is the last installment, Yay! Reviews are very welcome!
(Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3) (Part 4) (Part 5)
Hello.
Is there anybody in there?
Just nod if you can hear me.
Is there anyone home?
Come on, now.
I hear you’re feeling down.
Well I can ease your pain,
Get you on your feet again.
Relax.
I need some information first.
Just the basic facts:
Can you show me where it hurts?
There is no pain, you are receding.
A distant ships smoke on the horizon.
You are only coming through in waves.
Your lips move but I can’t hear what you’re saying.
When I was a child I had a fever.
My hands felt just like two balloons.
Now I got that feeling once again. I can’t explain, you would not understand.
This is not how I am.
I have become comfortably numb.
Pink Floyd - Comfortably Numb
The basement ignited with fire that spread and crawled along the surface on the ground, making its way up the walls towards the ceiling. It happened in a matter of seconds and soon the small dark room was bright and radiating with the intense heat of the inferno, it had swallowed the room in less than a minute.
High pitch shrieks and cries filled the air blending with the rage and low growl of flames, amongst those sounds were the crackle and pop of the materials ablaze, wood, fabric and flesh, raw burning flesh.
---
Dean’s plan had worked better than he had thought it would, the fire had ignited with great fury and was spreading fast; most importantly it had lit his main targets. It was within that minute that the hunter had witnessed the vampire’s body light up in flames, he watched as the flames rode their way through the man’s clothing, into his hair and along to the skin on his face. The malicious and immoral eyes of Anthony morphed into fear filled ones as the blaze engulfed his body.
A couple more seconds followed and Dean not only saw, but felt the intense, hungry heat connect with his own skin, the hunter tore himself from the clasps of Anthony’s hands and leaped the short but torturous distance into the confines of the sewer.
-----
Dean coughed hard into his folded arm, shielding his nose and mouth, he peered to get a view behind him, but could see and smell nothing other than the fiery flames. The fumes were strong and intensifying by the minute. It was clear to the hunter that he needed to get away from the entrance, the scorching flames were creeping closer, eating up the air and any oxygen as it grew. Dean violently coughed again and gagged against the intoxicating fumes; he continued forward and eased his sore, partially burned body deeper into the cool and calmer surroundings of the sewer. The escape had left him with some superficial burns on his skin, his arms, legs and back had been scorched in the escape. Dean could feel the small and growing blisters developing on the exposed areas of his body. He cursed at the constant and piercing pain of the burns. When he remembered just how quickly the clothed vampires had lit up he relished the auspicious circumstance he had been in and was thankful to have gotten out of it alive.
As the hunter crawled further into the sewer he used the cool but filthy water to lessen the burning sensation on his sore skin. The sewer water wafted over into his nose and he knew that although cooling, it was dirty and most likely crawling with germs, he and his brother would need to tend to their wounds as soon as possible so as not to get infections.
His thoughts were now focussed on one thing, and it was getting him and his brother way from the building, fast.
---------
"Hey Sam, come on man, I can barely see ya, well I can barely see anything but…" The young man ahead paused, softening his voice further, "well you know what I mean?...I know your falling far behind, what happened to our deal man?" Tristan asked lightly.
He stopped and propped his head under his arm to try and get an analysis of the youngest Winchester. Tristan sighed when he saw that Sam had indeed stopped and fallen far behind. He had hoped that by continuing it would have encouraged the younger hunter to keep moving, this however had not been the case. It was obvious that Sam was in too much agony at this point, he was clearly suffering, and the thing that had been keeping him going at the start had completely worn out.
Tristan bit down on his cracked lip, hard, drawing blood, it occurred to him that stopping was not helping his claustrophobia, it began to creep in and take hold of his body yet again; he took a deep breath and tried to keep focussed on anything but the confinement of the tunnel, he cleared his throat and began the difficult task of back tracking to get closer to Sam.
"Okay Sam, you win man, lets take a lil break." Tristan joked, at the same time he tried to sound hopeful about their current dire situation.
How am I going to keep Sam moving?
As Tristan watched the lighter tremble vigorously in his hand he wondered how he was going to keep going, it seemed that hope was leaving both of them behind.
-----
Sam tried his hardest to follow the flickering light. He attempted the best he could to ignore the severe headache amongst the other injuries that assaulted his body. Sam didn’t know how long he and Tristan had been travelling; neither did he know how much further they had ahead of them. That thought made Sam choke on another sob. Having no end, no goal to aim towards caused Sam to deflate and surrender to his body’s persisting pleas to stop.
The weak voice in front drew Sam to attention and as he heard and appreciated Tristan’s attempt to lighten the mood, he wished even more for his brother. Sam thought about how Dean had such a skill to make light of the most terrible of situations. Only Dean could make Sam smile or laugh at something that seemed hopeless, dangerous and at most times frightening. As Sam mused about it, he realized that this was something Dean had done for as long as he could remember, mostly for his benefit. He remembered the hope he brought to the usual life they lead, Sam thought how he wouldn’t have made or survived most situations without his brother by his side.
As if on cue, the younger Winchester flinched and raised his aching head at the familiar sound of his name being called from behind him.
--
"Sammy?" Dean tried to catch his breath before speaking again.
"How you doing there Sammy?" Dean placed a concerned hand on the back of Sam’s leg. Dean waited patiently for his baby brother to reply, he lifted his trembling hand and lit the lighter to try getting a more visible view of his brother.
Sam smiled and wiped his falling tears, Dean’s presence alone had supplied some energy, he wet his lips before speaking.
"De..?" Sam managed realising that he was still very physically weak.
"Yeah it’s me, I told ya I’d be coming, I just had some things to sort out." The older hunter commented, he coughed and cleared his throat before returning his attention to Sam. Dean crawled as close as he could and whispered quietly, "Seriously, how you coping bro?"
Dean heard Sam’s voice hitch, he knew his brother was crying, he knew his brother was far from okay or fine so he understood the long delay before Sam answered with ‘not so good Dean’, it was so faint, it was barely heard, but Dean understood those few words completely, he needed nothing more than to just hear his brother’s voice, no more questions would be needed, and they just needed to get out.
Dean rubbed Sam’s calf before removing his hand and clearing his throat as he spoke louder, "Tristan man, what’s with the blockade huh? We had an agreement didn’t we? Now get your ass moving." Dean spoke with only a hint of seriousness, this was an empty threat and order and Tristan understood it as just that.
"Pttf, Yeah, good to have you back man, things were getting a little uhhh…hope you sorted out what you needed to." Tristan thought about the seriousness of what Dean had had to do and his heart sank at the thought that his brother, Lucas, could have been killed, but then something within him told him that Lucas was still alive.
"I don’t know about you guys, but I’ve had enough ‘fun’ for today, how about we get moving… lead the way Tristan." Dean replied.
Sam lifted himself off the ground, his body disobeying his movements as he sank back down. He tried again and sucked in a deep breath before dragging himself to crawl forward.
"I’m right behind you Sammy; you keep going man, you’re doing a great job so far…" The older Winchester stated, close behind his brother.
Dean couldn’t see his brother’s face and he wished he could, he knew Sam was fighting hard with the pain, with the darkness and persevering the best he could, Dean himself was struggling with the small injuries he had obtained; he could only imagine what his baby brother was going through. He had to keep those thoughts aside for the time being. It wasn’t long before he began to smell the hit of smoke edging closer, they had to keep moving, there wasn’t a lot he could do for Sam in the sewer, they had enough to worry about without having to deal with the possibility of suffocating, which was all the more reason to get them out as soon as possible.
-------
Another fifteen minutes passed and the slow pace reduced to a complete stop. Dean was at Sam’s feet, edging close enough to see how his brother was doing, upon the realization that Sam wasn’t doing so good he cleared his throat and took a breath.
"Tristan, we’re taking a break!" The older Winchester commanded, his voice echoing through the tunnel.
"Okay." Tristan slowed and stopped slightly further ahead, sensing the brothers’ need for some privacy.
"Sammy? How you doing there bro? We’ll take a lil break and catch our breath." Dean spoke softly and encouragingly while he rubbed the calf of Sam’s leg.
"Dean…feel, not…good, sick…" Sam’s weak voice dissipated, but reached his brother’s ears in time, as Dean heard his brother heave; it was followed quickly by hiccupped coughs.
"Shit Sammy, sorry man." Dean felt completely helpless listening to Sam throw up, followed by a bellow in grief each time his body heaved. Dean did his best to get close enough to rub Sam’s lower back.
"Ride it out Sammy." He sighed, realising his arms were not long enough to comfort Sam physically in any way. He would have to just wait and hope his brother would be well enough to move again.
Sam moaned and murmured a weak apology. He had tried his best to suppress and hold it in, but the inevitable was going to happen before he was out of the sewer, he was just sorry that Dean would have to follow behind him and through the mess he had created. Sam not only felt terrible he also thought he was holding them back. His body was betraying him and as much as he wanted to get out, he wasn’t sure he would physically make it out.
Dean patiently waited until sure Sam’s breathing had returned to normal, he gave his brother a squeeze on his foot before speaking so only he could hear.
"Let’s get you out of here Sammy." His voice was subtle but heard by the youngest Winchester.
"Get moving!" Dean shouted ahead to Tristan.
------
Tristan continued his mental exercises, he was trying his best to calm and focus himself. He wiped away the droplets of sweat that fell into his eyes. His vision began to blur and he felt his own stomach coil in on it self.
As he crawled forward, he caught glimpse of a beam of light ahead of him, light that had not been produced from the small and trembling lighter he held in his hand.
"Guys! Hey, you’re not going to believe this, I think we’ve reached the end!"
Tristan’s high pitched cheer vibrated through the walls of the tunnel. He could hear the commotion filter to the brothers behind him. Tristan was now far ahead of the Winchesters, his paced and spirits picked up as he got closer to the light.
---
Tristan released his thumb from the lighter and eased his body out of the confinements of the tunnel into a dark but open room.
"Ah Shit!" He cursed as his shoes splashed into yet more sewage water. Finally stood upright, Tristan wavered as his body fought to catch up on the change of position. The young man leaned onto wall while he scanned the surrounding.
The small square room was considerably brighter but still fairly dark. There was another tunnel at the opposite end of the room adjacent to where they had crawled from. The water in the room was about ankle deep, there was a smaller pipe next to it, about a 15 inch diameter, spilling more of the dark pungent liquid. The young man flinched as he witnessed a large rodent with luminous red eyes leap from the hole into the water. The room they were in was obviously not one that had been maintained in a long time, there was moss and mould over all four walls. In fact, now that he surveyed the surroundings, he saw that the light source was coming from above, in the far corner of the room.
When Tristan was sure his body would stay horizontal, he edged closer to get a better view, upon arriving he leaned his head back to look up into the sun light beam, his mouth dropping open as he did so. He hadn’t been expecting what he saw. Leading up was an extremely steep, thin and rust eaten ladder held up by what appeared to be some large rusted brackets with single bolts in each. The long narrow passage looked barely wide enough to fit a grown man, it was even narrower than the tunnel they had just been in.
"Tristan?" Tristan jolted to attention. "Get over here and help Sam out." The older Winchester’s voice echoed through the room.
Tristan promptly reached the exit of the tunnel and held out a supportive hand to the young Winchester . He placed the other firmly on Sam’s arm and began pulling the hunter’s body out. Tristan felt himself dip forward under the dead weight of Sam’s body, he leaned in lower and offered to take on more of Sam’s body weight, making sure Sam didn’t fall head first.
When he was sure the younger hunter had found his footing he lowered him so that his back leaned against the wall. He moved to the tunnel to hold a hand for the older Winchester who pushed away his hand. "I’m fine." Dean barked as he straightened himself and approached his brother.
Tristan walked backwards, watching the brothers communicate with each other, Dean analysing Sam’s injuries making sure there was nothing life threatening. He turned away suddenly sensing his intrusion on the brothers, he hadn’t meant to, but he could feel the emotions the Winchesters had for each other. He felt overwhelmed as he read their thoughts. Part of the reason Tristan felt so threatened by the older hunter was the intense protection he had over Sam. Dean was obviously in pain himself. That was clear enough from the burns he could see on his skin, but his pain was almost cancelled out by the intense concern he held for Sam’s well being. These emotions reminded Tristan of a time when his own relationship with his brother had been that way. When once, he too could rely on Lucas, his older brother, to protect him.
Since the ‘change’, Lucas had not only become a vampire, but also a monster. He had transformed, along with their relationship. Lucas was the only family he had and that alone was one of the only reasons why they still remained together, he knew of the terrible things Lucas had done and consciously refused to believe that that part of him was truly his brother. He wanted to believe that his former older brother was in there somewhere. It wasn’t easy though because unlike Lucas, Tristan had a conscience of some sort and it wasn’t easy to pull the wool over his own eyes, but even to this day he managed it. Lucas was his brother after all and they had to stick together no matter what, right?
"Tristan?" Tristan shot his eyes wide towards the hunter in front of him.
"What’s wrong with you man? I’ve been calling you for ages." Dean continued to stare at Tristan. He gestured towards the light.
"We’re gonna have to climb, that’s our only way outta here." This time the hunter clicked his fingers in front of the man before him.
"Focus! You’re gonna have to go up first again, okay?" Dean sighed loudly and inhaled through his nose.
"Dude, I’m not gonna say it again, whatever the fuck’s wrong, deal with it. I don’t have time for this shit! Now Focus!" Dean continued on seeing Tristan cower and nod.
"Now you’re gonna hav…" Dean stopped in mid sentence on hearing Tristan whisper.
"What?" The hunter spat.
"Lucas… my brother…" Tristan trailed off turning and looking directly into the light, he appeared dazed and lost in his thoughts.
---
Dean sighed placing a hand over face and dragging it down to his month, he could feel his blood boiling, he had forgotten what little patience he had left for anyone else, but Sam far behind in the basement that was currently in flames. He was trying to stay calm for Sam’s sake because killing Tristan now would not be a good thing. Hell, the guy had helped them this far. And he had to get someone to go up first because he didn’t want to leave Sam.
Dean walked away from Tristan, creating a needed gap from the man while he calmed himself. As he walked over to Sam, his mind worked over what Tristan had muttered. Lucas had been the same person that had taken Sam, in fact now that he thought about it, that same Lucas was the one who hurt his brother in the first place.
"Sorry to say this Tristan, but if your brother is alive, I will kill him, now I don’t know exactly what he did to my brother, but the fact that he laid a finger on Sam has put him on my hit list."
Tristan’s eyes widened in horror as he digested the words spoken by the hunter. Tristan was truly torn and in shock. It surprised him that part of him understood where Dean was coming from, the other part though, well the younger brother in him wanted to protect his older brother, whether Lucas was good or bad.
"Now this is the last time I’m gonna say this to you, pull yourself together and get climbing… oh and when we get out of here, you are going to bring me to this brother of yours." Dean shot daggers towards Tristan.
"No." Tristan’s eyes began to water as he quivered.
"What!?!" Dean drew closer with his fists clenched.
Dean was face to face in a stand off with the man before him. Sounds of Sam’s moans, and the dripping of water filled the room, it was coupled with the odd shriek from the rats that crawled from the small pipe. The stand off only lasted a minute before they both heard it.
Both men turned their heads in shock as they watched someone emerge from the other adjacent sewer tunnel. The man lifted himself out in one smooth movement and smirked at the shocked men before him.
Tristan’s jaw clenched and he was shocked further into silence than either Dean or Sam.
"Lucas." Tristan whispered quietly.
xxxxxxx
Lucas snarled at the older hunter. He lowered his head, but broke no eye contact as he reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a packet of cigarettes. A black rectangular lighter was held in his other hand, he calmly shook out a stick and rested it on his lip. Lucas huffed on noticing the tension in the hunter’s clenched fists.
"Now, now Deany." He mumbled around the cigarette that he lit and took a long drag on, "Play nice." The tall man walked closer to the hunter and blew out smoke in front of his face.
Dean stood firm ignoring the intoxicating flume that tickled his sore throat, instead he smiled at the man, nodding his head while he bit hard on his lip. "I’m gonna take great pleasure in killing you." Lucas returned and he took a step closer.
Both men were now toe to toe, their bodies stiff, teeth grit down hard and nostrils flared in rage. Tristan slid away from the tension that permeated the air, he stopped when he came into contact with the wall behind him. Dean’s head hung low, but his eyes had a clear vision of the man in front of him. His chest slowly rose and fell as he breathed deeply, his expression was intense and filled with ire. He was under the influence of pure anger; he could feel it in his blood, his temperature rose with every minute that went by and it was close to boiling point. He knew he wouldn’t be able to keep hold of himself any longer.
Lucas turned away and sniggered, he rested his gaze on Sam, who had edged further into the far corner of the small, damp room. Lucas lowered his head and smiled at the younger hunter.
Lucas? On hearing the unspoken call, he sharply turned his attention towards Tristan, who appeared still, very stunned at the situation.
"Come here!" He ordered sharply. Tristan’s body twitched at the aggressive command made towards him, he felt on edge and not quite with it, none the less he walked towards the tall older man who now held out a hand in front of him.
Tristan hesitated as he drew closer, he looked at the hand while he slowly walked into Lucas’s embrace.
"What’s wrong brother, why so tense? I’ve told you before, you need to relax." Lucas looked into Tristan’s watery eyes, he took out the cigarette and pressed his lips roughly onto his forehead before harshly pushing the young dazed man away from him. Tristan stumbled back and tripped as his feet struggled to steady in the shallow water.
Dean saw a gap and made a dive towards Sam. He was promptly stopped by a strong hand that clasped around his neck. The hunter kicked out in defence, crippling the tall man enough to edge closer and place himself in front of his brother.
Lucas gripped onto Dean’s neck once more and pressed the lit cigarette butt into the scar tissue of Dean’s burned arm, the older hunter cried out in agony, Lucas pressed harder until the hunter’s skin sizzled, sending loud volumes of pain through Dean’s body.
"What d’you think you’re gonna do huh? Try anything like that again and I’ll continue the ‘activities’ on your Sammy there." Lucas turned to face Sam who held a pained, but stern face of hatred. Lucas sniggered and faced the hunter in his grip, "Now, have I made myself clear?"
Dean exhaled and hugged his burned arm into his bare stomach, the cold flesh offered some comfort to the burning pain. He began to straighten his body, uncurling as the throbbing eased slightly. He panted and looked up to where Lucas stood, he knew that he made a risky move but it was worth it, he was standing in the position he had wanted, in front of his injured brother, protecting him and shielding him from the danger before them.
------
Sam felt as though his heart was in his throat. Horrified, he watched the events that played out before him, it infuriated him that Lucas was hurting his brother in front of him and there was nothing he could do about it. Even as he called out for Lucas to stop, he realised that even that was something he wasn’t able to do.
Sam pulled his legs closer to his body. He let his face fall into the gap between his knees, breathing was now too much of a painful task, he just needed this all to be over. The younger Winchester closed his eyes, but could still hear movement and the presence of his brother who was situated in front of him. That alone gave him some sense of hope that Dean was protecting him.
Oh Sammy?
Sam squirmed but kept his eyes closed, he knew there was no point in opening them, the voice he heard was in his head. He choked on a sob.
Come on Sam, I think we’re well acquainted by now
"Hey Sammy, what’s wrong?" Dean turned on hearing Sam groan behind him.
Sam could feel Lucas invading his head, his thoughts, it was a violation he knew too well and he didn’t know how to stop it. Dean’s hand offered little to focus on to try to ignore the taunting of Lucas’s voice in is head.
It wasn’t long before Dean worked out what was going on. He sharply turned to Lucas and stood tall in front of him, his teeth grit down hard and fists clenched.
"Leave my brother alone!" The oldest hunter spat out with vehemence. His voice was deep and laboured, but rang clearly through the small room.
---
Lucas sneered at him and took a step forward.
"Get out of the way!"
Dean huffed, and stood his ground. "Never! You have to get through me first!"
"You’re willing to die for him?" Lucas stared at the hunter before him analysing his intentions and response. Nodding his head he continued.
"Ah you’re breaking my heart, God you’re stupider than I thought. I’m going to break you in half, like a twig and drain you dry, I fancy a good feed!" Lucas stated, he licked his lips while he stretched and cracked his fingers in front of the hunter.
Dean calmly nodded his head. "…hmm…right."
Without warning, Dean planted his knuckles into Lucas’s Jaw and another into his chest. The man staggered back but stayed up right, as he regained his balance Lucas shot daggers at Dean and growled in anger, his sharp fangs now fully exposed.
Dean watched as the vampire’s eyes filled with anger, followed closely by complete shock, then by fear that blended seamlessly to shame. It soon become clear what had caused the mixture of expression on Lucas’s face, Dean watched the bloody and protruding piece of wood appear from the Vampire’s chest. The sharp object slid out through the broken flesh and through the torn fabric of the creature before him.
Lucas released a gasped cry before he fell to ground, leaving Tristan, standing with bloody hands and tears in his eyes.
All three men soaked in the eerie silence of the room.
-----
Tristan was first to move, he dropped to his knees and placed a trembling hand on the dead man on the ground. "Lucas?" His breathing became frantic as he shook the body slightly.
"Lucas!?!" Tristan let the tears flow freely.
Dean watched Tristan breaking before him, he carefully edged closer, confirming with his eyes that Lucas had stabbed him through the heart with a hand made wooden stake that had indeed ‘killed’ the vampire.
The hunter relaxed his stance as he heard Tristan cry out his dead brother’s name repeatedly, the scene made him more than uncomfortable, and he truly felt bad for Tristan. Tristan looked up towards the older hunter pleadingly with tears spilling from his eyes. Dean softened his face as he stared down at the broken man before him, he had no words for Tristan, and for a second saw a vulnerable boy sobbing over his brother. The older Winchester quivered before snapping from his musings, it was clear that Tristan was hurting, but more importantly, so was Sam and Sam always comes first. The smoke in the room clouded his vision and told him they needed to move and fast, he left Tristan to have a few more minutes as he tended to his own broken brother.
--
Sam lifted his head from his arms to see Dean’s hand held out in front of him. "Let’s get outta here dude."
Sam’s pain seemed to return from wherever it had gone with vengeance. He gripped with all he had onto Dean’s hand and attempted to lift his body up. Failing miserably, he gasped in pain.
"Easy." Dean used his body to lift his brother the rest of the way, doing so gently upon seeing how weak his brother had become.
Sam let himself be lifted by Dean and was grateful that he was there to pick him up. Dean was always there to pick him up, he thought about this as he contemplated on where he’d be without Dean. The younger hunter watched Tristan curl in on himself, the young man’s body trembling. Sam swallowed hard, the hairs on back of his neck stood on edge, he rode out a shudder that trickled over his body. Tristan must have been communicating with him again because for a moment he not only saw, but felt his pain, the hunter’s eyes stung with unshed tears. His heart felt heavy, he drew in a strangled breath of air before speaking, "Dean" Sam motioned his head at Tristan who was still on the floor, engulfed in emotion.
"Yeah." Dean walked over to Tristan and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Tristan, man, I’m … sorry."
He stepped back a little, "Can’t imagine how you feel right now, but you did the right th... shit….look… we gotta get outta here." Dean waited for a few seconds, "I’ll give you a minute to get yourself together."
-------
It had only been five minutes but the room was saturated with thick smoke. Both Winchester men were ready to begin the climb out of smoke filled sewer.
"Tristan?" Dean called out to where Tristan stood.
Tristan nodded and walked over to the hunters and looked Dean in the eye, waiting for directions and instructions of what do next.
"We need to get out of here." Dean watched the man nod again, the desperate and trusting gaze made the older Winchester slightly uneasy, but he felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude for the man. Awakened from his thoughts, Dean squinted towards Tristan before giving Sam another once over.
"Ready?" The older hunter questioned.
Tristan cleared his throat, "Yeah."
"Listen … Err you go up first Dean, I promise I’ll watch out for Sam." Tristan looked sincerely at the older Winchester, "I’ll make sure he doesn’t fall."
Dean questionably eyed the man before him, even after everything that had happened and the sacrifice Tristan had made for their safety, he still found it hard to trust anyone with Sam’s life.
"Kay." Dean nodded, "Stay close and watch him."
Dean walked over to the ladder, he pulled and tested his weight on the first couple of steps leading the way up. He bounced on the handles making sure they could handle the weight of all three men.
Satisfied, he climbed back down, splashing into the water below and walked towards his younger brother who tiredly leaned his body against the damp, moss ridden wall, his arm laid over his mouth from the growing toxic fumes.
"Okay Sammy, last hurdle, I hope. You gotta give this all you’ve got, I know you can do this, just keep looking up, you don’t look down." With outstretched arms Dean hugged Sam’s shoulders and gave him a firm, but gentle shake.
Sam moaned his understanding. He didn’t think he had anything left in him and if he could have had the energy to speak, he would have expressed this to his brother. But he didn’t, and the thought of getting out of the sewer and ending the whole ordeal offered some miraculous spurt of will to continue. He looked into Dean’s eyes, seeing the genuine faith his brother had in him and suddenly it was enough. The younger Winchester nodded and moved towards the ladder, sloshing his aching body through the shallow water, to where he needed to be, ready to climb.
"Let’s do this." Dean stated as he begin to ascent followed closely by Sam and then Tristan, all three men moving slow, up towards the light.
----
Sam felt sweat drip down the side of his face, trailing down his neck and resting on the collar of Dean’s shirt. His muscles shook with the effort of holding on, he could feel his fingers slide on the creeping vegetation that had grown around the handles, Dean had done his best to rub the metal free of the slippery substance but it was intertwined around the handles, adding more difficultly in keeping gripped. Sam’s main fear was that he would fall and not only leave Dean, but also take the man below with him.
"Nearly there Sam." Sam looked up and saw that the light was not only brighter, but shone its welcomed rays that warmed his skin.
"This is it." Dean lowered his gaze and gripped harder onto the handle. The enclosed wall around him seemed to pull away from him and he shook away the overwhelming vertigo that plagued him.
"S’okay Sammy, this lid’s heavier than I thought, but I got it..." Dean’s voice grew further away as he climbed out and disappeared into the light.
Sam closed his eyes and took a long deep breath, he looked down, shit! He knew he shouldn’t have looked down. His body swayed, he felt his grip loosen involuntarily and all he could do was groan a cry for help.
Before he could figure out what had happened, he felt strong arms hook under his arm pits and pull hard, up towards the warm light. Sam squirmed as the pulling and scraping shot pain through his body, he tried to call out to Dean, but his mouth refused to work properly. The world around him still swirled before his eyes so he kept them closed.
"I gotcha Sammy."
Tristan climbed out a few seconds later, panting and gasping for air. He lowered his body to the ground to catch his breath.
Sam knew he was laying on concrete, facing the sky, the sun washing over him, he breathed in the welcomed clean, fresh air that filled his aching lungs.
"Do you think you can walk?" Dean spoke softly. He hovered over his brother’s face, Sam could feel it by the shade that covered him. The younger Winchester made another unsuccessful attempt to voice his answer.
Dean chuckled lightly, "Okay dude, I’ll take that as a no. Just don’t move." When Sam made another attempt to answer and failed yet again, Dean patted his brother’s shoulder in understanding.
"Right, you won’t be running off any time soon. Back soon." Dean stated.
The older hunter stood over Tristan who immediately felt the shadow of Dean’s body over him, "You good?" He asked.
"Yeah." Tristan breathed out, he covered his eyes and coughed into his arm. "I’m good." Nodding, Dean returned to Sam’s side.
Sam flinched as he felt the tension of Dean’s hand in his jeans pocket, he then relaxed almost immediately when he heard his brother’s voice and remembered what he had told him.
"Easy, It’s just me dude… I can see the car, I’m gonna get the keys from your, I mean, my pocket and make a run to bring her here, I’ll be less than a few minutes okay?" Dean stated as he jingled the keys and dashed off towards the Impala parked about two hundred yards away.
Sam began to calm, the fresh air appeared to soothe him just a little. He felt immense relief that they were finally out, all of them, including Tristan.
"I’m sorry Sam, for all of it, you and your brother take care okay?" Sam processed the words and slipped his eyes open. He squeezed his eyes shut immediately and shielded them with his less injured arm, slitting them open once again, Sam saw that Tristan was nowhere in sight, the younger Winchester scanned the surroundings, he could not only see, but also hear the Impala coming towards him. It screeched to a stop and heard the unmistakable sound of the door open and close. Dean was at his side in less than a minute.
"Where’s Tristan?"
Sam tried to sit up, to tell Dean that Tristan had gone, but it seemed that there was no need to as Dean made that conclusion for himself, plus the fact that his weakened body protested from the strain and he fell back down. Where had Tristan gone?
"Lets get you outta here Sammy." Dean pulled his brother up and brought Sam’s arm over his shoulder, he took most of the weight as they crossed the small gap to the warm, roaring Impala.
-----
Sam could feel the rumble of the Impala’s engine vibrate within him and although he welcomed the familiar surroundings, the motion and movements made his stomach churn and head spin.
Sam swallowed for the fifth time in the same second, he couldn’t fight the urge any longer nor could he manage to voice the dilemma, so he did all he could at that moment and groaned.
"Sammy?"
The younger Winchester swallowed quickly again, he kept his eyes closed but moved his hand over his lower stomach.
"Hang on Sam, I’m pulling over…"
Sam opened his eyes for a spilt second to see the world tilt before him, he promptly closed them again and waited for the car to come a stop. The younger Winchester couldn’t remember how he got there but before he knew it, he was on his knees on the ground being held up from the puddle pooling in front of him. His throat burned again as his stomach violently expelled its meagre contents.
"I gotcha Sammy."
Sam struggled to breathe and he convulsed once again, the pain riddled its way through him, each wave sending his body screaming in agony that was just too much for the younger Winchester to handle, so he let his eyes close and melted into the strong, supporting arms.
----
Dean stood over the bed watching his brother’s chest rise and fall.
The last couple of days had been hell, so much for ‘taking a break’, he thought to himself. After bringing in the supplies the older Winchester contemplated the best way to clean and tend to his brother’s wounds.
Sam’s body was covered in cuts and injuries all over and it would be too much of a task to clean them on the bed. He glanced over to the bathroom then quickly back at his unconscious brother.
Darting his eyes back and forth between the two, he made his decision, "Yep, bath time it is Sammy." He stated to himself as he slowly made his way to prepare the bathroom.
--
Dean returned and looked down at his brother, he exhaled loudly and rubbed his hand over his eyes. The throbbing in his head was increasing and the trip from the car to the room had been not only tricky but also taxing on his own injuries.
"Okay." Dean panted.
He unbuckled the belt and began removing the jeans from Sam’s body; he did the same with the shirt and left only the boxers intact.
"You’re way too old and freakishly tall for this dude! Probably a good thing you’re unconscious, cause this is just too weird man, and talk about awkward…" Dean continued to mumble to himself as he lifted Sam’s limp body into a fireman’s carry over his stronger shoulder. A few choice curses followed as he stumbled his way into the bathroom where he placed Sam on the closed toilet seat.
Sam was difficult to handle when physically injured but handling Sam when unconscious was not only strenuous, but also practically impossible. "God Damn it… Sam…Ugh." Dean struggled to lean Sam’s body against the wall. He lifted him, sliding his arms under Sam’s, he moved him over to the edge of the bathtub. Dean hugged Sam’s bobbing frame close to his own body so he could strategically lift one leg at a time into the shallow and treated water.
"Kay." Dean blew out a breath before lifting Sam’s whole body and sliding him the rest of the way into the warm water.
Dean used one arm to hold Sam’s torso up as he folded Sam’s long legs, with the other, to fit more comfortably in the bath. It made him smile slightly at the sight, Sam had long ago outgrown the length of the conventional bath tub and it was clear why the youngest Winchester naturally preferred showers.
By now Dean’s head was spinning. His own injuries needed tending to, but he was too exhausted to even consider that when he hadn’t even began looking at Sam.
As the older Winchester looked Sam’s body over, he realised again just how badly they had tortured his brother. There wasn’t one part of Sam’s body that didn’t have a scrape, cut, bruise, burn or puncture wound on it. The older hunter knew he would need to clean these injuries well, the last thing Sam needed was for any of them to get infected. Dean had already poured some antiseptic into the shallow, warm water, he used a small towel that he soaked in antiseptic fluid, with a little soap, that he applied directly onto the wounds.
After the long and tedious task of cleaning the wounds, the older Winchester groaned and scrunched his face with exhaustion. He rested his head on his arm that was leaned on the rim of the bath tub, the other hand held Sam’s back against the tub. He lifted his head on hearing Sam moan his way into consciousness.
"Yeah, great timing Sammy." Dean teased, he panted and rested his head back down onto his arm. The nausea hit him hard and fast as the older Winchester struggled to crawl to the toilet before gagging and vomiting into the porcelain. "Fuck!" He let his head rest on his arm again, he just didn’t have the energy to move.
"Dean?...Dean you okay?" Sam’s hoarse and weak voice echoed against the tiled walls of the bathroom.
"Yeah, I’ll be fine Sammy, Just give me a minute here." The young man spat.
----
A minute turned into ten, then to twenty and it wasn’t until a whole hour had passed that Dean managed to ward off the nausea enough to move. He turned around to see that Sam had passed out again and was still sitting in the tub of water that was most definitely cold by now.
The older Winchester groaned loudly as he used the wall to steady himself to stand. When he was sure he wouldn’t return to the ground he crossed the short distance to Sam. As Dean cursed himself for leaving his brother in this way for so long, he realised it was going to be another feat to get him out and on to the bed.
"Sammy?" Dean roused Sam by gently shaking him.
"Hey Sam, I’m sorry for leaving you hanging dude… not feeling too great myself." Dean sighed when his brother simply moaned and squirmed under the touch.
"Come on. Let’s get you dry." Dean didn’t wait for a response as he began gripping his brother under his shoulders. He took a deep breath and heaved his brother up to sit on the edge of the tub.
Thankfully for Dean Sam started to show some signs of consciousness and physical cooperation, with help from Dean Sam got up and managed to lift his legs out while still sitting on the rim of the bathtub.
"You gonna be able to walk to the bed dude?" Dean asked flatly, exhausted and drained. He watched Sam’s forlorn eyes and spoke again before he could answer.
"With my help of course." Dean added lightly.
"Come on Dude, we’ve spent way too much time together in this bathroom."Dean smirked. With that he wrapped Sam’s arm around his neck and lifted him up. Sam wavered, but found his footing, the two slowly and unsteadily made their way back to the bedroom.
----
Dean did the best he could to finish tending to Sam’s wounds before he too gave in and decided to get some rest. He made sure his brother was as comfortable as possible and set the alarm on his phone to wake him up in an hour. He had asked Sam to wake him if he was up, but they were now both not in good shape and thought it would be better not to leave anything to chance.
----
Sam opened his eyes to the pale avocado coloured ceiling of their current room. He blinked a few times to clear the blurred vision before turning his head to the bed next to him. Dean was facing him asleep on his side, his face was blanched and pallid, he looked exhausted even in sleep.
Sam hauled himself up grimacing with the effort, he ached, but it was now more of a dull ache, it was probably the drugs Sam concluded. He didn’t remember taking them, but knew and could feel the padding down effect it had on the physical pain he felt before. He eyed himself up and down as smelt the antiseptic on his body, he could tell he had required some damage repair. Smiling, he realised his brother’s good work and was grateful to have Dean caring for him. It was then that he remembered Dean throwing up, his memory was still a blur, but it was slowly coming back in patches. He remembered his brother had mumbled something about concussion earlier and judging by Dean’s appearance he was still suffering from the effects.
The youngest Winchester swung his legs over and sat still for a few minutes, he took a couple of deep long breaths before standing and walking over to Dean’s bed. Sam placed a hand on his forehead and sighed at the warm touch.
"Dean? Hey man wake up." Sam gently gripped his brother’s shoulder and gave a firm shake. He waited until he received a mumbled response from his brother that sounded like ‘I’m tired.’ Either way Sam ignored it, if Dean was concussed then he needed to wake him as a precaution.
"Yeah, I know Dean but you have to wake up, okay?" Sam gave his brother another gentle and firm shake that Dean moaned in response to, satisfied that Dean was conscious enough, Sam gave him a few minutes to shake the sleep.
Sam rubbed a sore spot on his arm, hell his whole body was sore, yes they both came out wounded, but he was just glad that they got out of the situation alive. Even if he did feel his physical wounds would heal far quicker than his mental ones. That was still something he felt he was not ready to deal with just yet. Sam felt himself gag at the thought of what had happened, he hoped that Dean would understand and not push the issue until he was ready. He pushed the tormenting thoughts down and did a quick scan of the room. He stopped towards the door and squinted to get better view of the white piece of paper lying on the floor.
Sam inhaled deeply and slowly moved towards the letter on the floor, it appeared to have been pushed through from the outside. Sam slowly unfolded to paper and began reading the scribbled and fairly childlike writing:
I have been knocking on your door for ages, you’re lucky I didn’t just let myself in, but I know you are in there as your car is parked outside.
Some person came asking for you, same guy as last time, and paid your room for two nights. One night has gone and you owed a night before that so now you need to pay up or LEAVE!
If I do not get payment by 12 noon today, you better have left or I will call the police to have you vacated!
The letter was signed and dated. Sam glanced at clock hanging on the wall and noted that they didn’t have much time left. He digested the letter and began trying to formulate a plan of action. He and Dean were still not in good shape but he knew they were low if not almost out of cash and card. Not to mention that they needed to get away from the dump that was the current town they were in. With his mind made up, he slowly grimaced his way back to the bed where his brother lay still on his side.
"Dean?"
"I’m up Sammy, I’m up, just gimme a minute." The older Winchester rolled over to his back and placed his arm over his eyes.
"How you feeling bro?" Sam asked as he eased his way to sit opposite his brother’s bed.
"I should be asking you that." He paused, moaned and sat up, "I’m fine."
Sam smiled while handing him the letter, "We need to go." He inhaled and held his breath for a few minutes, he could feel the effects of the drugs wearing off.
Dean read the letter and crunched it in his hand, he shook his head, looked at his watch and stared at Sam. "It was Tristan, wasn’t it." It was more of a statement than a question, that Sam nodded to slowly.
"How you doing?" Dean questioned as he stood and placed a hand on Sam’s shoulder waiting for an answer.
"I’m…alright, but I think I need more pain medicine" Sam answered with a grimace.
"There’s a few left in the first aid kit, lets pack up and get out of this shit hole, I would love nothing better right now than to see the back of this town." Dean walked off into the bathroom and back out with a small packet and a glass of water.
The Winchester ’s gathered their belongings and left the room to pack the car. They didn’t bother to check out; Sam sat in the car and waited for Dean to do a last, quick check. The older Winchester slammed the door of their room and plonked himself into the driver seat. "You ready?" He asked as he nudged Sam from his daze.
Sam startled, not realising Dean had come into the car. He looked at his brother for a long moment, it was a look filled with sadness, pain and defeat but most importantly, hope. And that was enough for Dean, enough for now, he keyed the ignition, the Impala roared to life, leaving a trail of dust in its wake. The dust cleared to reveal a man standing there, Tristan watched them leave and lowered his head before walking away with a small smile.
Fin
Summary: Bruised, tired and mentally exhausted from their previous hunt, the boys decide to take a break before they look for the next one. Unfortunately for them, their next hunt finds them first. Contains mature material.
Characters/Pairings: Gen, Dean, Sam, Sam/OMC, OMCs
Author:
chocca2
Rating: NC-17
Disclaimer: *sigh* No, I Still don’t own them, I don’t own much, in fact there have been questions surrounding the ownership of my mind. However, saying that, any characters you don’t recognize have been derived from my head.
Warnings: Violence, graphic descriptions, Strong language, slight noncon (if you squint), Dark fic
Author’s Note: This is an old fic I wrote the beginning of this year, *face palm* its set around session 2ish. It was originally posted it on Fanfiction.net. Now, it was just one of the many ideas in this crazy head of mine, it’s a ‘Vamp fic’ with a twist. Without giving too much away, there will be Sam and Dean Angst, but mostly Sammy and more protective Dean. Basically Sam's on the menu. They like to play with their food first….
Big thanks to my wonderful beta mickchelle
It's complete and this is the last installment, Yay! Reviews are very welcome!
(Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3) (Part 4) (Part 5)
Hello.
Is there anybody in there?
Just nod if you can hear me.
Is there anyone home?
Come on, now.
I hear you’re feeling down.
Well I can ease your pain,
Get you on your feet again.
Relax.
I need some information first.
Just the basic facts:
Can you show me where it hurts?
There is no pain, you are receding.
A distant ships smoke on the horizon.
You are only coming through in waves.
Your lips move but I can’t hear what you’re saying.
When I was a child I had a fever.
My hands felt just like two balloons.
Now I got that feeling once again. I can’t explain, you would not understand.
This is not how I am.
I have become comfortably numb.
Pink Floyd - Comfortably Numb
The basement ignited with fire that spread and crawled along the surface on the ground, making its way up the walls towards the ceiling. It happened in a matter of seconds and soon the small dark room was bright and radiating with the intense heat of the inferno, it had swallowed the room in less than a minute.
High pitch shrieks and cries filled the air blending with the rage and low growl of flames, amongst those sounds were the crackle and pop of the materials ablaze, wood, fabric and flesh, raw burning flesh.
---
Dean’s plan had worked better than he had thought it would, the fire had ignited with great fury and was spreading fast; most importantly it had lit his main targets. It was within that minute that the hunter had witnessed the vampire’s body light up in flames, he watched as the flames rode their way through the man’s clothing, into his hair and along to the skin on his face. The malicious and immoral eyes of Anthony morphed into fear filled ones as the blaze engulfed his body.
A couple more seconds followed and Dean not only saw, but felt the intense, hungry heat connect with his own skin, the hunter tore himself from the clasps of Anthony’s hands and leaped the short but torturous distance into the confines of the sewer.
-----
Dean coughed hard into his folded arm, shielding his nose and mouth, he peered to get a view behind him, but could see and smell nothing other than the fiery flames. The fumes were strong and intensifying by the minute. It was clear to the hunter that he needed to get away from the entrance, the scorching flames were creeping closer, eating up the air and any oxygen as it grew. Dean violently coughed again and gagged against the intoxicating fumes; he continued forward and eased his sore, partially burned body deeper into the cool and calmer surroundings of the sewer. The escape had left him with some superficial burns on his skin, his arms, legs and back had been scorched in the escape. Dean could feel the small and growing blisters developing on the exposed areas of his body. He cursed at the constant and piercing pain of the burns. When he remembered just how quickly the clothed vampires had lit up he relished the auspicious circumstance he had been in and was thankful to have gotten out of it alive.
As the hunter crawled further into the sewer he used the cool but filthy water to lessen the burning sensation on his sore skin. The sewer water wafted over into his nose and he knew that although cooling, it was dirty and most likely crawling with germs, he and his brother would need to tend to their wounds as soon as possible so as not to get infections.
His thoughts were now focussed on one thing, and it was getting him and his brother way from the building, fast.
---------
"Hey Sam, come on man, I can barely see ya, well I can barely see anything but…" The young man ahead paused, softening his voice further, "well you know what I mean?...I know your falling far behind, what happened to our deal man?" Tristan asked lightly.
He stopped and propped his head under his arm to try and get an analysis of the youngest Winchester. Tristan sighed when he saw that Sam had indeed stopped and fallen far behind. He had hoped that by continuing it would have encouraged the younger hunter to keep moving, this however had not been the case. It was obvious that Sam was in too much agony at this point, he was clearly suffering, and the thing that had been keeping him going at the start had completely worn out.
Tristan bit down on his cracked lip, hard, drawing blood, it occurred to him that stopping was not helping his claustrophobia, it began to creep in and take hold of his body yet again; he took a deep breath and tried to keep focussed on anything but the confinement of the tunnel, he cleared his throat and began the difficult task of back tracking to get closer to Sam.
"Okay Sam, you win man, lets take a lil break." Tristan joked, at the same time he tried to sound hopeful about their current dire situation.
How am I going to keep Sam moving?
As Tristan watched the lighter tremble vigorously in his hand he wondered how he was going to keep going, it seemed that hope was leaving both of them behind.
-----
Sam tried his hardest to follow the flickering light. He attempted the best he could to ignore the severe headache amongst the other injuries that assaulted his body. Sam didn’t know how long he and Tristan had been travelling; neither did he know how much further they had ahead of them. That thought made Sam choke on another sob. Having no end, no goal to aim towards caused Sam to deflate and surrender to his body’s persisting pleas to stop.
The weak voice in front drew Sam to attention and as he heard and appreciated Tristan’s attempt to lighten the mood, he wished even more for his brother. Sam thought about how Dean had such a skill to make light of the most terrible of situations. Only Dean could make Sam smile or laugh at something that seemed hopeless, dangerous and at most times frightening. As Sam mused about it, he realized that this was something Dean had done for as long as he could remember, mostly for his benefit. He remembered the hope he brought to the usual life they lead, Sam thought how he wouldn’t have made or survived most situations without his brother by his side.
As if on cue, the younger Winchester flinched and raised his aching head at the familiar sound of his name being called from behind him.
--
"Sammy?" Dean tried to catch his breath before speaking again.
"How you doing there Sammy?" Dean placed a concerned hand on the back of Sam’s leg. Dean waited patiently for his baby brother to reply, he lifted his trembling hand and lit the lighter to try getting a more visible view of his brother.
Sam smiled and wiped his falling tears, Dean’s presence alone had supplied some energy, he wet his lips before speaking.
"De..?" Sam managed realising that he was still very physically weak.
"Yeah it’s me, I told ya I’d be coming, I just had some things to sort out." The older hunter commented, he coughed and cleared his throat before returning his attention to Sam. Dean crawled as close as he could and whispered quietly, "Seriously, how you coping bro?"
Dean heard Sam’s voice hitch, he knew his brother was crying, he knew his brother was far from okay or fine so he understood the long delay before Sam answered with ‘not so good Dean’, it was so faint, it was barely heard, but Dean understood those few words completely, he needed nothing more than to just hear his brother’s voice, no more questions would be needed, and they just needed to get out.
Dean rubbed Sam’s calf before removing his hand and clearing his throat as he spoke louder, "Tristan man, what’s with the blockade huh? We had an agreement didn’t we? Now get your ass moving." Dean spoke with only a hint of seriousness, this was an empty threat and order and Tristan understood it as just that.
"Pttf, Yeah, good to have you back man, things were getting a little uhhh…hope you sorted out what you needed to." Tristan thought about the seriousness of what Dean had had to do and his heart sank at the thought that his brother, Lucas, could have been killed, but then something within him told him that Lucas was still alive.
"I don’t know about you guys, but I’ve had enough ‘fun’ for today, how about we get moving… lead the way Tristan." Dean replied.
Sam lifted himself off the ground, his body disobeying his movements as he sank back down. He tried again and sucked in a deep breath before dragging himself to crawl forward.
"I’m right behind you Sammy; you keep going man, you’re doing a great job so far…" The older Winchester stated, close behind his brother.
Dean couldn’t see his brother’s face and he wished he could, he knew Sam was fighting hard with the pain, with the darkness and persevering the best he could, Dean himself was struggling with the small injuries he had obtained; he could only imagine what his baby brother was going through. He had to keep those thoughts aside for the time being. It wasn’t long before he began to smell the hit of smoke edging closer, they had to keep moving, there wasn’t a lot he could do for Sam in the sewer, they had enough to worry about without having to deal with the possibility of suffocating, which was all the more reason to get them out as soon as possible.
-------
Another fifteen minutes passed and the slow pace reduced to a complete stop. Dean was at Sam’s feet, edging close enough to see how his brother was doing, upon the realization that Sam wasn’t doing so good he cleared his throat and took a breath.
"Tristan, we’re taking a break!" The older Winchester commanded, his voice echoing through the tunnel.
"Okay." Tristan slowed and stopped slightly further ahead, sensing the brothers’ need for some privacy.
"Sammy? How you doing there bro? We’ll take a lil break and catch our breath." Dean spoke softly and encouragingly while he rubbed the calf of Sam’s leg.
"Dean…feel, not…good, sick…" Sam’s weak voice dissipated, but reached his brother’s ears in time, as Dean heard his brother heave; it was followed quickly by hiccupped coughs.
"Shit Sammy, sorry man." Dean felt completely helpless listening to Sam throw up, followed by a bellow in grief each time his body heaved. Dean did his best to get close enough to rub Sam’s lower back.
"Ride it out Sammy." He sighed, realising his arms were not long enough to comfort Sam physically in any way. He would have to just wait and hope his brother would be well enough to move again.
Sam moaned and murmured a weak apology. He had tried his best to suppress and hold it in, but the inevitable was going to happen before he was out of the sewer, he was just sorry that Dean would have to follow behind him and through the mess he had created. Sam not only felt terrible he also thought he was holding them back. His body was betraying him and as much as he wanted to get out, he wasn’t sure he would physically make it out.
Dean patiently waited until sure Sam’s breathing had returned to normal, he gave his brother a squeeze on his foot before speaking so only he could hear.
"Let’s get you out of here Sammy." His voice was subtle but heard by the youngest Winchester.
"Get moving!" Dean shouted ahead to Tristan.
------
Tristan continued his mental exercises, he was trying his best to calm and focus himself. He wiped away the droplets of sweat that fell into his eyes. His vision began to blur and he felt his own stomach coil in on it self.
As he crawled forward, he caught glimpse of a beam of light ahead of him, light that had not been produced from the small and trembling lighter he held in his hand.
"Guys! Hey, you’re not going to believe this, I think we’ve reached the end!"
Tristan’s high pitched cheer vibrated through the walls of the tunnel. He could hear the commotion filter to the brothers behind him. Tristan was now far ahead of the Winchesters, his paced and spirits picked up as he got closer to the light.
---
Tristan released his thumb from the lighter and eased his body out of the confinements of the tunnel into a dark but open room.
"Ah Shit!" He cursed as his shoes splashed into yet more sewage water. Finally stood upright, Tristan wavered as his body fought to catch up on the change of position. The young man leaned onto wall while he scanned the surrounding.
The small square room was considerably brighter but still fairly dark. There was another tunnel at the opposite end of the room adjacent to where they had crawled from. The water in the room was about ankle deep, there was a smaller pipe next to it, about a 15 inch diameter, spilling more of the dark pungent liquid. The young man flinched as he witnessed a large rodent with luminous red eyes leap from the hole into the water. The room they were in was obviously not one that had been maintained in a long time, there was moss and mould over all four walls. In fact, now that he surveyed the surroundings, he saw that the light source was coming from above, in the far corner of the room.
When Tristan was sure his body would stay horizontal, he edged closer to get a better view, upon arriving he leaned his head back to look up into the sun light beam, his mouth dropping open as he did so. He hadn’t been expecting what he saw. Leading up was an extremely steep, thin and rust eaten ladder held up by what appeared to be some large rusted brackets with single bolts in each. The long narrow passage looked barely wide enough to fit a grown man, it was even narrower than the tunnel they had just been in.
"Tristan?" Tristan jolted to attention. "Get over here and help Sam out." The older Winchester’s voice echoed through the room.
Tristan promptly reached the exit of the tunnel and held out a supportive hand to the young Winchester . He placed the other firmly on Sam’s arm and began pulling the hunter’s body out. Tristan felt himself dip forward under the dead weight of Sam’s body, he leaned in lower and offered to take on more of Sam’s body weight, making sure Sam didn’t fall head first.
When he was sure the younger hunter had found his footing he lowered him so that his back leaned against the wall. He moved to the tunnel to hold a hand for the older Winchester who pushed away his hand. "I’m fine." Dean barked as he straightened himself and approached his brother.
Tristan walked backwards, watching the brothers communicate with each other, Dean analysing Sam’s injuries making sure there was nothing life threatening. He turned away suddenly sensing his intrusion on the brothers, he hadn’t meant to, but he could feel the emotions the Winchesters had for each other. He felt overwhelmed as he read their thoughts. Part of the reason Tristan felt so threatened by the older hunter was the intense protection he had over Sam. Dean was obviously in pain himself. That was clear enough from the burns he could see on his skin, but his pain was almost cancelled out by the intense concern he held for Sam’s well being. These emotions reminded Tristan of a time when his own relationship with his brother had been that way. When once, he too could rely on Lucas, his older brother, to protect him.
Since the ‘change’, Lucas had not only become a vampire, but also a monster. He had transformed, along with their relationship. Lucas was the only family he had and that alone was one of the only reasons why they still remained together, he knew of the terrible things Lucas had done and consciously refused to believe that that part of him was truly his brother. He wanted to believe that his former older brother was in there somewhere. It wasn’t easy though because unlike Lucas, Tristan had a conscience of some sort and it wasn’t easy to pull the wool over his own eyes, but even to this day he managed it. Lucas was his brother after all and they had to stick together no matter what, right?
"Tristan?" Tristan shot his eyes wide towards the hunter in front of him.
"What’s wrong with you man? I’ve been calling you for ages." Dean continued to stare at Tristan. He gestured towards the light.
"We’re gonna have to climb, that’s our only way outta here." This time the hunter clicked his fingers in front of the man before him.
"Focus! You’re gonna have to go up first again, okay?" Dean sighed loudly and inhaled through his nose.
"Dude, I’m not gonna say it again, whatever the fuck’s wrong, deal with it. I don’t have time for this shit! Now Focus!" Dean continued on seeing Tristan cower and nod.
"Now you’re gonna hav…" Dean stopped in mid sentence on hearing Tristan whisper.
"What?" The hunter spat.
"Lucas… my brother…" Tristan trailed off turning and looking directly into the light, he appeared dazed and lost in his thoughts.
---
Dean sighed placing a hand over face and dragging it down to his month, he could feel his blood boiling, he had forgotten what little patience he had left for anyone else, but Sam far behind in the basement that was currently in flames. He was trying to stay calm for Sam’s sake because killing Tristan now would not be a good thing. Hell, the guy had helped them this far. And he had to get someone to go up first because he didn’t want to leave Sam.
Dean walked away from Tristan, creating a needed gap from the man while he calmed himself. As he walked over to Sam, his mind worked over what Tristan had muttered. Lucas had been the same person that had taken Sam, in fact now that he thought about it, that same Lucas was the one who hurt his brother in the first place.
"Sorry to say this Tristan, but if your brother is alive, I will kill him, now I don’t know exactly what he did to my brother, but the fact that he laid a finger on Sam has put him on my hit list."
Tristan’s eyes widened in horror as he digested the words spoken by the hunter. Tristan was truly torn and in shock. It surprised him that part of him understood where Dean was coming from, the other part though, well the younger brother in him wanted to protect his older brother, whether Lucas was good or bad.
"Now this is the last time I’m gonna say this to you, pull yourself together and get climbing… oh and when we get out of here, you are going to bring me to this brother of yours." Dean shot daggers towards Tristan.
"No." Tristan’s eyes began to water as he quivered.
"What!?!" Dean drew closer with his fists clenched.
Dean was face to face in a stand off with the man before him. Sounds of Sam’s moans, and the dripping of water filled the room, it was coupled with the odd shriek from the rats that crawled from the small pipe. The stand off only lasted a minute before they both heard it.
Both men turned their heads in shock as they watched someone emerge from the other adjacent sewer tunnel. The man lifted himself out in one smooth movement and smirked at the shocked men before him.
Tristan’s jaw clenched and he was shocked further into silence than either Dean or Sam.
"Lucas." Tristan whispered quietly.
xxxxxxx
Lucas snarled at the older hunter. He lowered his head, but broke no eye contact as he reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a packet of cigarettes. A black rectangular lighter was held in his other hand, he calmly shook out a stick and rested it on his lip. Lucas huffed on noticing the tension in the hunter’s clenched fists.
"Now, now Deany." He mumbled around the cigarette that he lit and took a long drag on, "Play nice." The tall man walked closer to the hunter and blew out smoke in front of his face.
Dean stood firm ignoring the intoxicating flume that tickled his sore throat, instead he smiled at the man, nodding his head while he bit hard on his lip. "I’m gonna take great pleasure in killing you." Lucas returned and he took a step closer.
Both men were now toe to toe, their bodies stiff, teeth grit down hard and nostrils flared in rage. Tristan slid away from the tension that permeated the air, he stopped when he came into contact with the wall behind him. Dean’s head hung low, but his eyes had a clear vision of the man in front of him. His chest slowly rose and fell as he breathed deeply, his expression was intense and filled with ire. He was under the influence of pure anger; he could feel it in his blood, his temperature rose with every minute that went by and it was close to boiling point. He knew he wouldn’t be able to keep hold of himself any longer.
Lucas turned away and sniggered, he rested his gaze on Sam, who had edged further into the far corner of the small, damp room. Lucas lowered his head and smiled at the younger hunter.
Lucas? On hearing the unspoken call, he sharply turned his attention towards Tristan, who appeared still, very stunned at the situation.
"Come here!" He ordered sharply. Tristan’s body twitched at the aggressive command made towards him, he felt on edge and not quite with it, none the less he walked towards the tall older man who now held out a hand in front of him.
Tristan hesitated as he drew closer, he looked at the hand while he slowly walked into Lucas’s embrace.
"What’s wrong brother, why so tense? I’ve told you before, you need to relax." Lucas looked into Tristan’s watery eyes, he took out the cigarette and pressed his lips roughly onto his forehead before harshly pushing the young dazed man away from him. Tristan stumbled back and tripped as his feet struggled to steady in the shallow water.
Dean saw a gap and made a dive towards Sam. He was promptly stopped by a strong hand that clasped around his neck. The hunter kicked out in defence, crippling the tall man enough to edge closer and place himself in front of his brother.
Lucas gripped onto Dean’s neck once more and pressed the lit cigarette butt into the scar tissue of Dean’s burned arm, the older hunter cried out in agony, Lucas pressed harder until the hunter’s skin sizzled, sending loud volumes of pain through Dean’s body.
"What d’you think you’re gonna do huh? Try anything like that again and I’ll continue the ‘activities’ on your Sammy there." Lucas turned to face Sam who held a pained, but stern face of hatred. Lucas sniggered and faced the hunter in his grip, "Now, have I made myself clear?"
Dean exhaled and hugged his burned arm into his bare stomach, the cold flesh offered some comfort to the burning pain. He began to straighten his body, uncurling as the throbbing eased slightly. He panted and looked up to where Lucas stood, he knew that he made a risky move but it was worth it, he was standing in the position he had wanted, in front of his injured brother, protecting him and shielding him from the danger before them.
------
Sam felt as though his heart was in his throat. Horrified, he watched the events that played out before him, it infuriated him that Lucas was hurting his brother in front of him and there was nothing he could do about it. Even as he called out for Lucas to stop, he realised that even that was something he wasn’t able to do.
Sam pulled his legs closer to his body. He let his face fall into the gap between his knees, breathing was now too much of a painful task, he just needed this all to be over. The younger Winchester closed his eyes, but could still hear movement and the presence of his brother who was situated in front of him. That alone gave him some sense of hope that Dean was protecting him.
Oh Sammy?
Sam squirmed but kept his eyes closed, he knew there was no point in opening them, the voice he heard was in his head. He choked on a sob.
Come on Sam, I think we’re well acquainted by now
"Hey Sammy, what’s wrong?" Dean turned on hearing Sam groan behind him.
Sam could feel Lucas invading his head, his thoughts, it was a violation he knew too well and he didn’t know how to stop it. Dean’s hand offered little to focus on to try to ignore the taunting of Lucas’s voice in is head.
It wasn’t long before Dean worked out what was going on. He sharply turned to Lucas and stood tall in front of him, his teeth grit down hard and fists clenched.
"Leave my brother alone!" The oldest hunter spat out with vehemence. His voice was deep and laboured, but rang clearly through the small room.
---
Lucas sneered at him and took a step forward.
"Get out of the way!"
Dean huffed, and stood his ground. "Never! You have to get through me first!"
"You’re willing to die for him?" Lucas stared at the hunter before him analysing his intentions and response. Nodding his head he continued.
"Ah you’re breaking my heart, God you’re stupider than I thought. I’m going to break you in half, like a twig and drain you dry, I fancy a good feed!" Lucas stated, he licked his lips while he stretched and cracked his fingers in front of the hunter.
Dean calmly nodded his head. "…hmm…right."
Without warning, Dean planted his knuckles into Lucas’s Jaw and another into his chest. The man staggered back but stayed up right, as he regained his balance Lucas shot daggers at Dean and growled in anger, his sharp fangs now fully exposed.
Dean watched as the vampire’s eyes filled with anger, followed closely by complete shock, then by fear that blended seamlessly to shame. It soon become clear what had caused the mixture of expression on Lucas’s face, Dean watched the bloody and protruding piece of wood appear from the Vampire’s chest. The sharp object slid out through the broken flesh and through the torn fabric of the creature before him.
Lucas released a gasped cry before he fell to ground, leaving Tristan, standing with bloody hands and tears in his eyes.
All three men soaked in the eerie silence of the room.
-----
Tristan was first to move, he dropped to his knees and placed a trembling hand on the dead man on the ground. "Lucas?" His breathing became frantic as he shook the body slightly.
"Lucas!?!" Tristan let the tears flow freely.
Dean watched Tristan breaking before him, he carefully edged closer, confirming with his eyes that Lucas had stabbed him through the heart with a hand made wooden stake that had indeed ‘killed’ the vampire.
The hunter relaxed his stance as he heard Tristan cry out his dead brother’s name repeatedly, the scene made him more than uncomfortable, and he truly felt bad for Tristan. Tristan looked up towards the older hunter pleadingly with tears spilling from his eyes. Dean softened his face as he stared down at the broken man before him, he had no words for Tristan, and for a second saw a vulnerable boy sobbing over his brother. The older Winchester quivered before snapping from his musings, it was clear that Tristan was hurting, but more importantly, so was Sam and Sam always comes first. The smoke in the room clouded his vision and told him they needed to move and fast, he left Tristan to have a few more minutes as he tended to his own broken brother.
--
Sam lifted his head from his arms to see Dean’s hand held out in front of him. "Let’s get outta here dude."
Sam’s pain seemed to return from wherever it had gone with vengeance. He gripped with all he had onto Dean’s hand and attempted to lift his body up. Failing miserably, he gasped in pain.
"Easy." Dean used his body to lift his brother the rest of the way, doing so gently upon seeing how weak his brother had become.
Sam let himself be lifted by Dean and was grateful that he was there to pick him up. Dean was always there to pick him up, he thought about this as he contemplated on where he’d be without Dean. The younger hunter watched Tristan curl in on himself, the young man’s body trembling. Sam swallowed hard, the hairs on back of his neck stood on edge, he rode out a shudder that trickled over his body. Tristan must have been communicating with him again because for a moment he not only saw, but felt his pain, the hunter’s eyes stung with unshed tears. His heart felt heavy, he drew in a strangled breath of air before speaking, "Dean" Sam motioned his head at Tristan who was still on the floor, engulfed in emotion.
"Yeah." Dean walked over to Tristan and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Tristan, man, I’m … sorry."
He stepped back a little, "Can’t imagine how you feel right now, but you did the right th... shit….look… we gotta get outta here." Dean waited for a few seconds, "I’ll give you a minute to get yourself together."
-------
It had only been five minutes but the room was saturated with thick smoke. Both Winchester men were ready to begin the climb out of smoke filled sewer.
"Tristan?" Dean called out to where Tristan stood.
Tristan nodded and walked over to the hunters and looked Dean in the eye, waiting for directions and instructions of what do next.
"We need to get out of here." Dean watched the man nod again, the desperate and trusting gaze made the older Winchester slightly uneasy, but he felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude for the man. Awakened from his thoughts, Dean squinted towards Tristan before giving Sam another once over.
"Ready?" The older hunter questioned.
Tristan cleared his throat, "Yeah."
"Listen … Err you go up first Dean, I promise I’ll watch out for Sam." Tristan looked sincerely at the older Winchester, "I’ll make sure he doesn’t fall."
Dean questionably eyed the man before him, even after everything that had happened and the sacrifice Tristan had made for their safety, he still found it hard to trust anyone with Sam’s life.
"Kay." Dean nodded, "Stay close and watch him."
Dean walked over to the ladder, he pulled and tested his weight on the first couple of steps leading the way up. He bounced on the handles making sure they could handle the weight of all three men.
Satisfied, he climbed back down, splashing into the water below and walked towards his younger brother who tiredly leaned his body against the damp, moss ridden wall, his arm laid over his mouth from the growing toxic fumes.
"Okay Sammy, last hurdle, I hope. You gotta give this all you’ve got, I know you can do this, just keep looking up, you don’t look down." With outstretched arms Dean hugged Sam’s shoulders and gave him a firm, but gentle shake.
Sam moaned his understanding. He didn’t think he had anything left in him and if he could have had the energy to speak, he would have expressed this to his brother. But he didn’t, and the thought of getting out of the sewer and ending the whole ordeal offered some miraculous spurt of will to continue. He looked into Dean’s eyes, seeing the genuine faith his brother had in him and suddenly it was enough. The younger Winchester nodded and moved towards the ladder, sloshing his aching body through the shallow water, to where he needed to be, ready to climb.
"Let’s do this." Dean stated as he begin to ascent followed closely by Sam and then Tristan, all three men moving slow, up towards the light.
----
Sam felt sweat drip down the side of his face, trailing down his neck and resting on the collar of Dean’s shirt. His muscles shook with the effort of holding on, he could feel his fingers slide on the creeping vegetation that had grown around the handles, Dean had done his best to rub the metal free of the slippery substance but it was intertwined around the handles, adding more difficultly in keeping gripped. Sam’s main fear was that he would fall and not only leave Dean, but also take the man below with him.
"Nearly there Sam." Sam looked up and saw that the light was not only brighter, but shone its welcomed rays that warmed his skin.
"This is it." Dean lowered his gaze and gripped harder onto the handle. The enclosed wall around him seemed to pull away from him and he shook away the overwhelming vertigo that plagued him.
"S’okay Sammy, this lid’s heavier than I thought, but I got it..." Dean’s voice grew further away as he climbed out and disappeared into the light.
Sam closed his eyes and took a long deep breath, he looked down, shit! He knew he shouldn’t have looked down. His body swayed, he felt his grip loosen involuntarily and all he could do was groan a cry for help.
Before he could figure out what had happened, he felt strong arms hook under his arm pits and pull hard, up towards the warm light. Sam squirmed as the pulling and scraping shot pain through his body, he tried to call out to Dean, but his mouth refused to work properly. The world around him still swirled before his eyes so he kept them closed.
"I gotcha Sammy."
Tristan climbed out a few seconds later, panting and gasping for air. He lowered his body to the ground to catch his breath.
Sam knew he was laying on concrete, facing the sky, the sun washing over him, he breathed in the welcomed clean, fresh air that filled his aching lungs.
"Do you think you can walk?" Dean spoke softly. He hovered over his brother’s face, Sam could feel it by the shade that covered him. The younger Winchester made another unsuccessful attempt to voice his answer.
Dean chuckled lightly, "Okay dude, I’ll take that as a no. Just don’t move." When Sam made another attempt to answer and failed yet again, Dean patted his brother’s shoulder in understanding.
"Right, you won’t be running off any time soon. Back soon." Dean stated.
The older hunter stood over Tristan who immediately felt the shadow of Dean’s body over him, "You good?" He asked.
"Yeah." Tristan breathed out, he covered his eyes and coughed into his arm. "I’m good." Nodding, Dean returned to Sam’s side.
Sam flinched as he felt the tension of Dean’s hand in his jeans pocket, he then relaxed almost immediately when he heard his brother’s voice and remembered what he had told him.
"Easy, It’s just me dude… I can see the car, I’m gonna get the keys from your, I mean, my pocket and make a run to bring her here, I’ll be less than a few minutes okay?" Dean stated as he jingled the keys and dashed off towards the Impala parked about two hundred yards away.
Sam began to calm, the fresh air appeared to soothe him just a little. He felt immense relief that they were finally out, all of them, including Tristan.
"I’m sorry Sam, for all of it, you and your brother take care okay?" Sam processed the words and slipped his eyes open. He squeezed his eyes shut immediately and shielded them with his less injured arm, slitting them open once again, Sam saw that Tristan was nowhere in sight, the younger Winchester scanned the surroundings, he could not only see, but also hear the Impala coming towards him. It screeched to a stop and heard the unmistakable sound of the door open and close. Dean was at his side in less than a minute.
"Where’s Tristan?"
Sam tried to sit up, to tell Dean that Tristan had gone, but it seemed that there was no need to as Dean made that conclusion for himself, plus the fact that his weakened body protested from the strain and he fell back down. Where had Tristan gone?
"Lets get you outta here Sammy." Dean pulled his brother up and brought Sam’s arm over his shoulder, he took most of the weight as they crossed the small gap to the warm, roaring Impala.
-----
Sam could feel the rumble of the Impala’s engine vibrate within him and although he welcomed the familiar surroundings, the motion and movements made his stomach churn and head spin.
Sam swallowed for the fifth time in the same second, he couldn’t fight the urge any longer nor could he manage to voice the dilemma, so he did all he could at that moment and groaned.
"Sammy?"
The younger Winchester swallowed quickly again, he kept his eyes closed but moved his hand over his lower stomach.
"Hang on Sam, I’m pulling over…"
Sam opened his eyes for a spilt second to see the world tilt before him, he promptly closed them again and waited for the car to come a stop. The younger Winchester couldn’t remember how he got there but before he knew it, he was on his knees on the ground being held up from the puddle pooling in front of him. His throat burned again as his stomach violently expelled its meagre contents.
"I gotcha Sammy."
Sam struggled to breathe and he convulsed once again, the pain riddled its way through him, each wave sending his body screaming in agony that was just too much for the younger Winchester to handle, so he let his eyes close and melted into the strong, supporting arms.
----
Dean stood over the bed watching his brother’s chest rise and fall.
The last couple of days had been hell, so much for ‘taking a break’, he thought to himself. After bringing in the supplies the older Winchester contemplated the best way to clean and tend to his brother’s wounds.
Sam’s body was covered in cuts and injuries all over and it would be too much of a task to clean them on the bed. He glanced over to the bathroom then quickly back at his unconscious brother.
Darting his eyes back and forth between the two, he made his decision, "Yep, bath time it is Sammy." He stated to himself as he slowly made his way to prepare the bathroom.
--
Dean returned and looked down at his brother, he exhaled loudly and rubbed his hand over his eyes. The throbbing in his head was increasing and the trip from the car to the room had been not only tricky but also taxing on his own injuries.
"Okay." Dean panted.
He unbuckled the belt and began removing the jeans from Sam’s body; he did the same with the shirt and left only the boxers intact.
"You’re way too old and freakishly tall for this dude! Probably a good thing you’re unconscious, cause this is just too weird man, and talk about awkward…" Dean continued to mumble to himself as he lifted Sam’s limp body into a fireman’s carry over his stronger shoulder. A few choice curses followed as he stumbled his way into the bathroom where he placed Sam on the closed toilet seat.
Sam was difficult to handle when physically injured but handling Sam when unconscious was not only strenuous, but also practically impossible. "God Damn it… Sam…Ugh." Dean struggled to lean Sam’s body against the wall. He lifted him, sliding his arms under Sam’s, he moved him over to the edge of the bathtub. Dean hugged Sam’s bobbing frame close to his own body so he could strategically lift one leg at a time into the shallow and treated water.
"Kay." Dean blew out a breath before lifting Sam’s whole body and sliding him the rest of the way into the warm water.
Dean used one arm to hold Sam’s torso up as he folded Sam’s long legs, with the other, to fit more comfortably in the bath. It made him smile slightly at the sight, Sam had long ago outgrown the length of the conventional bath tub and it was clear why the youngest Winchester naturally preferred showers.
By now Dean’s head was spinning. His own injuries needed tending to, but he was too exhausted to even consider that when he hadn’t even began looking at Sam.
As the older Winchester looked Sam’s body over, he realised again just how badly they had tortured his brother. There wasn’t one part of Sam’s body that didn’t have a scrape, cut, bruise, burn or puncture wound on it. The older hunter knew he would need to clean these injuries well, the last thing Sam needed was for any of them to get infected. Dean had already poured some antiseptic into the shallow, warm water, he used a small towel that he soaked in antiseptic fluid, with a little soap, that he applied directly onto the wounds.
After the long and tedious task of cleaning the wounds, the older Winchester groaned and scrunched his face with exhaustion. He rested his head on his arm that was leaned on the rim of the bath tub, the other hand held Sam’s back against the tub. He lifted his head on hearing Sam moan his way into consciousness.
"Yeah, great timing Sammy." Dean teased, he panted and rested his head back down onto his arm. The nausea hit him hard and fast as the older Winchester struggled to crawl to the toilet before gagging and vomiting into the porcelain. "Fuck!" He let his head rest on his arm again, he just didn’t have the energy to move.
"Dean?...Dean you okay?" Sam’s hoarse and weak voice echoed against the tiled walls of the bathroom.
"Yeah, I’ll be fine Sammy, Just give me a minute here." The young man spat.
----
A minute turned into ten, then to twenty and it wasn’t until a whole hour had passed that Dean managed to ward off the nausea enough to move. He turned around to see that Sam had passed out again and was still sitting in the tub of water that was most definitely cold by now.
The older Winchester groaned loudly as he used the wall to steady himself to stand. When he was sure he wouldn’t return to the ground he crossed the short distance to Sam. As Dean cursed himself for leaving his brother in this way for so long, he realised it was going to be another feat to get him out and on to the bed.
"Sammy?" Dean roused Sam by gently shaking him.
"Hey Sam, I’m sorry for leaving you hanging dude… not feeling too great myself." Dean sighed when his brother simply moaned and squirmed under the touch.
"Come on. Let’s get you dry." Dean didn’t wait for a response as he began gripping his brother under his shoulders. He took a deep breath and heaved his brother up to sit on the edge of the tub.
Thankfully for Dean Sam started to show some signs of consciousness and physical cooperation, with help from Dean Sam got up and managed to lift his legs out while still sitting on the rim of the bathtub.
"You gonna be able to walk to the bed dude?" Dean asked flatly, exhausted and drained. He watched Sam’s forlorn eyes and spoke again before he could answer.
"With my help of course." Dean added lightly.
"Come on Dude, we’ve spent way too much time together in this bathroom."Dean smirked. With that he wrapped Sam’s arm around his neck and lifted him up. Sam wavered, but found his footing, the two slowly and unsteadily made their way back to the bedroom.
----
Dean did the best he could to finish tending to Sam’s wounds before he too gave in and decided to get some rest. He made sure his brother was as comfortable as possible and set the alarm on his phone to wake him up in an hour. He had asked Sam to wake him if he was up, but they were now both not in good shape and thought it would be better not to leave anything to chance.
----
Sam opened his eyes to the pale avocado coloured ceiling of their current room. He blinked a few times to clear the blurred vision before turning his head to the bed next to him. Dean was facing him asleep on his side, his face was blanched and pallid, he looked exhausted even in sleep.
Sam hauled himself up grimacing with the effort, he ached, but it was now more of a dull ache, it was probably the drugs Sam concluded. He didn’t remember taking them, but knew and could feel the padding down effect it had on the physical pain he felt before. He eyed himself up and down as smelt the antiseptic on his body, he could tell he had required some damage repair. Smiling, he realised his brother’s good work and was grateful to have Dean caring for him. It was then that he remembered Dean throwing up, his memory was still a blur, but it was slowly coming back in patches. He remembered his brother had mumbled something about concussion earlier and judging by Dean’s appearance he was still suffering from the effects.
The youngest Winchester swung his legs over and sat still for a few minutes, he took a couple of deep long breaths before standing and walking over to Dean’s bed. Sam placed a hand on his forehead and sighed at the warm touch.
"Dean? Hey man wake up." Sam gently gripped his brother’s shoulder and gave a firm shake. He waited until he received a mumbled response from his brother that sounded like ‘I’m tired.’ Either way Sam ignored it, if Dean was concussed then he needed to wake him as a precaution.
"Yeah, I know Dean but you have to wake up, okay?" Sam gave his brother another gentle and firm shake that Dean moaned in response to, satisfied that Dean was conscious enough, Sam gave him a few minutes to shake the sleep.
Sam rubbed a sore spot on his arm, hell his whole body was sore, yes they both came out wounded, but he was just glad that they got out of the situation alive. Even if he did feel his physical wounds would heal far quicker than his mental ones. That was still something he felt he was not ready to deal with just yet. Sam felt himself gag at the thought of what had happened, he hoped that Dean would understand and not push the issue until he was ready. He pushed the tormenting thoughts down and did a quick scan of the room. He stopped towards the door and squinted to get better view of the white piece of paper lying on the floor.
Sam inhaled deeply and slowly moved towards the letter on the floor, it appeared to have been pushed through from the outside. Sam slowly unfolded to paper and began reading the scribbled and fairly childlike writing:
I have been knocking on your door for ages, you’re lucky I didn’t just let myself in, but I know you are in there as your car is parked outside.
Some person came asking for you, same guy as last time, and paid your room for two nights. One night has gone and you owed a night before that so now you need to pay up or LEAVE!
If I do not get payment by 12 noon today, you better have left or I will call the police to have you vacated!
The letter was signed and dated. Sam glanced at clock hanging on the wall and noted that they didn’t have much time left. He digested the letter and began trying to formulate a plan of action. He and Dean were still not in good shape but he knew they were low if not almost out of cash and card. Not to mention that they needed to get away from the dump that was the current town they were in. With his mind made up, he slowly grimaced his way back to the bed where his brother lay still on his side.
"Dean?"
"I’m up Sammy, I’m up, just gimme a minute." The older Winchester rolled over to his back and placed his arm over his eyes.
"How you feeling bro?" Sam asked as he eased his way to sit opposite his brother’s bed.
"I should be asking you that." He paused, moaned and sat up, "I’m fine."
Sam smiled while handing him the letter, "We need to go." He inhaled and held his breath for a few minutes, he could feel the effects of the drugs wearing off.
Dean read the letter and crunched it in his hand, he shook his head, looked at his watch and stared at Sam. "It was Tristan, wasn’t it." It was more of a statement than a question, that Sam nodded to slowly.
"How you doing?" Dean questioned as he stood and placed a hand on Sam’s shoulder waiting for an answer.
"I’m…alright, but I think I need more pain medicine" Sam answered with a grimace.
"There’s a few left in the first aid kit, lets pack up and get out of this shit hole, I would love nothing better right now than to see the back of this town." Dean walked off into the bathroom and back out with a small packet and a glass of water.
The Winchester ’s gathered their belongings and left the room to pack the car. They didn’t bother to check out; Sam sat in the car and waited for Dean to do a last, quick check. The older Winchester slammed the door of their room and plonked himself into the driver seat. "You ready?" He asked as he nudged Sam from his daze.
Sam startled, not realising Dean had come into the car. He looked at his brother for a long moment, it was a look filled with sadness, pain and defeat but most importantly, hope. And that was enough for Dean, enough for now, he keyed the ignition, the Impala roared to life, leaving a trail of dust in its wake. The dust cleared to reveal a man standing there, Tristan watched them leave and lowered his head before walking away with a small smile.
Fin